Mutant beasts had clearly defined territorial instincts.
“You’re right, big sister,” Bai Xuan quickly adjusted his emotions. “I can try to create a small spatial crack to hide our aura, but the space will be very limited. To save energy, I won’t be able to fully seal it. Mutant beasts might still accidentally enter.”
“Alright. Just do your part. I’ll handle the mutant beasts.”
Ji Chaoxi brought him down to the ground and crouched. She placed her palm against the earth, but she could not yet sense the exact position of the Mutant Beast Horde—only faint vibrations.
“We still have time. Recover your energy first. I’ll keep watch.”
Bai Xuan took out a few beast cores and handed them to her.
“Big sister, you’ve also used a lot of energy.”
“I don’t need them,” Ji Chaoxi refused. “Wood elemental energy is very dense here. You use them.”
“I still have more.”
Bai Xuan walked over and stuffed them into her hands, then took out a few more before sitting down on the ground nearby.
He closed his eyes, absorbing energy while also sensing the natural energy around him, guiding it into his body and letting it resonate with his own power.
Ji Chaoxi looked at the beast cores in her hand, then at him.
She finally put them into the pouch at her waist.
Inside were several wood-type beast cores she had collected earlier from high-level mutant beasts they had encountered along the way.
High-level ability users would not waste time on ordinary beasts when traveling.
She looked around and chose the thickest tree nearby. She walked over, placed one hand on the trunk, and held a wood-type beast core in the other.
She released her energy, resonating with the tree’s wood energy.
Then she “saw” further.
Several kilometers away, the Mutant Beast Horde was moving—over a thousand beasts at a rough estimate—charging toward a diagonal path ahead of them.
Among the search, she faintly detected Dai Qianning’s group. They were directly in the path of the horde, too far to contact.
She withdrew her hand.
The second-rank beast core had already turned to dust.
“Big sister, what are you doing?” Bai Xuan’s complexion had improved significantly.
Ji Chaoxi’s ability to communicate with plants was her secret.
She replied, “Recovering energy.”
“Oh,” Bai Xuan nodded. “So big sister can directly absorb energy from plants.”
“Mm.”
She asked, “What’s your plan?”
At that moment, the tremors from the ground grew stronger.
Bai Xuan thought for two seconds.
“The safest place is also the most dangerous place. Big sister, let’s go to the edge of the mutated plant territory. Once we hide our aura, the mutated plants won’t actively attack us. As long as the Mutant Beast Horde avoids that area, we’ll be safe.”
Ji Chaoxi nodded.
“Alright. We need to move fast.”
She raised a hand.
A vine erupted from the ground and rapidly grew, becoming as thick as an arm in seconds. It coiled at their feet.
She stepped onto it.
Faint wood energy rippled beneath them.
Ji Chaoxi extended a hand to the boy.
“This will be faster.”
Bai Xuan looked shocked but grabbed her hand and jumped beside her, instinctively wrapping his arms around her waist as if afraid of falling.
Ji Chaoxi stiffened.
But the situation was urgent, so she did not push him away.
The vine surged forward like a giant snake moving through the forest, expanding endlessly.
In just seconds, they reached the edge of the mutated plant zone.
Although fast, this method consumed a tremendous amount of energy.
Sweat already formed on Ji Chaoxi’s forehead after only a few seconds.
Bai Xuan raised a hand and covered her eyes.
“Big sister, close your eyes for a moment. Give me a little time.”
Seeing the fine sweat on her face, gray-black mist slowly rose in his eyes.
His gaze lowered.
Her small, soft ears. Her pale, delicate neck…
He leaned closer.
The scent of dense floral wood filled his nose.
His eyes darkened.
He recalled all the wood-type ability users he had met in his previous life—none of them had this scent.
Did Ji Chaoxi have it in his previous life?
No.
If she had, he would never have forgotten it.
He inhaled deeply again.
The floral fragrance filled his lungs completely.
A feeling called happiness rose within him.
The boy’s lips curled upward.
“Wife smells so nice… I like it so much.”
The Mutant Beast Horde was approaching rapidly.
The ground trembled violently, like the roar of the earth itself.
Bai Xuan turned his head and saw the charging beast tide.
Gray-black mist surged instantly, enveloping both of them.
He pulled Ji Chaoxi behind a large rock, releasing her eyes while pinning her between his arm and the stone.
“Don’t move. The horde is here.”
Ji Chaoxi opened her eyes.
Her breath caught.
Countless mutant beasts rushed past them at high speed—so close that they were only two meters away.
Dust filled the air.
Her heartbeat thundered in her chest.
After a long moment, the horde passed without noticing them.
Ji Chaoxi exhaled shakily, finally recovering slightly.
Only then did she realize that if she tilted her head just slightly, she would touch the boy’s chin.
Her eyelashes trembled.
She scanned her surroundings, still alert.
Eventually, the horde disappeared completely.
Only the echoing rumble remained in her ears.
Ji Chaoxi closed her eyes briefly, legs slightly weak from surviving death.
“Bai Xuan, thank you. We can leave now—”
Her words were swallowed by a sudden kiss.
Her pupils widened instantly.
A forceful, unprepared invasion.
Along the journey, Ji Chaoxi had noticed the boy’s care for her. She avoided responding whenever possible, minimizing interaction between them.
When he used spatial teleportation to bring her here, she had considered refusing—but at that moment, speaking even a single extra word could have endangered everyone.
Now too, she did not dare move. The mutated plant territory was right beside them.
She was not afraid of death, but she did not want to implicate the boy who had risked his life to save her.
Now that the Mutant Beast Horde had left, she only needed to push him out of the mutated plant zone.
A voice suddenly echoed in her mind—
“If you die, I’ll make everyone accompany you…”
Ji Chaoxi’s heart tightened.
Instinctively, she bit down.
Bai Xuan let out a muffled groan.
A faint metallic taste spread between them.
Ji Chaoxi saw the familiar, extreme madness in the boy’s eyes.
Only for a moment.
Bai Xuan snapped back to himself and released her lips.
“Sorry… I like big sister too much. I couldn’t control myself for a moment…”
Ji Chaoxi’s throat tightened.
A chill ran through her entire body.
The boy’s innocent expression overlapped with another man’s cold, sinister face.
The fear named “Ye Jiming” rose in her heart.
Like a parasite, it clung tightly to her bones.
Ji Chaoxi suddenly erupted with full energy, grabbing the boy and quickly leaving the area under pursuit of mutated plants, escaping to a safe zone.
She immediately put distance between them.
Ji Chaoxi said coldly,
“You’re safe now. Let’s part ways here.”
Without giving Bai Xuan a chance to respond, she turned and left.