Jing Sanhuai glanced at the sleeping Yueli, set a barrier over her, then followed “Shen Si” charging into the Black Forest.
Yet only when they truly arrived at the scene did they learn what a living hell looked like.
In the lush dense forest, red blood mist hung in the air.
On the bright green grass, stained with dark brown blood, severed limbs were visible everywhere.
At the center of the thick, bloody stench were piles of human-shaped dried corpses several zhang tall.
They were fragmented, wearing Wuji Sect disciple robes, glaring and lifeless.
The disciples still alive waved sword light, desperately resisting the enemy’s attacks.
But once someone was isolated, a group of human-shaped skeletons emitting black mist would surround them.
Those skeletons grabbed the living and swarmed them, wantonly devouring the cultivator’s fresh spiritual energy.
In moments, that isolated disciple became a dried corpse lying on the ground, dying with eyes open.
Witnessing this cruel and bloody scene, Su Yanqing felt her stomach churn, acid rising to her throat, tears falling unbidden.
An hour ago, these people had been laughing and calling her Senior Brother Shen.
The next moment, they lay on the ground, turned into skeletons.
Only then did she realize that the cultivation world she lived in was a world of the strong preying on the weak, a world of bloodshed and slaughter.
And the system rewards she possessed were so utterly insignificant.
“Why did this happen! Where did Master go!” A panicked male voice came from behind her.
Su Yanqing instinctively leaned back, her eyes darting around in panic, murmuring: “Master isn’t here…”
“Bai Xiaoru has run off too…”
“She’s not going to pull some other trick, is she?”
“Forget it, save people first!” As soon as the words fell, Jing Sanhuai rushed forward.
The sword in his hand turned into a beam of light, ambushing the demonic creatures from behind.
But there were too many ghost-mist skeletons; they quickly reacted and surrounded the solitary Jing Sanhuai.
Su Yanqing saw him fall into the encirclement of the demonic creatures, her throat unable to even scream, only wordless fury: “Third Senior Brother!!!”
She couldn’t tell whether it was sorrow or despair, but a fierce courage and rage suddenly burst from within.
Su Yanqing moved, holding a black sword, charging forward like a nimble leopard.
She silently recited the oral formulas, unleashing the Ancient Lingxu Sword Technique she had long cultivated.
Powerful spiritual energy surged from her dantian into the sword body, transforming into an invisible black giant sword that slashed straight at the group of ghost-mist skeletons.
System-made, must be top quality.
The sword light seemed to be the nemesis of the demonic creatures; wherever the sword qi went, the ghost mist dissipated completely, and skeletons scattered on the ground.
With just one sword, she destroyed most of the ghost-mist skeletons.
Fortunately, though Jing Sanhuai was severely injured, he did not die.
He and the other disciples together killed the remaining ghost-mist skeletons.
Seeing the crisis disperse, Su Yanqing collapsed from exhaustion.
That one sword had overdrawn all her spiritual energy.
Su Yanqing’s sea of awareness began to ache violently, the pain spreading wave after wave to her dantian, endless.
She gradually lost consciousness, her eyelids heavy as a thousand catties, but the shouts by her ear kept her from sleeping.
“Shen Si! Wake up, look at me, don’t sleep, wake up right now! We still have to find Master, pull yourself together!”
She wanted to wake too, but she couldn’t open her eyes!
Su Yanqing had no choice but to call the system in her mind: “System, come out quick, my mission is about to fail!”
Fortunately, the system came online in time:
『Host, taking a Recovery Pill can quickly wake you and restore your spiritual energy. Do you wish to use it?』
“Use it! Where did Master and the others go, can you find out for me?”
『Recovery Pill used for host. After inquiry, Helian Chuxue and the others are temporarily not in danger; specific location is in the depths of the Black Forest.』
Hearing Master was safe, Su Yanqing breathed a sigh of relief.
Moments later, the dried-up spiritual energy in her dantian circulated again, and her sea of awareness no longer ached.
“He’s awake! Senior Brother Shen is awake!”
“You brat, you scared me to death!”
A rough male voice carried joy.
Su Yanqing saw Third Senior Brother push through the crowd, his broad, sturdy chest entering her view, and before she could push him away, he firmly pressed against her.
Su Yanqing felt her chest was about to be flattened. This kind of brotherhood was better off without.
“You’re hiding your talents, kid… one move and you subdued those skeletons. Be honest, did Master secretly teach you that sword technique?” Jing Sanhuai’s hearty laughter dispelled the gloom in Su Yanqing’s heart.
As if the tragic scenes in the dense forest just now were merely an illusion.
But when she saw the mangled wound on Jing Sanhuai’s chest, and the varying degrees of severe injuries on the other disciples.
She knew the danger had not yet passed.
Su Yanqing didn’t smile, instead asking the surviving disciples: “What exactly happened in the Black Forest?”
The fleeting joy passed in an instant, and everyone fell into dead silence and grief again.
A disciple, voice choked with tears, told the truth: “That vengeful spirit was lying! She was the bait helping the demonic cultivator lure passersby here for sacrifice!”
“She intentionally led us to a formation that could absorb spiritual energy, then used the chance to escape. Immortal Venerable Helian broke the formation and went to chase it.”
“We originally planned to return the way we came, but Senior Sister Bai said she sensed demonic qi and went ahead to scout. In the end, we didn’t get Senior Sister Bai… instead we got a group of black-mist skeletons.”
“The mist they carried could corrode spiritual energy. At first we could still fight hard. But the more spiritual energy we used, the less we had, while the skeletons gathered more and more. Many disciples…”
Before he finished, that disciple was sobbing, as if the scene was too desperate to describe.
“Fortunately, Senior Brother Shen, you all arrived, otherwise we’d surely have no bones left!”
“Senior Brother Shen, what should we do now?”
Since Su Yanqing had saved everyone, they vaguely regarded him as their backbone, all asking him for the next plan.
The much-esteemed Su Yanqing felt somewhat embarrassed; her original goal was only to complete the mission, not nearly as righteous as they said.
She looked around, discovering they were outside the dense forest, but Yueli was gone, leaving only a blanket. “Where’s Junior Sister Yueli?”
Jing Sanhuai stepped forward to explain: “I set a protective barrier on her before I left. After we escaped, she was already gone. But there were no signs of a struggle around, so perhaps she woke up and left on her own.”
Su Yanqing didn’t think much of it; she was eager to return to the Black Forest… every moment she lingered here, her senior brothers were in more danger.
But she couldn’t leave these severely injured disciples unattended. She looked at Jing Sanhuai: “Third Senior Brother, take them to a tavern in town that hasn’t collapsed yet and rest. Those who need healing, heal; those who need cultivation, cultivate.”
“I took a pill before I fainted, my spiritual energy is sufficient. I’ll go to the Black Forest to find Master and the others.”
“No, it’s too dangerous, you alone…” Jing Sanhuai flatly refused.
“Third Senior Brother, look at yourself… not a piece of good flesh left on your body, and your spiritual energy is weak. Even if you came with me, if we ran into danger, what would you do besides be a burden?” Su Yanqing’s words were harsh and sharp, but hit the mark.
Now, among the surviving disciples.
She was the only one left with any fighting strength.