Then Let Me Carry You Down, Master.
Jiang Xiechen could clearly feel that she was in a state of weightlessness.
This cave was bottomless. She could faintly hear the sound of flowing water at the very bottom, and it was precisely because she could hear it that she could more intuitively perceive just how deep the cavern was.
Jiang Xiechen remained calm. Unable to see her surroundings, she relied entirely on the sound of the wind to judge her environment.
As the wind brushed past the rock walls, she could distinctly feel the resistance in certain areas. Attempting to blindly reach out and grab the surroundings would likely leave her hands covered in blood.
Outside, Wen Chiyue’s anxious voice kept echoing, calling her name repeatedly.
Jiang Xiechen closed her eyes and listened intently to the wind. Suddenly, the Qiushuang Sword flew out of its sheath, driving cleanly and decisively into the rock wall.
Gravity continued to drag her down, and the sword left a heavy, deep gouge along the cliffside.
Click.
The sword caught firmly on a section of the cliff. Right below it was a protruding rock, providing just enough space to leverage herself.
Jiang Xiechen exhaled slowly. Her hand, gripping the sword too tightly, was already bleeding slightly. The pain brought a light sweat to her forehead. She took a deep breath, engaged her core, pressed her feet against the cliffside, and hoisted herself up to sit on the protruding rock.
Her green robes were covered in dust and blood. It was rare for Jiang Xiechen to look this disheveled, and she couldn’t help but shake her head with a bitter smile.
This rock wouldn’t hold up for long, it was only enough for her to recover a bit of her strength.
Amidst the vast darkness, even the ambient sounds were faint. The cramped, oppressive space nearly suffocated her.
Jiang Xiechen thought to herself that this was probably her lowest point.
Even when her family was destroyed during her childhood, leaving her lost with no path forward, her mood hadn’t been this bleak.
What had she been thinking back then?
Perhaps she wanted revenge, perhaps she simply couldn’t accept the sudden disaster, or perhaps she hadn’t thought about anything at all.
After all, how old was she back then?
Irritated, Jiang Xiechen untied the white cloth over her eyes and used it to wipe the dust from her fingertips.
“Master, Master, are you okay? Master, should I jump down?”
Well, the surroundings weren’t that quiet anymore.
The little sword spirit’s voice was still very noisy. Traveling through the echoes, its volume possessed an overwhelming presence, reducing the sound of the wind to a mere whisper.
Jiang Xiechen actually preferred peace and quiet, and what she couldn’t stand the most was the little sword spirit’s constant chattering. An environment that was too noisy would cause her to miss vital sounds. Fortunately, after all this time, she had already become adept at filtering the little sword spirit’s voice out.
At this moment, however, she chose not to block it.
Perhaps it was because it was just too quiet.
Jiang Xiechen spoke up, “I am here.”
Hearing her master’s stable response, Wen Chiyue’s voice instantly relaxed, losing its tension, though her speech remained rapid. “Great, Master! Then should I jump down?”
“No need,” Jiang Xiechen replied. “I am sitting midway down the cliff. If you jump…”
A hint of amusement entered her voice. “I’m afraid I’ll fall straight to the bottom.”
Joking at a time like this? Wen Chiyue pouted in annoyance and said, “Then I will just fly down.”
“There is something strange about this place. I suspect you won’t be able to fly down,” Jiang Xiechen said, her voice completely calm.
Wen Chiyue refused to believe in such bad luck.
In truth, if possible, she could easily transform back into the sword spirit and return to the Qiushuang Sword. However, if things were truly as strange down there as her master suggested, combined with Fellow Daoist Chen being right beside them, Wen Chiyue was terrified that if she changed into a sword spirit, she wouldn’t be able to change back.
Wen Chiyue found a rope and tied it around her waist.
Fellow Daoist Chen offered eagerly, “Let me hold the other end. If you feel like something’s wrong, I’ll pull you right back up.”
Wen Chiyue glanced at Fellow Daoist Chen but didn’t answer, seemingly weighing her options in her mind.
Fellow Daoist Chen assumed Wen Chiyue was still holding a grudge over their previous argument, so he hurriedly explained, “Rest assured, you two saved my life, so I definitely won’t abandon you.”
No matter what motives that demon had for fleeing, or how Jiang Xiechen had fallen into the trap because of it, Fellow Daoist Chen felt he owed them a massive debt of gratitude. He added, “At the very least, let’s get Fellow Daoist Jiang up first. As for before, I want to apologize to you. My preconceptions about rogue cultivators biased me, and I offended you. I’m sorry.”
How could he have known that the Scarlet Blood Demon had actually been beaten into a miserable retreat by Jiang Xiechen, and had only appeared before Fellow Daoist Chen out of sheer desperation to use his blood to recover its strength?
Wen Chiyue frowned and asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Huh?”
“With your frail frame, there’s no way I’m trusting you with my life. Move aside.” Wen Chiyue bypassed Fellow Daoist Chen, selected a sturdy tree, wrapped the rope around it several times, and tied a secure knot. After tugging it a few times to test it, she returned to the cave entrance.
Fellow Daoist Chen looked at Wen Chiyue’s build.
Slender and delicate.
It couldn’t compare to his at all.
For a moment, Fellow Daoist Chen was utterly speechless. Seeing that Wen Chiyue was about to leap, he blurted out anxiously, “Then let me hold it for you anyway, just in case the rope breaks.”
“Ptooh, ptooh, ptooh! What a jinx. Are you intentionally trying to curse me?”
Sweat broke out on Fellow Daoist Chen’s forehead. “A misconception, a misconception! I only hoped that…”
He couldn’t finish his sentence.
He was afraid Wen Chiyue would think he was jinxing her on purpose again.
Seeing his awkward, conflicted look, Wen Chiyue suddenly burst out laughing. She patted Fellow Daoist Chen’s shoulder approvingly and said, “Alright, fine, you can hold it. But if you dare try any tricks, watch out or I’ll come back up and chop you to pieces.”
Though she was smiling, her eyes and actions were fierce, she clearly wasn’t joking.
Even though Fellow Daoist Chen was superior to Wen Chiyue in terms of both cultivation level and reputation, his posture involuntarily weakened when he met her gaze. He bowed slightly and said, “Understood, understood. Rest assured, I…”
He wanted to continue pledging his loyalty, but Wen Chiyue merely gave the rope two more tugs. Ensuring it was secure, she leapt down without a moment’s hesitation.
Fellow Daoist Chen followed her movements forward by a couple of steps, only to see pitch-black darkness inside the cave. He couldn’t see a thing, let alone the bottom.
Rather than a cave, it resembled an abyss. The dark opening was suffocating, and an icy chill seeped out from the ghostly depths.
Unprepared for the psychological shock, Fellow Daoist Chen fell backward onto the grass.
He muttered to himself, wondering how these two female cultivators could be so incredibly brave. To jump into such a deep, dark cavern without a second thought.
He pulled hard on the rope to ensure she was still attached.
However, the other end felt completely weightless.
Panic stricken, Fellow Daoist Chen rushed forward and shouted, “Fellow Daoist Jiang? Fellow Daoist Wen? Are you still down there?”
Only his own echo answered him.
There was indeed something wrong inside the cave.
The moment Wen Chiyue jumped down, her body grew heavy, clear evidence that her cultivation had vanished.
Even though she was mentally prepared, the feeling of having her strength drained was exceptionally uncomfortable for a sword spirit. She shouted, “Master, are you down there?”
Soon, Jiang Xiechen’s voice drifted up: “Yes.”
Wen Chiyue said straightforwardly, “I can see the bottom. Strange, is there an array at the cave entrance? Why couldn’t I see the bottom at all when I was up there?”
“Ah, Master, I see you! Wait for me, I’m coming down right now.”
Wen Chiyue loosened her grip on the rope, descending rapidly to Jiang Xiechen’s side.
“Master, I…” Wen Chiyue noticed a smudge on Jiang Xiechen’s face.
It must have been made when she accidentally touched her face while untying the white cloth.
Jiang Xiechen was a germaphobe who always kept herself immaculately clean. Moreover, she naturally exuded an aura of aloofness and strength.
She wasn’t like the grass on the ground that grew back whenever the spring breeze blew, found everywhere, nor was she like the snow in the sky, distant yet fragile.
Jiang Xiechen was more like a bamboo stalk that refused to bend.
A solitary one at that, even if the surroundings were burned to ash by a great fire, she would still stand proudly in place.
Wen Chiyue had never seen Jiang Xiechen look like this. Unable to stifle a laugh, she said, “Master, you have dust on your face.”
She pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the dirt from Jiang Xiechen’s face.
Compared to being close to the little sword spirit, Jiang Xiechen found the dirt on her body far more intolerable.
She sat unusually submissively on the small rock, letting the little sword spirit do as she pleased.
After wiping Jiang Xiechen’s face clean, Wen Chiyue folded the handkerchief a few times and put it away. She knelt halfway on the protruding rock, keeping her center of gravity anchored to the rope.
This rock was indeed very fragile. Weathered by time, it was covered in fractures. Wen Chiyue’s sharp eyes noticed that the cracks on the rock were widening. She pulled out the nearby Qiushuang Sword, sheared it back into its scabbard, and said, “Master, this rock is about to give way. Hold onto me tightly, I’ll take you up.”
At the same time, Wen Chiyue yelled upward, “We’re ready! Pull me up!”
However, she waited for a long time without receiving any response from Fellow Daoist Chen.
Wen Chiyue shouted once more, but still received no answer from Fellow Daoist Chen. She couldn’t help but complain, “And he claimed he wouldn’t let us down. Don’t tell me he ran away? Good thing I tied the rope to the tree.”
She yanked the rope, but it slid right down with a whoosh.
Wen Chiyue stared blankly at the rope, saying fuming, “Did he cut my rope? No way! We literally just saved his life, how can this guy have zero integrity? If I had known, I would have killed him before the Scarlet Blood Demon could, just to break even.”
As her anger flared, her eyes turned even redder.
Jiang Xiechen shook her head. “This place and the surface are two different worlds. It shouldn’t be Fellow Daoist Chen’s doing.”
“But when I was up there, wasn’t I still able to talk to you, Master?” Wen Chiyue scratched her head.
This was precisely why Jiang Xiechen had allowed Wen Chiyue to jump down in the first place.
Thinking back on it now, it was probably because Wen Chiyue was her bound life source sword.
Since going up was out of the question, they could only go down.
Wen Chiyue grit her teeth and said, “Forget it, let’s go down. The rock is going to break sooner or later anyway. Rather than plunging unexpectedly while suspended in midair, it’s better if I carry you down. I can see the bottom clearly.”
Wen Chiyue looked at Jiang Xiechen.
Tugging the rope, she stepped onto the rock and twisted her body to use the leverage, saying, “Master, let me carry you down on my back.”
She had completely abandoned the idea of turning back into the Qiushuang Sword to carry Jiang Xiechen down.
She lacked any cultivation now, if she really transformed back into the Qiushuang Sword, it would likely just be a “useless sword” devoid of spiritual energy and power. It was better to maintain her human form, where she might still be of great help at a critical moment.
She crouched down half-way and waited for a while, but Jiang Xiechen didn’t climb on. Confused, she turned her head back, and sudden realization dawned on her. “Oh, is the standing area too small for you to get on?”
After all, her master couldn’t see anything.
Ultimately, Wen Chiyue’s only goal was to prevent Jiang Xiechen from bumping into the surrounding rocks during the descent, so any posture worked. Turning back around completely, she said, “Then let me carry you down in my arms.”
She slipped her hands beneath Jiang Xiechen’s knees, executing a blatant princess carry.
Jiang Xiechen said, “Wait!”
There was no time to wait.
Exerting her strength, Wen Chiyue hoisted her up and warned, “Master, I’m jumping down now?”
Jiang Xiechen didn’t make a sound.
Tucking her head in, her body went completely rigid, and she remained silent for a long time.