Getting Separated

As their footsteps echoed deeper into the cave, more and more hideous, terrifying demon beasts and evil spirits surged out from the darkness.

Everyone stood ready, unleashing their respective skills. In an instant, sword light, spells, and the roars of the foul creatures intertwined as a heavy stench of blood filled the cavern.

Possessing the highest cultivation among the group, Yun Feng naturally led the team. Eager to show off his strength in front of Shi Yu, his figure blurred as he leapt into the air and swooped down, unleashing a sword technique as swift and fierce as a torrential storm. His performance drew a wave of cheers from his fellow clan members.

“Way to go, Third Brother!”

“As expected of Young Master Three!”

Yun Feng looked toward Shi Yu with subtle pride in his eyes, only to find that she hadn't spared him a single glance, entirely focused on slaying enemies on her own.

What was more, her offensive might was not a bit weaker than his. Whether slashing with her curved blade in close quarters or casting ranged spells, her explosive flames swept across the area, clearing an open space in mere moments.

With strength like this... she would be considered a standout even among the younger generation of our Yun Clan. Thinking of her age, Yun Feng's brows gradually furrowed as a rare sense of frustration welled up within him.

Then, Yun Feng realized that his cousin Yun Ran, who usually clung to him all day, wasn't hovering around him either.

Yun Ran possessed an Earth-attribute Spiritual Meridian and excelled in defensive spells. Usually, she would be the first to step forward and raise a spiritual Qi shield for him. Yet right now, she was casting one defensive spell after another onto Shi Yu.

While Yun Feng was left baffled and frustrated, Shi Yu brushed past Yun Ran, slicing through a demon bat sneaking up from behind the young woman.

“Thank you,” Yun Ran mumbled softly before her gaze suddenly sharpened. “Watch out!”

The red silk ribbon in her hands suddenly extended, wrapping around Shi Yu's waist and pulling her toward herself, allowing Shi Yu to narrowly dodge an attack from another ambushing demon beast.

Borrowing the pulling force of the red ribbon, Shi Yu threw her blade, finishing off the demon beast before landing gracefully.

Yun Ran supported her shoulders to help steady her landing.

The two of them were gradually falling into a remarkably fluid rhythm together.

Shi Yu was quite young, a few years younger than Yun Ran and half a head shorter. As Yun Ran's nose brushed against the dark hair atop Shi Yu's head, her face instantly flushed red, and she flusterly pushed Shi Yu a short distance away.

Before Shi Yu could turn around in confusion, Yun Ran hastily cast a few more defensive spells onto her. “M-More evil spirits ahead!”

...

When the wave of attacks finally subsided, everyone was left somewhat out of breath.

Yun Feng took out several bottles of pills and called everyone over to hand out a few pills to each person.

Finally, he turned to Shi Yu, intending to offer her some as well. “Miss Shi, these Body-Defending Pills and Instant-Power Pills are quite effective—”

“Cousin, those pills were refined by Miss Shi in the first place,” Yun Ran chimed in from the side with a cold reminder.

Only then did Yun Feng remember that these two types of pills were precisely what his clan had commissioned Shi Yu to refine. How could she possibly lack them? He awkwardly put them back. “Everyone rest here for a moment before we head deeper.”

Exhausted, the crowd responded in unison, “Yes.”

Shi Yu did not rest. The technique she cultivated, the 《Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Record》, was profoundly mysterious; her internal spiritual Qi was pure and dense, and circulating her technique restored her spiritual energy much faster than others. At the moment, she felt hardly depleted at all.

Swallowing a Qi-Restoring Pill, Shi Yu picked up her spirit stone lamp and walked through the field of corpses, slicing off any useful materials with her blade and tossing them into the Fate-Tapping Bell.

Naturally, Shi Yu did not want to let them go to waste.

Being used to receiving clan stipends, most of these noble clan youths looked down on scattered spiritual materials. Seeing Shi Yu—a wealthy alchemist—rummaging through corpses without the slightest disgust, they couldn't help but exchange glances.

However, a few disciples with mediocre talent who were neglected by their clan paused for a moment before following her lead, searching for useful materials themselves.

Originally, they had hesitated out of fear of being ridiculed by the upper-class young masters, but now...

Even Miss Shi, whom Young Master Yun Feng goes out of his way to fawn over, is doing this. What do we have to be embarrassed about? they thought to themselves.

Even Yun Ran, who was quite repulsed by such filth, hesitated briefly upon seeing this before silently stepping forward to join the harvest.

Shi Yu gathered several more bundles of Red-Eyed Demon Spider silk and cut off numerous venom sacs from poisonous insects, all of which would prove useful in the future.

An hour later, having rested up, the group continued forward.

The path ahead began to change. The deeper they went, the darker it grew, until even their light sources gradually ceased to work properly.

Even holding her spirit stone lamp, Shi Yu could only illuminate three feet around her. “It's as if the light is being swallowed.”

Walking ahead with a night-luminescent pearl in hand, Yun Feng spoke cautiously, “Miss Shi, once we cross this dark path, light will lie ahead. There is an Enlightenment Mirror there where we can temper our state of mind.”

Saying this, he raised his voice to warn the group, “Remember, hold onto each other's sleeves! Under no circumstances should anyone get separated!”

Everyone followed his instructions, taking hold of one another's sleeves in a line.

Yun Feng offered Shi Yu a smile and was about to hold out his sleeve for her when Yun Ran beat him to it.

Her weapon was a red silk ribbon. Wrapping one end firmly around her own wrist, she handed the other end to Shi Yu.

Shi Yu wrapped it several times around her hand as well. This way, whenever she moved her wrist, she could feel the tugging force from the red ribbon.

Avoiding her gaze, Yun Ran muttered in a muffled voice, “Hold tight. Don't let go.”

Yun Feng awkwardly drew his hand back and cleared his throat. “Let me lead the way.”

Taking just two or three steps forward, complete darkness swallowed their surroundings.

Shi Yu looked down to see that the spirit stone lamp in her hand had gone out entirely, unable to emit even a sliver of light. She stowed the lamp back into the Fate-Tapping Bell, gripping the red ribbon with one hand and the Hidden Hatred Flute with the other.

It was as if her vision had been completely stripped away, leaving her utterly blind. A tug came from her palm as Yun Ran's voice sounded nearby, “I won't let go, so don't wander off either.”

Shi Yu gave a soft hum of agreement and fumbled her way forward.

In the darkness, beyond her vision, even her hearing seemed to fade gradually.

An eerie silence enveloped her. Though there were over a dozen people in their group, even footsteps were barely audible now. Only the pull from the other end of the red silk ribbon reminded Shi Yu that someone was still by her side.

...

This dark passage was quite long. After walking for roughly the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a faint glimmer of light finally appeared ahead.

“Miss Yun,” Shi Yu called out. Realizing that Yun Ran likely couldn't hear her with her hearing temporarily stripped, she tugged on the red ribbon instead.

Immediately, a tug came back from the other end, setting Shi Yu's mind at ease.

Stepping out once more, the darkness vanished in an instant as an incomparably dazzling light suddenly enveloped the world.

Shi Yu squeezed her eyes shut against the blinding glare, yet the light penetrated her eyelids, keeping everything brilliantly bright even with her eyes closed.

She tightened her grip on the red ribbon as a violent tremor shook her body, nearly knocking her off balance.

With great effort, as the tremor subsided and the glare slowly dissipated, Shi Yu's eyelashes fluttered before she opened her eyes.

“Miss Yun—” She was about to check on the others, but the moment she turned her head, Shi Yu froze.

There was no one beside her.

Yun Feng was gone, Yun Ran was gone—everyone had vanished.

Shi Yu looked down to see that the red silk ribbon in her palm had been cut at some unknown moment, leaving only a short piece wrapped around her hand, its spiritual glow extinguished and dull.

When did we get separated? Up until she stepped into the light, she had clearly felt the tension on the ribbon.

Stowing the severed ribbon, Shi Yu recalled Yun Feng's explicit warning before entering the realm—that getting separated would trigger all kinds of strange occurrences. Gripping her hilt tightly, she surveyed her surroundings with utmost caution.

Right at that moment, a sudden wave of drowsiness assailed her, catching her completely off guard.

“Ngh!” Stumbling two steps, she collapsed onto the ground as her vision spun wildly.

Biting the tip of her tongue, Shi Yu tried to use the pain to stay conscious. The taste of blood spread through her mouth, but the drowsiness proved impossible to dispel.

Soon, her eyelashes trembled before her eyes sank firmly shut.