The atmosphere eased slightly once more. For a long while, no one spoke.
As the sky grew dark, Liu Qingyang silently lit a bonfire.
Zhou Zichun closed his eyes, his fingertips digging deep into his palms. His voice was hoarse, sounding like sandpaper rubbing together.
"Five days ago, eleven of us followed Senior Sister Chu to gather herbs in Clear Stream Valley. We originally wanted to ask the Sword Heart Sect cultivators to protect us, but they refused on the grounds that they didn't have enough manpower and had to protect their little junior sister."
Li Nanzhu and the others couldn't help but exchange glances. Could it be Cang Dongqing?
Whatever Zhou Zichun thought of next made him let out a bitter laugh. "So, we hired the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group from the town on the outskirts of the Forest of Demonic Beasts to escort us."
A sudden clap of thunder exploded outside the cave, and a flash of lightning illuminated his deathly pale face.
The tragedy of that day surfaced before his eyes again—the blood-colored charms that suddenly exploded in the morning mist, the head of the mercenary captain flying high while his face was still frozen in a furious roar.
"When those black-robed men appeared, the Iron Wolf captain had just sliced open the first vermilion face fruit," Shen Qingqiu suddenly interjected, her eyes unfocused as she stared at the bonfire. "They wore black robes, and we didn't know where they came from. They just suddenly attacked us with everything they had."
Li Nanzhu and Zhu Yinxi quickly exchanged looks. Black robes... they were likely part of the same group as the evil cultivator they had killed before. He truly did have companions.
"The mercenary group's spirit shields were like wet paper," Tao Ying suddenly clutched her hem nervously. "Uncle Wang held up his shield and yelled for us to run. The next second, his head... it rolled to my feet..."
Lin Xiaowan began to tremble violently. Shen Qingqiu hurriedly took her hand.
The girl's palms were covered in cold sweat, and dark red residue remained under her fingernails—bloodied mud she had dug out of the ground while dragging her injured fellow disciples to escape.
"The swarm of iron-toothed rats erupted from underground," Senior Brother Zhao, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "They used some unknown method to control them. Senior Brother Ji used vines to swing us up into the trees, but the rats... the rats gnawed his legs until only white bone remained..."
Li Nanzhu discreetly hid the bones that Suisui had turned into behind her back.
Although Suisui was just a pile of bones now, the shape of those bones, once assembled, could still be recognized as an iron-toothed rat. If these disciples saw Suisui now, it would likely provoke these already mentally unstable survivors.
Suisui's intelligence seemed to be growing higher and higher. When they first brought the Shenmu Sect disciples back, it had consciously turned into a pile of scattered bones, avoiding their attention.
Tao Ying shook even harder, and Lin Xiaowan quickly embraced her. This senior sister, who was usually lively and fond of laughing, now had eyes filled only with shattered light. "Senior brother, he... he lured the rats away by himself... We heard him screaming, over and over..." At this point, she choked up again, almost unable to make a sound.
Only heavy breathing remained in the cave. Duan Xianxing unconsciously rubbed the hilt of his sword, the new scratches on it stinging his fingertips.
"What happened after that?" Li Nanzhu asked softly.
Senior Brother Zhao suddenly punched the stone wall, his knuckles instantly becoming a bloody mess. "We ran for an entire day! Senior Sister Lin said we should split up, and she took a communication jade slip and headed east..." His voice cut off abruptly. Everyone knew what that implied.
Suppressed sobs echoed in the cave. Liu Qingyang silently added some wood to the fire. The flames cast the distorted shadows of the group onto the stone wall, looking like a cluster of struggling lost souls.
"Among us, the one with the highest cultivation was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment... but to cover for us disciples... one by one..." Shen Qingqiu finally choked up, unable to speak further.
"Before we met you," Zhou Zichun finally let out a long breath and continued, "we didn't know why... but every time we were about to escape, demonic beasts would appear and drive us deeper into the Forest of Demonic Beasts. Later, we even encountered spirit-siphoning fire ants."
"Senior Sister Chu..." Lin Xiaowan finally lost control of her emotions, and her long-repressed tears finally fell. "To let the few of us escape, she stayed behind at the very end to block the spirit-siphoning fire ants. I... I..."
"Senior Sister Chu..." Lin Xiaowan's voice suddenly caught in her throat as if her breath had been snatched away. Her fingers scratched her own arms in a spasm, leaving several bloody marks on her skin. "She... she clearly could have run... She clearly..."
The next second, she lunged toward the ground, her forehead slamming hard against the stone floor. A dull thud was followed by the sound of bone hitting stone, and blood immediately snaked down from her hairline.
"Immortal lady! I beg you! She must still be alive! Those ants... those ants couldn't have eaten her that fast! She's so gentle and kind, how could she die so easily? I beg you, take me back to save her!" Her voice was so hoarse it no longer sounded human, like an agonizing wail squeezed out from the depths of her chest.
Shen Qingqiu lunged forward to pull her back, but Lin Xiaowan's strength was surprisingly great. Her nails dug into the stone crevices, her knuckles turning white, as if she were trying to nail herself to the ground.
Shen Qingqiu finally broke down as well, hugging her waist tightly, her voice trembling. "Xiaowan! Stop! Stop! Senior Sister Chu... Senior Sister Chu wouldn't want to see you like this!"
"I... I didn't mean to. I know, I need to be strong, but Senior Sister Shen, I really can't control it! I can't control it, Senior Sister! It hurts so much, my heart hurts so much! Why wasn't it me who died? I could have gone to block them instead of her, why didn't I stay behind!!"
Li Nanzhu watched Lin Xiaowan struggling in Shen Qingqiu's arms in silence. She actually understood Lin Xiaowan's current state of mind; it was just like the ruins and corpses she had seen for the first time on the battlefield. Not to mention, the one who died this time was someone close to her.
She could tell that Lin Xiaowan must have been treated well within her sect. From their brief interactions, she could feel the girl had been raised with a certain innocence. This trip shouldn't have been very risky for her.
If it wasn't for the evil cultivators...
Evil cultivators!
The term was crushed to dust between her teeth. How could those maggots hiding under black robes treat human lives so cheaply?
Li Nanzhu's fingers unconsciously gripped her hem, the fabric wrinkling in her palm.
As she watched Lin Xiaowan cry until she nearly fainted, her throat felt blocked, making even breathing difficult.
The bonfire crackled, reflecting the heavy expressions of everyone present.
Liu Qingyang suddenly thought of something and spoke tentatively, "When you came out for this trial, was the highest cultivation really only at the late stage of Foundation Establishment?"
Zhou Zichun shook his head with a grimace. "We were originally led by our inner sect eldest senior brother. His cultivation was at the early stage of the Golden Core stage, but..."
"But he abandoned you to go with the people from the Sword Heart Sect, didn't he?" Li Nanzhu suddenly asked.
Zhou Zichun closed his eyes powerlessly. Having their own chief disciple run off to join another sect was humiliating enough, but now even outsiders knew about it.
"For Cang Dongqing?" Li Nanzhu added.
Zhou Zichun was completely stunned. How did she know? His gaze couldn't help but shift slightly.
Li Nanzhu waved her hand. "I've had quite a few conflicts with Cang Dongqing. Back at the inn, she tried to strike up a conversation with Fellow Daoist Liu but failed." As she spoke, she glanced at Zhou Zichun. "Besides, everyone knows about the rumors involving her and the Wuji Sect's direct disciple that were spreading like wildfire recently. It's easy to guess that your senior brother must have followed her."
The expressions of the Shenmu Sect disciples turned ugly. Although they knew the fault might not lie entirely with Cang Dongqing, the thought of her rumors combined with her current behavior made them feel resentful toward her.
She clearly knew Lin Qingyu was the lead senior brother and the one with the highest cultivation, yet she still agreed to let him accompany her.
If Lin Qingyu hadn't run off, perhaps... perhaps they wouldn't have lost six of their fellow disciples.
"If I can make it back alive," Zhou Zichun gritted his teeth fiercely, "I will definitely report his actions to the sect!"
Li Nanzhu glanced at him but didn't say anything more. If it were up to her, she would want to kill him directly to eliminate any future trouble.
While she didn't enjoy killing, it didn't mean she wouldn't do it. The act of abandoning one's own junior brothers and sisters for someone else was loathsome enough. Did he not know how dangerous the Forest of Demonic Beasts was? He knew perfectly well, yet he still chose to abandon the disciples he lived with day and night.
Furthermore, he was following Cang Dongqing, who would surely be finding ways to trick him into dealing with Li Nanzhu. Based on the original story's description of the heroine, Cang Dongqing didn't actually care for such inner sect disciples; most were just cannon fodder to her.
Thinking more darkly, if he realized that six of his fellow disciples had died because of him, he would face severe punishment upon his return.
So... he might just kill the rest of them to cover it up, faking a scenario where he was the only survivor rescued by Sword Heart Sect disciples. Then, no one would ever know the truth, because the people who knew would all be dead.
However, Li Nanzhu wouldn't tell them this. To these people, she was just their savior. No matter how their senior brother acted, it wasn't her place to judge. If things really reached that point, it wouldn't be too late to lend them a hand.
Zhu Yinxi spun his jade flute around his fingertips, his voice low and calm. "Is the target of the evil cultivators you, or the Shenmu Sect?"
The topic changed so quickly that the others didn't react immediately. Zhou Zichun was the first to speak.
"We... we are just ordinary outer sect disciples. We don't have any valuable treasures on us."
"Unless..." Shen Qingqiu suddenly thought of something, her voice trembling. "Unless they were after..."
"After what?" Duan Xianxing frowned.
Shen Qingqiu bit her lip, appearing uncertain. "We came out this time to collect moonlight grass and vermilion face fruits. These two spiritual herbs... are the main ingredients for refining purifying spirit pills."
"Purifying spirit pills?" Liu Qingyang was startled. "Aren't those pills specifically used to purify the corruption of evil qi?"
Zhu Yinxi's gaze suddenly turned cold. "What evil cultivators fear most are things that can counter their evil arts."
The Shenmu Sect disciples' faces instantly turned pale. If that was the case, they had been victims of a premeditated ambush.
Zhou Zichun's face was ashen. "Then... doesn't that mean everyone else in the sect is also in danger?"
The cave fell back into a dead silence, save for Lin Xiaowan's low sobbing.
"Instead of worrying about the people in your sect," Zhu Yinxi raised his eyes slightly, "you should worry about how you're going to get out of here first."
"I have another idea," Li Nanzhu said, rubbing her sleeve, her expression obscured in the shadows of the bonfire.
"What idea?"
Rate on N.U.
