The rustling sound grew closer and closer, and Lin Shuang’s fingertips were already pressed against her hilt. She narrowed her eyes, extending her divine sense toward the source of the noise—this was definitely not the movement of an ordinary demonic beast.
“Something is coming,” she warned in a low voice, but her words were drowned out by the sound of Cang Dongqing’s laughing and chatting.
Lin Qingyu was busily peeling a spirit fruit for Cang Dongqing. He didn't even look up as he spoke, “What danger has Senior Sister Lin discovered this time? It wouldn't happen to be another dangerous spirit plant like yesterday, would it?”
The others burst into laughter. Cang Dongqing covered her mouth and chuckled, a flicker of smugness crossing her eyes.
Lin Shuang said nothing more, silently moving to the outermost edge of the group.
A thin layer of frost formed on her scabbard—an instinctive reaction of her sword qi sensing danger.
“Ah!” A sudden scream tore through the night sky.
A disciple on the perimeter had his body twisted grotesquely, as if wrung like a piece of dough by an invisible hand.
Blood erupted from his seven orifices, appearing an eerie purple-black under the moonlight.
“Enemy attack!” Qu Chen was the first to react. His long sword left its sheath, and the pressure of the mid-grade Golden Core stage exploded outward. Where his sword qi swept, more than a dozen ancient trees were snapped in half, forcing a dark figure to reveal itself.
But it was too late.
By the time the second scream rang out, everyone finally saw the attackers.
A man as thin and tall as a bamboo pole floated out from the shadows of the trees. His ten fingers were hooked like claws, and each finger was wrapped with fine, visible threads. Qu Chen held his blade horizontally in front of him and asked in a heavy voice, “Who are you? Why have you ambushed the disciples of the Sword Heart Sect?”
“Jie-jie-jie…” The evil cultivator let out a strange laugh. “Why ask so many questions when you’re already dying?”
At the same time, the fine threads in his hands moved. Those lines were connected to the two fallen disciples. As his fingers twitched slightly, the corpses of the two disciples stood up like marionettes.
“An evil cultivator!” Le Changxi’s face changed drastically. He also quickly drew his life-bound sword, forming a hand seal to release a spiritual energy shield to protect everyone.
The tall, thin man grinned, revealing a mouth full of black teeth. “Good eyes. However, you are still going to be refined into my new puppet.”
The remaining disciples couldn't care about anything else now, quickly huddling together according to instructions. But a second dark shadow suddenly tunneled out from the ground—it was an exceptionally burly man who thrust his hands directly through the dantians of two disciples.
Lin Shuang’s sword light arrived just in time, her ice-attribute sword qi at the late-grade Foundation Establishment stage freezing the burly man’s right arm. But the man gave a cruel laugh, and the frozen arm snapped off with a crack, only for a new arm to wriggle out from the wound.
“Substitute Technique?” Lin Qingyu’s face turned pale. As a pill cultivator, he hurriedly threw out a handful of poison powder, but it had no effect when it landed on the burly man.
Qu Chen was locked in combat with the tall, thin man. Both were at the mid-grade Golden Core stage, and he was the only one here who could contend with him.
A fight at the Golden Core stage caused the spiritual energy within a thirty-zhang radius to fluctuate violently. Every collision between the sword blade and the puppet threads made everyone’s blood churn. Because Qu Chen was concerned about his fellow juniors, he didn't dare to go all out. However, the tall, thin man had no such scruples, striking with full force every time. Gradually, Qu Chen fell into a disadvantage.
Meanwhile, a disciple at the early-grade Foundation Establishment stage was unable to dodge in time and had his heart vessels shattered by the shockwaves.
“Junior Brother Liu!” Qu Chen was startled. In that moment of distraction, he was struck and sent flying by the tall, thin man, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
“Third Senior Brother!” Cang Dongqing cried out in alarm. She was about to rush over when Le Changxi pulled her by the arm and shielded her behind him.
“Puchi!”
The sound of splashing blood erupted abruptly behind her. It turned out the tall, thin man had taken advantage of Qu Chen being knocked back to shoot out dozens of blood-colored threads. The two disciples originally standing behind Cang Dongqing were instantly pierced through their foreheads and fell straight down.
Cang Dongqing broke into a cold sweat. If she hadn't been pulled away by her fourth senior brother, the one dead would have been her.
“Stop dazing off!” Lin Shuang roared. “Get back into formation!”
By now, Qu Chen had re-engaged the tall, thin man, while the others on the other side were also having a hard time.
Now, the four of them had to deal with an evil cultivator at the Golden Core stage—an evil cultivator who didn't fear poison and could regenerate limbs. Their chances of winning were pathetically low.
Lin Shuang gritted her teeth and shifted her sword's edge. Her frost sword qi erupted, instantly freezing the ground into a thick layer of ice crystals.
The burly man’s movements noticeably slowed, and his newly grown arm was covered in frost, its regeneration speed greatly reduced.
“Le Changxi!” Lin Shuang shouted. “Use fire to attack the place where he regenerates!”
Le Changxi understood her intent. His life-bound sword ignited with scorching flames, and a fire dragon lunged straight at the burly man’s severed arm. Beside him, Lin Qingyu wasn't idle either, quickly using vines to entwine the man’s legs in an attempt to restrain his movements.
The clash of fire and ice produced a piercing explosive sound. The burly man let out a roar of pain as his new arm twisted and deformed under the combined assault.
The pain drove the man into a frenzy. He slammed a fist into the ground, and the resulting shockwave sent everyone flying. Le Changxi’s shield shattered instantly, and Lin Qingyu was also heavily knocked back.
“It’s still not working! His regenerative ability is too strong!” Le Changxi gritted his teeth, a trace of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
Lin Shuang’s eyes turned cold as frost condensed on her sword. She shouted, “I’ll pin him down, you guys find an opening!”
Her figure was like lightning, her sword light like snow. Her frost sword qi coiled around the burly man’s legs, attempting to freeze his movements.
However, the man gave a cruel laugh, his muscles bulging as he forcefully shattered the ice. He swung a fist back toward Lin Shuang!
“Senior Sister Lin, watch your left!” Cang Dongqing’s cry came from behind her.
Lin Shuang hadn't retracted her sword yet and instinctively tried to dodge. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cang Dongqing pressed right behind her—too close!
A dark blue dagger slid from the girl's sleeve, its edge pointed squarely at the burly man’s dantian.
But the tip of her elbow secretly jabbed out, accurately hitting the mingmen acupoint on Lin Shuang’s lower back.
“I’ll make use of you, Senior Sister,” the whispered voice in her ear was as faint as a hallucination.
Lin Shuang’s spiritual energy stalled. The burly man’s claws had already pierced her right abdomen, and blood sprayed onto Cang Dongqing’s snow-white collar like a string of blooming red plums.
“Die!” Cang Dongqing gave a sharp cry and plunged her dagger in with precision. The burly man trembled violently. Under the dual attack of extreme pain and toxins, he was momentarily unable to use his spiritual energy to regenerate.
“Now’s our chance!” Le Changxi shouted.
Ignoring the searing pain in her abdomen, Lin Shuang used her spiritual energy to forcefully freeze the wound. She raised her sword again, pouring all her power into a strike toward the burly man’s head. Although the gap in their cultivation was too large and the damage was limited, this was exactly what she needed.
With a loud crack, ice crystals spread rapidly, freezing the burly man’s entire head in the blink of an eye.
Le Changxi’s flames followed immediately. Under the clash of ice and fire, the man’s head exploded.
On the other side, seeing his companion fall, the tall, thin man gave a strange cry. He jerked his ten fingers, and the seven corpses he was controlling exploded simultaneously. In the mist of blood, countless blood-colored threads shot toward everyone like a torrential rain.
“Retreat!”
Qu Chen swung his sword into a screen, barely blocking most of the attacks, but two blood threads still broke through the defense.
One grazed Le Changxi’s shoulder, drawing a spray of blood. The other went straight for Lin Shuang’s heart.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Shuang twisted her body to avoid her vitals. The blood thread pierced her left shoulder. The intense pain made her vision go dark, but she still gripped her long sword tightly, refusing to let go.
Seeing this, the tall, thin man gave a sinister smile. “You little brats of the Sword Heart Sect, this debt will be repaid another day!”
Before his voice had finished echoing, his body suddenly exploded into a cloud of black mist and vanished into the night.
“Don't chase him!” Le Changxi stopped Qu Chen, who was about to pursue. “Beware of a lure.”
Lin Shuang slowly sank to her knees, blood constantly welling up between her fingers.
Cang Dongqing seemed to snap out of a dream, hurriedly taking out healing pills as she ran over.
“Senior Sister Lin, quickly take this…”
Lin Shuang gave her a cold look, taking out an ice-blue pill from her own storage bag and swallowing it. A thin layer of ice immediately formed over the wound, stopping the bleeding.
Cang Dongqing suddenly stumbled a few steps. A silver needle hidden in her sleeve slashed across her palm, and blood instantly stained half of her sleeve red.
“It’s my fault for being useless… I let Senior Sister get hurt…” She knelt in the pool of blood and sobbed, while her fingertips quietly flicked a blood-stained silver needle into the grass.
“Nonsense!” Le Changxi predictably grabbed her trembling shoulders to support her. “You did well enough. If you hadn't decisively struck his vitals…”
“That poisoned blade…” Lin Shuang had just opened her mouth while clutching her shoulder when she was interrupted by Lin Qingyu.
“Fellow Daoist Lin should focus on healing first.” He gently fed Cang Dongqing a pill. “Junior Sister Dongqing remained calm in the face of danger, she really is…”
“I saw it,” Lin Shuang sneered. “She pushed me…”
“Does Senior Sister still hold a grudge against me?” Cang Dongqing suddenly threw herself at Lin Shuang’s feet, her blood-stained sleeve brushing against the wound. “At that time, I just wanted to find help in my desperation. If I caused Senior Sister to misunderstand…” She actually looked like she was about to kowtow.
Qu Chen grabbed Cang Dongqing and pulled her up. “You saved everyone's lives, why are you kneeling!” He turned to glare at Lin Shuang. “I’ve heard you were narrow-minded, but I didn't expect you to be like this even at a moment of life and death…”
Looking at Cang Dongqing’s triumphant smile hidden behind her hair, Lin Shuang suddenly felt her wounds hurt even more.
She really didn't understand. Even though the truth was right in front of them, why did they still side with Cang Dongqing? Were these still the fellow disciples she used to know? Or had they always been like this and she just hadn't noticed?
The more she thought about it, the more bitter she felt. Looking at the mess on the ground, she simply closed her eyes to regulate her breathing.
Meanwhile, Le Changxi scanned the severed limbs on the ground with a dark expression. “Send a message to the sect immediately.” He looked in the direction where the tall, thin man had disappeared, the veins on his hand gripping the sword bulging. “This isn't over.”
On a distant treetop, the tall, thin man silently watched all this.
He no longer looked like he was fleeing in panic; instead, he wore a wicked smile.
“Fools are so easy to deceive.” He rubbed the token in his hand. “It’s just as well that you died, so I don't have to find a way to finish you off. This way, the master’s plan is complete. Although there were some deviations in the process… the result is the same.”
Saying that, he took another deep look at where Cang Dongqing was standing.
“The child of fortune, heh…”
At this moment, no one knew that the evil cultivator was still spying on them in the dark. Fortunately, they had Lin Qingyu from the Shenmu Sect in their group this time. He was currently distributing his pills one by one. Everyone agreed that, except for the most heavily injured Lin Shuang, the others would take turns keeping watch, and they would leave this place as soon as they recovered the next morning.
Since they hadn't entered the inner-middle region of the Forest of Demonic Beasts and were still in the outer area, and added with the aura of a Golden Core stage cultivator’s battle, no shortsighted demonic beasts would dare approach.
The next morning, everyone opened their eyes one after another. By now, although Lin Shuang’s injuries were still serious, they no longer hindered her ability to walk normally. The first thing she did upon waking was to slowly walk toward the blood-stained area to search for something.
Cang Dongqing frowned slightly with disgust, but she still put on a considerate act.
“Senior Sister Lin, what are you looking for? It’s so dirty here, you shouldn't touch it.”
Lin Shuang just gave her a cold sideways glance, silently digging out pieces of clothing and disciple tokens from the soil. Although they had once spoken rudely to her, as fellow disciples, they had also chatted happily with her. Now that they had died resisting the evil cultivators, she couldn't leave them in the Forest of Demonic Beasts to be eaten. She wanted to bring them back to the sect.
“Senior Sister Lin…” Cang Dongqing instantly realized she had said the wrong thing. But Le Changxi and Qu Chen also rarely failed to defend her, simply starting to search silently as well. Only Cang Dongqing was left standing there with a pale face.
Just as Cang Dongqing finally made up her mind to start digging as well, a burst of golden radiance suddenly erupted in the distance.
“That is…!”
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