Chapter 34 034 Human tongues aren't that cold

When her mouth and nose were filled with cold water, Lu Yuanyuan thought she would become a drowned corpse.

But she didn't.

In her hazy state of consciousness, she smelled the metallic taste in her mouth, the blood from her lips caused by the impact of falling into the water. Feeling something uncomfortable on one side of her body, she slowly opened her eyes and found herself curled up on a small, shallow beach by the water's edge.

The shallows were covered with small, dark gray pebbles, and the river water was icy cold, ebb and flow in the crevices between the rocks. The hem of her dress hung in the crevice, swaying with the ripples.

In her memory, before the white crane boat capsized, she was pulled out by Yin Xiaozhu. At first, he was carrying her on his sword, but when they were almost at the bottom of the valley, it was likely that some monster came chasing and attacking them, and the sword-riding technique suddenly failed, causing her and Yin Xiaozhu to fall into the water together.

"..." If she weren't half-dead, if the system had a physical form, Lu Yuanyuan would definitely be grabbing the other party by the collar and demanding an explanation: "Didn't I wear the Immortal Silkworm Robe? What happened to the 99.99% damage reduction?"

The system said in a serious tone, "This is already a result of reducing the damage by 99.99%. Otherwise, with your current physical condition, it would be difficult to avoid fractures, let alone just ruptured capillaries in your mouth."

After checking, Lu Yuanyuan discovered that the effects of the Immortal Silkworm Robe had worn off. It seemed a day and a night had passed since the incident. She didn't know where she had been swept away by the flowing water; no wonder she was so hungry.

This place was at the bottom of the Floating Pagoda Valley, shrouded in mist that obscured the sun and made it impossible to distinguish day from night. Just then, a dark figure approached her along the water's edge.

Lu Yuanyuan's heart tightened, and she secretly gripped a stone with her right hand, extremely vigilant. But the next second, Yin Xiaozhu emerged from the mist.

Her clothes were soaking wet, clinging to her body. Her long, black hair was swept to one side of her chest, with a few strands sticking to her neck, messy and wavy. As she walked over, she reached out and wrung out the dripping ends of her hair.

The thick fog seemed to have cast a gray and blue filter over everything. Yin Xiaozhu's thin face looked pale and inhuman than usual, and she had no smile. Her lips were extremely red, like a beautiful ghost that had just crawled out of the water to the human world.

Lu Yuanyuan released the stone from her hand, her eyelids growing heavier, and she murmured weakly, "...Senior Sister."

When she awoke again, she found herself in a cave. The cave was deep and spacious, with no firelight, only the dim moonlight providing illumination. The stone floor was dry, but her clothes were still wet, and she was uncovered. Her face was pale with cold, and a chilling, bone-deep cold seeped into her body, causing her teeth to chatter.

Without a doubt, Yin Xiaozhu must have carried her here. But where is she now?

Lu Yuanyuan felt as if her body weighed a ton, and suddenly, goosebumps rose on her arms. She sensed something else inside the cave. Something touched her lips, and something cold crept in.

For a brief two seconds, Lu Yuanyuan didn't understand what was happening. The next instant, her eyes widened, and she trembled like a leaf.

The surrounding environment was too dark, and she couldn't see anything.

The only thing that can be confirmed is that the other party is not Yin Xiaozhu, and is definitely not human.

What appeared to be a lip on her lips was actually a human tongue, but a human tongue is not so cold and long.

The unknown fear and despair overwhelmed her, breaking her nerves and making her fearless. Lu Yuanyuan was enraged; she opened her mouth and tried to bite the other person, wanting to tear off a piece of flesh. She tasted blood, but it was useless. Because she couldn't breathe, the air entering her chest grew increasingly thin.

Her wrist was quickly pinned down as well. She could clearly feel the other person's hand; its texture was inhuman, rough and cold. Angrily, she raised her leg to kick, her knee striking the other person's waist. After only a few kicks, she felt a warm current enter her flesh from her lips and tongue, and her entire body quickly warmed up.

For someone who had just been soaking in water for a long time and was frozen stiff, this warmth was like a godsend. But gradually, the warmth turned into scorching torture. Lu Yuanyuan's body became hotter and hotter, as if she had been thrown into a sea of ​​fire. Every bit of flesh and moisture was evaporated, and her internal organs clenched tightly into a ball.

Unable to endure the torment, she briefly lost consciousness.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she felt a light flickering on her eyelids. With a start, she woke up. The thing that had attacked her in the darkness was gone. There was a campfire in the cave, and the firewood was crackling as it burned. Yin Xiaozhu, who had disappeared earlier, was putting firewood into the fire, and his clothes were still wet.

It seems she went out to gather firewood.

Upon waking, the burning, cramping pain in her abdomen returned. Lu Yuanyuan huddled weakly by the campfire, her dark hair concealing a pair of hazy eyes. Looking at her stats, her health had dropped to 5/100.

The demons and monsters of this world devour people in all sorts of bizarre ways. Some monsters like to parasitize, crawling into their prey's mouth and ripping out the flesh inside. Others like to rip out hearts and suck their blood. But this strange one... she had truly never seen anything like it.

She didn't know why the other party hadn't killed her, but her stomach was getting increasingly painful, which was definitely related to that thing.

Lu Yuanyuan struggled to breathe, reaching out to the person in front of her, her fingers straining to hook the hem of their robe.

Yin Xiaozhu is still here, probably because she just missed that thing and thinks this place is safe. She must remind Yin Xiaozhu to be careful.

Yin Xiaozhu's robes were tugged, and he tossed the last piece of firewood into the fire before turning back. Looking down, he saw the girl curled up like a shrimp on the ground, covered in sweat, her face ashen, like a dying bird struck by frost. She spoke a simple sentence with great difficulty, haltingly: "...Yuanjun, be careful...it's not safe here, there are monsters, we can't stay here..."

Despite feeling incredibly uncomfortable, I still stubbornly persisted in offering my reminder.

Yin Xiaozhu's face was backlit, making her emotions unreadable. As he listened, he touched her forehead with the back of his hand.

The other person's hand was as cool as jade. Lu Yuanyuan's face and head were burning hot. Instinctively, she grabbed the other person's hand and used it as a fever reducer, pressing it against her cheek and rubbing it. The hand paused and then withdrew. Then, Lu Yuanyuan's mouth was pried open and a pill was inserted.

The delicate fragrance of the medicine spread across her tongue, and gradually, the cramps in her abdomen eased, and her brows slowly relaxed.

After taking the pill, Lu Yuanyuan slept for a long time.

Feeling utterly insecure in the empty, unfamiliar place, she instinctively sidled closer to her only companion.

Yin Xiaozhu sat on the ground, his expression calm as he pondered something. Suddenly, he felt a warmth on his thigh as Lu Yuanyuan's forehead pressed against his.

After a moment of silence, Yin Xiaozhu reached out and turned her into a lying position, pushing her a little further away.

But after a short while, the other party reverted to their old ways and annoyingly came close again.

"..."

She slept for less than three hours, and when she woke up, Lu Yuanyuan felt much better. While sleeping, she always felt like she was resting on something. But when she opened her eyes, there was no one around, only the campfire burning quietly.

Lu Yuanyuan, supporting her aching bones, sat up. The heat and pain in her lower abdomen were gone.

As the pain subsided and her senses returned, she couldn't help but recall what had happened in the darkness. Her face contorted slightly, and though she tried to suppress the urge to vomit, she couldn't resist and leaned over to retch.

However, because I haven't eaten anything for the past few days, and my stomach has been churning, I can only vomit some clear saliva.

She really couldn't keep vomiting. Lu Yuanyuan's eyes were red and moist. She wiped her lips forcefully and forced herself to think of something else to distract herself.

I remember that night, Yin Xiaozhu's mysterious friend asked her about "when to make her move." If I understand correctly, they were referring to Master Xugu.

Then, just three days later, the White Crane Boat where Master Xugu was located was attacked, and a group of Shushan disciples were also implicated, their fates unknown.

Lu Yuanyuan pursed her lips. These two things happened one after the other; she didn't believe it was a coincidence.

Moreover, when the incident occurred, Yin Xiaozhu was clearly resting in her room, and when she went to knock on the door, the surrounding area was not affected by the commotion. As it turned out, the other party was already dressed and not in the room, as if she had foreseen the danger.

If this person can drag so many innocent disciples down with him without batting an eye in order to achieve his goal, it would be too terrifying.

However, she couldn't understand how the other party had managed to divert the trouble and get the monsters to attack the white crane boat.

Looking at recent Heavenly Treasures Gatherings, there have been cases of hordes of demons attacking cultivators, but few have been on such a large scale, unless there's something sinister on the ship attracting them...

Just as she was frowning in thought, a cat-like footstep came from the direction of the cave entrance. Yin Xiaozhu walked forward, holding a funnel filled with water made of rolled-up green leaves.

Because of her temporary misfortune, the other person's appearance wasn't much more elegant than hers. Her hair was lazily tied back.

Lu Yuanyuan's hands tightened, her feelings were complicated.

Having overheard Yin Xiaozhu's secret, she suspected he wanted to kill her. Now, this was the perfect opportunity. If Yin Xiaozhu could just throw her outside while she was unconscious, the monster would devour her within a night.

As a result, Yin Xiaozhu did not take advantage of her illness to kill her.

Whether the other party genuinely believed she hadn't heard anything or thought she was too weak to pose a threat, Yin Xiaozhu currently had no intention of killing her.

Yin Xiaozhu came to her side, squatted down, and handed her the leaf: "Are you thirsty? Have some water."

"Thank you." Lu Yuanyuan's hands trembled slightly. She rinsed her mouth with water, spat it out, and felt much better. Then she drank the rest of the water to moisten her parched throat. She handed the leaf back and asked, "Yuanjun, have we fallen into the bottom of the Floating Pagoda Valley? Have you found anyone else? When can we leave this place?"

Yin Xiaozhu said, "Futu Valley is very large, and finding someone is like finding a needle in a haystack. If we want to leave, we can only follow the river out of here. However, perhaps there is a restriction at the bottom of the valley, and my spiritual power is partially suppressed. I cannot use my sword for the time being, so I can only set up a barrier. I cannot leave this place rashly."

Does this mean that the only fighting force they can't defeat is...?

Although she really wanted to leave this awful place immediately, Lu Yuanyuan wouldn't be foolish enough to urge Yin Xiaozhu to leave at this time.

"I understand, I'll listen to Yuanjun." Lu Yuanyuan lowered her head, pressed her stomach, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Yuanjun, what did you feed me just now?"

Is there anything that's bothering you?

"No, not exactly." Lu Yuanyuan bit her lower lip. "Before you came back, a monster entered this cave and attacked me. After that, my stomach started hurting a lot, and my whole body felt hot, like it was on fire. If Yuanjun can heal me, she should know what kind of monster it was, right?"

Yin Xiaozhu paused for a moment and said, "I didn't see it. I just fed you a regular antidote based on my experience."

Lu Yuanyuan was a little disappointed and shook her head: "It was too dark at the time, and I couldn't see clearly."

So that was poison?

The fact that a common antidote could save her life shows that the thing was not very powerful and posed little threat, which was a stroke of good luck amidst misfortune.

What did it do to you?

"It gave me that kind of poison that caused me so much pain." The humiliation from that time resurfaced, and the details were hard to describe. Lu Yuanyuan's nails dug into her flesh, and a look of disgust appeared on her face: "I think it..."

After pondering for a moment with a troubled expression, she uttered a comment: "Very perverted."

Yin Xiaozhu looked over.

"I feel like throwing up just thinking about it. It's a good thing I didn't get a clear look at its face; I was afraid I would have nightmares for three days and three nights after I did."