Chapter 22 She almost screamed at the top of her lungs: ...

Luo Rongrong looked frightened. "Is it very dangerous inside...?"

Si Yao nodded, "Yes, so you all need to take good care of yourselves."

At this point, she took out several escape talismans and distributed them to her four disciples. "In critical moments, you can activate these talismans to escape in order to protect yourselves. Especially Luo Rongrong and Qin Xuan, you two girls must be careful."

Hearing Si Yao say this, Luo Rongrong and Qin Xuan both felt a surge of warmth in their hearts.

"People in the sect used to say that Elder Si Yao was idle and lazy, but now I think she's actually a really good person."

"Yes, they are especially good at taking care of us female disciples."

Luo Rongrong and Qin Xuan whispered to each other.

"The road ahead may be treacherous, but we have a mission to complete, and we cannot give up," Si Yao said, continuing forward.

Luo Rongrong and Qin Xuan clenched their fists, suddenly energized, and said in unison, "Elder Si Yao, we will not back down until the very last moment!"

Si Yao smiled knowingly, "Okay."

Qi Lan looked at Si Yao with even greater appreciation, praising her repeatedly, which made Xiao Yezi frown.

The group walked another half mile in the cave, finding it winding and twisting, with thick moss growing on the stone walls and emitting an unpleasant smell.

Fortunately, the cave was fairly spacious and the air wasn't too thin.

Holding a tinderbox, Si Yao found walking relatively easy.

"hiss--"

Just then, a bird's screeching came from ahead.

The sound was like that of a bloodthirsty bird encountered outside the cave.

Before anyone could react, four giant, bloodthirsty birds, each three meters tall, appeared and blocked their path.

"Another bloodthirsty bird... but it's obviously ten times stronger than the last one..."

Qi Lan muttered to himself while gripping the magical artifact tightly in his hand.

Four bloodthirsty birds raised their heads and cried out, flapping their wings, causing the air in the cave to vibrate.

They stretched out their sharp claws at Si Yao and the others, and their sharp beaks attacked wildly, as if they wanted to kill someone with a single bite.

Si Yao flipped herself up, leaped lightly into the air, spun around, and a beam of blue light lashed out from the Yan Yun fan, striking one of the bloodthirsty birds directly.

The bird let out a terrible cry, then waved its claws, and several blood-red claw shadows flew like sharp blades.

Si Yao quickly waved up a blue barrier.

"Bang bang bang—"

As the forces collided, Si Yao dodged, and couldn't help but recall the wounds on those strange men, which must have been caused by the claw shadows of this bloodthirsty bird.

Si Yao then looked at the disciples who were fighting and found that Xiao Yezi and Qi Lan were handling the situation with ease, but Luo Rongrong and Qin Xuan seemed to be having some difficulty dealing with a single bloodthirsty bird.

She flew forward, blocking the two women and drawing the enemy's fire. Then, the Yan Yun fan instantly condensed into a giant blue wave, which surged directly towards the Bloodthirsty Bird.

The magical artifacts shone brightly, and the sounds of fighting rang out continuously.

Finally, the four bloodthirsty birds fell one by one, and the crisis for the five members of the Hehuan Sect was temporarily averted.

Luo Rongrong and Qin Xuan, covered in dust and dirt, didn't bother to wipe the bloodstains and filth from their faces, and sat down on the ground, panting heavily.

Si Yao put away her Yan Yun palm-leaf fan, lifted her skirt, and sat down to meditate, attempting to regulate the spiritual energy within her body.

Xiao Yezi's gaze unconsciously focused on Si Yao. He took a step forward, wanting to say something to his master, but Qi Lan had already spoken, "Besides these four bloodthirsty birds, there are definitely beings in this cave that are even more powerful than them."

After Si Yao finished regulating her breathing, she opened her eyes and said, "This should be the end."

At the end of the cave, the view became more open, and the terrain was much wider than the path that Si Yao and the others had traveled before.

"What could be here?" Luo Rongrong looked around. "It's empty, there seems to be nothing here."

As she was talking to herself, the ground began to shake.

At the end of the cave, a magical artifact shimmering with purple light appeared before them.

Qi Lan was stunned. "This seems to be exactly the same as the Purple Firefly Blade described in the mission scroll!"

Si Yao concentrated intently and confirmed it again, "That's right, it is indeed one of the stolen magical artifacts of our Hehuan Sect."

Qi Lan didn't care about anything else. With a flash, he rushed towards the purple blade at the end.

Seeing this, Si Yao exclaimed, "Wait!"

She even wanted to reach out and grab Qi Lan, but it was too late.

Just as Qi Lan was about to touch the Purple Blade, dense vines suddenly sprouted from beneath his feet and wrapped around his legs.

Qi Lan's expression changed drastically, filled with anger and regret. He was about to resist when the vines grew rapidly and wrapped around his hands.

"Ah!" Qi Lan roared, "These vines can even bind spiritual power, so I can't use any spiritual energy at all this time."

Seeing this, Si Yao quickly said, "Qi Lan, don't move around recklessly, let me think of a way!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Luo Rongrong and Qin Xuan, who were standing to the side, could no longer contain themselves. They brandished their magical weapons and shouted, "Demon, prepare to die!"

Si Yao immediately shouted, "Don't act rashly!"

As she was about to unleash her Cloud Fan, Luo Rongrong and Qin Xuan's magical artifacts struck the vines simultaneously.

After this attack, the vines spread wildly, not only binding Qi Lan into a cocoon, but also entangling Luo Rongrong and Qin Xuan.

In an instant, three human cocoons tightly wrapped by vines were formed. Qi Lan, Luo Rongrong, and Qin Xuan, who had already become human cocoons, had fainted and were even suspended in the air.

Everything happened so fast that Si Yao didn't even have time to help.

Seeing the three human cocoons in the air, Xiao Yezi's eyes flashed with a hint of disdain, "Too stupid."

Si Yao rubbed her temples. "Now we need to think of a way to get rid of all these vines. I'm worried that if we leave them for too long, Qi Lan and the others will suffocate."

Based on everything that had just happened, Si Yao knew that she couldn't attack the vines, otherwise they would only grow wildly and cause even more trouble in the future.

Thinking of this, Si Yao looked at the Purple Blade placed not far away. She summoned the Cloud Fan, pointed it forward, and the Cloud Fan flew out of her hand.

As the Yanyun Palm Fan approached within three feet of the Ziying Blade, the ground shook again, and then vines suddenly surged towards the Yanyun Palm Fan from all directions.

With a single command from Si Yao, Yan Yun instantly retracted his palm-leaf fan, and the vines, unable to catch up, retreated once more.

"Little Yezi, do you understand now? You must not step into the area within three feet of the Purple Blade."

Xiao Yezi nodded in understanding. However, at that moment, another magical artifact appeared next to the Purple Blade, which also matched the description in the quest scroll.

"Another magical artifact has appeared; it seems they're trying to lure us into a trap."

As Si Yao spoke, she examined the two magical artifacts and discovered that after their lights intertwined, the two beams of light were directed in another direction.

Si Yao frowned slightly, and a bold conjecture arose in her mind. Without moving her feet, she simply threw the Yan Yun fan in the direction from which the two beams of light had been projected.

"boom--"

Suddenly, a hole appeared in one of the walls of the cave, and then the wall began to collapse.

Thick smoke immediately billowed from the cave, and a moment later, a figure emerged from behind the collapsed wall.

"Interesting, you still managed to find it."

His voice was hoarse and sounded extremely harsh.

When the thick smoke cleared, Si Yao discovered that the person had a bird's head and a human body, and also had a pair of wings.

"Your true form is a bloodthirsty bird, isn't it?" Si Yao saw through it at a glance.

The monster, neither human nor bird, snorted, "So what if it is, so what if it isn't? In any case, you're all about to become my nourishment!"

Si Yao's face darkened, and she gripped the Yan Yun fan tightly. "It is said that those who come to Broken Soul Valley to search for treasure never return. It seems that you have eaten them all. It is because you have eaten so many people that you have slowly cultivated human form."

The bloodthirsty bird demon's eyes flashed red, and its emotions suddenly became agitated. "I need to eat more people, especially cultivators like you. Consuming them will help me increase my demonic power and allow me to cultivate a complete human form faster!"

I see.

Si Yao understood. The magical artifacts and treasures stolen from the Hehuan Sect for many years had no clues for several years. Now, suddenly, a spy discovered that these treasures and magical artifacts were hidden in Duanhun Valley. It must have been a message deliberately released by this bloodthirsty bird demon.

This is how greedy people are drawn to the Valley of Broken Souls in search of treasure, while the bloodthirsty bird demon sets traps to capture them one by one, ultimately consuming them to advance its demonic essence.

"Hahaha, what are you spacing out for? Are you scared?" The bloodthirsty bird demon chuckled evilly and was already flapping its wings as it approached Si Yao and Xiao Yezi.

"After I've dealt with the two of you," the bloodthirsty harpy said, looking at the three human cocoons hanging in the air, "I'll eat you all together!"

Si Yao pulled Xiao Yezi back dozens of feet, but the bloodthirsty bird demon came on fiercely and very fast, and simply dodging was useless.

Faced with the relentless advance of the Bloodthirsty Bird Demon, the master and disciple retreated again. The Soul-Destroying Lamp and the Cloud-Evolving Fan flew out simultaneously, their red and blue lights intertwining and transforming into several beams of light that crashed into the face of the Bloodthirsty Bird Demon like towering waves.

"Bang--"

The bloodthirsty bird demon was hit and spat out a mouthful of blood. He roared and transformed, revealing his true form. Even the demonic power on his body increased several times over.

This time, instead of attacking the two of them, he charged directly at Xiao Yezi.

"Let me deal with this one with lower cultivation level first!"

After the bloodthirsty bird demon finished speaking, its entire body was like a sharp arrow, about to pierce through Xiao Yezi's body.

Si Yao's pupils contracted slightly, and she prepared to flash to Xiao Yezi's side, but unexpectedly, a blood-red barrier rose up around Xiao Yezi, forcefully separating Si Yao from him!

"apprentice!"

If Si Yao was relatively calm and composed during the fight, she was truly terrified this time.

If Xiao Yezi is hit by the Bloodthirsty Bird Demon, he will definitely be seriously injured, and his life may even be in danger!

"Bang--"

The bloodthirsty bird demon pounced on Xiao Yezi. Within the blood-red barrier, red light radiated everywhere, accompanied by billowing smoke, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.

Si Yao was shocked, her face turned deathly pale, and she almost screamed at the top of her lungs, "Xiao Yezi!"