Chapter 62

Qin Zheng looked utterly astonished: "You know where the Holy Sword is?"

Nangong Min said, "Of course I know. The reason I had Wen Chaoyu kidnap Yin Qiu to the sect was never to force Xie Yijun to exchange the Holy Sword for him. The Holy Sword is not in Yunhua Palace." She paused for a moment, looked up at the night sky, and said, "It's worth it to exchange a main altar for those two to show up."

Qin Zheng was completely bewildered, utterly confused: "...What does that mean?"

Nangong Min glanced at her and said, "Yunhua Palace is our eternal enemy, but besides Yunhua Palace, who else would be our enemy? Do you know?"

Qin Zheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: "You deliberately used Yin Qiu to lure that man and woman out!"

Nangong Min laughed: "Not bad."

Qin Zheng asked in confusion, "But you don't know them or even know they exist, so why did you think of luring them out?"

“Of course I know they exist,” Nangong Min said. “After you went to Jinhuai City and wiped out the Su family, your informants reported that after you left, two other groups of people followed you to the Su family.”

Qin Zheng was stunned again.

"Instead of drawing out Shen Mandong, we've drawn out two foxes. They're willing to show themselves in front of me for Yin Qiu's sake. What does that mean? It means that both of them have a great connection with Yin Qiu and don't want her to be trapped in the Ziwei Sect. Moreover, that woman claims to be seeking revenge against me. What kind of person do you think someone who is related to Yin Qiu and wants revenge against me would be?"

Qin Zheng followed her train of thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up and said, "Ruyi Sect!"

“She has been fully prepared and is just waiting to fight me,” Nangong Min said. “Then I will also use movement to counter movement. In short, these two are very useful to me.”

At this moment, Qin Zheng was filled with admiration for Nangong Min's strategy and intellect. Her eyes were filled with respect, and her previous anger vanished instantly. She asked with delight, "And who is that man in black robes?"

Nangong Min narrowed her eyes slightly and said, "Neither of these two dared to show their true faces to me, which means I must recognize them. However, the man has not spoken and has not revealed any information, so it is difficult to guess at the moment." She stood for a moment and then instructed, "Immediately send out cultists skilled in tracking to follow them. We must find out their backgrounds and report back as soon as possible."

Qin Zheng immediately accepted the order, saying, "Yes, I will take care of it right away." After she finished speaking, she asked, "Should we send someone to chase after Man Jiangxue again?"

Nangong Min said, "How can you be so stupid? I never really wanted to keep Yin Qiu here, so why did I chase after her? Otherwise, I should have attacked Man Jiangxue when she came out of the secret passage earlier."

No wonder she never intended to fight Man Jiangxue from beginning to end, now I understand!

Qin Zheng suddenly understood.

“Before you track down those two, you need to call someone to see me first,” Nangong Min said.

"Who?" Qin Zheng stopped in her tracks.

Nangong Min chuckled: "Wen Chaoyu."

·

Man Jiangxue took out a tinderbox, blew on it, and looked at the parchment drawings in her hand by the dim light.

The Magnolia Palace was Nangong Min's longest residence besides the Maple Tower. Naturally, the cultists would save these two places first when the fire broke out. It was already late at night, and dawn would come soon. The fire around the Magnolia Palace had been extinguished, and there was hardly anyone around the palace, which was shrouded in darkness.

"What is your martial aunt looking at?" Yin Qiu leaned against Man Jiangxue's chest, still very nervous, constantly looking outside the hall, afraid that someone would discover that they were hiding here.

"Find the secret passage," Man Jiangxue said.

"What secret passage?" Yin Qiu shivered from the cold.

Man Jiangxue grasped Yin Qiu's hand, using her inner strength to dispel the cold, and replied, "There is a red dot on this map, which is the secret passage leading from the Ziwei Sect headquarters to the outside. Although Nangong Min has not caught up, we still cannot go through the main gate. We must find the secret passage."

Yin Qiu tilted his head and looked at it. He saw that the red dot was right in the Magnolia Hall, but it didn't specify exactly where it was. He couldn't quite understand it, but he analyzed, "Since it's a secret passage, there must be some mechanism. Let's search around. Maybe we'll find it."

Man Jiangxue agreed with a "okay" and handed the tinder to Yin Qiu. The two then began to explore the hall.

After a while, the two of them tried almost everything they could see, including tables, chairs, benches, antiques, jade artifacts, and even the paintings and calligraphy on the walls, but they still couldn't find any mechanism that could be triggered.

It was deep into the night, and the shouts of many people could still be heard in the distance. After searching for a long time, Yin Qiu couldn't help but feel a little flustered. He whispered, "Uncle-Master, could it be that the blueprints are wrong and the secret passage isn't here?"

Man Jiangxue pondered for a moment and said, "It shouldn't be. When Wan Shu and I came to find you earlier, we followed this blueprint and didn't find anything wrong. Besides, that girl was obviously there to help us. Let's look again."

Looking at the dark night outside the window, Yin Qiu was worried: "Why hasn't Senior Sister Ji come yet? I hope nothing has happened to her."

Man Jiangxue said, "Don't worry, I made sure to untie her ropes before I left. Besides, with Wen Chaoyu there, she won't let anything happen to Wan Shu."

Hearing her say that, Yin Qiu felt a little relieved. She held the tinderbox and wandered around, moving slowly in the darkness. However, when she stepped back, she suddenly stepped on something, slipped, and almost fell over.

Yin Qiu let out a very soft cry and hurriedly steadied herself, but after taking only two steps, she inexplicably missed a step and fell backward before she could regain her footing.

Before Yin Qiu could even see where she was, she heard a "plop" and fell into a pool of still-warm water without any warning.

"Uncle-Master!" Yin Qiu was inevitably startled and shouted as soon as he entered the water.

Upon hearing the noise, Man Jiangxue immediately turned around and jumped into the pond.

In reality, it was just an ordinary hot spring pool, but because the incident happened so suddenly and it was dark and difficult to see, Yin Qiu didn't have time to react. Since she couldn't swim, she instinctively struggled in the pool, fearing that she would drown there.

"Don't move!" Man Jiangxue said, quickly reaching out to pull Yin Qiu up. But just as she touched Yin Qiu's hand, she heard a sudden "click" from the water, and then saw Yin Qiu suddenly sink into the water, as if someone was deliberately pulling her down from below. At the same time, a huge suction force suddenly spread out, and Man Jiangxue was pulled by that suction force and also disappeared into the water.

Hearing a rumbling sound, as if some mechanism had started to operate, Yin Qiu's back, which had just touched the bottom of the pool, suddenly cracked open, unleashing an even more terrifying suction force. Yin Qiu choked on some water and coughed violently. She tried her best to raise her arms to grab something, but could only touch the slippery stone wall.

Cut off from the air, Yin Qiu couldn't breathe. She had already exhaled all the air she had before. She watched helplessly as she sank rapidly, filled with fear. She could only reflexively thrash about in the water.

The water was even darker, and nothing could be seen. Man Jiangxue could only feel Yin Qiu's figure getting further and further away from her. She had no choice but to use all her strength to chase after her. As soon as the two fell into the depths, the stone slabs at the bottom of the pool closed up, completely sealing them off below.

The water in the pool above still retained a warm temperature, but the water below was extremely cold. Yin Qiu felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, and she had difficulty breathing. The suction force pulled her tightly, consuming the little strength she had left, and dragged her straight into a deeper place.

Complete darkness surrounded her, without a glimmer of light. Yin Qiu was terrified and couldn't call out to Man Jiangxue. She struggled desperately with her hands and feet, but to no avail. She didn't know what kind of place was underwater. The suction was extremely strong, leaving her with absolutely no power to resist.

Moreover, the current was swift and the water was icy cold. Yin Qiu couldn't even open her eyes. She couldn't see where Man Jiangxue was, and panic welled up in her heart. Fortunately, not long after, she felt a hand suddenly grab her clothes. Yin Qiu paused in the water and was pulled back by that hand, plunging into Man Jiangxue's arms.

The two embraced tightly as they drifted downstream. Before long, a faint ray of white light slowly emerged from below, as if they had reached some kind of exit.

As they got closer, the white light became increasingly intense. Yin Qiu had drunk a lot of water and was now feeling dizzy and lightheaded, suffering from severe oxygen deprivation, and his consciousness was beginning to blur.

At first, she was able to hold on to Man Jiangxue with difficulty, but as her consciousness faded and the suction of the white light became stronger the closer she got, Yin Qiu gradually lost her strength, her whole body went limp, and she uncontrollably let go of Man Jiangxue.

Like a fallen leaf in a river, Yin Qiu was manipulated by the suction force and sank straight down into the center of the white light. Her eyes were closed. When Man Jiangxue saw her current appearance, her heart tightened and she hurriedly used her true energy to chase after her. She grabbed Yin Qiu's waist and pulled her back into her arms.

In an instant, the surrounding light became bright, the suction force disappeared, and the current was no longer so rapid. It was as if the two of them had rushed into a river and finally regained some strength to move.

Man Jiangxue immediately swam towards the water with Yin Qiu. On the way, she shook Yin Qiu hard, trying to wake her up. Yin Qiu only managed to lift her eyelids with difficulty before quickly closing her eyes again, feeling dizzy.

Shortly after, Yin Qiu suddenly thrashed about a few times, her will to survive driving her to struggle violently.

If she doesn't get back to the ground soon, she'll suffocate.

Before entering the water, Man Jiangxue deliberately held her breath and did not exhale until now. Seeing that Yin Qiu was already out of her mind, she quickly held Yin Qiu tightly and lowered her head to lean closer to Yin Qiu.

Yin Qiu was enveloped by an inescapable feeling of suffocation, her internal organs felt like they were about to explode, but she was held tightly by Man Jiangxue's hand and could not move at all. Just when Yin Qiu was in despair, she suddenly felt a little warmth mixed in with the cold water, as if it were on her lips, with a soft touch.

Startled, Yin Qiu finally regained her senses in her dazed state. Fearing that she might be strangled by some kind of seaweed, she was about to open her eyes to look when she suddenly felt something pry open her tightly clenched lips and seal them shut with lightning speed. At the same time, a thin stream of air rushed into her mouth, giving her a quick breath in this critical moment.

However, that breath quickly dissipated and was gone forever. The touch on her lips also disappeared. Yin Qiu vaguely understood something and, as if grasping at a lifeline, hurriedly moved closer to the person in front of her. She thought she could still get a breath, but she only felt someone pat her forehead and then did nothing more.

Immediately afterwards, the hand that was wrapped around her waist tightened its grip even more, and Yin Qiu was pressed tightly against Man Jiangxue, thus being pulled out of the water and finally escaped from the bottom of the water.

·

As the air returned to her nostrils, Yin Qiu took deep breaths, her throat quickly filling with a metallic, sweet taste.

Hearing Man Jiangxue's heavy breathing above her, Yin Qiu looked around in terror, then took a couple of breaths and began to cough violently.

She was exhausted and all she knew was to catch her breath. Her mind was blank, and she couldn't think of anything. Although Man Jiangxue looked calm, she wasn't much better off. The two stayed in the water for a while, and then Man Jiangxue led Yin Qiuyou to the shore. As soon as they returned to land, they both collapsed back down, their chests heaving violently, and the whole place was filled with their breathing.

After an unknown amount of time, Yin Qiu stopped coughing, tilted her head back and fell to the ground, gasping for breath. She felt as if she had been half-revived, but she was also completely weak and too exhausted to move.

After a while, Man Jiangxue got up and helped her up, asking, "How are you?"

Yin Qiu looked at her through teary eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "Where is this?"

Man Jiangxue surveyed her surroundings and realized that this was a secret passage. Oil lamps were burning on the stone walls on both sides, and a wide river stretched across the middle, with no end in sight. On the wall opposite them, there was a circular opening from which water flowed continuously, connecting directly to the river in front of them. It seemed that they had rushed here through that opening.

If I'm not mistaken, there must have been some kind of mechanism in the hot spring that Yin Qiu accidentally triggered, which led her to inadvertently open the entrance to the secret passage.

As Man Jiangxue was thinking this, she heard Yin Qiu weakly say, "I fell into the pool earlier, and I think I touched something..."

Man Jiangxue turned to look at her and smiled gently: "Thanks to you this time, otherwise we would still be stuck up there."

Actually, it wasn't impossible for her to take Yin Qiu through the main gate, but the woman in purple and the man in black robes had already left. If Nangong Minru wanted to intercept them, although Man Jiangxue wasn't afraid to fight her, she couldn't guarantee that Yin Qiu wouldn't be injured. Therefore, taking the secret passage was much safer, even if the process was a bit more difficult.

Both of them were soaking wet, as if they had just been pulled out of the water. Yin Qiu's breathing was still a little erratic. Recalling the danger just now, she quickly hugged Man Jiangxue tightly, saying with tears in her eyes, "Thank goodness my martial uncle was here, it was so scary..."

"It's alright, we're out now," Man Jiangxue gently patted Yin Qiu's back and breathed a sigh of relief. "It's fortunate that you're alright, and we should also be thankful that the Ziwei Sect's headquarters is built in a low-lying basin. If someone were to launch a strong attack, without a secret passage, the followers would only be surrounded and killed. This secret passage was dug to escape, and thankfully we found it."

Yin Qiu nodded, then smiled. She looked around at the surroundings, then at Man Jiangxue's face against the lamplight, and said with a mixture of joy and grievance, "Uncle-Master, you've finally arrived! You have no idea how much I've missed you these past two weeks." As she spoke, she couldn't help but shed tears. "Someone in the palace informed Nangong Min that you and Senior Sister Ji would come to rescue me, so she made preparations long ago. I was both looking forward to your arrival and afraid that you would be captured by her after you came. Uncle-Master... Uncle-Master!"

The little girl's face was streaked with tears, her eyes filled with longing and dependence on him. Man Jiangxue held Yin Qiu tightly and comforted her softly, "It's alright, Xiao Qiu, don't cry. Your Uncle is here now."

Once again embraced in that familiar arms and heard that familiar voice, Yin Qiu was deeply moved, but quickly broke into a smile through her tears: "I knew my martial uncle would come to save me!"

“Your martial uncle will definitely not abandon you,” Man Jiangxue stood up and helped Yin Qiu up. “Can you still walk?”

Yin Qiu wiped away her tears, hummed in agreement, and immediately stood up, supporting herself on Man Jiangxue's arm. However, her legs were so weak that she could barely stand. She took one step and then staggered and almost fell over. Man Jiangxue squatted down, turned her head to look at Yin Qiu, and said, "Come on, I'll carry you."

Yin Qiu was overjoyed and didn't want to stand on ceremony with her, so she immediately pressed her body against Man Jiangxue's back and was carried on her back.

There were narrow paths for people to walk on both sides of the river. Man Jiangxue observed the water flow and slowly walked downstream. Yin Qiu rested her head on her shoulder, her face full of joy. She turned her head to look at Man Jiangxue and saw that there was still water on her face, so she reached out and wiped it for her.

In the dim candlelight, Man Jiangxue's black hair was soaked with sweat, strands of it clinging to her forehead, cheeks, and neck. Yin Qiu tidied her hair and stared at Man Jiangxue's profile.

She first looked at Man Jiangxue's eyebrows and eyes, then at her straight nose, and then down to her lips, which were slightly curved and naturally red.

The moment her gaze fell upon those lips, a hazy image flashed through her mind, and Yin Qiu froze.

She suddenly remembered the warmth and softness she had felt in the water, and looking at the lips she had once secretly touched, Yin Qiu's heart stirred, and her pale face turned bright red.

Her mind went blank for a moment, and Yin Qiu subconsciously held her breath, wondering to herself what her martial uncle had done to her in the water.

Uncle-Master... did you transfer your Qi to her?

The thought of the words "passing on breath" made Yin Qiu's face turn even redder.

The author has something to say: The idea of ​​breathing underwater is a bit cliché and overused.

But it works great!