Chapter 24 I still owe you a life. Teng Shao gave the girl to him...

Teng Shao accepted everything the girl gave him into his storage bag without any hesitation. After all, these things were useful to him, and he had no reason not to accept them.

He then turned and left the cave.

Gu Xiaozhu stood at the cave entrance for a long time before turning back into the cave: "System, he shouldn't be dead, right?"

[Host, his current condition matches the original plot's "severely injured but still able to move" scenario, which, to some extent, corrects the plot.]

So you don't need to worry, host, he won't die.

The system said earnestly, "Besides, host, you should worry more about yourself than Teng Shao!"

[Your current situation is more dangerous than Teng Shao's. After all, your future is completely unknown and unpredictable. Even if Teng Shao leaves, danger could strike at any moment.]

"Bang!!"

A shockwave from behind her blew her hair through the air, followed by a burst of demonic energy carrying a dense aura that hurtled straight toward her!

"Bang!"

The spiritual energy struck the barrier that instantly rose from the oil-paper umbrella and then dissipated.

Gu Xiaozhu gripped the umbrella handle tightly with both hands and turned around with a solemn expression.

Behind them, four or five people dressed in black and wearing half-face masks emerged from the smoke and dust.

"Not only are there concealment talismans pasted on the entrance to this cave, but there's also a hidden formation. If it weren't for my sharp senses, I would have been fooled!"

"There's actually a mortal with a defensive magical artifact in this cave?"

At this moment, a man in black who had already explored the cave returned: "Seventh Brother, besides her, there should be another person here. Moreover, there is a strong smell of herbs inside, so someone must have bandaged a wound here."

The leader of the men in black narrowed his eyes, finally fixing his gaze on the dark-skinned, wary girl.

"Hey, where did the other person go?"

Gu Xiaozhu gripped the umbrella handle tightly, while subtly glancing at the men in black surrounding her: "I don't know."

The man's eyes instantly turned fierce, and a strong surge of magical energy erupted from his body. But soon, he sneered, "You mortal, do you really think you can be safe just because you have a mid-grade defensive magic artifact?"

Gu Xiaozhu: "If you can really break through, then why bother talking and releasing magic to scare me?"

Her eyes were fixed on the black-clad demonic cultivator opposite her, while she asked in her mind, "System, system, do you have a way to break through?"

Her body was mostly covered in healing pills and herbs, as well as defensive magical artifacts. Aside from talismans, she had nothing else that allowed her to attack.

But now she is surrounded by demonic cultivators at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, who are watching her closely. As soon as she takes out a talisman, she will be immediately discovered.

However, if the system had a way to break through, she could use the speed talisman and the invisibility talisman to escape.

【Sure, host, I can strike him with lightning! The power is absolutely guaranteed!】

Gu Xiaozhu nodded slightly.

The demonic cultivator opposite was clearly angered by her words, and a large amount of demonic energy surged from his hands.

"You bitch, you really think I can't do anything to you?!"

A machete appeared in his hand. The moment it appeared, the system immediately shouted: [Host, be careful! That machete is a mid-grade magic weapon!]

A mid-grade magic weapon means that even if this demonic cultivator is at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, he can still unleash the strength of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator with the blessing of this cleaver.

The cleaver, imbued with intense magic, flashed through the air with a chilling light as it slashed down at the girl holding the umbrella!

Gu Xiaozhu's eyes narrowed slightly as she stared intently at the demonic cultivator's movements. In the instant he made his move, she found an opening created by his shifting body.

"System, kill him!"

【Okay!】

Dark clouds immediately filled the sky, and a bolt of silver lightning, carrying overwhelming killing intent, struck straight down!

Just a second before the lightning struck, Gu Xiaozhu seized the opportunity to slightly close the umbrella in her hand, bent down, and squeezed through the gap.

Only after they crawled out did a deafening clap of thunder sound behind them, along with the slightly guilty voice of the system in their minds.

Oh no, I didn't control my strength well...

【I'm sorry, host!!!】

She had no time to worry about that for the moment. Instead, she quickly took out a Swift Movement and Invisibility Talisman, infused it with spiritual power from a spirit stone, and immediately fled into the distance!

[Good heavens! Such a commotion! The demonic cultivators in the surrounding area must have noticed it too, and they'll definitely be heading this way!]

"That's why I'm running away right now!"

Gu Xiaozhu felt the scenery in front of her rushing past, and she couldn't even see the surrounding scenery clearly, or which direction she was running in.

[Host, to the right!]

Gu Xiaozhu reacted extremely quickly in the face of life and death. She opened the half-closed umbrella in her hand almost instantly, and the demonic energy surging from the right also crashed into the umbrella the moment she opened it!

The violent tremor caused her to stumble, and her arm gripping the umbrella handle went numb instantly, almost causing her to drop the umbrella.

[This power... must be at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.]

Gu Xiaozhu stood there, watching the men in black who seemed to be closing in from all directions, and silently swallowed.

What merit does she possess to deserve this...?

Besides, the person you're looking for isn't me at all! Why are you all surrounding me?!

[Host, several of them possess magical artifacts; your umbrella probably won't last long.]

"What's going on? How come it's just a mortal?"

One of the men in black frowned and spoke.

“That commotion couldn’t have been caused by this mortal, could it?” another man in black asked.

"I don't know, but Seventh Brother is dead." A man in black walked out of the bamboo forest, still holding the machete he had taken from the dead Seventh Brother. "That strange bolt of lightning killed Seventh Brother directly."

Upon hearing this, not only the surrounding demonic cultivators, but even Gu Xiaozhu gasped in shock.

"System, is... this lightning really that powerful?"

To be honest, her initial idea was that the system would strike the demonic cultivator with lightning, temporarily incapacitating him and creating an opportunity for her to escape.

But she truly hadn't expected the system's lightning strike to be so powerful...

Even a demonic cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core stage can be killed by a single lightning strike?

The system's words betrayed an undisguised unease: "Uh... mistake, mistake."

"You didn't use up all that energy you saved up with just one lightning strike, did you?"

[No, no! There's more, don't worry, host, I know what I'm doing!]

Gu Xiaozhu: "..."

That's really not convincing.

Gu Xiaozhu looked at the demonic cultivators around her, hesitated for a moment, and then mustered up her courage to speak: "Um... I remember, the person you were chasing wasn't me, was it?"

The demonic cultivator wielding the machete glanced at her and nodded: "Of course, but..."

"You've seen him before, haven't you?"

Seeing the girl nod, the demonic cultivator continued, "Then tell me where he went, and I'll consider sparing your life."

Gu Xiaozhu: "..."

She genuinely didn't know.

And your last sentence was really unconvincing.

Demonic cultivators, especially fallen demons, are the kind of people who can be trusted with what they say.

She thought for a moment, then randomly pointed in a direction: "He went that way."

The demonic cultivator holding the machete nodded, then charged at her with the machete in hand: "Since that's the case, then you're useless!"

Gu Xiaozhu: "!!!"

She knew it!

A talisman appeared in her hand, but before she could use it, a cold light struck from the other side!

"clang!"

The scimitar, resembling a silver moon, gleamed with a chilling light, deflecting the incoming cleaver! The boy, dressed in black, was surrounded by surging demonic energy. He lowered his brows and, having succeeded in his attack, hoisted the still-stunned girl onto his shoulder and vanished.

"Open the umbrella properly."

Teng Shao's voice remained calm as always, as if the two of them were not in an encirclement at this moment.

Although Gu Xiaozhu was feeling unwell from the jolting, she still managed to hold up the umbrella with trembling hands. As long as they were under the umbrella, the protective barrier would envelop them both.

With the defensive barrier in place, Teng Shao broke out of the encirclement with incredible speed and agility, ignoring all attacks from his attackers and wielding his curved sword with dazzling skill.

Blood flew wherever they went; their combat power was far beyond what one would expect from a late-stage Golden Core demonic cultivator. And so, Teng Shao, with Gu Xiaozhu in tow, fought his way out of the encirclement of over a dozen demonic cultivators, even leaving them far behind.

Gu Xiaozhu was carried on his shoulder, her stomach aching from the jostling, but she didn't say anything. She just gripped the umbrella handle tightly with both hands. Following Teng Shao's winding route, they arrived at a secluded grove of trees.

The moment he stopped and put Gu Xiaozhu down, she immediately rushed to a big tree and began to bend over and dry heave.

Good heavens, this is the first time she's ever experienced motion sickness in the world of cultivation!

[Host, are you alright?]

"No, it's okay, I'll be fine after a while."

Her pale face softened a little, and just as she turned around, the oil-paper umbrella in her hand shattered with a "crack".

Gu Xiaozhu: "..."

Teng Shao: "..."

When Teng Shao rushed out, he made no attempt to dodge the attack. After all, with the oil-paper umbrella in hand, what was there for him to dodge?

And so, this magical artifact withstood all the attacks, and finally, at this moment, it gloriously broke down.

Gu Xiaozhu clicked her tongue in amazement, and finally put the broken oil-paper umbrella back into her storage bracelet.

Then, when she looked up, she saw that the boy in black was still standing there, not having left.

Gu Xiaozhu: "?"

"You haven't left yet?"

Upon hearing this, Teng Shao's expression was even more puzzled than hers: "Why should I leave?"

Gu Xiaozhu: "Logically speaking, you just saved my life, so we're... even?"

After saying this, Teng Shao's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

But Gu Xiaozhu didn't notice, she just continued: "As you know, I'm just a mortal. Apart from having some defensive magic artifacts and knowing a little about formations, I'm useless."

"Am I a burden to you now?"

Teng Shao didn't answer, but stood there, staring at her intently. So long that she felt a chill run down her spine, and just as she was about to say something, Teng Shao spoke:

"Your umbrella... saved my life."

"So I still owe you a life."

Gu Xiaozhu: "???"

Isn't your excuse a bit too far-fetched?