Huai'an frowned, took two steps to the edge of the cliff, and looked worried.

Xia Xiang crossed her arms in front of her chest, veins bulging on her forehead, her teeth clenched so tightly they were grinding, and her eyes were bloodshot as she stared intently at the unfathomable lowered gaze.

Anger consumed all her reason; she could no longer hear the wind, only the ringing in her ears. As her fall accelerated, she gradually lost her strength and lost consciousness. Everything around her fell silent.

As Huai'an's figure disappeared off the cliff top, just as he was about to go and rescue her, he heard her unconsciously begin to use the supernatural powers of the Iron Dimension.

"Xiaoert—Wulabaha—Aura Shield"

Then he crashed hard into the bottom of the cliff, deepening the crater.

"The little guy is quite skilled. How did he manage to land in the same spot so precisely both times?" Huai'an crossed his arms and stroked his chin with the other, looking at the unconscious Xia Xiang with a puzzled expression.

Just as I was about to wake her, I heard some unusual noises coming from the direction of the monster swamp.

Huai'an looked down at Xia Xiang, who was still unconscious, and decided to deal with that situation first. He left behind a protective magnetic field and quickly moved towards the direction of the monster swamp.

Xia Xiang appeared to be sleeping soundly, but in reality, she had a splitting headache and her limbs felt as if they were bound, making it impossible for her to move.

Memories flooded her mind like a tidal wave, various images constantly rolling through her mind.

Until the memory stopped on a rainy night—

"Little Fatty, you have to listen to me this time! I tell you to run, so you have to run as fast as you can, without the slightest hesitation!"

The boy's voice was childish but very stern, and he gripped her shoulders tightly with both hands, squeezing them until they hurt.

However, her vision was blurry, and she couldn't see the boy's face clearly at all.

A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the boy's face. His hair, soaked by the rain, clung to his face, and rainwater streamed down his face.

He cautiously peeked out, as if wary of something, then carefully crouched down, his eyes filled with worry as he looked at her.

He then held her tightly in his arms, and her cold body warmed up briefly before quickly turning cold again.

The boy's breath was right next to her ear as he whispered, "Reinforcements should be here soon. I'll go out and distract them. You hide here for now."

"If anything seems wrong, run immediately. If nothing seems wrong, wait for my signal."

"Jiuwu...no."

Xia Xiang heard her own equally childish voice trembling as she pleaded.

"Don't worry, your brother Jiuwu is very capable." Jiuwu pressed his face against hers again, then pulled open the sleeve she was tightly clutching and hid her in the bushes.

Afterward, Jiuwu quietly took a dozen steps, then deliberately made some noise and ran in the opposite direction.

The men in black quickly gave chase.

The surrounding energy, like lightning, illuminated the dark forest as if it were daytime.

She couldn't control the dryness in her throat, the metallic taste spreading in her mouth, and her vision blurred instantly. The scalding tears were quickly cooled by the rain, and slowly, they also took away the warmth from her body.

Until a burst of red energy shot straight into the sky, she could only run in another direction, crying, running and running. Even when she fell into a mud pit, she didn't dare to stop for a moment, and used both hands and feet to get up and continue running.

I don't know how long I ran, but suddenly everything went black, and I fell into a warm embrace before losing consciousness completely.

Xia Xiang opened her eyes and found that this was not the forest, nor the Iron Dimension, but the Demon-Slaying Island where she had been kidnapped. She suddenly felt as if she had been transported to another world.

Was this memory of hers deliberately erased? Was it Jiu Wu who did it?

She was five years old when she went out with Jiu Wu, but she couldn't remember exactly what they were doing.

All that was known was that there were an unusually large number of demonized beings that day, and the Iron Guard protecting them was completely outmatched. Later, many other people arrived; some were severely injured, some collapsed to the ground motionless, and some lost parts of their bodies.

She still can't bear to recall that day; she feels as if her heart is being squeezed tightly by a large hand, making it extremely difficult to breathe.

Perhaps, she really shouldn't have gone back...

——

When Huai'an arrived at the Monster Swamp, the intruder was already close to the edge of the swamp and had entered the island.

Hidden in the shadows, he immediately recognized the man as Xia Xiang's silly childhood sweetheart.

Jiu Da Chang Lao Wu, a really troublesome guy.

However, now that he's here, the others from the Iron Dimension, such as his master, the Walker, will most likely arrive soon as well.

Huai'an's head started to ache at the thought! He gently pressed his throbbing temples, then his fingers flew, drawing a complex array that altered the landscape of the monster swamp. Jiu Wu was unknowingly teleported back to the origin.

"Let him wander around at his own pace. Let's go back and deal with Xia Xiang first."

Huai'an returned to the bottom of the towering cliff, but Xia Xiang was nowhere to be found in the pit.

Just as he was wondering, he noticed that Xia Xiang was hanging on the steep cliff face, struggling to climb up.

Having figured things out, Xia Xiang became exceptionally focused, which is why she climbed up this time with surprising speed.

I thought it was Huai'an there again, but when I came up, I didn't see Huai'an, but instead I saw...

"Mom!?" Xia Xiang asked, somewhat bewildered.

Although the person in front of her looked the same as she remembered, his aura was completely unfamiliar, and she didn't feel any sense of closeness to him.

"Xiangxiang, Mom's here to see you. Come home with Mom." The person who looked remarkably like her mother smiled gently.

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