Chapter 12 The Fake Disciple

In this hidden realm, opportunities and dangers coexist.

The spiritual herbs are guarded by spiritual beasts, and the extraordinary encounters require passing tests.

The fellow disciple before them, whose face was ashen and who looked like he was about to die, must have been struck by some unknown calamity.

If other fellow disciples saw this scene, they would surely feel pity.

But Xiao Shuying has lived for ninety-nine lifetimes, and she doesn't even raise an eyebrow when someone dies.

As for Su Yunyu...

Xiao Shuying glanced at him sideways, not thinking he would have any intention of helping.

His style would probably be to crush someone's life tablet and send them home.

Xiao Shuying, who thought she knew him well, was about to find an excuse to send him away when Su Yunyu leaned down, grabbed his wrist, and examined his pulse.

"..." Xiao Shuying was puzzled but remained silent. However, sitting idly by wouldn't fit her character, so she feigned ignorance and fear and asked:

"Senior...Brother, what's wrong with him?"

"The Yellow Spring Fruit..." Su Yunyu slowly said, relying on the encyclopedia provided by the system:

"The toxins in the unripe fruit can cause numbness in the limbs and blood stasis in the meridians."

The man in front of me had a bluish-black face, which was clearly due to blood stasis blocking his meridians. His limbs were thrashing about as if he were drowning, which was indeed consistent with the symptoms of paralysis.

"Waaah," the man sobbed, pleading incoherently.

"Help me..."

Logically, the person should be sent out of the secret realm, but the quickest way to detoxify is inside the secret realm.

Therefore, Su Yunyu used the remaining Qinghuo Hucao (a type of medicinal herb) to accelerate its medicinal effects and help the patient overcome the illness.

This is not a direct cure, but it can temporarily suppress the symptoms.

"This poison will not take effect for a day. You can decide for yourself whether to leave the secret realm to seek help or stay in the secret realm to find medicine."

The former is the most conservative and life-saving measure, but the price is giving up the hard-won access to the secret realm.

The latter requires finding an antidote within a day; one cannot gamble without courage.

The man recovered, gasped for breath a few times, and then stood up limply, crossing his arms to thank Su Yunyu.

"Thank you for saving me, fellow disciple. I will make my own decision."

The bluish-black color faded from his face, revealing his true appearance.

With a round, full face, still somewhat childish, and bright, lively eyes, he laughed and talked loudly:

"Were you two just grilling fish? What are your plans for coming to the secret realm? And this master..."

His gaze shifted to Xiao Shuying beside Su Yunyu, then, upon seeing the white lotus on the hem of her dress, his eyes immediately veered away:

"And this senior brother, you must be the last disciple of Immortal Venerable Fengchi! My goodness, everyone in our sect is so envious of you, senior brother."

When the name of Immortal Venerable Fengchi was mentioned, he clenched his fingers, his heart churning, but his expression remained unchanged.

"..."

Su Yunyu wasn't used to such chatter, so she started to adopt a cool and aloof persona.

"..."

Xiao Shuying isn't a talkative person, but in front of someone who dislikes talking even more, she has to force herself to talk.

"Since you are alright, my senior brother and I have other matters to attend to, so we will be leaving now."

After saying that, he turned to leave, but the man immediately called out to him:

"Hey, senior brother, feel free to tell me what you're looking for. I've had some interesting experiences in this secret realm that might be of help to you."

His gaze swept over Xiao Shuying, but he couldn't discern her cultivation level. He then looked at Su Yunyu, but he didn't recognize her, nor could he tell her cultivation level.

How interesting! The former involves severed meridians, but what about the latter?

Xiao Shuying never really believed in strange tales, so she naturally didn't want to pay any attention to them. Su Yunyu, however, was desperate and asked:

"Have you ever heard that the Water Immortal left behind a ninth-grade alchemy furnace in the secret realm?"

Su Yunyu didn't have high hopes, but the secret realm was too vast, and he wanted to do everything in his power to find the alchemy furnace, so he had no choice but to ask.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the man's face lit up with a smile:

“I just happened to see this in a notebook a few days ago. It seems to be in the highest cave on the highest cliff. My senior brother just said that I was poisoned by the Yellow Spring Fruit. The only antidote to this poison is probably the Azure Cloud Flower on the highest cliff. So why don’t we travel together and keep each other company?”

"By the way, my name is Song Chi," he said, bowing solemnly as he introduced himself.

Su Yunyu refused without even thinking:

"I'm sorry, neither my junior brother nor I can travel with anyone else."

What a joke! It's already difficult enough for him to carry one Long Aotian, let alone another fellow disciple. He'd be doomed.

Moreover, this person was so talkative and annoying that it gave him a headache. Compared to him, the timid and introverted Xiao Shuying was much more to his liking.

However, whether it was because he was too abused in his childhood or something else, Long Aotian didn't seem to notice it before, but today, compared to Song Chi, he actually had a kind of mature feeling of being on the verge of death.

Not lively at all, not vibrant at all.

It's alright, I'll probably feel better once my meridians are repaired.

Even after being rejected, Song Chi remained smiling, as if he were a child.

"Alright, then have a safe journey, senior brothers. I'll be going now."

After saying that, he turned and left in the opposite direction without any hesitation or unreasonable behavior.

It even made Su Yunyu want to praise its unique style.

Little did he know that after he and Xiao Shuying left, Song Chi, who was already quite far away, turned around and glanced at their backs, giving them a meaningful smile.

*

Coincidentally, the highest cliff is the very spot where Su Yunyu was standing.

They hadn't reached the top yet, but now that they had an uncertain goal, Su Yunyu and Xiao Shuying immediately went up to the top of the cliff.

The cliff top resembled a paradise, suddenly opening up to a deep, recessed valley, and they were standing at the highest point.

We've reached the highest cliff; as for the cave dwelling...

Su Yunyu turned around and looked around, and found that a dark and deep place was faintly visible in the distance, hidden by a clump of branches.

Perhaps this wasn't the right place? Suppressing his inner impulse and bracing for the worst, he stepped forward and parted the branches—

Upon seeing the words "Water Margin" clearly carved on the stone wall in front of her, Su Yunyu's breath caught in her throat for a few moments.

"Found it."

Xiao Shuying, who was still observing the cliff peak from a short distance away, almost thought she had misheard when she heard this.

This alchemy furnace is so mysterious, and the cave dwelling so hidden, even the sect leader doesn't know its exact location, yet that fellow disciple actually guessed correctly.

A strange feeling flickered in his mind, but he couldn't quite grasp it. He simply walked to Su Yunyu's side, looked at the boundless cave, and asked:

"Since the alchemy furnace is inside, Master, let's go in."

He didn't really believe that the test left by the powerful being would be so simple.

Su Yunyu naturally didn't believe it either, so she took a step forward and glanced sideways at Xiao Shuying, saying:

"I'll go in and take a look first, wait for me a moment."

As Su Yunyu took a step inside, a line of text suddenly appeared in the cave:

"This place is only for one person at a time."

"..." Su Yunyu looked at this line of text, her lips twitched, and she said helplessly to Xiao Shuying:

"You don't need to come in. Only one person can come in here."

Now you really can't blame him for leaving Long Aotian where he was.

However, without Long Aotian's luck by his side, he was actually a little scared on his own.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to let Long Aotian enter the cave, so Su Yunyu had no choice but to take the lead and go in with tears in her eyes.

As Xiao Shuying watched his figure gradually disappear into the darkness, her unease grew stronger.

It was as if an innate intuition was signaling the approach of some kind of danger.

Before he could calm his racing heart, a rustling sound came from the nearby bushes, similar to the movement of the Netherfire Python, but the danger surging from the depths of his heart was stronger than ever before—

Xiao Shuying turned around and saw a person walking out of the bushes.

This person was none other than Song Chi.

His eyes shone brightly, and he wore a smile, not at all like someone on the verge of death, but rather like someone about to embark on a beautiful journey.

Strange, he was clearly still poisoned, so why did he show no sign of anxiety?

Xiao Shuying took a step back without making a sound, becoming fully alert.

Song Chi seemed oblivious, taking a step forward and looking at the cave behind him, feigning surprise:

"Oh my, the book I was reading was actually quite accurate. I didn't expect the Water Immortal's cave to really be here. But why don't you go in, Senior Brother?"

Su Yunyu wasn't here, so Xiao Shuying didn't bother pretending.

What brings you here?

"What you're saying, senior brother," Song Chi smiled.

"I'm looking for the Blue Night Flower."

That's what he said, but Xiao Shuying clearly felt that his heart wasn't with Bixiaohua.

"Yeah"

Xiao Shuying no longer cared whether it would interfere with Su Yunyu and wanted to make a move on the communication board.

But the moment she touched the communication tablet, a dark shadow flashed before her eyes, raising a cloud of dust. Before Xiao Shuying could see clearly, a sudden pain shot through her heart—

"Cough cough cough..." He was knocked away and crashed to the ground, spitting out bright red blood.

Xiao Shuying clutched his chest, feeling a sharp pain as if his ribs were about to break. His vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground, struggling to look at Song Chi.

Seeing Song Chi's lips curl into a smile, his previously childish face was now filled with a cruel smile, especially his seemingly innocent eyes, which were now filled with arrogant superiority.

That gaze was like that of an ant; Xiao Shuying had seen that look countless times. He clenched his fists, swallowing blood, and asked:

Who exactly are you?

He believed that an elder's disciple wanted to kill him out of jealousy, but he couldn't believe that someone could have such supernatural power as to knock him away with a single blow.

"Why bother who I am?" Song Chi walked over and stomped on Xiao Shuying's chest, pinning him down as if he were nothing but a useless piece of trash.

"You're going to die anyway."

Without waiting for Xiao Shuying's reaction, he used his inner energy as a blade and stabbed down fiercely—

The attack was blocked by the defensive magic item left behind by Su Yunyu.

Song Chi's expression darkened slightly, then he smiled contemptuously:

"Your Tianxuan Sect has truly fallen. The number one person in the world actually took in a piece of trash like you and gave you so many magical treasures."

"Wait," Xiao Shuying sensed the hidden meaning and asked, slightly out of breath:

"Do you perhaps hate my master?"

Otherwise, how could someone with severed meridians and no reputation have attracted such a ruthless person?

Song Chi burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face.

"No, no, no, you've got it backwards."

As soon as he finished speaking, he channeled his energy into a spell, which transformed into twin swords that slashed down—

The jade pendant with fish and birds at Xiao Shuying's waist broke instantly.

"..." Song Chi's face stiffened, and he became even more furious:

You have quite a few treasures on you.

Xiao Shuying was being trampled underfoot and couldn't get his life tablet at all. His mouth was filled with the taste of blood, and he was vomiting blood continuously. He really felt that he was probably not going to die at Su Yunyu's hands in this life, but would die shamefully at this person's hands instead.

"Who exactly are you—" Xiao Shuying stared intently at Song Chi, showing no weakness even though he was at a disadvantage at the moment.

"You are not worthy to know me," Song Chi said, not wanting to waste any more words. He was about to finish him off when a thunderclap split the boundless dark clouds in the sky.

Song Chi suddenly stopped, first looking up at the thunder, then looking down at Xiao Shuying under his feet.

He looked up and down, then gritted his teeth and made a difficult decision.

Suddenly, Xiao Shuying's consciousness went black, and she fell into a completely unconscious coma.

All I remember in my last moments of lucidity was Song Chi's receding figure and the sound of disordered footsteps coming from the cave.

Blood trickled from her lips, and only one sentence remained in Xiao Shuying's mind:

Will you arrive on time again this time?

A note from the author:

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This is how Long Aotian was in his childhood; he couldn't beat the Koreans [noob emoji].