Chapter 101 101 A thick snake tail emerged from his lower hem...
Duan Lansheng, Qi Chang, and the others who were acting alone led the way into the forest. As her companions entered, Lu Yuanyuan subtly turned her head and glanced into the distance.
Yin Xiaozhu was still there, standing right next to Master Xuyuan.
Yin Xiaozhu's cultivation level was no lower than Duan Lansheng's, and no matter how you looked at it, he should have acted alone. But strangely, he was left behind by Master Xuyuan and had to act with him.
However, this has little to do with her.
Lu Yuanyuan withdrew her gaze and quickly stepped into the forest.
The Lingbao Secret Realm is vast and mysterious, with towering vegetation where one can easily lose sight of their companions. In her previous life, Lu Yuanyuan was a burden to the team. But this time, perhaps because of her experience, she remained calm in the face of various unexpected situations, and by the end of the day, she had subtly become the backbone of the team's younger disciples.
The first day passed without incident. Just as described in the original story, the next day, they officially entered the heart of the Spirit Treasure Realm. Deep in the forest, a strange, thick fog surged from afar and quickly enveloped them. Although it was still daytime, the light dimmed, and the faces of their companions became blurred.
Lu Yuanyuan's heart tightened, and she gripped the hilt of her sword.
Each time the events of her past life were repeated, it served as a reminder that she was walking on a predetermined plot line.
Around her, the crowd cautiously moved closer together: "What's going on? There's such a thick fog!"
"Everyone be careful, gather around here, back to back, and be careful not to get lost!"
"There seems to be something in the fog... Ah!"
A scream accompanied by a spray of blood jolted everyone on the edge of their seats. The next second, the immortal sword was drawn, its silver light flashing. The clear sword energy dispelled the mist, but the gaps were instantly filled by even more white mist.
System: "Ding! Please do not fight, separate from your companions, and successfully meet Duan Lansheng before 4 PM tomorrow."
According to the original story, Lu Yuanyuan knew she should run away at this point. But then, she suddenly heard a heart-wrenching scream of terror coming from within the white mist: "Help me! Help me... Ahhh!"
Lu Yuanyuan abruptly stopped in her tracks. Perhaps it was her instinct to not stand idly by and watch someone die, but she drew her sword faster than she could think, slashing at the dark figure in the mist.
The monster in the mist let out a strange cry, sounding remarkably like an infant's voice, and retreated, wounded by the sword light. She quickly ran forward, fighting and retreating, grabbing the disciple who had collapsed to the ground and pushing him to a companion nearby.
As soon as she let go, the white mist blocked their view of each other again.
Having already wasted a considerable amount of time, she had no choice but to leave. Using the fog as cover, she left the thick fog behind and hurried away. The fog spread and enveloped the entire forest, and by the time she had completely run out of its range, she could no longer see her companions.
In the original novel, she was described as "lost and running around when she encountered Duan Lansheng". The system did not specify her exact location, but Lu Yuanyuan knew which direction Duan Lansheng had been assigned to search, so she consciously rushed in that direction.
Due to the inertia of the plot, she and Duan Lansheng are bound to meet each other.
Lu Yuanyuan walked alone through the woods, stopping to rest whenever she was thirsty. By the time darkness fell, her water pouch was empty. She remembered that in her previous life, Duan Lansheng had found her the following afternoon. She planned to find a place to spend the night, fetch some water, boil it, and refill her water pouch.
A faint sound of flowing water came from behind the bushes, and through the branches, a small river could be seen gurgling in the night. After cautiously observing the area for a moment and finding nothing amiss, Lu Yuanyuan used her sword sheath to push aside the branches and walk towards the riverbank. In the still of the night, the sound of the water seemed even more clamorous. The bushes here were so dense that there was practically no place to step. Suddenly, her boots stepped on something soft.
Lu Yuanyuan suddenly stopped, looked down, and saw a pale, slender hand emerging from the grass. She stepped on the other person's palm.
Was it a dead monk?
The moment she thought this, the hand suddenly twitched slightly, then shot up violently, grabbing her ankle tightly through the boot and pulling her away sharply. The other person's strength was unbelievable; Lu Yuanyuan was instantly dragged down onto the muddy ground by the river. She was shocked, reached out to brace herself, and kicked out.
However, when she saw the other person's face clearly, she froze.
The other person lay on their side on the ground, their clothes stained with blood and torn in many places. Half of their face was that of a beautiful woman, while the other half resembled that of an Asura, with rough snake scales emerging from their skin.
Yin Xiaozhu?
She had been moving closer to Duan Lansheng, and should have been nearing his activity area. Why would she see someone who shouldn't be here at this time and place?
However, the [Bone-Corroding] instance triggered so much earlier than expected. And she couldn't perfectly replicate the exact paths she took in her past life; she could only ensure the general direction remained unchanged. Perhaps it was this combination of factors that led her to encounter people she hadn't met in her previous life.
Yin Xiaozhu seemed to be seriously injured. Her eyes were half-closed, and when she recognized who she was, her iron-like hand suddenly stopped. The murderous aura that had been directed at her dissipated considerably; perhaps her senses had been wrong.
"It's you..."
His voice was low and hoarse. After saying this, he closed his eyes.
Lu Yuanyuan sat stiffly on the ground, slowly pulling her foot out of his hand without any resistance.
He seemed to have completely lost consciousness.
Lu Yuanyuan rubbed her ankle, her gaze falling on the snake scales.
When Yin Xiaozhu was still a little monster, he couldn't transform into a human because he lacked the power. During his molting, he also maintained a half-human, half-snake form for a period of time. At that time, she knew that when he was weak or injured, he would lose his human form.
Just like now.
Lu Yuanyuan's gaze fell, staring at his chest for a long time, and she swallowed silently.
Now is the perfect moment for Yin Xiaozhu to be at his weakest. There are no witnesses around. Perhaps this is the best time to kill him.
She stabbed the sword tip into his heart, and no one would know it was her who did it.
She hated Yin Xiaozhu for deceiving her feelings and killing her twice.
He deserved to fall into her hands.
only……
Lu Yuanyuan's gaze struggled, lingering on his heart for a long time. She dug her fingers into the soil, but in the end, she gave up the idea.
No, no, Yin Xiaozhu cannot die now.
He was to act as a knife in Duan Lansheng's final judgment, and he had to ensure that Duan Lansheng outlived him.
Lu Yuanyuan pursed her lips, walked behind him, put her hands under his arms, and forcefully dragged him towards the shore and into the cave.
Since she still needed him for something, she had to "save" him. After all, Yin Xiaozhu had already seen her face, and she couldn't let him think she was abandoning him to his death.
Yin Xiaozhu was tall, and his legs dragged on the ground. She gently gritted her teeth, bent down, and dragged him along, her breath brushing against his ear, as she walked step by step into the cave, a faint sense of absurdity and irony washing over her.
It's true what they say, fortunes really do change.
Many years ago in the mortal realm, a little monster dragged a princess who had fainted by a stream into a cave.
Over the years, their roles have been reversed.
However, a common thread exists between the two incidents: both rescuers harbored murderous intent and had impure motives. The unconscious victims, unaware of this, firmly believed they had encountered trustworthy allies.
After placing Yin Xiaozhu in the cave, Lu Yuanyuan set up a barrier at the entrance, which gave her the time to examine his appearance closely.
Yin Xiaozhu possesses high spiritual power and was traveling with True Person Xuyuan. What powerful thing could she have encountered to cause such severe injuries?
Blood stained his clothes. Lu Yuanyuan brushed away the mud and leaves clinging to them, rolled up his sleeves, and took a closer look. Her expression changed slightly.
The wounds running across this body were not caused by a monster's bite, impact, or internal bleeding. They were straight cuts from a sword blade.
Moreover, the locations of the sword marks were all familiar—they were from the sword techniques of Mount Shu.
In other words, Yin Xiaozhu must have fought with a cultivator from Mount Shu not long ago, which is why she was injured like this.
This time, among those who entered the Spirit Treasure Secret Realm, the number of people who could seriously injure him in a fight could be counted on one hand.
Was it Xu Yuanzi? Duan Lansheng? Or some other person with profound cultivation?
When we set off, everyone was on good terms. What reason would there be for us to fall out?
Suddenly, a name flashed through Lu Yuanyuan's mind like lightning.
Master Xugu. Although Master Xugu's whereabouts are unknown, he is definitely still in the Spirit Treasure Secret Realm. Long ago, the other party became suspicious of Yin Xiaozhu's gender. After the White Crane Boat crashed, Master Xugu went into seclusion to heal his injuries and was also forced to "shut up." Not long after he emerged from seclusion today, he quietly arrived at the Spirit Treasure Secret Realm.
Is it possible that Yin Xiaozhu found Master Xugu after she separated from her companions?
However, their meeting likely didn't end well, and they probably even had a verbal altercation—perhaps Master Xugu pointed his finger at Yin Xiaozhu and questioned him about his secrets, or perhaps Yin Xiaozhu realized that the other party had some kind of evidence. The hidden conflict was brought to the surface and erupted. Master Xugu was no pushover, and a fierce battle was inevitable.
This makes many previously inexplicable points make sense.
Now that Yin Xiaozhu is here, what about Master Xugu? Is she still alive?
As long as a cultivator is alive, it is impossible for him to stay in a desolate place like the Spirit Treasure Secret Realm for the rest of his life.
After this instance, Master Xugu never returned to Mount Shu.
It's not that she doesn't want to, but that she can't.
The dead can never leave the Lingbao Secret Realm.
Once the bones decompose, even the last trace of their existence will be erased.
Master Xugu is Xu Yuanzi's junior sister. Could she have said something to Xu Yuanzi? Why is Xu Yuanzi unusually not letting Yin Xiaozhu act alone this time? Is it because he foresaw this outcome?
Lu Yuanyuan suddenly came to her senses and restored his sleeve to its original state, covering up the sword wounds.
She didn't want to become Yin Xiaozhu's next target for silence, so her curiosity should stop there.
Yin Xiaozhu's breathing was slow, his body was cold, his face was deathly pale, but his lips were a vibrant crimson. This reminded Lu Yuanyuan of those cold-blooded animals with strong vitality, whose blood flow automatically slows down and their heartbeat also slows down when they are injured.
Also, when this guy was still a little monster, wasn't it because he couldn't die from fire that he was captured and given to Princess Manjushri as a toy?
She had done more than enough by dragging him to this secluded place.
Lu Yuanyuan picked up the water pouch and left the cave without looking back, heading towards the river. She had her own business to attend to and didn't want to be held back. She'd find another place to spend the night.
The weather in the Lingbao Secret Realm is unpredictable. In the short time it took her to go in and out of the cave, a light rain had already fallen. The air was very humid. Lu Yuanyuan walked along the wet mountain path to the river to fill up with water, and then climbed up a hillside she had already chosen.
She crawled into the cave, squatted down, took out a kettle from her storage ring, boiled a pot of water, then sat cross-legged and, by the firelight, tore off pieces of dry rations to eat. After dark, a ghostly wind howled through the forest. Suddenly, she heard a hoarse, low moan drifting through the air: "...Save...me..."
It was distant, faint, and brief, but she recognized it as Yin Xiaozhu's voice.
This place was quite far from where she had placed that guy. Lu Yuanyuan frowned, stopped chewing her dry rations, and held her breath. After a while, she heard the familiar voice again.
"Help...me."
She was sure she hadn't misheard. Lu Yuanyuan's expression hardened slightly. She dropped the dry rations, gripped her sword, and quickly followed the sound. The sound was coming from across the river. She swiftly skimmed over the grass and reached the riverbank.
"Help me...it hurts..."
The cries for help came from behind the rocks by the river.
Lu Yuanyuan suddenly stopped in her tracks, her face turning cold: "Yin Xiaozhu?"
As if hearing a noise, the thing behind the rock slowly crawled out. Its limbs were incredibly long, broken into segments, covered with many sharp, thorn-like tufts of hair, like a spider's. Its pale, swollen face had no eyes or nose, only a gaping, blood-red maw, its scarlet tongue writhing, and the familiar voice was emanating from its mouth:
"Help me...it hurts...help me...it hurts..."
It's like a broken record, mechanically repeating the same sentence.
The next second, a clang echoed through the air as a silver sword flashed towards its body, severing its limbs. The monster's familiar voice instantly distorted, turning into a shrill wail like an infant's, as it tried to escape into the river. But it failed; a celestial sword pursued from behind, pinning it to a rock. The monster let out a long howl and gradually fell silent.
Lu Yuanyuan pointed with two fingers and sheathed the sword.
The moment it cried out, she recognized it—it was the monster she had wounded in the white mist. In her past life, she had never fought anything from the mist and had never known their true nature. It turned out they were such terrifying creatures, able to lure prey by mimicking sounds. Presumably, after she wounded it this morning, this thing held a grudge against her and secretly followed her to the vicinity. Perhaps it saw her dragging Yin Xiaozhu into the cave, and so it tried to imitate the cries for help of someone she knew to lure her to the riverbank and ambush her.
There are so many strange and wonderful monsters in the Lingbao Secret Realm.
If she hadn't suspected anything and had walked straight over, it would have dragged her into the water. Once they fought underwater, it wouldn't have been so easy to escape.
Lu Yuanyuan hung her sword back at her waist when she suddenly heard heavy footsteps coming from the woods behind her. Surprised and alert, she turned around and saw a bloodless hand parting the branches.
Yin Xiaozhu was clearly still weak; his face was flushed, giving him a strange, alluring look, and he appeared somewhat disoriented. His clothes were tattered, making him look like a blood-soaked figure. He could barely stand, his shoulders leaning against a tree trunk, and it was unclear how he had gotten there.
When their eyes met, he squeezed his eyes shut briefly, then opened them again, as if to confirm if it was a hallucination. Then, as if exhausted, he slowly leaned against the tree trunk.
Lu Yuanyuan stared in disbelief as he slid to the ground, his clothes bulging strangely as if something was rapidly expanding, about to burst from his grasp. The next second, a series of sharp cracking sounds rang out as his joints stretched out, and a thick snake tail emerged from his hem, spreading out in concentric circles across the entire riverbank.
Was it because he struggled to get out of the cave that his condition worsened and he could no longer maintain his form?
Seeing the snake tails continuously emerging, Lu Yuanyuan's face turned pale. She took a step back and ran. But her legs were no match for the snake tails, and she was suddenly wrapped up and dragged up the mountain, back to that familiar cave.
In the dim light, she saw his eyes gradually turning turquoise, his pupils shrinking to slits, as if he were not quite lucid.
Lu Yuanyuan's expression changed drastically, and her hair stood on end.
The last time she saw those green eyes of his was on the first night the white crane boat crashed. After being used by him like a tool, she suffered from burning pain and almost died by hitting her head against a wall.
Yin Xiaozhu's emerald eyes were a harbinger of that kind of thing.
Yes, he's weak right now, so isn't that exactly what he needs to do with her, this powerful tonic?
Having finally reached this point, it felt as if her life had been choked at the last moment. In despair, sparks of anger erupted. Lu Yuanyuan's eyes were bloodshot, but alas, her spiritual power was far inferior to her opponent's. When their forms crossed species boundaries, it became even more difficult for her to resist. Soon, her limbs were suppressed and pinned to the ground.
Her mind was in turmoil, filled with countless thoughts.
If she had known that Yin Xiaozhu would attack her the moment he woke up, she should have killed him by the river. If she didn't have a tomorrow, what did grand plans matter? It would be better to take one more enemy down with her!
No…no, she couldn’t give up. As long as Yin Xiaozhu didn’t rip out her heart, she might not die. As long as she could endure the burning pain, the game wasn’t over yet.
Seeing Yin Xiaozhu lower his head towards her, Lu Yuanyuan clenched her teeth and closed her eyes tightly. She was waiting; she had to be patient.
The next second, she felt a slightly damp sensation on her cheek.
It's the tongue.
His tongue gently licked the cut on her cheek, a wound inflicted by blades of grass sometime during the night. Then, she heard a distinct swallowing and panting sound from the person on top of her.
It's like a monster's excitement before savoring a delicious meal.
Lu Yuanyuan's body stiffened, her fingertips digging into her palm. However, after waiting for a while, she didn't feel any pain; instead, she felt a weight on her body.
The other person released her wrist, pulled her stiff body into their arms, and kept sniffing near her neck for her pulse, as if they were a little anxious.
Lu Yuanyuan's neck immediately broke out in goosebumps. Before she could figure out why he wasn't going to bite her, Yin Xiaozhu rolled over, stretched out his arms and locked her firmly between his chest and the cave, like hugging a pillow. The thinnest tip of his snake tail wrapped around her calf. He closed his eyes wearily, his breath gradually weakening.
Lu Yuanyuan resisted the urge to struggle, waiting for about ten minutes, which felt like an eternity. Once she was sure he was unconscious and motionless, she braced herself on her elbows and slowly and carefully crawled out of his arms. However, although he was asleep, his snake tail was very alert; it would tighten whenever she tried to pull her legs away. It took her a long time to finally free her legs. Turning her head, her expression complex and confused, she looked at the unconscious man.
If she understood correctly, Yin Xiaozhu was ignoring her powerful healing potion and planning to recover his form in the slowest way possible.
If he wasn't going to use her as medicine, then why did he drag his half-dead body to the riverbank just now?
How did he know she was by the river? She didn't have a GPS tracker on her.
No, now is not the time to think about that. Although the system didn't urge her, she felt that a lot of time had already passed.
Emerging from the cave, the sky was already bright, but the light in the Lingbao Secret Realm was still not bright, with beams of light in the forest shimmering with a faint blue glow.
Finding someone who moves like the wind in a place without maps or GPS is no easy task. However, the inertia of the plot is powerful, requiring little effort on her part.
If she is the tree stump, then Duan Lansheng is the rabbit.
As long as she is there, she will definitely meet Duan Lansheng.
Leaving the cave, Lu Yuanyuan walked along the riverbank. As afternoon approached, the sky suddenly darkened, and a torrential downpour began. Fortunately, there was a strangely shaped stone forest not far away. Lu Yuanyuan quickly went to the stones, intending to take shelter from the rain for a while.
Her boots were covered in mud. She shook off the water droplets, squatted down, picked up a leaf, and used it to wipe the mud off her boots. Suddenly, her ears twitched as she heard a rustling sound from the bushes ahead.
Then, a pair of boots stepped out from inside.
Lu Yuanyuan paused, slowly raised her chin, and looked up along the snow-white hem of her dress.
The rabbit is here.
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