Chapter 6 He wanted to kill her
West of Xingyunping, on the barren land, Si Yao walked for more than an hour. Because there were too many holes dug in this land, she couldn't even start with her hoe.
They could only eat the endless yellow sand in the wind.
"There's really no good place left."
Only then did Si Yao realize how correct the disciple's words were before the bounty was posted.
Who would want to do a mission in this godforsaken place?
She rose into the air, no longer conducting a thorough, step-by-step search as before. Instead, she hovered in the air and quickly explored the western part of Nebula Plain.
Apart from a few bare pebbles, nothing else happened to Si Yao.
She looked eastward, wondering, "I wonder how Xiao Yezi is doing?"
After saying that, Si Yao flew to the eastern part of Xingyunping and saw Xiao Yezi wielding a hoe in the distance.
Around Xiao Yezi, there were also pits of various sizes, and he had dug three or four new pits, which contained nothing but soil.
Si Yao stepped forward. "Disciple, you're really digging?"
It's obvious at a glance that this place has already been dug out by others, so there's really no need for Xiao Yezi to dig another hole.
Xiao Yezi stopped what she was doing. "What if some slipped through the net?"
Si Yao shook her head. "Oh dear, Xiao Ye is really honest and a practical disciple, but we also need to adapt to local conditions and not just blindly work hard."
Xiao Yezi had long since given up digging. If he hadn't noticed Si Yao coming from the west, he wouldn't have bothered pretending to dig with a hoe.
He put down his hoe and nodded. "Master is right. So where should we go to search for treasure now?"
The wind howled across Xingyunping, whipping up dust and sand from the ground.
Si Yao covered her mouth and nose, pointed north, and said, "Let's look around again, and then head north to take a look."
The master and his apprentice explored the eastern part of the area, and on their way north, they discovered a large pit.
They approached the pit and found it to be bottomless and pitch black.
Xiao Yezi glanced at it and asked, "Master, could there be some rare treasure inside?"
Si Yao narrowed her eyes slightly, "This pit is indeed different from the small pits we saw before, but since it has already been dug, there probably won't be anything left."
Why are you so certain?
Xiao Yezi looked thoughtfully at Si Yao and said meaningfully, "Master, now that we've come in to explore, we shouldn't miss out on any slightly unusual places."
Si Yao looked at Xiao Yezi, who was almost as tall as her, and noticed that the boy's tone of voice sometimes didn't seem like that of a twelve-year-old. "Then what do you think?"
Xiao Yezi said, "I think we should go down and take a look."
At this point, Xiao Yezi stepped behind Si Yao, a calculating glint appearing in his clear eyes. "Why don't you go down and take a look, Master?"
He flipped his right hand, and at that moment, a thought popped into his head: he really wanted to push Si Yao down.
Si Yao craned her neck and glanced at the large pit again, then quickly pulled back and shook her head, "No, no, let's go somewhere else."
Xiao Yezi looked up and noticed Si Yao's uneasy expression. "Is Master afraid to go down?"
After all, Si Yao is a Golden Core cultivator, and the pit in front of her is just an ordinary earthen pit, so why does she look so unwilling?
Xiao Yezi couldn't understand it. Could it be that she had discovered her intentions?
Si Yao chuckled dryly a few times, not answering Xiao Yezi's question, but instead pulling him northward, saying, "Trust me, there's definitely nothing good in that pit."
Xiao Yezi was afraid of alerting the enemy, so he had no choice but to obey.
On Xingyunping, the master and his apprentice walked for a while longer and then they discovered a stone bridge not far away.
Stepping onto the stone bridge and looking down, one sees that the river beneath has long since dried up, leaving only a bare riverbed.
The riverbed is filled with sand, but there are no signs that it has been dug up.
Perhaps there's something else here?
Si Yao picked up the hoe. "Let's go down and give it a try."
After saying that, he grabbed Xiao Yezi and jumped up. Their feet touched the ground lightly, and they felt that the sand was very loose and soft underfoot.
"Apprentice, start digging!"
Without hesitation, Si Yao swung her hoe forcefully and began working on the ground beneath her feet.
With one stroke of the hoe, a pit appeared instantly, and the sand around the pit was rapidly poured into the bottom of the pit.
"Huh!"
Before Si Yao could figure out what was happening, her whole body began to sink, just like Xiao Yezi, as if they had fallen into a quagmire.
Unexpectedly, the sand was so soft. Just as Si Yao was about to lift Xiao Yezi up and try to fly upwards, her feet suddenly gave way, and she and Xiao Yezi fell into an even deeper place.
"Little Ye, hurry up and get your master!"
Considering that Xiao Yezi was a beginner and she had not taught him any cultivation techniques, Si Yao was extra protective of this disciple.
The two finally landed in a large stone cave. Although it was a cave, the light was good enough that one could see about three feet ahead.
“There’s light here, could there be an exit ahead?” Si Yao looked around, then said to Xiao Yezi beside her, “Disciple, you must stay close to your master. Something’s not right here, don’t get lost.”
However, Xiao Yezi's expression was much calmer than Si Yao's, but he still nodded and said, "I understand, Master."
Compared to the desolate land she had just seen when she first stepped into Nebula Plain, this cave was a pleasant surprise for Si Yao.
She knew that a cave that suddenly appeared like this would probably hide something, right?
The further Si Yao went, the more the light in the cave flickered.
After walking about half a mile, she was surprised to find that there were many blue crystals in the cave, all of which were shining brightly.
It seems that the light in the cave is caused by the shimmering of these crystals.
Xiao Yezi's gaze was naturally drawn to the numerous blue crystals, but he wasn't as surprised as Si Yao. At that moment, Si Yao beside him had already moved closer to the blue crystals, touching and stroking them.
Si Yao asked, "What material is this thing made of? I wonder if we can take it back to the sect and exchange it for spirit stones?"
Xiao Yezi, standing not far away, said with his eyes slightly closed, "They're just some magic lights, they're useless except for emitting light."
Si Yao turned her head and exclaimed in surprise, "Disciple, you actually recognize this? At such a young age, you know more than your master?"
Xiao Yezi quickly looked away, his eyes darting around, and explained, "Perhaps Master doesn't pay much attention to these things on a regular basis."
Si Yao scratched her head. "Alright, you haven't been to the sect for more than a few days, and you've probably already heard them saying that I'm lazy and good-for-nothing all day long, right?"
At this point, she coughed awkwardly and waved her hand, "But it doesn't matter. You can listen to those rumors more often, which will help you to understand your teacher more comprehensively."
Xiao Yezi: "..."
Since these blue magic lights were of little use, Si Yao and Xiao Yezi continued to explore.
The number of magic lantern stones deep inside the cave is decreasing, and the path is becoming increasingly narrow.
As the light grew dimmer, Si Yao slowed her pace considerably.
"The road has narrowed, and the space seems to have shrunk as well." Si Yao took a deep breath, a thin layer of sweat appearing on her forehead.
Xiao Yezi's gaze lingered on Si Yao's face for a moment, then he noticed that her expression was not quite right. "What's wrong, Master?"
Si Yao quickly shook her head and summoned her only personal magical artifact, Yan Yun.
Yan Yun is a palm-leaf fan, a magical artifact that Si Yao used during her years of Foundation Establishment. She waved Yan Yun, and it emitted a faint glow. "Let's use this for lighting for now."
But the path ahead was still shrouded in darkness, and the glow of the cloud-patterned fan could not illuminate the way forward at all.
Si Yao stopped and pulled Xiao Yezi along, "Disciple, you go first, I'll follow you."
Xiao Yezi was completely confused, but she did as instructed.
Si Yao followed Xiao Yezi cautiously, looking left and right, and sweat gradually appeared on her forehead.
"Is Master afraid of the dark?"
Caught off guard, Xiao Yezi asked.
Si Yao laughed a few times, then quickly denied it, "How could that be!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the stone cave began to shake, making a rumbling sound.
Si Yao instinctively grabbed Xiao Yezi's sleeve, "Be careful!"
Xiao Yezi's robes were almost ripped off by Si Yao. He pulled his collar up and said, "Master, don't be nervous."
No sooner had they finished speaking than the cave began to shake more violently, and a powerful force swept them from behind, pulling them to the end of the cave.
Si Yao circulated her spiritual energy, preventing her and Xiao Yezi from crashing hard into the stone wall at the end.
Because it was so sudden, in the rush, the Yan Yun in Si Yao's hand was also swept away by that force.
In an instant, the faint glow went out, and Si Yao could not see her own hand in front of her face.
In addition, the end of the cave was particularly narrow, making her and Xiao Yezi feel as if they were in a closed, secret room.
As the darkness stretched endlessly, Si Yao's breathing grew heavier.
Without light and in a confined space, Si Yao's heart raced uncontrollably; she felt there wasn't enough air around her.
My inner resistance to this place is growing stronger, and I really want to escape immediately to a spacious and bright place.
The stone cave stopped shaking at this moment, but Si Yao slumped helplessly against the stone wall, her head down, her eyes closed, and she was panting heavily.
Xiao Yezi noticed something was wrong with her and leaned closer. "Master?"
Si Yao seemed not to hear, but simply held her head tightly in her hands, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
"Master, what's wrong?" Xiao Yezi asked tentatively, but the other party did not respond at all.
Si Yao suddenly groaned, a pained expression on her face. Her head tilted back, and her body fell to the ground, where she curled up into a ball.
Xiao Yezi stopped talking and even took a step back.
In his eyes, Si Yao was probably suffering from a relapse of some old illness, and this was probably the time when she was at her weakest.
Inside the dark stone cave, Xiao Yezi circulated his spiritual energy, and a black and red seal condensed in his hand.
He has waited for another good opportunity.
The thing that was in Si Yao's dantian originally belonged to him, and he had to take it out.
Si Yao's mind went blank, and she only felt a persistent ringing in her ears. She felt as if she had lost consciousness and had no idea that danger was approaching her.
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