After confirming that Xie An was alright, Xie Shuci lifted his head from Xie An's embrace and looked around.
A hazy mist mixed with flying sand and gravel obscured the light source on the horizon, and Xie Shuci could only see some blurry figures.
"Xie Shuci...the door is about to open...use your spiritual power to cover you and Young Master Xie..."
Chu Wenfeng's voice sounded faint in the wind. Xie Shuci didn't dare to delay and immediately used his spiritual power to envelop himself and Xie An.
Xie Shuci's spiritual power is different from his appearance. He always seems loud and boisterous, but his spiritual power is exceptionally gentle. When it intimately adheres to the two of them, it's as if they were born to be this close.
"Are you all alright?" Xie Shuci asked loudly.
"It's nothing..." Chu Wenfeng replied from afar.
Xie Shuci finally breathed a sigh of relief, closed his eyes, and buried his head in Xie An's chest.
He didn't notice that at this moment, Xie An was looking down at him as if nothing had happened. The mist in his eyes had disappeared at some point, and his dark eyes were as calm as a lake under the moonlight in such a chaotic situation.
Perhaps seeing Xie Shuci nestled trustingly in his arms, intimately pressing his spiritual energy against him, the young man's lips curled up slightly, as if as a reward, and he lowered his eyes to kiss the top of Xie Shuci's head.
The night sky, a map of stars, was divided in two by a massive chasm, like a gate that appeared out of nowhere, violently pushed open by the strong winds of the mortal realm. A gate belonging to the heavens was opened inch by inch, and the pure and powerful spiritual energy overflowing from within invigorated everyone on earth.
Xie Shuci felt himself being pulled by a powerful force, his body gradually rising into the air. A cold, biting wind blew past his back, and he couldn't help but hug Xie An tightly. The strong wind disturbed his breathing and squeezed his body. These sensations all happened in an instant.
The next moment, as if an invisible hand had separated him and Xie An, the intertwined bells rang with resentment, trying to hold each other back, but they were no match for the power of nature.
"Xie An!" Xie Shuci shouted, trying to grab Xie An, but his body wouldn't obey him at all, and in an instant, Xie An disappeared from sight.
Xie Shuci's senses became numb in the wind, and soon after, even his consciousness fell into chaos.
In a hazy state, he smelled the scent of fresh grass and felt abundant spiritual energy surrounding his body, like soaking in warm water, which made him feel exceptionally comfortable.
Suddenly, it felt like something was dragging across his face, accompanied by a "humming" sound, and hot air was constantly blowing onto his face.
Annoyed, Xie Shuci reached out and pushed him, only to find his hand covered in something furry.
"Aww—"
The fishy-smelling saliva dripped onto Xie Shuci's face, the smell stimulating his brain and instantly bringing him back to his senses.
Xie Shuci frowned, opened his eyes and saw a gaping maw facing him, with a long, pink tongue sweeping across his face.
"Holy crap!"
Xie Shuci shuddered, pushed the thing away, kicked off the ground and staggered back a few steps before standing up unsteadily.
"Ptooey! What is that... Ugh!" Xie Shuci wiped the saliva off his face, the stench almost making him vomit.
"Awooo! Awooo!"
The thing he had pushed away wagged its tail and came closer to Xie Shuci. It looked at Xie Shuci with bright, sparkling eyes, its eyes filled with undisguised affection and excitement.
"Make way, make way—" Xie Shuci used his leg to block it, and then used a newly learned method to cast a small spell to remove the sticky saliva from his face before calming down.
He first looked around and found himself in a dense forest. The vegetation here was lush and verdant, nourished by spiritual energy. The large, leafy trees blocked out the entire sky, with only a few sparse rays of sunlight filtering through the branches.
Xie Shuci's first thought should be that this is not the cultivation world.
The spiritual energy here is light and abundant, a world apart from the cultivation world.
"Xie An?"
"Want to return?"
"Chu Wenfeng?" Xie Shuci tried calling out a few times, but apart from a few birds flying out of the bushes, there was only the thing rubbing against his calves with a loud humming sound.
Xie Shuci sighed. It seemed they had been separated when they were pulled into the Dragon Fang Secret Realm. He hoped that nothing bad had happened to the others.
However, compared to Xie An and the others, Xie Shuci felt that he was more likely to get into trouble. If he were alone and encountered someone with ill intentions, he would lose his life.
Xie Shuci looked down at the thing that kept circling around him and said, "Sit down."
"Aww!"
The thing responded and immediately sat down obediently, sticking its tongue out at Xie Shuci.
Xie Shuci took a closer look and immediately laughed, "Is this place a breeding ground for huskies?"
He said that the sound of this thing was so familiar, it turned out it was from the same family as that stupid dog.
The dog didn't understand what he said and tilted its head in confusion.
Xie Shuci reached out and grabbed it. The dog seemed to really like his scent, sniffing his hand incessantly and rubbing against him as it did so.
The dog was a bit smaller than the canine demon, about half-grown. Xie Shuci couldn't help but step forward and pat its neck, saying, "A husky is a dog. In our area, a dog like you would be called a husky."
Upon hearing this, the dog immediately became displeased and bared its fangs at Xie Shuci.
Just then, a cool voice came from above: "If it could talk, it would tell you, 'I'm not a dog, I'm a wolf.'"
Upon hearing the sound, Xie Shuci stopped plucking the dog's fur.
The dog gave him an innocent smile.
How could that be? How could such a cute pet be a wolf?
"The Crimson Snow Wolf is renowned for its bite force. In its original form, it is entirely white except for a tuft of red hair on its left ear," the voice continued.
Xie Shuci recalled the original form of the silly dog, and then looked at the clueless,憨厚 "dog" sticking out its tongue in front of him.
Xie Shuci tightened his face, stood up, and, disbelieving, picked up a stone from the ground and threw it far away. "Go, pick it up."
"Dog" tilted its head, quite puzzled by his behavior.
Xie Shuci's expression froze. He looked at the "dog's" gaping fangs, its thick drool dripping onto the ground, and then at its eerie blue eyes. Damn! Cute my foot! It clearly sees him as food!
He stiffened and quietly retreated. For every step he took back, "Dog" took a step forward. Xie Shuci swallowed hard. He didn't care about anything else and just ran away. Just as he took off running, "Dog" pounced on him and knocked him to the ground. It wagged its tail happily and jumped around on him.
"Damn it—Chu Wenfeng, stop watching the show and save me!" Xie Shuci felt like a stone was pressing down on him, making it hard for him to breathe.
A loud, unrestrained laugh echoed through the woods, followed by a figure leaping down from the bushes.
Chu Wenfeng leaned against a large tree with one hand and pointed at Xie Shuci with the other, his laughter deafening.
"Chu, Wen, Feng!" Xie Shuci shouted angrily.
Chu Wenfeng wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes, walked over and squatted down beside him, "What are you afraid of? It likes you so much. When I found you, I wanted to lick you all over. How could it bear to eat you?"
Xie Shuci finally managed to lift his head off "Dog," took a couple of breaths, and yelled, "What are you all standing there for? Throw it off me!"
Chu Wenfeng curled his lip, reluctantly grabbing "Dog" by the scruff of its neck and lifting it off Xie Shuci.
The dog struggled fiercely in his hands and tried to pounce on Xie Shuci.
Xie Shuci wiped the drool off his clothes in disgust. "Is it really some kind of wolf? How come it behaves like a dog?"
His words seemed to have hurt "Dog's" pride. It lowered its head dejectedly and let Chu Wenfeng carry it without moving.
Chu Wenfeng said, "The Crimson Snow Wolf is the strongest fighting breed among all wolves, but it loves humans very much. Because its original form is tall and mighty, humans run away when they see it, so it transforms into the size of an ordinary domestic dog."
Xie Shuci nodded, and seeing the little guy looking so dejected, Xie Shuci felt a little sorry for him and said, "Oh dear, are you still angry? You licked me all over, and I wasn't even angry. Okay, you're not a dog, you're majestic, you're the king, okay?"
The little thing seemed to really like the name, and immediately grinned happily.
Xie Shuci tentatively called out, "Your Majesty?"
"Aww!"
"Your Majesty."
"Awooo!"
Xie Shuci felt that this guy was no different from an ordinary dog, so he waved and told Chu Wenfeng to put the king down.
Chu Wenfeng rolled his eyes and muttered, "You've become addicted to ordering people around?"
As he spoke, he put the king down.
Finally free, the Great King was about to pounce on Xie Shuci with glee when it suddenly remembered that Xie Shuci didn't like it. It paused for a moment, then suddenly spun around in place. A surge of spiritual energy swirled around it, forming a hurricane, and with a "bang," its body transformed into a chubby little ball.
"Aww!" The little dumpling, with its head full of red fur, pounced on Xie Shuci, hugging his thighs with its tiny hands and feet, and rubbing its face against his clothes.
"Holy crap—what is that?!" Xie Shuci was startled and jumped back twice, but the little dumpling stuck to his leg like a leech and wouldn't budge.
"What is this?!" Xie Shuci looked at Chu Wenfeng with a look of horror.
Chu Wenfeng's expression was strange, a half-smile on his face. "Xie Shuci, what kind of shitty luck do you have?"
"Stop making sarcastic remarks and get him off the stage right now!"
A dog suddenly transformed into a two- or three-year-old child right in front of him, which terrified Xie Shuci.
Chu Wenfeng, on the other hand, picked out a clean rock and sat down leisurely, saying, "What are you so nervous about? This is a little wolf demon that can transform."
"Huh?" Xie Shuci was stunned for a moment, then turned her face to look at the little dumpling on her lap. The little dumpling had short arms and legs, and its pink face rubbed against her. When it saw Xie Shuci, its big, round, and black eyes narrowed immediately, and it couldn't help but giggle.
Seeing this, Chu Wenfeng said sourly, "The secret realm is full of spiritual energy, and a very small number of demons are born with inner cores and can transform into human form. This little guy is probably less than three months old and has never seen his parents, but he already thinks of you as his father."
"You think I'm your dad?" Xie Shuci looked at him with a skeptical look, then pinched the baby's soft and bouncy cheeks. The child couldn't close his mouth as he pinched him, and drool got all over Xie Shuci.
He said in a childish voice, "Diedie... I love you... Your taste is... so fragrant..."
Who is your father?
"It's greasy."
The king, now a tiny child, was so adorable that one wanted to devour him whole. With this soft, cuddly little dumpling clinging to him, Xie Shuci didn't dare to shake him off. He just stared straight at him. The innocent king, completely oblivious to Xie Shuci's annoyance, even smiled sweetly at him.
Xie Shuci looked at him and suddenly thought of the silly dog in the cultivation world.
It had cultivated for two hundred years but still couldn't take human form, yet this little wolf demon in front of it had everything from birth.
A wolf's instincts are sharp, and perhaps sensing Xie Shuci's complex emotions, he furrowed his brows, his eyes revealing sadness, "Diedie... don't be sad..."
"Father is not sad."
Xie Shuci grabbed his head and looked up at Chu Wenfeng helplessly, "What should we do?"
Chu Wenfeng raised an eyebrow at him: "What can we do? We'll just take him with us. After all, he's a little spirit beast. Besides, he has a keen sense of smell and can find my senior brother and Xie An more easily than we can."
Xie Shuci had no choice but to nod, pat the child's head, and say, "Your Majesty, change back to human form. You are not allowed to become human again without my permission."
"Aww!"
The king responded, and his body shrank back to its original size, turning into an ordinary little husky that kept circling around Xie Shuci.
"Do you have anything belonging to Xie An? Let it smell it," Chu Wenfeng said.
"have."
Xie Shuci brought the object, which carried the scents of Xie An and Chu Guiyi, to the king's nose and inquired about its purpose, instructing it to lead them to the nearest person.
Since the two of them landed not far apart, the other two should also be nearby.
Upon receiving the order, the king, like a puppy venturing out for the first time, jumped around with great joy. After running quite a distance, he turned back and, realizing Xie Shuci hadn't followed, even went back to tug at his clothes, urging him to hurry up.
Xie Shuci kicked it a little away, "Don't bite, or I'll step on you."
"Awooo!"
"Chu Wenfeng, will they be alright?" Xie Shuci asked worriedly.
Chu Wenfeng shook his head and said, "Before we came, my senior brother and I inquired a lot about the Dragon Fang Secret Realm. It's not dark yet in the secret realm, so there's no danger. But once night falls, every tree here can easily kill you. The creatures that move during the day are relatively docile, like the Crimson Snow Wolves. As long as they don't encounter the Sun family, they should be safe."
"That's good."
Chu Wenfeng scoffed, "You still have time to care about them? Don't underestimate them just because they have no cultivation; they still have the ability to protect themselves, unlike you."
"I am a pill cultivator, and pill cultivators are inherently weak," Xie Shuci glared and said, still not satisfied, he commanded, "Your Majesty, bare your teeth at him."
The king obediently bared his fangs at Chu Wenfeng, looking both cute and fierce, but posing no real threat.
Chu Wenfeng sneered, "Naive."
Before long, the king followed the scent and led the two deeper into the forest.
The deeper they went, the thicker the shadows of the trees became, until finally the surroundings became gloomy and not a ray of sunlight could be seen.
Deep in the jungle, all was quiet, except for the occasional clear and melodious bird song.
Perhaps influenced by the oppressive environment, Xie Shuci and the other person had calm expressions, held their breath, and walked lightly, raising their physical senses to the extreme.
Xie Shuci gripped the bell at his waist and looked around warily.
The king's cheerful steps were not affected. It hopped onto a rock, sniffed the scent carried on the wind, looked happily in one direction, and kept circling around in place, signaling Xie Shuci and the others to hurry up and catch up.
"Aww!"
"Found it?"
"Awooo!"
Xie Shuci and his companion were overjoyed and quickly followed.
Because the jungle was so quiet, Xie Shuci could hear faint conversations from several feet away.
Judging from the voices, there seemed to be more than two people. Xie Shuci and Chu Wenfeng exchanged a glance and understood each other's meaning.
Xie Shuci tiptoed and untied the bell from his waist, tucked it into his belt, and then bent down to say to the king, "Find a place to hide and don't make a sound. Come out only when I tell you to, understand?"
The king was very clever; he gave a low cry and darted into the bushes nearby.
Xie Shuci imitated Chu Wenfeng, covering his body with spiritual power to conceal his aura, and cautiously approached the source of the sound.
The two crouched low and stealthily made their way to hide behind nearby rocks, where their conversation gradually became clearer.
"Xiaohu, what are your plans for dealing with Chu Guiyi?"
Sun Xiaohu? The Sun family?
Xie Shuci frowned and looked at Chu Wenfeng.
The latter clenched his teeth and almost lunged forward, but Xie Shuci reacted quickly and grabbed him.
"Are you stupid? There are so many of them!"
Chu Wenfeng gritted his teeth, clearly harboring a long-standing grudge against Sun Xiaohu.
"A real man knows when to bend and when to stand firm, you know? Let's hear what they're up to first," Xie Shuci said in a low voice.
Chu Wenfeng snorted defiantly, but ultimately did not make any further moves.
"What should we do?" Sun Xiaohu sneered. "For a cripple like him to enter the Dragon Fang Secret Realm is just courting death. Even if I help him and let him die here, who would know it was me?"
At this moment, Chu Guiyi's calm voice rang out from ahead: "The grudge between you and me is none of anyone else's business."
Xie Shuci had a bad feeling. He lay down under the rock and quietly peeked out from the side. Through the sparse bushes, he saw that the two people surrounded by more than a dozen black-robed disciples were Chu Guiyi and Xie An.
"Damn it, what terrible luck! I ran into my old enemy as soon as I walked in," Xie Shuci muttered through gritted teeth.
Chu Wenfeng gripped the handle of the Flying Bird Nine-Section Whip, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
Sun Xiaohu sneered, "Nothing to do with others? You want me to release him? If I release him so he can inform on the Chu family, would I, Sun Xiaohu, kill you?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a disciple beside him said, "Senior brother, this blind man is someone close to that alchemist."
Hearing this, Chu Wenfeng whispered to him, "Xie Shuci, if Sun Xiaohu releases Xie An, you must take him away immediately, understand? Sun Xiaohu is a vengeful and vindictive man, so don't get involved anymore."
Xie Shuci was taken aback by what he said. Knowing that this kid didn't want to implicate him and Xie An, he paused for a moment, then asked, "Are you teaching me how to do things?"
"You!" Chu Wenfeng exclaimed angrily.
Xie Shuci slapped his head, "I treat you guys as friends, so if you're friends, don't talk nonsense. I'm a cultivator, after all, so don't look down on me. Besides, this smiling tiger might not let Xie An leave."
"You're all so afraid of a mere alchemist?"
"But after all, he is from the Floating Pagoda Realm."
"So what if it's the Floating Pagoda Realm? No matter how powerful the people in the Floating Pagoda Realm are, can they really extend their reach here?"
As Chu Guiyi listened to their conversation, his brows furrowed: "Sun Xiaohu, don't drag innocent people into this."
"Innocent? No, no, no, they are not innocent at all." Sun Xiaohu strode up to the two men, a sinister smile on his face. "A useless alchemist leading three useless people into the Dragon Fang Secret Realm, do you know how many people are secretly eyeing this piece of fat meat?"
He stopped in front of Xie An, stared at him for a long time, and then suddenly smiled ambiguously, "I heard that Dan Xiu is a homosexual. He has a beautiful blind woman like you by his side. You wouldn't happen to be his lover, would you?"
After saying that, he actually tried to touch Xie An's face.
The phrase "as beautiful as a flower" is both fitting and inappropriate when applied to Xie An.
Xie Shuci was furious when he saw Sun Xiaohu's groping hand. How old was his little blind boy? How dare you defile him with your own hands? You're asking for death!
Xie An's long, drooping eyelashes trembled. He instinctively wanted to back away, but for some reason, he stood stiffly in place. Sun Xiaohu's finger touched his face, and he immediately turned his head to the side as if he had been insulted, facing Xie Shuci.
Xie Shuci's heart skipped a beat. Looking at the little blind man's disgusted expression, immense anger exploded in his chest!
You bastard! Go to hell! You dare touch that blind little guy? I'll fight you to the death today...
No, we can't compete.
Xie Shuci gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down. He was just going up there to deliver equipment, but seeing Xie An's helpless and injured appearance, Xie Shuci felt extremely distressed. His little blind boy, the most beautiful and cute little blind boy in the world, had actually been touched on the face by a stinky man?
"Chu Wenfeng, can you beat Sun Xiaohu?" Xie Shuci asked.
"Yes, in a one-on-one fight, he is no match for me."
"As long as we can beat them, we'll see."
"Sun Xiaohu." Chu Guiyi emphasized, pulling a throwing dagger from his sleeve. If Sun Xiaohu dared to make any further disrespectful move, this dagger would make him suffer.
Sun Xiaohu's attention immediately shifted to Chu Guiyi. He walked back to Chu Guiyi, and everyone's eyes followed him.
So no one noticed the fleeting glint of cold light in Xie An's eyes the moment he lowered his eyelashes.
"Chu Guiyi, weren't you so arrogant? Weren't you so capable? What? Now you can't even protect a blind man? Let me tell you, it's not just him, that alchemist, your junior brother, I will torture them all to death in front of you!"
Since Chu Guiyi went mad with demonic possession, Sun Xiaohu had tried many times to deliberately provoke him. But no matter what he said or did, no matter how much he trampled on Chu Guiyi's pride and dignity, Chu Guiyi always maintained a calm and unperturbed expression, seemingly not taking his clumsy provocations seriously.
But the more Chu Guiyi acted this way, the more he held onto his pride and refused to break, the more Sun Xiaohu wanted to see him in a sorry state.
On what grounds? On what grounds?
Do you still consider yourself the pride of the Chu family who was once able to carry the torch?
You're nothing but trash! You're utter garbage! What gives you the right to be so arrogant? What makes you act so high and mighty?
"You don't want to drag them into this? I won't! I'm going to bring him, your junior brother, and that alchemist to you and use every disgusting method you can think of to deal with them!"
Perhaps it was the embarrassment he suffered in public today that drove him to a state of near madness. He spared no effort in using words to provoke Chu Guiyi, trying to tear off the man's calm mask and to smash his dignity to the ground.
What good would killing Chu Guiyi do? Only by crushing Chu Guiyi's dignity can we quell the hatred in his heart!
"Aren't he and that alchemist lovers? I'd like to see what happens between men..."
"Smack—"
Before Sun Xiaohu could finish speaking, the man in front of him raised his hand and swung a palm at him.
Chu Guiyi used almost all his strength in this palm strike, and his hand, hanging at his side, was still trembling slightly after he finished.
Despite his efforts to calm himself, his rapid breathing betrayed his inner turmoil.
"Sun Xiaohu, I've said it before, our feud shouldn't involve other people." Chu Guiyi's voice was chilling.
Sun Xiaohu was knocked to the side by the blow, a trickle of blood escaping from the corner of his mouth. He pressed his tongue against his cheek, and when he turned his head back, his eyes were bloodshot and wide with rage. "You're asking for death!"
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from the forest behind them: "Your Majesty!"
At the same time, a snow-white beast pounced out of the forest, pinning several disciples to the ground. Two figures suddenly emerged from behind the rocks, one of whom threw something into the air, and a dome of sky descended.
Sun Xiaohu frowned and was about to retreat when a fiery red whip wrapped around his ankle and pulled him into the sky.
The other disciples wanted to help, but the Crimson Snow Wolf turned around and roared, causing them to cover their ears and be thrown several meters away. At the same time, the sky crashed down on the ground with a loud bang, completely isolating Sun Xiaohu and the other disciples.
"who?"
Who is it?
Surrounded by darkness, Sun Xiaohu stood up warily, his back pressed against the wall, his eyes frantically searching for something in the darkness.
"Giggle..."
A sinister laugh echoed from the darkness.
"Let me see which family's big sesame seed cake dares to touch my little blind boy."
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