Chapter 32 The Calamity of Shangxu: Pain!
Come on, I'll carry you.
The moment Xie Xingzheng entered the water, he noticed the strangeness of the pool. He immediately held his breath and sealed several major acupoints on his body to prevent the poison from entering his heart meridian.
Although they had guessed that this blood pool was not simple, they had not expected the toxins within to be so potent. The moment the pool water touched their skin, the burning pain felt like thousands of blades scraping their bones, as if a layer of flesh was being peeled away.
He gritted his teeth, composed himself, and forced himself to open his eyes amidst the excruciating pain, in order to confirm Tang Yu's location.
Beneath the crimson, murky blood, his vision was obscured by a layer of fog, yet he could still see insects and snakes writhing within. Strangely, the Gu worms, which should have been devouring living creatures, were now restless and even fleeing in panic toward the edge of the pool.
Xie Xingzheng felt a chill run down his spine, but had no time to think further. He saw that Tang Yu had fainted from the pain, her body sinking weakly without any struggle. He struggled with his arms and finally grabbed her cold, delicate wrist before she fell to the bottom of the pool, pulling her into his arms.
In that instant, he breathed a sigh of relief, and even the pain in his body seemed to fade a little.
In her dazed state, Tang Yu vaguely sensed herself falling into a cool yet reassuring embrace, and instinctively tried to open her eyes. But before her eyelids could even twitch, a pair of warm, large hands gently covered hers.
Xie Xingzheng's deep and gentle voice, transmitted through his internal energy, reached her ear: "Don't open your eyes, it's poisonous."
He covered her eyes tightly with his hands, worried that the poison from the blood pool might seep through them and cause her to lose her sight for life if she didn't receive timely treatment.
The person in his arms seemed to pause for a moment, but ultimately stopped struggling.
*
Outside the blood pool, Xie Xingzheng was rescuing people.
The old man's gray, blind eyes were fixed on the surface of the pool. He watched the blood churn and the venomous insects scurrying about. His eyes suddenly welled with tears, and he murmured to himself, "It must be her blood… Indeed, she is Yue Qimeng…"
He suppressed the violent heaving of his chest from excitement, reached out and grabbed Yueying, who was frantically smashing stones, and urged her urgently, "Lord of the Ruins, take Xiao Qimeng with you first!"
"No!" Yueying retorted sharply, her anger turning into bloodshot eyes, her expression ferocious and terrifying.
The old man's face darkened, and he urged even more urgently, "Xie Xingzheng threw himself into the blood pool. Even if he has profound internal strength, the poison will take its toll on him! But I am already seriously injured. If we wait for him to come up, it will be difficult to fight him head-on. Let's leave now and call the masked man. We will definitely be able to kill him here!"
A deep, calculating glint flashed in his eyes. He wasn't incapable of fighting Xie Xingzheng, but even if he survived, the Gu poison within him would be difficult to eradicate, still advantageous to the Southern Frontier. What he cared about was Yue Qimeng… she had to live! He couldn't let the Ruins Master cut off her chance of escape!
Yueying didn't notice anything amiss. She calmed down and even became passive in her words. Finally, she glared fiercely at the Blood Pool, sneered, and hurriedly left with the little girl and the old man.
Before long, Xie Xingzheng, carrying Tang Yu, struggled to swim upstream and finally broke through the surface of the water, carrying her away from the foul-smelling, strange pool of blood.
At this moment, Tang Yu's face was deathly pale, her breath weak, and even a few coughs seemed to drain her of all her strength. Xie Xingzheng frowned and quickly grasped her wrist to check her pulse.
Although the person appeared to be on the verge of death, their pulse was steady and strong, indicating that their life was not in danger.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Without even catching his breath, Xie Xingzheng immediately searched the stone chamber and found several water vats in a corner. He lifted the lids and, seeing they were filled with clear water, immediately laid Tang Yu down, letting her lean against the rock wall. Then, regardless of how cold the water was, he poured it over Tang Yu, washing away the blood and grime covering her body, especially her eyes, gently wiping away any remaining blood with his palms.
The bone-chilling cold water jolted Tang Yu awake from her semi-conscious state, and the pain in her left arm instantly pierced her heart.
"pain……"
The first thing Tang Yu said after groggily opening her eyes was to cry out in pain. She forgot to lower her voice and used her natural tone completely, with a hint of girlish coquettishness and grievance, making her look extremely pitiful.
"Are you alright?" Xie Xingzheng asked, squatting down in front of her as soon as she woke up, examining the wound on her arm. Unable to find any clean cloth, he could only apply pressure to several acupoints to stop the bleeding.
Tang Yu was still a little dazed. Her gaze first fell on her bleeding arm, then on Xie Xingzheng, whose face was covered in blood. He was also somewhat disheveled, his brows furrowed deeply, clearly worried about her.
She exhaled a breath of stale air, forced a smile, and began to complain in a fit of anger: "...Oh dear, I'm so dizzy, it's all Yueying's fault, I'm about to bleed out!"
Although her words were full of complaints, her voice was full of energy, which eased the heavy feeling in Xie Xingzheng's heart and softened his expression.
Only then did he remember to wash himself as well, and the blood and poison were washed away little by little by the water.
"Did you help me get revenge?" Tang Yu suddenly asked again, blinking expectantly.
Xie Xingzheng's hand trembled as he watered the plants, momentarily hesitant to answer. After all, he had not only failed to avenge Tang Yu, but had also let Yueying and the others escape.
He abruptly changed the subject: "We need to leave as soon as possible; they've probably gone to get reinforcements."
After saying that, he reached out to support Tang Yu's uninjured arm and helped her up.
When Xie Xingzheng arrived, he had roughly explored the cave. It was located in the mountain wall, and it was unknown whether it was carved out by man or formed naturally, but the passageways were crisscrossed, some connected, some dead ends, and the cave entrances were all roughly the same.
If it weren't for his exceptional hearing, which allowed him to pick up even the faintest whispers, he would never have been able to find Tang Yu so quickly. But now, finding the exit through these many passageways had become a problem.
“I’m not sure I can take you back the way we came,” he explained briefly, leading her to the right of the stone gate exit.
After leaving the stone chamber and entering the passageway, there was only complete darkness, and the deeper one went, the harder it became to see anything. His tinderbox was already soaked, so Xie Xingzheng could only rely on his memory to proceed.
Tang Yu had lost too much blood and was not as skilled in martial arts as him, so he found it extremely difficult to adapt. He could only follow behind him by feeling along the stone wall, and even stumbled as he was tripped.
Hearing the disordered footsteps behind him, Xie Xingzheng realized that he had been so focused on analyzing the situation in the cave that he had forgotten to keep an eye on her.
He turned around, reached out and took her hand, his tone surprisingly gentle as he comforted her, "Don't worry, I'll take you out."
Tang Yu's hands were ice-cold from blood loss and prolonged immersion in the blood pool. But the hands that enveloped her were warm and burning, the warmth creeping from her fingertips up her arms and then gradually spreading to her limbs, easing her coldness and pain somewhat.
The two held hands and groped their way through the darkness for quite a while. Suddenly, Xie Xingzheng's expression changed, and he abruptly pulled her behind a rock wall.
Tang Yu was still in a daze and hadn't quite reacted yet.
Soon they heard a series of footsteps coming from the passageway and saw the dim yellow light reflected on the rock wall.
Her heart tightened, completely ignoring the fact that she was currently being held tightly in Xie Xingzheng's arms.
The two held their breath, narrowly escaping the masked men who were searching for them. But as the firelight faded and darkness returned, they remained silent for a long time, unsure whether they should continue their escape along the same route.
Xie Xingzheng first loosened his arm around Tang Yu, but did not let go of their clasped hands. He was about to say something when he felt Tang Yu gently tug at him.
Sensing that she had something to say, Xie Xingzheng leaned closer, and Tang Yu's warm breath was right next to his face.
She asked, "Can you still see in the dark, or... can you hear?"
Xie Xingzheng paused slightly, then answered cautiously, "I can barely see and can locate objects by sound."
The reason he hesitated was that even though he had sealed several major acupoints and forcibly suppressed the poison, it had still invaded his meridians, obstructing his internal energy and gradually blurring his vision. He was no longer as adept as usual at moving through the darkness as if it were empty.
But he didn't want to disappoint Tang Yu, and at the same time, he was far from losing all his senses.
Tang Yu said in a very serious tone: "Follow the snakes and insects in the cave and see where they all go."
“These creatures are naturally inclined to avoid humans, so they should be able to help us escape the pursuit. Even if they can’t lead us out, they must be heading towards the water source. If we follow the water source, we will most likely be able to find another exit.”
After her reminder, Xie Xingzheng immediately took note, focused for a moment, and then led her down a completely different path.
As it turned out, Tang Yu's suggestion was absolutely correct. However, as the two were approaching the exit with the current, a small accident occurred.
Originally, the path inside the cave was made of hard stones, but as you gradually leave the cave and connect to the outside, there are several puddles of soft mud like swamps hidden beneath them.
Tang Yu didn't notice as soon as she stepped on it, her foot immediately sank into the ground.
Fortunately, their hands remained clasped tightly. Xie Xingzheng realized something was wrong and suddenly tightened his grip, stopping her from sinking any further.
Before Tang Yu could even catch her breath, Xie Xingzheng immediately grabbed her other hand, preparing to pull her out together.
Tang Yu's face turned pale, and she almost screamed. Afraid of attracting the masked man, she had to lower her voice and speak in pain, "My hand! My hand!"
Xie Xingzheng was startled and hurriedly withdrew his strength. Only then did he remember that her left arm was still injured, which must have aggravated the injury. A wave of regret washed over him.
Tang Yu felt a sudden darkness engulf her vision, cold sweat pouring down her forehead, soaking her hair and making it stick to her temples. With immense willpower, she managed to hold back her scream, and once she recovered, she glared at him fiercely.
Does he even know how strong he is?! It felt like the wound had been ripped open again; it was excruciatingly painful!
Xie Xingzheng felt even more guilty, but he couldn't just leave her there. After thinking for a moment, he immediately bent down, supporting her uninjured right arm with one hand and tightly holding her waist with the other. With a sudden lift, he pulled her out completely.
Tang Yu was exhausted from the ordeal, and her wound started bleeding again. She could barely stand and had no choice but to lean against him, regardless of whether the position was appropriate.
Her breathing was erratic, and she said in a somewhat resigned manner, "I can't go on, I can't walk anymore, you should just leave me here."
Xie Xingzheng frowned: "We're almost at the exit."
"If we go out, we'll have to walk to find reinforcements, right? I really can't walk anymore. It's relatively safe here, so I might as well sit and wait for you to come back," Tang Yu suggested.
She wasn't saying this out of spite, but because Xie Xingzheng would be far more efficient going to get reinforcements without her as a burden. Besides, she had overheard Yueying's conversation with the old man, so even if she were taken back, she was certain her life wouldn't be in danger.
She was simply too lazy to explain much to him, after all, this was the first time she had ever encountered such a disheveled situation. At this moment, she even felt a faint sense of death, as if even if the sky were to fall, it would be better to just get some sleep.
Xie Xingzheng remained silent for a moment, then suddenly released her hand. Just as Tang Yu thought he had listened and was about to breathe a sigh of relief and lean against the stone wall to take a nap, she saw him squat down with his back to her.
Xie Xingzheng spoke very softly, as if coaxing someone: "Get on, I'll carry you."
Tang Yu hesitated for a moment, but eventually climbed onto his back. Her face, which had been deathly pale, gradually regained some color as the warmth from his back warmed her.
She smiled faintly, a rare occurrence, and asked in a low voice, "Why don't you just leave me there? Aren't I still a villain with a mysterious identity?"
“But I’m here to save you.” Xie Xingzheng walked slowly but steadily. “To abandon you halfway would be no different from a deserter abandoning his comrades on the battlefield.”
Tang Yu was taken aback, her smile deepened, and her voice softened: "You're a really nice person."
She recalled the same words she had uttered at the banquet, but with a hint of sarcasm, and then she remembered that she had wanted to apologize to him.
Leaning on his shoulder, she added earnestly, "I'm telling the truth. When I said you were a good person at the banquet that night, I meant it sincerely."
Xie Xingzheng was taken aback at first, then gave a soft "hmm" and said in a low voice, "Thank you."
A faint smile curved his lips, and the coldness in his eyes softened slightly. Unfortunately, Tang Yu was lying on his back at the moment and failed to see this rare scene.
[Author's Note]
Tang Yu (smiling): Now there are two people crying for help.
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