Chapter 24 My wife is almost touching my red lips.
Zhong Jiuli descended from the sky and landed in front of Bai Ye, who was running wildly. Caught off guard, the two collided head-on.
"Uh..." Bai also groaned, leaning back and bending at a ninety-degree angle in mid-air.
Zhong Jiuli quickly reached out and grabbed her. Bai also used the leverage to get up, and instinctively wrapped her arms around the slender waist of the person in front of her. The two were pressed together again.
The boy's rapid breathing was close to her ear, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe. Zhong Jiuli felt a little uncomfortable and pushed her hand away, taking a step back to create some distance.
The crisp, cool fragrance overpowered the sweet scent, and Bai Ye's eyes regained some clarity. He looked at the person in front of him blankly, panting, "Zhong Jiu... Li?"
There was a hint of hesitation in her voice. The person in front of her looked much younger than Zhong Jiuli. This youthfulness did not refer to appearance, but rather that her bright eyes seemed to lack the oppressive aura of Jiuli's long-standing position.
"Yes, it's me," Zhong Jiuli replied. She flicked her finger and released a wisp of spiritual energy to seal Bai Ye's acupoints, lest she be distracted by the surrounding fragrance.
As Bai Ye sized her up, her gaze also fell on the grown-up little tiger.
It was unclear how long she had been running; a few strands of hair hung messily over her forehead. Her silver hair and red robe, along with her snow-white skin, made her amber eyes appear even brighter and more captivating.
It seems that the little guy will grow up to be an extremely bright and cheerful young man.
"How did you get here?" Bai Ye patted her face after saying that, wondering if she had fallen into a hallucination.
“I was quite interested in this secret realm, so I found a way to get in,” Zhong Jiuli explained.
Upon hearing this, Bai stared intently at Zhong Jiuli in front of her. She was certain that this person was a fake.
Zhong Jiuli's boots wouldn't be covered in mud and left unwiped, Zhong Jiuli wouldn't wear the same headband as her, and Zhong Jiuli isn't even in this storyline.
She ignored the mannequin in front of her and looked around, only to realize that she had run under the giant mushroom.
The mushroom cap, like a dome, covered the entire sky. Blood-red lines stretched from the cap to the root, emitting an eerie red glow, like exposed blood vessels, as if something was flowing inside.
A light red mist filled the surroundings, obscuring the view and making it difficult to see clearly, as if everything before one's eyes was an illusion.
Bai covered her mouth and nose, amusing herself that if she picked a few of these giant mushrooms and took them home, she could open a mushroom hot pot restaurant and make enough to last her a lifetime.
Of course, this is all on the premise that the thing is not poisonous.
Zhong Jiuli looked at Bai Ye strangely; after saying a few words, he suddenly ignored her.
Seeing that she was about to approach the Soul-Eating Demon again, she quickly stepped forward and grabbed Bai Ye's wrist. "Don't go any further. Come with me, and I'll take you away from here."
Bai turned her head, her gaze falling on the hand that was holding hers. Her fair, jade-like skin shimmered with a pearly luster in the red mist, and her nails were round and neat, with a faint pink tinge.
The illusion was quite realistic, she thought casually, her gaze moving up the other person's arm and finally settling on that familiar face.
"Too bad you can't fool me!" Bai muttered softly, reaching out to pinch the cheek of the person in front of her. The touch was soft and delicate, even more real than she had imagined.
With a wicked grin, she increased the force, watching as she distorted that goddess-like face, her red lips slightly pursed, her eyes drooping, looking as if she was about to cry.
"Pfft~!" Bai couldn't help but laugh out loud, revealing a row of neat little white teeth, and her beautiful big eyes curved into crescents. She could say that her wish had come true.
"So, do you know what it means to be pinched in return?" Bai said smugly, "The cheeks you pinched will eventually have to be returned, even if they're fake. I pinched your cheeks, Zhong Jiuli!"
When Bai mentioned the name "Zhong Jiuli," she deliberately emphasized it, showing how proud she was.
"You think I'm an illusion created from a dream?" Zhong Jiuli looked at her amusedly, tilting her head slightly and letting Bai Ye's fingers dabble on her face.
Bai leaned closer, his nose almost touching hers, and looked directly into her eyes, saying, "You're not trying to say that you're real and I'm just hallucinating from the poison, are you?"
Zhong Jiuli raised an eyebrow, watching the little tiger go crazy with amusement.
Bai released his grip on her cheek, instead cupping her face in his palm and slowly leaning closer, until his lips were almost touching hers.
Her gaze lingered on those red lips as she said, "If you were real, I'd probably have been kicked into the sky by now."
Zhong Jiuli felt a burning sensation on her lips, unsure whether it was from her gaze or her breath. The heat traveled through her lips straight to her heart.
Her scent filled my nostrils, a blend of fresh grass and pine, perhaps picked up during her escape. Though the aroma was somewhat mixed, it felt remarkably vibrant on her.
Seeing her somewhat stunned expression, Bai Ye immediately laughed, "See? I told you you were a fake."
Before he could finish speaking, the world suddenly spun before his eyes, and at the same time, a dull pain shot through his abdomen, as if he had been kicked.
Before she could land, her waist tightened again. Zhong Jiuli swung through the air, grabbed her belt with her slender hand, and lifted her upside down in her hand.
"Did I do the right thing? Is it right to kick it into the sky like that?" Zhong Jiuli asked with a smile.
A hint of confusion flashed in Bai Ye's large amber eyes. Could this person really be real?
"Xiao Wang, is this your leading lady?" she asked in her mind.
Normally, this part of the story shouldn't have a female lead.
"Then why does it hurt so much when you hit me?" Bai grinned.
[In the world of cultivation, you can even kill people in illusions.]
Bai also agreed with Xiao Wang. She composed herself, stared intently at the woman above, and roared, "You mushroom spirit, take this!"
A blinding golden light erupted from her fingertips, golden claw marks tearing through the air with a whooshing sound like a tiger's roar or a dragon's cry, heading straight for her opponent's face. At such close range, the claw light was already upon Zhong Jiuli almost the instant it was unleashed.
Even so, Zhong Jiuli easily blocked the attack. She held Bai Ye in one hand and casually blocked the claws with the other.
In the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged dozens of blows. Bai was increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed. This mushroom spirit was incredibly strong. After using all thirty-six moves of the Instant Step and Sky-Splitting Claw, he hadn't even managed to touch a single hair on the opponent's head.
"Little guy, if you keep causing trouble, I'll leave you here to feed the mushrooms." Zhong Jiuli grabbed Bai Ye's wrist and flew away towards the edge of the Blood Plain.
They had already lingered here for quite some time, and if they continued to waste any more, she wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. This Spirit-Eating Demon was extremely effective against cultivators; even those with extraordinary cultivation levels couldn't exert much power here.
Bai struggled in vain for a while, only to find that he couldn't break free from the mushroom spirit's grasp. He could only hang his head and let the spirit carry him away.
With so many trump cards up her sleeve, she's unlikely to die.
Just after the two had flown a distance, the giant mushroom below suddenly trembled violently, and countless scarlet mycelium shot into the sky, weaving a net like living things, encircling and attacking the two.
The Spirit Devourer had no intention of letting its two delicious prey escape its territory.
Zhong Jiuli spun around quickly, narrowly avoiding the clump of mycelium. Now, with both hands occupied, she could only dodge and weave in the air.
This avatar, summoned through the space-time tunnel, was only at the Golden Core stage and dared not touch the mycelium of the Spirit-Eating Demon. If it did, its spiritual power would be completely drained in no time.
Bai was also lifted up by her and dodged in the air. She watched as her opponent dodged the giant mushroom's attacks time and time again, but never dropped her.
She asked suspiciously, "Are you really Zhong Jiuli?"
"Do you believe me now?" Zhong Jiuli asked breathlessly, releasing his grip on her wrist.
Bai was also a little embarrassed. Didn't what she had just done... amount to dancing right in front of the person in question?
During their conversation, the entire sky suddenly darkened, and thousands upon thousands of mycelium surged from the ground, enveloping everything from all directions, covering the entire sky with dense, scarlet mycelium.
"I'll clear the way!" Bai shouted, his hands radiating golden light as golden claw-like beams tore forward.
However, a bizarre scene unfolded: the moment the golden claw touched the mycelium, the scarlet tentacles suddenly swelled and wriggled, completely "eating" the golden claw.
There was no tearing, no explosion; it was like a drop of water falling into a river, disappearing without a trace in an instant.
Bai also widened its eyes, and refusing to believe it, it swung out several more claws, but the result was the same. All attacks were completely digested the moment they came into contact with the mycelium.
Zhong Jiuli raised her hand to stop her and explained, "This demon is called the Spirit Devourer. It is a demon that has existed since ancient times. Although it is not good at attacking, it has two extremely terrifying abilities: one is to devour spiritual power, and the other is to parasitize."
She gestured for Bai to look at the giant mushroom in the distance, saying, "Every attack you launch provides it with spiritual energy."
Bai Ye's Adam's apple bobbed as he looked at the mycelium blocking their path like a net, and asked, "Zhong Jiuli, you know how terrifying it is, why are you still rushing in here?"
Zhong Jiuli did not answer her question, but instead carried her back to the ground. The moment they landed, several mycelium strands immediately slithered over like nimble snakes.
Just as Bai was about to make a move, he saw Zhong Jiuli lightly touch the ground with her toes. The seemingly casual kick caused the ground beneath her to tremble violently. An invisible wave of air exploded outward from her, and countless mycelia were thrown into the air by this force, splattering slime everywhere.
Amidst a rain of swirling mycelium, the two stood side by side, their very presence a vacuum.
The air was filled with swirling mycelium, and in the center were two figures, one red and one white. Bai couldn't help but glance at the woman beside him. It seemed that no matter what kind of predicament they encountered, Zhong Jiuli would always appear in time. She was always so reliable.
"No, Bai Ye, wake up! Don't be seduced by beauty. You are a woman destined to shatter the void." Bai Ye shook her head and muttered to herself.
Zhong Jiuli caught a glimpse of the little tiger shaking its head out of the corner of her eye and assumed that it had fallen into an illusion again.
She reached out and cupped Bai Ye's cheeks, holding her head still, and looked directly into those bright eyes, saying, "Look at me."
Although Bai didn't know what she was going to do, he still obediently stared into her eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Who am I?" Zhong Jiuli asked.
“Zhong Jiuli,” Bai said matter-of-factly.
Seeing that she still recognized him, Zhong Jiuli withdrew her hand and instead held Bai Ye's wrist, leading her outside.
Bai stared at the mycelium that continued to writhe after landing. They were like some kind of mollusc; even if they were cut into pieces, they could still live and crawl towards them.
She rubbed her arms with disgust, frowned and said, "Even if it's going to become a spirit, why a mushroom spirit? Since it's going to become a spirit, why not choose a more attractive one to transform into? This is too ugly, it's disgusting."
As if the mycelium could understand her complaints, the moment she finished speaking, it suddenly erupted, countless mycelium twisting wildly, surging up like giant waves, densely packed and strangling towards them.
Seeing this, Bai Ye imitated Zhong Jiuli and stomped his foot suddenly.
"Bang!"
With that stomp, the ground collapsed instantly, creating a huge crater, as if struck by a meteorite. The violent shockwave swept across hundreds of meters, shattering the mycelium.
However, she seemed to have overdone it.
The ground beneath my feet began to tremble violently, and cracks spread wildly like a spider web.
"Oh no, there's an earthquake!" Bai Ye shouted, grabbing Zhong Jiuli's wrist and running as fast as he could.
Zhong Jiuli glanced at her and said helplessly, "You kicked the Spirit Devourer awake."
She hadn't expected the little tiger to use such great strength. It seemed difficult for her to leave today. She was just an incarnation, so it didn't matter if she disappeared here, but she had to get the little tiger out of here.
"Huh?" Bai asked in surprise, "What do you mean by 'true form'? Isn't its true form these mushrooms?"
Before Zhong Jiuli could answer, Bai already knew what it meant for the true form to awaken.
The ground beneath their feet seemed to come alive, churning and undulating like ocean waves, shaking them so much that they were almost thrown into the air.
At the same time, a piercing and unpleasant voice echoed from deep underground, "You two little devils, you're hurting me so much! I'm going to eat you both..."
The voice was neither male nor female, but rather like a mixture of countless voices, sending chills down one's spine.
"Hurry, we need to get out of here as soon as possible." Zhong Jiuli's voice was unusually urgent. She grabbed Bai Ye's waist, lightly touched the ground with her toes, and shot into the sky like an arrow.
"We're about to run into the mycelium!" Bai shouted.
"It's alright, as long as we break through before our spiritual energy runs out." Zhong Jiuli's expression was cold and stern as she protected Bai Ye and they crashed straight into the dense mycelium net that resembled a net from heaven to earth.
Almost instantly, most of his spiritual energy was absorbed.
Zhong Jiuli frowned, unleashing all her spiritual power without reservation, and her flight speed increased once again.
Bai felt the wind whistling past her ears and the red earth beneath her feet was rapidly receding. Even though the mycelium behind them was still chasing after them, the two of them were not far from the exit. As long as they stepped out of this area, they would be safe.
Just as they were about to escape, the entire blood-red land suddenly came to life. The ground, like a carpet lifted up by an invisible giant hand, rose up with overwhelming force, instantly obscuring the entire sky.
At the same time, a bizarre, giant human face appeared on the surface of the carpet.
Behind them were the relentless mycelium, in front of them was the terrifying Spirit-Eating Demon, and above them was a dense web of mycelium. They were like tiny flying insects caught in a spider web, with nowhere to escape.
"Two little ones... obediently enter my body as nourishment." The Spirit Devourer's voice was like a booming bell, making Bai's eardrums ache. Just as she raised her hand to cover her ears, she saw the human face open its abyssal maw, and a scarlet mycelium shot out like a giant python.
"After you leave this place," Zhong Jiuli's voice suddenly rang in my ears, her voice incredibly calm, not at all like someone facing a life-or-death situation, "you are not allowed to take any more risks."
"Zhong Jiuli, what are you going to do..." Before Bai Ye could finish speaking, he was swung away by Zhong Jiuli.
The last scene Bai Ye caught in his vision while he was in mid-air was that scarlet tongue completely wrapped around Zhong Jiuli and dragged her into that abyss-like maw.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Bai was stunned. What was going on? Wasn't Zhong Jiuli very strong? How could she be eaten by a little monster so easily?
What happens to the plot after that? Did his wife die so quickly?
What's wrong with this author?
Who starts a game where their wife dies right at the beginning?
Why would she engage in this act of sacrificing herself to save others? She didn't want to be saved like this at all!
No, although she didn't particularly like Zhong Jiuli, she really didn't want to watch a gentle, beautiful, kind, lovely, and lovely woman die right in front of her!
Bai also felt a headache coming on, and the image of Zhong Jiuli being eaten kept replaying in her mind.
She stared blankly at it.
As the giant face slowly closed its mouth, wriggling up and down as if chewing, could Zhong Jiuli have already been chewed to pieces?
Time, which had been frozen, began to flow again. Bai could almost hear the "gurgling" sound of blood flowing in her veins, and with each heartbeat, her blood flow accelerated.
A golden blazing light suddenly burst forth from the depths of her pupils, and a violent shockwave exploded outwards from her center, instantly obliterating the mycelium within a radius of a hundred feet.
"Big mushroom!!!" Bai shouted.
"Give me back my wife!" Her voice went from being agitated at first to gradually calming down in just one sentence.
"You're not even qualified to make mushroom hot pot anymore." Before the last "you're not qualified" had even finished, Bai Ye's figure had already disappeared from the spot.
The next instant, the entire blood-red plain trembled violently. The Devouring Spirit Demon let out a deafening roar, and a gaping hole was forcefully smashed into its ferocious maw.
Bai Ye was surrounded by golden light, and like a golden cannonball, he smashed through the body of the Spirit Devourer and rushed straight into its giant mouth.
As soon as they stepped inside, they came face to face with Zhong Jiuli, who was sitting perfectly still in the mouth of the Spirit-Eating Demon.
"Ah...?" The golden light around Bai Ye dimmed instantly, and her aura of fighting to the death against the Spirit Devourer vanished on the spot. She opened her mouth, only managing to utter one sentence, "You're not dead?"
Zhong Jiuli sighed, her white fingers gently rubbing her temples: "I originally wanted to send you away! Now look what happened, you've walked right into my trap."
"I... I thought you were dead," Bai said softly. She felt a little lost, as if she hadn't quite pulled off a powerful move.
Zhong Jiuli looked up at Bai Ye, who was standing there dumbfounded, and a smile appeared on her lips. "I just heard you call me 'wife,' were you calling me?"
"Uh...yes." Bai nodded awkwardly. She thought Zhong Jiuli didn't know what "wife" meant, so she explained haphazardly, "Wife is...a respectful term for an older woman."
"Heh!" Zhong Jiuli chuckled softly, closing her eyes wearily as she said, "Can you still break through?"
Bai looked around and saw that the hole she had created earlier had disappeared.
All around were dark red mycelium, layer upon layer, and deeper inside was a bottomless tunnel that looked like the throat of the Soul-Eating Demon.
Her inner power had somehow erupted, but it was now exhausted, and it was unlikely that she could escape from the Devouring Spirit Demon's gaping maw again.
"I don't think I can get out," Bai replied.
However, Bai wasn't too worried, since she still had a cheat code.
"Xiao Wang, does the book say how to kill the Spirit-Eating Demon?"
The only way to kill the Spirit Devourer is to find its demon core; otherwise, it can resurrect indefinitely as long as even a single spore remains alive.
Bai was also astonished. As far as she knew, a single mushroom could contain hundreds of millions or even billions of spores. There must be countless giant mushrooms like this on this blood-red plain. How many spores must that contain?
"This is too buggy. What's the difference between this and infinite resurrection?"
Yes, that's why no one can kill it.
"Usually, things that seem impossible are done by the main character, right, Xiao Wang?"
【Yes, Yezai, you can definitely do it!】 Xiao Wang, without any principles, became a fanboy, believing everything Bai Ye said.
Bai walked to the edge of the deep tunnel and peered down. This passage was also composed of countless mycelia.
The scarlet mycelium emitted a faint red glow, allowing one to vaguely make out the shape of the tunnel; however, this eerie red light made it look somewhat hellish.
Bai also made up her mind. She quickly walked to Zhong Jiuli and squatted down. "How are you? Can you still walk? Don't worry, we'll be fine. I already know how to kill the Spirit Devourer."
Zhong Jiuli lifted her eyelids to look at her and said, "It's nothing, I just ran out of spiritual energy. Then I'll wait for Young Hero Bai to lead me to escape from the great demon's mouth."
Seeing that she still had the mind to joke around, Bai could only sigh, "She is indeed my wife. Even when she is in danger, she can still talk and laugh."
Before she could finish her exclamation, the mycelium beneath her feet began to wriggle again, coiling around them like serpents.
“Let’s go inside its belly.” Bai also reached out and grabbed Zhong Jiuli’s arm, trying to pull her up from the ground.
She tried to pull it but couldn't budge it. Bai stared in surprise, her eyes widening. She looked closely and realized something was wrong.
The hem of Zhong Jiuli's skirt was already covered with dense mycelium, those scarlet threads deeply embedded in her skin, like countless tiny blood vessels connecting her body, greedily sucking her blood and flesh.
Bai hurriedly reached out to pull off the mycelium, but as soon as she tore off some, Zhong Jiuli let out a painful groan, and she immediately stopped, not daring to pull any more.
"You..." Bai Ye's voice trembled slightly, "Didn't you say you were fine?"
Zhong Jiuli raised her hand and stroked her head, gently comforting her: "It's alright, it's just some mycelium, it can't do anything to me."
"If I hadn't come in, would you have been eaten alive by these mycelia?"
"This is not my true form, but merely an avatar. Even if I die here, it won't make any difference," Zhong Jiuli explained.
"What nonsense are you talking about? You risked your life to save me, how could I possibly leave you here alone to be eaten by the giant mushroom?" Bai was furious and even dared to yell at Zhong Jiuli.
"And you'll still feel pain. You're not some kind of mindless cyborg. Alright, stop talking nonsense and eat this."
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Author's note: Bai Ye: You're fake, I'm going to pinch you!
Zhong Jiuli: She's going crazy, but she's so cute, I love her! [hug]
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