Summer days are long, and Xu Jiao and her companions traveled through mountains and rivers, stopping and starting along the way. They finally reached a small grove of trees dozens of miles outside the town at sunset.
Shi Lan leaned against a tree branch, biting into a cold steamed bun filled with minced meat, glancing sideways at the scene ten feet away under the tree where smoke was rising and the aroma of meat filled the air. She pouted in dissatisfaction.
As darkness fell, the four men under the tree finished eating a roe deer and two wild rabbits, and then each found a place to rest.
About fifteen minutes later, Xu Jiao opened her eyes, quietly got up, and circled around the three of them.
Shi Lan sat up straight in surprise, stretching her long, fair neck out to look at the three people sleeping soundly under the tree.
Under the moonlight, the shadows of the trees swayed. Xu Jiao swayed her slender waist as she approached the pale-faced, narrow-eyed man with slightly weaker cultivation. She gently nudged his shoulder with her soft little hand, and the man, who was leaning against the tree trunk, swayed and suddenly fell to the side.
Xu Jiao turned her head to look at the two people sitting a few steps away. Seeing that they were still sleeping peacefully, a smile slowly appeared on her lips.
She waved to her left, and Zhao Chao emerged from behind the tree.
Looking at Zhao Chao, who was dressed in a smart outfit and looked quite composed, Shi Lan suddenly realized why she hadn't seen him yesterday evening. It turned out he had come here in advance to ambush her.
But this forest is so big, and Xu Jiao is inseparable from these three people. How did they manage to contact each other, and how did they administer the drug?
Shi Lan was completely baffled.
With a smile on his lips, Zhao Chao first patted Xu Jiao's shoulder approvingly. Seeing Xu Jiao's charming smile, he walked to the man lying on the ground and placed his hand on the man's back.
A wisp of dark blue energy slowly flowed into the man's back, causing him to twitch uncontrollably and make indistinct noises.
A few breaths later, it felt as if something was thrashing around inside the man's body. Small bumps swelled up and fell off on his skin, as if countless little mice were running around inside. Slowly, his body began to swell, and his originally slender figure bulged like a water bag.
Zhao Chao withdrew his hand, changed his gesture, and prepared to continue hitting, but Xu Jiao raised her hand to stop him and said sweetly, "Brother Chao, didn't we agree that I'd get the lion's share this time?"
Zhao Chao's face darkened, and a cold glint flashed across his normally righteous face.
Xu Jiao rolled her eyes and smiled faintly, "Brother Chao, don't forget, the Ghost Fire isn't far from us. If I don't reach the Condensation Realm soon, I'll just have to hold you back when he comes looking for me."
Xu Jiao's words, though seemingly gentle, were actually quite firm, clearly pointing out the predicament of the two individuals.
When Zhao Chao heard her mention will-o'-the-wisps, his expression tightened. Realizing he had lost his composure, he quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "Alright, as you wish, Jiaojiao. All three are yours today. Is that alright?"
Xu Jiao covered her mouth and chuckled a few times. She sat cross-legged next to the man who had already swollen into a ball and gently placed her hand on the man's dantian.
Streams of black energy immediately surged from the man's body, swirling around her plump, rounded fingers and rapidly entering her body. The man, like a deflated balloon, was reduced to a thin layer of skin in an instant, clinging to the ground.
Zhao Chao watched Xu Jiao close her eyes and circulate her energy. He gritted his teeth, but he knew he couldn't keep this to himself. However, the discomfort in his heart weighed heavily on him. So he walked up to the big man he had initially targeted and raised his hand to inject his energy into him.
Shi Lan was unaware of the situation earlier and watched as they killed someone; now, she naturally wouldn't let Zhao Chao succeed.
So, she put two fingers together and condensed most of her vital energy into a blade of energy, shooting it toward Zhao Chao's back.
The air blade came swiftly and at extremely high speed. Because Shi Lan was attacking in anger, the transparent, thin blade was like a screw that drove straight through.
Zhao Chao was only at the second level of the Condensation Realm, but the sudden alertness behind him made him shudder.
He tried to dodge, but the air blade was too fast. In desperation, he twisted to the side and struggled.
A sharp pain accompanied Zhao Chao's sudden loss of balance, and he fell to the ground.
An arm fell to the ground in front of him with a dull thud.
Zhao Chao first looked at the somewhat familiar arm with a puzzled expression, then looked at his own shoulder. The excruciating pain that almost made him faint and the gushing blood reminded him that the arm was his.
Zhao Chao immediately clutched his bare shoulder, letting out a shrill, desperate scream, "My hand, my hand... Ah, Jiao Mei..."
Shi Lan jumped down from the tree and slowly walked towards the two of them.
As Zhao Chao cried out in pain, his eyes were still darting around furtively.
Shi Lan gathered her energy and leaped to Zhao Chao's side. Her fingers held a thin blade formed from condensed energy, and she pried at Zhao Chao's trembling body, asking, "Oh, who is this?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Zhao Chao's eyes widened, and he looked up.
Shi Lan, with a carefree smile, wiped the makeup off her face and kicked his bleeding arm. "What happened? You've become a one-armed hero?"
Zhao Chao let out a miserable howl, his tall body convulsing uncontrollably.
"Truly insightful but useless," Shi Lan sneered contemptuously, slightly raising her thin blade and slashing it towards Zhao Chao's neck.
Zhao Chao quickly flipped to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Shi Lan frowned slightly, deeply feeling her own lack of skill. If it were the original owner, she would have immediately struck with her knife, and a splash of bright red blood would have spurted out.
Zhao Chao struggled to lean against the tree, panting heavily, and said, "Sister Shi, I, Zhao Chao, have no grudge against you. Why did you plot against me like this?"
Shi Lan stepped forward, a mocking sneer on her lips. "No enmity? You've schemed against me quite a bit along the way. First, you tricked me into helping you deal with your enemies, then you secretly drugged me, trying to harm me!" Saying this, she turned to look at Xu Jiao and the human skin that was shivering in the wind, and scoffed, "It's just that I'm not as stupid as these idiots. I didn't fall for your tricks, otherwise I'd be just like that skin now, wouldn't I?"
Zhao Chao's eyes widened, and his lips moved before he said, "It's not like that, Shi Xiaomei. Jiaomei treats you like her own sister. You know how we've treated you along the way. How could we possibly harm you?"
Shi Lan snorted coldly, knowing that he was stalling for time so that Xu Jiao could finish circulating her energy and come to her aid.
"Don't bother trying. Xu Jiao's foundation is weak. If she wants to break through and enter the Condensation Realm, it will take her at least a quarter of an hour. Do you think you can live that long?"
As she spoke, Shi Lan flicked her wrist, and a cold, clear light flew up, grazing the edge of the blade, like a shooting star heading towards Zhao Chao's neck.
Zhao Chao struggled to his feet, disregarding the loss of vital energy due to the massive blood loss, and quickly conjured a short blade to block the attack.
The blades were thin and brittle. When the blades collided, Zhao Chao felt a tightness in his chest, and the blade in his hand shattered into hundreds of pieces like fragile glass.
Shi Lan's blade only briefly blocked the attack before striking him again.
Zhao Chao's face, already pale from blood loss, turned deathly white. The feeling of cold helplessness he had experienced before, the feeling of lying on the ground waiting for death, surged up again.
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