Cave Planning
In the cramped cave, the air was stagnant. The damp rock walls shone dimly, and water dripped through the cracks, creating a monotonous echo. A bonfire crackled in the corner, its dancing flames unable to dispel the biting chill.
Hongmao placed the unconscious Su Baiwei on a slightly flat stone surface. The firelight reflected his furrowed brow.
Lan Tu leaned against the cold stone wall, gazing blankly at the flames. The image of Tiao Tiao drowned by the drug man seared her heart repeatedly. Silent tears streamed down her face, her frail body trembling slightly. "Tiao Tiao... he... is still alive..."
"He'll be fine!" Hongmao turned abruptly, his voice firm and his eyes red. He dug his right hand into the stone wall beside him, blood seeping from his fingertips, his chest heaving violently. "Ten years! He's survived the Demon Cult for ten years, and even the Qinglong Sect couldn't kill him. This time, he'll definitely be safe!" He strode forward, hugged the trembling Lantu tightly, and said in a deep voice, "Lantu, trust him!"
The suppressed sobs within the cave gradually faded, leaving only the restless crackling of the campfire. Lan Tu took a deep breath, suppressing the dull ache in her heart. Her gaze turned to Su Baiwei, lying on the stone couch. The glaring bloodstains had almost blended with her red dress. She tore off the clean fabric of her undershirt and gently bandaged her wound.
“Gu——”
The spirit pigeon, Xiaowu, flew through the vines and landed on Rainbow Cat's shoulder. Rainbow Cat untied the bamboo tube from the pigeon's leg and muttered in the firelight, "Sally, Daben, and Dada have arrived at the Ghost-Seeing Sorrow. Doudou has a critically ill patient and will meet up later."
Hongmao tossed the letter into the fire, dissolving into smoke. He stared into the flames, his profile swaying in the shadows. "We know very little about the Sacred Fire Hall." He turned to the unconscious woman. "This must be the Miss Su Baiwei mentioned in Tiaotiao's letter. For now, let's stabilize her condition. Once she wakes up..." He paused, "We'll make further plans."
Lan Tu's gaze lingered on Su Baiwei's tightly pursed lips, her fingertips touching her clenched fists. She sighed softly, "Just now, she and Tiao Tiao...were dependent on each other for life and death. Now that this has happened suddenly, I'm afraid when she wakes up..." The rest of the words choked in her throat.
"Wait until she wakes up." Rainbow Cat's voice was hoarse and steady.
Lantu nodded slightly and exchanged a glance with Hongmao. His earlier doubts about Su Baiwei's identity had dissipated the moment he witnessed her and Tiaotiao's life-or-death relationship.
Time passed in silence and firelight. Su Baiwei, lying on the stone couch, shuddered as she slowly opened her eyes.
Those eyes, as cold as black jade, reflected the firelight, yet there was no trace of warmth. There were no tears, no collapse, only a calm that was almost dead.
Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit's hearts sank. Just as they were about to offer words of comfort, Su Baiwei had already propped herself up and sat up. The movement strained her wound, causing her brows to furrow slightly. Then, as if all her senses and emotions had been frozen, her voice was steady and without a ripple:
"Chi Lian's target is me. He won't kill Tiao Tiao right away." He paused, his fingertips curled up, "He'll soon find that as long as the Beimang Mountain Mother Gu formation remains, he can still control the Secondary and Child Gu. Keeping Tiao Tiao alive is his bargaining chip to force me into his trap."
She picked up a dead branch and traced it on the ash-covered ground. The branch rustled as it sliced through the ashes. "The mother insect has absorbed a drop of my heart's blood, so it can survive for seven days. Tiao Tiao has been struck by the Bone Rot Palm, so his chances of survival..." She paused, "probably less than three. Detoxification will take a day." She tapped the bamboo branch on the ground. "We only have two days."
Lan Tu gasped, biting her lower lip tightly. Hong Mao clenched his knuckles, his joints crackling, his face sullen. The only sound in the cave was the rustling of bamboo branches and suppressed breathing.
The bamboo branches swayed, outlining the Holy Fire Hall. "Tiaotiao once said the dungeon's location is roughly here," she said calmly. "There are approximately three thousand herbalists total. One hundred are elite core herbalists. The distribution between the Holy Fire Hall and Beimang Mountain is roughly 30:70. That means the altar encountered nine hundred herbalists, thirty of whom are core." The bamboo branches pointed. "The appearance of the Seven Swords will terrify Chi Lian. To be on the safe side, we will mobilize some herbalists from Beimang Mountain to provide assistance. It takes a day to travel from Beimang Mountain to here. So, rescue them quickly."
Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit were stunned. The precise analysis, the heart-pounding steadyness of the fingertips, brought a deep shock. The forceful concentration of will was both awe-inspiring and heartbreaking.
Lan Tu took a step forward, her voice filled with worry and concern: "Miss Su... are you... really okay?" Her eyes fell on her injured arm and pale face.
"I'm fine." Su Baiwei raised her eyes, her gaze clear yet empty. "Save him, it's urgent."
Hongmao's eyes flashed as he caught the lingering pause on the tip of her withered bamboo branch. A tremor escaped his lips, his voice suppressed. A chill sank in his heart, and he asked gravely, "Miss Su, why did Chilian insist on keeping you? What's the secret behind that heart blood?"
The air suddenly froze.
Su Baiwei's body suddenly tensed. Hongmao and Lantu saw a sudden, tearing pain flash across her eyes, as if the most secret scar had been bloodily uncovered.
A strong sense of humiliation surged up in her, and in front of these two handsome and noble knights, she just wanted to curl up in the deepest shadows.
For jumping.
This thought was like lightning splitting the eternal night. She abruptly squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, the surging emotions were forcibly suppressed, leaving only a near-self-destructive calm. Her voice was hoarse and raspy, but each word was clear, as if she were reciting a charge: "My heart's blood is the only nutrient that nourishes the Mother Gu." She paused, each word weighing heavily. "I am the Blood Cauldron, nurtured for so many years by the Holy Fire Hall."
The cave was dead silent.
The bonfire crackled, a spark bursting forth, the sudden sound amplified infinitely. The dancing flames reflected in Hongmao's suddenly constricted pupils.
His breath hitched, and his body froze. The "Blood Cauldron," the demonic cult's most secretive mark, had been branded upon the woman before him, who had risked her life to protect Tiao Tiao. His gaze suddenly sharpened as he scanned Su Baiwei's pale face, the drenched blood, her frail form. Silent questions surged within him: How did Chi Lian control her? How would this affect rescuing Tiao Tiao? Why had Tiao Tiao concealed this in the letter... He forced down his churning emotions. When he spoke again, his voice was grave: "I will immediately summon the Five Swords to discuss a plan to rescue them and defeat the enemy!" The order itself was his final decision after digesting this shocking revelation: Saving Tiao Tiao and destroying the Mother Gu was urgent; she was the key. But deep within his eyes, a scrutiny gathered: he had to confirm that this heavy yoke would not become an unforeseen variable.
The moment Lan Tu uttered the words "Blood Cauldron," her body lurched slightly, and she gasped. First, she was startled, then she was overcome by a bottomless well of pain and pity. The words "Blood Cauldron" conjured up over a decade of being nurtured and exploited like an artifact; the words "blood from the heart" conjured up countless images of her heart being ripped out. She instinctively reached out, but her fingertips froze in mid-air, then quietly withdrew. In that moment, all the secrets of the demonic cult, all the potential risks, were overshadowed by the suffering and extraordinary courage displayed by the woman before her.
"Wait a minute." Su Baiwei raised her hand, and the previous fluctuations had completely subsided, leaving only an icy calm. "I have the 'Soul-Chasing Gu' in my body. I'd like to trouble you two to help me expel it."
Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit's eyes met. There was surprise in Rainbow Cat's eyes, and regret in Blue Rabbit's eyes. No words were needed, the consensus was reached.
Su Baiwei said nothing more, taking out a dark-colored pill and swallowing it. Then she sat cross-legged with her eyes closed. Rainbow Cat concentrated, pressing his palm against her back, sending a surge of searing, powerful internal energy into her. Blue Rabbit then pointed at her wrist, drawing inspiration, and a stream of inner energy as clear as a cold spring flowed into her. Two streams of pure, utterly different essences flowed through Su Baiwei's body.
Su Baiwei clenched her teeth, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Her will was concentrated on a single thread, and she struggled to guide the two forces through her body. Lan Tu's fingertips trembled slightly, and the internal force she injected became more gentle.
After a moment, a multi-legged poisonous insect the size of a grain of rice, completely black, was forced out from the wound on her wrist by the pure internal force. It fell to the ground, its thin legs scratching the air in vain.
Su Baiwei's eyes were cold, and she pierced the insect with a needle-like motion. She picked up the struggling insect and placed it in a porcelain bottle. Then, she cut open her palm with a sharp movement. Blood dripped, completely covering it. As she bandaged her palm, her fingers, wrapped in the bandage, trembled slightly.
"What does this mean?" Rainbow Cat frowned slightly, his inquiring gaze becoming even deeper.
Su Baiwei bandaged the wound, her voice filled with fatigue that was hard to conceal, but she still tried to keep calm: "Chi Lian must have guessed that we won't give up on Tiao Tiao, but he doesn't know that the poison has been removed. Keeping it, maybe we can deceive his eyes and ears and buy us some time." After she finished speaking, her face seemed to turn a little paler.
Lan Tu understood what he meant and suppressed his thoughts: "Why not find a fast horse, plant the Gu worm on its body, and let it gallop towards Beimang Mountain at full speed. Maybe Chi Lian will mistakenly think that we are going to destroy the Mother Gu formation, and then we can take advantage of his distraction to suddenly attack and rescue him!"
Su Baiwei shook her head slightly. "Palace Master Lantu's plan is brilliant. But... considering Chi Lian's understanding of us, I'm afraid she won't fall for it so easily."
A light flashed in Hongmao's eyes, and he tapped his knuckles on his knees. "That's even better! False pretenses. Even if this plan doesn't lure away the powerful enemy, it can at least confuse him, making him unable to guess whether our target is Beimang Mountain or the Holy Fire Hall dungeon. If he really thinks we've gone to Beimang Mountain, the resistance to rescue may be greatly reduced!"
Lan Tu nodded, her worries still on Su Baiwei: "This will become a mystery for both sides to speculate. If... if there is still an insider in the Holy Fire Hall, then the chances of victory will be increased."
Su Baiwei's heart tightened at the mention of the insider. "Hibiscus!" her voice was filled with urgency. "Did you see the yellow fireworks signal?"
Hongmao and Lantu looked stern and shook their heads in unison: "No."
Su Baiwei turned abruptly, her gaze piercing the swaying vines at the cave entrance and gazing eastward. Dawn was breaking. Her heart sank, and the forced calm in her eyes was finally torn by a deep worry. "At this hour... if she hasn't escaped... I'm afraid..." Her words were swallowed by the morning breeze, leaving only a heavy feeling.
The morning light struggled to penetrate the smoke and dust that filled the Holy Fire Hall, casting dappled light and shadows among the chaotic figures and the shattered walls. Time rewinded to the time after Hongmao and the other two escaped.
Hiding in the shadow of a collapsed column, her heart pounding, she seized the opportunity and was about to blend in with the crowd and rush towards the open door when her sight was suddenly caught by a scene to the side.
Several ferocious guards were violently dragging a dying figure covered in blood. That blood-soaked blue shirt... was Tiao Tiao!
Hibiscus froze.
"What bloody bad luck!" A guard rudely spat, "It was Su Baiwei who crawled out of the altar, and this idiot was stuffed in!"
"That's right," the other man tugged hard at the arm he was dragging, lowering his voice, "You could have run instead of blocking the Hall Master's Bone Rot Palm for that woman. You're courting death! Not even gods can save you! Dragging him to the dungeon is a waste of space..."
Hibiscus stumbled forward.
"Get out of here! Are you looking for death?" the guard shouted harshly, and the cold light of the blade flashed, forcing her to retreat in panic and hit the broken wall.
The gaping door was not far away, her last chance to escape. If she was a step late, the door would close and she would be doomed.
Run! Run!
Survival instinct urged her on. However, images surged in her mind: the helplessness that flashed across his eyes when he refused the beauty trap; the firm grip he had on her wrist when she was stunned by the poisonous insects; his silent shielding figure as they stalked the way ahead... and now, the bloody mess he had left behind trying to save Su Baiwei...
The cold fear still gripped my heart, but the images, with their searing weight, overwhelmed my hesitation.
She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. She took a deep breath of air mingled with blood and smoke. The next moment, she spun abruptly, plunging back into the swirling chaos and shadows deep within the Sacred Fire Hall.
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