Late at night, the convoy sped along the mountain road.
Qiqi lay on the back seat, her head resting on Huo Yusen's lap, her face as pale as paper.
Huo Yusen was very worried, so he insisted that Yun Songzi travel with them in the same car so that they could check on Qiqi's condition at any time.
At this moment, Yun Songzi was taking Qi Qi's pulse.
"Young Master Huo, don't worry. Fellow Daoist Qiqi has just overdrawn her spiritual energy. There's nothing seriously wrong with her."
Yun Songzi withdrew his hand, took out a small jade bottle from his bosom, and poured out a fragrant pill.
"If you are still worried, here is a 'Nourishing Essence Pill' that I have refined. It can help her recover some of her spiritual power and wake her up soon."
Huo Yusen took the pill and carefully fed it into Qiqi's mouth.
The pill melted instantly upon entering her mouth, and Qiqi's breathing gradually became steady, even her complexion improved somewhat.
Huo Yusen finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Senior Yun Songzi, when will Qi Qi wake up?" Huo Yuwei, sitting in the front row, turned around, his voice filled with undisguised worry.
Yun Songzi shook his head, "It's hard to say. But although Fellow Daoist Qiqi is young, her spiritual power is far beyond that of her peers. This time, it's because she overexerted her spiritual power several times in a row, so her body activated its self-protection mechanism. However, she should wake up in a quarter of an hour to a few hours."
Lin Wei, sitting in the driver's seat, spoke with a serious expression through the rearview mirror.
"The prisoner just confessed that the Netherworld Palace has deployed at least fifty people at Eagle's Beak Cliff. Besides that Netherworld Venerable, there are two guardians, both of whom are troublesome. Moreover, all the children they captured have been transferred to Eagle's Beak Cliff, in preparation for a blood sacrifice on the night of the Seven Stars Alignment."
Huo Yusen turned on his computer and pointed the screen at the three of them. "I analyzed the black-robed mage's communicator and found that they have at least five surveillance points in this area. Our commotion just now must have alerted them. Venerable Youming should already know that Qiqi is with us."
“So, they will stop at nothing to intercept us.” Huo Yuwei clenched his fist. “How much longer until we reach Eagle’s Beak Cliff?”
Chen Gang, in the car behind, glanced at the navigation. "At this speed, we can reach the outskirts by noon tomorrow. But that's assuming we don't get stopped."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a thick fog suddenly rose up from the mountain road ahead.
The fog came strangely, thickening within seconds to the point where the road ahead was obscured.
Lin Wei slammed on the brakes, and the drivers of the two cars behind her also stopped in succession. The convoy barely came to a halt in the fog.
“It’s not natural fog.” Qingyin opened the car window and reached out to feel the fog. “It’s mixed with yin energy; it’s magic.”
Lin Wei immediately ordered, "Everyone on alert! This isn't an ordinary interception; it's a formation!"
Before the words were finished, a series of eerie laughs echoed from the thick fog, and countless dark figures moved through it.
The shadowy figures were distorted, resembling both humans and some kind of monster, emitting piercing hisses.
"It's a Nightmare of Mist!" Yun Songzi's expression changed. "The Netherworld Palace can actually control something like this!"
The Mist Nightmare is a spirit formed from the yin energy of the mountains. It has no physical form, but it can create illusions and devour living souls.
When ordinary people encounter this, they often get lost in the illusion and eventually die from exhaustion.
The dense fog had completely enveloped the three vehicles, reducing visibility to less than five meters.
A dark shadow swayed outside the car window, and the occasional screeching sound of fingernails scratching the car body could be heard.
Huo Yusen held Qiqi tightly, watching the window warily.
Suddenly, he felt Qiqi in his arms move.
"Qiqi?" He looked down.
Qiqi's eyelashes trembled, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Her eyes were somewhat dazed, but they quickly regained their clarity.
"Brother Xiao Jiu, where are we?" Qi Qi asked weakly.
"Still on the way, we've run into some trouble," Huo Yusen explained briefly. "How are you feeling?"
Qiqi tried to sit up, but felt dizzy and almost fell down again.
Huo Yusen quickly helped her up.
"Qiqi is fine." Qiqi shook her head and looked out the window. "Why is there so much resentment outside?"
Her small hand touched her chest, where the jade pendant was slightly warm.
Seeing this, Huo Yusen asked, "What's wrong?"
Qiqi closed her eyes and sensed for a moment, her little face becoming even more serious.
"It was Grandpa Qingyangzi who reminded us that this Mist Nightmare Formation was just an appetizer, and there were even more powerful traps ahead."
"Can you break this formation?" Lin Wei asked.
Qiqi nodded, but then shook her head. "Yes, but it will take time and consume more spiritual energy. But right now..."
Feeling the emptiness inside her body, Qiqi couldn't help but sigh.
She has no spiritual power at all right now, and even if she did, she couldn't withstand such a huge drain.
She bit her lip, as if making a decision.
Then, she took out a small bronze mirror from her purse.
This bronze mirror is only the size of a palm, with Bagua (Eight Trigrams) patterns carved along its edges.
The mirror surface was blurry, as if covered by a layer of fog.
"This is the 'Mirror of Illusion,' a magical artifact left to me by my master," Qiqi explained. "It can pierce through illusions and dispel confusion. But it can only be used three times; this is the first time..."
In fact, this Mirror of Delusion was a magical artifact from the immortal sect that she brought with her from her previous life when she was reborn.
She wasn't sure if using such a magical artifact in this world would cause any changes to the rules or bring disaster upon herself.
But now, there's no other way.
She held the bronze mirror up to her face, took a deep breath, and blew on the mirror.
Suddenly, the mirror glowed with a soft golden light. Qiqi pointed the mirror at the window and chanted a spell.
"When heaven and earth are clear and bright, we break through delusion and seek the truth; when the fog dissipates, evil spirits retreat!"
A beam of golden light shone from the bronze mirror, shooting straight into the depths of the thick fog.
Wherever the golden light passed, the thick fog dissipated rapidly like boiling water splashed on snow, and the dark figures let out a shrill scream before turning into wisps of smoke and disappearing.
In just over ten seconds, the fog within a radius of a hundred meters was cleared, and the mountain road reappeared.
But Qiqi suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, her face turned as pale as paper, and the bronze mirror in her hand became dull and lifeless.
"Qiqi!" Huo Yusen exclaimed in shock.
Qiqi shook her head weakly, "It's nothing, just a backlash. This mirror needs spiritual power to activate it, and Qiqi doesn't have enough spiritual power right now, so..." It's a bit of a disaster.
However, the last sentence was cut off as Huo Yusen's expression grew increasingly grim.
Yun Songzi quickly fed her another pill, saying, "You child, are you crazy? You're overdrawing your spiritual energy and still forcibly activating your magic weapon; it will damage your foundation!"
"But if we don't break the formation, everyone will be in danger," Qiqi whispered. "Besides, if this formation isn't broken, the Netherworld Palace will know our location. Don't worry, Grandpa Yun Songzi, Brother Xiao Jiu, Qiqi is fine."
A complex mix of emotions welled up in Huo Yusen's heart.
This little girl is only three and a half years old, but she always puts protecting others first, even at the cost of hurting herself.
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