3 Nightmare Forest (Part Two)
"What's wrong with you? Why are you taking out shackles again?"
Lou Tinglan stopped when she saw her get up. But as soon as she stopped, she fell straight back to the ground.
His face was pale, clearly indicating that his spiritual energy was about to be exhausted. Even so, he still forced himself to sit up and cast a barely effective binding spell on her.
Ran Qinghe couldn't help but find it amusing, and the gloom she had felt in the illusion vanished completely.
In this cultivation world, there are actually cultivators who repay evil with good?
She was engrossed in the illusion, and her spiritual power should have been completely devoured by the nightmare monster. However, Lou Tinglan, following the rules of the hall, stepped in to protect her safety as a prisoner, but lost all her spiritual power in the process.
Before her, the beauty's hair was disheveled, her robes were in disarray, and her once pristine face now appeared extremely wretched, yet Ran Qinghe showed no pity whatsoever.
If not now, when?
Without hesitation, she stepped forward and began to grope his chest and waist.
Lou Tinglan raised her hand, trying to stop her movements, but having lost her spiritual power, she easily brushed away the tickling force.
Found it! She skillfully unlocked the handcuffs and leg irons, tossing them and the key to the spot. Then she tried circulating her spiritual energy on the spot; although it wasn't abundant, it was sufficient.
Lou Tinglan saw her like this, but she didn't feel the anger she had expected. Her face remained calm and composed, as if she was used to Lou Tinglan's reaction of repaying kindness with enmity and refusing to help someone in distress.
Ran Qinghe casually used a hovering spell. Without the shackles, escaping the Nightmare Forest was a piece of cake for her.
Below, in the Nightmare Forest, the Nightmare Monsters, having feasted on spiritual energy, bared their fangs and brandished their claws, waving about like a child who had eaten a piece of candy and was now jumping around with boundless energy.
The branches gradually converged towards Lou Tinglan in the center, seemingly trying to drain the last bit of spiritual energy from her.
Lou Tinglan had no spiritual power left to wield her sword, and could only rely on her physical instincts to cut the branches wielded by the nightmare monster as easily as chopping vegetables.
But how could Lou Tinglan possibly withstand a monster that had eaten and drunk its fill? In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he was already exhausted and at the mercy of the monster.
The Nightmare Branch once again coiled around the cultivator who had just channeled spiritual energy into it, but it only managed to coil around him before the branch was ruthlessly severed by the spiritual energy of the long whip in the air.
She's back again. Lou Tinglan was surprised.
As the silver bells at the tip of the whip jingled, the long whip lashed down repeatedly through the air, producing a series of sharp cracking sounds.
Centered on Lou Tinglan, all the nearby branches of the Nightmare Monsters had been brutally severed by the whip wind.
With a flick of her long whip, she wrapped it around Lou Tinglan's waist and dragged her away from the Nightmare Forest.
She thought that Lou Tinglan had some spiritual power left over, so he should be able to protect himself. But to her surprise, when she looked down from mid-air, she found that the man really couldn't use any spiritual power at all.
She was extremely curious, and with a cold expression, she asked in bewilderment, "Why did you save me?"
Just now, she was trapped in the nightmare monster's illusion and couldn't extricate herself. If left unchecked, she would suffer from exhaustion of spiritual energy and a sharp drop in her cultivation level. But this person was directly supplying spiritual energy to the nightmare monster. Since the nightmare monster's cultivation level was not high, it couldn't absorb large amounts of spiritual energy. Therefore, after weighing the two options, the nightmare monster naturally couldn't refuse the free spiritual energy, so it abandoned its attempt to extract spiritual energy from her. As a result, the illusion it created also had a flaw, which gave her a chance to wake up.
To save her, he was willing to exhaust his spiritual power?
Ran Qinghe thought Lou Tinglan was a really strange person.
She had originally lured him to the Nightmare Forest with the intention of harming him. Given his cunning, since he was able to silently set up a binding array to capture her, there was no reason why he wouldn't see through such a trick.
Even if this person knew nothing about the Nightmare Forest, they should have realized it when they saw the Nightmare Monster pull her down from mid-air.
After resting for a while, Lou Tinglan regained some strength and stood up, supporting herself with the long sword in her hand.
He replied, "It's my duty."
Ran Qinghe asked again, puzzled, "Duties?"
Lou Tinglan replied, "The rules of the Discipline Hall, Article Thirteen: If a captured prisoner is in danger, the disciples of the Discipline Hall must not stand idly by but must lend a helping hand."
As he spoke, he took out handcuffs and leg irons again, intending to put them on her.
Ran Qinghe was almost laughing in anger. With a wave of her hand, she easily swept the shackles aside. Lou Tinglan was not annoyed. She picked them up again, took them, and Ran Qinghe swept them away once more.
After repeating this three times, Ran Qinghe almost burst out laughing before saying:
"Lou Tinglan, do you think you can catch me with the little spiritual power you have left?"
Lou Tinglan said earnestly, "No matter what, we should try our best."
Ran Qinghe: ...
Ran Qinghe stepped away, heading straight for the bottom of Qingxiao Mountain.
Ran Qinghe turned around and said, "Lou Tinglan, although I can't say I'm particularly upright, I never owe anyone a favor."
"Since you saved me from that nightmare monster, I will go back with you to report back."
"But after I finish this task, whatever happens to me will be none of your business."
Lou Tinglan looked surprised, but quickly regained her composure and softly replied, "Okay."
*
At the foot of Qingxiao Mountain, there is a dock. Unlike ordinary docks, this dock is where immortal ships bound for the Qingxiao Sect dock, and cultivators come and go in an endless stream.
Ran Qinghe glanced around and saw another cultivator at the boarding point, dressed in the Qingxiao disciple's robes. The robes were white with blue trim, but they weren't embroidered with the water ripple pattern unique to inner disciples, so he guessed that the cultivator was probably an outer disciple or a menial disciple.
The two stood at the back of the long line, waiting in line.
When it was the turn of the two, the Qingxiao disciple stretched out his hand and said, "Give it to me."
Ran Qinghe was already very familiar with this process, and asked Lou Tinglan, "Where's the pass?"
Lou Tinglan was taken aback. He rarely went down the mountain, and at most only traveled between the Discipline Hall and Qingxiao, so he had never used the pass.
He shook his head and said, "No."
Upon seeing this, the Qingxiao disciples instantly became impatient: "What are you all queuing for without a pass? You can't enter without a pass."
As he spoke, he reached out and tried to push the two of them away.
Ran Qinghe wondered if this person was trying to deceive her. He didn't even have a pass to Qingxiao. Was he trying to capture her for the reward of 50,000 spirit stones?
"You're not from the Discipline Hall?" The Discipline Hall and Qingxiao have such close ties, how could you not have a pass?
Lou Tinglan said, "That's me."
Having said that, he took out a disciple's token from the Discipline Hall and used it to prove his own path.
Upon seeing this, the Qingxiao disciple's expression instantly changed, and he began to speak in a gentle tone: "Immortal Master, please forgive my rudeness. It turns out you are a disciple of the Discipline Hall. I misspoke just now. I hope you two immortal masters will not take offense."
He was secretly sweating, but he couldn't really blame him. This person looked sickly and didn't seem like a disciple of the Discipline Hall at all. Besides, how could a disciple of the Discipline Hall queue up with ordinary cultivators?
He gestured and said, "Please come this way, esteemed immortals. For the convenience of the disciples of the Discipline Hall in carrying out their missions, Qingxiao has specially prepared an immortal boat for them to travel back and forth."
Ran and Lou followed him to another immortal ship. Its appearance alone made it quite different from the other immortal ships.
The ship's hull is entirely crafted from thousand-year-old peach wood, its overall color a bluish-green. On the side, the blue waves and the swallows and grasses of the Discipline Hall complement each other. Pavilions and towers with flying eaves and brackets stand on the deck, resembling a moving celestial abode.
The two climbed the steps and boarded the ship. Inside the cabin, there were only a few people, some sitting idly drinking tea, others meditating.
Lou Tinglan originally wanted to find a room to restore his spiritual power, but with Ran Qinghe by his side, it would be inconvenient for the two of them to share a room. Therefore, he found a quiet corner in the lobby and closed his eyes to meditate.
However, after only a short while, someone came up to chat, saying, "Junior sister, are you also a disciple of the Discipline Hall? I wonder which elder you are a disciple of? Have we met before? I feel an instant connection with you, junior sister."
Ran Qinghe deliberately avoided answering her question about her identity, teasing her, "Oh, you've seen me before?"
Instead of answering directly, the man said, "Junior Sister, your appearance is so pleasing to the eye. Would you mind exchanging spirit leaves with me?"
In layman's terms, spirit leaves are tools used by disciples of various sects for communication. Although not as convenient as telepathic communication, they are used by many cultivators. Telepathic communication is a high-level spell that requires a large amount of spiritual energy to use, and only cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or above can use it smoothly.
If two people exchange spirit leaves that contain stored spiritual energy, they can communicate freely even without using spiritual energy.
Ran Qinghe feigned helplessness and replied, "Well, I'm willing but powerless. I'm about to be sent down to the Tower of Babel, so even if I wanted to send a message, I wouldn't be able to..."
The man thought Ran Qinghe was teasing him, and regretfully left behind his spirit leaf before turning and leaving.
After Lou Tinglan finished regulating her breathing and her spiritual energy recovered somewhat, she slowly opened her eyes.
He raised his hand to redirect his spiritual energy, but Ran Qinghe reflexively said, "Hey, what's wrong with you? Why are you taking out shackles again?"
"Now that I'm on the celestial ship, where else can I escape to?"
Lou Tinglan was taken aback and replied, "No." She couldn't control the spiritual energy flowing between her hands for a moment and accidentally swept the spiritual leaves left on the table. The spiritual leaves spun around a few times and fell into some unknown corner.
*
"Greetings, Elder Lou. Your disciple Lou Tinglan has apprehended the wanted criminal Ran Qinghe." Lou Tinglan bowed and reported in the center of the main hall of the Discipline Hall.
Lou Yi sat in the head seat, frowning with concern, and asked, "Tinglan, why did your spiritual power decrease by more than half after coming down the mountain?"
Lou Tinglan replied only: "Tinglan accidentally entered the Nightmare Forest, and most of her spiritual power was absorbed by the Nightmare Monsters in the forest, but she is fine now, so Elder, you don't need to worry."
Lou Yi said gently, "In that case, please take a seat and adjust your breathing."
After saying that, he changed his tone and sternly asked Ran Qinghe, who was standing below the hall, "Do you know your crime for offending Ran Qinghe?"
Ran Qinghe casually twirled a few strands of her long hair around her chest and replied, "Elder Lou, you're exaggerating. I just found the Tower of Babel too stuffy, so I came out for a walk and absorbed some spiritual energy. What's wrong with that?"
Upon hearing this, Lou Yi was enraged: "Still trying to deny it? You destroyed the Azure Sky Spirit Vein and were sentenced to three years in prison on the seventh floor of the Tower of Babel. In just three months, you've escaped from prison three times? And you still won't confess."
He waved his hands, about to cast a spell to control the shackles and make Ran Qinghe kneel down, but unexpectedly, the spell missed.
Where are the handcuffs? He cast the spell again. Hmm? Still none?
Lou Yi turned his gaze to Lou Tinglan, who was seated below, but Lou Tinglan had already closed her eyes to regulate her breathing.
"That's enough," Lou Yi waved his hand, signaling the disciples in the hall to take Ran Qinghe back to the Tower of Heaven Prison.
Ran Qinghe, however, retorted defiantly, "Since I was able to escape from the Tower Prison three times, I can escape from it a fourth time. Why should the elder make things difficult for me? You went to great lengths to catch me, only to have me escape again. It's pointless for you to chase me. Why don't you just release me and save yourself the trouble of catching me again?"
Lou Yu and Lou Qiong, upon hearing that Ran Qinghe had been arrested, rushed to the interrogation room and happened to overhear Ran Qinghe's last words.
Lou Yu was even more furious when he thought about how he had been tricked when he went down the mountain to capture the demon. He cupped his hands and reported, "Elder, in my opinion, it would be better to send this demon... Ran Qinghe directly to the sixth level of the tower prison."
The Tower of Heaven's Prison is divided into nine levels, each corresponding to a rank. The top level imprisons cultivators who have violated the prohibitions during the Qi Refining stage, the eighth level imprisons cultivators who have violated the prohibitions during the Foundation Establishment stage, and so on. The seventh level is for Golden Core cultivators, the sixth level for Nascent Soul cultivators, the fifth level for Deity Transformation cultivators, the fourth level for Void Refining cultivators, the third level for Body Integration cultivators, and the second level for Tribulation Transcending cultivators. Logically, the bottom level should imprison cultivators who have violated the prohibitions during the Ascension stage, but no one in the realm has ascended yet, let alone imprisoned them, so the bottom level has remained vacant.
Previously, Ran Qinghe had been imprisoned on the seventh floor, but she had escaped repeatedly. If she were to go directly down to the sixth floor and use the tower prison for Nascent Soul cultivators to imprison a mere Golden Core cultivator like her, it would be a piece of cake.
However, if Ran Qinghe makes a mistake in her response, she might very well die in the Tower Prison.
Lou Yi pondered for a moment, then turned to Lou Tinglan, who was still meditating with her eyes closed, and asked, "Tinglan, what do you think?"
[Author's Note]
Three updates on the first day, the third update
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