“She did save my life.” Bai Ze never talked much with Yuan Shui, and even ignored him, but she listened to every word he said, especially at the beginning. However, later on, she gradually realized that Yuan Shui didn’t say many nice things to Xu Yuehuai, so she stopped listening to him.
Yuan Shui seemed used to Bai Ze's submissive attitude towards him, but now a sudden rebuttal made him pause in his eating. He then remembered that when Bai Ze and Xu Yuehuai met, she did save Bai Ze. So... it didn't seem wrong.
"Fine." Yuan Shui seemed indifferent, not taking the matter to heart at all.
Bai Ze was somewhat depressed, and his emotions were unusually obvious after he went outside. When Xu Yuehuai noticed this, she asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell or tired? If you're tired, you should rest first. We can walk a bit on our own."
Xu Yuehuai, adhering to the principle of not abusing animals, spoke to her.
Bai Ze shook his head and repeated what Yuan Shui had just told him, along with his own doubts, "Master, why do you keep him around all this time?"
She didn't understand. Although Yuan Shui was useful, she hadn't seen Yuan Shui do anything since arriving here, and it had even said a lot of unreasonable things to its master. It was simply too much.
Yuan Shui, who was inside, naturally heard these words as well. He sneered and muttered, "I didn't expect you little thing to have learned to tattle now."
Xu Yuehuai paused for a moment upon hearing this, glanced at Ji Yuanchi, and replied, "Yuanshui is just a little lazy usually, but he's still pretty good. He doesn't care what he says, so you don't need to pay attention to him."
She felt a little helpless; this was the kind of situation that always arises when raising two children. She wished she had broken up with Bai Ze sooner to avoid this trouble.
Yuan Shui wasn't entirely satisfied with Xu Yuehuai's answer, but he wasn't angry either. He just gave a haughty snort, behaving like a big shot.
Bai Ze pursed his lips and remained silent, probably realizing that his words were a bit unreasonable.
The group remained eerily quiet throughout the journey, not uttering a single word. They only picked up a few orbs of light along the way. Xu Yuehuai took out his token, intending to check the current rankings, but found that the token was completely unlit, just a dull gray.
Xu Yuehua frowned, examined it carefully for a few moments, and even infused it with spiritual energy, but it was all to no avail; the token remained lifeless. She looked up at Ji Yuanchi, "Take a look at your token, is it still working properly?"
The token was given to everyone before they entered, and it was placed on their table on their first day there. There were some changes before they entered the secret realm, but after they entered, the token became a completely useless dead object, let alone any changes.
Ji Yuanchi obediently took it out and looked at it. The result was the same as Xu Yuehuai's. The two looked at each other and clearly knew how serious the situation was.
"Could we be in an illusion?" Ji Yuanchi looked around. The yellow sand and strong winds hadn't lessened at all, just like when they came in and it had continued until now. Their clothes were covered in dust, making them look a bit disheveled.
Xu Yuehuai examined the area again and said definitively, "Impossible. This is not an illusion. I've checked it, but it's true that there are no living creatures here."
During the investigation, Xu Yuehuai went underground but found no living creatures hidden there, indicating that they were either hiding or simply not there.
However, just as she finished speaking, two men walked over from a distance. The two men looked exhausted and had some blood on their bodies. Ji Yuanchi saw them first and pointed at them, saying, "Look, isn't that the eldest disciple of the Zhentian Clan?"
As soon as Ji Yuanchi said this, Xu Yuehuai turned her head to take a look. Sure enough, the person behind them was Ning Xi, the senior sister of the Zhentian Clan. Ning Xi's eyes were cold and she looked tired, as if she had experienced great torment.
Ji Yuanchi glanced at them, her eyes filled with shock. Beside her was Zhan Qi, the senior disciple of the Wanzhang Sect. Both of them were injured, but Zhan Qi's injuries were clearly more severe.
A moment later, the two of them walked up to Xu Yuehuai and Ji Yuanchi, their eyes filled with caution. Even Zhan Qi, who usually looked down on others, showed a helpless expression. "Why are you here again? Didn't we already kill through their illusions once before? Why are you here again!"
"I can't stand it," Zhan Qi said irritably, his eyes filled with a sense of utter despair. Ning Xi remained the same; upon closer inspection, her eyes were filled with exhaustion, as if she had suffered immense torment.
Xu Yuehuai curiously examined the two people in front of her, wanting to find out what had happened between them, but before she could speak, Ning Xi's sword was already drawn and heading towards her and Ji Yuanchi. In order not to get hurt, Xu Yuehuai had no choice but to pick up her own weapon and start to defend herself.
"Calm down! I'm not hallucinating!" Xu Yuehuai said while blocking her first move.
Ning Xi's movements didn't falter at all, her eyes were cold. Zhan Qi also met Ji Yuanchi's gaze, and she said in a clear, cold voice with a hint of annoyance, "Of course, an illusion won't think it's an illusion. Zhan Qi, let's finish this quickly!"
Zhan Qi's impatient voice came over, "I know, stop talking nonsense and just kill them and leave."
"I have to say, Xu Yuehuai's acting is quite convincing; even Bai Ze is here." Zhan Qi glanced to the side and saw a behemoth, immediately becoming wary.
Upon hearing this, Ning Xi looked up, but when she turned her head, Xu Yuehuai had already grabbed her by the neck. "I said, you two, that's enough! This isn't an illusion!"
Upon hearing this, Zhan Qi looked over and noticed a hint of disgust on Ning Xi's face when she was being held hostage. However, when he realized that she hadn't killed Ning Xi, a sense of doubt arose in his heart.
Hearing Xu Yuehuai's words, he asked doubtfully, "Are you sure you're not hallucinating?"
Xu Yuehuai explained her situation to them and proved her innocence before releasing Ning Xi, who was slightly agitated.
Ning Xi straightened her clothes, moved away from Xu Yuehuai, took a few steps, and stood next to Zhan Qi.
"Tell me, what did you two encounter?" Xu Yuehuai sheathed her sword, took out a mat, and laid it beside Bai Ze, using Bai Ze's massive body to block some of the sand and dust.
Ning Xi glanced away, then looked at Zhan Qi, signaling him to speak.
Zhan Qi said resignedly, "I met this thing not long after I came in. We started fighting and fought for a long time without a clear winner. Then we realized that something was wrong with our surroundings. No living creatures had come over for so long. Our fight was quite loud. Logically speaking, no animals should have noticed it."
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