Chapter 16
Zhai Wangyou withdrew her spiritual sense and slowly furrowed her brows.
A cultivator!
Although he was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, he had brought several thousand people with him. If he was an enemy and not a friend, they would likely have to fight.
Although she was currently at late Golden Core, in the mortal world, she could at most display Foundation Establishment-level strength. Fighting one against a hundred was still worth trying.
But several thousand people? She would probably only be able to surrender…
This Daoist recognized her and had even mentioned her master. He had clearly come prepared. Perhaps her master’s disappearance really was related to the mortal imperial family.
Reason told her she should turn around and go back, but her worry for her master made it impossible for her to simply leave.
Just then, something lightly touched the back of her hand.
The Dream-Entering Grass spread out one leaf and drew a question mark on the back of her hand: ?
Zhai Wangyou naturally could not understand it, but strangely, she could sense that this grass seemed puzzled, not understanding why she had been standing here for so long.
“Someone said my master is in their hands, but they have several thousand people. I do not know whether I should take the risk.”
Hearing this, Xi Zhou immediately transformed into human form.
She grabbed Zhai Wangyou’s hand, the one not holding the sword, and pulled her backward as she ran. “What’s there to hesitate about when there are several thousand people? Hurry and leave! Didn’t you say you can only fight a hundred at most? Hurry back and find that old woman from the Deacon Hall for support!”
Zhai Wangyou was silent for a moment. Her footsteps no longer paused, and she followed Xi Zhou up the mountain.
But the moment they turned back, dense footsteps sounded behind them. That Daoist had his spiritual sense open, so he naturally saw Xi Zhou suddenly appear. Thus, the several thousand people a hundred meters away quickly chased after them.
Xi Zhou could not help tightening her grip on Zhai Wangyou’s hand. As she ran, she could not resist saying, “In the future, if you encounter a situation where you’re outnumbered like this, don’t think about anything. Just run. Although I’m kind of like your cheat ability, what if one day I stop working? You have to cherish me.”
Zhai Wangyou did not quite understand what a “cheat ability” meant, but she understood the last sentence.
She had to cherish her.
She stopped, let go of their joined hands, and said, “Return to the grass. I’ll be faster alone.”
Zhai Wangyou looked straight at the person before her and silently said in her heart: All right. I will cherish you.
When Xi Zhou heard this, she quickly returned to the grass. In her panic, she had forgotten that Eldest Senior Sister was someone with cultivation. Maybe she could fly on her sword. Even if she could not beat them, surely she could outrun them?
Half an hour later, looking at the several thousand people tightly surrounding them, Xi Zhou was dumbfounded.
She had spoken too soon and gotten slapped in the face. They really could not outrun them.
Although Eldest Senior Sister had been much faster moving alone, there had not been the imagined scene of her flying on a sword. She was merely several times faster than an ordinary person.
The key point was that the enemy also had cultivators, and some people had even come from halfway up the mountain to block them. They were simply trapped with no way out. Truly, their luck had been terrible lately.
With such a huge commotion, why had that old woman from the Deacon Hall not appeared at all? Seeing that things were bad, could she have slipped away?
The middle-aged Daoist took out his long blade and laughed loudly. “Fairy Wangyou, I have been waiting for you for a long time. Why are you alone? Where is that young lady from earlier?”
Earlier, he had not clearly seen how that woman had appeared. Now she had inexplicably vanished again. It seemed this Zhai Wangyou had a helper who came and went like a ghost.
But it did not matter. They had many people. Even if another pair came, they could still defeat them.
Zhai Wangyou looked at the dark mass of people. Every single one of them watched her like a tiger eyeing its prey. Then she looked at the long blade in the Daoist’s hand.
A blade?
Could he be from Yudao Sect?
That was hard to say. What if this person was doing it deliberately?
She tightened her grip on her sword, her eyes full of vigilance. “My master is in your hands?”
The Daoist raised his brows and stared at her face, which was as bright as an autumn moon. His eyes were filled with greed. “Elder Beishan? She used to be in my hands. As for now? She might already be in the belly of some wild dog. Who told her to resist stubbornly and insist on seeking death?”
He stared into Zhai Wangyou’s eyes. If he could scare this beauty until her face lost color, it would surely be interesting.
Unfortunately, aside from vigilance, there was no other emotion in Fairy Wangyou’s eyes. How boring.
The sword in Zhai Wangyou’s hand trembled.
The Dream-Entering Grass on her left wrist tightened around her, pulling back the thread of reason that had nearly snapped.
As if afraid she would not believe him, the middle-aged Daoist took out a long sword from his storage ring. The sword was completely silver-white. He even deliberately stretched out his tongue and licked the blade. “Do you recognize this sword? Elder Beishan was also a rare beauty. Unfortunately, she could not think things through and insisted on seeking death. If you don’t know what’s good for you, you’ll only be able to reunite with her on the road to the Yellow Springs.”
Zhai Wangyou’s heart shook violently, bringing with it a deep wave of grief.
Her master…
Of course she recognized her master’s sword. It was precisely the one in the middle-aged Daoist’s hand.
The grass on her wrist tightened again and again, but the string called reason still snapped.
Zhai Wangyou circulated her spiritual energy and charged at the middle-aged Daoist with her sword.
The middle-aged Daoist chuckled and flew backward to hide behind the others. Countless soldiers surged forward, shrinking the encirclement.
The people in front held long blades, while those behind drew their bows fully. The atmosphere was heavy and tense.
“Fairy Wangyou, this poor Daoist advises you to be smart. Otherwise, you’ll end up like your master, shot into a hornet’s nest.”
The middle-aged Daoist hid behind the crowd and persuaded her to surrender. His tone carried teasing, as though he were watching her struggle like a trapped beast.
Zhai Wangyou raised her sword before her and said coldly, “I originally did not wish to hurt anyone.”
As her voice fell, she swung her sword. Dozens of people in the front row fell, but they did not die immediately. They rolled on the ground, clutching their knees and howling.
The middle-aged Daoist sneered and made a hand gesture. “You don’t know how to appreciate kindness. Loose the arrows.”
Foolish mercy. She was about to die, yet she was still thinking of sparing her enemies’ lives. Ridiculous.
Countless arrows followed one after another, weaving into a dense rain of arrows, like an airtight net surging toward Zhai Wangyou.
For a while, only the sounds of her sword clashing against arrowheads could be heard, chaotic and murderous.
Xi Zhou tightly wrapped around Zhai Wangyou’s wrist.
How was she supposed to fight this? Just blocking these arrows that kept flying over would be enough to exhaust Eldest Senior Sister completely.
She was anxious, but there was nothing she could do to help. She could only wrap tightly around Eldest Senior Sister’s slender, snow-white wrist.
Zhai Wangyou also knew this was not a solution. Brute force was useless. She had to break through the encirclement…
But the current situation was not optimistic. At this moment, she suddenly felt some regret. She should have come alone. Otherwise, she would not have dragged the Dream-Entering Grass into dying with her.
The grass wrapped around her wrist tugged at her heart for no reason.
Zhai Wangyou gathered enough spiritual energy and sent the rain of arrows before her flying back. Taking the chance, she leaped onto the treetops. The arrows behind her changed direction, completely disregarding whether they would injure their own people as they chased after her desperately.
Seeing this, the middle-aged Daoist hurriedly flew after her. Behind him, the soldiers swarmed through the forest like a dark tide. This chase continued until midnight, both sides constantly exhausting their strength.
Seeing that they had almost reached the mountain peak, Zhai Wangyou was also nearly out of strength. Strangely, the pursuers behind her stopped, and only the rain of arrows continued flying toward her.
The middle-aged Daoist looked at the white figure fleeing toward the mountain peak. He took a bow and arrow from one of the soldiers, poured spiritual energy into it, and fired three arrows at once.
Sharp arrows chased after her with the sound of wind. Zhai Wangyou swung her sword, blocking one after another. But these arrows were not as easy to block as the previous ones. Their force nearly shook through the blade.
She blocked two arrows in succession, but the third still struck her shoulder.
Her body swayed slightly, nearly unable to stand steady.
“Eldest Senior Sister.” Xi Zhou hurriedly transformed into human form and caught her. For some reason, the pursuers behind them had not followed. She supported Zhai Wangyou and continued walking toward the mountain peak.
The middle-aged Daoist stood in the distance and waved his hand. The soldiers all lowered their bows.
The mountain peak was a forbidden area. The higher-ups had instructed that no one was to set foot there at any time. They could not pursue any farther.
Xi Zhou used all her strength to flee toward the peak. Suddenly, a light shout came.
“Who dares disturb my cultivation?”
She froze and turned sideways to block Zhai Wangyou behind her. She looked straight ahead at a tree.
A tree with a nose, eyes, and a mouth that could speak.
The large tree looked them over, its voice cold and stern. “You are also a demon?”
Xi Zhou remained frozen in place.
It really was a talking tree. Dear heavens, had they met a real demon?
Seeing that they did not speak, the tree slowly transformed into human form. It became a young girl dressed in green.
She stared at Xi Zhou for a moment and seemed to ponder. “Come here. I’ll help you save her.”
Xi Zhou and Zhai Wangyou looked at each other and did not move.
One of them had been shot by an arrow, and the other had no cultivation protecting her. At a time like this, they could not easily trust others.
Seeing how guarded they were, the tree demon waved her hand in dissatisfaction. The arrow in Zhai Wangyou’s shoulder was pulled out, and fresh blood flowed directly.
“Eldest Senior Sister.”
Xi Zhou hurriedly hugged her tightly, her entire body taking a protective posture as her eyes stared straight at the tree demon before them.
Grass… this was saving someone? Pulling out an arrow directly—did she think Xi Zhou did not know how to do that?
That would cause excessive blood loss, okay? It could also easily get infected. This was way too casual.
The tree demon said nothing. She made several hand gestures toward Zhai Wangyou before saying, “The bleeding has stopped. She won’t die.”
Xi Zhou was speechless and silently tightened her embrace.
Zhai Wangyou coughed lightly twice, her face pale. “I am fine. Thank you, Senior, for saving me.”
The bleeding on her body had indeed stopped. Right now, her spiritual energy had simply been overconsumed, and her body was a little weak. There was nothing seriously wrong.
Only after seeing that Zhai Wangyou was truly fine did Xi Zhou say to the tree demon, “Thank you for saving her.”
Actually, she could also save her. This kind of physical injury should be simpler, right? Maybe if she went into Eldest Senior Sister’s dream and kissed her a few times, she would recover…
The tree demon shrugged and casually asked, “You two came from the other side of the mountain, right? Has the cultivation world fallen into chaos? Why do people keep ignoring the prohibition?”
Zhai Wangyou’s heart stirred. She casually asked, “Senior has seen other cultivators?”
“That’s right. Some time ago, a beautiful middle-aged Daoist nun came here. Her clothing style was the same as yours. Later, she was killed by those people below the mountain.”
Zhai Wangyou’s body trembled, and sorrow filled her eyes.
Her master really had…
The tree demon looked at them and continued, “Speaking of which, there was another cultivator. Before that beautiful middle-aged Daoist nun died, he dug out her inner core. His clothing style was also the same as yours. Don’t tell me your sectmates are killing each other?”
It seemed the cultivation world really was not peaceful.
Zhai Wangyou’s heart jolted.
Sectmates killing each other? Digging out an inner core?
She vaguely felt that she had found the key to the matter.
“Senior, do you still remember what the cultivator who dug out her inner core looked like?”
The tree demon thought for a moment and said, “He looked human enough. Oh, he was a man. It seemed he called that beautiful middle-aged Daoist nun ‘Junior Sister.’”
Xi Zhou’s mouth twitched. That description was really accurate. Which cultivator did not look human enough?
But… Junior Sister?
There should not be many people who would call Elder Beishan “Junior Sister,” right?
She looked at Zhai Wangyou.
Author’s Note:
Grass: Senior, you actually didn’t need to act. I could save her…
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