With cries of alarm, a mountain wind rose from the ground, startling the birds around them. They leaped from the treetops, flying in noisy flocks towards the horizon. Qi Leshan yanked up Zhao Diqing, who was kneeling and sobbing uncontrollably: “Gently, don’t attract anything else.” He looked around warily. Just now, he and Zhao Diqing, both with four eyes between them, had personally witnessed Shi Qingqian and A’Ling fall into a trap here. In his shock, he hadn’t paid attention, allowing Zhao Diqing to run out of the barrier. Qi Leshan worried that Zhao Diqing would be exposed. What if this was an illusion set by Shi Qingqian and her companion, or just a new pit? If Zhao Diqing was so reckless, wouldn’t she be exposed? He quickly chased after her.
It was only when he ran to the spot where Shi Qingqian and her companion had disappeared that he realized things were not simple. Where was the pit? He forcefully stomped on the compacted earth beneath. It was just ordinary ground, with no mechanisms or anything special. How could Shi Qingqian and A’Ling have vanished into thin air?
“Shi Qingqian, are you there? Answer me if you hear me.” Zhao Diqing broke free from Qi Leshan’s hand and knelt again at the spot where the two had disappeared, pounding the ground and shouting downwards. Only the whistling wind in the mountains answered her.
“Alright, stop shouting,” Qi Leshan said, looking disdainfully at her tear-stained face. He wiped away the disguise from his face, revealing his true appearance. “This can be considered a job done. We lost a Nine Revolutions Lotus Platform Net, but we still need to go back and explain it to someone.”
Zhao Diqing completely ignored Qi Leshan’s words. They were supposed to deal with A’Ling, not Shi Qingqian. Now Shi Qingqian is gone too, what kind of ‘job done’ is that? “I’m not leaving. You can go. I’m going to rescue Shi Qingqian.” Zhao Diqing said, then picked up a tree branch and began digging at the spot.
Qi Leshan stepped forward and snatched the branch from her hand: “Are you trying to die?! There’s something wrong with this ground. If we stay any longer, it might swallow us both.” Zhao Diqing didn’t even look at him. When the item was snatched from her hand, she broke off another branch from a withered tree nearby, looking as if she wouldn’t stop until she found Shi Qingqian. Qi Leshan certainly didn’t want to humor her madness here. But they had lost a Nine Revolutions Lotus Platform Net, and A’Ling had vanished into thin air. If he went back and reported it alone, he worried it wouldn’t be enough to convince the other party. Birds scattered in panic, and there seemed to be strange sounds in the forest. Qi Leshan broke out in goosebumps, and his scalp began to tingle. He didn’t want to stay for another moment.
He glanced at Zhao Diqing, who was still futilely digging at the ground. He channeled his inner energy, stepped forward, twisted her arm behind her back to disarm her, then grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up. He also casually restored Zhao Diqing’s original appearance; her silver hair gradually turned back to black.
“Shut up. If you don’t want to die, come with me.” Qi Leshan glared fiercely at Zhao Diqing, whose eyes were filled with tears. She was truly more trouble than she was worth. Zhao Diqing looked at the grim-faced Qi Leshan and suddenly froze. All the hairs on her body stood on end. She saw killing intent in his eyes. She dared not cry anymore, tears clinging precariously to her eyelashes.
Gu Jingyang traveled against the wind at the fastest speed. When she arrived at Kaiyao Mountain by sword, she saw figures at the foot of the mountain from afar. She swooped down on her sword, flying in front of the two figures, and discovered they were Qi Leshan and Zhao Diqing. The two were dressed strangely. Qi Leshan wore a bamboo hat, while Zhao Diqing wore a very shabby outfit, completely unlike the vibrant attire she usually preferred.
“What are you doing here?” Gu Jingyang asked, her face tight, the moment she landed.
Qi Leshan had just heard a commotion coming from the sky and was about to look up when the person had already flown in front of him. The speed was simply too fast. He had no time to hide. Once he clearly saw that the person was Gu Jingyang, his hopeful thought that it wouldn’t be someone he knew was shattered. Qi Leshan tried his best to compose himself and forced a smile: “Gu Jingyang, what a coincidence! Are you practicing sword-wielding?”
Gu Jingyang eyed Qi Leshan, who was smiling strangely, and Zhao Diqing, who clearly had just cried, with suspicion: “What are you doing here?” Qi Leshan was speechless for a moment, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his back from nervousness. He couldn’t come up with a suitable excuse instantly.
It was Zhao Diqing, however, who, upon seeing Gu Jingyang clearly, flashed with a mix of shame and indignation in her eyes. “What, does what we do here concern you?” Zhao Diqing sneered. “Or perhaps this place is only for you, Gu Jingyang, and we aren’t allowed?!” Gu Jingyang frowned, her face solemn as she looked at Zhao Diqing. They had met just yesterday, and an unpleasant incident had occurred, so Gu Jingyang certainly had an impression of her.
“Have either of you seen A’Ling?” Gu Jingyang asked, her eyes fixed intently on Qi Leshan as she posed the question. Of the two, Qi Leshan was clearly the less subtle one, more likely to reveal flaws. Zhao Diqing, however, stepped forward and blocked Qi Leshan: “Aren’t you always with A’Ling, even eavesdropping together? You should know A’Ling’s whereabouts better than anyone. Why ask us?” Zhao Diqing said, then turned and tugged at Qi Leshan: “Let’s go.” As she passed Gu Jingyang, Zhao Diqing scoffed: “The person you like is detested by others. You’d better watch out for her.”
Gu Jingyang’s brow twitched sharply. She no longer bothered with Zhao Diqing and her companion, immediately ascending on her sword to search for A’Ling on Kaiyao Mountain.
A’Ling didn’t know where they had fallen. Why hadn’t they reached the bottom after so long? How tall was Kaiyao Mountain anyway? Don’t tell her they had fallen from the peak to the ground; that would surely be fatal. A’Ling regretted pulling Shi Qingqian to be a meat shield in her heart. At this height, Shi Qingqian’s skinny body was useless. They’d just smash together, unable to tell whose minced meat and shattered bones were whose. Being mixed up with Shi Qingqian, she’d feel nauseated even as a ghost.
With a ‘thud’, her heart leaped suddenly, and the weightless sensation of falling abruptly vanished. Instead, there was a dull ache on her forehead. Her head had bumped against Shi Qingqian’s chin. It was a loud thud; she probably had a big bump now. A’Ling grimaced in pain, touching the real bump on her forehead. A’Ling’s tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open. Not dead! She’s not dead! The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Shi Qingqian beneath her, staring at her with profound eyes. There was also the relief of surviving a disaster in Shi Qingqian’s eyes. They were both alive.
A’Ling’s eyes brightened, but after feeling the hot breath, not her own, so close to her face, a shiver ran through A’Ling’s body, and she struggled to get off Shi Qingqian. With this movement, their already trembling bodies swayed even more violently. A’Ling struggled to lift her head and looked around. They had indeed fallen into a hole, but they hadn’t landed yet. They were now on a giant spider web. Around them, there were many more similar spider webs, suspended in mid-air within the cave. Some were dozens of meters high, others closer to the ground. The spider web they were on was neither too high nor too low, about ten meters from the ground. On a web not far away, a pile of swords lay horizontally. Those should be the swords Shi Qingqian used to transport her. But the incident happened so suddenly that she didn’t have time to retrieve them before they fell.
While she was pondering, her body suddenly flipped over. She was pushed by Shi Qingqian onto the spider web. She quickly grabbed a spider silk as thick as a finger and looked up at Shi Qingqian. After Shi Qingqian got up from beneath A’Ling, she moved her limbs and found nothing amiss apart from her spiritual power being unusable. She looked up. Although they had fallen from such a height, the cave ceiling seemed not far above, and sunlight filtered down from it. It looked like just an illusion.
While Shi Qingqian observed this suddenly appearing cave, A’Ling also tilted her body to look down. The bottom looked unremarkable, just ordinary muddy ground, with no demonic beasts or fierce man-eating plants. This cave shouldn’t have been dug specifically to target her. Such a large cave would take decades for a human to excavate. Suddenly, A’Ling saw something very familiar on the rocky cave walls. It was Spirit Suppressing Incense. In her previous life, during a trial event, A’Ling brought these items, hoping to prevent Shi Qingqian from using her cultivation. Unexpectedly, she ended up causing an ancient Fire Dragon Bird to go insane, ultimately leading to her own expulsion from the inner sect. The rocky walls of this cave pit were actually densely embedded with Spirit Suppressing Incense. Those pitch-black beads, embedded in the irregularly patterned rock walls, looked like countless eyes staring at her. A’Ling unconsciously looked at Shi Qingqian. No wonder no inner energy could be used here; there were countless Spirit Suppressing Incense in this place.
However, these items were uncommon. They could only be formed when a great demon beast, after experiencing extreme pain and death, had a soul unwilling to reincarnate and intent on revenge, and was then refined by a highly skilled demon hunter. Perhaps it was because the resentment and unwillingness in their hearts had deeply permeated their souls. Demon hunters discovered that even after being purified, the souls of such great demon beasts, when refined, could still suppress a cultivator’s abilities and cultivation.
Shi Qingqian felt a gaze on her and turned to see A’Ling staring at her blankly, not knowing what she was thinking. She had just looked around and found no clues, but she also noticed the Spirit Suppressing Incense on the walls and understood why inner energy couldn’t be used. If they wanted to get out now, they would have to find the exit set by the cave’s owner. She glanced at A’Ling, who was still deep in thought, then lightly stepped on the spider web beneath her feet, feeling the silk’s resilience. Fortunately, it could support both their weights; the spider silk was very sturdy.
Shi Qingqian took a few steps back, took a running start, and leaped to another spider web nearby. Her movements brought A’Ling back from her contemplation. She watched Shi Qingqian, one after another, nimbly leap to the web where her swords had fallen and collect all the superfluous swords. Then she returned along the same path, jumping back onto A’Ling’s web. A’Ling couldn’t describe the complexity of her feelings at that moment. She had just thought Shi Qingqian was going to abandon her, then felt that it was only to be expected, and then regretted that she had so unluckily injured her leg. Otherwise, she could also jump around so unrestrainedly.
Shi Qingqian’s final leap landed directly in front of A’Ling, causing the spider web beneath A’Ling to sway violently. “What, you stopped being a rotten ghost and decided to be a zombie instead?” A’Ling blurted out mockingly, irritated. She also knew that in the current situation, it would be better to humble herself appropriately. As long as there’s life, there’s hope. But sometimes, her mouth was just faster than her brain.
Shi Qingqian squatted down in front of A’Ling, meeting the gaze of the now sitting A’Ling. “Do you know how to get out?” Shi Qingqian asked softly.
A’Ling raised an eyebrow. How could she possibly know? The words were about to leave her mouth when a sudden spark of light ‘zizzed’ in her mind. “Well, why should I tell you?” A’Ling raised an eyebrow, her fingers unconsciously picking at the spider silk beneath her hand.
Shi Qingqian lightly pursed her lips, her eyebrows unmoving, and raised a finger to point at A’Ling’s leg. “Even if you know the method, you can’t get out. How about we cooperate?”
This was exactly what A’Ling was waiting for!
Nice
Get closer