In just half a day, Ning Yuzhou was able to stand and move freely. Although his body was still somewhat weak, he was no longer in serious condition.
His current cultivation was only the early stage of the Entry Yuan Realm, the very first level for cultivators. In other words, every cultivator in Lin Tai Hunting Valley could crush him. However, Qian Shou did not dare look down on him because of this. Instead, he became even more respectful, with a trace of caution in his attitude.
“Call the Shadow Scaled Guards back,” Ning Yuzhou said.
Qian Shou acknowledged the order. He took out a token, forced a drop of blood from his fingertip, and pressed it onto the token. This was a secret blood technique, the most effective and reliable method of communication. It could summon back the Shadow Scaled Guards scattered throughout this underground space as quickly as possible.
The Shadow Scaled Guards searching nearby for Wen Qiao’s body soon returned. Those farther away would still need more time.
Then Ning Yuzhou had Qian Shou bring him a blank talisman paper and a talisman brush. Using the blood of a demonic beast collected in Lin Tai Hunting Valley as ink, he began to draw on the blank talisman paper. In just a moment, the portrait of a cultivator appeared on it.
“Find this person and bring him to me,” Ning Yuzhou said. His voice was as gentle as usual, yet there was not the slightest warmth in it.
Qian Shou took the portrait and looked at it. Although he did not know how this person had offended his master, he did not ask further. He selected ten Shadow Scaled Guards and sent them to search.
Once almost all the Shadow Scaled Guards had returned, Ning Yuzhou said, “Let’s go.”
Qian Shou’s face showed concern. “Your Highness, your injuries have only just recovered. Won’t you rest a little longer?”
Besides, now that the seal had been broken and Lin Tai Hunting Valley was rich in primordial spiritual energy, he should seize the opportunity to raise his cultivation in one go.
“We find Ah Qiao first.”
As Ning Yuzhou spoke, he pressed a hand to his chest. A look of sorrow appeared on his face, and a pain that could not be dispelled twisted through his heart.
Thinking of that little girl who had protected him with her life, he could not forget that scene.
He had never met such a foolish girl before.
Clearly, he had not done much for her, yet at the moment of life and death, she had not hesitated to risk her own life to protect him, without weighing gains or losses. She was so foolish it made one’s heart ache.
Qian Shou’s brow twitched slightly.
This underground space was extremely vast. Caverns extended in every direction, twisting and winding even more confusingly than the maze above. Finding someone here would be easier said than done.
Moreover, Wen Qiao was already dead. Her body had been taken by a demonic beast. Judging by the habits of demonic beasts, her corpse had probably already become food and been swallowed.
To demonic beasts, cultivators were also an extremely delicious kind of food.
Qian Shou understood this in his heart, but seeing Ning Yuzhou’s state, he did not dare say too much, afraid that it would drive him to do something mad. In comparison, his insistence on finding Wen Qiao’s body was still acceptable.
So Qian Shou said carefully, in an extremely tactful tone, “Your Highness, we have already investigated this place. There are many underground caverns and passages here, forming a vast space. Many demonic beasts live here. Also, this place was originally a demonic cultivator’s cave residence within Lin Tai Hunting Valley. In seven days, Lin Tai Hunting Valley will close. When that happens, all living people inside will be expelled…”
Because the environment of Lin Tai Hunting Valley was different each time it opened, whenever its one-month opening period ended, any humans who had survived would be rejected and expelled.
At that time, even if Ning Yuzhou wanted to stay and search for Wen Qiao’s body, which might not even still exist, he would not be able to.
Ning Yuzhou did not waste words with him. He only said, “Ah Qiao is still alive.”
Qian Shou hesitated, thinking that he simply did not want to believe Wen Qiao was dead.
At that time, he had personally confirmed Wen Qiao’s death. Her vitality had been severed, and there had been no possibility of survival. If not for the sudden appearance of that demonic beast, which had taken advantage of their lack of vigilance and snatched away Wen Qiao’s body, he would not be having such a headache now.
Ning Yuzhou closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he said with extreme calm, “There is a drop of Ah Qiao’s blood in my heart. I can sense her.”
Qian Shou: “????”
Ning Yuzhou did not explain further.
In the maze above, when that demonic beast attacked them, Wen Qiao had shielded him with her own body. At that time, the beast had injured her severely. Her internal organs were damaged, and her heart’s blood had sprayed out uncontrollably. By chance, it landed on him and seeped through his chest into his heart, unexpectedly breaking the seal inside his body.
Ning Yuzhou’s primordial spiritual root was not poisoned and destroyed as the outside world claimed. Rather, it had been sealed by a restriction. Not only did it seal his spiritual root, it also prevented him from absorbing heaven-and-earth primordial spiritual energy to cultivate, making him seem like a useless cripple.
This seal was supposed to lift when he reached adulthood.
Now, there was still one year before he came of age. Yet because Wen Qiao’s blood had flowed into his heart, the seal that had confined him for nineteen years had been broken.
He did not know why Wen Qiao’s essence blood could remove the seal in his body, but because of that drop of blood, he and Wen Qiao now had a mysterious connection. Through that drop of blood, he could faintly sense where she was.
Ning Yuzhou pressed his hand against his chest, sensing the heat of that drop of essence blood in his heart.
He knew Qian Shou would not lie to him. Wen Qiao had indeed been dead at that moment. But through the connection of that drop of blood, he could feel that Wen Qiao was somewhere in this space.
This feeling was like a life-and-death blood pact, branded into his body.
No matter what, Ning Yuzhou was unwilling to give up on finding Wen Qiao. Even if she had already died, he would be willing to descend into the underworld to retrieve her soul.
As long as there was even a trace of hope, he would not give up on that foolish girl.
——
Wen Qiao knew that she had died.
When she had shielded Ning Yuzhou beneath her and endured the demonic beast’s fatal attack, she had felt her life rapidly slipping away. That feeling of waiting for death was not unfamiliar to her at all.
She accepted it very calmly, without the slightest resentment or unwillingness. She peacefully accepted her own death.
After being bedridden for fifteen years, she had thought her life would continue like that until one day she quietly died in the Wen family’s Jishui Courtyard. After her death, aside from Lian Yue, no one would feel sad for her. At most, when people occasionally remembered her parents, Wen Boqing and his wife of the main branch, they would regret that their daughter had clearly possessed a top-grade primordial spiritual root yet could not cultivate, which was a loss for the Wen clan.
Although her life had changed drastically on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, she knew she could die at any time.
Just as she had thought when she decided to throw off all restraints and follow Ning Yuzhou into Lin Tai Hunting Valley, she had already prepared herself to face death at any moment. Even if she unfortunately died in Lin Tai Hunting Valley, she would not be disappointed or saddened by it. This was her own choice.
She was glad that she had been able to protect Ning Yuzhou.
Ning Yuzhou was the person who had treated her best since she was born. Even if he was only a mortal who could not cultivate, she did not want him to die.
Compared with someone like her, who might die young at any moment, Ning Yuzhou still had nearly a hundred years of lifespan left. He should not die early. He should enjoy his life.
She had been very willing to save Ning Yuzhou, even at the cost of her own life.
Wen Qiao knew that she had died, but it seemed she had also come back to life.
Only, the way she had come back to life was somewhat subtle.
Wen Qiao could not help looking at the rabbit crouching in front of her, greedily staring at her with a pair of ruby-like eyes. Its slightly open three-petal mouth leaked a suspicious trail of transparent drool, which fell onto her with a plop.
Wen Qiao: “……”
She wanted to eat the bunny!
Wen Qiao had the illusion that she might be eaten by this demonic rabbit at any moment.
As for why it had not eaten her yet, she felt it was probably because she was currently only a little sprout. She was too tiny, not even enough to get stuck between its teeth. It would be better to raise her for a while, and once she grew bigger, it could swallow her in one bite.
Yes, Wen Qiao had now become a little seedling rooted in the soil.
She had used her divine sense to look at her current appearance. She was a tiny seedling only two inches tall, pale and tender, with two delicate little leaves. She looked exactly like the little seedling in her palm.
Perhaps this was the true form she had inherited from the other half of her demon bloodline after awakening as a half-demon.
When Wen Qiao awakened as a half-demon, she had grown demonic bones. However, because she was a half-demon and still had half human blood, she naturally did not possess a demonic body.
This was common knowledge Wen Qiao had found after rummaging through her half-demon inheritance.
All things in heaven and earth had spirit, and the demon race was one kind of spirit. As long as they developed intelligence, they could receive an inheritance. However, depending on their level of power and the strength of their bloodline, the contents of their inheritance differed. This was a kind of favour granted by heaven to the demon race.
Some inheritances were extremely simple and of little use. Others were extremely rich and could benefit a cultivating demonic beast for its entire life.
Perhaps because Wen Qiao had been born sickly, even after awakening as a half-demon, she was still malnourished. Her inheritance was fragmented and of little use. Every time, she had to carefully dig through it before she could find anything useful.
Even now, she still did not know what kind of half-demon bloodline she had awakened.
Among the demon race, only pure demonic cultivators could switch between demonic body and human form. Most half-demons could only remain in human form, awakening certain powers of the demon race but unable to possess a powerful demonic body.
If Wen Qiao had not died this time and escaped the restraints of her physical body, she would not have obtained a demonic body.
She did not know whether this counted as luck. After all, this demonic body had become a tiny little seedling, which was completely useless. Instead, it had attracted a demonic rabbit that was watching her greedily, wishing it could swallow her in one bite.
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