During a break midway, Wen Qiao checked the contents of the storage pouch and discovered that there were several bottles of fasting pills alone. Each bottle contained ten fasting pills, and one pill could keep a person full for half a month.
Apart from fasting pills, there were also all kinds of spirit pills: healing pills, spiritual energy recovery pills, antidote pills, blood-replenishing pills… There were also some pills whose names she did not know, and she could only guess their uses from their labels.
In addition, there were various talismans, weapons, and array discs. All the resources a cultivator might need had been fully prepared.
After Wen Qiao finished checking, she looked at Ning Yuzhou with a complicated expression and asked, “These spirit pills…”
“They were all refined by the Ning clan’s alchemists,” Ning Yuzhou said with a smile. “Their grades aren’t very high, so just make do with them.”
Wen Qiao gave an “oh.” Inwardly, she thought that with Dongling Kingdom’s level of alchemy, being able to refine profound-grade pills was already quite good, while earth-grade pills were even rarer. The grades of the pills in the storage pouch indeed were not high; most were yellow-grade pills. But there were so many varieties that many of them were things she had never even heard of, and their uses were even stranger.
It seemed that the imperial Ning clan’s foundation was far deeper than outsiders guessed.
As someone benefiting from it, Wen Qiao naturally accepted this kindness.
There were enough fasting pills to last them several years. Even if they were trapped here and could not get out, they would not starve to death for the time being. Only then did Wen Qiao feel relieved. What they needed to worry about now was whether this palace maze contained other dangers, and how they would get out. If this place really was the cave residence of some powerful cultivator, then there would surely be all kinds of traps along the way. The danger was immeasurable.
Wen Qiao calculated silently in her heart. After they had rested enough, the two continued wandering through the maze.
On both sides of the maze walls, a glowing fluorescent stone was embedded every few zhang. The eerie blue-green light illuminated the surroundings, but because of this, it was difficult to notice the passage of time.
Wen Qiao took out a water clock and checked it, only to find that they had already been wandering through the maze for a full day. Worried that her husband would be tired, Wen Qiao considerately suggested they rest.
“I’m actually not tired,” Ning Yuzhou said with a smile. Although he could not cultivate, he had learned some martial techniques suited for mortals. Not for anything else, merely to strengthen his body. He was not as useless as others imagined; he could still endure several days without rest.
However, Wen Qiao still insisted that he rest.
She took out a blanket made from demonic beast hide and spread it on the ground, then the two sat down on it.
After that, Wen Qiao took a water pouch and food from the storage pouch and handed them to her husband.
Ning Yuzhou was a mortal, so naturally he could not use things like storage pouches. Usually, if he needed anything, Qian Shou would present it to him. Now that Qian Shou was not here, Wen Qiao took care of him and was responsible for retrieving things from the storage pouch.
Wen Qiao was younger than him, and her body was not good either, but as a cultivator, in a place like this, she was still stronger than Ning Yuzhou, who could not cultivate.
Ning Yuzhou drank water slowly and said with a smile, “Ah Qiao, the people who entered should all be scattered throughout the maze. The sooner we can leave, the better. Our speed is already slower than the others. If we keep spending so much time resting, I’m afraid we’ll fall even further behind.”
His words carried an implied meaning. He was telling this girl not to be so foolish. Now that this unknown cave residence had opened, there must be extraordinary treasures inside. They ought to hurry and search for treasure instead of wasting time in the maze.
Whether Wen Qiao understood or not, she said calmly, “But you need to rest.”
Ning Yuzhou: “……I can still hold on for a while.”
“No, you need to rest,” Wen Qiao said. “My cultivation is too low. Even if we find an extraordinary treasure, I won’t be able to beat the others for it. We might as well just look around casually.”
Ning Yuzhou was speechless for a long moment, then could not help laughing.
When he smiled, his brows and eyes curved gently. His warm eyes were like a pool of spring water touched by wine, and his handsome face grew even softer.
Wen Qiao took out a fasting pill and swallowed it with a frown, feeling that its taste was truly unpleasant. Fasting pills rarely tasted good. She did not know why those alchemists did not improve the flavour.
“If you can’t stomach it, don’t eat it,” Ning Yuzhou said. “Don’t worry. No matter how big the maze is, there should be a limit. We should be able to leave this place soon.”
Wen Qiao glanced at him and secretly thought that her husband might have discovered something again. As the person travelling with him, Wen Qiao had discovered absolutely nothing. The contrast was obvious. She was already used to Ning Yuzhou’s intellect crushing ordinary people’s. She could not underestimate him just because he could not cultivate. This was a man who could even subdue the Shadow Scaled Guards; he must have his own extraordinary qualities.
As an ordinary person, she only needed to listen to him and act accordingly. There was no need to worry about it herself.
So Wen Qiao put her mind at ease. After resting for a full two hours, they continued onward.
They wandered through the maze for nearly five days.
By now, twenty days had passed since they entered Lin Tai Hunting Valley. There were still ten days before Lin Tai Hunting Valley closed.
That day, Wen Qiao had just carved a mark at a fork in the path when she heard a strange sound, faint and indistinct. Her spirits lifted slightly.
The maze was simply too quiet, as if there was nothing inside except them. That kind of silence could drive a person mad. However, Wen Qiao had spent years sick in bed and had long grown used to lonely, desolate days. Ning Yuzhou was no ordinary person either; from beginning to end, he remained calm and composed, showing no signs of anxiety, which made him very easy to look after.
Wen Qiao told Ning Yuzhou what she had discovered and pulled him toward the direction of the sound.
However, after walking for a long time, they still did not find the source. Wen Qiao frowned and could not help stopping.
Ning Yuzhou was not a cultivator, so his five senses were not as sharp as Wen Qiao’s. He could not hear the sound, so he asked, “Ah Qiao, can you describe that sound to me?”
Wen Qiao listened carefully again. “It sounds like something falling onto the ground. It seems to be coming from that direction, but also like it’s coming from behind the wall.”
Ning Yuzhou looked in the direction she pointed, and his expression shifted slightly. He reached out and touched the wall.
The wall was solid and extremely hard. When cultivators attacked it, they could only scrape off a layer of stone dust; they could not break it open by force. Even if they knew the sound might be coming from the other side, they could not immediately go over to investigate.
Wen Qiao could only give up and pull Ning Yuzhou onward.
Perhaps that rare sound they had heard earlier was a good beginning. When they next passed a three-way junction, they heard a clamour coming faintly from the path ahead, mixed with hurried footsteps.
Wen Qiao listened for a while, then quickly grabbed Ning Yuzhou and ran.
Just as they randomly chose a passage and started running, a group of people rushed out from the passage ahead. They were running extremely fast, as if something terrifying was chasing them.
The person at the front saw Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou and screamed, “Ning Yuzhou!”
As she spoke, she actually ran toward them without hesitation. The others could not shake off the demonic beast pursuing them, so naturally they followed as well. At a time like this, the more people there were, the greater the chance of survival.
When Wen Qiao heard that voice, she knew it was the Ninth Princess, Ning Yaozhu.
Ever since entering Lin Tai Hunting Valley, because they had been travelling slowly and had not deliberately searched for heavenly treasures or resources, they had fallen far behind the other cultivators. They had barely met any cultivators along the way. Then, after the cave residence appeared, they had been trapped in the maze for several days. Only now did they finally encounter someone familiar.
But in this situation, it would have been better not to meet them at all.
Listening to the panicked sounds of fleeing behind her, Wen Qiao had no idea what was chasing them, but the only thing to do was run.
Wen Qiao used the escape skills she had honed during her life-and-death battles in the Ice Tear Frogs’ territory. She hoisted Ning Yuzhou up and ran.
Ning Yuzhou: “…………”
The people behind who saw this: “…………”
If the timing had not been wrong, Ning Yaozhu would have laughed herself to death at the sight. She would have wanted even more to mock Ning Yuzhou for falling so low that he needed a sickly girl to protect him. However, the strange demonic beast behind them was still chasing relentlessly. They had no time to think of anything else; they only wanted to escape as quickly as possible and gain more chances of survival.
Ning Yaozhu’s cultivation was higher than Wen Qiao’s, and the cultivators around her were the same. Very soon, they caught up to Wen Qiao, and then—without hesitation—overtook them.
At that moment, a male cultivator beside Ning Yaozhu suddenly glanced at Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou, then drew his sword and struck at them.
Wen Qiao hurriedly dodged. In that single moment of evasion, the group had already run far ahead.
An extremely dangerous premonition surged up, as if something terrifying had locked onto her. A chill ran down Wen Qiao’s spine. Without the slightest hesitation, she pushed Ning Yuzhou forward and took the attack coming from behind herself.
Her body was sent flying. She slammed into the wall, then bounced back onto the ground. A metallic sweetness rose in her throat, and she vomited a large mouthful of blood.
The pain in her internal organs felt as though they had been twisted and crushed. The blood foam she spat out carried fragments of organs. Wen Qiao’s vision went black, and the pain nearly made her faint. She could feel her life rapidly draining away. Yet, remembering Ning Yuzhou, who had no ability to protect himself, she ruthlessly drew out all the spiritual energy in her thirty-six spiritual apertures, forced out every bit of potential and speed she had, and, clinging to one last breath, threw herself forward. She tightly embraced Ning Yuzhou, shielding him beneath her body.
“Ah Qiao!” Ning Yuzhou’s eyes widened as he looked at her.
With her back facing the demonic beast, Wen Qiao caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye of a white shadow darting past the wall. Before she could even clearly see what it looked like, a burning pain tore across her back. Her clothes were ripped open by sharp claws, and her entire back was shredded, blood splattering everywhere.
Her whole body pressed down over Ning Yuzhou, protecting him with herself.
Ning Yuzhou simply stared at her in a daze, looking at her bloodstained face, deathly pale and battered.
A rumbling sound came from ahead. The fleeing group let out screams and turned back in panic.
Soon, they saw Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao on the ground. Ning Yuzhou was holding Wen Qiao, whose whole body was covered in blood and whose life or death was unknown. The demonic beast that had been chasing them was jumping around, and upon closer look, it was actually picking up the spirit pills scattered messily across the ground and swallowing them. It was eating with great delight, completely lacking the ferocity it had shown when chasing them earlier.
At the sight, all the cultivators felt a wave of regret. If they had known this demonic beast liked eating spirit pills, they should have thrown pills at it earlier. In a life-or-death crisis, who cared whether wasting spirit pills was a pity?
Ning Yaozhu’s pupils shrank. Seeing this scene, even she did not know whether she was more shocked that the demonic beast was picking up spirit pills to eat, or that Ning Yuzhou was so lucky he had not died.
But at this moment, they had no time to think further. Rumbling sounds kept coming from behind them. The maze passages were collapsing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Stones continuously fell from overhead, and the ground split open, revealing a bottomless dark space below. It was as though the maze’s passages had been built in midair, and once they collapsed, the entire maze would cave in and fall.
The collapse was simply too fast. In an instant, it had already spread to where they were.
The white-furred demonic beast, which was still picking up spirit pills and swallowing them, let out a sharp cry. It jumped about angrily, then turned and ran. But no matter how fast it ran, it could not outrun the speed of the maze’s collapse. Together with everyone in the passage, it fell into the darkness below.
At the moment they fell, Ning Yuzhou held the person in his arms tightly. Her blood soaked his clothes and slowly flowed into the space over his heart. His eyes, usually warm and gentle, were now a field of scarlet red…
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