As a little seedling that could do nothing except move its two tiny leaves, Wen Qiao remained as quiet as a chicken the whole way.
She was carried by Ning Yuzhou as they left the cavern where she had stayed for several days.
This place was an underground space. It was extremely vast, with ever-changing terrain. Twisting passages connected countless caverns, and there were many spiritual plants. Along the way, Wen Qiao discovered several types of spiritual herbs that were difficult to find outside. She wished she were in human form right now so she could dig them all up.
The grades of these spiritual plants were not very high, mostly starting at second or third rank, but many were rare varieties. To Wen Qiao, who now liked spiritual plants very much, she did not want to miss any of them.
Unfortunately, she was currently a little seedling and could not dig them herself.
Wen Qiao was so disappointed that even her leaves drooped.
Ning Yuzhou lowered his head and glanced at the little seedling that had suddenly become listless. His gaze then landed on the low-rank spiritual herbs around them, which he had previously ignored. These were low-rank herbs that even demonic beasts were too lazy to guard. They were everywhere, and no one would fight over them even if someone dug them up. They were probably just seeds casually scattered by the owner of the cave residence long ago, left to grow freely.
Ning Yuzhou suddenly said, “The varieties of those spiritual herbs are quite good. Dig up a few of each kind and take them with us.”
Qian Shou froze for a moment, then quickly gave the order and sent several Shadow Scaled Guards to dig up the spiritual herbs.
After giving the instruction, Ning Yuzhou lowered his head and saw that the little seedling, which had been drooping just now, had instantly perked up. Its tiny leaves trembled lightly.
His gaze turned a little subtle. His solemn expression finally softened, revealing his first smile in days.
Qian Shou caught a glimpse of it and felt rather puzzled, but also relieved.
He was not afraid of His Highness smiling. He was afraid of him keeping that cold face all the time. The pressure was honestly quite heavy!
After that, whenever they encountered a rare spiritual herb variety, regardless of its rank, Ning Yuzhou would have the Shadow Scaled Guards dig up a few plants and carefully store them in jade boxes.
Ning Yuzhou’s behaviour puzzled all the Shadow Scaled Guards. Qian Shou muttered inwardly, wondering if His Highness had finally accepted Wen Qiao’s death and was no longer obsessed with finding her body. Earlier, when they encountered that demonic rabbit, they had only found Wen Qiao’s storage pouch and had not seen her corpse. Qian Shou had a bad feeling.
He feared that Wen Qiao’s body had already been eaten by demonic beasts, leaving no bones behind.
That demonic rabbit had probably snatched Wen Qiao’s corpse for the spirit pills in the storage pouch. At a glance, it was clearly a rabbit that loved eating spirit pills.
Although he still had doubts in his heart, Qian Shou did not speak unnecessarily. He would rather Ning Yuzhou no longer persist in searching for Wen Qiao’s body.
There were only a few days left before Lin Tai Hunting Valley closed. This underground space was simply too vast. Trying to find a corpse that might already have been eaten by demonic beasts would be extremely difficult. From the beginning, Qian Shou had not held much hope.
When they passed a hidden cavern, Ning Yuzhou finally told everyone to rest for a while.
The cavern was not large. A few scattered fluorescent stones were embedded around it, like stars in the night sky.
This underground space likely contained a vein of fluorescent stone ore, scattered throughout different places. Because of the existence of these fluorescent stones, the spiritual herbs in this underground space were able to grow so abundantly.
Deep in the cavern grew a cluster of vine plants that covered an entire wall. Purple flowers dotted the dark-green leaves and veins, and occasionally some red fruits could be seen, giving off a sweet fruity fragrance.
Ning Yuzhou surveyed the cavern, then said to the Shadow Scaled Guards, “I want to rest here for a while. All of you go outside.”
Qian Shou acknowledged the order. He tidied up a place where Ning Yuzhou could rest, then went out with the Shadow Scaled Guards and stood guard at the cavern entrance.
Ning Yuzhou walked around the cavern and casually set up a soundproofing array around them. Then he lifted his robe and sat down on the clean flat stone Qian Shou had prepared. He held the white jade potted plant in his arms before him and carefully studied the little seedling inside.
Wen Qiao continued pretending that she was just a little seedling, completely unmoved.
Then her leaves were stroked by her husband again.
Wen Qiao thought that since this was her husband, and since he had already dug her up, letting him touch her a few times was acceptable. At least it was better than being licked by that demonic rabbit.
So she remained especially calm.
Ning Yuzhou gently stroked the two leaves for a while, then suddenly said, “Ah Qiao.”
Wen Qiao: (⊙w⊙)
He probably was not calling her, right?
Seeing the leaves tremble reflexively, Ning Yuzhou laughed softly. His brows and eyes curved, filled with endless tenderness, and he asked warmly, “Ah Qiao, is it you?”
Wen Qiao stared at him dumbfounded, unable to react.
How did he know this was her?
As if knowing her doubts, Ning Yuzhou continued, “There is a drop of your essence blood in my heart. Not only did it break the seal inside my body and allow me to cultivate, it also lets me sense you. I know this is you.”
Wen Qiao half understood and half did not, continuing to stare at him in shock. Her two leaves moved again.
Then Ning Yuzhou explained what had happened after she lost consciousness. Wen Qiao finally learned how her essence blood had ended up on him. It could only be called an accident. Who could have known Ning Yuzhou’s body was so special that it had automatically absorbed the essence blood she spat out, causing the two of them to accidentally establish a connection similar to a blood pact?
However, this blood pact was an extremely low-level one. It did not deeply affect either of them; it only allowed Ning Yuzhou to roughly sense her existence.
Wen Qiao’s emotions became rather complicated. So that was it. No wonder Ning Yuzhou had found his way here, immediately picked her out from among so many weeds, and dug her up. He had not been deceived by her demonic body at all.
After witnessing those demonic beasts fighting over her demonic body, and after Wen Xian and the others failed to notice her, Wen Qiao understood that the aura of her demonic body had a mysterious attraction to demonic beasts. But to human cultivators, she was no different from a weed. Human cultivators could not tell how she differed from other spiritual plants.
For her, this was a natural disguise.
Ning Yuzhou smiled as he watched the little seedling in the white jade pot unconsciously moving its leaves. He could not help touching it again.
Perhaps because he knew this was Wen Qiao, he instinctively liked it a little more. Now, the more he looked, the cuter she seemed. Even the tender little seedling appeared charming and adorable in his eyes, with nothing bad about it at all.
He did not even feel the slightest doubt. He had completely accepted the fact that Wen Qiao had turned into a blade of grass.
Seeing the familiar expression on his face, Wen Qiao felt much more at ease. Compared with his earlier coldness and killing intent, this Ning Yuzhou was the one she knew better. She could naturally see the goodwill he released toward her.
Wen Qiao’s heart felt complicated. She had many things she wanted to ask Ning Yuzhou, but unfortunately she could not speak. Her two leaves could not help moving again.
“Don’t worry. We have time. I’ll tell you everything you want to know,” Ning Yuzhou said, stroking her leaves soothingly.
Wen Qiao was quickly comforted by him, and her leaves rubbed against the finger he extended toward her.
The smile on Ning Yuzhou’s face deepened. He said gently, “Do you want to ask why I can suddenly cultivate? That is a long story…”
Wen Qiao instantly perked up.
That was right. She was still confused. How had her supposedly useless husband suddenly become able to cultivate? Wasn’t it said that his primordial spiritual root had been damaged by poison at birth, making him unable to cultivate and forcing him to remain a mortal for life?
Could the poison have been cured?
And what was that seal he mentioned earlier?
“When I was born, there was already a seal inside my body. I could not cultivate like other cultivators. I had to wait until I reached adulthood, when the seal would break on its own, before I could cultivate,” Ning Yuzhou slowly explained. “Father was worried that if the world discovered my difference, my life would be in danger. That was why he told outsiders that my primordial spiritual root had been damaged by poison.”
Wen Qiao moved her leaves again to show that she understood.
Ning Yuzhou stroked her soft, tender leaves, his movements very gentle, afraid that if he used even a little force, he would break those delicate leaves. He continued, “I have remembered things since birth. The seal inside my body exists because of the miraculous bloodline I inherited.”
Wen Qiao’s leaves instantly straightened. Her divine sense landed on him as she looked at him curiously. Could he also have awakened some kind of miraculous bloodline?
Ning Yuzhou did indeed possess a certain miraculous bloodline.
Unlike Wen Qiao, he had awakened his miraculous bloodline at birth. It allowed him to know things from birth. And because the power of his bloodline was too domineering, the inheritance within his body was extremely complete. It had even discovered that his young body had not undergone cultivation and was too fragile to withstand the power of bloodline awakening. In order to save itself, the bloodline power had automatically sealed his primordial spiritual root, protecting him as he grew.
If nothing unexpected had happened, once he reached adulthood, the seal inside his body would have broken on its own, allowing him to cultivate.
Unfortunately, human plans could not compare with heaven’s will. Who would have known that during this trip to Lin Tai Hunting Valley, Wen Qiao’s essence blood would break through the seal in his body, allowing him to cultivate ahead of time?
Luckily, he was already grown now. His body was no longer as fragile as it had been in childhood and could fully withstand the power after his bloodline awakening. After the seal was removed, Ning Yuzhou naturally became a cultivator and was no longer affected by it.
After speaking of his own secret, Ning Yuzhou looked at the little seedling in his hands and said thoughtfully, “Ah Qiao must have awakened some kind of miraculous bloodline too. And this miraculous bloodline should be plant-type.”
Wen Qiao shook her leaves. Her husband really was frighteningly intelligent. He had even guessed this.
Hearing him say that his inheritance was complete, Wen Qiao, who was underdeveloped and had only received fragmented inheritance, could not help placing her hopes on him. She wanted him to help her see what exactly was going on with her demonic body and what miraculous bloodline she had awakened, so that she could quickly find a way to return to human form.
As if hearing her thoughts, Ning Yuzhou studied her carefully for a moment, then said regretfully, “I also cannot tell what miraculous bloodline you awakened. Your demonic body looks very ordinary.”
Wen Qiao’s leaves drooped.
She knew her current appearance was no different from weeds by the roadside. If not for the comfort brought by those demonic beasts fighting over her for several days, she would have suspected she was useless.
Ning Yuzhou quickly stroked her and said, “But it must be very powerful. Otherwise, I would not have been able to break through the seal in my body ahead of time with just one drop of your essence blood. In that sense, Ah Qiao is my noble benefactor.”
Hearing him say this, Wen Qiao perked up again.
Now, she was no longer afraid of him knowing her secret. Because both of them possessed miraculous bloodlines, this was their shared secret. After sharing their secrets, nothing could make one feel more reassured than this, and Wen Qiao trusted him even more.
Ning Yuzhou chatted with Wen Qiao for a long time. Of course, it was mostly Ning Yuzhou speaking and Wen Qiao listening, occasionally moving her little leaves in agreement. The atmosphere was rather warm.
Ning Yuzhou’s mind was flexible. Relying on half guesses, half deductions, and Wen Qiao’s reactions, he quickly pieced together most of what had happened to her.
“So you are a half-demon. It seems that when you fell from the maze above, it caused you to enter a state of death, which in turn allowed you to luckily awaken the other half of the demon bloodline in your body. It could be called breaking before rebuilding. That was how you were fortunate enough to transform into your demonic body and revive. At the time, that demonic rabbit must have sensed the aura you released while transforming, which was why it seized the chance to snatch your body away…”
When speaking of that demonic rabbit, Ning Yuzhou’s brows furrowed slightly.
Wen Qiao quickly rubbed his finger with her leaves, telling him not to mind.
The demonic rabbit had indeed indirectly caused her death, but she had also gained fortune from disaster. She had luckily broken through the shackles of being a half-demon and transformed into a demonic body. Not to mention, the demonic rabbit had guarded her for the past several days. Besides, when they were in the maze above, the rabbit had attacked them only to snatch cultivators’ spirit pills. It had not intended to hurt anyone. Otherwise, with its strength close to sixth-rank as a mutated rabbit, killing them in the maze would have been effortless.
It was just that she was unlucky. Her body was too fragile. It could not withstand even two attacks before nearly collapsing, and later she really did die.
Ning Yuzhou barely accepted her persuasion and decided to ignore the demonic rabbit for now.
Then he examined Wen Qiao again and said, “Judging from your demonic body, you should currently be in a juvenile state…” At this point, Ning Yuzhou paused, thinking that his little wife in human form was also still a child.
No wonder that after transforming into her demonic body, she had directly become a tiny little seedling. There was nothing wrong with that at all.
Such a tender little wife would probably take quite some time to grow up, but that was fine. He could wait.
“When can you transform back into human form?” Ning Yuzhou asked.
Wen Qiao shamefully curled her leaves. She did not know either. Without a complete inheritance, she was still ignorant about her own miraculous bloodline. Apart from being able to automatically absorb the surrounding essence of plants and trees to cultivate, she did not seem to have any abilities. Comparing people really could anger one to death.
Seeing this, how could Ning Yuzhou not understand? He comforted her, “It’s fine. Perhaps the power you have accumulated is still too little, and you are still in a juvenile state. Maybe after some time, you will recover.”
Wen Qiao reluctantly accepted his explanation and perked up again.
Ning Yuzhou found it somewhat amusing. Although she could not speak, her reactions were very honest and easy to understand.
So cute!
Finding the little seedling very cute, Ning Yuzhou could not resist kissing the tender green little leaf.
Then he saw the originally fresh green little seedling turn pale red, its leaves curling inward.
She had actually been kissed…
She had never been kissed when she was in human form, yet now that she had become a little seedling, she had been kissed instead. Wen Qiao’s entire seedling body felt unwell.
After acting like a rogue, Ning Yuzhou remained exceptionally calm and said gently, “We are husband and wife. This is very natural. Ah Qiao, you needn’t be shy.”
How could she not be shy?
Her leaves were so tender and sensitive. That feeling was like Ning Yuzhou kissing her skin.
Ning Yuzhou teased the little seedling for a while. Seeing that the shy little seedling was ignoring him, he took out a jade bottle from his storage pouch.
“Ah Qiao, are you hungry?”
Wen Qiao shook her leaves. In her current state, it did not seem like she could eat anything. In fact, these past few days, she had not felt hungry at all. She only needed to quietly root herself in the soil and absorb water and nutrients from it. It was very convenient.
Just as she was wondering why Ning Yuzhou had asked whether she was hungry, she saw him open the jade bottle. A pleasant scent filled with primordial spiritual energy drifted out, and Wen Qiao’s entire seedling body instantly perked up, staring fixedly at the bottle.
The bottle contained pale-green liquid. Ning Yuzhou carefully poured a little into the white jade pot. It seeped into the soil along the little seedling’s roots. As he did this, he observed the little seedling’s reaction, ready to stop if she showed even the slightest discomfort.
However, the little seedling absorbed it extremely happily and even rubbed his hand with her leaves, urging him to continue.
Ning Yuzhou smiled and explained gently, “This is spiritual medicinal liquid. I casually extracted it before. Although I cannot refine pills, making some spiritual medicinal liquid from spiritual herbs is naturally possible. After dilution, it can be used to nurture spiritual herbs and help them grow better.”
Wen Qiao: “…”
Was he raising her like grass?
She only struggled with the thought for a moment before quickly throwing the issue aside and happily continuing to drink the spiritual medicinal liquid. After all, she was currently a little seedling. There was nothing wrong with it.
Ning Yuzhou poured in an entire bottle of spiritual medicinal liquid. Seeing the little seedling full of energy, her whole body becoming even more tender and watery, he felt extremely satisfied. In his mind, he had already begun turning over one hundred and eight methods of raising a little seedling. He would definitely raise her until she was fair, tender, and able to transform as soon as possible.
After this honest conversation between one person and one seedling, their relationship became much closer. Wen Qiao no longer hid anything from Ning Yuzhou.
Half a day later, Ning Yuzhou finally removed the soundproofing array and called Qian Shou, who had been guarding outside, back in.
“There are only a few days left before Lin Tai Hunting Valley closes. We might as well take the opportunity to collect more rare spiritual herbs from outside. Have the Shadow Scaled Guards pay attention,” Ning Yuzhou said warmly while holding the white jade pot.
Now that he knew Wen Qiao could cultivate by absorbing the essence of plants and trees released by spiritual plants, and that this was even more useful to her than primordial spiritual energy, he naturally wanted to collect more spiritual herbs for her. It did not matter what kind, as long as they were useful to her.
Qian Shou acknowledged the order and could not help glancing doubtfully at the spiritual herb in the white jade pot.
He noticed that Ning Yuzhou was now in an excellent mood, completely unlike his earlier cold silence after learning of Wen Qiao’s death. This good mood seemed to have started from the moment he dug up this little seedling…
Qian Shou truly could not see what was special about this weed-like little seedling that made his master treasure it so much.
——
For the next few days, Ning Yuzhou and the Shadow Scaled Guards searched everywhere in the underground space for spiritual herbs while waiting for Lin Tai Hunting Valley to close and send them all out.
They did not deliberately search for any treasures. Just as when they had first entered Lin Tai Hunting Valley, if they encountered low-rank demonic beasts and needed them, they hunted a few. If they encountered spiritual herbs, they dug them up. Their pace was especially leisurely.
After two leisurely days like this, Ning Yuzhou was holding the white jade pot and preparing to find a place to feed Wen Qiao spiritual medicinal liquid, when he suddenly glanced toward a narrow crack in the mountain not far away.
“Your Highness?” Qian Shou looked at him in confusion, alertly scanning the surroundings.
Ning Yuzhou’s gaze flickered slightly, but he said nothing. He sat down in the place the Shadow Scaled Guards had cleared, not rushing to water the little seedling with spiritual medicinal liquid. Instead, he unhurriedly took a pill bottle from his storage pouch.
Wen Qiao shook her leaves, not knowing what he intended to do.
Ning Yuzhou smiled at her, seemingly to comfort her, then poured out a spirit pill.
The pill was the size of a thumb, round and smooth, jade-green in colour. Its fragrance was enticing. It was actually a high-grade profound-level pill, with very few flaws. Just its colour alone was especially alluring.
Ning Yuzhou played with the pill, looking careless.
Wen Qiao soon understood what he wanted to do.
When a white shadow swept over like the wind, trying to snatch the spirit pill, Qian Shou, who had already been on guard, struck it flying with his sword.
The snow-white demonic rabbit smashed to the ground. Its white fur was stained with dirt as it lay there pitifully. Its red eyes looked as if they were about to cry, as pitiful as could be.
Ning Yuzhou still looked casual, tossing the pill in his palm as he asked, “Want to eat it?”
The demonic rabbit was extremely intelligent. Its eyes fixed on the spirit pill without moving, and it let out whining sounds as if begging. For the sake of one bite of food, it could really be said to be trying its best.
Wen Qiao had not expected this demonic rabbit to actually find them here. That was quite impressive.
She had thought it would hide somewhere to recover, and after they left Lin Tai Hunting Valley, they would never meet again. Who knew she had underestimated this rabbit’s obsession with spirit pills?
The demonic rabbit was not only obsessed with spirit pills; it was also obsessed with Wen Qiao.
In the demonic rabbit’s heart, it wanted the little seedling, and it also wanted the spirit pills.
Now the little seedling had been dug away by a human cultivator, and that human cultivator also had many delicious spirit pills. So what was there to wait for? Of course it had to follow!
As long as it followed him, it would have the little seedling and the spirit pills!
Ning Yuzhou suddenly asked, “Do you like it?”
Wen Qiao rubbed her leaves against his finger. This demonic rabbit was mutated and highly intelligent. It was rather cute. If it continued mutating and advancing in the future, its combat strength would definitely be impressive. Taking it as a demonic pet would not be bad.
Ning Yuzhou said, “Fine.”
Qian Shou looked at him blankly, not knowing who he was speaking to. In any case, it was not him.
Then he saw Ning Yuzhou toss the spirit pill in his hand toward the demonic rabbit.
The demonic rabbit, which had been lying on the ground pretending to be pitiful, leapt up and fiercely caught the pill in midair. Its three-petal mouth quickly swallowed it. Its cheeks moved a few times, and the pill was gone.
After finishing the pill, it was still unsatisfied and kept staring at Ning Yuzhou, making flattering whining noises.
Ning Yuzhou tossed it a few more spirit pills, all of which the rabbit jumped up and caught.
“I have many pills like this,” Ning Yuzhou said, still looking amiable, without the killing intent from before. “In the future, I’ll also refine even higher-grade spirit pills.”
The demonic rabbit’s ears perked up. Its ruby-like eyes sparkled, clearly so tempted that it wished it could immediately follow him and become his beloved little rabbit.
“Come here,” Ning Yuzhou said, beckoning to it.
The demonic rabbit hopped over without hesitation, arriving by his feet and circling him. Its fluffy body carefully rubbed against him.
Ning Yuzhou fed it another spirit pill. Seeing how obedient the rabbit looked, he chuckled softly.
When they left the resting place, there was now a mutated demonic rabbit beside them.
The mutated demonic rabbit’s strength was no lower than sixth-rank, equivalent to a Yuan Vein Realm cultivator. After Ning Yuzhou continuously fed it several high-grade profound-level spirit pills, its injuries had mostly healed, and its strength had greatly increased. Its speed was so fast that even Qian Shou could not stop it.
With the demonic rabbit around, other demonic beasts fled at the first sign of them and did not dare approach at all. This also made it easier for them to search for spiritual herbs everywhere.
Qian Shou felt that subduing this demonic rabbit was actually quite worth it. It saved them a lot of trouble.
Moreover, this demonic rabbit was a glutton and was very sensitive to spiritual herbs. It was practically a little expert at finding herbs. Every time, it led them to spiritual herbs and conveniently drove away the demonic beasts guarding nearby. It was clearly a violent rabbit.
Qian Shou stared at the demonic rabbit’s tiny body, truly unable to understand how such a small rabbit could contain such tremendous strength. Could its mutation direction be strength-based?
Wen Qiao, on the other hand, was very calm.
During the days when the demonic rabbit guarded her, she had witnessed many grand scenes of one rabbit challenging countless beasts. This little rabbit was extremely deceptive. If it had not been seriously injured during its battle with the Armour-Eating Beast, Ning Yuzhou and the others would likely have suffered quite a bit when they found it.
After the demonic rabbit found another fifth-rank Blueheart Begonia, Ning Yuzhou rewarded it with a spirit pill.
The demonic rabbit happily caught it and ate the pill in a few bites, then stared at the storage pouch on Ning Yuzhou’s body with lingering desire. With Ning Yuzhou’s spirit pills as rewards, the demonic rabbit was very enthusiastic about searching for spiritual herbs. Also, the places it led them through were relatively remote, with few cultivators, so there were naturally no conflicts. This made Ning Yuzhou and the others very satisfied.
Only someone as wealthy as Ning Yuzhou could extravagantly use spirit pills to feed a demonic beast. For other cultivators, this would be impossible.
There were now two days left before Lin Tai Hunting Valley closed. Ning Yuzhou did not want any accidents. He only wanted to safely pass these two days, then take Wen Qiao away from here.
As for investigating the secrets of this cave residence, Ning Yuzhou had no interest at all.
However, while Ning Yuzhou was uninterested, other cultivators were extremely obsessed with it. Especially those who believed they had decent strength and could fight for a chance—they all wanted to obtain the treasures left behind by the cave residence’s owner.
Quite a few cultivators were obsessed with the treasures of the demonic cultivator’s cave residence. Together with the outside cultivators who had sneaked in, conflicts continued without end. People killed others and stole treasures; many died.
Along the way, they encountered quite a few cultivators’ corpses, as well as cultivators who attacked at the slightest disagreement.
Whenever this happened, Ning Yuzhou and the Shadow Scaled Guards simply went around them and did not participate in their fights.
That day, the demonic rabbit led them around a narrow passage.
This passage was extremely remote. No cultivators had visited it, and there were many spiritual herbs.
After collecting another fourth-rank spiritual herb hidden in a crack, the demonic rabbit caught the spirit pill Ning Yuzhou tossed over. Reluctant to swallow it in one bite, it stored it in its cheek pouch and continued hopping ahead to lead the way.
After passing through the narrow passage, the area ahead suddenly opened up.
Suddenly, the demonic rabbit’s ears twitched, and its head alertly turned toward one passage.
The Shadow Scaled Guards became vigilant.
Qian Shou guarded Ning Yuzhou as they stood still in place. The cluster of stalagmites rising from the ground ahead concealed their figures well. Then they saw a red figure appear at the passage in front of them. It was a female cultivator dressed in red, fleeing toward this place in a wretched state.
After seeing the female cultivator’s appearance clearly, Ning Yuzhou’s expression did not change, while Qian Shou was somewhat surprised.
It was Wen Mei, one of the two beauties of the Wen clan.
Wen Mei was in a very sorry state. There was a bleeding whip wound across her charming, beautiful face, and there were also many whip wounds across her body. Clearly, the person who injured her used a whip-type weapon. At this moment, she looked extremely weak, and her lips were an unnatural purple, a sign of poisoning.
Not long after, two cultivators chased after her from the passage: one man and one woman.
The man had a sinister expression and a thin build. The woman was only moderately attractive, but her figure was alluring. In her hand, she held a snake whip refined from snakeskin. With a sharp crack, the whip struck out, causing a whole cluster of surrounding stalactites to collapse.
The two quickly caught up and blocked the fleeing Wen Mei.
“Little girl, still dare to run?” the alluring woman said with a coquettish laugh. “You’ve been poisoned by my snake venom. Without the antidote, that beautiful little face of yours will slowly rot, and in the end, you’ll become a terrifying ugly monster…”
At the end, the woman giggled, looking extremely pleased.
Wen Mei barely managed to stand and angrily cursed, “Despicable, shameless scum!”
“So what if I’m despicable?” The alluring woman was not ashamed at all and said willfully, “I, Feng Sanniang, hate women prettier than me the most. I heard you little girl are some genius disciple of a noble clan in Dongling Kingdom. Aside from that face, you’re nothing special. Your so-called genius title doesn’t live up to its name. Why don’t you give me your face?”
Wen Mei’s face was pale. She gritted her teeth, spat, and secretly gathered her strength.
Once Feng Sanniang had teased her enough, she swung out the snake whip. The whip shot straight toward Wen Mei’s face. Wen Mei dodged with great difficulty, but the sword in her hand was knocked flying. She took another lash across her body, spat out blood with a puff, and was sent flying backward. She fell to the ground and could not get up for a long time.
Seeing Feng Sanniang preparing to strike again, the male cultivator beside her stopped her.
Feng Sanniang said, “What? Have you taken a fancy to this little beauty?”
The male cultivator stared at Wen Mei’s charming face, and a lustful look appeared in his sinister eyes. Yet his mouth said insincerely, “How could I? This little girl is still too young. She doesn’t have even half your charm, Sanniang. I only like mature, voluptuous women like you. I’m not interested in green little girls.”
Feng Sanniang giggled, seemingly pleased.
Seeing that she was happy, the male cultivator continued, “This little girl is quite pretty, and she has a water-type primordial spiritual root. We should spare her life and give her to Ninth Master. I’m sure Ninth Master will like her.”
Feng Sanniang stared at Wen Mei’s face. She had to admit that this little girl’s face was extremely alluring, and she also had a water-type primordial spiritual root. She was the kind of dual-cultivation partner many male cultivators dreamed of. Giving her to Ninth Master would indeed be very beneficial to them. They could please Ninth Master and gain more benefits from him.
Feng Sanniang reluctantly said, “Fine. I won’t take that pretty little face of hers. I hope Ninth Master likes her.”
Hearing this, Ning Yuzhou and the others all thought of the three outside cultivators they had met before the Moon Bee Flower Valley. Among them, the male cultivator who controlled the dragon lizard was called Xu Jiuxiu.
Could the Ninth Master these two spoke of be Xu Jiuxiu?
Seeing Feng Sanniang and the male cultivator surround Wen Mei, and seeing Feng Sanniang’s long whip about to coil around her, Ning Yuzhou ordered Qian Shou to act.
Qian Shou leapt out. His long sword blocked Feng Sanniang’s snake whip, and with his other hand, he lifted Wen Mei from the ground and threw her toward the stalagmites.
A Shadow Scaled Guard flashed out, caught her, and swiftly hid behind the stalagmites.
“Who’s there?” Feng Sanniang shouted. Her snake whip struck out like a shadow.
Qian Shou blocked Feng Sanniang’s attack and tangled with her in battle.
Seeing this, the male cultivator was about to help Feng Sanniang when a white shadow suddenly flashed past at extreme speed. Before he could even catch sight of it, he felt pain across his face, and his whole body was kicked backward by a tremendous force. He smashed into the inverted stalactites above, breaking many of them.
“Ahhh—!”
The male cultivator clutched his face with both hands and screamed.
Hearing his cry, Feng Sanniang’s heart jolted. She instinctively looked over, just in time to see a fluffy rabbit leaping through the air and actually kicking the male cultivator away like a ball…
This moment of distraction gave Qian Shou an opening. His long sword entangled the snake whip, and with power gathered in his palm, he struck Feng Sanniang’s chest.
Feng Sanniang violently spat out blood. Her entire body flew sideways and smashed into the sharp stalagmites on the ground. After suffering heavy blows from front and back, her body collapsed limply, with no strength left to stand.
The demonic rabbit hopped on the male cultivator’s body, making happy tooth-grinding noises, then ran joyfully to Ning Yuzhou to ask for a reward.
On the other side, Wen Mei had been caught by a Shadow Scaled Guard. She thought it was another enemy, but after seeing Ning Yuzhou beside her, her whole body relaxed.
Ning Yuzhou glanced at her, took out a bottle of antidote pills, and tossed it over.
“Antidote pills.”
With trembling hands, Wen Mei poured out one antidote pill and swallowed it. The purple colour on her lips slowly faded. Very soon, she discovered that the snake poison that had been troubling her had been cured. The primordial spiritual energy in her meridians was no longer sluggish and could circulate smoothly again.
She looked at Ning Yuzhou in surprise. She realised this antidote pill was of very high quality; it was actually a high-grade profound-level pill. Only that could cure a fifth-rank snake poison.
Just as she was astonished, a demonic rabbit darted over and stood before Ning Yuzhou, cooing at him.
Ning Yuzhou fed it a spirit pill. The demonic rabbit happily jumped aside and began chewing.
The movement was extremely natural, clearly something it often did. Using spirit pills to feed a low-rank demonic rabbit was simply too wasteful. Even if the Ning clan had a deep foundation, this was not how one should squander it.
Wen Mei’s brow twitched slightly, but she said nothing. No matter what Ning Yuzhou did, it was someone else’s business.
The Shadow Scaled Guards soon dragged the two captives over, bound tightly.
When Wen Mei saw them, disgust and hatred appeared on her face, along with some lingering relief and gratitude toward Ning Yuzhou. If not for Ning Yuzhou, she might have fallen into the hands of these two despicable outside cultivators this time, and who knew what her end would have been.
Ning Yuzhou looked over the two cultivators and had Qian Shou take them away for interrogation.
Since they had finally encountered outside cultivators, they naturally had to find out how they had sneaked into Lin Tai Hunting Valley and what their purpose was.
Wen Mei sat nearby to heal her injuries. She looked around beside Ning Yuzhou and suddenly asked, “Seventh Highness, is Ah Qiao with you?”
Ning Yuzhou’s hand, which was stroking the leaves of the little seedling in the white jade pot, paused.
The little seedling, which had secretly been rubbing against his finger, instantly stiffened, then pretended to be a small seedling that knew absolutely nothing.
“We were separated,” Ning Yuzhou said without changing expression.
Wen Mei frowned slightly. Her face showed a trace of worry, and she hesitated to speak.
Ning Yuzhou did not need to ask to know what she was worried about. Wen Qiao was weak and sickly, and her cultivation was not high. Alone, there was no way she could travel through this dangerous underground space. Moreover, there were many demonic beasts here, along with outside cultivators harbouring malicious intentions. No matter which she encountered, the situation would not be good.
Although Wen Mei had not spent much time with Wen Qiao and was not especially close to her, they were still cousins. Naturally, she did not wish for anything to happen to Wen Qiao.
But she could not say such things in front of Ning Yuzhou. Ning Yuzhou had already married Wen Qiao; they were husband and wife. He probably would not want to hear such words.
So Wen Mei could only change the subject. “Thank you for saving me just now, Seventh Highness.”
Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao were married, so technically, he could be considered her brother-in-law. But Wen Mei was also engaged to the Third Prince, Ning Zhezou, making the relationship truly complicated. She did not know how to address him, so she simply followed the crowd and called him Seventh Highness.
Ning Yuzhou gave a faint hum and suddenly asked, “Do you know what is going on in this underground space? And what happened with the maze above?”
Wen Mei froze for a moment and could not help glancing at him. She was very surprised that Ning Yuzhou, someone who could not cultivate, had dared to come here. But he was a member of the imperial Ning clan, and with the Shadow Scaled Guards protecting him, he naturally had the confidence to do whatever he wanted.
Suddenly, she noticed that he was holding a white jade potted plant in his arms. Planted inside was an unnamed spiritual plant that looked like a weed.
A strange feeling rose in her heart. Could it be that because her third sister liked growing weeds, this Seventh Prince had also been infected with the strange habit of growing weeds?
“You don’t know?” Ning Yuzhou asked.
Wen Mei came back to herself. After hesitating briefly, she answered honestly, “To be frank with Seventh Highness, this place is actually the cave residence of a transformed demonic cultivator. That day, I entered the maze above with Third Highness. We wandered inside for several days and were lucky enough to reach a palace. In the centre of that palace was a glowing stone. Third Highness accidentally touched it, and unexpectedly, the palace collapsed…”
All the cultivators who had entered the light gate knew about the collapse of the maze. Wen Mei had no intention of hiding this matter from him. In any case, after they left, the Ning clan would find out as well.
Hearing this, Ning Yuzhou smiled slightly. It seemed his third brother’s fortune was not bad. It should be related to the Nether Leopard he had once subdued.
The Nether Leopard was born in the netherworld and could access the power of the underworld. It was good at hiding, and was very reliable for tracking and finding routes. With the Nether Leopard leading the way, it was no wonder they had been able to reach the centre of the maze so quickly.
That glowing stone should have been one of the rare treasures and the reason this cave residence had appeared. After Ning Zhezou touched it, he must have taken it away, which was why the maze collapsed and revealed the space beneath it.
This underground space should be the burial place of that demonic cultivator. The demonic cultivator’s corpse must be somewhere here.
In the span of a breath, Ning Yuzhou combined everything he had seen along the way and quickly figured out the situation of this cave residence.
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