Her face buried itself in the water, then abruptly lifted.
Crystal-clear droplets slid down her cheeks, rolled toward her neck, and slowly continued into the hollow of her collarbone.
Yun Li lay prone beside a small pool, both hands gripping the edge as she buried her face in the water.
“Hah… I’m alive again…”
She breathed lightly, then once more buried her face in the water.
Holding her breath, she opened her mouth wide and shouted something.
The sound was swallowed by the water, so muffled that only a single monotonous syllable could be heard.
She was shouting out the fear she had felt earlier in order to vent it.
Once she finished venting, Yun Li pulled herself out of the water, collapsed backward, and sat leaning against Su Zhan, who was resting with closed eyes beside her.
They had already flown by sword for half a shichen before finding this small pool.
They had not yet truly left the dense forest.
Su Zhan’s spiritual power inside her body had been severely depleted.
She had taken a pill and was regulating her breathing to replenish it, so at present Yun Li could only keep watch.
Whether it was because the place they had chosen was remote, or because they had already left the range of the demonic beasts’ pursuit, Yun Li discovered no further traces of demonic beasts around them during her watch.
It’s a good thing Senior Sister Su is here.
If I were alone, who knows, I might already be inside some demonic beast’s stomach by now…
Ugh, don’t think about it, don’t think about it. I’ll have nightmares…
Yun Li propped up her chin and let her thoughts drift emptily.
Suddenly she heard a soft rustle-rustle coming from ahead.
Her heart immediately tightened.
The Su Zhan leaning against her back suddenly rose.
Yun Li lost her support and her center of gravity became unstable as she fell backward.
She instinctively reached out, trying to grab something, and her mouth could not help opening wide as she was about to cry out in alarm.
A warm, soft hand gently covered her mouth.
The other hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her to the side.
The two of them hid behind a clump of bushes nearby.
Su Zhan crouched low, pressing down on her like a mother wolf protecting her cub.
Yun Li struggled to raise her head and look.
Su Zhan’s beautiful eyes were tightly closed as she signaled for silence.
Then she quickly formed a hand seal that concealed their auras, enveloping both of their entire bodies.
Afterward she stared straight at the location where the sound had come from, her long sword already gripped tightly and ready to leave its sheath to cut down an enemy.
Senior Sister, at least take your hand away…
Your hand is in my mouth!
Yun Li wanted to let out a couple of muffled whimpers as a reminder, yet she was afraid of being discovered by others.
She could only endure it like this, holding Su Zhan’s fingers in her mouth.
Saliva continuously secreted inside her oral cavity, slowly wetting the tips of Su Zhan’s fingers.
Compared to Yun Li’s wild thoughts, Su Zhan had placed her entire attention on what was before her.
A moment later she saw two girls covered in bloodstains walk over to the edge of the pool.
One wore a face full of delight; the other was muttering under her breath as if complaining about something.
Two Golden Core… and both are sword cultivators.
Su Zhan’s gaze fell on the long swords hanging at the two girls’ waists as she silently evaluated them.
“Hah, finally a place where we can wash clean. The blood of those demonic creatures really stinks. It almost smoked me to death,” one girl said.
“It’s only because you insisted on showing off,” the other girl complained.
“Now we’ve lost track of her. How are we supposed to report back to Senior Sister?”
“Those half-crippled monsters were free pies falling from the sky. It would have been a waste not to kill them. If we convert them into points, we’ll still get quite a few rewards later.”
“But the current situation is that we’ve lost track of that Nascent Soul cultivator,” the other girl reiterated.
“It’s fine. From the earlier traces, that Nascent Soul cultivator should have signed a life-and-death contract. We only need to search along the places where there are more demonic beasts.”
The girl knelt half-crouched by the pool, scooped up a handful of water, and patted it onto her own cheeks.
Then she scooped another handful and wiped it across her neck.
The cool sensation was extremely refreshing, and she let out a sigh.
“The effect of the contract that attracts demonic beasts only activates once every two shichen. With the foot strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator, two shichen is enough to throw the two of us far behind.
What’s more, this secret realm is so large. Can you guarantee we’ll definitely find her?”
After the other girl finished washing her own face, she loosened her sash, preparing to change out of the outer robe that was covered in bloodstains.
“So what if she’s a Nascent Soul cultivator? As long as enough demonic beasts are attracted, she’ll eventually lose her strength and be unable to resist.
What’s more, there’s still a Qi Refining burden by her side,” the girl said dismissively.
“When the time comes… even a Nascent Soul cultivator, without any means of attack, will have to speak nicely and beg us for mercy.
I wonder what that pretty face will look like when it shows an expression of pleading?”
“But Senior Sister only said to heavily injure her so she can’t participate in the final competition event. I don’t want the matter to be exposed and have the sect punish us,” one girl said with a frown.
The two girls changed their clothes and then hurriedly left again.
They left behind only Su Zhan with a grave expression behind the bushes, and Yun Li half-lying on the ground, her eyes wide open as if she had just heard something incredible.
Su Zhan released the hand covering Yun Li’s mouth and heavily exhaled a breath.
The words those two people had spoken just now had been heard clearly by Su Zhan, every single one.
Nascent Soul cultivator, Qi Refining disciple, attracting demonic beasts…
All of it matched exactly with the encounters they had just experienced.
There was only one Qi Refining cultivator in this secret realm—Yun Li.
Therefore, what those two girls had spoken of must have been pointing at them.
Thinking a layer deeper, it was not difficult to guess that they had been set up by someone.
As expected, is the fate of a novel’s female lead to be targeted by supporting characters who suddenly jump out?
Because I myself did not target Yun Li, so Old Man Heavenly Dao arranged others instead?
Su Zhan silently shifted her gaze toward Yun Li.
She remembered that before entering the secret realm, Yun Li had touched that so-called contract document.
Most likely it had been forcibly signed at that time?
But exactly how had it been done?
She could not figure it out, and it was already no longer important.
“Senior Sister… what they just said…”
Yun Li pressed her lips together.
Her mind was not slow; she quickly thought of the same point as well.
She felt rather regretful and angrily patted the back of her own hand.
“If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have been so curious.”
“Things have already reached this point. There’s no need to blame yourself.”
Su Zhan stroked the back of Yun Li’s hand and comforted her softly.
She had actually accepted this fact rather quickly.
“According to the routine of group-pet novels, once Yun Li leaves the secret realm and speaks of this matter, that will be the time those people suffer the consequences.
Moreover, as the female lead, she definitely won’t die inside the secret realm over such a small matter.
So they should be safe… probably.”
“Senior Sister, how come you’re not even angry… Even scolding me a couple of times would be fine…”
Yun Li felt a little dejected.
She had taken to heart the words that girl had said about her being a burden.
“Because I am your senior sister,” Su Zhan said lightly.
“All right, don’t overthink it. Those two just now headed east. We’ll go in the opposite direction from them.”
“Senior Sister…”
Yun Li was deeply moved.
No wonder Second Senior Sister often said that although those who cultivated the Ruthless Dao were blocks of wood, they were the easiest to get along with.
Because some of the words they carelessly left behind were truly moving.
Of course, it was precisely because of this that the number of people who could successfully cultivate the Ruthless Dao was extremely few.
Most of them were brought down by the seeds of affection they themselves had unintentionally left behind, and fell into a land of tenderness.
“Don’t get all sentimental. Hurry up and move, in case those two turn back,” Su Zhan said, extending her hand toward Yun Li.
If the interval for attracting demonic beasts was two shichen, then they truly had no time to waste.
The spiritual power inside her body had not yet fully recovered.
At most she could take Yun Li flying for half a shichen before they needed to quickly find a place to rest.
“Okay.”
Yun Li nodded and took Su Zhan’s hand.
The back of her hand touched a few points of damp heat.
When she thought of where that damp heat had come from, her face could not help turning slightly red, and she felt inexplicably a little embarrassed.
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