Chapter 139: The Truth

Before even getting close, she could already feel the terrifying might naturally emanating from the divine beast.

Yan Xi hurriedly warned, "Fairy, we cannot go any further!"

"It's fine." Qu Yiqiu shook her head, suddenly closing her eyes. It was as if she beheld myriad stars, or had entered her own precious pearl space. A hazy, ethereal halo of light enveloped her entire body, wrapping her tightly and pushing away everything that attempted to draw near.

Yan Xi froze in place in utter astonishment.

In the sea of consciousness, Xiao Yan's eyes flashed with pleasant surprise, "A spatial spiritual root! One in a million!"

Qu Yiqiu felt her entire body grow light. No longer fearing the might of the divine beast, she leaped lightly and landed directly on the tail fin of the true dragon.

"Roar!" Catching sight of Qu Yiqiu atop Mu Yunjin, the Taotie roared furiously, throwing its head back as it lunged to bite at Mu Yunjin's tail fin.

Qu Yiqiu nimbly climbed upward. Noticing the Taotie's action, Mu Yunjin instantly unleashed a dragon tail-sweep, slamming a heavy blow right onto the Taotie's massive head.

The Taotie was smashed heavily down into the ground, creating a gigantic, deep crater.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Qu Yiqiu tossed a slumber pill directly toward Mu Yunjin.

As the pill entered his mouth, Mu Yunjin smacked his lips twice, a look of bewilderment clouding his eyes.

"Junior Brother, it's me, Qu Yiqiu!" Qu Yiqiu pressed close against his dragon body and said softly.

Mu Yunjin's eyes grew increasingly turbid, his upper and lower eyelids fighting each other until they finally gave in and closed tightly.

"It's me, Junior Brother, Yunjin. How are you feeling?" Qu Yiqiu hurriedly called out to him, fearing that once he fell completely unconscious, he wouldn't be able to revert to his human form.

Shaking his massive body, the Taotie leaped out from the deep crater. Raising its head to glare at Mu Yunjin, it had just spread its wings when Mu Yunjin, dropping vertically from above, slammed right back down into the crater.

"Junior Brother, Mu Yunjin, quickly change back to your original form! Senior Sister is here to save you!" Qu Yiqiu leaned close to his ear and called out softly.

Mu Yunjin's eyelids twitched slightly. His two claws scraped a shallow mark across the ground before he silently and seamlessly reverted to his human form.

Qu Yiqiu jumped down to the ground and propped him up.

"Junior Brother, Yunjin? It seems he really has passed out completely."

She gently patted his cheek, but there was not the slightest trace of awakening.

"Fairy, those people look like they are about to start fighting." Yan Xi retracted her avatar and drifted to Qu Yiqiu's side to report the situation.

Qu Yiqiu wore a startled expression. "Never mind them for now. Cover our retreat and let's get out of here."

"Fairy..." Yan Xi hesitated, her words hanging on her lips. Watching Qu Yiqiu support Mu Yunjin as they took a few steps forward, she furrowed her brow tightly and replied, "Understood!"

Yan Xi escorted Qu Yiqiu away from the area.

The disciples of the two sects, who had been arguing fiercely, now summoned their respective magical artifacts, preparing to engage in a bloody battle, when suddenly a massive shadow cast itself over both sides.

"The... the fierce beast Taotie!!!"

A disciple from one of the sides screamed at the top of their lungs, instantly startling the disciples of both factions into looking up.

The fierce beast Taotie, having just been smashed into the deep crater for a second time, clawed its way out once more. Upon discovering that both the divine beast and that detestable human had escaped, the creature was so enraged that smoke practically billowed from its nostrils. It glared viciously at the remaining batch of hors d'oeuvres it had intended to consume last.

"Roar!!!" Opening its giant maw, it spewed waves of intense heat toward the disciples of the two sects, instantly terrifying most of them into fleeing in panic.

Qi Yongfeng and the others had not expected such a drastic turn of events. During the argument between the two sects, the divine dragon had already vanished without a trace.

"Where is my Senior Brother? Where did the divine dragon go?" Qu Youyou anxiously looked around in all directions, trying to spot Chi Yushu.

Luo Yingying quickly grabbed her back and snapped, "Stop looking around! Senior Brother Chi will be fine!"

"Let's go!" Wu Qiu closely followed behind the two women, guarding them as they evacuated the area.

The disciples of the Xuanyi Sect were also fleeing in all directions.

"Lead them to the Dead Spirit Locking Array." Huo Tangsheng calmly transmitted his voice directly into He Yuman's ears.

He Yuman's expression flickered slightly, and she nodded, "Understood!"

"Senior Sister He, Senior Brother Huo, save me!" You Ruoying was closest to the Taotie. Before she even had time to react, everyone else had already fled far away, leaving her stranded all alone at the very back.

It was only then that He Yuman noticed she had fallen behind, and she instantly intended to turn back.

"Get them out of here." Huo Tangsheng said coldly, darting away at high speed toward You Ruoying's location.

He Yuman quickly masked the worry on her face and called out to the scattered fleeing disciples of the Xuanyi Sect, "Everyone, do not scatter! Gather toward my direction!"

At these words, a few Xuanyi Sect disciples who had regained their wits turned and flew toward her, and gradually, quite a number of them converged around her.

Over on Wu Qiu's side, they had banded together by mountain peaks, assembling their respective team members.

"What about Senior Brother Chi? Where are we going?" Qu Youyou struggled within Luo Yingying's embrace.

Luo Yingying gritted her teeth, desperately wishing she could just knock her unconscious with a single blow. "You'd better worry about yourself first! You're about to lose your little life, and you still have time to care about Senior Brother Chi's safety!"

Wu Qiu frowned and said, "Senior Brother Chi possesses a single wood spiritual root. It shouldn't be too hard for him to evade the sight of the divine beast and the fierce beast."

"Right now, the most important thing is how we can escape the Taotie's pursuit, not to mention the sudden ambush by zombies!" Zou Peng suddenly appeared by their side.

Qi Yongfeng leaped over, his face dark as charcoal. "Is Huo Tangsheng of the Xuanyi Sect deliberately trying to frame us? He just had to pull out that baseless image-recording stone right at this moment, causing us to be hunted down by the Taotie!"

"Everyone, I suspect this whole affair is far too suspicious. Someone is framing us. There are definitely disciples from more than just our two sects inside the Feiling Secret Realm; a third party is hidden in the shadows, manipulating all of this!" Xia Changhan rubbed the image-recording stone in one hand, his brow furrowed into a deep knot.

Luo Yingying's delicate brows knitted together. "Who on earth is trying to frame the disciples of our Tianyan Sect?"

Wu Qiu and the others all wore solemn expressions, shaking their heads in unison. None of them could guess who the mastermind behind the scenes might be.

"Roar—" A deafening sonic wave rippled in all directions. Xia Changhan hurriedly whipped out a sound bell to use as a shield.

The two sonic waves intertwined, and the rebounding force caused Xia Changhan to vomit a mouthful of fresh blood.

Qi Yongfeng reached out to steady him with one hand. "This is bad! Even if we combined the strength of all of us together, we wouldn't be a match for the Taotie!"

"Oh no, Huo Tangsheng is trying to lead the Taotie straight toward us!" Zou Peng, whose peripheral vision had been tracking Huo Tangsheng's movements, turned pale with shock and cried out in alarm.

"Utterly shameless!" Luo Yingying cursed aloud upon seeing this.

Clutching his chest, Xia Changhan rapidly thought of a countermeasure. "We cannot let the Xuanyi Sect people escape like this. If we die, we die together!"

With that, Zou Peng instantly flashed forward, chasing in the direction where He Yuman had fled. "I'll go stop them!"

Cursing him silently for being so quick on his feet, Qi Yongfeng had no choice but to bite the bullet and confront Huo Tangsheng.

"Fellow Daoist Huo, don't even think about leaving this place today either!"

...

"Fairy, this subordinate has something she wishes to report to the Fairy." After Qu Yiqiu had fled for a short distance, Yan Xi stepped forward to block her path.

Qu Yiqiu was slightly surprised. "What is it? What do you need to say? There is no need to refer to yourself as a subordinate in front of me."

A wave of emotion stirred in Yan Xi's heart, and she forced a miserable smile. "Thank you, Fairy. Yan Xi does not have much time left. Before I leave, I must tell the Fairy about this... Oh no, she is attacking again!"

Yan Xi's expression changed abruptly, and leading a bewildered Qu Yiqiu, she flew at top speed toward the front left.