Chapter 142: Dragons, More Than One

Hearing this, Qu Youyou felt a stifled breath well up in her chest, unable to escape, and could only cast a subtle, discontented glare at Luo Yingying.

Qi Yongfeng let out a cold snort. "You had better not place too much hope in him. The Jade Spirit Secret Realm is not that simple!"

A sharp glint flashed briefly through his eyes. He glanced sideways at the talisman phantom that had been shattered once again, his expression grave.

"The Dead Spirit Locking Array, what kind of place is it actually?" Falling behind to protect the disciples, Xia Changhan gazed in the direction where He Yuman and the others had fled, murmuring softly.

The night was plunged into chaos.

"Senior Brother, Huo Tangsheng is gone!" The male cultivator beside Zou Peng turned pale with shock.

The few of them pressed close together in a circle, looking around in all directions, yet they could only see a layer of hazy white mist.

Zou Peng said with hidden resentment, "Huo Tangsheng has already fled far away; there is no need to pursue him anymore."

As expected of a scion of a super clan, his strength was truly extraordinary.

Even though they had closely followed right behind him from the very beginning, he had still easily shaken them off.

Zou Peng immediately led his small team back to Wu Qiu and the others.

Huo Tangsheng was concealed in a dark corner. Watching Zou Peng and the others turn back, he whirled around and sprinted swiftly toward the northwest.

"You were discovered?"

A thick stench of blood, a pale female visage, and a frail, collapsed figure—all of these spoke eloquently of her failure.

Bai Shulan's lips had lost all color, and her beautiful eyes held a faint shimmer of tears. "Senior Brother... Shulan is incompetent and had no idea that Yan Xi had already betrayed us, spilling all of the Xuanyi Sect's schemes to Mo Qingli's disciple, Qu Haiqiu!"

"What? The artifact spirit Yan Xi has betrayed us?" Huo Tangsheng raised an eyebrow, his eyes cold.

Bai Shulan's sobbing voice paused slightly. She lifted her gaze in astonishment and asked, "Senior Brother does not know about this yet?"

Huo Tangsheng's expression turned frigid. "How could I know about this? When did Yan Xi ever get mixed up with Mo Qingli's disciple?"

Bai Shulan was stunned for a moment. "I do not know either. It seems Yan Xi broke through the Blood Sealing Art and is no longer under the Sect Master's control."

"That is to say, Qu Haiqiu helped Yan Xi break through the Blood Sealing Art, and after gaining her freedom, she spilled our Xuanyi Sect's entire plan to her?" Huo Tangsheng said indifferently.

Bai Shulan suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, and she timidly said, "Perhaps that is the case. However, Qu Haiqiu is merely at the early Foundation Establishment stage; how could she possibly break an ancient Blood Sealing Art?"

Huo Tangsheng glanced at her sideways. "Early Foundation Establishment stage—did you kill her?"

Bai Shulan's complexion turned as pale as paper, and her lips trembled slightly as she said, "Aside from Qu Haiqiu, Jiang Shuangyan was also there with the disciples of Dailuo Peak. I was no match for them..."

She secretly lifted her gaze to observe the change in Huo Tangsheng's expression. Seeing his face devoid of any ripple, her entire body felt as though it had plunged into an icy abyss, and the terror of death instantly engulfed her entire being.

"Senior Brother, Master, Shulan was wrong! It was Shulan who clung to life and feared death, failing to perish together with them. Shulan deserves to die!"

She wretchedly propped herself up on her elbows, dragging her body as she crawled to Huo Tangsheng's feet, clutching the hem of his robe with a trembling voice.

Huo Tangsheng leaned down slightly to look at her, chuckling softly, "What we are striving for is the Dao of Longevity; who wouldn't fear death? However, you made a mistake. When we return, how shall we explain this matter to the Sect Master?"

With that, he shook off the hands gripping his robe with a hint of disgust, looking down at her from on high.

Bai Shulan's body trembled unsteadily, swaying like a willow catkin.

Biting through the skin of her lips so that they were stained with blood, she said, "Master, this time I will certainly redeem myself through meritorious service and eliminate Qu Haiqiu and Jiang Shuangyan!"

Huo Tangsheng's lips curved into a smile. "I'm afraid you cannot. Go and try anyway."

He walked away with his hands clasped behind his back in an unconcerned manner. His elongated shadow fell upon Bai Shulan, intertwining with her delicate hair.

Bai Shulan could not help but lunge forward a few steps, wrapping her frail body around the final shadow he had left behind.

"Senior Brother Huo... Senior Brother..."

Her voice was lingering and clinging, boneless and soft.

Huo Tangsheng had no time to spare for her.

He scattered a large swarm of puppet moths, which flew toward various parts of the secret realm.

"Qu Haiqiu... this person has been strange for a long time, yet I failed to notice it before. Truly interesting."

...

As the night sky hung low, a figure shuttled unceasingly.

At Chi Yushu's cuff rested a small beast, entirely snow-white with crimson eyes and a sharp snout. It was sniffing and lightly inhaling the traces left behind in all directions.

"Is she really still alive?"

In the pitch-black night, Chi Yushu's exquisitely beautiful profile shimmered with a silvery-white radiance.

The sky gradually grew bright.

Qu Haiqiu had not moved for the entire night, her eyes tightly closed as she remained immersed in the cultivation of her technique.

A gentle breeze swept past, carrying away a scattering of withered leaves.

Xiao Yan abruptly opened his eyes and said quickly, "Master, someone is coming!"

Qu Haiqiu acted as though she heard nothing, her expression entirely unchanged.

Xiao Yan crawled out from between her brows and circled her head several times. "Master, Master, Master, someone is coming!"

With that, he leaned close to her ear and called out softly, yet Qu Haiqiu showed no movement or reaction whatsoever.

Xiao Yan flew in front of her, cupping his chin with his hands. "It looks like Master won't be waking up anytime soon."

"Water... water..."

Beneath the strange rock, Mu Yunjin's lips parted and closed, emitting a faint sound.

In the blink of an eye, Xiao Yan dropped onto his forehead and bounced up. "So burning hot! But it's not as severe as before! Does he want to drink water?"

"Water... water..." Mu Yunjin's chapped lips parted and closed. Xiao Yan leaned his ear close for a moment, then zipped back into Qu Haiqiu's spatial dimension in a flash.

Meanwhile, Chi Yushu, who was drawing ever closer to Qu Haiqiu, was standing beneath a burnt-down giant tree.

The direction pointed directly by the snow-white beast's snout was precisely the place where Qu Haiqiu was resting.

"Squeak squeak?" The snow-white beast scampered up onto his chest in confusion, failing to understand why its master had stopped following the trail.

Chi Yushu raised a hand to stroke its furry body, lowering his gaze slightly as he muttered to himself, "Under what identity should I go find her?"

As Su Xichen's disciple, her senior brother?

"Squeak squeak!" The snow-white beast did not understand his words, playfully jumping up and down on him.

Suddenly, the snow-white beast's snout twitched, turning in an arc to point in the exact opposite direction of Qu Haiqiu, and let out a frantic series of shrill cries: "Squeak squeak squeak! Squeak squeak squeak!"

Chi Yushu's movements paused. "There are many people in that direction?"

"Squeak squeak squeak! (That's right!)" The snow-white beast's fur stood on end, looking as though it were facing a formidable enemy.

Chi Yushu frowned slightly. "Take me there!"

"Huh? Why did this guy suddenly walk away again?" Xiao Yan had just poured spiritual spring water down Mu Yunjin's throat when he saw Chi Yushu swiftly dashing away in the opposite direction.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The person beside him let out a violent cough, startling Xiao Yan so much that he instantly jumped back into Qu Haiqiu's sea of consciousness, not daring to linger outside any longer.

"Cough, cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough!" Mu Yunjin gave a few dry coughs and slowly opened his eyes. "Where is this?"

He gradually propped up his fatigued body, sitting against the strange rock beside him. Tearing open the clothing across his chest, he revealed the crimson inverse-scale split-soul array swirling over his heart.

"This person—no, this dragon might be more than one!" Hidden within Qu Haiqiu's sea of consciousness, Xiao Yan took everything in.

"Hiss—"

To his utter astonishment, Mu Yunjin reached out a dragon claw and gouged sharp, five-fingered claw marks into his chest, appearing to attempt to dig out the scale.