Chapter 212: So I’m the Protagonist After All (8)
Sui Yihuan didn’t understand why this lotus spirit always acted so frivolously whenever she got close. And every time she wanted to point it out, she always missed the best opportunity.
It was the same this time.
Before she could react, the woman whose nose was almost touching hers had already retreated, once again allowing the cold, damp air of the cave to spread between them.
Following the other person’s gaze, she saw Su Mingxiu staring at the exit of the cave, lost in thought.
“Is there something at the end of the cave?”
Trying to suppress the emotions that had been stirred up, Sui Yihuan still remembered that they had accidentally fallen into this place from the Hundred Flower Sect’s territory, so she asked Su Mingxiu very seriously.
“It’s the back mountain.”
Su Mingxiu briefly explained the location of the Hundred Flower Sect’s back mountain. Every word revealed the rule that outsiders were not allowed to enter this sacred place of the Hundred Flower Sect.
But the look in her eyes as she gazed in that direction didn’t seem to reflect that. Every second, her expression was full of eagerness to test the boundaries of the rules.
Since arriving early at the Hundred Flower Sect to participate in this Cultivation Conference, Sui Yihuan hadn’t attended a single class. However, she had learned many secrets of this huge sect from the sidelines, and… everything seemed strange, leaving her puzzled.
“If you want to explore the secrets of the back mountain, remember to bring the male lead,” the Heavenly Dao instructed.
However, when Su Mingxiu extended her divine sense to see if Xiao Xingwei had safely entered the cave, she found him and Xuan Chan almost entangled together. And judging by the situation, it seemed that Xuan Chan was not in the right state of mind, so she took the initiative to cling to him.
Caught off guard and about to see the prelude to an action movie, Su Mingxiu: “…”
If she were just reading a story, perhaps she could understand the atmosphere of the male and female leads having a passionate moment at a critical juncture. Unfortunately, she was now a supporting character, and there were pressing matters at hand. Su Mingxiu’s expression was as heavy as water, and she really wanted to throw these two people, who were about to perform an R-rated scene in the cave without any regard for others, out to feed the formation.
Guessing that Xuan Chan had probably been bitten by a poisonous snake in the cave, Su Mingxiu reluctantly separated a wisp of her divine sense to identify the surrounding poisonous snakes. Then she picked out the type that could spread an infatuating poison, pinched it out of thin air, and threw it at the entangled two.
“What was that!”
Xuan Chan’s exclamation had almost become a habit for Xiao Xingwei to hear. He habitually flicked his sword, discovering the brightly colored, red snake with spots all over its body.
He immediately thought of something, hooked it with his sword, and brought it to Xuan Chan’s eyes, “Was this the snake that bit you earlier?”
“I-I don’t know… I didn’t see clearly. This cave is too dark.”
Besides, even if she had seen it clearly, Xuan Chan wouldn’t admit it. After all, she was from the Joyful Union Sect. The best cultivation techniques in the sect always involved dual cultivation. Being able to have intercourse with Xiao Xingwei, the new generation leader of the Sword Sect disciples, would only benefit her cultivation, not harm it.
But Xiao Xingwei also knew this. He had just reached Foundation Establishment, and his realm was not considered high. It would not be good for him to lose his Yang essence so easily.
So he decisively cut out the snake’s gall and stuffed it into her mouth, saying “Excuse me,” but actually pinching Xuan Chan’s chin, making sure she swallowed the gall completely.
Earlier, he had been in a hurry, and Xuan Chan’s symptoms had come on suddenly, so he had been flustered for a moment. Now, reminded by this poisonous snake, Xiao Xingwei didn’t mind taking the gallbladders of all the surrounding poisonous snakes for her.
Seeing that Su Mingxiu was just standing there with her arms crossed, and because she had uprooted the remaining parts of the Serene Realm Grass and put them in her interspatial bag, the cave was dark again. Without a luminous pearl to illuminate it, it was pitch black all around. Sui Yihuan had been vigilant at first, but now that she found there was no danger, she had to speak up again, “Daoist friend Su… why are we still stopping here?”
“Waiting for someone.”
Hearing the echo of her voice in the cave, Su Mingxiu turned her head and realized that she had forgotten to provide light for Sui Yihuan because she had been paying attention to the movements of her divine sense.
So she gathered a ball of spiritual power in her palm, like lightning in the dark night sky, even emitting a slight sizzling electric light.
“You have thunder spiritual power?” Sui Yihuan thought of the two people earlier and immediately knew who Su Mingxiu was waiting for, so she simply changed the subject.
“Yes.”
After a short answer, Su Mingxiu looked sideways and found that the little girl’s expression was a little strange. She had to add, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing…”
Sui Yihuan shook her head. She just remembered that the books recorded that these mountain grass and tree spirits mostly had wood spiritual power because of the strong vitality they contained…
But Su Mingxiu, a lotus spirit, actually had thunder spiritual power. The nine continents were indeed vast, and there were all kinds of special cases.
With her reaction, Su Mingxiu suddenly remembered the words “flower spirit” that Sui Yihuan had blurted out when they were falling on the cliff earlier. At that time, she didn’t have time to ask, but now she could properly—
“Daoist friend Su! You’re all right. I was worried that you might have encountered danger outside. Do you know where this place is?”
Xiao Xingwei’s voice came from afar.
He had obviously seen Su Mingxiu’s spiritual power.
The good opportunity to inquire was interrupted. The gentleness on Su Mingxiu’s face receded, returning to that indifferent, too-lazy-to-bother look. She listlessly dropped the words “I don’t know,” turned around, and wanted to continue walking.
Seeing her seamlessly switch expressions, Sui Yihuan felt a strange feeling in her heart. For no reason, she felt that… Su Mingxiu only showed those bad sides in front of her.
Unique, most touching to a woman’s heart.
The four of them, each with their own thoughts, walked towards the other end of the cave. Xuan Chan, having previously attempted to kill, and discovering that Su Mingxiu was still alive and well, finally remembered that this was the other party’s sect. She didn’t dare to act rashly again, just clinging to Xiao Xingwei, saying that her feet hurt for a while, and feeling that the surroundings were very dangerous and she was afraid for another, as if she were a weak mortal woman who had come to this place. She forced Xiao Xingwei to carry her on his back.
It wasn’t until they stepped out of the cave and saw the moonlight in the sky.
In front of them grew a strange sea of Lycoris radiata. Red, yellow, and white swayed over half the mountain. Compared with the pure and bright moon in the sky, it made people feel an indescribable terror.
Su Mingxiu’s drawn-out tone added to the atmosphere in the silent mountains, “I remember now. This is the back mountain of our sect, where the fallen predecessors rest. It is a forbidden area of the Hundred Flower Sect.”
Sui Yihuan glanced at her and didn’t expose the fact that she already knew about the exit of the cave. She quietly listened to her explain the situation to the other two.
“By the way, if a disciple of the sect enters this place without permission, it is considered a crime of disturbing the ancestors, and they will be punished with two hundred lashes—”
Su Mingxiu glanced at Xuan Chan, who was hiding behind Xiao Xingwei, and added unhurriedly, “During the period of the conference, the participating disciples are treated the same as the inner disciples.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Xingwei immediately said, “Daoist friend Su, don’t worry. We didn’t mean to intrude tonight. As long as we can safely leave this place, I won’t mention it to anyone.”
Sui Yihuan blinked and echoed, “Me neither.”
Neither of them were the type to honestly accept punishment. Even though cultivators had spiritual power to protect their bodies, they didn’t want to suffer two hundred lashes for nothing.
Everyone’s eyes fell on Xuan Chan. She bit her lip angrily, “What? Do you think I’m going to be the one to tell on you? What good would it do me to tell?”
Su Mingxiu’s eyes narrowed, looking at her meaningfully, as if she wanted to refute something. But before she could speak, Sui Yihuan next to her interjected, “Who knows? There are many people in the world who like to do things that harm others without benefiting themselves. Unless you make a heart demon oath not to reveal a single bit about tonight under any circumstances, I don’t believe you.”
“Why should I care if you believe me? Who are you?”
Xuan Chan glared at her. Before she could say anything more arrogant, she suddenly felt her feet go numb, and her whole body fell uncontrollably to the side, eating a mouthful of dirt and grass.
But thinking of the rumors about corpse flowers growing on dead bones, she felt disgusted. She spat out the dirt, feeling wronged and starting to cry, wanting Xiao Xingwei to stand up for her, cursing Su Mingxiu for ambushing her.
Xiao Xingwei had had enough of her noise, and besides, all the trouble tonight was caused by her. So he looked at the sky and the ground, but not at her.
Sui Yihuan stood beside Su Mingxiu, seeing everything clearly, and showed an expression of disdain, “You obviously just lost your footing… I think since Daoist friend Xuan is so strict about the rules, she will definitely ask the Hundred Flower Sect for punishment when she goes out. Presumably, her righteousness will move the Heavenly Dao. She won’t need Daoist friend Su to lead the way, and she can go out safely on her own.”
After a series of insults and sarcasm, Xuan Chan had no one to support her. In the end, she could only tearfully swear an oath before seeing Su Mingxiu, who had been standing still, take a step forward.
She almost gritted her teeth in hatred.
It was said to be the burial ground of the predecessors, but it was actually countless graves, with a very heavy Yin energy. Just walking among them with only the four of them, who hadn’t even reached the Golden Core stage, was enough to make one’s heart tremble, especially since this place was so quiet that it was extreme. Later on, even Xuan Chan didn’t dare to pester Xiao Xingwei anymore, just clinging to him as much as possible, following him step by step.
Su Mingxiu held Sui Yihuan’s hand, saying that it was to avoid any formations and not wanting them to get separated. Feeling the warmth of her palm, Sui Yihuan had no reason to break free, so she could only look in the direction of the other two. Who knew that she would be pulled even closer by the other person, “Daoist friend Xiao is a talented disciple of the Sword Sect. He won’t lose track of us.”
So the only ones holding hands were the two of them.
Until the green-clothed female cultivator suddenly stopped—
In front of her was a deep pit, with the soil dug out and piled beside it, and the strange Lycoris radiata growing wildly, falling to the side.
Xuan Chan took a look and started to tremble, “This… this is…”
A corpse coming back to life?
Or had someone come to dig up the grave?
Seeing that Su Mingxiu was about to go forward, this time Sui Yihuan, who had been obediently following her lead, pulled her back, “Be careful! Your sect is strict with rules. It’s unlikely that this place would be so disrespectful to the predecessors. There must be unknown dangers in this forbidden area. Don’t always put yourself at risk.”
Actually, she had wanted to say this earlier. Su Mingxiu shouldn’t always be so good-tempered and let others bully her. That person from the Joyful Union Sect had tried to harm her so many times, and she never thought of fighting back!
And…
Why did she always face danger head-on, as if no matter how difficult the road ahead, she was destined to face it alone?
Even though… she was right here. No matter how weak her strength, she wouldn’t be a burden to this little flower spirit.
“It’s not dangerous—”
Su Mingxiu looked at her with a softened expression. Under the moonlight, her eyes seemed to contain flowing silver, and even the small mole at the corner of her eye seemed to shimmer. The shadows on the contours of her face were extremely striking. “The grave is empty, and there are no traces of formations. At least there is no danger below.”
After a pause, she asked with a smile in her tone, “Besides, if there is real danger, Daoist friend Sui will definitely protect me, right?”
“Of course.” Sui Yihuan replied without hesitation.
After all, whether it was to repay her kindness or to uphold the righteous principle of helping the weak, she wouldn’t just stand by and watch Su Mingxiu fall into danger.
But after she said this, Sui Yihuan saw the green-clothed female cultivator smile even more beautifully. Even though they were in this strange sea of flowers, it was as if seeds of spring flowers had been scattered. Wherever she smiled, it was like the four seasons.
—The red-clothed female cultivator, who had been righteous and confident earlier, suddenly blushed under her smiling gaze. Her eyes darted around, not knowing where to look, but she didn’t even realize this herself.
Xiao Xingwei and Xuan Chan, who were standing nearby waiting for Su Mingxiu to investigate the truth of the empty grave: “…”
So strange.
They were clearly standing on the road, but they felt like they had been kicked by a dog that came out of nowhere.
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