Compared to Hua Yan, Lu Chengsha’s reaction was much calmer. He barely even took a few more breaths.
Hua Yan reached out, wanting to tug at him to express her current excitement.
But Lu Chengsha dodged to the side again.
Hua Yan couldn’t help but say, “…Enough already! Wasn’t it you who just said, ‘I won’t let you die even if I have to die’?”
Lu Chengsha: “…”
Great, he really seemed unwilling to admit it!
The exit of the underground palace was hidden beneath a sheer cliff. The place they stood on was barely a square inch in size, with branches protruding above, shading them. The trees cast deep shadows, making it impossible for anyone to guess that there was another world below.
At this moment, a streak of light could be seen along the horizon, heralding the dawn in the east.
It might be a bit troublesome for Hua Yan to climb up on her own, but with Lu Chengsha here, it was much easier. He stepped on the cliff wall, walking almost vertically upwards. Then, a vine dangled down, and Hua Yan grasped it tightly, getting pulled up by Lu Chengsha.
While suspended in mid-air, Hua Yan already saw the sunrise.
Bright, warm light colored the clouds, layers of golden light filled the gray-blue sky, magnificent and joyous. Although Lu Chengsha still looked a bit awkward, Hua Yan decided to be magnanimous and not fuss over it, calling Lu Chengsha to watch with her.
Lu Chengsha placed her on the ground and also looked up.
Hua Yan, full of pride, said, “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Lu Chengsha’s black clothes were edged with gold by the sunlight. After looking for a while, he finally seemed to give in, nodding and saying, “Yes.”
Now that they were out, Hua Yan decided to look for the disciple from Cixin Valley again.
His medicine didn’t work, so he had to take some responsibility, right?
However, while walking, she couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear recalling the underground palace. She could now confirm that the underground palace was related to their Zhengyi Sect. She didn’t know who they were trying to resurrect, but her mother was right: how could the dead possibly be resurrected? Only obsession could turn people into demons.
Thinking about this, she remembered the booklet she had just picked up. Hua Yan secretly took it out from her bosom for a look. The booklet was already very old, with yellowed pages and no writing on the cover. She flipped through it briefly; it seemed to be a martial arts manual.
However, the Zhengyi Sect had too many martial arts manuals. Hua Yan casually stuffed it back into her bosom.
On the way, they caught and grilled two more fish to fill their stomachs. Lu Chengsha remained very silent throughout the journey, not only keeping his distance from her but also not looking at her. This frustrated Hua Yan greatly—she thought they had become friends who had gone through life and death together. Shouldn’t they be closer now than before?
Who would have thought they could actually regress!
This made absolutely no sense!
However, soon after, Hua Yan also fell silent. The sect battle had reached its third day, and by tomorrow, someone should realize something was wrong. As they continued along the path, they saw many corpses of righteous disciples who had fallen to demonic sect traps or poisonous creatures.
“Young Hero Lu, save me!” After walking for who knows how long, they finally encountered a surviving disciple. Seeing Lu Chengsha was like seeing a savior; the disciple stumbled and crawled over in a frantic rush.
The disciple looked dispirited and disheveled, as if he had been terrified for a long time, so much so that seeing Lu Chengsha didn’t scare him as much anymore.
Hua Yan remembered how the other disciples looked at Lu Chengsha at the beginning of the Sword Competition; their expressions were nothing like they were now.
Soon, more disciples, drawn by the commotion, came to seek refuge with Lu Chengsha.
They all crowded around him, as if standing beside Lu Chengsha would give them courage. Hua Yan, however, was pushed to the side.
With so many people, she had no chance to talk to Lu Chengsha and could only see the youth in black leading the crowd.
…But it seemed he didn’t really want to talk to her anyway, Hua Yan thought sullenly.
It was two hours later when they finally saw Ming Qi again.
The disciples from Cixin Valley were now in high demand. They had found another place to set up camp. Aside from the one who was poisoned and unconscious, the others were all injured but still busy tending to the wounded.
Hua Yan even saw Qin Muyan among the injured.
Her veil was long gone, the hem of her smoke-yellow dress was stained with mud, looking dirty and disheveled. She was sitting on the ground, shakily drinking a bowl of medicinal soup, looking pitiable.
Afraid that Qin Muyan might come and cause trouble again, Hua Yan tried to move to the side, but then she saw Qin Muyan suddenly lift her gaze. Her eyes brightened, and she walked towards Lu Chengsha.
“…???” Why aren’t you afraid of him anymore?
Qin Muyan seemed very aggrieved. With tears in her eyes, she took small, delicate steps, still holding the medicinal bowl, and when she reached Lu Chengsha, tears streamed down her cheeks…
…Girl, what are you doing!?
Lu Chengsha didn’t react much; he treated everyone who came up to him with the same attitude.
But Hua Yan felt a bit annoyed. Why did he avoid her but not others?
Then she saw Qin Muyan actually reaching out to tug at Lu Chengsha’s sleeve!
Hua Yan glared from a distance.
Lu Chengsha dodged.
Great, now she felt balanced.
Seeing this, Qin Muyan wiped her tears and reluctantly sat back down, making Hua Yan inexplicably relieved.
She immediately turned to find Ming Qi.
Ming Qi, busy and overwhelmed, spotted Hua Yan and immediately said, “Miss, don’t you know some medicine? Come help! Here, take these three packs of herbs and boil them… then deliver them to the disciples over there from the Dangshan Sect…”
Hua Yan was inexplicably assigned a task and, confused, went to boil the herbs.
This time, there were far more injured disciples than last time, and the severity of their injuries was much worse. Additionally, there were many who were poisoned and unconscious, requiring daily medication to suppress the poison. Their few hands were not enough.
After boiling the herbs, Hua Yan was about to deliver them when she saw Mu Xuelang in blue clothes, lightly injured, methodically directing the disciples in the camp. His tone was gentle, and he spoke calmly and steadily.
“Place the firewood over there. Smoke can drive away bees if they come again.”
“The rations and fruits for lunch have been distributed individually and will be delivered to everyone soon.”
“We won’t abandon any of our fellow disciples. Later, a few of us with strong martial arts skills will search the area for anyone needing rescue.”
“Everyone, hang in there for another day. Tomorrow, if the sect leaders realize something is wrong, they will surely come to rescue us.”
Mu Xuelang, with his high martial arts skills, deep experience, and good temperament, commanded great respect from disciples of various sects.
But seeing him, Hua Yan couldn’t help but think of two others, causing her heart to ache. It hurt even more when, after the crowd dispersed, she heard a disciple quietly say, “We still haven’t found Heroine Zuo…”
Mu Xuelang frowned slightly and said, “She should have fallen into the river with the other Dangshan Sect disciples. If we don’t find her tomorrow, I’ll personally search downstream of the waterfall.”
Hua Yan: “…”
Senior Brother, why are you such a good person!
Hua Yan couldn’t help but cry inwardly, her tears flowing loudly in her heart!
She sniffled, carrying the herbs over. In the direction Ming Qi had pointed, a few disciples in Dangshan Sect robes were lying down.
Those disciples were either unconscious or in a daze.
She knew this well!
Hua Yan grabbed the back of each disciple’s neck, pouring the medicine into their mouths one by one. In their sect, this was how they administered medicine to unconscious disciples!
When she reached the last one, someone suddenly grabbed her wrist. The person sat up abruptly, coughed twice, and looked at her with sharp eyes like a hawk: “Is it Lu Chengsha who sent you to harm me?”
Hua Yan: “…????”
He continued, “I recognize you.”
Ignoring his nonsense, Hua Yan said, “Let go of me!”
The man gripped her wrist even tighter, looking fierce and menacing, “Confess quickly!”
At this moment, Chu Jun seemed to have just woken up. His face was ashen, and his forehead was dark, indicating the poison was not yet cured, but his spirit was strong.
Hua Yan’s wrist hurt from his grip, and she couldn’t break free. Only now did she realize how gentle Lu Chengsha’s grip had been before, almost like he was holding her lightly.
Although she could easily poison Chu Jun again, doing so would confirm his accusation that she was there to harm him, and using her enchanting voice to confuse him would also carry risks.
Various thoughts swirled in Hua Yan’s mind. Without a word, she closed her eyes, let the tears flow, and cried out loudly, “I came to bring you medicine out of kindness, and you accuse me! Is there no justice in the world?”
Chu Jun was momentarily stunned, having never seen a woman change her expression so quickly.
Hua Yan immediately took the opportunity to break free and tried to run away.
But Chu Jun reacted much faster than Lu Chengsha. He grabbed Hua Yan’s sleeve as she ran, and with a tearing sound, the entire sleeve came off.
Hua Yan was stunned for a moment.
She didn’t have any clothes to change into now!
At this awkward moment, someone walked over, grabbed Chu Jun by the collar, and casually threw him aside.
Chu Jun came to his senses, feeling the cold, heavy iron of a black sword against his throat, and then met a pair of extremely cold and fierce eyes.
The commotion had attracted onlookers. At this moment, he was holding half a sleeve, while nearby was a tearful girl with half her arm exposed, and a furious Lu Chengsha.
Chu Jun suddenly realized that this situation was hard to explain.
The onlookers quickly filled in the gaps of what had happened.
Hua Yan also sensed that things were about to get out of hand. She immediately grabbed Lu Chengsha’s sleeve and said, “I’m fine, really—let’s go!”
Lu Chengsha looked back at her.
Hua Yan nodded frantically, tugging at his sleeve.
Lu Chengsha lowered his sword, snatched Hua Yan’s sleeve from Chu Jun, and allowed her to drag him away.
“I’m really fine, there was just a misunderstanding…” Hua Yan whispered, sensing that Lu Chengsha was very angry.
Explaining all this gave Hua Yan a headache. If she had known earlier, she wouldn’t have pretended to cry!
Lu Chengsha still didn’t say anything.
He just held the piece of fabric, looking down. After a moment, he lifted his head to look at Hua Yan.
Hua Yan thought he was finally going to say something, but instead, he suddenly reached out and gently wiped away the trace of wetness on her cheek with his fingertip.
Although his touch was very gentle, Hua Yan was stunned.
She blurted out, “Is your poison cured? Can you touch me now?”
Lu Chengsha shook his head.
Hua Yan hurriedly asked, “…Then what are you doing now?”
Lu Chengsha remained silent for a while, as if everything was difficult to explain.
After a long time, he muttered, “My chest feels a bit uncomfortable.”
This was a terrible situation—how did it escalate to his chest?
Hua Yan had no choice but to drag him to find Ming Qi again.
Ming Qi was at a loss for words. He had already heard about Chu Jun’s misconduct towards Lu Chengsha’s close female friend, resulting in Chu Jun almost getting killed by Lu Chengsha—such a juicy piece of gossip instantly lightened everyone’s tense mood.
Hua Yan had also gained a new nickname, “Femme Fatale.”
Of course, Ming Qi thought it probably wasn’t like that—these two idiots didn’t understand anything!
But he didn’t dare say that.
All he could say was, “No need for medication, just keep some distance between you two.”
Hua Yan retorted, “What kind of solution is that!”
Ming Qi replied, “A very practical one.”
Hua Yan said, “Then come up with another one!”
Ming Qi recalled the way Lu Chengsha had looked when he first sought treatment, and now seeing the young girl before him, he thought they both had a similar overbearing aura. However, he felt that if he spoke too bluntly, it might be dangerous for him. Ming Qi pondered for a moment, wrote a few words on a prescription slip, put it in a medicine pouch, and handed it to Hua Yan, saying, “I’ve written a prescription for Young Hero Lu. Don’t look at it now; wait until we leave the trial grounds before reading it.”
Hua Yan asked in confusion, “Why do we have to wait until we leave?”
Because I’ll be safe once we’re out.
Ming Qi said, “The prescription won’t be effective if you open it here. Please open it only after you leave.”
Hua Yan, somewhat skeptical, carefully put it away, then added, “Uh… there’s another issue.”
Ming Qi asked, “…What?”
Hua Yan said, “Do you know how to sew?”
Ming Qi: “…???”
How could this be? It was one thing if Young Hero Lu couldn’t sew, but this delicate and charming girl couldn’t even do basic needlework!
What did she learn growing up?
Ming Qi, feeling exhausted, took out some catgut thread used for stitching wounds. Under the pressure of Lu Chengsha’s gaze, he carefully sewed Hua Yan’s sleeve back on without touching her skin.
He hoped he wouldn’t encounter such situations again, he thought to himself.
***
The disciples waited in the camp until the next day.
During this time, Hua Yan received many curious glances, making her feel a bit guilty—she, a demoness from the demonic sect, blending in so conspicuously, wasn’t this even more extravagant than You Weitian?
Fortunately, Mu Xuelang’s wish did not go unfulfilled.
In the afternoon, the first of the uncles, carrying a long sword and sporting a long beard, finally arrived.
“Disciples, are you all alright? Sorry for being late.”
Several disciples, who were already somewhat dazed, scrambled over, clinging to the unfamiliar uncle’s leg, crying, “Finally! Finally, someone has come to save us!”
Afterwards, more than a dozen uncles from various sects arrived, and Cixin Valley also brought a team of white-robed physicians to treat the disciples.
The injured were sent out one by one, and the bodies of those who had died in traps and from poisonous insects were carried out as well. Ling Tianxiao personally led the team, his expression extremely solemn.
“I will make sure everyone gets an explanation for this. The disciples did not die in vain,” he said, his voice increasingly fierce. “I will make the demonic sect pay the price.”
“Thank you, Master Ling. We won’t be satisfied until the demonic sect leader is executed.”
“The demonic sect’s countless heinous crimes are unforgivable.”
“Not only should their leader be executed, but the demonic sect should be eradicated completely, to honor the spirits of the deceased disciples!”
Hua Yan, in the corner, opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing.
If it really was Xie Yingxian who did this, then she… sigh…
Of the more than a hundred disciples who entered the sect battle, only seventy or eighty came out, including the more than twenty disciples who were poisoned and unconscious.
The poison from the demonic sect was something Hua Yan knew very well—it was insidious, toxic, and ever-changing. For example, the poison Yu Ye used on her would take at least ten days to cure even if she worked tirelessly.
The poison affecting the disciples in the sect battle would only be more troublesome.
As expected, she heard that the physicians from Cixin Valley had been working day and night to produce antidotes, but it would still take time. Moreover, other disciples were also affected by various degrees of poison.
Hua Yan wanted to help, but her identity made it inappropriate.
However, she didn’t expect to hear another piece of news as soon as she went out.
The reason the rescue came so late was that during the sect war, demonic sect disciples took the opportunity to wreak havoc. They caused a lot of casualties outside Xunshan City and Lishan City, forcing the Zhengyi Sect members to handle the situation. They learned about the events in the sect war because they saved a traitor who was being hunted and besieged by the demonic sect outside Lishan City. This traitor claimed that he defected from the sect because he was dissatisfied with the actions of their leader, Xie Yingxian, and was therefore pursued. However, he couldn’t bear the guilt and wanted to inform the Zhengyi Sect about the conspiracy in the sect war. Now, knowing his sins, he only sought death.
When Hua Yan first heard this, she wondered if there was actually someone in their sect with such a conscience. But then she burst out laughing when she heard the name.
This traitor was named Yu Ye.