Wen Qianshu really wanted to “end this quickly.” She sent out several transmission talismans in one go, not just to Canglan Courtyard and Yanyun Sky, but also to other sects outside of Five Spirits Mountain.
A Fire Iris vine slapped down as it said coldly, “You!”
Wen Qianshu: “I would never dare to offend you, Senior—”
Though her words were respectful, she quickly condensed Endless Moon in her hand, transforming it into a long whip that hooked Yun Cai and pulled her behind her.
The reinforcements arrived quickly. In the blink of an eye, a green light appeared on the horizon. The wind tightened, the trees rustled, and a thousand leaves turned into blades, stabbing towards the Fire Iris. But the Fire Iris didn’t dodge, taking the hit directly. Its petals were sliced open, dripping with sap.
Wen Qianshu thought to herself, this is bad. She saw the huge petals press down from above, its dripping liquid turning into fire that surged towards the sky. The vines grew rampant, raising their sharp thorns and stabbing down from all directions.
Wen Qianshu raised her arm, and Endless Moon formed an ice shield in front of her, but it was shattered with a single slap. Yun Cai spun her long spear, blocking the remaining force of the vine, but was forced back several steps. The soft armor on her body lit up, runes swirled around her and rose, exploding into countless flames that fell like projectiles towards the flower’s pistil.
“Stop!”
Someone shouted from a distance, but the Fire Iris sneered, turning a deaf ear. It swept its long vine, brushing aside the flames and lashing out horizontally.
Yun Cai: “Go!”
With that, she flew forward and raised her long spear again. The web between her thumb and forefinger had already split, and blood trickled from the corner of her lips. The Fire Iris raised another long vine and struck down viciously, parrying the long spear and heading straight for Wen Qianshu. Relying on the defensive soft armor she wore, Wen Qianshu ignored the Fire Iris’s attack and just flicked Endless Moon to pull Yun Cai back.
Who knew this lash would be so fierce that it shattered her defenses and was about to break through Wen Qianshu’s protection.
Wen Qianshu’s pupils contracted sharply.
But Yun Cai dodged Endless Moon, abruptly turned, and held her long spear horizontally, level with her body, firmly blocking the vine to buy Wen Qianshu time.
Seeing that the people behind them had already arrived, the Fire Iris let out a sharp screech, knocked away the long spear, and then, out of shame and anger, its vine coiled up and wrapped around Yun Cai.
Rescue was close at hand. The people behind were shouting, but their words were indistinct.
Wen Qianshu looked up, watching Yun Cai being lifted high into the air.
She was clearly the one with weaker spiritual power, yet she turned around and tried to protect Wen Qianshu.
The wild wind blew her hair, and vines and leaves flew everywhere. Her outer robe was torn, the ripped fabric fluttering loudly in the wind.
Wen Qianshu closed her eyes, then opened them again. She suddenly mobilized all the spiritual power in her body and leaped onto the vine. The sharp thorns dug into her arm, but she paid them no mind, allowing herself to be dragged into the flower’s pistil along with it.
A thick smoke billowed, and the entire flower vanished.
Scalding, scorching, a pain like being engulfed in flames.
The moment Wen Qianshu opened her eyes, she found it difficult to breathe. The side of her neck ached; a long vine was wrapped from her jaw to her shoulder, its sharp thorns pressed against her throat.
Ignoring the pain, she turned her head to look around and saw Yun Cai lying on her side on the ground, looking at her. She was just tied up, not receiving the “vine-choking” treatment.
Wen Qianshu let out an imperceptible sigh of relief and said to 2333, “I miscalculated.”
She never expected this Fire Iris to be so powerful, completely unafraid of Five Spirits Mountain. But that, in turn, was strange. If it was at this level, why did it need to disguise itself to lure them closer?
Wen Qianshu endured the pain in her throat. “Novels are all lies.”
2333 couldn’t understand why she had jumped in after her. It was frantic with worry. Hearing her speak, it asked, “What?”
Wen Qianshu: “Don’t they say that the opponents sent after you are always just a little bit stronger than you?”
Wen Qianshu was very disappointed. “Is it because I’m not the protagonist?”
2333: “…”
“Is that the point right now?”
Yun Cai propped herself up, seeming to want to move towards Wen Qianshu, but she had barely moved half an inch before a vine yanked her back, making her fall heavily to the ground.
Wen Qianshu frowned slightly and asked, “Senior, since you’ve captured us, is there something you want?”
Wen Qianshu: “Senior?”
The vine tightened, its thorns digging into her skin, drawing blood. Yun Cai’s eyes widened, but Wen Qianshu repeated for the third time, “Senior?”
“Annoying.”
A female voice came through. “Be quiet.”
Wen Qianshu took a breath to ease the pain. Just as she was about to speak again, she heard Yun Cai say, “Senior.”
Wen Qianshu was startled and looked at Yun Cai, only to see her shaking her head and repeating the word several times.
2333 couldn’t understand. “What is she doing?”
Wen Qianshu: “She’s helping me.”
2333: “Huh?”
For some reason, this Fire Iris didn’t seem to want to kill them. But it had taken Yan Chengshuang and Yun Cai, so Five Spirits Mountain would definitely not let it go and must be in pursuit. So Wen Qianshu wanted to take advantage of its unsettled state while it was fleeing to try and get some information and distract it.
However, the Fire Iris was currently angry, and questioning it further would surely lead to suffering.
Yun Cai had clearly understood what Wen Qianshu was trying to do and was helping her divert some of the Fire Iris’s anger.
From working together against the catfish demon in the cave at the beginning to now questioning on her behalf, this rapport—
Wen Qianshu sighed with emotion. “If the Young Miss were my system, how happy I would be.”
2333: “?”
The system suddenly became vigilant. “What do you mean?”
But in the end, Wen Qianshu didn’t listen to Yun Cai and spoke up anyway. “I know you must be here, Senior. Please—”
Wen Qianshu was struck hard in the abdomen, her whole body flying up and slamming against the cliff wall. A vine tightened around her neck, choking her until she couldn’t breathe.
Yun Cai struggled but was pressed back to the ground.
A woman appeared before her, a very beautiful woman.
Black hair, snow-white skin, and crimson pupils.
Two green vines supported her, floating her in front of Wen Qianshu.
Her features were like carved jade, her face as if painted by a brush.
The woman curled her lips and smiled.
Suddenly, the vine loosened. Wen Qianshu couldn’t react in time. Just as she was about to use her spiritual power to float, she was slapped hard and fell to the ground.
Wen Qianshu swallowed a mouthful of blood, pushed herself up, and leaned against the wall to look at her.
It had been a long time since she had been in so much pain. Her limbs felt like they had been run over by a wheel, throbbing with pain.
The woman propped up her jade-like foot and leaned down to look at her. “Can’t you understand words?”
Without turning her head, she sent another vine slashing out, pinning Yun Cai down.
As expected, this flower demon could kill them but didn’t want to. And she was mainly targeting Yan Chengshuang; she was much nicer to Yun Cai.
Wen Qianshu: “Thank you for your mercy, Senior.”
2333: “Mercy? You call this mercy?”
Beside them, Yun Cai frowned and looked up at them.
But the woman just smiled. “Say one more noisy word, and I’ll pull out your tongue.”
With that, she snorted coldly. As if not wanting to stay a moment longer, her body transformed into vines and disappeared into the earth. Wen Qianshu gritted her teeth, tore the vine from her neck, and went to untie Yun Cai.
The moment Yun Cai’s hands were free, she went to cover the wound on Wen Qianshu’s neck, her eyes filled with anxiety.
Wen Qianshu waved her hand, indicating she was fine. She tried to summon Endless Moon, but there was no response at all.
Yun Cai helped bandage Wen Qianshu’s wound, then went to survey their surroundings. Behind them was a high cliff, and in front was a circle of fire. Yun Cai tried to walk out but had the corner of her clothes burned off—this was not a fire she could handle.
Wen Qianshu thought to herself that she had been too careless.
She never expected the person behind this would go to such lengths to deal with Yan Chengshuang; she also never expected this world to be so dangerous that even with Yan Chengshuang’s cultivation level, she could still face life-and-death situations at any moment.
In comparison, the previous world was like an exquisite and comfortable dream—sweet, gentle, where even Shen Ting’s breakdown could be easily avoided.
As she was thinking, Wen Qianshu coughed twice more. Wiping her hand, she realized her fingertips and palm were covered in blood and torn flesh. The pain she hadn’t noticed during the confrontation now surfaced completely. Wen Qianshu frowned from the pain.
2333 administered a painkiller into her body, hoping to relieve some of her pain.
Although World Line Repairers don’t “die” in the true sense—they can be reborn in the Main God’s space—the pain of death is very real. If they encounter torture, they will feel pain and bleed.
So, when it’s time to leave a world, the system usually extracts the repairer’s consciousness first before destroying the physical body.
2333 was a little worried about Wen Qianshu. “If you feel you can’t take it, just give up on this mission. We still have one more chance anyway. How about we go back first, prepare, and then go to another world?”
It even comforted her, “Fixing cultivation worlds has always been difficult. It’s not your fault.”
Give up this world and go to another…
Wen Qianshu leaned against the rock wall, looked up, and saw Yun Cai not far ahead, squatting down, picking up some soil from the ground, and examining it with her head lowered.
As if sensing Wen Qianshu’s gaze, she turned her head, the corners of her eyes curving into crescent moons.
Wen Qianshu shook her head at her, indicating she was fine.
So Yun Cai looked away again.
Go to another world…
Another world…
Wen Qianshu “tsked.”
2333: “What does ‘tsked’ mean?”
Wen Qianshu: “It means I’m hopeless.”
With that, she sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began to circulate her spiritual power to heal her wounds.
2333 was confused. “What does ‘hopeless’ mean? Are you in a lot of pain somewhere?”
Wen Qianshu didn’t answer it.
Perhaps even Wen Qianshu herself didn’t know how to answer.
After a while, Wen Qianshu suddenly felt someone sit down beside her. She opened her eyes and saw Yun Cai, who asked in a low voice, “Does it still hurt?”
Wen Qianshu: “Much better.”
Instantly, someone shouted in her ear: “Quiet!”
Wen Qianshu: “…”
2333: “…”
The two of them rarely had the same train of thought—this flower demon, she was really only targeting Yan Chengshuang.
Author’s Notes:
OOC Little Theater:
2333: I feel like my job is on the line.
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