Chapter 329 : Heart's Obsession
When Jiang Mo opened her eyes, looked around, and then inexplicably closed them again, she gave Yun Qingyue quite a fright. Holding Jiang Mo's upper body, Yun Qingyue shook her vigorously and called out twice more before finally rousing her again.
Realizing she had caused a misunderstanding, Jiang Mo felt rather embarrassed. Fortunately, the darkness concealed these slight emotions.
Yun Qingyue indeed hadn't noticed, concerned only with asking: "Earlier you were affected by the demonic energy, with coldness infiltrating your body. I fed you some medicinal pills. How do you feel now? Any better?"
With Yun Qingyue's reminder, Jiang Mo finally noticed a cold, sluggish sensation throughout her body, as if an old machine had rusted, no longer running smoothly. Only two areas remained unaffected: her heart and her dantian. These vital areas were wrapped in a comforting warmth, preventing further discomfort and causing her to momentarily overlook her body's condition.
Jiang Mo frowned, glancing at the surrounding darkness and understanding their situation wasn't good. Not wanting to be a burden, she hurriedly struggled to sit up from her Senior Sister's embrace, then expended considerable effort to assume a meditation posture.
Seeing this, Yun Qingyue knew Jiang Mo's condition wasn't fully recovered, so she didn't disturb her, silently remaining vigilant to protect her.
Divine beast cultivation didn't particularly emphasize sitting in meditation, but due to the system's game enhancement, assuming a meditation posture could double her cultivation speed. Even so, when Jiang Mo sat cross-legged and attempted to mobilize the spiritual energy in her dantian, she encountered resistance unlike anything in her cultivation experience. The spiritual energy circulated so slowly that describing it as moving at a turtle's pace wouldn't be exaggerating. Jiang Mo could only patiently proceed step by step.
Fortunately, this laborious effort wasn't in vain. As spiritual energy gradually circulated through her meridians, the areas it passed through thawed like frost melting, warmth returning. The blocked meridians and acupoints reopened one by one, and her bodily discomfort rapidly dissipated.
After completing three full cycles of spiritual energy throughout her body, Jiang Mo finally felt restored to normal, with only a slightly greater depletion of spiritual energy.
She exhaled and opened her eyes, immediately seeing her Senior Sister's back silhouetted against the ice flame's glow as she stood guard. Warmth flooded her heart—joy, security, affection—all these emotions surged forth simultaneously. She moved closer, taking her Senior Sister's hand: "Senior Sister, I'm better now. How are you? Were you affected too?"
Yun Qingyue heard the movement behind her but wasn't startled by this sudden gesture. The hand Jiang Mo held felt a wave of warmth. In this cold environment, she instinctively returned the grip: "Don't worry, I'm fine."
She truly was unharmed, having been well-protected by Jiang Mo throughout. Even when they crashed to the ground, Jiang Mo had cushioned her fall. Protected further by the Four Beast Seal, though she had inevitably been influenced by the demonic energy upon awakening, compared to Jiang Mo's condition, she had only experienced emotional manipulation. After regaining her mental clarity, she suffered no significant effects.
The two exchanged glances, confirming neither had sustained serious harm, and finally relaxed.
Jiang Mo surveyed their surroundings, then looked at the small ice flame on Yun Qingyue's fingertip. After unsuccessfully attempting to use magical treasures for illumination, she made some preliminary assessments of their situation—this underground space was filled with demonic energy greatly affecting cultivators; they needed to leave quickly!
With this thought, Jiang Mo instinctively looked upward. They had fallen through the well opening, presumably in a vertical descent, so the shortest path back to the surface would naturally be to return the same way. She said to Yun Qingyue: "Senior Sister, wait here. I'll fly up to look around. If the exit is still there, we'll leave immediately."
As she spoke, she released Yun Qingyue's hand and flew upward.
However, though these were her words, both understood that returning by their original path wouldn't be so simple. After all, if it were truly that easy, the people above wouldn't have left them unconscious at the bottom of the well—the Sect Leader and Master would have rescued them already.
But understanding was one thing; not trying would still be unsatisfying. Thus, Yun Qingyue didn't stop Jiang Mo from trying, but as Jiang Mo began to soar upward, she suddenly tossed out a silk ribbon that wrapped firmly around Jiang Mo's wrist.
Jiang Mo's ascent paused momentarily as she instinctively looked down to see a white ribbon with one end wrapped around her wrist and the other secured to Yun Qingyue's own wrist. No explanation was needed; she understood the intent—this well bottom was pitch-dark with unknown dangers, and the two should absolutely not be separated.
As for why Yun Qingyue wasn't flying up with her? Her cultivation was lower than Jiang Mo's, her spiritual energy less abundant, and the dangers above remained unknown... In the face of such uncertainty, not becoming a burden was the best choice.
Jiang Mo found nothing improper in Yun Qingyue's approach. She stroked the ribbon at her wrist and said to Yun Qingyue: "Senior Sister, wait for me."
With these words, she soared upward again, quickly disappearing into the darkness.
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The ascent wasn't easy. Beyond the multiple layers of the seal's suppression, countless strands of demonic energy attempted to drag her down.
At the bottom, things had been manageable. Though Yun Qingyue's ice flame revealed wisps of demonic energy seeping from the black stones, these weren't particularly abundant—perhaps having been suppressed for too long, these energies had developed rudimentary consciousness, and breaking through the seal to reach the outside world had become their obsession. Thus, they never lingered at the bottom, intent only on rising higher.
When Jiang Mo reached mid-air, she felt the concentration of demonic energy double, becoming more noticeable the higher she flew. But with complete darkness surrounding her, fearing she might miss even a glimmer of light above, she dared not create illumination, and thus couldn't discern the current form of these demonic energies.
No matter—the White Tiger naturally suppressed malevolent forces. As long as she remained steadfast and continued upward, all would be well.
This was Jiang Mo's thought, and this was her action. Though surrounded by soul-shaking howls and occasional attacks from demonic energy, these obstacles couldn't slow Jiang Mo's progress.
She continued flying higher and higher. With a Fusion stage cultivator's speed, she covered an immense distance in a short time. Yet the higher she flew, the heavier her heart became, for despite flying so long, she hadn't glimpsed even a trace of light. Above her remained pitch darkness, as if the well opening had never existed.
After flying a while longer, Jiang Mo finally began to consider giving up. But in that very moment, a faint light suddenly flashed through the boundless darkness overhead.
Jiang Mo started, almost thinking she had imagined it, then brightened with joy, summoning more spiritual energy to fly upward with greater speed.
The light was very distant. Jiang Mo flew for quite some time before seeing it gradually expand—from a thread of light to a small halo, then slowly growing into a bean-sized flame.
The blue flame was distinctive, illuminating a small area around it.
There was no exit; the light only revealed a familiar, beautiful face... Senior Sister.
Jiang Mo immediately recognized the person etched in her heart, though momentarily disoriented, failing to question why she would encounter her in midair. She felt only disappointment at not finding an exit, fearing she would let down her Senior Sister.
With this disappointment, Jiang Mo hesitated before approaching: "Senior Sister, I'm sorry, I..."
Before she could finish, a slender finger pressed against her lips, and "Yun Qingyue" gently shook her head: "It's alright, I don't blame you. There never was an exit here; I didn't expect you to find one." She glanced around, her tone characteristically cool: "Besides, it's not so bad here."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo was stunned and about to object, but before she could speak, a soft body pressed against her. Slender arms encircled her neck, and that longed-for face was suddenly before her eyes.
"Yun Qingyue" rested her head lightly on Jiang Mo's shoulder, her tone wistful: "It's just the two of us here. Isn't that nice?"
Jiang Mo's heart began pounding, her cheeks quickly flushing. Hearing such words, it would be a lie to say she wasn't moved. Yet something about the scene felt discordant, prompting her to suppress this feeling and try to regain her rationality.
But the other clearly wouldn't give her that opportunity. Just as Jiang Mo's reason struggled to reassert itself, the person drew closer, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek... warm, soft, exactly as she had imagined and hoped.
Jiang Mo froze completely, her face burning even hotter, instinctively wanting to push away the person in her arms.
However, the moment Jiang Mo's hand touched the other's shoulder, "Yun Qingyue" removed the finger pressed against her lips. As the warm fingertip moved away, it was replaced by something soft. Jiang Mo could even feel the person's light breathing against her face... She became utterly rigid, forgetting even to breathe, her hand on the other's shoulder tightening slightly.
In all her lives, this was Jiang Mo's first kiss. She stood frozen, allowing the other to press and move against her lips. A corner of her heart slowly surrendered, but her reason continued to sound alarm bells.
Suddenly, golden light erupted from Jiang Mo's body. The divine beast's protective radiance illuminated the space, exposing the "person" before her—"she" shed her disguise, howling and roaring, transforming into grotesque black mist. Seemingly unwilling to let its prey escape, it tried to lunge forward and attack again, but was beaten back by the golden light, shrieking miserably as its form dispersed.
Jiang Mo wiped her mouth vigorously with her sleeve, watching the black mist formed from demonic energy struggle relentlessly—the mist alternately transformed into a human, a skeleton, and other hideous monsters—leaving her nauseated.
Disgusting! What vile thing dared impersonate her Senior Sister and steal a kiss while she was off guard!
The more Jiang Mo thought about it, the more sickened she felt, along with an indescribable shame and anger. She didn't hesitate to use her spiritual energy, frantically attacking the black mist before her. Though formless, demonic energy was essentially similar to spiritual energy and could be depleted. Yet no one had thought to do this before because the cost outweighed the benefit.
But in her humiliated state, Jiang Mo disregarded such concerns, wanting only to vent her fury, expending spiritual energy as if it cost nothing. Moreover, divine beasts naturally suppress malevolent forces, so after a short while, she actually managed to completely disperse the demonic energy, leaving not a trace behind.
When everything had settled, Jiang Mo looked upward once more, but this time without any desire to explore further.
She looked down at the ribbon hanging from her wrist and began descending, though her return speed was much slower than her earlier ascent—at this moment, she both desperately wanted to return to her Senior Sister yet feared facing her. She could deceive herself that she had been caught off guard by the stolen kiss, but deep down she knew it wasn't simply unpreparedness; she had been bewitched.
An obsession in one's heart could be exploited and manipulated, and her obsession was her Senior Sister, which had made her easily fall into the trap. Even when she finally clearly recognized the demonic energy's false manifestation of her Senior Sister, she still hesitated slightly before pushing it away.
This troubled Jiang Mo greatly. Even though no one knew of her experience, she felt a sense of shame, especially at the prospect of seeing her Senior Sister.
She flew more and more slowly, dreading the sight of that blue flame and even more afraid to see her Senior Sister's unsuspecting face.
If not for necessity, she would have gladly fled this place immediately!