Chapter 364 : Rare Predicament
Qingyu had been waiting for Zhu Baiyi to wake up, and in the meantime, had attempted to heal her own injuries. However, her initial wounds had indeed been severe, compounded by the corrosion of demonic elements from underground, resulting in blocked meridians and paralysis of half her body.
Such injuries were undoubtedly serious, yet recovery wasn't particularly difficult—it merely required someone to help guide spiritual energy to expel and clear the blockages. It might take some time, perhaps a month, three months, or at most half a year... But this was predicated on having assistance. Without help, Qingyu's attempts to mobilize her own spiritual energy for recovery had shown no effects after three days.
After another failed attempt to mobilize spiritual energy, Qingyu opened her eyes to gaze at the persistently gloomy sky, then exhaled a long breath.
She wasn't one to resign herself to fate, nor did she place her hopes on the still unconscious Zhu Baiyi. Yet some matters truly couldn't be resolved through mere persistence and effort. After three days, if she hadn't been a cultivator capable of abstaining from food, she would likely have been half-dead from hunger.
Slightly disappointed, Qingyu abandoned her cultivation attempts for the day. She leaned slightly against the fox's warm body, stroking her face with her palm while murmuring softly: "Ah Yi, when will you finally wake up?"
The mountain wind caused the fox's fur to flutter, but the fox who had been unconscious for days remained motionless, as if transformed into a stone sculpture that would never open its eyes again.
Qingyu sighed once more, looking toward the distance, but all she could see was the gloomy sky and dark soil—nothing else. Several consecutive days without sunlight clearly indicated this place was abnormal. Yet despite this abnormality, the presence of spiritual energy and absence of constantly erosive demonic elements made it quite favorable for Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi, who had struggled underground for a year.
She only hoped this tranquility would persist, that no person or beast would appear. In her current physical condition, she had no way to handle such a situation—to have survived the underground only to die here would be an absolute waste.
However, such concerns often invite what one fears most. Just as Qingyu was contemplating these thoughts, she suddenly heard a rustling sound.
Qingyu was a powerful cultivator at the late Fusion stage. Even without her cultivation power, her body, tempered by lightning tribulation, remained far superior to ordinary people. Setting aside her physical strength, her sensory acuity remained undiminished. Upon hearing the sound, she immediately looked up.
In a small pile of rubble not far away, a stealthy gray figure had appeared at some point. It resembled a small beast, though even with Qingyu's extensive knowledge, this was her first encounter with such a creature, its species unknown to her. What warranted caution was that despite its small size, the beast possessed extraordinarily sharp claws and teeth, surrounded by death energy and killing intent—clearly not something to be trifled with!
Qingyu's breath instantly froze. She could see this small beast wasn't of particularly high rank; ordinarily, she wouldn't have given it a second thought. But not now—now with her cultivation powers lost, unable to flee even if she wanted to.
For the first time, Qingyu found herself hoping the small beast would not approach, that it would ignore them and leave.
Unfortunately, fate rarely accommodates such simple wishes. The small beast seemed aware it had been discovered. Initially hiding behind the rubble, upon realizing Qingyu had spotted it, it no longer concealed itself but instead cautiously approached.
As the beast drew closer, Qingyu's view became clearer, and her aversion intensified—beyond its disagreeable aura, its appearance was grotesque and ugly, with a pair of bright red eyes. Meeting its gaze revealed the greed and ferocity within, causing even Qingyu to feel her scalp tingle.
This little creature clearly harbored malicious intentions!
Qingyu raised her vigilance, shouting several times to drive it away. When this proved ineffective, she silently gripped the sword hilt at her waist—fortunately, as a sword cultivator, she never stored her spiritual sword in her dimensional space, and Zhu Baiyi hadn't forgotten to bring her weapon when rescuing her.
Feeling the familiar sword hilt in her hand, Qingyu's anxious heart finally steadied somewhat, but her actions only enraged the small beast opposite her.
With a piercing shriek that assaulted the ears, it simultaneously sprang forward, charging toward Qingyu.
Qingyu had guessed correctly—though small in stature, the creature moved with extreme speed, reaching the person and fox almost instantly. Fortunately, Qingyu's years of cultivation hadn't been in vain; she drew her sword to counterattack, and despite her lost cultivation, her speed remained undiminished.
A metallic "clang" resounded, as if iron striking iron, and the small leaping figure was sent flying backward at an even greater velocity.
Qingyu raised her sword to examine it. The weapon of a late Fusion stage master remained undamaged, yet despite the spiritual sword's sharpness, it had failed to cleave the small beast in two. Looking closely at the beast that had been knocked away, she saw it had merely rolled on the ground before rising again—save for a shortened claw, it had become even more ferocious, brandishing its claws and teeth.
Stimulated by the injury, the small beast charged once more, its speed now three times faster than before. Qingyu had no choice but to raise her sword again in defense. The sound of "cling clang" continued incessantly until Qingyu finally faltered from exhaustion, creating an opening, and cried out in pain.
Qingyu was neither delicate nor intolerant of pain, but at that moment, she had a chunk of flesh torn from her arm, and the edges of the wound had turned black, clearly showing signs of poisoning—the unknown beast's claws were venomous! In her current situation, whether this poison was lethal or not, it undoubtedly compounded her already dire circumstances.
The small beast seemed to sense the despair emanating from Qingyu. It smugly bared its teeth at her, preparing to devour the flesh it had torn away. Yet before it could consume its prize, a white blur suddenly flashed from the side, and the beast was sent flying.
This vicious little beast wasn't merely knocked away—the strike had been so powerful that the beast exploded into a mist of blood midair.
Qingyu started, turning around to see that the enormous fox beside her had opened its eyes.
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
Qingyu had waited three days for Zhu Baiyi to awaken. Afterward, their situation improved slightly, though still far from ideal.
The massive White Fox had opened its eyes but remained motionless on the ground, as if that single strike had depleted all its remaining strength. Tilting her head, she asked weakly: "How are you? Are you alright?"
Qingyu wanted to say she was fine, but anyone could see she wasn't—she sat cross-legged on the ground, her lower body still immobile, and her previously uninjured arm now missing a chunk of flesh. Blood flowed freely, staining half her garment red. Normally, Zhu Baiyi would have been beside herself with anxiety, but now, exhausted to her limits, she barely had the strength to speak, let alone do more.
However, Qingyu hadn't expected much from her; seeing her awake was already cause for joy. Disregarding her wound, she tore a strip from her garment and briskly wrapped her injury: "Don't worry, it's nothing."
Yet the more calmly she reacted and the quicker she moved, the less Zhu Baiyi believed her.
The fox said nothing, but after a moment's rest, a jade bottle rolled out from beneath her paw.
Qingyu picked it up and saw it contained a medicinal pill for healing wounds—something very difficult to have preserved.
Although cultivators at the Grand Achievement realm who had accumulated wealth for hundreds of years possessed substantial resources, the underground had no spiritual energy, only demonic elements. Moreover, after Tan Xin sealed the dried well, all the demonic elements throughout the underground had become agitated. Their situation underground had been a hundred times worse than Jiang Mo's, and after a year there, even the most abundant resources had been depleted to survive.
Indeed, had their timing been off by just a few days, they might never have had the opportunity to leave the underground and return to the cultivation world!
Precisely because it was so precious, Qingyu's eyes lit up upon seeing the medicinal pill, and it never occurred to her to ask if Zhu Baiyi had any more. She immediately opened the jade bottle and tipped out the pill, then without hesitation moved to place it in the fox's mouth.
Zhu Baiyi had been secretly watching her, and seeing her open the bottle and extract the pill with a hint of joy, she thought she wouldn't need to waste words, that Qingyu would take the medicine herself. To her surprise, the other was attempting to feed her instead. She immediately turned her head away, keeping her fox mouth tightly shut, her voice muffled as it emerged from her abdomen: "Don't give it to me. I'm fine. You're injured—take it yourself and recover."
As she spoke, the fox tucked her paws under her belly, apparently fearing Qingyu might use her paw injuries as an excuse. However, this action, performed by a large fluffy creature, appeared particularly endearing.
This wasn't the first time Qingyu had witnessed Zhu Baiyi's self-deceptive behavior. A momentary disorientation flashed in her eyes as memories surfaced, and her gaze toward Zhu Baiyi softened. But her thoughts quickly returned to reality. She shook her head and extended the pill forward again: "I said I'm fine. Besides, this place isn't safe. We need you to recover quickly to ensure both our safety."
Her words weren't false; from a practical standpoint, they made perfect sense—had Zhu Baiyi's injuries healed? Certainly not. Otherwise, she wouldn't have remained in fox form but would have already reverted to human form. In her current state, she couldn't handle a crisis.
But Zhu Baiyi had her own insistence. She muttered sullenly: "I just need to recover. There's spiritual energy here; I'll be fine after a few more days of meditation. As for your injuries, you say they're nothing, but do you think I'll believe that?!"
Of course not.
Qingyu knew this all too well and frustratedly said: "Why are you so stubborn? Can't you just listen?"
Seeing her genuinely annoyed, Zhu Baiyi immediately moved closer, nuzzling her large fluffy head against Qingyu. Qingyu's tightly knitted brows relaxed slightly, but the next moment, the fox's teeth hooked onto her bandaged wound and pulled it open.
The gruesome flesh wound and the black energy surrounding it all indicated the severity of the situation... The fox's eyes gazed solemnly at the beautiful woman who had been so obstinate. Even someone as composed and self-controlled as Qingyu felt momentarily awkward at having her concealment exposed.
Qingyu averted her gaze, unwilling to meet Zhu Baiyi's eyes. The fox then returned Qingyu's earlier words to her: "Who's being stubborn now? Listen, take the medicine quickly before the delay leaves lasting damage that impedes your cultivation path."
The formerly wealthy person and fox now pushed a single small medicinal pill back and forth between them. In the end, the fox proved more skillful—there was no real technique involved; she had simply regained enough strength to swiftly push the pill into Qingyu's mouth. The instantly dissolving pill left no room for reconsideration, and the matter was settled.