Chapter 66 : He Wasn’t Dead! The Task Continued…
Chapter 66: He Wasn’t Dead! The Task Continued…
The panic in Long Tao’s heart lasted only an instant before he instinctively cried out in his mind, “System! Is Nan Yuchen really dead? If he is… will that count as my task failing?”
This was not because he was cold-blooded.
It was simply that his own life was bound far too tightly to the System’s tasks, leaving him no choice but to confirm the most critical issue first.
However, the answer the System gave was both beyond his expectations and, in some absurd way, strangely reasonable:
【System detection indicates that the Child of Destiny, Nan Yuchen, currently has normal life signs and has already arrived at the task check-in location. Please have the Host proceed immediately to that location to complete the check-in and subsequent tasks. As Nan Yuchen himself has already reached the task area, upon completion of the task you may obtain a Destiny Luck Reward: Soul Lamp Value +5.】
The System’s response was cold and clear, instantly snapping Long Tao completely out of his earlier shock—only to plunge him into an even greater one.
What shocked him was not only that Nan Yuchen was not dead, but also Chu Yuanbai’s utterly baseless lie! In such a critical situation, falsely reporting the death of a fellow sect’s core disciple—what on earth was that supposed to mean?
If Nan Yuchen had been gravely wounded and on the brink of death, and Chu Yuanbai had fabricated a “well-intentioned lie” so as not to burden the main group, Long Tao might have been able to understand it.
But the System had clearly stated that the kid’s life signs were normal—he had suffered no fatal injuries whatsoever! Even more outrageous was the fact that he had already run off to the task location.
What in the world was going on?
Long Tao felt as though his mind had become a tangled mess of threads, with not even a single loose end he could grasp.
His gaze swept over Chu Yuanbai, who still wore a face full of grief.
Now, looking at that “sorrow,” it felt nothing but false and glaring, reeking of suspicion.
What motive could there be? Chu Yuanbai was completely different from that Senior Brother Zhou who had previously framed Nan Yuchen using despicable little tricks.
He was a bona fide elite disciple of the sect, and one about to be taken in as a personally transmitted disciple by Su Muzhi—making him Nan Yuchen’s future martial uncle.
What reason could he possibly have to do something like this?
Could it be… a truly dog-blooded thought suddenly surfaced.
Could it be that he harbored feelings for the future master Su Muzhi that went beyond those of teacher and disciple, and, out of jealousy over her excessive attention and favoritism toward Nan Yuchen, he had…
Impossible! Long Tao immediately rejected the idea himself.
This wasn’t one of those female-oriented cultivation novels full of romantic entanglements! A true cultivation elite, even if he genuinely harbored affection in his heart, would absolutely never gamble with his own Dao path or the greater interests of the sect.
Then… there was only one remaining possibility, one even more chilling to consider.
Was this Chu Yuanbai truly still a disciple loyal to the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect?
In a flash of lightning-fast thought, Long Tao forcibly suppressed the storm raging in his heart, doing his utmost to maintain an expression of shock and grief consistent with everyone else’s.
He knew full well that at this moment, he absolutely could not alert the enemy.
Within the group, aside from Luo Yusi, probably no one would believe the accusation of a mere Qi Refining disciple like him.
The most urgent matter was to find a reasonable excuse to break away from the group, avoid Chu Yuanbai’s line of sight, and rush to that bizarre task location to see things for himself.
Although there was a ninety-nine percent chance of extreme danger… he really had no other choice, did he?
He immediately stepped forward, forcing an appropriately measured look of self-blame and concern onto his face as he addressed Fang Wuqi,
“Senior Brother Fang, Senior Brother Chu, Senior Sister Liu’s injuries are far too severe—she needs a stable environment to recuperate. My cultivation is low; following everyone won’t help at all and will only slow you down. Why don’t I escort Senior Sister Liu back to the tree hollow from earlier and settle her there first? The tree spirit brothers are watching over that place, so it’s relatively safe. That way, you can focus on searching for the others.”
Fang Wuqi checked Senior Sister Liu’s still deathly pale complexion, then glanced at Long Tao, who looked “sincere and earnest.” After a moment’s thought, he nodded in agreement.
“That works. Junior Brother Long, I’ll entrust Junior Sister Liu to you. Be cautious in everything. After settling her properly, wait in the tree hollow for our news.”
Long Tao accepted solemnly.
While Fang Wuqi tended to follow-up treatment for the injured, Long Tao naturally shifted over to Luo Yusi’s side and spoke in a low voice, “Yusi, there’s something private—”
Before he could finish, an almost transparent, extremely fine strand of spider silk had already quietly adhered to his lips.
Luo Yusi’s gentle voice transmission sounded directly in his ears, “Alright, now only I can hear what you say. Go ahead.”
Long Tao’s heart jolted.
This spider girl was far too perceptive—and considerate.
He did not hesitate, immediately fabricating a reason as he said,
“Yusi, Nan Yuchen and I have a special means of communication, so I know he didn’t die. That Chu Yuanbai is lying. I don’t know his purpose, but later on you must be especially careful around him. Aside from you, no one else here will believe me, so I can only rely on you.”
Luo Yusi’s massive body stiffened ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly.
A flash of disbelief passed through her compound eyes, but she quickly brought her emotions under control, merely giving a very faint nod as she transmitted back, “…I understand. You, however—be extremely careful acting on your own.”
Long Tao felt somewhat reassured.
He then took out several Low-Grade Spirit Stones and handed them to the three tree spirits.
Having received benefits, the tree spirits’ service attitude became excellent.
They immediately extended several flexible branches, weaving them together into a stable, net-like stretcher.
They carefully placed the unconscious Senior Sister Liu upon it.
Transporting her this way was far steadier than carrying her on one’s back and could minimize the risk of secondary injury.
After that, Long Tao slung his bulging pack over his back and followed behind the tree spirits carrying the net-bed, swiftly disappearing into the depths of the dim forest path.
…
When he returned to the concealed tree hollow with the tree spirits, Long Tao used the slight deflection angle of the System’s guiding arrow to roughly judge the distance to the task location.
A straight-line distance of about ten li was enough to cause that much sideways deviation in the arrow… It seemed the task location wasn’t all that far.
Long Tao felt a bit more at ease, but immediately reminded himself that this was merely a theoretical straight-line distance.
Who knew how many perilous mountains, treacherous waters, demons, and monsters lay in between?
With the tree spirits’ assistance, he carefully settled the severely injured Senior Sister Liu onto a simple bed铺ed with soft, thick leaves.
He checked her breathing—though weak, it was still relatively stable.
For the moment, her condition had stabilized, but it was far from optimistic.
That penetrating abdominal wound was simply too severe.
Even with Long Tao’s low cultivation, he could tell that even if she were fortunate enough to survive, her cultivation would inevitably stagnate for years, or might even regress—neither outcome would be surprising.
Fortunately, this Senior Sister Liu was a personally transmitted disciple of the Morning Light Peak’s Peak Master.
If she could make it back alive, the Peak Master would surely spare no expense to save her.
It wouldn’t truly be the end of her Dao path—though that Peak Master would likely become the most aggressive pro-war faction at that point.
After waiting quietly for a while longer and confirming that Senior Sister Liu’s life signs were generally stable with no signs of deterioration, Long Tao finally made up his mind.
He stood up, walked over to one of the tree spirits, and skillfully handed over a Low-Grade Spirit Stone.
“Brother Tree Spirit, let me ask you something,” he said casually, pointing in the direction indicated by the System’s arrow.
“Is there anything special about that area? For example… something relatively rare?”
The tree spirit smoothly absorbed the spirit stone into its body, very professionally refraining from asking any unnecessary questions as it answered directly,
“Oh, that direction… there’s a rather deep cold pool there. That place is basically considered public territory around here, not belonging to any single root system. I haven’t gone there myself, but I’ve heard there’s an old parasol tree growing there—extremely domineering. Almost all the surrounding spiritual energy gets monopolized by it.”
Parasol tree!
Phoenix Roosts in the Parasol!
Long Tao’s heart leapt violently.
That was it, no doubt about it! That ancient parasol tree by the cold pool was almost certainly the System-designated task check-in location—and that Azure Phoenix Egg was most likely there as well!
“So that’s how it is…” He suppressed his excitement and quietly slipped over another spirit stone, lowering his voice.
“I have some private matters and want to take a look there. I wonder… is there a relatively safer path you could point out?”
The tree spirit once again accepted the spirit stone with a smile.
Its branches and leaves trembled pleasantly as it lowered its voice in reply,
“No problem! Head straight in that direction. The first half is still within our root system’s territory—our brothers have already left markings for you, so it’ll be completely unobstructed. But after that, you’ll encounter a stream that cuts straight across your path. That river is extremely ominous and very dangerous! You have two choices. One is to detour to the right; there’s a shallower ford with gentler currents where you can cross, but the route is long, and the territory on the other side… well, it’s not very peaceful. Otherwise, you’ll have to rely on your own abilities—use whatever divine abilities or techniques you have to cross the river directly. How you choose is up to you.”
“If I can cross the river directly, is the road afterward easy?” Long Tao asked.
“If you can get across that river, then with that fire-attribute artifact you have in hand, being careful should be enough,” the tree spirit said after a pause, adding in a tone of detached clarification, “Of course… if your luck is bad and you run into people from the Wuyi Sect, then we brothers won’t be able to help you.”