Chapter 249 - 128: Yu Xiaoqian
BOOM!
Just then, the ground by Yu Xiaoqian’s feet suddenly exploded, sending dirt flying.
A female corpse in a red dress, her face ashen white as paper, shot out from the ground without warning. With a shrill roar, it spread its sharp claws and lunged at Yu Xiaoqian.
"Miss, look out!"
Jiang Mu shouted and dashed forward in a single bound, shoving Yu Xiaoqian aside.
The red-clothed corpse missed its target but tackled Jiang Mu to the ground instead.
ROAR!
The corpse opened its cavernous mouth and bit down hard on Jiang Mu’s neck.
"Aaargh!!"
Jiang Mu let out a pained scream and his body convulsed.
Yu Xiaoqian stumbled a few steps from the push. When she came to her senses and saw the scene, she was utterly stunned.
"Where did this zombie come from?!"
Her reaction was extremely fast. With a flick of her slender hand, she gathered a dense ball of dark energy in her palm and struck the red-clothed corpse’s back.
BANG!
The corpse cried out in pain as it was hit, its body instantly turning to ash and scattering in the night wind.
’So professional.’
Lying on the ground watching the corpse dissipate, Jiang Mu silently gave Ji Hongyuan a thumbs-up in his mind.
Yu Xiaoqian had no time to think. She rushed to Jiang Mu’s side, helped him up, and asked anxiously,
"Hey, bookworm, are you okay?"
Jiang Mu’s face was rapidly turning ashen, his lips purple, and his body stiff.
He shook his head, trembling, and said weakly,
"I... I’m fine... Miss... you should go..."
Yu Xiaoqian glanced at the two dark bite marks on his neck, then at the rapidly spreading corpse spots, and cried out in alarm,
"Oh no, you’ve been afflicted with corpse poison!"
"It’s nothing..."
Jiang Mu was barely breathing.
Around the two dark bite marks, purplish-black venom spread rapidly through his blood vessels like a spiderweb—a shocking sight.
"Who told you to play the hero?"
The girl was both anxious and angry. "Aren’t you a scholar? Didn’t you know how powerful that zombie was? To risk your life to save a ghost like me... you’re such an idiot."
Jiang Mu’s eyes were shut tight, but inwardly, he was rolling them.
’This Ji Hongyuan really doesn’t know how to pull her punches. We might be acting, but this corpse poison is the real deal.’
’It hurts like hell.’
’And this silly ghost, stop wasting time crying and scolding me.’
’Just hurry up and take me away already.’
Yu Xiaoqian bit her lower lip, her gaze softening as she looked at Jiang Mu’s face, which was still handsome despite being deathly pale.
No one had ever treated her like this before.
Even back when she was alive, men had only ever coveted her for her beauty.
Only this fool...
He was willing to give up his own life to save her.
"Brace yourself!"
Yu Xiaoqian raised her slender, jade-like hand. A ball of icy Netherworld Ghost Qi gathered in her palm.
SMACK!
She slapped her palm against Jiang Mu’s chest.
The Ghost Qi entered his body, instantly transforming into several streams of cold energy that sealed off his heart meridian and major acupoints. It forcibly froze the rampaging corpse poison within his meridians, preventing it from reaching his heart.
"Ugh..."
Jiang Mu grunted, arching his back to play along.
And then he "fainted" completely.
Seeing Jiang Mu pass out, Yu Xiaoqian wasted no more time and hoisted him onto her back.
A normal person with no Cultivation Level couldn’t last long against corpse poison. Her only choice was to take him back to the shrine, where there was something that could neutralize it.
But if she took him back...
Yu Xiaoqian’s eyes darted around for a moment before she gritted her teeth. "I’ll take him back first and figure it out later."
Jiang Mu’s head lolled onto her slender shoulder, his warm breath tickling her cold ear.
"Heavy as a pig..."
she muttered under her breath. With a light tap of her toes, she transformed into a white shadow and shot off toward the depths of the dense forest.
She weaved left and right through the mountain woods.
After about fifteen minutes, she stopped in front of an ancient locust tree.
The old locust tree was long dead. Its trunk, blackened and cracked, resembled a monster baring its fangs and claws in the night.
Jiang Mu secretly cracked open his eyes to observe.
He saw Yu Xiaoqian, still carrying him, begin to circle the dead locust tree with a solemn expression.
First, she circled it three times to the left.
Then, she circled it three times back to the right.
The moment she completed the final lap, something strange happened.
The surface of the dark, dead trunk suddenly began to glow faintly. Then, the space around it seemed to turn into a water’s surface, rippling with visible, transparent waves.
An invisible, watery barrier materialized out of thin air.
"We’re here."
Yu Xiaoqian whispered. Without a moment’s hesitation, she stepped through the watery barrier with Jiang Mu on her back.
BZZZ—
The moment he passed through the barrier, Jiang Mu felt the light and shadows before his eyes distort.
When his vision cleared,
the scene before him had changed completely.
The gloomy, dark forest was gone, replaced by a deep, hidden valley.
Mist drifted through the valley, and the air was filled with the fragrance of flowers.
By the light of the strange, glowing rocks and plants in the valley, Jiang Mu could see his surroundings clearly.
Both sides of the valley were covered in all sorts of bizarre flowers.
Some had petals twisted like human faces.
Others had long, thin tendrils extending from their stamens, while some were blood-red all over, as if they had just drunk their fill of fresh blood.
And in the deepest part of the valley stood a great black hall,
built into the mountainside. With its flying eaves and bracketed roof, it resembled a giant beast lying dormant in the darkness.
Above the hall, dark clouds pressed down, and demonic energy soared into the sky.
’Whoa, it really is a whole new world in here!’
Jiang Mu was secretly amazed.
’No wonder the Demon-slaying Bureau failed in their previous attempts to encircle this place; they couldn’t even find hide nor hair of it.’
’Not only is the entrance protected by a sophisticated illusion array, but it also requires a specific sequence of steps to open. Without a guide, even a Fifth Realm master would probably just end up wandering around aimlessly outside.’