"Cough, cough…" Xie Zhaolin let out a muffled groan that vibrated deep in her chest, forcibly swallowing the thick, metallic taste of copper rising in her throat. Forcibly resisting the repulsive force of the group teleportation formation earlier had still caused a sharp backlash within her meridians, no matter how controlled she had been during the ordeal.
"Group teleportation... and it was directional," Ling Chuan said, his expression darkening as shadows pooled in the hollows of his face. "It looks like they weren't without a backup plan. That Liu Shaoyu was probably the real... the true trump card of that team."
Her precise block and the ruthless decisiveness with which she activated the teleportation talisman were things no ordinary disciple could have pulled off.
"…As expected," Xie Zhaolin said. She lifted her hand and whipped aside a rotting bone lizard that had seized the chance to pounce, the creature's dry ribs shattering against the force of her strike.
That teleportation item had clearly come from Yu Xiaotang's hands. It was likely a one-way tool only, able to send them to a pre-marked safe point. That explained why Yu Xiaotang had dared to order those disciples to hold their ground to the death. They really did have a way out.
"This place isn't suitable to stay in," Ling Chuan said, his eyes glancing around at the carnage. With their targets gone, some of the beasts had started tearing into each other with wet snarls, while more of them turned their bloodthirsty, glowing gazes toward the two living humans left behind.
"Go!" Xie Zhaolin decided instantly. She raised her hand, her palm striking the trembling disciple on the ground to knock her out. She grabbed the woman's collar and moved in sync with Ling Chuan. Taking advantage of the brief chaos caused by the beasts switching their targets, they carved a bloody path out through the ranks of monsters and quickly withdrew from the area.
With their captive in tow, the two traveled through the jagged crags and heavy mists of the Bewildering Soul Rift Valley for about two ke (around 30 minutes) before finally finding a relatively hidden cave tucked behind a screen of withered vines.
A heavy thud echoed as Xie Zhaolin tossed the unconscious disciple to the cold ground. She pointed a finger and sent a thin, sharp strand of spiritual energy into the woman's body to rouse her.
"Uh… cough, cough…" The disciple slowly woke up, her eyelids fluttering. When she clearly saw the two people standing in front of her, her whole body jolted in a spasm of terror. "D… don't kill me… please… I don't know anything! I was just following orders…"
Xie Zhaolin studied her, her eyes scanning the woman's features.
She had some impression of this face. In her previous life, back when she was in the Hehuan Sect, this woman had been named Su Yue. Her aptitude had been decent enough, but her mind had always been quick and slippery like shifting sand. She was best at reading the wind and switching sides, always leaning toward whoever looked stronger. A textbook fence-sitter.
Xie Zhaolin hadn't expected her to come along this time too, and to be unlucky enough—or perhaps lucky enough—to end up captured by her.
"Su Yue," Xie Zhaolin called her name, her voice flat.
Su Yue's body stiffened, the terror deepening until the color drained from her face. "Y… you know… how do you know… it's… me…"
"Cut the nonsense," Xie Zhaolin interrupted, her patience thin. "Where did that teleportation formation just send you?"
"I… I don't know…" Su Yue cried, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "That was Senior Sister Liu… Liu Shaoyu was in charge of it. Only she knows where the point was set."
"What kind of person is Liu Shaoyu? Why was she entrusted with something that important?" Ling Chuan asked coldly from the side, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"Senior Sister Liu was appointed as the deputy commander by the Sect Master herself…"
She answered quickly, and the raw fear in her eyes didn't seem fake. That reaction fit Xie Zhaolin's impression of her as a fence-sitter who feared death above all else.
Xie Zhaolin and Ling Chuan exchanged a silent look.
"Then Yu Xiaotang," Xie Zhaolin asked the most crucial question, "your Young Sect Master. Where is she now?"
However, the instant the words "Yu Xiaotang" left her mouth, Su Yue's body suddenly went rigid. Her face turned even paler, but at that moment, a subtle change flickered through her eyes—a glint of something that wasn't fear.
"I… I don't know the Young Sect Master's… her whereabouts. I…" She lowered her head. Her voice was still trembling, but her tone was surprisingly firm.
"Oh?" Xie Zhaolin's gaze sharpened like a blade. "Say that again."
"I don't know where the Young Sect Master is," Su Yue repeated. Her body trembled slightly, but this time it didn't seem to be from fear. She just kept shaking her head as large, heavy tears fell to the cave floor.
"Not talking?" Ling Chuan raised a brow. The Frostscar Sword appeared silently in his hand, the frigid blade resting against Su Yue's shoulder. "My patience is limited."
"I… I really don't know…" Su Yue closed her eyes. Tears slid from the corners, but her lips were pressed tightly together until they turned white.
Slash!
A flash of cold sword light filled the cave, followed by a spray of hot blood.
"Ah!" Su Yue let out a shrill scream that tore through the silence. Her left arm was severed cleanly at the shoulder. The limb fell to the ground with a wet sound, and the wound instantly froze over with white rime from the frost. No blood gushed out after the initial spray, but the pain was so intense it nearly made her pass out.
"Speak. Where is Yu Xiaotang? How do you contact her? What is she planning next?" Ling Chuan's sword tip slowly moved to her remaining arm, the coldness of the steel biting into her skin.
Su Yue convulsed in agony, her face devoid of all color. Yet she bit down hard on her lips, even drawing blood from the force of her teeth. When she looked at Xie Zhaolin and Ling Chuan, the pain was still there, but a resolute determination slowly surfaced in her gaze.
She kept shaking her head. Hoarse, guttural sounds came from her throat, but she refused to say another word.
Xie Zhaolin frowned deeply.
Something was wrong. It was very wrong.
This Su Yue, who had been infamous in her previous life for fence-sitting and fearing death, shouldn't have been able to endure the pain of losing an arm while still clinging so stubbornly to information about Yu Xiaotang.
Had her loyalty to Yu Xiaotang really reached such a level? Was it enough to crush her fear of death? Was it enough to turn someone who always followed the wind into someone this unyielding?
"It looks like you have made up your mind to protect her," Xie Zhaolin said, her voice unreadable. "That's a shame. Anything I want to know, I will know."
She raised both hands. Her fingers moved rapidly in a blur of motion, forming a complex and eerie black hand seal that seemed to swallow the light.
A slave contract.
She was going to forcibly brand Su Yue's Primordial Soul, turning her into an absolutely obedient slave. At that point, whether she wanted to speak or not would no longer be up to her.
Feeling the terrifying enslavement power contained within the black seal, fear finally reappeared in Su Yue's eyes.
"Don't even think about it… don't even think about controlling me! Don't even think about making me betray the Young Sect Master…"
"You don't get to choose."
Just as that dark glow was about to touch Su Yue's brow—
"Ah!"
Su Yue suddenly let out a scream of pure agony. An extremely violent spiritual energy fluctuation erupted from her sealed dantian and qi sea, the pressure building instantly!
"Not good! She is going to self-detonate!" Ling Chuan's face changed drastically. "How is that possible? Her cultivation was clearly sealed by me!"
Xie Zhaolin's pupils shrank as well. She hadn't expected Su Yue to choose such a decisive method to trigger self-detonation at this moment.
"Want me to betray the Young Sect Master… keep dreaming!" Su Yue forced out the words through clenched teeth, her eyes bulging.
"Retreat!"
The two figures shot backward instantly, pushing their defenses to the limit at the same time.
Black baleful qi surged around Xie Zhaolin, forming layers upon layers of protective shields. The Jingxiao Ribbon coiled back around her, wrapping her tightly in its shimmering fabric. Around Ling Chuan, icy blue spiritual light exploded outward, instantly condensing into a thick, massive mystic ice shield in front of him.
Boom!
An earth-shaking explosion roared through the mountain ravine, the sound deafening.
The full self-detonation of a Golden Core cultivator was no small matter. Violent spiritual energy torrents swept outward, obliterating and flinging away surrounding rocks and trees. The entire ravine shook violently as smoke and dust soared into the sky in a massive plume.
At the center of the explosion, Su Yue's figure had already been reduced to dust. Her Primordial Soul was completely destroyed, leaving nothing behind.
"Pfft!"
Xie Zhaolin and Ling Chuan had retreated quickly and activated their defenses in time, but the power of the detonation far exceeded their expectations. Especially within it was a strange, violent energy that seemed to specifically target Primordial Souls and spiritual energy.
The two were struck as if by a heavy blow. Their bodies were hurled away and smashed hard into the mountain wall dozens of zhang away, sending rocks raining down on them.
"Cough, cough, cough…" Ling Chuan propped himself up with his sword, coughing violently as he stared in disbelief at the deep, smoking crater.
"She… she actually… self-detonated? Just to avoid revealing Yu Xiaotang's whereabouts?" That completely overturned his understanding of her character.
"Yu Xiaotang…" Xie Zhaolin said quietly, her gaze dark. "What did you actually do to these disciples?"