After putting some space between themselves and the red leaf forest, the seven of them stopped for a rest. Because they were prepared ahead of time, the red leaf ants, though fierce, did no actual harm to them. Only Madam Feng looked pale as if she had consumed excessive spiritual aura. Perhaps the cultivation technique she used with incense was special.

　　Daoist Kumu asked, “Madam Feng, are you alright?”

　　Madam Feng swallowed a medicinal pill and shook her head. “I’m fine; it’s just that I’m running out of my spiritual aura. I’ll be okay after regulating my breaths.”

　　“Good.” Daoist Kumu looked at the others. “Let’s take turns adjusting our breaths. There’s going to be many dangers ahead, and we need to keep our spiritual aura replenished.”

　　Half a day passed, and all of them finished regulating their breaths at last. They continued to march on.

　　After passing a rocky slope, they entered a dark wood.

　　On Demonic Mountain, spiritual aura was very disordered. On the section they passed through just now, which seemed no different from Mount Yuheng, there were heaps of rocks with hardly any flowers or trees. Now, starting from the road they were traversing at the moment, grass and trees appeared again, but the color of this vegetation was a little strange. Most of it was dark green and made one feel blue.

　　Qin Xi walked beside Mo Tiange and said, “There’s spiritual aura and devil aura mixed here, so the grass and trees aren’t common spirit herbs at all.”

　　Upon hearing this, Mo Tiange took a closer look and sure enough, found that there was obscure, dark Qi in all these trees, which was clearly devil aura. No wonder the trees looked like this.

　　As they walked into the woods, Daoist Kumu stopped first and said, “Here grows the Kurong Grass, a type of a treasure. If anyone wants to collect them, go now. The devil aura’s stronger here, so we can only stay two hours at most. Subtracting travel time, there’s only one hour for you to look for the grass, so we’ll meet here in an hour.”

　　Mo Tiange turned her head and looked at Qin Xi. The latter then said, “As that’s the case, Junior Sister and I will leave first.”

　　Daoist Kumu nodded. “Okay, but don’t forget the time we’re meeting, two Fellow Daoists.”

　　Qin Xi raised his hands a bit as a goodbye salute. He looked at Mo Tiange then left the procession first.

　　Mo Tiange also gave the others a salute then turned to follow him.

　　The two walked a long way in silence then Qin Xi suddenly stopped. “Beware of Kumu and Tong Tianyun,” he said.

　　Mo Tiange was quite dumbfounded. “What have you detected, Senior Brother?”

　　Qin Xi shook his head. “I haven’t found anything suspicious so far. But I thought for a long time, and Old Man Tong must’ve prepared for this trip beforehand by trading for those ten-thousand-year-old spiritual plants. But even if he could get special magic weapons on Demonic Mountain, what would be more valuable and powerful than ten-thousand-year-old spiritual plants?”

　　Mo Tiange thought for a moment and nodded involuntarily. That was right. If they really encountered a ten-thousand-year-old spiritual plant on Demonic Mountain, it would be a very sensational event. With a ten-thousand-year-old spiritual plant, they could exchange for some spiritual objects used for advancement from Nascent Soul Cultivators, and they wouldn’t even need to enter the Demonic Mountain. What they really wanted must be more precious than ten-thousand-year-old spiritual plants!

　　“Senior Brother, are you saying that… It’s possible they’re harboring evil intentions against us?”

　　“Not necessarily,” Qin Xi said. “If they wanted something big, they don’t have to do anything to us. But we came here to advance and retreat together; if they leave us when we’re in trouble, we’ll be in danger.”

　　“…” Mo Tiange was silent for a while and asked, “As it is, we can part ways with them early, right?”

　　“…That has to be the case. Unfortunately, I can’t reach Master.” Qin Xi thought for a while and took something out of his clothes, passing it over to her. “Take this.”

　　“This…” She was handed a jade bottle with a red medicinal pill in it. It smelled strange and she had never seen anything like this before.

　　“It’s a Pill of Eight Immortals. Take it—your meridian breaths will become very disorganized for a short time, then you can act like you’re seriously wounded and can’t even walk… I’ll do the rest.”

　　Mo Tiange understood what he wanted to do now. She was actually dispensable to the team, so if she was seriously hurt, the others wouldn’t be willing to let her drag them down.

　　Without thinking about it any further, Mo Tiange swallowed the Pill of Eight Immortals silently.

　　Meanwhile, in the middle of the woods, there were also two men talking in low voices.

　　“How much time do we have?” Tong Tianyun asked.

　　Daoist Kumu did the calculations and answered, “At the earliest, we have seven days.”

　　“Seven days… It’s a very tight schedule!” Tong Tianyun sighed. “We finally got this opportunity—if we can’t make it, we’ll lose out by a lot.”

　　Daoist Kumu was quite calm. “Rest assured. We made preparations this time, and the others aren’t weak either, so we’ll be able to arrive at the Immortal’s Ruins in seven days.”

　　“Speaking of which…” A malicious expression flashed across Tong Tianyun’s gaunt face. “Madam Feng was severely injured—will she drag us down?”

　　Daoist Kumu grunted and said indifferently, “Don’t worry about that. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. After passing through the woods, we’ll reach a no-go zone. We’ll only need a little manipulation to definitively block Madam Feng!”

　　“That’ll be good.” Tong Tianyun thought for a moment and asked again, “What about Mo Qingwei? She has an excellent divine sense and has good techniques, but her cultivation level isn’t high enough yet…”

　　“She’ll pass,” Daoist Kumu said very slowly. “Just look at how Qin Shoujing treats her. He obviously values his Junior Sister a lot. If we do anything to her, I’m afraid he’ll find it out. It’s not good if he turns against us. Besides, Madam Feng was badly hurt, but Mo Qingwei kept strong the whole time, and she was a help at least. We can just leave her when we’re in trouble.” As he continued, he gave Tong Tianyun a serious look. “It was you who advised me that this Master Daoist Qingwei had good strength and wouldn’t drag us down.”

　　Tong Tianyun smiled and his gaunt face looked distorted and horrible. He nodded in agreement. “You’re right. Mo Qingwei’s cultivation level isn’t high, but she has good luck. All throughout, she actually hasn’t gotten hurt at all, and as you can see from her movements, she also has good abilities in fights of magical power.” He shook his head. “Alas, this Qin Shoujing! What place does he think Demonic Mountain is! How could he bring his Junior Sister here who’s just reached the Core Formation realm? We need to worry about not only Qin Shoujing but also his Master, Lord Daoist Jinghe. It feels like our hands and feet have been tied. What trouble!”

　　Daoist Kumu grunted and said, “Why don’t you think about it? If Mo Qingwei didn’t come, where could we have gotten a ten-thousand-year-old spiritual plant? The Crystal Soul Jades were valuable, but they weren’t anything precious to Nascent Soul Cultivators. Without the ten-thousand-year-old spiritual plant, we would have no bargaining power!”

　　“Well… That’s true.” Tong Tianyun was persuaded by Daoist Kumu, but after thinking for a moment, he seemed a little confused and asked, “Do you feel this Mo Qingwei is a little familiar?”

　　“What?” Daoist Kumu didn’t take him seriously and said offhandedly, “Could she be similar to your old lover?”

　　Tong Tianyun grunted. “Having such an indescribable face like me, where could I get an old lover? Don’t you really think she looks familiar? Especially during fights of magical power?”

　　As he spoke, Daoist Kumu also remembered something. “She seems a little bit familiar. But isn’t she an elite disciple of Xuanqing School? She’s very young and has just entered the Core Formation realm, so she presumably must’ve been cultivating on Mount Taikang the whole time. How’s it possible that we met her before?”

　　“We haven’t necessarily met her in person…” Tong Tianyun said as he thought. “I think… I once met someone who seemed similar to her.”

　　“Similar?” Daoist Kumu also thought for a while and shook his head. “I don’t have any recollection. Her last name is Mo, and we don’t seem to know any cultivators whose last name is Mo.”

　　Tong Tianyun continued thinking for a while but couldn’t remember anything special. As he was about to say something, his divine sense suddenly felt someone approaching, and he immediately said, “Someone’s back!”

　　Not long after, a man emerged from the dense forest. When they saw him, they were both surprised.

　　Qin Xi’s face was so pale that he didn’t have the strength to greet them. He put Mo Tiange down and fed her a medicinal pill first then felt her pulse, frowning.

　　“Fellow Daoist Shoujing, what happened?” Daoist Kumu asked first.

　　Qin Xi didn’t raise his head. “We encountered demonic beasts.”

　　Although he only answered one sentence, the other two looked at each other and saw surprise in each other’s eyes.

　　Mo Tiange was injured, obviously. Her chest was covered with blood, her face was pale, and her breath was faint. She looked badly injured.

　　Tong Tianyun also reached out his hand to feel Mo Tiange’s pulse. He frowned tightly. Her meridians were too disorderly! He eyed Daoist Kumu and both fell into silence.

　　Madam Feng was also injured but could still move freely. Mo Tiange, on the other hand, looked as if she’d lost half her life, and her injuries were much more serious than Madam Feng!

　　Qin Xi didn’t seem to see anything and was a little anxious. He held Mo Tiange and asked in a light voice. “Junior Sister, how are you feeling?”

　　Mo Tiange opened her eyes with difficulty then closed them immediately. She could only shake her head lightly.

　　“Don’t worry,” Qin Xi said. His voice had never been so gentle. “Adjust your breath, and when we get out of the woods later on, we’ll find a place and heal your wounds.”

　　Upon hearing this, Daoist Kumu and Tong Tianyun looked at each other, their expressions a little strange. Was Qin Shoujing trying to delay them again?

　　“Ahem!” Daoist Kumu cleared his throat and said, “Fellow Daoist Shoujing, how could your Junior Sister be so badly injured?”

　　Qin Xi didn’t raise his head. “It’s no use saying that now. Fellow Daoists, let’s get out of the woods quickly. And you don’t have to worry—I’ll take care of my Junior Sister myself!”

　　“…” The two stopped talking and made eye contact, both slightly unhappy. They all understood what Qin Xi meant. He was telling them that he’d never give up his Junior Sister by saying something like that.

　　A while later, Lei Dongqing, Madam Feng, and Jing Xingzhi all returned one after another. They were all startled to see Mo Tiange in such a state.

　　“What’s going on?”

　　Qin Xi’s expression was indifferent and he looked around with his head up. “Everyone’s back now, so let’s go.”

　　“Fellow Daoist Shoujing!” Daoist Kumu finally opened his mouth. “Your Junior Sister has been so badly wounded; are you going to carry her?”

　　Qin Xi swept his gaze over him and his voice sounded a little cloudy. “What do you mean by saying that, Fellow Daoist Kumu? You want me to leave my junior sister here?”

　　“Of course not,” Daoist Kumu denied it hurriedly. “It’s just… Your junior sister will certainly not recover from her injuries in a little while. If you persist, I’m afraid she’ll get worse.”

　　Qin Xi’s expression lightened a bit and he asked, “So… What do you have in mind, Fellow Daoist?”

　　Seeing that he had no inclination of getting angry, Daoist Kumu continued, “I have an idea and I wonder what you might think about it. Fellow Daoist Shoujing, we’ve only been on Demonic Mountain for about two days, and most of the time has been spent on other things. Fellow Daoist, if you take your junior sister out of Demonic Mountain now, it’ll cost one day at most. Since that’s the case, why don’t you take her back then return?”

　　As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Xi sneered and said, “That’s a really good idea. When it comes down to it, you still think my junior sister will drag you down, don’t you?”

　　“That’s not what Fellow Daoist Kumu meant.” Tong Tianyun picked up the topic and his hoarse voice sounded a little sharp. “Fellow Daoist, think about it for yourself. Master Daoist Qingwei has been hurt so badly—what would happen if you continued?”

　　“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll protect her!”

　　“Fellow Daoist Shoujing!” Seeing that he was so stubborn, Daoist Kumu also got angry. “We entered Demonic Mountain to hunt for treasure! If you have to carry your junior sister like this, what can we do?”

　　Qin Xi didn’t answer then; he just looked at everybody before him indifferently. Daoist Kumu and Tong Tianyun stood firm, Madam Feng and Lei Dongqing shifted their eyes away, and Jing Xingzhi just sighed with a little regret without looking at him.

　　Their attitudes were obvious and he didn’t have to say anything more.

　　“I understand.” Finally Qin Xi opened his mouth. As Daoist Kumu and Tong Tianyun breathed sighs of relief and thought he was going to accept their suggestion, they heard him say, “You’re still worried about getting implicated. As it is, go your separate ways. We’ll have nothing to do with you then.”

　　“You…” Everyone was stunned. Daoist Kumu blurt out, “Fellow Daoist Shoujing, don’t be so impulsive. Aren’t you killing yourself by carrying your junior sister alone?”

　　“I survived more than eighty years ago, let alone today.” Qin Xi’s voice was flat but carried a sense of pride. “Goodbye then, comrades.”

　　As he said that, he ignored the rest of them and held Mo Tiange in his arms, walking straight out of the woods.