"Ah, you should have said so earlier!"
She almost walked away, and if she had, this man would have been dead for sure.
Yao Ranyan placed one hand above his bleeding wound, and a cool stream of spiritual energy slowly seeped into his body.
Meng Xiangxiang was stunned to feel changes happening inside him. In the next instant, his ghostly body was restored, shifting into the form of a twelve-year-old boy.
"Mhm, now this looks much better!"
Yao Ranyan admired her handiwork with satisfaction. From the very first time she saw Meng Xiangxiang, she noticed that the aura around him resembled the violent spiritual energy at the foot of Gu Ling Mountain.
With her intervention, she could easily filter out the exact kind of spiritual energy Meng Xiangxiang needed, allowing her to heal his grave injuries and restore his body.
Meng Xiangxiang froze, then jumped to his feet in disbelief.
"I… I'm really healed?"
He had thought he would never wake again, that he would die without avenging his mother and little brother.
Yao Ranyan rested a hand on his shoulder and spoke with quiet gravity. "Young one, you must cherish your life. A hard life is still better than a good death. I hope that after this calamity, you will learn to value your existence."
Meng Xiangxiang: "…"
"But… I've always cherished my life!"
This time, he had truly misjudged. This woman was not only incredibly strong, her healing techniques were profound. She had to be a high-level alchemist!
"Brother Fu, Brother Fu, don't scare Qiao Qiao like this…"
Not far away, Pei Xianqiao's sobbing voice continued without pause.
Elder Shang stood nearby, half worried, half irritated. This little girl was good in every way, except for one fatal flaw: Shen Yuefu. If only there was some method to sever her love root.
Elder Shang glanced around irritably, then suddenly widened his eyes.
Yao Ranyan was also taken aback.
From what she knew, Elder Shang was always cautious when staying by Pei Xianqiao's side. Whenever he left with her, he would hide his presence with a concealment technique.
Why had he forgotten this time?
What should she do now? Should she expose the heroine's secret?
Yao Ranyan drew in a deep breath.
Forget it, better to act like she hadn't seen anything.
She and Elder Shang deliberately shifted their gazes away from one another.
"…Did it just feel like that woman saw me?"
Elder Shang's eyelids twitched, and he looked aside in alarm. But when his divine sense swept past and saw Yao Ranyan's vacant gaze, as if she had seen nothing at all, he finally let out a breath of relief.
"Hahaha… I've really stayed in this lower realm too long. No matter how capable that girl is, she couldn't possibly see through my true body!"
Elder Shang muttered and laughed aloud, only to receive a puzzled stare from Pei Xianqiao.
"Ha… ahem, my throat feels a little uncomfortable. I was just laughing to clear it!"
He explained awkwardly.
Yao Ranyan pressed her lips together, struggling not to laugh.
"Yao Ranyan? Why are you here?" Pei Xianqiao finally noticed her, missing Elder Shang's shadow completely.
Yao Ranyan gave her a calm glance. "Just out for a walk. You two carry on."
She turned to leave.
"Stop right there!" Pei Xianqiao shouted.
But Yao Ranyan didn't slow. She knew Pei Xianqiao wouldn't dare chase her.
"Pei Daoyou, your Brother Fu seems to have been poisoned by something strange. He won't be able to leave your side."
Her voice drifted lazily as she walked into the night mist.
"You… Brother Fu!" Pei Xianqiao stamped her foot and hurried back to Shen Yuefu.
"Go… go after her!" Shen Yuefu weakly picked up his dimmed immortal sword and forced himself upright.
Pei Xianqiao hesitated as she looked at Yao Ranyan's receding figure. Elder Shang's eyes flashed with cold light. "I will go after her."
His ethereal body flickered and vanished into pursuit.
Pei Xianqiao turned back, wanting to support Shen Yuefu, but he coldly pushed her away.
…
"Fairy Sister, which sect are you from?" Meng Xiangxiang followed Yao Ranyan closely, trying to probe her true cultivation.
Without turning her head, Yao Ranyan replied, "No sect, no faction. Just a loose cultivator."
"A loose cultivator?" Meng Xiangxiang's pupils trembled.
How could such a beautiful loose cultivator appear in Central Domin, and yet he had never heard a single rumor about her?
Could she be deceiving him? Or perhaps… perhaps she couldn't reveal her true identity?
Out of trust for Yao Ranyan, Meng Xiangxiang leaned toward the latter thought.
"Fairy Sister's background must be extremely noble!"
"So this is the entrance to the Ancient Forest?" Yao Ranyan asked as she stared at the dense thickets ahead.
Meng Xiangxiang nodded. "That's right. Fairy Sister, you shouldn't take risks. Let me go first. I sneaked in once before, so I know the path fairly well."
Yao Ranyan gave him an approving nod. "Good thing you're here."
Meng Xiangxiang carefully squeezed into the thickets, a flicker of joy in his heart.
If he could help this fairy enter the stone hut within the forbidden grounds and obtain those spirit stones, maybe she would consider him useful enough to help him avenge his family!Clutching this thought, he pushed forward with determination.
Behind him, Yao Ranyan activated her defensive shield and walked into the thorny branches without hesitation.
"Where are they going?" Elder Shang narrowed his eyes.
With a wave of his hand, the thickets parted to open a path, and he floated inside.
"Fairy Sister, these thickets are cruel. No matter how strong your shield, they'll tear it apart. Please be careful!"
Unable to turn around, Meng Xiangxiang could only shout his warning as he crawled ahead.
Yao Ranyan tilted her head. "What if there was an endless supply of shields?"
Meng Xiangxiang managed a faint smile. "Even then, Fairy Sister, keeping a shield up consumes spiritual power. Everyone only has so much. It can't all be wasted on this path."
Yao Ranyan nodded. "You're right. Best to have several layers of defense ready for a place like this."
She sighed. "A pity my robe can only protect me. It won't help you."
Meng Xiangxiang blinked, puzzled, and stole a glance back. "Fairy Sister doesn't need to protect me…"
But when he caught sight of what lay behind, his eyes nearly popped out.
"Fairy Sister, does your robe have… multiple layers of defensive shields?"
Yao Ranyan thought about it. "It should have quite a few."
Given her current mastery of artifact refinement, this robe was a fifth-tier spiritual treasure. The number of shields was naturally far beyond ordinary.
Meng Xiangxiang sucked in a sharp breath. He understood. "This robe was definitely no ordinary item, at least a first-tier spiritual treasure! Fairy Sister was unbelievably wealthy!"
He immediately cursed himself for his earlier blindness. Compared to the yellow-robed woman's attire, Fairy Sister's robe was clearly far superior. And yet he had nearly abandoned such a powerful person to beg help from those two weaklings, almost throwing his life away!
With this thought, Meng Xiangxiang pushed forward even harder, crawling with renewed vigor.
At a fork in the thickets, Elder Shang frowned at the three branching paths before him.
"Hmph, did you think this could shake me off?"
His palms twisted as he bent space itself, fusing the three paths into one. His figure blurred like the wind as he slipped inside.