Lu Sangjiu was puzzled. No one answered, but she did hear the roar of a demon beast.
'Whoa... Judging by the sound of it, this seems like some serious trouble.'
'Lu Sangjiu hesitated for a moment... Since there was trouble, maybe she should just let Qin Yu handle it and wait here?'
'But she was also curious who else might be here. After all, this was supposed to be Ye Zhiyao's destined opportunity. Their presence was already an unforeseen complication, so if someone else was here, would that be another one?'
With this in mind, Lu Sangjiu decided not to wait and instead quickened her pace, heading forward.
A moment later, she finally emerged from the narrow passage, and the view before her opened up.
Before her was a large stone cavern. Faint light filtered down from cracks in the ceiling, just enough to see the place clearly.
Lu Sangjiu saw Qin Yu, and with him, a demon beast as tall as two men that he was locked in combat with.
She recognized the demon beast as a Four-eyed White Ape, a Fifth Rank creature equivalent to a Late-stage Golden Core Cultivator.
Demon beasts have powerful physiques, and this one was particularly ferocious, fighting on even terms with Qin Yu, who was also at the Late-stage of Golden Core.
Lu Sangjiu glanced over briefly, confirming that Qin Yu wasn't on the verge of defeat, then shifted her gaze to the other person in the cavern.
Not far in front of her, a man in green robes leaned against a rock. The corners of his lips were stained with blood; he appeared to be seriously injured.
The man looked ordinary, yet he exuded an aura of compassion and serenity. One glance was enough to make you think he had to be a good person.
Lu Sangjiu, however, sensed that he seemed to be using some sort of appearance-altering Magic Treasure.
The Magic Treasure was of a high level; even with her Divine Sense, which was comparable to that of a Divinity Transformation Cultivator, she could only faintly perceive a hint of it.
'As for his cultivation, Lu Sangjiu judged it to be at the Golden Core Early Stage at most. Is he hiding his cultivation level too?'
Perhaps sensing her gaze, the man suddenly looked over at her.
Their eyes met, and the man gave her a kind smile.
Though his features were utterly ordinary, for some reason, his smile was inexplicably charming.
Lu Sangjiu paused for a second, then flashed him an innocent and harmless smile. "May I ask your name, friend? And why are you here?"
The man coughed twice as soon as he opened his mouth. After catching his breath, he answered good-naturedly, "My name is Xie Ningyuan. I came here to eliminate a demon."
"However, I ended up here by accident and then had the misfortune of running into this demon beast. I fought it for a long time but was seriously injured and couldn't defeat it. Thankfully, I met that gentleman over there who came to my aid."
He was referring to Qin Yu.
'Qin Yu was a strange one,' Lu Sangjiu thought. 'He only seems to get radical when it comes to Ye Zhiyao, to the point he'd even want to kill me, a fellow member of his own sect.'
'Yet now, faced with a complete stranger, he's showing his kind side and is willing to lend a hand.'
Lu Sangjiu didn't pay much mind to Qin Yu. Instead, she mulled over the name "Xie Ningyuan," confirming that she had never heard it before. There was no such supporting male character in the novel.
'He seems to be just some random background character.'
'But he's hiding his face, so the name Xie Ningyuan might not be real either.'
With that in mind, Lu Sangjiu asked, "Were you trying to catch that Flower Demon?"
Xie Ningyuan hummed in affirmation. "Yes, but she ambushed me and pushed me in here."
'It suddenly dawned on Lu Sangjiu. So that was it! The Flower Demon hadn't gone through the middle of the three cave entrances. She knew Xie Ningyuan was in there, which is why she only gave them the two side paths as options.'
'In that case, his presence here was perfectly logical.'
While the two of them chatted as if no one else was there, Qin Yu was still locked in a bitter struggle.
The Four-eyed White Ape's hide was incredibly thick, making it difficult for ordinary attacks to cause any damage. As a result, Qin Yu was struggling.
He was fighting for his life, yet when he glanced back, he saw the two of them casually chatting as if he weren't there. He felt a surge of rage, almost enough to make him cough up blood.
Unable to hold it in any longer, he gritted his teeth and yelled, "Lu Sangjiu, what are you spacing out for? Get over here and help!"
Lu Sangjiu was a little surprised that Qin Yu would actually ask for her help.
'He can't even beat a Fifth Rank Four-eyed White Ape... This Qin Yu really isn't all that.'
"Senior Brother Qin, I'd love to help, but I'm only in the Early-stage of Foundation Establishment! Not only would I be useless, but it would be terrible if I just ended up getting in your way!"
Lu Sangjiu put on a look of deep concern for Qin Yu. "How about this? I'll help Mr. Xie heal first. Once he's a bit better, I'll have him go help you, okay? Senior Brother Qin, just hang in there! I believe in you!"
Qin Yu: "..."
'Damn it all! By the time that guy's done healing, the grass on my grave will be six feet tall!'
But Lu Sangjiu did exactly as she said. She walked over to Xie Ningyuan, took out an Elixir Pill, and offered it to him warmly. "Here, Mr. Xie, please don't be a stranger. Our meeting here is fate. From now on, we'll have to support each other if we want to get out of here in one piece."
When he saw the First-rank Elixir, the smile on Xie Ningyuan's face seemed to freeze for an instant.
Lu Sangjiu pretended not to notice, saying with utter sincerity, "What are you waiting for? Take it."
"Or are you too weak to move? I can feed it to you if you want!"
As she spoke, she actually made a move as if she were about to feed him the pill.
"That won't be necessary." Xie Ningyuan took the Elixir Pill. His expression no longer showed the slightest hint of anything being wrong; instead, he said gratefully, "Thank you so much, Miss Lu."
Lu Sangjiu replied, "Don't mention it! It's the least I could do!"
The two of them faced each other, playing out this "deeply moving" scene as if they were the only two people in the world.
Qin Yu finally exploded. "...Even if you're going to treat his wounds, can you hurry it up?! What are you dawdling for?!"
Now he couldn't stand the sight of Xie Ningyuan either and was even starting to regret his impulsive decision to help him in the first place.
Xie Ningyuan didn't get angry at being rushed. Instead, he spoke apologetically, "My apologies, Mr. Qin. I'll be as quick as I can."
He said he'd be quick, but he moved in a slow, deliberate manner, even taking the time to straighten his robes.
After a good while, he finally closed his eyes and began circulating the Spiritual Power throughout his body.
Lu Sangjiu blinked. 'This Xie Ningyuan... why do I get the feeling something's off about him?'
Seeing Xie Ningyuan begin to circulate his energy to heal, Lu Sangjiu felt she couldn't just stand there and do nothing.
So she stood protectively in front of him and declared loudly, "Mr. Xie, please heal in peace! I'll stand guard for you right here!"
Qin Yu: "..."
'Stand guard against what?!' he raged internally. 'Have you seen this massive demon beast come anywhere near your little corner?!'
The pressure from the Four-eyed White Ape was mounting, and on top of that, he was absolutely infuriated by Lu Sangjiu and the other man. Qin Yu finally snapped.
This time, without another word, he charged directly toward the two of them!
'To hell with it! If I'm going to die, they're dying first!'