It was only then that Lu Sangjiu understood. 'So he's talking about that reckless Old Monster Long who tried to kill me, only to get himself killed by me instead?'
'Hmm, so his name is Mo Long. I thought he was just called Old Monster Long.'
Qin Yu, however, didn't notice the change in Lu Sangjiu's expression at all. His face ashen, he continued, "If this is really the cave of a Body Integration Realm Demon Cultivator, then this trip... I'm afraid we'll be lucky to get out of here alive."
Lu Sangjiu wasn't worried about their chances of survival. She was simply curious about something else.
"...Since you said the Ruishui River was later occupied by the Moon Palace, and the Moon Palace's Palace Master is dead, why don't you suspect it's her? Why are you so sure it must be that Mo Long fellow?"
Qin Yu shot her a contemptuous look. "Obviously! She was the Palace Master of the Moon Palace, a top-tier Demon Cultivator at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage!"
"Look how shabby this cave is. How could it possibly belong to her?"
Lu Sangjiu: "..."
For a moment, she wasn't sure if he was complimenting her or insulting her.
After a moment of silence, Lu Sangjiu gave up on discussing the matter with Qin Yu any further.
She looked at the Weak Water Pond before them. "Let's not scare ourselves. We should use this time to figure out how to get past this."
Qin Yu had been agitated by his own speculation and had become quite talkative, but now, facing the Weak Water Pond, he fell silent once more.
Lu Sangjiu seized the opportunity to shoot a contemptuous look back at him. "Tsk, you're completely useless."
Goaded by her, Qin Yu frowned. "If you're so useful, then you come up with a plan!"
Lu Sangjiu raised an eyebrow. "Who said I haven't?"
With that, she took out the small bottle of Spirit-killing Water she'd just acquired and gave Qin Yu a small smile. "Take a guess. Does the Ruishui River contain Spiritual Energy?"
Qin Yu: "..."
He was stunned.
'That's... that's right. From a certain perspective, the Ruishui River is also a type of water that contains Spiritual Energy. Wouldn't that mean it's also vulnerable to Spirit-killing Water?'
'Who would have thought? The very Spirit-killing Water that was such a headache for them earlier was the key to this trial!'
But he quickly raised an objection. "Even if the Spirit-killing Water can consume the Ruishui River, it will produce a toxic liquid. We still won't be able to enter the water!"
Lu Sangjiu couldn't stand him anymore. "Senior Brother Qin, your head isn't just a decoration. Just because I happen to be brilliant doesn't mean you can get away with not using yours, right?"
"As long as it's not the Ruishui River anymore, you can just toss your turtle shell into the middle. We can use it as a stepping stone to leap across. Won't that be easy?"
Qin Yu: "..."
He wanted to argue, but it was true that he hadn't used his brain. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of something so simple.
So, after holding it in for a long moment, he could only manage a single retort. "...It's not my turtle shell! I just found it!"
Lu Sangjiu gave him an elegant eye-roll and ignored him, pouring the small bottle of Spirit-killing Water directly into the Ruishui River.
In an instant, the pond was as if it had been brought to a sudden boil, and the entire surface began to seethe!
A gas rose from the surface, carrying a wave of heat that rushed straight toward their faces!
Qin Yu's expression changed drastically. He scrambled back a few steps and hastily summoned a Protective Shield.
The gas, however, was highly toxic and began to corrode even the Protective Shield. He had to continuously summon new shields without a moment's rest, and only after a good while did he manage to last until it ended.
As he let out a sigh of relief, he finally remembered Lu Sangjiu.
'If I was forced into such a sorry state, wouldn't Lu Sangjiu be dead for sure? I didn't hear her scream, though...'
Puzzled, Qin Yu glanced to his side, but he didn't see anyone.
'Could the toxic gas have corroded even her corpse?'
Just as he was thinking that, Lu Sangjiu suddenly peeked out from behind him. "It should be over now, right?"
Qin Yu: ???
He froze for a second, then whipped around. Seeing Lu Sangjiu standing behind him completely unscathed, he immediately grew furious. "When did you get behind me?"
Lu Sangjiu looked innocent. "Of course I took protective measures the moment I poured the water in!"
"Luckily, you were finally of some use this time, Senior Brother Qin. Well done!"
Qin Yu: "..."
In his shock just now, he hadn't had the presence of mind to notice anything else. He never would have imagined that Lu Sangjiu had used him as a human shield!
A crushing sense of frustration washed over Qin Yu.
'This Lu Sangjiu has no other talents, but her ability to piss people off is truly unparalleled. I'm about to lose control of my killing intent... If I don't kill her soon, I'm afraid she'll anger me to death first!'
As killing intent surged within him, Lu Sangjiu, as if noticing nothing, urged him on. "Don't just stand there in a daze. Hurry up and take out your turtle shell. Don't you want to save your junior sister?"
Qin Yu couldn't take it anymore. He gripped his longsword tightly and said, word by word, "I told you, it's not my tur—"
He was cut off mid-sentence by a loud BANG that came from somewhere up ahead!
The entire cave trembled with the force of it, causing Qin Yu to stumble and nearly fall into the pond.
The murderous aura he had just built up instantly dissipated. He looked ahead in horror. "...What was that noise?"
Lu Sangjiu said, "Wow. There should only be the four of us in here, right? Since we didn't make that noise, it could only be... Tsk, looks like your junior sister is in trouble."
At these words, Qin Yu's expression changed completely. Forgetting all about his squabble with Lu Sangjiu, he quickly tossed out the turtle shell.
Seeing that the turtle shell was indeed floating on the water's surface, he immediately leaped, using it as a stepping stone to cross the seven- or eight-meter-wide pond.
Lu Sangjiu didn't hesitate either. After all, the corrosive power of the toxic water was astonishing; if she delayed for even a moment, the turtle shell would probably be destroyed.
By the time Lu Sangjiu landed on the other side of the pond, she hadn't even regained her footing before she saw Qin Yu dash ahead like a gust of wind, all his previous caution gone.
This made Lu Sangjiu sigh to herself again. 'The protagonist's halo is really something else.'
Still, having Qin Yu scouting ahead wasn't a bad thing for Lu Sangjiu. 'It would be even better if he ran into some danger and died up there.'
So she had no intention of stopping him, and simply followed along at a leisurely pace.
Unfortunately, the next stretch of the path was almost excessively peaceful.
However, as they advanced, they could hear sounds getting clearer and clearer. It sounded like someone was fighting.
'Tsk...' Lu Sangjiu knew that the three cave entrances would eventually converge. It was only a matter of time before they ran into Ye Zhiyao's group.
The problem was, judging by the sounds, the fight was extremely intense. 'Could Ye Zhiyao's luck be that bad? Did she encounter something even more dangerous than what we faced?'
Besides, Lu Sangjiu really didn't remember keeping any living creatures in her cave. At most, there should only be small traps like the Devouring Spirit Sand and the Ruishui River, or some casually placed Arrays.
Her curiosity piqued, she couldn't help but quicken her pace.
After walking a short distance, she heard Qin Yu's shocked and suspicious voice from not far ahead.
"...Who are you? Why are you here?"
'Hm?' Lu Sangjiu froze.
'From the sound of it, the person up ahead isn't Ye Zhiyao or Li Qiancheng, not even the Flower Demon... Are there other people in here?'