Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
The reason it took so long was that Meng Chen and Chen Qing had actually abandoned their convenient flying swords and chosen to travel entirely on foot.
Because of this, their pace was naturally much slower than it would have been had they flown.
After all, the blistering, lightning-fast speed of a flying sword was simply not something their running feet could match.
Yet the reason behind their decision was not some sudden desire for a novel experience.
When the two of them rode a flying sword together, the distance between them was uncomfortably close, causing their bodies to brush against one another from time to time.
At first, this might have been dismissed as mere coincidence.
But as time went on, and a mere few hours passed, Chen Qing's pretty face had flushed completely red.
She finally could not help but voice the true thoughts in her heart.
She requested that they switch from flying on swords to journeying on foot.
When Meng Chen heard Chen Qing's proposal, he agreed without a moment's hesitation.
For how could anyone say he was not suffering just as much...
Even so, being cultivators, even without their flying swords, they relied on their own cultivation, wind whipping at their heels, and their speed remained quite formidable.
Just then, as the two of them broke through a dense and lush patch of forest, the scenery suddenly opened up before them.
A grand city lay spread out like a magnificent painting.
This city was precisely the destination they had set out to reach.
Qinghe City!
Yet neither of them stopped; strictly following the instructions left by Su Ningshuang, they bypassed Qinghe City entirely.
Immediately afterward, they pushed forward without rest, crossing a mountain range to enter a vast expanse of dense woods.
According to the intelligence, Xia Wei had last been spotted right here.
This dense forest was not far from Qinghe City, and its sprawling expanse made it the perfect hiding place for bandits.
"Senior Sister Xia Wei also possesses the cultivation of the Qi Condensation 5th Layer. The last location she sent back to the sect should be somewhere within this jungle..."
Finding a rather secluded spot, Chen Qing turned back to look at Meng Chen and spoke.
"Senior Sister, since you are so familiar with these details, you must have a way to get in touch with Senior Sister Xia Wei, right?" Meng Chen asked.
Chen Qing nodded slightly, then unhesitatingly drew a sound-transmission jade slip from her bosom, carefully pressing it against her smooth brow.
Then, parting her lips slightly, her mouth moved as she began to transmit a message into the jade slip.
Time slipped quietly away; after only a brief moment, the previously silent jade slip suddenly flared with a faint glow and let out a slight vibration.
Clearly, this was a reply from the other party.
"That's wonderful! Senior Sister Xia Wei really is somewhere nearby..." Chen Qing's face lit up with joy as she turned to look at Meng Chen beside her, speaking excitedly.
Hearing this news, the stone that had been hanging in Meng Chen's chest finally settled somewhat.
Yet a trace of doubt still lingered on his face, and he could not help pressing further:
"Senior Sister Xia Wei is an elite disciple of the Qingxuan Sect. With her strength, dealing with mere bandits should be as easy as turning over one's hand; how could she possibly have been trapped?"
Faced with Meng Chen's question, Chen Qing pondered for a moment before slowly explaining:
"According to Senior Sister Xia Wei, what she encountered this time is not as simple as ordinary bandits. She said she ran into a group of people whose behavior was utterly bizarre.
Not only did those individuals harbor evil designs upon seeing Senior Sister Xia Wei, attempting to seize her cultivation and Primordial Yin through dual-cultivation absorption techniques, but they also planned to use her body to test some sort of evil medicine..."
At these words, Chen Qing's delicate brows furrowed tightly, revealing deep indignation.
Hearing this, Meng Chen gasped sharply, his chest heaving violently:
"What kind of madmen are so utterly lawless? Knowing full well that she is a disciple of our Qingxuan Sect, they still dare to act so recklessly! This is simply outrageous!"
The message sent by Xia Wei was far too shocking; merely hearing of it caused a murderous intent to rise unbidden in Meng Chen's chest.
Beside him, Chen Qing felt a chill run through her entire body and hurried to soothe him: "Junior Brother, do not let anger cloud your judgment. Whatever the specific situation may be, we can decide what to do after we've seen the Senior Sister.
Senior Sister has just sent the coordinates of her location to me. There is no time to lose; we must hurry over and help Senior Sister escape her predicament!"
With that, she raised her delicate hand and pointed into the distance.
Meng Chen nodded in agreement.
Before Chen Qing's voice had even faded, her lithe body twisted, the tips of her toes lightly brushing the ground, and she shot forward into the depths of the jungle like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Her speed was blistering, but Meng Chen refused to be outdone. With a flash of his figure, he followed closely behind Chen Qing in the blink of an eye.
As she sprinted, Chen Qing glanced back from time to time.
When she saw that Meng Chen was effortlessly keeping pace without the slightest sign of strain, a trace of private amazement stirred in her heart.
This was not the first time she had witnessed such a feat, yet every single time she saw it, a twinge of sourness would rise within her...
She had long since sensed that Meng Chen's cultivation was merely at the Qi Condensation 4th Layer.
Yet what she found hard to believe was that a discarded pill room disciple, deemed utterly unremarkable by everyone around him, could keep up with her pace with such casual ease.
Judging by Meng Chen's unhurried and composed expression, he clearly had not even used his full strength...
Not long into their journey, Meng Chen's expression suddenly shifted, and he hurriedly transmitted his voice to Chen Qing in a sharp, urgent whisper.
"Stop! There is movement ahead!"
Sensing that something was amiss at Meng Chen's warning, Chen Qing brought her lithe body to an abrupt halt and swiftly concealed herself within a patch of tall grass.
As for Meng Chen, he had already hidden himself well before her, crouching quietly atop the leafy crown of a giant tree.
The two of them held their breath in unison, reducing their presence to the absolute minimum.
If anyone were to appear here without knowing the surroundings well, they would never discover that anyone was hiding nearby.
A moment later, a troop of people slowly approached.
Hiding in the treetop, Meng Chen's expression also changed as he caught sight of these newcomers.
This troop numbered several dozen people, and the ones leading them were all mounted on scaled demonic beasts.
Judging from their auras, six of them possessed the cultivation of the Qi Condensation 5th Layer.
And the leader among them had reached the Qi Condensation 6th Layer!
Aside from these leaders, a portion of the followers trailing behind them also possessed cultivation.
However, an even greater number were individuals whose bodies were covered in grotesque lumps of flesh, making them look extraordinarily hideous.
"This is... these people aren't bandits..." Upon seeing them, Chen Qing's pretty face turned deathly pale.
"Those people covered in fleshy lumps are clearly medicine slaves; they were captured to test medicines..."
Terrified, she pushed her aura down to the absolute lowest limit. No wonder Xia Wei had been forced to send a distress signal to the sect.
For a beauty of such caliber to end up with a grotesque lump like that growing on her body...
She dared not even imagine that picture; if it had been her, she would likely have preferred death itself...
"Eldest Senior Brother, that Qingxuan Sect woman should have disappeared somewhere around here..." Among the group, a man riding a demonic beast spoke to the leader.
"I am well aware. I left a wisp of blue flame on her, and since she was already wounded, she is bound to be hiding somewhere to heal. As long as we find her..."
The leader spoke leisurely, his face breaking into a chilling smile by the time he finished.
"Still, we must hurry. That woman is a Qingxuan Sect disciple. By now she must have sent a distress signal to her sect; if we drag this out any longer, complications are likely to arise," another person said with a solemn expression.