The beautiful fairy was lying right in front of Qiao Ruohe. However, impulsively reaching out to search a stranger was not in his nature. He immediately stepped forward to help her.
A moment ago, she had been breathing heavily, so why was there no sound from her now?
Qiao Ruohe leaned down and checked her pulse at the nose. "She can still be saved."
He raised his head to glance in the direction leading to Blooming Flowers Valley, hesitating slightly. Yet, he still chose to pick her up and walk toward the small cabin in Fengyu Forest. He knew that once Elder Fengyu returned, there would surely be immortal arts to save her.
After walking just two or three li into the forest, his legs grew weak. Just how many items was this woman carrying on her person? Why was she so heavy?
He swept her arms behind his back, having her wrap her hands around his neck. That way, he could conserve a bit of energy while walking.
After walking another three to five li, they reached a stream. His foot slipped, stepping on a pebble at the bottom of the water. He staggered and fell right into the stream.
This was a major disaster! Qiao Ruohe's eyes widened in shock. As he fell, he had actually torn her green robe.
He hurriedly stood up, carried her to the stream's edge, and gently rested her head against a bluish stone. At that moment, both of their clothes were completely soaked. But not daring to get any closer to her for fear of being clumsy again, he could only start a fire beside the blue stone.
Perhaps drawn by the firelight, the woman woke up shortly after. Seeing a strange man sitting right in front of the campfire, she cast shifty glances at him as she came to her senses.
The woman soon discovered that her robes were entirely soaked, and the back of her gown was torn and damaged. Compounding this, she had already been injured by the flame spells and could no longer approach the fire. Yet this man was still adding twigs to the campfire. What made her fly into a rage was that when the man had fallen, he had not only ripped her undergarments but also touched places that shouldn't have been touched.
Right under the moonlight, green light gathered at her fingertips. With a hand seal, she prepared to unleash a spell upon him.
Qiao Ruohe felt that disaster was imminent. Why was this fairy acting like a madwoman? He had no choice but to turn tail and run.
Suddenly, a rustling sound echoed as countless vines and tendrils burst from the ground. The immortal art grew relentlessly, wrapping around him in an instant and binding him like a rice dumpling. He felt his body begin to tighten, as if being squeezed in a giant hand. In no time at all, he would be crushed to death by this spell.
The pain was unbearable, and he couldn't help crying out, struggling to force the words past his lips: "Fairy, spare my life!"
Hearing this, far from lessening the power of the green mist in her hands, the woman capitalized on the momentum, seizing his legs and dragging him down.
Taking the full impact, Qiao Ruohe struck the back of his head against the blue stone. Darkness flooded his vision, and he instantly lost consciousness.
The woman conjured a Wooden Sword into her hand, its blade shimmering with green immortal glow. She was going to kill this man—to kill this mortal who possessed no cultivation whatsoever yet had dared to take liberties with her.
Just as the green sword was about to pierce between Qiao Ruohe's eyebrows, three fireballs came hurtling toward her face.
As it turned out, the Man in Black had realized that the woman's claim about her master's arrival was merely a bluff, so he had quietly slipped into the forest to track her. After searching for three or five li, he finally spotted her and a youth with no cultivation sitting on opposite sides of a campfire. He had originally intended to just watch the show, but the Dharma Treasure at his waist wriggled. Detecting a dark shadow surging within the youth's body, he immediately intervened and began exchanging spells with the woman.
Not knowing how many hours had passed, Qiao Ruohe finally regained consciousness. He dragged his heavy head and swept his gaze all around. The madwoman of a fairy was nowhere to be seen.
What on earth had happened?
Knowing this was no time for hesitation, Qiao Ruohe scrambled to his feet and hurried toward the border of Blooming Flowers Valley. No matter how perilous the path ahead might be, fetching medicine from the valley was not a matter to be delayed.
Running all the way, as he drew close to Blooming Flowers Valley, he came upon a place exhaling a burnt, foul stench. This seemed to be where the two fairies and the Man in Black had fought earlier.
Suddenly, a sound of scratching and digging reached his ears.
Stepping behind a few thick trees, he poked his head out to look. He saw a petite young girl with dark red hair. She was holding a shovel, as if digging something.
Looking closer, wasn't she one of the four who had passed the trials in the Divine Wood Palace along with him?
Looking closer still, lying beside the shallow pit was a charred corpse—the very female cultivator who had fought the Man in Black and died shortly before the woman in green.
The young girl seemed to have been digging for a long time. Whether from aching arms or longing for her family, she burst into tears. One hand gripped the shovel tightly while the other wiped the tears from her face. Her crying sounded exceptionally pitiful.
Looking at her, Qiao Ruohe thought of his own younger sister at home, who was two or three years younger and equally fond of wiping away tears.
Her sobbing grew louder, and her left hand trembled slightly. Presumably, the soil of Fengyu Forest was hard and thick; despite digging for God knows how long, she had only sunk it seven or eight inches. Who knew when she would finally be able to bury that charred corpse?
A pang went through Qiao Ruohe's heart. He leaped out and took the shovel from her hands.
The young girl froze in shock, her crying halting instantly. Looking at Qiao Ruohe, she cried out in astonishment: "It's you!"
Among the four new disciples who had navigated the three difficult trials and passed the sect examination, Qiao Ruohe was the only one turned away at the gates. Such an embarrassing blunder had long since spread throughout the sect, so naturally she recognized him.
Qiao Ruohe gave her a faint smile, swung the shovel in his hands, and began digging into the loose soil by the mossy edge.
The young girl had no idea why he was here. Wasn't he turned away at the doors because he lacked the Five Elements spiritual attributes for cultivating immortality? But she knew why he was helping her.
Half a month ago, during the third test of the sect trials, the examiner had given everyone a wooden immortal sword and told them that they were grouped in twenties, and only one person in each group could pass.
Consequently, many disciples eager to enter the sect brandished their swords to kill. She and the young man before her had hidden beneath a withered tree together, he looking at her, and she looking at him. In each other's eyes, there was not a shred of killing intent, and they simply shook their heads gently at one another.
The ironic part was that everyone in their trial group had fought until both sides were injured and dying, leaving only the two of them sitting there safe and sound, neither missing hands nor lacking feet.
Qiao Ruohe had a much larger frame than she did, and having done heavy labor at home, he possessed considerable strength. If he had wanted to kill her to secure the spot to pass the trial, it would have been effortless. Yet he did not do so, and instead walked out alongside her.
Only upon coming out did they learn that none of the trial-takers had actually died; it had merely been an immortal illusion array designed to test virtue and vice. In the end, while only three people out of the original sixty were supposed to pass, without exception, all of them were people who harbored kindness in their hearts. Anyone whose hands were stained with fresh blood was barred from entering the immortal sect. Because Qiao Ruohe kept kindness in his heart, the passing count had increased to four, allowing this dark-haired girl to gain entry.
Right now, this man abandoned by the sect had reappeared by her side, even taking over the heavy grave-digging chore assigned to her by the Senior Sister.
The young girl stared blankly at him, a sudden wave of gratitude washing over her as her crying finally stopped.
Seeing Qiao Ruohe sweating profusely from digging, she ran to the stream, scooped up some water with her gourd, and handed it to him.
The two looked at each other and smiled faintly.
Half an hour later, a five-foot-deep pit was finally dug.
Just as Qiao Ruohe was about to lift the charred corpse into the grave, the young girl noticed his clothes were soaked with sweat. She pulled out a handkerchief and stepped closer to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Before she knew it, two sets of footsteps approached at that very moment.
The young girl snapped out of it, looked toward the newcomers, and cried out in alarm: "Senior Sister!"
Senior Sister cast her gaze over, her heart gripped by panic and unease.
Yet he did not know.
With the dark shadow surging within his body, who could possibly harm him?
When Senior Sister caught sight of Qiao Ruohe, she instinctively smoothed the green robe behind her. Having reached nineteen years of age, no man had ever touched her. Moreover, the man standing together with her Junior Sister was shockingly licentious.
Extending her spiritual sense, she probed Qiao Ruohe and found he lacked even a shred of cultivation.
Embarrassment, annoyance, and hatred surged together in Senior Sister's heart.
How could she possibly spare him?
Kill him.
Make sure the fact that a man had touched her skin remains a secret known to no one, for all eternity.