For the past few days, Shan Yundi had not budged from her spot beneath the stone tablet. Having gone without food for so long, she barely had the strength left to speak.
As her body grew weaker, her injuries naturally healed much slower, and there were even signs of them worsening.
The light in Shan Yundi's eyes seemed to have faded as she murmured, "Young Master Li, is there really a Bridge of Helplessness and Meng Po's soup in the underworld?"
Li Feng replied, "I didn't believe it before, but now I do."
Indeed, when something as absurd as transmigrating could happen, how could Li Feng doubt the great Meng Po?
A trace of sorrow flickered across Shan Yundi's face.
She softly murmured, "My childhood was so tragic. With my own eyes, I watched my parents die before me, and my two older sisters ravished to death by a pack of beasts. I wish I could forget these painful memories in my next life, but... yet I'm unwilling to forget... unwilling to forget certain people..."
After all, she was still thin-skinned and could not bring herself to say the name of the person she was unwilling to forget.
After spending these past few days together, Shan Yundi seemed to have developed unusual feelings for this Senior Brother from the Changsheng Sect.
Li Feng looked at the pale-faced Shan Yundi, seeing the hard-to-conceal pain in her eyes.
His heart gave a gentle tug.
He had never imagined that Shan Yundi's childhood could be so unimaginably tragic.
At that moment, Shan Yundi spoke again.
"Young Master Li, I want to sleep so badly..."
As she spoke, she seemed to exhaust her remaining strength and gently grabbed Li Feng's hand.
Her hand was soft yet icy cold.
Li Feng was startled and blurted out, "Don't sleep, absolutely do not sleep! If you fall asleep, you'll never wake up!"
Shan Yundi seemed to be at death's door, unable even to open her eyes.
Her lips parted slightly as she whispered, "Don't... don't leave me behind... I'm scared... scared to walk the Huangquan Road all alone... After I die, lay me... lay me upon the stone platform... I don't want to die so miserably..."
She continued to ramble incoherently.
Yet Li Feng's expression suddenly shifted.
His gaze moved down from Shan Yundi's cheeks—
Naturally, he wasn't looking at Shan Yundi's impressive mounds.
Instead, his eyes landed on the stone tablet leaning behind her.
He had practically dug three feet deep into every single inch of this ghost place, leaving only one area unchecked.
That was the exact spot Shan Yundi had been leaning against. Only upon hearing her murmur just now about having him lay her on the stone platform did Li Feng finally remember this detail.
Chapter 21: Fairy, Your Butt Is Huge!
At this point, Shan Yundi had already lapsed into a semi-conscious state.
Thanks to the Golden Core he had consumed, Li Feng's physical condition had not yet reached the point of utter exhaustion.
He scooped Shan Yundi up, carried her aside, and gently laid her down.
Then he walked over to the spot where Shan Yundi had been leaning, squatted down, and frantically brushed away the dirt and grime with his hands.
Wiping away the dust, a dark red flagstone—distinctly different in color from the rest of the paving stones—came into Li Feng's view.
Li Feng tapped the stone slab a few times with his sword hilt.
It produced a hollow *thump, thump, thump* sound; it wasn't muffled at all, clearly indicating that the space beneath this flagstone was empty.
Overjoyed, Li Feng immediately used his divine sword to slowly pry it open along the cracks of the stone slab.
Beneath the two-foot-square flagstone, it was indeed hollow, and inside lay an iron ring attached to a length of chain.
Clearly, this thing was a mechanism!
Li Feng turned back to look at the semi-conscious Shan Yundi.
Right now, Li Feng had the urge to punch her a few times or slap her across the face a couple of times.
"You couldn't have sat anywhere else these past few days? You just *had* to sit right here! If you had rested literally anywhere else, we would've gotten out ages ago!"
Li Feng was so furious he almost wanted to curse.
On second thought, he decided against it.
After all, the other person was a pretty young girl, and as a grown man, he shouldn't stoop to her level.
Li Feng stepped forward and patted Shan Yundi's cheeks.
Seeing no reaction from her, he increased his strength and dealt her a few slaps across the face, yet Shan Yundi's consciousness still failed to return.
So, Li Feng channeled his true essence and pressed his palm against Shan Yundi's back.
Pure spiritual energy poured into her body.
Before long, as if experiencing a final flash of brilliance before death, Shan Yundi slowly opened her eyes.
"Li... Young Master Li... Don't save me... Save your true qi... You might still make it out alive..."
Li Feng said, "Neither of us is going to die—I've already found a way out!"
Hearing this, Shan Yundi's eyes instantly lit up.
Whether it was her innate survival instinct or the effect of the true qi Li Feng had channeled into her body, Shan Yundi's spirit suddenly improved significantly.
In a somewhat hoarse voice, she asked, "Really? Where is it?"
Li Feng helped her sit up and pointed at the exact spot Shan Yundi had been sitting on for the past few days.
With a wry smile, he said, "Turns out the exit was right underneath your butt the whole time. I have to say, your backside really knows how to pick a spot!"
Shan Yundi looked over and, sure enough, saw an iron ring beneath the pried-open stone slab.
At that moment, Shan Yundi didn't know what to say.
Her big butt had almost gotten her killed.
Li Feng wasn't the type to run his mouth with a sharp tongue, and seeing Shan Yundi blush, he said, "Well, let's get out of here right now."
Li Feng squatted down and grabbed the iron ring.
Pulling hard, the chain attached to the iron ring rattled with a clanking sound.
The next instant, a series of clicking sounds echoed in their ears.
Li Feng released the iron ring and stepped back a few paces.
Suddenly, the entire burial chamber began to rumble and shake.
Following that, the two-meter-tall stone tablet slowly began to sink, and the stone floor began to tilt as a pitch-black passage revealed itself before them.
Seeing that it was indeed an escape route, both Li Feng and Shan Yundi wept tears of joy.
Li Feng dropped to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly toward the long-haired mummified corpse, and said, "Truly, the ancestors are protecting us! Senior, rest assured, I will come back to pay my respects often!"
As the passage opened, the shaking of the burial chamber grew more violent. Rocks continuously rained down from the wooden walls, and the ceiling of the chamber shed dirt and stones in a clattering cascade.
Shan Yundi urged anxiously, "This place is collapsing! Let's go!"
Sensing that things were taking a turn for the worse, Li Feng immediately stood up, scooped up Shan Yundi, and plunged straight into the pitch-black passage.
The passage was only two meters high and one meter wide, also constructed of stacked stone slabs.
This passage seemed like a single-use product, as it too began to collapse.
Clutching Shan Yundi, Li Feng ran for his life as the thunderous rumbling of the collapse chased closely behind him like the Grim Reaper.
After sprinting about seventy or eighty meters, stone steps began to appear in the passage.
Pitch-dark as it was, Li Feng was caught off guard and almost tripped over the steps.
Ascending another twenty or thirty steps, his head suddenly collided with a solid stone slab.
Hearing the collapse rapidly closing in from behind, Li Feng was just about to set Shan Yundi down—
When suddenly, the entire vaulted ceiling caved in, burying the two of them directly beneath the debris.
After a dozen breaths or so, with a muffled *thud*, a filthy hand thrust upward from the collapsed area not far from the Tree Demon grandmother.
Li Feng clawed his way out of the dirt.
Before he even had a chance to catch his breath, he reached back down and dragged an equally mud-caked Shan Yundi out.
Panting heavily, Li Feng said, "The burial chamber is completely destroyed. We shouldn't linger here—we need to get out of this place immediately!"
Seeing the massive tree demon not far away, Shan Yundi decisively nodded in agreement.
With practiced ease, Li Feng scooped up Shan Yundi, stepped onto his immortal sword, and shot straight up into the air.
They quickly punched through the terrifying miasma and fog, breaking out above the clouds.
It was currently morning, and the sky was cloudless, washed in a brilliant, clear blue.
Having cheated death, the two felt as though they had lived through a lifetime.
In broad daylight, immortal cultivators frequently flew through the skies above the Tianyu Mountain range, and the strange, giant birds inhabiting the Yan'nan Return dared not show themselves in the open sky, creating favorable conditions for Li Feng and Shan Yundi to make a safe escape.
The most pressing matter now was getting some food for Shan Yundi.
He had originally intended to take Shan Yundi directly back to Tiantong Peak, which was only a little over a hundred miles away.
Li Feng hadn't eaten for days either and had expended a massive amount of energy; carrying someone while flying would be very slow, but he estimated they could arrive in about an hour.
However, Shan Yundi flatly refused to go back.
She was the aloof Fairy Yunshuang, the proudest and coldest goddess of the Yunhai Sect.
Right now, having just crawled out of the dirt, she was filthy beyond belief. If she returned to Yunhai Sect in this state, she would become an absolute laughingstock.
Once they cleared the boundary of the Yan'nan Return mist forest, Li Feng could no longer hold out and landed in a patch of primitive forest about seventy or eighty miles away from Tiantong Peak.
This area belonged to the back mountain of Tiantong Peak and served as the back garden of the Yunhai Sect, with no rival sects or immortal manors nearby.
Landing beside a small stream, Li Feng set Shan Yundi down. Spotting plenty of wild fruit nearby, he hurried over and picked a few.
After washing them in the stream water, he took a bite—they were sweet and crisp.
Thus, he began feeding them to Shan Yundi.
Shan Yundi was currently extremely weak, seemingly lacking even the strength to chew.
With much difficulty, Li Feng managed to feed her three wild fruits.
Possessing an exceptionally high level of cultivation, Shan Yundi's spirits improved noticeably after eating a little food.
Disregarding the mud and filth staining her body, she immediately sat cross-legged to cultivate and recover her strength.
About half an hour later, she opened her eyes while twitching her nose.
Not far away, a bonfire was crackling, and a large, plump fish was roasting over the flames.
Li Feng was squatting by the stream, scaling and cleaning more fat fish.
The aroma of the roasting fish made Shan Yundi's mouth water continuously.
Seeing that Shan Yundi had woken up, Li Feng chuckled and said, "The back mountain of your Yunhai Sect is truly rich in resources; such a tiny stream actually holds so many large fish.
If the resources around our Changsheng Sect were this abundant, my junior brothers and junior sisters wouldn't have to worry about food all day, and Wangcai wouldn't have starved to death."
Chapter 22: I Study the Spring and Autumn Annals!
Li Feng had caught four fat fish from the stream, each weighing three to four catties.
Due to the limited conditions in the wild, they could only be simply propped over the fire to roast.
As for seasonings like salt, chili peppers, cumin, or star anise, naturally there were none.
However, that didn't stop the two of them from devouring the food like wolves.
Shan Yundi was a famously picky little fairy within the Yunhai Sect, having long grown tired of rare delicacies and exotic dishes. Yet this tasteless roasted fish, reeking heavily of mud, gave her the sensation of eating a full imperial banquet.
Her tiny stomach actually managed to polish off two fat fish.
By the time dusk approached, their outdoor barbecue finally came to an end.
Once she was full, Shan Yundi's physical condition underwent a dramatic change.
Her strength had mostly returned.
Looking at her filthy appearance all over, her lifelong germophobia nearly made her vomit up the fat fish she had just eaten.
Feeling rather embarrassed, she said, "Young Master Li, could you... please look away for a moment? I want to... clean myself up."
Li Feng, who was in the middle of sucking on a fish fin, twitched the corner of his mouth and replied, "Fairy Shan, do you really take me, Li Feng, for the kind of wretched, petty scoundrel who sneaks peeks at maidens bathing?"
Shan Yundi answered in a resolute tone, "Yes."
Li Feng choked.
He sprang to his feet and yelled, "Are you kidding me?! I, Li Feng, am a scholar—I study the Spring and Autumn Annals! I never expected that someone as pure and morally upright as myself would be viewed by you as a wretched scoundrel who peeks at girls bathing and changing clothes!
With a figure like yours, who even cares to look? Do you really think you're some peerless beauty?"
Though his words were arrogant and domineering, his feet didn't stop moving as he walked deeper into the misty forest.
At the same time, he waved a hand and declared, "This gentleman is going to hunt some game to take back for my junior brothers and junior sisters to improve their meals! I'll only give you one hour!"
The fellow ducked into the dense thicket, hid behind a large tree, and peeked back out to spy.
Unfortunately for him, Shan Yundi was a cultivator. With her divine sense and spiritual willpower fully extended, every rustle of the wind and grass within tens of yards could not escape her senses.
She picked up a small pebble and casually flicked it. With a *swish*, the pebble shot through the air, striking dead-center the tree where the noble "Master Li" was hiding.
It landed a mere seven or eight centimeters from his head.
"Next time, I'm aiming for your eyes."
Seeing the pebble embedded deeply into the wood, Li Feng shuddered.
If that thing hit his eyeball, wouldn't he instantly become a one-eyed dragon?
He no longer dared to harbor any lewd thoughts and turned tail to run.
Making sure Li Feng had gone far enough, Shan Yundi slowly unwrapped the bandages on her calves and upper body, then began stripping away her outer garments and long skirt.
Finally, even her undergarments and shorts were peeled off.
A voluptuous, snow-white, curvaceous, and perfectly proportioned body was bared before nature.
What a pity that the honorable Master Li didn't get to witness this scene; otherwise, a virgin of twenty years like him would certainly have had a massive nosebleed.
Shan Yundi reached out to press against her injured left leg and the site of her broken ribs. It still hurt.
She retrieved medicinal pills from her storage pouch and swallowed them.
Then, dragging her body slowly, she sat down in the stream water to bathe.
Fearing that Li Feng might return ahead of schedule, Shan Yundi merely gave her body and hair a quick wash before taking out a brand-new set of robes from her storage pouch and putting them on.
All of her filthy, original clothes were tossed onto the bonfire to be burned.
True to form, Li Feng was a faithless hypocrite. He had promised to return after an hour, but after only half an hour, he emerged from the dense forest.
Across his left shoulder, he carried a bamboo pole with five or six wild chickens and seven or eight rabbits hanging from it.
In his right hand, he dragged a small wild boar weighing several dozen catties.
Returning to find that Shan Yundi had already dressed, Li Feng was bitterly disappointed.
He had thought that launching a surprise counter-attack ahead of schedule would give him an eyeful.
Walking over to the campfire, he dropped the hunted animals and looked at Shan Yundi once more, freezing slightly.
A freshly washed Shan Yundi was breathtakingly beautiful.
With skin fairer than frost and a refined, otherworldly appearance illuminated by the firelight, every inch of her body radiated a soul-stirring charm.
Having never laid eyes on such a stunning beauty emerging from a bath, Li Feng couldn't help staring in a daze.
Noticing Li Feng staring at her with the expression of a total idiot—with drool even leaking from the corner of his chin—Shan Yundi was long accustomed to such pathetic displays.
As the most brilliant disciple of the young generation in the Yunhai Sect and the seventeenth-ranked beauty on the Tianxiu List, she was the focal point of all attention wherever she went.
She had seen far too many foul men drooling over her like this, including many righteous young heroes who fancied themselves elite talents.
However, out of regard for their status, those young heroes usually peeked in secret, locking their lewd thoughts deep inside their hearts.
This fellow Li Feng, on the other hand, had zero inhibitions. His eyes were glued right onto her, sweeping back and forth across her chest with utter shamelessness.
Judging by his bulging eyeballs, he probably just resented his parents for not giving him two extra eyes.
Shan Yundi furrowed her slender brows and asked coldly, "Have you seen enough?"
Li Feng shook his head, then nodded repeatedly.
Putting up a defense, he argued, "Fairy Shan, please don't misunderstand. Just like I said earlier, I, Li Feng, am a moral gentleman who studies the Spring and Autumn Annals, absolutely not some frivolous rogue!"
Shan Yundi asked, "Then how do you explain your drool?"
Li Feng hurriedly used his sleeve to wipe his chin.
Re-entering full defense mode, he babbled, "Th-this isn't drool! It's just... I drank too much earlier, and it spilled out by itself! Right! That's exactly what happened!"
Shan Yundi was speechless.
She could not fathom how the former Senior Brother of the righteous leader, the Changsheng Sect, could possibly be such a shameless, lustful scoundrel.
At the same time, she felt immensely fortunate.
Having suffered severe injuries and being unable to move, she had been locked in an underground burial chamber with this fellow for six or seven days.
That she had only been subjected to a few minor molestations without losing her purity was nothing short of a miracle bestowed by her ancestors.
Right now, Li Feng felt rather awkward.
In his past life, after all, he had spent countless deep-night hours studying adult films produced in Japan, and he had seen top-tier female celebrities in the entertainment industry.
How was it that after merely glancing at Shan Yundi just now, his entire soul had felt as though it had left his body?
"I actually drooled... How utterly humiliating... I can't face this anymore. No, I must die, I absolutely have to die..."
Sitting by the campfire, he had already devised a hundred and eight different ways to end his life.
Shan Yundi had no idea that Li Feng was currently dying of social embarrassment, his toes curling so hard they were building a three-bedroom apartment in the dirt.
Her attention shifted to the game Li Feng had brought back.
A little over an hour ago, she had eaten two fat fish, but now she was feeling hungry again.
There was no helping it; having gone six or seven days without food and having just cheated death to survive a major disaster, she could easily devour a whole cow—a mere pair of fish naturally couldn't satisfy her.
Thus, Shan Yundi spoke up: "Young Master Li, could you..."
Before she could even finish those six words, Li Feng immediately wailed, "I'm already dying! What more do you want from me?!"
A string of question marks popped up over Shan Yundi's head.
She asked, "Young Master Li, what's wrong with you? You're dying?"
Li Feng abruptly snapped back to reality.
He had been so engrossed in imagining his own death that he had lost track of reality and fantasy.
Quickly gathering his thoughts, he said, "It's nothing, I was just... deep in thought for a moment. Fairy Shan, why did you call me?"
Now it was Shan Yundi's turn to feel slightly embarrassed.
Biting her lower lip, she muttered to herself for a long while before finally squeezing out three words: "I'm hungry."
Chapter 23: Call Me Yundi
Shan Yundi had already eaten two fish, and her strength had largely recovered.
Now that she was washed and cleaned up, Li Feng's original plan had been to escort her back to the Yunhai Sect so he could immediately return to the Changsheng Sect.
To his surprise, this woman actually announced that she was hungry.
Li Feng gave a dry laugh and said, "Well, Fairy Shan, look—the sun has just set, and it's still early. Why don't I escort you back to the Yunhai Sect right now? This place is the back mountain of Tiantong Peak; I can have you home in the time it takes to burn a stick of incense.
Once back at the Yunhai Sect, you can eat whatever rare delicacies you want.
I've been away for many days now, and my junior brothers and junior sisters must be terribly worried about me. They might have even set up a cenotaph for me by now—I really need to get back immediately."
Shan Yundi looked at him. This time, without much hesitation, she slowly repeated, "I'm hungry."
It was still those exact three words.
Li Feng looked at this stubborn woman. He wanted to pack up his game and leave, yet he couldn't bear to leave the injured Shan Yundi behind all alone in this primeval forest.
With no other choice, he gave a wry smile and said, "Fine, I'll roast two more wild chickens for you. Once you're done eating, I'm taking you back."
This time, Shan Yundi didn't say anything further.