The two of them exchanged a few brief words with the others who were staying behind and prepared to leave. Luoyu glanced at Liao Xing; his complexion was much ruddier now as he sat cross-legged in meditation. Noticing her gaze, Liao Xing looked back. Though they were far apart, Luoyu merely smiled at him, the corners of her lips curving up in a gentle, shallow arc, much like a mountain stream.
Fu Yuanbo, standing beside her, was stunned by her sudden radiant smile. The moment he froze in astonishment, that faint smile vanished, and she quietly stood by his side once more.
With the wind howling past their ears, Fu Yuanbo raised his Spiritual Power to shield Luoyu within it.
"Junior Sister seems especially affectionate toward your Fourth Senior Brother?"
"He has helped me before."
"Does Junior Sister mean what happened at the Zhiwei Pavilion restaurant a few days ago?"
Recalling the humiliation of that day, Luoyu instantly turned pale. Even while putting up a brave front, a mist of tears welled up in her eyes. Choosing to follow Fu Yuanbo was also her way of doing everything she could to repay Liangchen for stepping in to protect her.
"Junior Sister, don't be sad. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want in the future, you can come find me. As long as I have it, and as long as you want it, I will give it to you!"
Luoyu's heart skipped a few beats. The man before her flickered his gaze, not daring to look at her, while his handsome cheeks flushed a bright crimson, his earlobes turning red as well.
*Does he like me?*
*No! Impossible! I'm not worthy!*
The tear tracks in Luoyu's eyes were abruptly frightened back by Fu Yuanbo's single remark.
A soft ripping sound echoed. The hem of her garment, having been plucked at without a word of agreement, finally reached its breaking point. Pink, oval-shaped fingernails abruptly poked out through the fabric, and to make matters most awkward, Luoyu could feel Fu Yuanbo's gaze lingering right on her exposed fingertips.
*Wanting to go back—is it still too late?*
Fu Yuanbo turned around and concentrated on steering the flying magical artifact, a trace of sneaky triumph creeping into his heart.
*She didn't refuse, and she was so nervous—she must have feelings for me too!*
Two bright spots of light finally appeared on the astrolabe embedded at the front of the flying artifact.
"I've found them!" Fu Yuanbo called out happily, driving the flying artifact to close in rapidly on the lights of the distant spots.
Luoyu looked with worry at the gloomy forest ahead, wreathed in Demonic Qi. Even though it was still daytime, the Demonic Qi was already dense enough to be visible to the naked eye; she could only imagine what it would be like at night.
"Senior Brother, these are two bottles of Demonic-Repelling Pills. Please keep them safe."
"Mm, thank you, Junior Sister."
Accepting the pills and looking at Luoyu standing close enough to touch behind him, Fu Yuanbo's heart thumped wildly. He wished he could pull her into his arms and tell her just how perfect she was in his heart.
"Roar!"
A thunderclap-like roar from a beast interrupted Fu Yuanbo's tender thoughts.
"Oh no, it's a Great Circle of the Nascent Soul stage Horned Demonic Lizard!"
In the distance, a mountain-like demonic lizard was thrashing about frantically. Sharp bone spikes extended all the way from its spine to its tail. With a single sweep of its giant lizard tail, towering ancient trees a zhang high crashed to the ground in rows. A long sword was jammed right into the lizard's eye, the blade buried deep into the eyeball as dark red blood trickled down the uneven scales.
Liangchen, carrying Fan Ni, dodged left and right, not daring to pause for even a second. Just as he pushed off to leap into the air, the giant tail swept horizontally, and its long bone spikes hooked onto Fan Ni's skirt. In the very instant their momentum stalled, the lizard's long tongue whipped around like lightning, the massive suction cup at the tip of its tongue blotting out the sky as it enveloped the two of them with a wave of foul stench.
"Go!"
Putting his all into it, Liangchen shoved Fan Ni aside, but he had no time to dodge himself and could only channel his remaining scraps of Spiritual Power to meet the attack head-on.
Bang!
Liangchen's body was sent flying, coughing up a large mouthful of blood, while the lizard's tongue was merely hindered for a split second before continuing forward with irresistible force to wrap around him.
At the critical moment of life and death, a dark red revolving blade accurately and cleanly severed the lizard's tongue. Luoyu rapidly formed hand seals, and her psychic energy condensed into a red needle of light that stabbed out and blinded the lizard's other eye.
"Roar! Roar!"
The lizard shrieked in pain, thrashing its body violently. With both eyes blind, it could only roughly judge the positions of the few people by scent, lashing its giant tail about even more frantically in a fight to the death.
"Senior Sister, watch out!"
Seeing that Fan Ni was about to be swatted to death by the giant tail, Fu Yuanbo could no longer hold back. A gentle surge of palm force wrapped around Luoyu, sending her to the side of the heavily injured Liangchen, while he himself executed the Wind-Chasing Arts and grabbed Fan Ni by the collar to flee far away.
The demonic lizard's strike missed, and it turned to attack Liangchen and Luoyu in the distance. Luoyu propped up the heavily injured Liangchen, covering a distance in a few leaps to widen the gap. She fished out two pills, fed one to Liangchen, and took one herself. Instantly, a fresh floral fragrance drifted from both of their bodies, masking their original aura.
"Don't move, Brother Liangchen."
Crouched far away on a tree branch, the two of them didn't even dare to breathe heavily.
Having suddenly lost its target, the demonic lizard curled its body up in a fit of rage, exposing its sharp dorsal spikes and spinning rapidly like a wheel of blades. Wherever it passed, sand and stones flew and giant trees snapped; within a radius of a hundred miles, nothing was left but a scene of utter devastation.
Half an hour later, its stamina exhausted, the demonic lizard panted heavily as it sprawled flat on the ground and stopped moving.
Crouched behind a boulder not far away, the four of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Fu Yuanbo asked, "Junior Sister, what kind of pills did you give us just now?"
"Hundred-Flower Pills commonly used by female cultivators. They don't have any major effect, they just smell nice."
Fu Yuanbo raised his sleeve and took a sniff; a faint scent of camellia refreshed the heart and mind.
"Junior Sister is truly clever."
Hearing this, Luoyu lowered her head in silence, stole a glance at the unfriendly-looking Fan Ni beside them, and hurriedly changed the subject.
"Brother Liangchen, are you feeling better?"
Liangchen gave Luoyu a reassuring look, but he couldn't speak; the fishy taste of blood was churning in his throat, and the moment he opened his mouth, he would surely vomit blood again.
Luoyu rested her fingers on his pulse, closed her eyes to sense it for a few breaths, and locked her brows in a tight frown.
Seeing her grave expression, Fu Yuanbo asked, "Is the situation bad?"
Luoyu nodded.
Fan Ni, who had been ignored all this time, let out a cold snort.
"I gave him a Grade 7 healing pill."
"The pill is indeed fine, but Brother Liangchen's internal organs have suffered heavy damage. His Spiritual Power cannot be circulated too violently, so his recovery will be very slow."
"Hmph, as if you have a solution!"
"I can try."
Luoyu placed both palms on Liangchen's back, warm fire-attribute Spiritual Power carrying rich medicinal potency circulating slowly in a peculiar manner. Wherever the Spiritual Power passed, his damaged meridians slowly healed.
Liangchen could clearly feel his blocked meridians coming back to life, the oppressive tightness in his chest gradually fading. His own Spiritual Power followed Luoyu's guidance, repairing his damaged organs over and over again.
Two hours later, Liangchen's injuries were already seventy or eighty percent better. Luoyu withdrew her palms, and Fu Yuanbo thoughtfully handed over a silk handkerchief. Murmuring a quiet thanks, Luoyu wiped away the thin layer of sweat oozing from her forehead.
The sky had turned completely dark, and the rampaging Demonic Qi shrouded the entire forest. Though all four had taken Demonic-Repelling Pills, the all-pervasive Demonic Qi still slithered about with a chilly bite.
Fan Ni set down a Tier 6 Defensive Formation Disk, and the bone-piercing chill eased just a fraction.
Noticing the bright red cloak on Luoyu, Liangchen teasingly said to Fu Yuanbo, "I heard Junior Brother was planning to give this cloak to your future cultivation partner. Is that true?"
Fu Yuanbo paused for a moment, but he didn't deny it either, only replying, "The Secret Realm is cold and chilly; Junior Sister Luoyu needs it."
Luoyu instinctively stole a glance at Liangchen. Seeing smiles all over his eyes and brows, for some reason her heart suddenly felt sour and tight, and the hand that had intended to untie the cloak stopped right there. Forcing out a difficult smile, she said, "Thank you, Senior Brother Fu. Since this cloak has such extraordinary meaning, once we leave the Secret Realm, I will return it to you."
"There is no reason to take back something that has already been given away. Junior Sister can just keep it with peace of mind."
The tear in the hem of her garment had been enlarged several times over by Luoyu. Observant to a fault, Fu Yuanbo noticed Luoyu's embarrassment and immediately spoke up: "Senior Brother is injured and needs to rest properly. Junior Sister Luoyu also consumed a fair bit of Spiritual Power just now, so she should rest for a while too. I'll take the first watch tonight."
Luoyu: "Senior Brother Fu didn't rest at all last night; let me take the second half of the night."
Fu Yuanbo gave a gentle assent. Meeting his tender gaze, Luoyu flusteredly averted her face and leaned against a tree, pretending to be asleep, though she could still feel his burning gaze lingering on her.
"Ni'er, are you cold? Do you want to lean against me to sleep?" Liangchen asked.
Fan Ni answered coldly, "No need. I have the soft armor given to me by my father, unlike some people who put on a pure and innocent act yet spend all their time taking other people's magical garments for free."
Fu Yuanbo felt somewhat displeased. *My clothes—I'll give them to whoever I want. What the hell business is it of yours?!*
"The cloak was something I wanted to give to Junior Sister Luoyu. Senior Sister should get some rest early, lest you drag everyone down again tomorrow!"
Just as Fan Ni was about to flare up, Liangchen hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over. "Ni'er, be a good girl, stop making a fuss, get some rest early."
Fan Ni gnashed her teeth until they clicked, yet thinking back on today, she truly hadn't played any useful role. But she was an alchemist, after all! Grade 7 pills, Tier 6 formation disks—she was the one who brought all these items out. Thinking of this, she hated Luoyu even more; if not for Luoyu, those contributions would have definitely won her others' profound gratitude, rather than ending up like this, letting Luoyu steal all the spotlight.
And that Fu Yuanbo—coming from one of the six great cultivation families, his background went without saying, and his talent was also exceptionally high. Aside from Liangchen, no one else in the entire Canglan Sect could compare to him. How on earth had he gone blind to fall for Luoyu? Average-looking, with no family to protect her, and even timid and cowardly to boot.