Chapter 38
"Damn it!"
Qiao Wan saw the scene with her own eyes. Yuan Liu ground his teeth and spit out blood. He collapsed by the entrance of the cave, utterly exhausted.
Xiao Boyang lost his usual pride. His handsome face was covered in bruises and blood. He held his severed arm and stared blankly at the entrance of the cave.
The entrance was tightly sealed by a big rock.
Qiao Wan is still inside.
Xiao Boyang thought in a daze.
Qiao Wan and the Human-faced Scorpion-tailed Spider are still trapped inside and haven't come out.
He may dislike Qiao Wan.
He finds her annoying in every way, especially the butterfly on her head.
But he never wished for Qiao Wan to die.
Xiao Boyang lowered his eyes, his expression filled with complexity.
Though cultivators are always on the edge of life and death, he never expected Qiao Wan to die.
He...
Xiao Boyang looked at the entrance with complicated eyes.
Perhaps... he doesn't dislike her that much after all.
Yuan Liu leaned against the wall, his strength drained as he let go of the big knife in his hand.
They managed to escape, but Qiao Wan was sealed inside the cave.
No one spoke among the group.
No one felt happy to have survived the catastrophe.
Their lives were given to them by Qiao Wan. If she hadn't forcefully established a connection with those Scorpion-tailed Spiders back then, they wouldn't have made it this far.
And now, for the sake of their own survival, they locked Qiao Wan and the Mother Queen together.
Someone muttered in a low voice.
They're truly heartless.
But who doesn't want to live?
They all want to live.
Cheng Li leaned against the wall and slowly, slowly lowered his gaze.
Qiao Wan is the only girl in their team. Before entering the cave, he felt responsible for protecting the only younger martial sister.
But in the end, what have they done?
Cheng Li clenched his fist, feeling tortured in his heart.
"Let's go." Yuan Liu was the first to speak, picking up the knife and standing up.
"Where are we going?" Wang Wu asked.
"Outside," Yuan Liu put the blade on his shoulder and said in a deep voice, "We'll seek help outside. If we make it on time, maybe Qiao Wan still has a chance to survive."
None of them present are experts in spiritual awareness. Only by leaving the secret realm and finding Martial Aunt Su Ni, the expert in spiritual awareness in Kunshan, could they possibly rescue Qiao Wan from the demonic energy.
And there's Mu Xiaoxiao's situation too.
Yuan Liu glanced aside, his heart sinking.
Her pulse was weak, she couldn't hold on for too long.
Finally, a glimmer of hope ignited in Cheng Li's eyes.
Yes, outside. If they go outside, maybe there's still hope for Qiao Wan.
Even though they thought this way, deep down, they all knew.
With her arms crippled, how long can Qiao Wan hold on?
Inside the cave.
Qiao Wan is still struggling against the demonic energy in her spiritual awareness.
Her consciousness was flickering like a TV with bad signal, buzzing intermittently. Vaguely, she saw the entrance of the cave blocked by a big rock, and Yuan Liu pulling everyone else out.
Seeing this, Qiao Wan breathed a sigh of relief. She turned around and looked up at the Human-faced Scorpion-tailed Spider right in front of her.
Without Yuan Liu and Xiao Boyang here, Qiao Wan finally had a little less worry. When Yuan Liu and Xiao Boyang were here, she was always afraid of harming them. Now, it was just her and the Human-faced Scorpion-tailed Spider.
Qiao Wan's mind relaxed, and she no longer resisted, letting the overwhelming demonic energy engulf her in an instant.
Even without her arms, she could still use her legs.
And her mouth.
Mother Queen was different from the other Human-faced Scorpion-tailed Spiders. She had some intelligence.
In front of her was a girl covered in blood, ragged, with two arms limp in front of her. But her eyes were as cold as ice, showing no fear.
In her eyes, there was only an overwhelming intent to kill.
This was demonic energy.
This was a demon.
The mortal cultivator in front of her was a natural-born demon...
Mother Queen paused for a moment, feeling a sense of fear rising within her.
But in an instant, Qiao Wan had already picked up a piece of short sword from the ground and charged forward.
As Qiao Wan charged forward, her two arms swung in front of her.
Mother Queen, injured and emitting a burnt smell, wasn't in a better condition than Qiao Wan.
Dodging the spider silk, after a few moves, Qiao Wan seized the opportunity and stabbed the sword into the weakest part of the spider's abdomen. She forcefully slashed downwards along the abdomen.
Especially the pile of human faces on the abdomen.
Qiao Wan bit the short sword, specifically targeting their "mouths" and slicing hundreds of human faces on their abdomens into a miserable mess, emitting a piercing wail.
Qiao Wan's eyes gleamed with red light, her ears bleeding from the sound, but her grip on the sword did not loosen.
In the small cave, in an instant, the air filled with demonic energy.
Mother Queen was both shocked and angry. In intense pain, she flipped her body and spewed out spider silk, trying to pull Qiao Wan out!
But even though Qiao Wan was being pulled and spitting blood, she immediately bit down on the short sword and charged forward again.
Mother Queen felt despair.
Though it wasn't human, its current feelings were almost the same as a human facing an invincible antagonist.
As Qiao Wan relentlessly sliced left and thrust right, Mother Queen finally let out a heart-wrenching howl, blood pouring like rain, and fell to the ground.
Qiao Wan kicked her heels, swinging her two arms, and bounced back up, sweating profusely as she charged forward once again.
Mother Queen was at her wit's end. The hundreds of human faces on her face were all wide-eyed, eyeballs bulging. However, since Qiao Wan had torn her mouth to shreds, she could only stare at her, expressing dissatisfaction and resentment.
Qiao Wan crouched down, her gaze icy.
With a "pu-ci," the piece of short sword pierced deeply into Mother Queen's head.
Splattered with blood and brain matter, Qiao Wan blinked, seeing a thin layer of red before her eyes.
But at this moment, she had no hands to wipe it and could only let it flow.
With Mother Queen dead, Qiao Wan breathed a sigh of relief, biting the short sword and collapsing to the ground.
Perhaps due to her unleashed killing intent, the demonic energy in her sea of consciousness gradually calmed down.
Qiao Wan glanced at the cave ceiling.
The cave became quiet, and the clusters of glowing blue crystals in the corner shimmered.
In this cave, she was the only one left, along with the bodies on the ground.
Before Qiao Wan could fully relax, a flash of white light appeared before her eyes.
Qiao Wan lifted her gaze.
In front of her stood a young boy dressed in white, with a delicate and pretty appearance. However, his eyes revealed undisguised hatred and contempt towards her.
Was it the Snow Rock Fox that Mu Xiaoxiao mentioned?
Qiao Wan wondered, gasping for breath.
It seemed that when Yuan Liu and the others escaped, they didn't have time to bring the Snow Rock Fox along. It had been hiding nearby during her fight with Mother Queen, waiting for her to die before revealing itself.
Qiao Wan asked, "Are you planning to kill me?"
A hint of malice appeared on the young boy's innocent face as he replied, "Yes."
Qiao Wan said, "You dare to take advantage of me?"
"You are more powerful than me, so I have no other choice," the young boy said. "Don't blame me, blame yourself for what you did to Mu Xiaoxiao."
Qiao Wan's lips curled into a smile.
Her gaze became sharp, filled with a demonic aura.
Seeing this, the Snow Rock Fox couldn't help but feel a wave of fear, instinctively taking a step back.
This was the instinctive fear that monsters had towards powerful demons.
However, how could a mere mortal cultivator at the Foundation Building stage like her scare him?
The Snow Rock Fox quickly composed himself, his eyes turning fierce.
Those who harmed Mu Xiaoxiao were not worthy of living.
He wanted to kill her, but it was a bit too early. Qiao Wan sneered, her lips curling into a cold smile. As for the blood contract she had made with Mu Xiaoxiao, it wasn't her concern. Since he wanted to attack her, he couldn't blame her for being impolite.
Before he could make a move, Qiao Wan swiftly launched herself forward, taking him by surprise. She tackled the Snow Rock Fox to the ground, twisting her legs around him to restrain him.
The young boy's eyes widened in shock. He was waiting for Qiao Wan to fall before revealing himself, not expecting that she still had room to struggle. Her legs tightly bound his body, preventing him from moving.
The demonic aura emanating from her body pressed down on him as if it had a solid form.
Looking at Qiao Wan, the young boy's eyes finally revealed undisguised fear.
"You..."
He couldn't finish his sentence and the words got stuck in his throat forever.
Qiao Wan opened her mouth wide and bit through his windpipe.
The expression on the young boy's face froze in the last second. Gurgling sounds came from his throat as blood foamed out. Gradually, his eyes stared blankly, slowly returning to his original form as a white fox. The fox twitched a few times, unwillingly gasping for breath.
Qiao Wan had no interest in eating the meat of this fox. She spat out the fur in her mouth and slowly moved towards the cave wall, leaning against it. She spat out a mouthful of blood and took a deep breath.
She couldn't rest for long. If she stayed here, she would definitely be trapped and unable to leave.
She had to go back.
Even though she had disabled her own arms.
She glanced at the giant rock at the mouth of the cave.
Qiao Wan wondered how she would get out of her current situation.
After resting for a while, Qiao Wan squatted down and blew a spell towards the wall with all her might.
After a few spells, she managed to create a small hole in the wall.
Qiao Wan took a few steps back and kicked with her foot.
Bang!
Because of the inertia, Qiao Wan stumbled and crashed into the opposite wall.
The impact made her dizzy.
She was saved.
However, even though she had escaped, she wasn't happy yet.
Because there was still another troublesome problem in front of her.
Looking at the dense red light in the darkness, Qiao Wan was shocked.
Before Mother Queen died, she had clearly called her descendants, determined to make her die together with them.
These Human-faced Scorpion-tailed Spiders no longer obeyed her commands. Besides, she had to use half of her consciousness to deal with the demonic energy and couldn't control these spider creatures anymore.
As she watched the Human-faced Scorpion-tailed Spiders gradually surrounding her, Qiao Wan lowered her head and bit onto the sword on the ground again, and charged into the pile of monsters.
At the same time...
A group of people supported each other as they walked forward miserably.
Yuan Liu carried Mu Xiaoxiao and ran desperately.
Faster, even faster.
As long as they could get out of the secret realm, there might still be a chance for Qiao Wan to survive.
Unexpectedly, Mu Xiaoxiao suddenly moved in his arms, and Yuan Liu panicked and quickly looked down at her.
Mu Xiaoxiao's chest rose and fell rapidly, and then she suddenly raised her head and spurted blood onto his face. After that, she fainted, unconscious.
Her breathing seemed even weaker than before.
"Damn it!!"
Blood dripped down his eyelashes, and Yuan Liu, who was already highly tense, now lost control and cursed angrily, "Damn it!!"
They didn't know how long they had been running like this, but finally, they saw a faint light at the entrance of the cave.
He had never desired sunlight so much in his life. Yuan Liu quickened his pace, stumbled and fell outside the cave.
The disciple who was guarding the entrance rushed over upon seeing this.
"What's going on?!"
"Go..." Yuan Liu put Mu Xiaoxiao in the arms of the disciple and felt relieved. He collapsed on the ground and managed to say, "Go... go save Qiao Wan, go to Wenshi Hall and find help..."
"Yuan Liu!!"
*
The usually deserted Mudstone Secret Realm was now crowded. The disciples of Wenshi Hall had serious expressions and looked solemn.
Not only the Hall Master of Wenshi Hall, Ma Huaizhen, but Fairy Sumi also arrived.
Ma Huaizhen's remaining intact eye coldly looked towards the entrance of the cave. "Open it."
Mudstone Secret Realm was about to open again!
The disciples of Wenshi Hall were ready to rush in and save people.
"Wait!!" The leader of the disciples raised his hand and shouted, "Stop for now!"
In the deep tunnel, a faint figure seemed to be approaching.
The disciples who had entered the secret realm slowly backed out.
As the figure got closer and closer.
The crowd stared in disbelief at the scene before them.
"Qiao... Qiao Wan has come out..." someone exclaimed.
What?! Ma Huaizhen furrowed his eyebrows, quickly moved forward.
The figure staggering towards the cave entrance was indeed Qiao Wan, there was no mistake.
The girl's eyes were cold, and she wore a tattered light pink robe. Her arms hung weakly by her side. Her face and body were covered in dark blood stains, and there were bits of flesh stuck to her hair. She had a short sword clenched in her mouth.
Who else could this be but Qiao Wan?!
The people at the cave entrance began to whisper and stir!
Everyone stared in astonishment as Qiao Wan slowly approached. Suddenly, the short sword in her mouth clattered to the ground and she swayed, falling unconscious.
Ma Huaizhen paused for a moment, then reached out and caught Qiao Wan as she fell, getting half of his sleeve soaked in blood.
With only one arm left, he looked quite comical holding onto Qiao Wan.
Blood drenched his sleeve, but the man's brows remained unfurrowed.
Although the disciples of Wenshi Hall dared not speak or laugh at the sight, from Ma Huaizhen's grim expression, it was evident that Hall Master Ma was truly furious.
While it's true that Ma Huaizhen had a bit of a brutal reputation, who would have expected a healthy person to enter and come out in such a state?
Once he settled back into his wheelchair, the man raised his right hand and bellowed, "What are you all standing there for?! Hurry and carry her to Xixia Peak to find Gao Lanzhi!!"
Several disciples from Wenshi Hall quivered and quickly rushed off to Xixia Peak.
Meanwhile, news of Qiao Wan, whose spiritual awareness was severely damaged and had gone astray, dragging herself along with two severed arms and a sword clenched in her mouth, cutting a path through the blood, spread throughout Kunshan almost overnight!
