Chapter 16: Me or Her

Linlang was already injured and exhausted. Simply grabbing Huo Zhi had aggravated her wound, causing immense pain. Now, the sudden yank from the flying Spiritual Qi Rope tore Huo Zhi away from Linlang’s claws, and the force yanked her forward as well. Going with the momentum, Linlang let her wings droop and used the impact’s force to crash in the opposite direction.

Huo Zhi only felt the wind whistling in her ears as she was pulled rapidly in one direction. The other end of the rope was held by a cultivator in tattered robes. The man’s face was alight with euphoric excitement, and greedy light shone from his eyes as he stared straight at Huo Zhi—at her newly emerged tail and ears!

Seeing his expression, Huo Zhi instantly understood. After Qin Ceyi, someone else had discovered her physique!

That twisted, ecstatic grin on his face… he couldn’t be thinking about Dual Cultivation again, could he?!

She had thought she was safe, but she absolutely was not!

Huo Zhi remembered the Ice Escape Talisman in her hand and wanted to activate it to flee, but then she saw Linlang crash onto a rock not far from the cultivator and lay motionless, seemingly unconscious.

She had to take Linlang with her. Huo Zhi couldn’t possibly abandon Linlang, who had just saved her multiple times. Besides, the Ice Escape Talisman only carried one ten meters, and there was no telling if they would teleport straight into lava.

Huo Zhi was pulled by the Spiritual Qi Rope onto the rock.

“Hahaha, this is my greatest destined opportunity! A Heavenly Fox Physique, it’s actually a Heavenly Fox Physique! Not only can I Dual Cultivate to boost my cultivation, but she’s also top-grade Talisman Materials… I’m rich, I’m rich!” The cultivator looked at Huo Zhi, his voice trembling with excitement. He reached out to touch Huo Zhi’s tail, but his hand shook uncontrollably. The talisman in his hand fell, and his expression twisted. Black veins spread across the skin of his neck and face.

At that very moment, Linlang, who had appeared unconscious, flapped her wings and stood up. But instead of attacking the cultivator, she grabbed Huo Zhi with a claw and pulled her back several steps.

Huo Zhi was completely stunned. Before she could even form words, she watched as the cultivator, moving like a zombie, twisted and contorted with a pained expression. Without even looking where he was going, he staggered a few steps and plunged headfirst into the lava pool!

A single agonized scream rang out, then silence. The acrid smell of burning flesh filled the air. The cultivator’s body struggled a few times before going completely still. Huo Zhi began to tremble uncontrollably all over.

Seeing death on television was nothing like reality. It was too shocking, too horrifying!

Linlang watched coldly as the man gradually stopped moving, her heart unmoved. She merely cast an extra glance at the several storage bags hanging on the half of his body still above the lava. He wasn’t exactly poor.

In Linlang’s view, the man deserved to die. The mere fact that he’d laid eyes on Huo Zhi’s Heavenly Fox Physique true form meant he couldn’t be left alive, let alone after spouting what he had just said.

The reason the cultivator had acted this way was that when Linlang had feigned being overpowered and gravely injured, she had secretly launched Nether Soul Threads into him.

She had originally prepared the threads to deal with the Sky Mist Sect cultivators blocking them outside, but hadn’t retracted them after entering the Secret Realm. They had come in handy here.

That tiny bit of Nether Soul Thread wouldn’t normally be fatal; it would just cause extreme discomfort to cultivators using Spiritual Qi. A single thread could disrupt the body’s Qi circulation. If he had calmed down and immediately focused on suppressing it, he could have controlled the small amount of Nether Soul Thread given enough time. He was just unlucky that it flared up right by the lava pool, causing him to fall in. Unable to properly circulate his Spiritual Qi to protect himself, he was doomed.

Linlang felt Huo Zhi’s violent trembling and glanced at her. Huo Zhi’s eyes were brimming with tears, clearly terrified out of her wits. Her eyes and nose were red, her ears twitching, and her tail was shaking like a sieve. That fluffed-up tail just made one want to smooth down her fur; her fear was so palpable.

Could it be that this woman had never even seen a dead person before?

“Don’t look,” Linlang said, pulling Huo Zhi to face the other direction. Simultaneously, she vigilantly swept her Spiritual Sense outward. The area was rich with Fire-Type Spiritual Qi, but she didn’t detect any other cultivators.

Since there was no danger of being discovered for now, she would let Huo Zhi calm down a bit.

Linlang had no idea how Huo Zhi cultivated. After so many years of practicing the Dao of Ruthlessness Technique, her emotional control was still this poor.

And then there was Huo Zhi’s earlier stress reaction: instead of using the Ice Escape Talisman, her first instinct had been to fling Linlang away. She didn’t even know what to say about this person.

Having been imprisoned by Qin Ceyi all this time, Huo Zhi had zero combat experience, probably not even survival experience… and yet she wanted to be someone else’s Shizun.

“Host, try not to be afraid. Just think of it as an NPC in a game. It has nothing to do with you. Linlang’s Happiness Value has dropped to -6200; that’s the priority right now,” 006 chimed in. Over the past ten-plus days, Linlang’s Happiness Value had been hovering around -5000, and now it had plummeted beyond -6000.

Huo Zhi’s terror was snapped back to reality by 006’s voice. Remembering that Linlang was still badly injured, she fumbled urgently through her storage bag for Healing Talismans.

Focusing on Linlang’s wounds helped redirect her attention. She calmed down slightly.

“Linlang, I-I’m sorry. I got you so badly hurt. You’ve saved me so many times in a row. You know, even if I am your Shizun, you can’t be so foolish. Your own safety has to come first. Look at this gash… if it were a few centimeters deeper, it would have reached your carotid artery…” Huo Zhi used several Healing Talismans on Linlang, only breathing a sigh of relief when she saw some improvement. Her voice was tinged with a nasal sniffle, filled with lingering fear.

“It’s nothing. You saved me too.” Linlang’s eyes remained icy, seemingly calm, but inside she was cursing inwardly.

Did she want to be foolish?

Absolutely not!

This was all the damn Love Poison Talisman’s doing!

It had to be.

She needed to find a place where Yin Baleful Qi gathered and absorb as much of it as possible, to completely erase this troublesome Love Poison Talisman from her Origin Soul!

“Qin Ceyi was mainly after me. I dragged you into this. You got so badly hurt saving me…” Huo Zhi sniffled.

“You really intend to join the Blissful Union Sect?” Linlang didn’t want to hear Huo Zhi emphasize the brainless actions she’d committed. She remembered what had happened outside with Moyi Guihua and asked.

Earlier outside, Linlang had released her Nether Soul Threads, preparing to use them to temporarily disable the cultivator blocking them and rush Huo Zhi through the entrance. She never imagined Huo Zhi would go seek help from the Blissful Union Sect.

It reminded Linlang of her previous life. Huo Zhi’s original self and Moyi Guihua had been very close.

Back then, Huo Zhi had also been calling her “Elder Sister” non-stop; the two were practically inseparable.

They definitely weren’t that familiar yet in this life, yet this woman had immediately called her “Elder Sister”!

Did she seriously want to join a sect like the Blissful Union Sect?!

What was the difference between escaping Qin Ceyi and falling into the hands of the Blissful Union Sect?

The Blissful Union Sect had an infamous reputation for being debauched, licentious, skilled in Dual Cultivation to steal other people’s cultivation, and so on. For someone with Huo Zhi’s Dual Cultivation physique, entering there would be like a lamb walking into a tiger’s den.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. I truly had no other choice and had to ask Moyi Guihua for help. Moyi Guihua did help us, and right now Qin Ceyi is waiting outside, ready to spring a trap. If we stay here for half a year, at most we can craft more talismans and heal our injuries; our cultivation can’t skyrocket immediately. We’ll need a sect’s protection when we leave. If the Blissful Union Sect can shelter us, and it’s all women there… it seems quite safe.” Huo Zhi reasoned. With all women, there wouldn’t be any creeps like Qin Ceyi. She had no particular loyalty to the Sky Mist Sect anyway; leaving was no loss.

“…” Linlang stared at Huo Zhi, speechless.

The Blissful Union Sect, safe?

Moyi Guihua could devour her without leaving a single bone!

In the past life, Moyi Guihua had been even more fond of Mo Zhenfeng’s harem than Mo Zhenfeng himself. Linlang strongly suspected Moyi Guihua and Mo Zhenfeng shared the harem…

Did Huo Zhi really not know that women could also Dual Cultivate with women?

“I can repay the debt to Moyi Guihua another way. If you insist on joining the Blissful Union Sect, once we leave this place, you and I will go our separate ways!” Linlang stated coldly.

“…Linlang, we’re in this together. If you don’t want to, I won’t join either. I’ll find another way to repay the favor to Moyi Guihua.” Seeing Linlang’s strong opposition, Huo Zhi quickly relented.

Of course they’d do whatever Linlang wanted.

Ding. Linlang’s Happiness Value: -5800. Linlang said nothing, but 006 reported first.

Hearing this, Huo Zhi knew Linlang was secretly pleased. She looked closely at Linlang’s expression, but in her Cinnabar Bird form, she couldn’t read any emotion. The chick just looked arrogantly noble, incredibly cool!

“Linlang, it’s wonderful that you’re okay this time. From now on, I’ll think things through more thoroughly. Our strength will also grow stronger and stronger. We won’t be caught so helplessly again. We need to prepare well these six months and make good use of the resources here,” Huo Zhi said to Linlang. Her eyes were still red, but she clenched her fist, looking determined and utterly positive.

Linlang didn’t want to look at Huo Zhi anymore. Why did she have to wag her tail while talking?!

“Put your tail away first,” Linlang said, averting her eyes and suppressing the urge to smooth down the fluffed-up soft fur on that tail.

Reminded by Linlang, Huo Zhi hurriedly began circulating her cultivation technique to suppress her emotions and retract her ears and tail.

“Senior Brother Lin, I have good news—there’s a Bounty Mission!” Huo Zhi had just put away her tail and was about to speak to Linlang when a man’s voice suddenly rang out, making her jump in fright. She grabbed Linlang, and her tail popped right back out.

“…It’s a Sound Transmission Talisman!” Linlang’s fan-shaped crest feathers twitched as she spoke. Someone as timid as Huo Zhi would expose herself at any moment!

“…” Huo Zhi looked over and saw something on the ground flashing. It had the Sound Transmission Talisman’s telephone receiver icon—Huo Zhi’s own design.

“I heard a beautiful female disciple from the Sky Mist Sect took a red Cinnabar Bird and stole a precious Talisman Artifact from our sect. Elder Qin Ceyi of the Sky Mist Sect tried to capture them personally but failed. They just entered the Vermilion Flame Secret Realm. Bounty: ten thousand Spirit Stones,” the voice continued transmitting from the talisman.

Huo Zhi’s tail nearly popped out again.

Damn. That stingy Qin Ceyi had actually put out a bounty of ten thousand Spirit Stones on her!