Chapter 36: “A-Yue, it hurts…”

Bai Xiaoxiao genuinely felt her bad luck was acting up again.

There was no other way to explain why, with so many people on the flying boat, only she was given special attention. And because the spiritual pressure was too intense, her voice was stuck in her throat. She simply couldn’t speak up.

Not to mention, the one targeting her most likely wasn’t even human.

“System, can you find out who the hidden person is?”

In desperation, Bai Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered she still had a System.

Although the System was usually quiet and rarely spoke, startling people when it suddenly made a sound, this reminded her—she could try using a cheat.

The System wasn’t a product of this world, so by all logic, it should be able to find out.

But it didn’t respond right away. Bai Xiaoxiao assumed it was querying and didn’t disturb it.

As time passed bit by bit, she began to find it strange. Just as she was about to ask again, the System finally said slowly, “Query complete. However, Host, you’ve actually met this person before.”

Bai Xiaoxiao: “?”

“You said… what? I’ve met them? Who exactly…”

She recalled everyone she’d met during this period in her mind, but couldn’t find anyone matching the features she’d seen.

Someone with amber eyes couldn’t be human…

Bai Xiaoxiao hesitated.

There really shouldn’t be anyone like that in the Cultivation World.

She thought about it, but soon became dizzy and couldn’t continue thinking.

Besides, she’d gone over her memories several times and still couldn’t find such a person.

The System didn’t stutter this time, speaking in its mechanical voice, “You have indeed met them, and it was in Fengdu City.”

Fengdu City…?

Bearing the oppression of the spiritual pressure, Bai Xiaoxiao regained a second of clarity at those words. Her brain trudged along, then suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck, and she had a candidate.

“Could it be… that top courtesan from Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion?!”

If there was one person who’d left the deepest impression in Fengdu City, Bai Xiaoxiao could only think of that demonic cultivator undercover in the Cultivation World—the fox demon, Moyen.

“Host guessed correctly.”

The System confirmed her guess, but Bai Xiaoxiao only found it more absurd. Even knowing the person’s identity, she still didn’t understand.

“I have no grudge against her. Why is she targeting me?”

Bai Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth. She could clearly feel the strange sensation in her body growing stronger under the oppression, like a stress response.

She really couldn’t stay any longer. The most urgent thing was to find a safe place to get through the Snake Molting Stage.

But the situation was far too terrible. That demonic cultivator Moyen had blocked their path for some unknown reason, and she was being targeted. Even if she wanted to leave, there was no way.

Even if there were a way to leave, Bai Xiaoxiao knew she couldn’t abandon her companions and flee alone. Nor could she guarantee that Moyen, seeing her escape, wouldn’t vent her anger on the others.

That would turn into a tragedy.

After all, that demonic cultivator was who knows how many years old. Among their group, Ming Jingqiu had the highest cultivation base, but she was clearly no match either.

At this rate, they’d definitely be wiped out.

Bai Xiaoxiao struggled to take a deep breath, but even inhaling was incredibly difficult under such pressure.

She had to leave quickly.

Bai Xiaoxiao made up her mind.

“System, how many points do I have in total?”

Earlier, while staying by Shen Zhiyue’s side, she’d earned quite a few points by raising the other’s favorability. Adding the side quest she’d completed this time, if nothing unexpected happened, her total points should be substantial.

Maybe… she could directly exchange for teleportation formations from the System.

If earlier she’d wanted to move everyone into the secret realm, Bai Xiaoxiao no longer thought that now.

With the Snake Molting Stage upon her, she couldn’t stay with the group.

Besides, hiding in the secret realm was possible, but it wasn’t a long-term solution. If that demonic cultivator had other tricks, the secret realm might be damaged, and they’d all be doomed.

So she thought of the System.

“Settling—settlement complete. This time, the Host successfully obtained the Female Lead’s Opportunity. Reward: 150 points. Up to the present, the Host has a total of 196 points, meeting the conditions to unlock the Points Shop. Would you like to open the Points Shop now?”

Bai Xiaoxiao’s whole body ached. Gritting her teeth, she confirmed.

Her consciousness was growing fuzzier. Bai Xiaoxiao struggled desperately against the instinct to revert to her original form. She only wanted to be faster, faster—as long as they all teleported away, everything would be fine.

A bit over a hundred points wasn’t much. It was just enough to exchange for two teleportation formations.

Bai Xiaoxiao didn’t bother thinking about whether it was expensive. In one breath, she exchanged for everything she could.

The moment the exchange succeeded, Bai Xiaoxiao immediately attached the teleportation formations to the feet of the others.

And this teleportation formation, true to being System-issued, was high quality and fast. It had barely appeared before everyone was teleported away before they could even react.

However, Bai Xiaoxiao wasn’t teleported with them. First, she needed to find a secluded place to get through her Snake Molting Stage anyway. Second, the demonic cultivator had locked onto her. The moment the demonic cultivator noticed the teleportation formation activating, she swiftly pulled Bai Xiaoxiao out. Bai Xiaoxiao only had time to see everyone’s wide eyes and Bai Zhizhi’s panicked expression.

Bai Zhizhi had finally realized something was wrong with Bai Xiaoxiao. She struggled but only left behind a few words.

[Xiaoxiao, your body…]

The voice transmission was only half complete before the signal cut off.

Even so, Bai Xiaoxiao knew what she was going to say. They were of the same race, so it wasn’t strange that Bai Zhizhi could sense her Snake Molting Stage had come early.

It was just her bad luck that the molting stage had to arrive right when they were being ambushed, and now she’d been dragged out just as she was about to be teleported away.

Truly, misfortunes never come alone.

Bai Xiaoxiao could no longer resist the spiritual pressure around her or the discomfort in her body. She spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground. The blood spattered onto her clothes, an eyesore.

As her consciousness wavered, she sensed someone landing beside her.

The newcomer let out a cold snort. “I underestimated you, little snake. You even had a trick up your sleeve. That teleportation formation was your doing, wasn’t it? But you don’t appear to be a formation cultivator. Where did you get a teleportation formation?

Interesting. Very interesting. So I wasn’t wrong about you. I didn’t think this trip would yield such a harvest…”

Bai Xiaoxiao felt the voice by her ear growing more and more indistinct. It was also at this moment that she sensed a hair-raising danger emanating from the person in front of her.

Even if she didn’t know what this demonic cultivator wanted to capture her for, Bai Xiaoxiao knew it definitely wasn’t anything good. So mustering the last bit of her strength, she called out to Little Stone, telling it to find a chance to open the secret realm.

From the depths of her divine soul came Little Stone’s voice. But Bai Xiaoxiao could no longer make out what it was saying. After realizing Little Stone had successfully moved her into the secret realm, she finally let her body change.

The secret realm was filled with familiar thin mist. The moment she entered, Bai Xiaoxiao could no longer hold back and reverted to her original form.

Originally, her main body was very small—small enough to coil around Shen Zhiyue’s wrist like a bracelet.

But this time, after transforming, she was twice as large. No longer a thin little strip, the colors on her body were also more vibrant.

Bai Xiaoxiao’s main body had always been emerald green. If placed in the modern world, she’d definitely be a highly venomous snake.

But in the Cultivation World, Mirage Serpents had no venom. Her emerald green body was like fine jade, quite beautiful.

Unfortunately, this beautiful snake was writhing in agony, letting out delirious hisses. She thrashed for a long time before gradually calming down from exhaustion.

The secret realm was empty, with only a snake undergoing molting struggling endlessly.

Little Stone called out anxiously several times, trying to wake Bai Xiaoxiao’s consciousness. But Bai Xiaoxiao didn’t respond. Upon suddenly realizing she was safe, she’d sunk into the pain of the Snake Molting Stage, unable to break free.

It was a spirit being born from the secret realm’s core, and it had only gained sentience recently. It didn’t understand what Bai Xiaoxiao was going through. It could only call out to her anxiously, trying to make her wake up.

But perhaps because she’d been suppressing it for too long, and had been injured by the spiritual pressure, Bai Xiaoxiao’s molting was extremely difficult. She felt like her body was being torn apart, bones separating from flesh, like being cut with a dull knife. It was agonizing.

At one point, Bai Xiaoxiao nearly couldn’t feel the pain anymore. Her mental state was on the verge of collapse.

Who would have thought that being a human was hard enough, but being a snake also meant enduring such torment? Life wasn’t easy for anyone…

Bai Xiaoxiao had already lost consciousness from the pain, but she was soon harshly awakened by it again. No one was helping her, so she could only endure on her own.

Fortunately, the secret realm was empty. Otherwise, her molting stage would have been even more difficult.

It hurt so much. She wondered when the molting stage would end…

Bai Xiaoxiao thought dazedly, but found no answer. She seemed to have forgotten to ask Bai Zhizhi that question.

She coiled herself into a spiral like a mosquito coil, as if that would make it feel better.

No one knew how much time passed before Bai Xiaoxiao finally noticed the pain had lessened somewhat. In her confusion, she opened her eyes and saw a soft, slightly pale layer of skin on her body.

Though she’d never gone through molting before, she could sense that once that pale layer of skin became completely transparent, her molting would be over.

After so much pain, at least she’d gotten some good news. So after another wave of pain passed, Bai Xiaoxiao, exhausted, fell into a deep sleep.

She didn’t know how long she slept. In a daze, she felt someone calling her continuously. Bai Xiaoxiao struggled to open her eyes, and the voice in her mind finally became clear.

It was Little Stone’s voice, but it sounded urgent—a tone she’d never heard from it before.

Had something happened?

Bai Xiaoxiao struggled to wake from her slumber and finally understood what Little Stone was saying.

[You’re finally awake. If you’d slept any longer, we’d both be done for!

The situation is really bad now! Something is looking for me—no, I should say looking for us.

And that aura is familiar. I can feel it’s that secret realm that partially merged with me before!]

Bai Xiaoxiao’s reaction was slow. It took her a long while to process.

[You mean, someone is using the residual aura you left in that secret realm to try to find us?]

Little Stone bounced up and down excitedly in Bai Xiaoxiao’s divine soul.

[Exactly, exactly! That’s it, wuwuwuwu—I was reluctant to give up such a big piece of land earlier. If I’d known someone had their eye on me, I should have cleaned it up more thoroughly when I cut it off.]

[Ahhhhhh what do we do!]

Bai Xiaoxiao sensed something was wrong. The secret realm Little Stone mentioned should be the Flowing Light Spirit Cave. But hadn’t that secret realm been contracted by Rong Qingqing? Why was it…

She felt that the other party might not be coming for her, but for Little Stone.

Little Stone had just gained sentience. Someone had deliberately taken part of its power before, causing it to be captured by the Flowing Light Spirit Cave. The two secret realms had nearly merged.

She’d actually always suspected that if the two secret realms merged, Little Stone’s sentience would be swallowed up too.

Although Little Stone said the Flowing Light Spirit Cave secret realm was low-grade, it had still existed for a long time. Unlike Little Stone, which was still a baby.

That way, after Rong Qingqing contracted it, she’d essentially have access to the resources of two secret realms.

And the person who’d broken into Little Stone’s home was worth deep consideration. They were most likely connected to Rong Qingqing. After all, she was the ultimate beneficiary.

Bai Xiaoxiao thought like a modern person. If it weren’t for her intuition that the fusion zone was bad, she wouldn’t have had Little Stone cut itself off from that part.

She never expected that even after cutting off the connection, trouble would still arise. So the other party really was planning to slowly devour Little Stone.

Unfortunately, she’d interfered. But they still weren’t giving up. Relying on just the faint residual aura to find Little Stone’s location.

Bai Xiaoxiao felt a headache coming on.

This was truly a case of troubles at home and abroad.

“It’s true that when you’re down on your luck, even drinking water gets stuck in your teeth.”

She sighed and calmed down before saying, [No need to panic for now. The aura you left shouldn’t be much. They probably can’t pinpoint your exact location.]

Bai Xiaoxiao thought quickly, but no matter how she considered it, the best option was for her to leave the secret realm and flee the area as soon as possible.

After all, she had contracted the secret realm. Wherever she was, the secret realm was.

But the key problem was that she couldn’t leave the secret realm now. The agony of the Snake Molting Stage prevented her from moving freely, let alone fleeing with the secret realm in tow.

For now, all she could do was pray she wouldn’t be discovered. Otherwise, she’d truly be doomed.

But perhaps the Heavenly Dao couldn’t stand watching her snatch the Female Lead’s Opportunity. Whatever she feared most came right at her.

While enduring the pain of molting, Bai Xiaoxiao vaguely heard Little Stone say that the person was getting closer and closer.

She gritted her teeth against the pain, flickering between her original form and human form, looking strangely eerie.

But despite her efforts, she still couldn’t return to human form. She also had to divert attention to the person Little Stone mentioned.

For the first time in her life, she felt fury and gained a clearer understanding of her own weakness.

If only she weren’t this weak…

“Boom—”

The secret realm suddenly shook violently. For a moment, the earth trembled and the mountains swayed, absolutely terrifying.

Little Stone sucked in a cold breath. [Ahhhhhhhh what do we do now! The lunatic is charging over!!]

A drop of scalding sweat slid down Bai Xiaoxiao’s forehead. She realized the newcomer’s cultivation base must be extremely high. Otherwise, they couldn’t have caused such turmoil in the secret realm.

This was truly the worst news of bad news. She probably couldn’t escape.

With a sigh in her heart, Bai Xiaoxiao’s gaze began to lose focus, but she was still trying to return to human form.

The secret realm’s turmoil grew more intense. Little Stone’s panicked voice was in her ears. At some point, Bai Xiaoxiao gave up on switching forms.

She sank her consciousness into the Sea of Consciousness. With trembling hands, she touched the soul fragment’s cheek and pressed her forehead against it.

“A-Yue, it hurts so much… I’m sorry…”