Chapter 22: Nesting Essentials Part 1

“The red-haired one is that Cinnabar Bird Demon! Elder Qin will reward us with ten thousand Spirit Stones if we capture them!” An excited voice rang out again.

As the voice sounded, spiritual energy fluctuated in the surroundings. Various talismans were already being activated by the people nearby. A Spiritual Qi Rope was the first to bind Huo Zhi and Linlang.

Among the surrounding people were members of the Sky Mist Sect!

Huo Zhi recognized one of them. The person who spoke and identified them was Su’er, someone she had seen before at Beast Slave Peak in the Sky Mist Sect!

Su’er knew Huo Zhi’s original body, and she knew Linlang even better.

What terrible luck, running into Sky Mist Sect people the moment they got out!

During her escape, Huo Zhi had exhausted the talismans on hand. Now, her spiritual energy was depleted. Even if she had talismans, she would need to absorb spiritual energy to activate them.

Such terrible luck—running into Sky Mist Sect people right after getting out, being recognized at a glance, and them acting so decisively!

After surviving such a dangerous ordeal, were they really going to fall here?!

“Linlang, don’t be afraid, wait for me to…” Huo Zhi wanted to send a Sound Transmission to Linlang to comfort her, but then she realized she was currently lying on top of Linlang. Linlang’s only fire-resistant Talisman Robe was wrapped around her!

The two of them were also bound tightly by a Binding Talisman!

Terrible!

“I’m going to activate the Illusion Technique!” Linlang’s voice transmitted into Huo Zhi’s Sea of Consciousness, extremely calm.

Huo Zhi, hearing Linlang’s voice, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bit the tip of her tongue to maintain a sliver of clarity.

Without preparation, it was very easy to fall into Linlang’s Illusion Technique.

The cultivators around them weren’t very high in cultivation, and they were completely unprepared. The moment Linlang activated the Illusion Technique, the scene before their eyes drastically changed.

As these people fell into the illusion, some began talking to themselves, some started fighting each other, and others swung their swords wildly.

Linlang’s gaze fell on Su’er, who was trapped in the illusion, her eyes revealing a dark, fierce anger.

This woman… the one who had afflicted Linlang with the Love Poison Talisman. She was the source of all this trouble.

Now that they had met again, she would not let her off.

Linlang released a strand of Nether Soul Thread from her fingertip. With a flick of her finger, it shot into Su’er’s body as she stood there giggling foolishly. Su’er’s body twisted in pain.

Linlang’s illusion could guide those trapped within it to some extent, but Linlang was not yet very adept at it. Her guidance for Su’er was simply to direct her walking path towards another cultivator who was slashing his sword around wildly.

Soon, that sword-wielding cultivator struck Su’er with his blade. Su’er screamed, jolting awake from the illusion, but she was already wounded. Furthermore, something extremely unpleasant was rampaging through her body, making it impossible to circulate her spiritual energy.

In the end, while fully conscious, Su’er was struck again and again by the sword-wielding cultivator. Blood splattered, her screams fading from loud to silent…

Su’er collapsed, covered in blood, her body twitching instinctively a few times before going completely still. The cultivator, as if practicing his swordsmanship, continued striking her body repeatedly.

Huo Zhi watched, completely stunned. Her body stiffened. Only when Linlang patted her did she snap out of it. She quickly used her face to block Linlang’s line of sight, closing her own eyes as well.

“It’s not your fault, not your fault… They were the ones who started with bad intentions…” Huo Zhi stammered, trembling, by Linlang’s ear.

Linlang watched Huo Zhi’s profile, so close to her, her eyes darkening.

This woman… so scared herself, yet still trying to comfort her!

“Sorry, I need to recover some spiritual energy before I can break free from this Binding Talisman. Maybe… you should just lie on top of me. The ground is prickly…” As Su’er’s voice faded, Huo Zhi already knew the outcome. After calming down for a moment, she tried to struggle free from the Binding Talisman but found she couldn’t. Awkwardly, she spoke to Linlang.

“It’s fine. I’m absorbing spiritual energy too,” Linlang said quietly. In the outdoor light, it was brighter than inside the underground palace. The white light was plentiful, making the red on Huo Zhi’s face very apparent, even spreading to her ears.

She was blushing.

She was so adorable.

Linlang still had Nether Soul Threads. Even without them, her remaining spiritual energy could have burned through this Binding Talisman.

But… she felt this was quite nice.

Being this close to Huo Zhi, she could clearly see her face, smell her scent…

Just as the two of them were silently recovering by absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy in this intimate position, another series of crashing sounds came from behind them. Ji Shuling, Ji Boxu, and the others had come out.

Originally, there had been fifty or sixty people in the underground palace. Many had died along the way. Before the palace collapsed, there were about ten left. Now, only the brother-sister pair and one other high-cultivation fellow disciple had emerged. They were also in a terribly sorry state, covered in wounds and completely drained of spiritual energy. After rolling out, they couldn’t even move and needed to recover immediately.

If Linlang hadn’t propped up the entrance with the Large Log, whether these few could have made it out would have been a question.

Huo Zhi wanted to tell them not to kill each other, to just peacefully recover, but then she heard very light footsteps. Looking over, she saw a furtive-looking man walking towards them, the Golden Talisman in his hand flickering.

Wasn’t that Mo Zhenfeng?

“Shit!” Seeing this person, Huo Zhi couldn’t help but curse. This guy was here to scavenge!

Huo Zhi strained to break free from the Spiritual Qi Rope, but still couldn’t budge it.

“Mo Zhenfeng, stop right there! Activate a few Healing Talismans, and I’ll record this as a great merit for you!” Ji Boxu looked towards Mo Zhenfeng and said in a deep voice. Since Mo Zhenfeng had only recently joined the sect, Ji Boxu hadn’t called him when he took people into the underground palace. He hadn’t brought Ji Shuling because he didn’t want her to be in danger.

Ji Shuling looked towards Mo Zhenfeng and didn’t say anything. Given that Mo Zhenfeng hadn’t risked himself to save her before, she felt he likely wouldn’t save them now. Instead, he’d probably act like those cultivators who robbed people in distress.

Mo Zhenfeng gripped the talisman in his hand tightly, observing the situation. Those few people were acting crazy and had little fighting capability. The ones lying on the ground looked like their spiritual energy was completely exhausted; they couldn’t even activate a Healing Talisman. The two beauties were even bound together by a Binding Talisman—ready targets!

They had just come out of that mysterious place. Their Storage Bags were all bulging!

If he killed them, he’d be rich!

His Fortune Guiding Talisman was shining brighter than ever before.

Mo Zhenfeng’s eyes flickered. Before he could make a move, he noticed his Fortune Guiding Talisman suddenly turn red.

Mo Zhenfeng looked at the group, uncertain and suspicious. He didn’t know who the threat was, but his Fortune Guiding Talisman was telling him that fatal danger was coming. If he didn’t leave soon, things would go very badly!

Huo Zhi was still wondering what choice Mo Zhenfeng, the king of vulturing, would make, and how she and Linlang could save themselves, when she discovered that Mo Zhenfeng had vanished in a flash!

He activated a Teleportation Talisman!

“Mo Zhenfeng is shrewd. He probably sensed some danger and ran. We need to recover quickly!” Huo Zhi urgently transmitted to Linlang.

Linlang gave a sound of agreement, narrowing her eyes at the spot where Mo Zhenfeng had disappeared.

Just now, she had been gathering a Nether Soul Thread at her fingertip, intending to deal with Mo Zhenfeng the same way she did Su’er. The moment the thought rose, Mo Zhenfeng had actually fled.

That Fortune Guiding Talisman was truly sensitive!

Next time she tried to kill him, the instant the killing intent rose, she needed to strike at the exact same time. It had to be fast, accurate, and ruthless!

“That Mo Zhenfeng actually ran away! I’ve disliked him for a while. He was always hovering around Junior Sister, clearly up to no good,” the cultivator beside Ji Boxu said angrily.

“Everyone, recover quickly. It’s not safe here,” Ji Boxu said, gripping a Spirit Stone and focusing on absorbing its energy to recover.

Ji Shuling looked at the place where Mo Zhenfeng had vanished, her eyes now devoid of any emotion. She clenched her fist and closed her eyes to recover.

After recovering a bit of spiritual energy, Huo Zhi opened her Storage Bag and took out Spirit Stones for herself and Linlang. With the Spirit Stones, recovery was faster. Once they had enough spiritual energy, the two finally broke free from the Binding Talisman.

Linlang felt a faint sense of disappointment, but when Huo Zhi carefully helped her put on her clothes and tied up her hair, her mood lifted a little.

The people from the Artifact Talisman Sect had also recovered somewhat. The two groups looked at each other. Huo Zhi cupped her hands towards Ji Shuling.

“Sister Ji, we’ll part ways here. The environment in this Secret Realm is treacherous; please be careful,” Huo Zhi said. The two sides distrusted each other and were on guard against each other. It was better if they went their separate ways.

“Elder Sister, you be careful too. Let’s meet again when we’re out. If you have any trouble, you can find me. Whatever I can do, I will do. Here’s my Sound Transmission Talisman.” Ji Shuling was a little reluctant to part with Huo Zhi, but she also knew her brother and that senior brother were wary of Huo Zhi and Linlang. They couldn’t travel together anymore. She just tossed a Sound Transmission Talisman to Huo Zhi.

“Alright. Same to you. If anything happens, you can find me too.” Huo Zhi caught the talisman and nodded.

Ji Shuling was cute and lovely, quite nice. It was a pity her brother had too many schemes.

Ji Shuling was pulled away by Ji Boxu. Seeing Huo Zhi looking in the direction they left as if reluctant to part, Linlang’s mood soured again.

Huo Zhi heard 006’s alert that Linlang’s Happiness Value had gone from positive to negative. She turned her head to look at Linlang.

“Linlang, what’s wrong? Were you injured just now?” Huo Zhi asked her.

“No,” Linlang replied sullenly, then went to retrieve her beloved Large Log.

Linlang pulled out the large log. The entrance to the underground palace collapsed completely, and the ground even shook slightly. Huo Zhi and Linlang quickly left as well.