Liu Erlong's gaze paused on the blood pool for a moment before shifting to the person within it—Yu Xiaogang sat bare-chested and cross-legged in the center of the pool, countless dark-red threads wrapped around his body. Those threads extended from the surface of his skin, connecting to dozens of distorted figures around the pool, their features nearly unrecognizable.
Liu Erlong's breathing stalled.
She recognized several of their faces—many had once been students she had personally guided in their cultivation at the academy.
Her fingers tightened slightly, but she did not move.
Rather than rushing out, she grabbed Xiao Yun's sleeve and retreated half a step into the corner.
Xiao Yun glanced at her without asking any questions. With a casual gesture, he set up a barrier around them that concealed their auras.
Standing in the shadows, Liu Erlong kept her eyes on Yu Xiaogang. He was still absorbing something from the blood pool. With every strand of dark-red liquid that flowed into his meridians, the bloodlines across his body brightened a little more.
Liu Erlong looked calmer than Xiao Yun had expected.
She did not charge out to fight Yu Xiaogang the moment she saw him. She simply watched, watching the former boyfriend who had once been suave and full of theoretical knowledge, now transformed into someone she did not recognize at all—someone who felt strange and distant.
Yu Xiaogang's current crazed appearance completely shattered Liu Erlong's former impression of him. Combined with the students who had died, what little affection she still held for him vanished in an instant.
Behind them, Zhao Wuji arrived close on their heels.
The moment he spotted the still-open entrance to the underground tunnel, he dove in without a second thought. Because of his size, however, his clothes became covered in fallen leaves and