"So many people were hunting you down, yet you still managed to survive. You really have a life as tough as nails..."
Yun Ji fled swiftly all the way, chattering on without pause as she went.
Niu Youdao felt that he could not quite make out what she was saying. Every now and then, he gave a faint chuckle in response, proving that he was still alive and keeping her from worrying.
He endured like that, though in the end, he did not know how long he had held on. After the protective magic around him had been completely shattered, the lake water had seeped in and soaked him from head to toe. His drenched clothes actually made waves of bone-piercing cold wash over him.
Just as he felt he was about to be unable to hold on any longer, a sudden brightness appeared before his eyes, rousing a sliver of awareness in him.
He suddenly found himself in an underground space. Beneath the glow of a Moon Butterfly, Shang Shuqing sat on a rock, cradling the swaddled infant.
The commotion of breaking through the earth gave Shang Shuqing a violent start. Though she was ugly, she was still a woman. Alone in this dark underground place, she was truly afraid; even the slightest unusual sound made her heart pound in terror.
She abruptly looked up and saw that Yun Ji had returned. Rising while still holding the child, she then saw Yun Ji pull a wretched figure out from the hole in the earth.
The thing binding that man's hair had vanished somewhere. His hair hung loose and disheveled, his clothes were torn to rags, and though his wounds had been stopped from bleeding, large patches of horrifying bloodstains remained. Beneath his scattered hair, his face was pale and