Tang San tightened the grass rope over his shoulder and supported Tang Hao's dangling arm. Just as he turned toward the valley entrance, Ji Yuan sensed the little Soul Power inside him divide into two streams again.
One flowed into his legs, while the other reached outward through the Blue Silver Grass.
People were already at the valley entrance.
Through the sensations relayed by the grass blades, several sources of Soul Power approached from different directions. One person stopped near Yue Guan's remains, his sole grinding over the dried black stains.
"Don't rush in yet! There's poison on the ground!"
Tang San withdrew his Blue Silver Grass and, carrying his father on his back, retreated toward a broken rock face nearby. The Soul Skill earlier had blasted a crack through it, wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.
"Father, lean against me. Don't let your hand touch the rocks."
The unconscious Tang Hao could not cooperate, so Tang San looped that arm around the front of his neck and secured it with grass rope. Then he pressed his left arm against his clothes to protect the white rabbit inside.
Ji Yuan shifted his main root along beneath their feet.
He had already gathered all the nutrients in the valley. Staying would only drain his host's strength. Though the pursuers' Soul Power outside the valley was fit for consumption, it was not worth delaying for now.
The root tip passed through the rock strata, reaching the other side of the crack ahead of them.
Tang San pushed his right shoulder into the gap, but a rocky edge snagged Tang Hao's clothes. The tug pulled at his wounds, throwing even his breathing off for half a beat.
"Don't move yet. I'll cut the cloth away. Father, bear with it."
A