Love Blossom (1)

When Dongfang Minghui woke up the next day, she noticed while washing her face that her complexion seemed fairer and her skin much smoother. "Could practicing my skills actually make me prettier?"

With that discovery, she worked even harder.

"Junior Sister Qian."

Just as she was smugly showing off to Blue Star Dream, Yong Xing suddenly hurried over.

"Little Junior Sister, someone's here to see you."

Dongfang Minghui pointed at her own nose in confusion. "Someone's here to see me?"

Yong Xing nodded. "A young lady. She's wearing an alchemy apprentice's robes, so she's probably here to ask you for medicine."

Of everyone she knew, Nan Nan seemed to be the only one from the Alchemy Department.

"Let's go."

She spotted a young woman pacing anxiously from a distance. A closer look proved her guess right. "Nan Nan, what did you need me for?"

Nan Nan grabbed Dongfang Minghui's hand. "Minghui, you're a potionist. Could you please take a look at my brother's legs?"

Oh my god, this plot was wrong.

Wasn't The Female Lead supposed to step in here?

Dongfang Minghui hesitated. Taking her hesitation for reluctance, Nan Nan pleaded, "Minghui, my brother means everything to me. Please, I'm begging you. I'll do anything for you afterward, anything at all."

She certainly had no need for a lifelong servant.

"Nan Nan, it's not that I don't want to save your brother. I'm only a Junior Potionist. I think we should at least ask a senior potionist to examine him if we want to cure his legs."

Back in her old world, she could have examined Nan Fei's legs with a CT scan or an X-ray. Now she was only a half-trained physician. Would rushing over save him or harm him?

"Wait here." Dongfang Minghui hurried off, charged into the dean's office, and dragged him out.

"What's the rush, little girl? Have you finished making the Marrow-Cleansing Pills?" the dean asked with a genial smile.

In truth, Dongfang Minghui couldn't budge him at all. If he hadn't willingly followed her, she could have spent an entire day tugging at him in his office without moving him a single step.

"How could I finish that quickly? Dean, why don't you lose some weight?" Being this overweight made high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol all too likely.

The dean stroked his beard. "You're a bold little thing. No one has ever dared call me fat to my face. Have I punished you too lightly, letting you think you can spout such nonsense?"

Dongfang Minghui stuck out her tongue. "They don't dare say it because they want to flatter you. What if you refuse them when they ask for spiritual medicine? I'm saying it for your own good. You're a physician yourself. Don't you know that excessive obesity is a disease?"

Her righteous certainty made the dean laugh. "All right, I can't win against that little mouth of yours. This figure of mine came from all the medicines I tested back in the day. Don't judge me by how I look now. I used to be a handsome young gentleman. The girls chasing me lined up all the way from the city gates to our Royal Academy."

"Like Situ Hao?" Dongfang Minghui ventured.

The dean chuckled and pointed at her with a smile. "I knew that was what you were getting at. That's right, little Hao is my great-grandson."

Dongfang Minghui stumbled and nearly fell.

"Oh dear, little girl, you're less steady on your feet than an old man like me."

Dongfang Minghui pursed her lips in disbelief. She had thought the dean was Situ Hao's grandfather, only to learn that there were four generations in their direct family line.

Just how old was the dean?

"Little girl, aren't you going to tell me where you're taking me?"

Dongfang Minghui answered frankly, "Dean, a friend of mine has an older brother whose cultivation went awry years ago and left both his legs disabled. I'd like you to examine him and see whether his legs can still be treated."

The dean stroked his beard. "What are you standing there for? Lead the way."

Dongfang Minghui immediately took him to the White Angelica Garden. The medicine attendants bowed when they saw him, and she said to Nan Nan, "Nan Nan, this is our dean."

Overwhelmed by the honor, Nan Nan stammered, "Dean, I, I, my brother..."

Seeing that she could barely speak, the dean waved a hand. "Just lead the way. Where is your brother?"

"My brother is in the Alchemy Department," Nan Nan said. When she first enrolled, she had begged and pleaded until an alchemist in the pill workshop finally allowed her to bring her brother into the academy.

At the mention of the Alchemy Department, the dean's feet seemed to take root. He refused to move another step. "Bring your brother to the Medicine Department."

Dongfang Minghui was utterly exasperated. Everything had been fine a moment ago. Since when had the dean become so childish that he would immediately go back on his word?

"All right, I'll bring him over right away." Faced with the dean's firm stance, Nan Nan made her decision without much thought. As long as it could save her brother's legs, she probably wouldn't have hesitated even if she had been asked to die on the spot.

Dongfang Minghui thought the dean was putting on airs. She stood beside him, pouting and ignoring him completely.

Still, when Nan Nan wheeled Nan Fei over, Dongfang Minghui helped out. "Dean, shall we take him to your office?"

The dean answered directly, "Take him to your courtyard first. I remember you still have a few empty rooms. Make the arrangements and let him stay there for now."

Dongfang Minghui felt conflicted. As a friend, she could neither look too excited nor unwilling. Nan Nan was so sensitive that she would probably notice the slightest change in her mood, but she really didn't want a man moving into her little courtyard.

"All right, I'll show you the way."

Soon, Dongfang Minghui brought them into her courtyard. It looked much better than before, and not just because two people now lived there.

While Dongfang Wanyu was taking the inner academy assessment, she had continued selecting a few things to plant every day. The Red Peony seeds she had brought back from the Purple Demon Mountains had sprouted, and the Beauty Bamboo had finally pulled through. Adding a little and sowing seeds each day, she had soon filled a small, marked-off patch of the courtyard with more than a dozen kinds of spiritual herbs.

The dean looked at the plants, then smiled at her. "These herbs are growing well. So you do have a green thumb, little girl. Perhaps I should send you to the Back Mountain someday to tend my spiritual herbs."

"No way."

Did this Chubby Old Man think she didn't know? The medicine attendants on the Back Mountain couldn't leave the mountain even for a single step all year round. Going there would be no different from being locked up.

Nan Nan and Nan Fei stayed quietly to one side, not daring to interrupt, but the anxiety on their faces was impossible to hide.

"Dean, please examine Nan Fei," Dongfang Minghui couldn't help reminding him.

The dean lifted the blanket covering Nan Fei's legs and held his hands directly above his knee joints. She even saw tiny flashes of green light flickering from his hands.

"Ah—!" Nan Fei cried out, then immediately clenched his mouth shut. Sweat streamed down his forehead despite himself. He was clearly struggling to endure the pain.

Nan Nan stood beside him, frantic and hesitant to speak. Several times, she wanted to help her brother, but had no idea what she could do.

The atmosphere made Dongfang Minghui terribly nervous. She dreaded hearing a bad diagnosis.

"He can still be saved."

Those words made all three of them quietly breathe a sigh of relief, but his next sentence sent their hearts leaping into their throats again.

"If you'd waited another year or two, even the Holy Emperor might not have been able to save him."

Nan Nan gave Dongfang Minghui a grateful look and silently made a decision.

Dongfang Minghui blinked. "Dean, how should we treat him?"

The dean looked at her with a smile. "You said his cultivation went awry during a breakthrough, leaving his legs disabled and unable to walk?"

Nan Nan and Nan Fei nodded. That was indeed what had happened.

"But my diagnosis is that it wasn't a cultivation deviation. Someone poisoned you and completely blocked your meridians. With your level of cultivation, though, you probably couldn't tell what had happened." The dean casually dropped another bombshell. He wasn't looking down on Nan Fei; rather, he found the poisoning suspicious. Whoever had done it hadn't wanted him dead, but wanted him to suffer a fate worse than death.

The siblings looked utterly disbelieving.

"I can save you, but I'll need a special medicinal seed. The Medicine Department doesn't have it, either, so you'll have to find it yourselves. Rest here for a while." With that, the dean took Dongfang Minghui away.

Yong Xing quickly tidied a room and prepared the bedding, then told Nan Nan, "Miss Nan Nan, the dean asked me to tell you that you may not wander anywhere outside this courtyard. If you need anything else, come find me at the White Angelica Garden."

"All right. Please rest assured, Steward. My brother and I won't wander around," Nan Nan promised.

The dean brought Dongfang Minghui to his office and asked bluntly, "Little girl, how badly do you want to save this friend of yours?"

Dongfang Minghui's eyes shifted slightly. Whatever her answer, Nan Fei's legs would recover, and he would stand again.

"Dean, of course I want to save him very much. I'll do anything you ask." Dongfang Minghui gritted her teeth, cursing inwardly. This damned script! The Female Lead was supposed to take this on. How had it ended up in her hands?

"You're willing to do anything?" the dean asked with a smile.

"Of course."

She had no choice but to say something she didn't mean.

The dean nodded in satisfaction. "You're the only one who can fetch this medicinal seed. Only you can bring it back."

What a damn scam.

That wasn't how the script was written!

Dongfang Minghui leaned closer, feigning curiosity, and asked quietly, "What kind of medicinal seed is it, exactly?"

The dean took out a book and tossed it over. "Passion Flower Seeds."

Dongfang Minghui looked completely bewildered. What on earth were Passion Flower Seeds? She flipped through the book, which contained illustrations of them. The plant looked quite pretty. Its flowers resembled datura, even down to the colors. Could it actually be datura, just called something different in this world?

Dongfang Minghui had her suspicions, but she had never seen datura bear fruit.

"Why am I the only one who can get them? Why can't anyone else?" Dongfang Minghui refused to believe it. The dean had to be using this as an excuse to send her on some secret errand.

"As far as I know, any Love Blossom that has flowered and begun bearing fruit has already developed intelligence. Ordinary people who go looking for one will most likely be tricked into leaving. Spirit Masters have too much violent energy about them and will frighten it away. Only you have the affinity with plants that will make it accept you. More importantly, Love Blossom is poisonous by nature. If you don't go, that friend of yours can only wait to die."

With him making it sound so serious, didn't that mean it had to be her?

"All right, I'll bring the Passion Flower Seeds back." Dongfang Minghui agreed at once.

Dongfang Minghui had agreed very quickly, but she couldn't help regretting it all the way back. She returned with a miserable expression, then instantly put on a welcoming smile as soon as she stepped into her courtyard. Her expression changed faster than a page could turn.

"Minghui, what did the dean say?" After settling Nan Fei in his room, Nan Nan had remained in the courtyard waiting.

"Don't worry. I'll bring the medicinal seeds back for you," she said with a smile.

Nan Nan hesitated. "Why don't you tell me what they are and let me go instead? From what the dean said, fetching them must be dangerous. You've already helped me so much. How could I let you keep risking yourself for us?"

"Nan Nan, listen to me. I asked the dean. I'm the only one who can fetch those seeds. None of you can," Dongfang Minghui explained.

Hearing that, Nan Nan thought for a moment. "In that case, Minghui, you have to at least let me go with you."

Dongfang Minghui looked her over. "If you come with me, who will take care of your brother?"

Nan Nan fell silent.

Just then, Dongfang Wanyu's door suddenly opened. "I'll go with you."

With The Female Lead accompanying her, their chances seemed much better. Dongfang Minghui was delighted inside, but she still pretended to look worried. "Seventh Sister, won't this interfere with your cultivation?"

Dongfang Wanyu glanced at her. "I can cultivate anywhere, anytime."

"All right, then. I'll make some pills tonight, and we'll leave tomorrow." With that, she returned to her room to work on her medicinal formulas and spiritual herbs.

"Don't worry. We'll bring the medicinal seeds back for you."

Dongfang Wanyu offered that assurance without sparing Nan Nan another glance.

"The Passion Flower Seed is in Undead Valley."

Dongfang Minghui was dumbfounded. Why did finding a medicinal seed require a trip to Death Valley? Undead Valley was also known as Death Valley. A battle had taken place there years ago, burying tens of thousands of Spirit Masters and giving the valley its name. It was extraordinarily perilous, no less dangerous than the Purple Demon Mountains, perhaps even more so. Few who entered ever came out safely.

"Don't you read the information I give you?" The dean hurled another book at her.

According to the records, Love Blossom's flowers were so bewitchingly beautiful because they were nourished with blood. The abundance of Death Aura in Undead Valley also made Love Blossom extraordinarily poisonous as it grew.

There was also a rumor that Undead Valley was actually an outpost of the Undead Legion. Death Aura shrouded it all year round, and over time, fewer and fewer people dared venture there.

Dongfang Minghui secretly wondered whether she could back out.

"I'll have Hao go with you, too." The dean settled the matter with a single sentence.

"That works."

One more person meant more strength.

Dongfang Minghui tossed all her supplies into her storage space. The two women waited outside the Medicine Department, and soon Situ Hao appeared.

"Minghui, Miss Wanyu, we meet again."

Dongfang Minghui glanced at him. "Do you want to go see Blue Star Dream?"

Situ Hao shook his head. "Let's wait until we come back safely from Undead Valley."

The two followed him to an open area. Situ Hao whistled toward the sky, and a huge fox swooped down toward them with a rush of wind.

"A Lightwing Flying Fox." Dongfang Wanyu recognized it at once.

Flying Foxes were a type of Light Type magical beast. They had white fur all over and exceptionally gentle temperaments.

The Flying Fox stopped when it saw Situ Hao, crouched on the ground, and affectionately rubbed its head against him.

"Climb on. Little Fly will take us to Death Valley." Situ Hao leaped onto the fox's back first, and Dongfang Wanyu pulled Dongfang Minghui up with her.

The Lightwing Flying Fox let out a cry, then beat its wings and shot into the clouds.

Dongfang Minghui's face was full of wonder. She had thought they would have to walk to Death Valley, only for such an impressive means of transportation to appear.

"Little Fly can travel a thousand li a day. If nothing unexpected happens, we can reach a city near Death Valley in five days," Situ Hao explained.

Dongfang Minghui had no complaints. This had already cut their expected journey down many times over. Seeing The Female Lead sit cross-legged and close her eyes, apparently intending to cultivate right there on the Flying Fox, she couldn't help staring.

Soon, however, she understood. The Flying Fox could fly for twenty-four hours straight at an exceptionally even speed, and its flight was very steady. Sitting on its back was as safe as sitting on level ground. With both Situ Hao and Dongfang Wanyu cultivating, Dongfang Minghui grew bored. The Female Lead really had meant what she'd said about cultivating anywhere, anytime.

At first, the scenery filled her with wonder. After two hours, her eyes began to tire. After four, she was bored out of her mind. After six, Dongfang Minghui simply closed her eyes and began cultivating, too.

The three spent the day on the Flying Fox's back and landed in a forest that night. The Flying Fox shrank into a little fox with a pair of tiny wings on its back. It leaned against Situ Hao's thigh and nuzzled him affectionately. Situ Hao fed it meat he had prepared beforehand. The man and his companion got along so damn well.

Dongfang Minghui felt a little envious. Why was someone else's Contract companion so adorable and considerate, while hers spent all day mocking her and making trouble, never giving her a moment's peace? Worse still, like her Seventh Sister, her companion was a cultivation fanatic who went into seclusion at the slightest opportunity.

Really, she just missed her companion a little.

When Dongfang Wanyu heard her sigh, she assumed Dongfang Minghui wasn't accustomed to sleeping in the wilderness. In a rare moment of explanation, she said, "There will be towns near Death Valley. Once we get there, we'll find an inn and have a proper rest."

"Seventh Sister." Dongfang Minghui wanted to ask what had happened to her earlier mount. Since leaving the Purple Demon Mountains, she hadn't seen The Female Lead bring out the little winged elephant. With Situ Hao beside them, however, she decided not to ask.

"I'll keep watch tonight. You two get some rest."

As the only man among them, Situ Hao naturally had to volunteer for such duties first.

Dongfang Minghui gave him a slightly disdainful glance. "I have pills. What would dare come near us?"

As she spoke, she took a porcelain bottle from her storage space and crushed the pills inside one by one. A faint jasmine fragrance soon spread through the air.

"What's that?" Situ Hao asked curiously.

Dongfang Minghui smiled. "My specially made insect-repelling Hundred Flowers Dew. Doesn't it smell pleasant?"

While making it, she had specifically asked the jasmine spiritual herb for a few petals, giving it a fresh, sweet fragrance.

"Are you sure it won't attract something strange?" The longer Situ Hao smelled it, the more unusual he found the fragrance. If he hadn't known it was an insect repellent, he might have mistaken it for some precious spiritual herb emerging from the earth.

The night passed without incident. Situ Hao and Dongfang Wanyu remained alert until dawn, while just one person slept soundly up in a tree.

They spent the second, third, fourth, and even fifth days on the Flying Fox's back. Thanks to those days of uninterrupted travel, Dongfang Minghui could focus on cultivating day and night. Soon, she discovered that she seemed able to practice her skills in her Soul Sea.

"You need to find somewhere to try out your skill. That's the only way to refine it properly." Little Color suddenly woke, having sensed the fluctuations of Spiritual Power in her Soul Sea. Dongfang Minghui's Soul Sea even seemed to have changed, though a closer look revealed nothing unusual.

"Little Color, can you come out of seclusion now?" Dongfang Minghui was delighted. Her efforts hadn't been wasted.

"There's still a little of Blue Star Dream's residual Spiritual Power left. Once you find somewhere to settle down, try your New Skill first." With that, Little Color returned to cultivating.

Dongfang Minghui had almost grown accustomed to Little Color suddenly appearing to make its presence known, then vanishing again. She felt a little disappointed, but soon took it in stride.

"Minghui, why do I feel like you've changed?" Situ Hao frowned, staring intently at her.

Over the past few days, they had all been exposed to the sun and wind. Without a suitable inn to rest in, none of them had had time to clean up. Situ Hao knew he looked filthy without even checking. His gaze moved between Dongfang Minghui's and Dongfang Wanyu's faces for a moment.

Dongfang Minghui glared at him. She hadn't forgotten the frivolous remarks he'd made when they first met. He must be falling into his old habits again. "Keep staring, and I won't be nice about it."

Situ Hao chuckled. He found Dongfang Minghui's tendency to bristle so adorable that he couldn't resist teasing her. But one look at Dongfang Wanyu sitting behind her immediately put that thought to rest.

"I'm serious. If you don't believe me, ask your Seventh Sister to take a look."

Dongfang Minghui pouted. She didn't believe him, but she still turned around to let The Female Lead look.

Dongfang Wanyu frowned. "There is a slight change."

No way! The Female Lead's words frightened her half to death, and she hurried to find something she could use to look at her face.

"You've just been getting prettier and prettier," Dongfang Wanyu continued, even reaching out to pinch her cheek. "Your skin looks delicate enough to break at a touch, and it feels lovely to pinch. Ninth Sister, what have you been doing lately?"

Dongfang Minghui did not even realize her cheeks had been pinched red. She thought back. "Nothing much. I've been doing whatever you've been doing."

Still, she thought she knew what was happening to her.

"Cultivating?"

Dongfang Wanyu and Situ Hao exchanged glances. Why hadn't their cultivation produced this beautifying effect? Unable to contain his curiosity, Situ Hao asked, "What are you cultivating?"

Dongfang Minghui blinked at The Female Lead. She was cultivating the very technique The Female Lead had given her. She seemed to remember feeling a little different on the first day. She hadn't expected it to be real rather than her imagination.

But if she kept cultivating at this rate, wouldn't she become a completely different person after a month?

Fear swallowed her enormous delight whole.

Dongfang Minghui scrunched up her face. Judging from The Female Lead's astonished expression, she probably didn't know the reason either. She wanted to ask Little Color, but Little Color wasn't around.

"It's fine. I think it might settle down in a few days."

"Qing Mo, do you know if there's something wrong with the technique Minghui is cultivating?" Dongfang Wanyu could not help asking Qing Mo in her Soul Sea.

"Hmph." That was Qing Mo's entire response.

Qing Mo still seemed to be sulking alone. Ever since that day, Qing Mo had refused to speak, and even when a response came, it was only that one sound.

Dongfang Wanyu decided she would visit the academy's Library Pavilion after returning to find out what was going on.

The three dismounted from the Golden Crow near a small town close to Death Valley. The Golden Crow nuzzled Situ Hao affectionately, then spread its wings and soared into the sky, soon disappearing.

Dongfang Minghui stared, dumbfounded. "It just left like that?"

Situ Hao laughed. "The Golden Crow is my mount, but I don't restrict its freedom. It comes whenever I call, so it won't run off."

"No wonder."

"Let's find somewhere to get a good night's rest today. We'll continue traveling tomorrow." All three were travel-worn, plainly visitors from far away.

The moment they entered town, they felt as though someone had set their sights on them.

"Three rooms."

The three went upstairs and soon gathered together again.

"There's something strange about this inn. Try not to touch anything they bring us," Situ Hao whispered, softly enough that only the three of them could hear.

Dongfang Minghui could not help lamenting her luck. They had stumbled into a crooked inn as soon as they arrived. Couldn't she get even one good night's sleep?

Seeing her scrunched-up face and solemn expression, Dongfang Wanyu said, "Your Seventh Sister will keep watch for you tonight. Get some proper sleep."

At those words, her face immediately broke into a smile.

"Seventh Sister, won't that be exhausting for you?"

Dongfang Wanyu loved seeing her full of little schemes while pretending nothing was going on. "Then how about I rest tonight, and you keep watch for me?"

Oh, goodness. Was The Female Lead testing me just now? Thank goodness I reacted quickly.

Dongfang Minghui looked torn. "Of course I can. Hurry and rest, Seventh Sister. I'll just sit here."

Dongfang Wanyu pressed her lips together, amusement in her eyes. "I really will, then."

She looked utterly defeated. Being someone's underling was no easy task. Even if she was dead tired, a single word from The Female Lead would still send her through fire and blades.

"Go on, Seventh Sister."

Seeing that she could barely keep her eyes open, Dongfang Wanyu pinched her cheek. "I was teasing. Go to sleep."

"Huh?"

Dongfang Minghui's mind was tangled and drifting. She could not figure out The Female Lead's intentions.

"You've cultivated for so long. Why haven't you broken your habit of sleeping so much?" Dongfang Wanyu sat her down on the bed, gently pushed her onto it, removed her boots, and tucked her beneath the covers.

Her movements held a tenderness she herself did not notice.

"Hurry and sleep. Things may get restless around midnight."

Dongfang Minghui heard only the first half. Before the second half could register, she rolled over and fell asleep. With The Female Lead there, she had nothing to worry about anyway.

"Not alike at all." Dongfang Wanyu sat at the head of the bed and watched her for a while, thinking how the girl who had first approached her was nothing like the arrogant, overbearing Ninth Miss from before.

Thinking it over carefully, it wasn't just their temperaments. Even their gestures and expressions differed, and their attitudes toward her were worlds apart.

Dongfang Wanyu brushed her fingers gently across her face, only for Dongfang Minghui to dodge and tuck her entire head under the covers like an ostrich.

"Heh." Dongfang Wanyu laughed. This little thing was truly adorable. Never mind; she would leave her secret unexposed for now.

Around midnight, Dongfang Wanyu distinctly felt the temperature around her drop. The cold pierced to the bone. Whoever was coming was probably an Ice Type Spirit Master.

She immediately shook Dongfang Minghui awake. "Get up. Something's happening."

Dongfang Minghui rubbed her eyes, still bleary with sleep, and smacked her lips in displeasure. "Seventh Sister, it isn't morning yet."

Dongfang Wanyu was so exasperated she laughed. She pinched her little cheek. "Someone's coming."

Dongfang Minghui jolted fully awake. But with no lamp lit in the room, her eyes could not adjust right away. She fumbled beside the bed for a while and touched a soft hand. Startled, she was about to pull away when The Female Lead caught her hand instead.

Dongfang Wanyu whispered, "Find somewhere to hide in a moment."

She had barely finished speaking when she saw the wooden door bolt shatter. Whoever was outside had first wrapped it in Spiritual Power, then quietly broken it without making a sound.

She pushed Dongfang Minghui toward the inside of the bed and lay down along its outer edge herself.

Dongfang Minghui could clearly see a distorted figure approaching their bed step by step. She swallowed, feeling rather nervous.

Just as it reached the bedside, a flash of light illuminated their room.

Dongfang Wanyu struck their visitor directly with a bolt of lightning, revealing its appearance at the same time.

"Aaah!"

Dongfang Minghui screamed. Could anyone imagine a skeleton suddenly appearing at their bedside in the middle of the night? And this skeleton could move.

Hearing the scream next door, Situ Hao immediately rushed over and saw a dark power emanating from the skeleton's bones.

Situ Hao immediately purified its Darkness Aura. Only by joining forces did the two of them subdue the Skeleton Soldier.

"The Undead Legion."

Dongfang Minghui patted her chest. That was terrifying. What exactly had this thing come into her room to do in the dead of night?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Both Situ Hao and Dongfang Wanyu were staring at her, making her scalp prickle.

Situ Hao pointed at the Skeleton Soldier. "How did you know it was the Undead Legion?"

Dongfang Minghui rolled her eyes. "This is Undead Valley. Aren't there legends saying that this place—"

Before she could finish, Dongfang Wanyu covered her mouth.

"And why did it enter your room rather than anyone else's? Maybe they've set their sights on you," Situ Hao reasoned. He had waited in his room all night, only for this Skeleton Soldier to go to Dongfang Minghui's room. It really was strange.

"That's nonsense." Dongfang Minghui hurried to deny it. She had no desire to be targeted by a pack of things that were neither human nor ghost.

"Situ has a point. From now on, I'll share a room with you to prevent any more surprises."

The Female Lead delivered her verdict outright.

Dongfang Minghui had been about to resist when she suddenly remembered that The Female Lead possessed Dark Elemental Energy too. Could the Skeleton Soldier have come for The Female Lead rather than her?

"Ninth Sister, why are you looking at me?"

Her stare gave Dongfang Wanyu an uneasy feeling, as though something about her had been seen through.

Propping up her head, Dongfang Minghui said, "Seventh Sister, here's what I'm thinking. This Skeleton Soldier can still move, right? Why don't we let it go and follow behind to see where it goes?"

Situ Hao shook his head. "Skeleton Soldiers are controlled by someone. It won't lead us to its master. Besides, if we follow it and stumble into their lair, the three of us can forget about coming out alive."

"Situ is right. Let's wait and see for now."

"Then what do we do with it?" The sight of the Skeleton Soldier made her skin crawl. How was this thing any different from a dead person's bones? Except it was a little more formidable: it could move and kill.

Dongfang Minghui felt she would probably have nightmares if she had to face it all night.

"Leave it to me." Situ Hao glanced at it, then carried it away.

The next day, the three went around town asking for information. The moment they mentioned Undead Valley, the people they questioned turned hostile, hurriedly waving their hands and claiming to know nothing.

After an entire day, they had not gathered a single useful piece of information.

That night, back at the same inn, Dongfang Minghui was jumpy and unable to sleep.

"Seventh Sister, do you think another Skeleton Soldier will suddenly appear?"

Dongfang Wanyu only said, "With me here, you don't need to worry about anyone hurting you."

Dongfang Minghui flopped straight into the covers. She hadn't been sleepy at all just a moment ago, but drowsiness suddenly overwhelmed her. She murmured, "What The Female Lead said does make sense."

Her head tilted, and she fell asleep.

Dongfang Wanyu rolled her over, smoothed her hair, and tucked the covers around her. "Sleep peacefully. Nothing will happen," she said gently.

"Situ Hao is a Light Spirit Master, and his spiritual perception is very powerful. He already picked up on something yesterday. If you want to keep this from him, you'll have to be extra careful," Qing Mo said sternly within her Soul Sea.

When Dongfang Wanyu had seen the Golden Crow, she had already sensed that this journey to Death Valley would bring many additional obstacles. She had not expected one of those obstacles to be right beside her.

"I want to see where the Skeleton Soldiers are." Dongfang Wanyu released a ball of green flame from her hand into the air. If Dongfang Minghui had been there, she would certainly have recognized that green glow.

When the Skeleton Soldier had entered their room yesterday and the lightning struck, two eerie green lights had glowed in its skull's eye sockets.

But Dongfang Wanyu had absorbed that green light, and now it floated ahead like a ghostly flame.

"Go. Take me there."

Dongfang Wanyu followed the ghostly flame north and soon left the town. As her surroundings grew increasingly remote, she mustered all her Spiritual Power, staying alert for any unexpected developments.

In the middle of the night, Dongfang Minghui suddenly woke with a start. The room was silent—so silent it was unnerving. It was pitch-dark, and she could not see her hand in front of her face. She closed her eyes and took a long time to adjust to the eerie darkness.

"Strange. Where did Seventh Sister go?"

She lit the lamp and discovered that no one was in the room. No one at all! What happened to the promise to protect her? Where had The Female Lead run off to?

"Follow her outside and take a look," Little Color suddenly suggested.

Dongfang Minghui was overjoyed. "Little Color, why did you suddenly wake up?"

Little Color was so annoyed that a branch shot out and lashed her within her Soul Sea. "Idiot, your Seventh Sister tricked you. Didn't you find it strange? One moment you were so excited, with Spiritual Power running all over your Soul Sea. Why did you suddenly fall asleep the next? If I hadn't woken you, you could have slept until dawn, you fool."

Fortunately, Little Color had been monitoring the changes in her Soul Sea all along. Otherwise, her Seventh Sister's trick would really have gone unnoticed.

Dongfang Minghui spread her hands helplessly. If The Female Lead had done it, how would she dare resist? Only her little companion enjoyed making trouble. Nothing good came of opposing The Female Lead.

"I think something's off about your Seventh Sister. There's definitely a problem. Go outside and look. I can sense where she is," Little Color told her solemnly.

Dongfang Minghui pressed a hand to her forehead. She had no idea how to explain it to her little companion.

"Hurry up and go."

"Fine, fine. I'm going, I'm going."

She simply could not understand it. Why were they all running out into the wilderness instead of getting their beauty sleep?

Following the route Little Color gave her, Dongfang Minghui found herself heading deeper into remote territory. There was no one out in the wilderness, and strange sounds came from everywhere, frightening her just to hear them.

"Little Color, why don't we go back?"

Outside was too dangerous. Staying at the inn felt far safer.

"With me protecting you, what are you worried about? Hurry. Your Seventh Sister seems to have entered Death Valley."

Dongfang Minghui was dumbfounded. This was Death Valley? Aaaah, heavens! My little companion tricked me into coming to Death Valley alone, a place teeming with undead!

"Little Color, you jerk! You knew this was Death Valley, and you still made me come? Do you know how many undead are in here?"

Even as she complained, she continued following the route ahead.

The valley was utterly silent except for an occasional crow's call, which nearly frightened Dongfang Minghui out of her wits, never mind the dark shadows that sometimes flashed past.