When Dongfang Minghui woke up the next day, she noticed while washing her face that she seemed fairer, and her skin felt much smoother. "Could practicing my skills actually make me prettier and prettier?"
With this discovery, she worked even harder.
"Junior Sister Qian."
Just as she was smugly showing off to Blue Star Dream, Yong Xing suddenly came running over.
"Junior Sister, someone's here to see you."
Dongfang Minghui pointed at her own nose, puzzled. "Someone's here to see me?"
Yong Xing nodded. "A young lady. She's wearing an alchemy apprentice's uniform, so she's probably come to ask you for medicine."
Among the people she knew, Nan Nan seemed to be the only one from the Alchemy Institute.
"Let's go."
From a distance, she saw a young lady pacing anxiously. 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 pharmacist. Could you please take a look at my brother's legs?"
Oh, come on, this wasn't how the plot was supposed to go!
Wasn't the heroine supposed to step in here?
Dongfang Minghui hesitated, but Nan Nan took it as reluctance and said, "Minghui, my brother is my life. I'm begging you, please. I'll be your ox or your horse afterward-anything you want."
She certainly didn't need anyone to be her ox or her horse.
"Nan Nan, it's not that I don't want to save your brother. I'm a junior pharmacist. I think we need to invite at least a senior pharmacist to examine him before we can cure his legs."
Back in her old world, she could have used a CT scan or X-ray to examine Nan Fei's legs. Now she was just a half-baked physician. Would rushing over save him or harm him?
"Wait here." Dongfang Minghui hurried off, charged into the dean's office, and dragged him straight out.
"Why 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 drag him at all. Not one bit. If he hadn't been willing to follow her, she could have spent all day in his office without making him budge a single step.
"How could I finish that quickly? Dean, why don't you lose some weight?" Being this fat made high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol all too likely.
The dean stroked his beard. "You've got some nerve. No one has ever dared call me fat to my face. Have I been too lenient with your punishment, letting you spout such nonsense?"
Dongfang Minghui stuck out her tongue. "They don't dare because they want to flatter you. What if you refuse when they ask you 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 insistence made the dean laugh. "All right, I can't win against that little mouth of yours. This figure came from constantly testing medicines back in the day. Don't judge me by how I look now. I used to be a handsome young gentleman. The girls pursuing me lined up from the city gates all the way to our Royal Academy."
"Like Situ Hao?" Dongfang Minghui ventured.
The dean chuckled, pointing at her with a smile. "I knew that was what you were fishing for. That's right. Little Hao is my great-grandson."
Dongfang Minghui stumbled and nearly fell.
"Oh dear, little girl, you're not even as steady on your feet as 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 their direct line of descent already spanned four generations.
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, leaving both his legs disabled. I wanted 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 apprentices who saw him hurriedly bowed. She told Nan Nan, "Nan Nan, this is our dean."
Nan Nan was overwhelmed by the honor. "Dean, I, I... my brother..."
Seeing that she couldn't get her words out, the dean waved a hand. "Just lead the way. Where is your brother?"
"My brother is at the Alchemy Institute," Nan Nan said. When she first enrolled, she had pleaded endlessly before an alchemist in the pill workshop finally agreed to let her bring her brother into the academy.
At the mention of the Alchemy Institute, the dean's feet seemed to take root. He refused to move another step. "Bring your brother to the Pharmacy Institute."
Dongfang Minghui was utterly exasperated. He had been perfectly agreeable a moment ago. Since when had the dean become such a child, going back on his word immediately?
"All right, I'll bring him over right away." Seeing how firm the dean was, Nan Nan decided without further thought. As far as she was concerned, if it could save her brother's legs, she would probably agree without hesitation even if she had to die on the spot.
Dongfang Minghui thought the dean was putting on airs. She stood to one side, pouting and refusing to acknowledge him.
But when Nan Nan wheeled Nan Fei over, Dongfang Minghui still helped. "Dean, how about taking him to your office?"
The dean answered directly, "Take him to your courtyard first. I remember you have a few empty rooms. Make the arrangements and let him stay there for now."
Dongfang Minghui felt torn. As their friend, she could neither act delighted nor show reluctance. Nan Nan was so sensitive that she would probably notice even the slightest emotion, but Dongfang Minghui honestly didn't want a man moving into her little courtyard.
"All right, I'll take you there."
Soon, Dongfang Minghui led them into the courtyard, which looked much better than before, and not merely because two people now lived there.
While Dongfang Wanyu was taking the inner court assessment, she had planted a few things every day. The Red Peony seeds she had obtained in 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 section she had marked off with over a dozen kinds of spiritual herbs.
After seeing it, the dean smiled at her. "These spiritual herbs are growing nicely. So you have quite the green thumb, little girl. Perhaps I should send you to the rear mountain one day to tend my herbs."
"No way."
Did this stout old man think she didn't know? The medicine apprentices on the rear mountain weren't allowed to leave it 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 over his knee joints. She even saw glimmers of green light flash from his hands.
"Ah!" Nan Fei cried out, then immediately clenched his mouth shut. Sweat streamed involuntarily down his forehead; enduring it clearly took everything he had.
Nan Nan fretted helplessly beside him, repeatedly starting to speak and stopping. Several times, she wanted to help her brother but had no idea how.
The atmosphere made Dongfang Minghui nervous, and she dreaded hearing a bad diagnosis.
"He can still be saved."
His words let all three of them breathe an inward sigh of relief, but his next sentence sent their hearts leaping again.
"If you had waited another year or two, even the arrival of the Holy Emperor might not have saved him."
Nan Nan gave Dongfang Minghui a grateful look and silently made a decision.
Dongfang Minghui blinked. "Dean, how should he be treated?"
The dean looked at her with a smile. "You said his legs became disabled and he couldn't walk because his cultivation went awry during an advancement?"
Nan Nan and Nan Fei nodded. That was indeed what had happened.
"But my diagnosis is that this wasn't caused by your cultivation going awry. Someone poisoned you, completely blocking your meridians. With your meager abilities, though, you probably couldn't have figured it out." The dean casually dropped another bombshell. It wasn't that he looked down on Nan Fei; rather, he found the poisoning very peculiar. Whoever did it hadn't wanted him dead, but had wanted him to live a life worse than death.
Both siblings looked incredulous.
"Saving you is possible, but it requires a particular medicinal seed. The Pharmacy Institute 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, you can find me at the White Angelica Garden."
"All right. Please rest assured, Steward. My brother and I won't wander," 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 really want to save him. I'll do whatever you ask." Dongfang Minghui gritted her teeth, inwardly cursing nonstop. Damn this script! The heroine was supposed to take on this mess. How had it landed in my hands?
"You're willing to do anything?" The dean smiled at her.
"Of course."
She had no choice but to say it against her wishes.
The dean nodded in satisfaction. "You're the only one who can fetch this medicinal seed. Only if you go can it be brought back."
What a bloody trap.
This wasn't how the script went!
Feigning curiosity, Dongfang Minghui leaned closer and asked softly, "Exactly what kind of medicinal seed is it?"
The dean took out a book and tossed it over. "Love Flower seeds."
Dongfang Minghui looked utterly bewildered. What on earth were Love Flower seeds? She flipped through the book and found an illustration of them. They were quite pretty, and their flowers looked rather like datura blossoms, even down to their colors. Could they actually be datura, just called something different in another world?
Dongfang Minghui was doubtful, though 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 buy it. The dean must be using this as an excuse to make her carry out some secret task.
"As far as I know, any Love Flower that has blossomed and begun bearing fruit has already developed intelligence. If ordinary people go, it will most likely trick them into leaving. If Spirit Masters go, their heavy aura of violence will frighten it away. Only you can make it accept you through your affinity with plants. More importantly, the Love Flower is inherently poisonous. If you don't go, your friend can only wait to die."
Putting it that gravely left her as the only choice, didn't it?
"All right, I'll bring back the Love Flower seeds." Dongfang Minghui agreed readily.
She had agreed very quickly, but on the way back, she couldn't stop regretting it. She returned looking miserable, then immediately put on a welcoming smile as she stepped into her courtyard. She truly changed faces faster than turning a page.
"Minghui, what did the dean say?" After taking Nan Fei into his room, Nan Nan had waited in the courtyard the whole time.
"Don't worry. I'll bring back the medicinal seeds 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 earlier, 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. I asked the dean. I'm the only one who can fetch those medicinal seeds. None of you can," Dongfang Minghui explained.
Hearing that, Nan Nan considered it briefly. "In that case, Minghui, at least let me come with you."
Dongfang Minghui looked her over. "If you come with me, who will look after your brother?"
Nan Nan fell silent.
Just then, Dongfang Wanyu's door suddenly opened. "I'll go with you."
With the heroine accompanying her, their chances of success seemed better. Dongfang Minghui's heart bloomed with joy, but she still feigned concern. "Seventh Sister, won't that interfere with your cultivation?"
Dongfang Wanyu glanced at her. "I can cultivate anytime, anywhere."
"All right, then. I'll make some pills tonight, and we'll leave tomorrow." With that, she returned to her room to work on the formulas and spiritual herbs.
"Don't worry. We'll definitely bring back the medicinal seeds for you."
After giving that assurance, Dongfang Wanyu didn't spare Nan Nan another glance.
"Love Flowers grow in the Valley of the Dead."
Dongfang Minghui was dumbfounded. Why did finding a medicinal seed require a trip to Death Valley? The Valley of the Dead was also called Death Valley. A battle had taken place there years ago, burying thousands upon thousands of Spirit Masters and giving the place its name. The Valley of the Dead was fraught with peril, no less dangerous than the Purple Demon Mountains-and perhaps even more so. Few who entered ever emerged safely.
"Don't you read the information I give you?" The dean hurled another book at her.
According to the records, Love Flowers bloomed so seductively because their blossoms were nourished with blood. The overwhelming aura of death in the Valley of the Dead also made them extremely poisonous as they grew.
There was another rumor, however: the Valley of the Dead was actually an outpost of the Undead Legion. Shrouded in an aura of death all year round, it had gradually become somewhere few dared visit.
Dongfang Minghui secretly wondered whether she could back out.
"I'll have Hao go with you as well," the dean declared, settling the matter.
"That works."
One more person meant one more source of strength.
Dongfang Minghui tossed all the supplies she needed into her storage space. The two women waited outside the Pharmacy Institute, and soon Situ Hao appeared.
"Minghui, Miss Wanyu, we meet again."
Dongfang Minghui glanced at him. "Do you want to see Blue Star Dream?"
Situ Hao shook his head. "Let's wait until we return safely from the Valley of the Dead."
The two followed him to an open area. Situ Hao whistled toward the sky, and a huge fox descended, swooping toward them.
"A Lightwing Flying Fox." Dongfang Wanyu recognized it at once.
Flying foxes were a type of light-element magic beast. Covered in white fur, they were exceptionally gentle.
The flying fox stopped when it saw Situ Hao, lowered itself to 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 cried out, then flapped its wings and shot into the clouds.
Dongfang Minghui looked amazed. She had thought they would have to walk all the way to Death Valley, only for such an incredibly cool means of transport to appear.
"Little Fly can travel a thousand li a day. Barring any accidents, we should reach a city near Death Valley in five days," Situ Hao explained.
Dongfang Minghui had no complaints. This had already shortened their expected journey many times over. Seeing the heroine sit cross-legged and close her eyes, apparently intending to cultivate right on the flying fox, she stared wide-eyed.
Soon, though, she understood. The flying fox could fly for a full twenty-four hours at a perfectly even, steady pace. Sitting on its back was as safe as sitting on level ground. With Situ Hao and Dongfang Wanyu both cultivating, Dongfang Minghui grew bored. The heroine really was living up to her earlier words: cultivating anytime, anywhere.
At first, she found the scenery fascinating. After two hours, her eyes began to tire. After four hours, she was bored out of her mind. After six hours, Dongfang Minghui simply closed her eyes and began cultivating too.
The three spent the day on the flying fox's back. That night, they landed in a forest, and the flying fox shrank into a little fox with a tiny pair of wings on its back. It nestled against Situ Hao's thigh and nuzzled him affectionately. Situ Hao fed it meat he had prepared beforehand. The harmony between man and pet was downright enviable.
Dongfang Minghui felt a little jealous. Why were other people's contracted companions so adorable and considerate, while hers spent all day mocking her and making trouble, never letting them get along for even a moment? Her companion was also a cultivation fanatic like her Seventh Sister, going into seclusion at the drop of a hat.
Ah, the truth was, she just missed her companion a little.
Hearing her sigh, Dongfang Wanyu assumed she wasn't used to being out in the wilderness and offered a rare explanation. "There are 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 previous mount. Since leaving the Purple Demon Mountains, she hadn't seen the heroine bring out the little winged elephant. With Situ Hao nearby, however, she decided not to ask.
"I'll keep watch tonight. You two get some rest."
Situ Hao was the only man among them, so naturally he had to volunteer first for this sort of thing.
Dongfang Minghui gave him a faintly disdainful glance. "I have pills. What could possibly dare come near us?"
With that, she took a porcelain bottle from her storage space and crushed its pills one by one. Soon, a faint jasmine fragrance spread through the air.
Situ Hao asked curiously, "What's that?"
Dongfang Minghui smiled slightly. "My specially made insect-repelling Hundred Flowers Dew. Doesn't it smell pleasant?"
During the preparation, 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 scent. If he hadn't known it was an insect repellent, he might have thought some precious spiritual herb had emerged.
The night passed without incident. Situ Hao and Dongfang Wanyu both remained alert until dawn, while just one person slept soundly up in a tree.
They spent the second, third, fourth, and even fifth day on the flying fox's back. Thanks to those days, Dongfang Minghui could focus on cultivating day and night. Soon, she discovered that she seemed able to practice her skills within her soul sea.
"You need to find somewhere to use your skills so you can refine them properly." Little Lecher suddenly woke, having sensed fluctuations of spiritual energy in her soul sea. Little Lecher even felt that Dongfang Minghui's soul sea seemed to have changed along with them, though a closer look revealed nothing.
"Little Lecher, 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 energy left. Once you find somewhere to settle down, try out your new skill first." After speaking, Little Lecher resumed cultivating.
Dongfang Minghui had almost grown used to this pattern of suddenly appearing to make a presence felt, then suddenly vanishing. She was 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 wind and sun, without finding a suitable inn to rest in or having any time to freshen up. Situ Hao didn't need to look to know he was dusty and disheveled. His gaze moved between Dongfang Minghui's and Dongfang Wanyu's faces for a moment.
Dongfang Minghui glared fiercely at him. She hadn't forgotten the frivolous things he had said when they first met. His old habits must be acting up again. "Keep staring and I won't be nice about it!"
Situ Hao chuckled. He simply found the way Dongfang Minghui bristled from time to time so adorable that he couldn't resist teasing her. But the moment he saw Dongfang Wanyu sitting behind her, he immediately abandoned the idea.
"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 still turned around to let the heroine examine her.
Dongfang Wanyu frowned. "There is a slight change."
No way! The heroine's words scared her half to death, and she hurried to find something she could use to look at her face.
"You've simply grown prettier and prettier," Dongfang Wanyu continued, deliberately pinching her cheek afterward. "Your skin is so delicate it could 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. Whatever you've been doing, I've been doing too."
Still, she ought to know what exactly was happening to her.
"Cultivating?"
Dongfang Wanyu and Situ Hao exchanged looks. Why hadn't their cultivation produced this beautifying effect? Unable to contain his curiosity, Situ Hao asked, "What are you cultivating?"
Dongfang Minghui looked at the heroine and blinked. She was cultivating the very technique the heroine had given her. She seemed to have felt a little different on the very first day. To think it hadn't been her imagination-it was real.
But if she kept cultivating at this rate, wouldn't she become an entirely different person after a month?
Fear drowned her enormous delight in an instant.
Dongfang Minghui scrunched up her little face. Judging by the heroine's astonished expression, she probably didn't know the reason either. She wanted to ask Little Lecher, but he wasn't around.
"It's fine. I think it might get better in a few days."
"Qing Mo, do you know whether there's something wrong with the technique Minghui is cultivating?" Dongfang Wanyu couldn't help asking Qing Mo in her soul sea.
"Hmph." That was Qing Mo's entire response.
Qing Mo seemed to still be sulking alone. Ever since that day, Qing Mo had kept silent, and even when that silence broke, this was the only sound she heard.
Dongfang Wanyu thought she should visit the academy's library after returning and look into the reason.
The three dismounted from the Golden Crow Bird when they reached a small town near Death Valley. The bird nuzzled affectionately against Situ Hao, then spread its wings and soared into the sky, vanishing in no time.
Dongfang Minghui stared, dumbfounded. "It just left like that?"
Situ Hao smiled. "The Golden Crow Bird may be my mount, but I don't restrict its freedom. It'll come whenever I call. It won't wander off."
"No wonder."
"Let's find somewhere to get a good night's rest today, then continue on our way tomorrow." All three were travel-worn and dusty, looking every bit like visitors from afar.
The moment they entered town, they felt as though someone had set their sights on them.
"Three rooms."
The three went upstairs, then soon gathered together again.
"There's something strange about this inn. Try not to touch anything they bring us," Situ Hao said, lowering his voice so only the three of them could hear.
Dongfang Minghui couldn't help sighing. They had stumbled into a shady inn as soon as they arrived. Couldn't she just get one decent night's sleep?
Seeing her scrunched-up face and solemn expression, Dongfang Wanyu said, "Your Seventh Sister will keep watch for you tonight. Get a good night's sleep."
At those words, her face immediately lit up with a smile.
"Seventh Sister, won't that be exhausting for you?"
Dongfang Wanyu loved seeing her like this, her belly full of crafty schemes while she insisted on acting innocent. "Then how about I rest tonight, and you keep watch for me?"
Oh, heavens, the heroine was testing me just now, wasn't she? Good thing I reacted quickly.
Dongfang Minghui looked torn and conflicted. "Of course I can. Go 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 as though she had nothing left to live for. Being someone's lackey was no easy task. Even if she was dead tired, one word from the heroine and she still had to climb mountains of blades and plunge into seas of fire.
"Go on, Seventh Sister."
Seeing that she could barely keep her eyes open, Dongfang Wanyu pinched her cheek. "I was teasing you. Go to sleep."
"Huh?"
Dongfang Minghui's mind was tangled in knots, her thoughts drifting hazily. She couldn't fathom the heroine's intentions.
"You've cultivated for so long. How have you still not broken this habit of loving sleep?" Dongfang Wanyu sat her down on the bed, gently pushed her back onto it, removed her boots, and tucked her straight under the covers.
There was a gentleness in her movements that even she did not notice.
"Go to sleep. Things probably won't be peaceful around midnight."
Dongfang Minghui heard only the first half. As for the rest, she rolled over and fell asleep. With the heroine 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 of how she had acted when she first approached her. She had been nothing like that arrogant, domineering Ninth Young Lady from before.
Thinking it over carefully, not only their temperaments but even their gestures and expressions were different. Their attitudes toward her were as far apart as heaven and earth.
Dongfang Wanyu gently brushed her fingers over her face, only for Dongfang Minghui to shy away and tuck her entire head under the covers like an ostrich.
"Heh." Dongfang Wanyu laughed. This little thing was truly adorable. Well, she would leave her secret unexposed for now.
Around midnight, Dongfang Wanyu clearly felt the temperature around her dropping. The cold bit into her bones. Whoever was coming should be an ice Spirit Master.
She immediately pushed Dongfang Minghui awake. "Get up. Something's happening."
Dongfang Minghui rubbed her eyes, still bleary with sleep, and smacked her lips unhappily. "Seventh Sister, it isn't light yet."
Dongfang Wanyu was so exasperated that she laughed. Pinching her little cheek, she said, "Someone's coming."
Dongfang Minghui jolted fully awake. But there was no lamp lit in the room, and her eyes couldn't adjust right away. She felt around beside the bed for ages before touching a soft hand. Startled, she was about to pull away when the heroine caught her hand instead.
Dongfang Wanyu whispered, "Find somewhere to hide in a moment."
The words had barely left her mouth when Dongfang Wanyu saw the room's wooden door bolt shatter. The intruder had first wrapped it in spiritual power, then silently shattered it without making the slightest 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 twisted figure approaching their bedside step by step. She swallowed, a little nervous.
Just as the intruder reached the bed, Dongfang Minghui saw a flash illuminate their room.
Dongfang Wanyu struck the intruder directly with a bolt of lightning, seeing what had come at the same time.
"Aah!"
Dongfang Minghui screamed. Could you imagine a skeleton suddenly appearing at your bedside in the middle of the night? And this skeleton could move.
Hearing the scream from next door, Situ Hao immediately rushed over, only to see dark power radiating from the skeleton's bones.
Situ Hao immediately acted to purify its dark aura. Only by joining forces did the two of them subdue the Skeleton Bone Soldier.
"The Undead Legion."
Dongfang Minghui patted her chest. That was terrifying. What exactly had this fellow crept in here to do in the dead of night?
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Situ Hao and Dongfang Wanyu were both staring at her, making her scalp prickle.
Situ Hao pointed at the Skeleton Bone Soldier. "How did you know it was the Undead Legion?"
Dongfang Minghui rolled her eyes. "This is the Valley of the Dead. Isn't there a legend saying that this place-"
Before she could finish, Dongfang Wanyu covered her mouth.
"Besides, why did it enter your room and no one else's? Maybe they've set their sights on you," Situ Hao reasoned. He had sat in his room waiting all night, only for this Skeleton Bone Soldier to head into Dongfang Minghui's room instead. It truly was strange.
"That's nonsense." Dongfang Minghui hastily tried to distance herself from the matter. She did not want a bunch of things that were neither human nor ghost setting their sights on her.
"Situ has a point. From now on, I'll share a room with you to prevent any more mishaps."
The heroine delivered her verdict outright.
Dongfang Minghui had initially resisted, but then suddenly remembered that the heroine had dark energy within her too. Could the Skeleton Bone Soldier have come for the heroine rather than for her at all?
"Ninth Sister, why are you looking at me?"
Being stared at like that gave Dongfang Wanyu an eerie feeling, as though some secret of hers had been seen through.
Propping up her head, Dongfang Minghui said, "Seventh Sister, here's what I'm thinking. This Skeleton Bone Soldier can still move, can't it? Why don't we let it go back and follow behind to see where it goes?"
Situ Hao shook his head. "Skeleton Bone Soldiers are all controlled by someone. It won't lead us to its master. Besides, if we follow it and end up in their lair, the three of us can forget about coming out alive."
"Situ is right. Let's watch and wait for now."
"Then what do we do with it?" The sight of the Skeleton Bone Soldier made her skin crawl. How was this thing any different from a dead person's bones? It was just a little more formidable-it could move and kill people.
Dongfang Minghui thought she would probably have nightmares if she had to face it all night.
"Leave it to me." Situ Hao glanced at it, then simply picked it up and carried it away.
The next day, the three went around town gathering information. The moment they mentioned the Valley of the Dead, the people they questioned turned hostile, hastily waving their hands and saying they knew nothing.
After an entire day, they had actually failed to gather a single piece of useful information.
That night, back at the same inn, Dongfang Minghui was a little jumpy and couldn't sleep.
"Seventh Sister, do you think a Skeleton Bone Soldier might suddenly appear?"
Dongfang Wanyu merely said, "With me here, you don't need to worry about anyone hurting you."
Dongfang Minghui flopped straight into the covers. A moment ago she hadn't been sleepy at all, but now the sleep bugs suddenly swarmed her. She murmured, "The heroine actually has a pretty good point."
Her head tilted, and she fell asleep.
Dongfang Wanyu turned her over in her arms, smoothed her hair, and tucked the bedding around her. "Sleep in peace. Nothing will happen," she said gently.
"Situ Hao is a light Spirit Master, and his spiritual perception is extremely powerful. He already picked up on something yesterday. If you want to evade his eyes and ears, you'll have to be very careful," Qing Mo said gravely within her soul sea.
The moment Dongfang Wanyu saw the Golden Crow Bird, she had sensed that this trip to Death Valley would bring many additional obstacles. She had never expected that obstacle to be right beside her.
"I want to see where the Skeleton Bone Soldiers are." Dongfang Wanyu released a cluster of green flames from her hand into the air. If Dongfang Minghui had been here, she would definitely have recognized that ball of green light.
Yesterday, when the Skeleton Bone Soldier broke into the room and was struck by lightning, two clusters of green light had shone in its skull's eye sockets, eerily strange.
But Dongfang Wanyu had already absorbed that green light, and now it floated ahead of her like a will-o'-the-wisp.
"Go. Take me there."
Dongfang Wanyu followed the ghostly flame north, soon leaving the town behind. As her surroundings grew increasingly remote, she mustered all the spiritual power within her, guarding against any unexpected developments.
In the middle of the night, Dongfang Minghui suddenly jolted awake. She found the room utterly silent, so quiet that it made her skin crawl. It was so dark she couldn't see her hand before her face. She closed her eyes, taking a long time to adjust to that 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! Hadn't she promised to protect her? Where had the heroine gone?
"Follow her out and take a look," Little Lecher suddenly suggested.
Dongfang Minghui was delighted. "Little Lecher, why did you suddenly wake up?"
Little Lecher was so annoyed that he extended his branches and lashed her within her soul sea. "Idiot, your Seventh Sister tricked you. Don't you find it strange? One moment you were so excited, with spiritual power racing all over your soul sea. Why did you suddenly fall asleep the next? If I hadn't woken you, you idiot would have slept straight through till dawn."
Luckily, he had been sensing the changes in her soul sea all along. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have known her Seventh Sister would trick her like this.
Dongfang Minghui spread her hands helplessly. If the heroine had done it, how could she dare resist? Only her little companion liked stirring things up. Nothing good came of opposing the heroine.
"I think there's something off about your Seventh Sister. There must be a problem. Go out and take a look. I can sense where she is," Little Lecher 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."
"All right, all right. I'm going, I'm going."
She simply couldn't understand it. Instead of getting their beauty sleep, what exactly were they all running off into the wilderness to do?
Following the route Little Lecher provided, Dongfang Minghui felt she was heading farther and farther into the middle of nowhere. There wasn't a soul in the wilderness, and all manner of strange noises rose around her, terrifying to hear.
"Little Lecher, shall we go back?"
It was far too dangerous outside. Staying at the inn gave her a much greater sense of security.
"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? Aaaaah, heavens! My little companion has tricked me into coming alone to Death Valley, a place swarming with undead!
"Little Lecher, you bastard! You knew this was Death Valley and still made me come? Do you know how many undead there are in here?"
Even as she complained, she continued following the trail ahead.
The valley was utterly silent, save for an occasional crow's cry that nearly frightened Dongfang Minghui's soul out of her body, never mind the dark shadows that flashed past from time to time.
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