"Benefactor Xin, be careful!" Ci Hui did not quite understand, but only called out a warning. Xin Xin, meanwhile, opened her mouth and breathed a stream of true qi onto the Soul Concealing Incense. Light flashed at the incense's tip, and it ignited. A faint thread of smoke shot straight into the air.
"Master Guzhen, please stand guard for me!" Xin Xin said softly. She then dropped into a seated position in midair, forming hand seals utterly unfamiliar to Xiao Hua and squeezing her eyes shut.
Hearing this, Guzhen waved his hand. The enormous Demon Subduing Pestle hovered before his chest. He widened his eyes and vigilantly scanned their surroundings.
Xiao Hua did not open his Dharma Eye and could not see anything. Yet the smoke rising into the air suddenly split into three streams, shooting straight toward the three branching passages. A faintly meaty, fishy fragrance soon filled the entire corridor.
"Oh? Xin Xin actually split her Primordial Spirit into three?" Xiao Hua's eyes lit up. "She belongs to a Confucian cultivator family, so how does she know so many Daoist secret techniques? Even I don't know this secret technique!"
Just as Xiao Hua was consumed by envy, jealousy, and hatred, a beast's roar—"Roar..."—came from the passage on the left. The frozen corridor immediately shook. Looking again at Xin Xin, who sat cross-legged, a thread of golden true qi burst from above her head and instantly enveloped her completely. A flush of crimson appeared on the part of her face exposed beyond the qi.
"This is bad..." Guzhen said urgently. "Benefactor Xin's Primordial Spirit must have encountered danger!"
As he spoke, the fragrance of the Soul Concealing Incense suddenly intensified. A fierce gale blew out from the other two passages and swept before Xin Xin, snuffing out the incense