This Disciple of Hers Really Did Take Responsibility

The next day, the rain cleared and the sky turned bright. The group decided to head up the mountain and thoroughly purge the spirits in the forest.

The lesser spirits they encountered at first had only just taken form. Neither Shen Ji nor Xie Lingchuan intervened, leaving them to Jiang Tingxue, Song Wensheng, and Yan Qing to practice on.

The deeper they went into the forest, the stronger the spirits they encountered became.

Moreover, Pingjiang City lay right at the foot of the mountain, and the baleful yin energy had affected even its depths, making them eerie and sinister.

Most ordinary trees were green or bluish-green, but the trees deep in this mountain had all turned black.

Jiang Tingxue walked on the far right of the group. They had just rounded a cliff when she discovered, to her surprise, a stalk of green bamboo growing among the black trees.

Curious, she approached and laid her hand on it.

"What a rare sight-a lone green shoot among a whole bunch of black ghost trees."

Who would have thought that the moment she touched it, that stalk of "green bamboo" would move?

Puzzled, Jiang Tingxue looked up and finally realized that what stood before her was no bamboo stalk at all, but the long, thick leg of a green spider!

The spider was enormous, its legs so long they could easily pass for tree trunks. Its entire body was concealed in the treetops, with only a pair of fangs exposed.

Before Jiang Tingxue could scream, the spider spat a huge white web at her.

She drew her sword and slashed almost instinctively, but the web was exceptionally sticky and caught her entire sword.

Fortunately, Shen Ji noticed something was wrong. In a flash, he darted to Jiang Tingxue's side and pulled her out of the web's reach, then cast a fire spell with a backhand motion.

The web burned away, and Jiang Tingxue's sword fell. She reached out and caught its hilt, sparing herself the embarrassment of losing her weapon.

Above them, Xie Lingchuan had already drawn his sword and thrust it at the giant spider's head.

The angle prevented the spider from spitting webs directly above itself. It dodged several times, barely evading his sword strikes.

But the others below were hacking at its long legs with their swords. Attacked from front and rear, it was soon overwhelmed, and Xie Lingchuan finished it with a single strike.

Zhu Lianqing stood off to one side, watching the show without a shred of guilt.

Shen Ji cautioned his junior disciples, "Be careful. We're getting closer and closer to Pingjiang City. Nourished by the baleful yin energy, these spirits have grown much stronger. They won't be as easy to deal with as the earlier ones."

After they dealt with several more spirits, they saw no more monsters or ghosts appear.

"Senior brother, have we already wiped out all the monsters here? We've been walking for so long without finding anything unusual."

"Not necessarily. Some monsters are skilled at concealing themselves, and their movements aren't easily detected. Those are the most dangerous kind."

As they spoke, Zhu Lianqing suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She could clearly see a barrier ahead that radiated demonic energy.

A great demon was probably lurking behind it.

But judging by the way her young disciple and martial nephews and niece strode boldly onward, Zhu Lianqing knew none of them had noticed.

It seemed this monster had a few tricks up its sleeve. At the very least, its cultivation surpassed her young disciple's.

Since they had come to slay monsters, Zhu Lianqing had no intention of warning them. She followed them into the barrier the monster had laid.

With so many against one, her young disciple and martial nephews and niece still had a very good chance of winning.

Besides, even taking ten thousand steps back, if they truly encountered some danger they could not handle, she could simply intervene in secret then.

The moment they crossed the barrier, a wave of icy air struck them in the face.

"Careful. Something feels wrong," Shen Ji warned his junior disciples, trusting his instincts.

Xie Lingchuan gripped his sword hilt tightly in his right hand and surveyed their surroundings warily.

Amid the rustling leaves that swayed like ghostly apparitions, the sound of something slowly crawling lay concealed, quietly approaching them.

Zhu Lianqing frowned slightly.

With most of her spiritual meridians sealed, she could not identify the creature ahead by its aura, but she had still heard that rustling sound.

Could a thousand-year-old snake demon be crawling toward them right now, twisting through the shadows?

As she pondered this, a series of startled cries suddenly rang out beside her.

"Aaaaaah!"

Then Zhu Lianqing noticed that something seemed to have wrapped around Song Wensheng's ankle beside her. His whole body abruptly toppled to the ground, and he was dragged rolling toward the cliff's edge.

Zhu Lianqing reacted swiftly, grabbing the left side of his collar, while Jiang Tingxue, on Song Wensheng's right, seized the right side.

There was a ripping sound. Instead of being pulled up, Song Wensheng ended up with two large holes torn into each side of his collar.

That damned monster was pretty strong.

"Junior brother!" Shen Ji slashed his sword at the unidentified thing wrapped around Song Wensheng's ankle.

It broke in two. Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the severed thing grew back and wrapped itself straight around Song Wensheng's waist.

At the same time, Jiang Tingxue, Yan Qing, and Shen Ji were also entangled by things emerging from beneath the fallen leaves.

Zhu Lianqing had intended to lend a hand when she suddenly felt something cold around her ankle.

Having anticipated this, Zhu Lianqing remained entirely calm. "My turn?"

Before she fell, she felt her wrist tighten. Looking back, she saw Xie Lingchuan holding on to her.

Beside them, the four fellow disciples were dragged over the cliff like dumplings dropping into a pot.

Zhu Lianqing smiled faintly at Xie Lingchuan. "You can't beat this old monster at tug-of-war. Let go of me first. You're next anyway. Everyone gets a share."

Xie Lingchuan frowned. "What?"

Zhu Lianqing's words were soon explained.

The next instant, the thing gave a powerful tug and dragged both her and Xie Lingchuan over the cliff.

Even as she scraped along the ground, Zhu Lianqing had enough energy to tease him. "That's what you get for not letting go. See? Now we're tied together."

Protecting his head, Xie Lingchuan still found a moment to give Zhu Lianqing a speechless look.

Bound tightly together without a gap between them, the two rolled down the cliff.

Zhu Lianqing caught that faint scent of soap pods again.

But soon, the scent of soap pods was overwhelmed by the smell of blood.

Xie Lingchuan's arm was almost halfway around Zhu Lianqing's back.

Zhu Lianqing frowned. "You're hurt? Look after yourself first. I have thick skin and tough flesh. A few bumps and falls won't do anything to me."

As Xie Lingchuan maneuvered to keep them from hitting any sharp rocks, he said, "We dragged you into this. Until we've confirmed you're a demon, we naturally have to ensure your safety."

Zhu Lianqing fell silent.

They were bound so closely together that she felt as though she could sense the vibrations in Xie Lingchuan's chest when he spoke.

She really was not used to talking at such close quarters.

Still, this disciple of hers really did take responsibility.

The instant they were dragged off the cliff, an intense sensation of weightlessness washed over them.

But it did not last long before Zhu Lianqing felt herself being flung hard.

After flinging everyone onto the ground, the thing withdrew.

Freed from her bonds, Zhu Lianqing hurriedly climbed off Xie Lingchuan, then reached out to pull him up.

"Are you all right?"

Xie Lingchuan wiped away the blood from the scrapes on the back of his hand and shook his head. "I'm fine. Just minor injuries."

Shen Ji pulled his junior disciples, who had been scattered every which way by the fall, to their feet one by one like pulling up radishes.

"What is this place now?" Song Wensheng asked, staring in astonishment at the monster corpses strewn across the ground.

They were in a cave, and for every monster they had slain along the way, a corresponding corpse could be found here.

The green spider was particularly conspicuous. Despite its enormous size, it now looked as though it had been sucked dry, leaving only a shriveled hide.