Looking a Little Foolish

Guided by the silk threads, the group's speed was indeed much faster than before.

Jiang Zhuoxue and the other woman were both curious about how Sang Ying had found the way, but neither of them asked.

Only Su Fuyun, as if he couldn't be unhappy without causing trouble, insisted on coming up and asking, "Junior Sister Sang Ying, how did you find the way? You're clearly here for the first time in the Black Tortoise Realm too, how come you seem so familiar with the Hidden Moon Forest?"

She glanced at the other two a few times, her words carrying a deeper meaning. "I'm not doubting that this beast tide is related to you, I'm just a little curious. I believe you wouldn't do such a wicked thing, junior sister, please don't misunderstand me."

Sang Ying turned her head away, suddenly feeling a bit of admiration for Su Fuyun's courage.

Now that she's here, she dares to provoke me like this? Isn't she really afraid I'll chop her in half with a sword?

Moreover... Sang Ying lowered her head; she had never intended to let Su Fuyun leave this forest alive.

"If you don't believe me, you can leave by yourself. I won't stop you." Sang Ying looked at her with a half-smile.

Not getting the reaction she wanted from Jiang Zhuoxue and the other woman, Su Fuyun's smile became somewhat forced, "Junior Sister, what are you saying? How could I doubt you?"

"Since you don't have any doubts, then you'd better shut up. Otherwise, we might leave you here all alone~" Jiang Zhuoxue interrupted.

Fu Shuangjiang clenched his fists. Why was he so late?

Seeing Su Fuyun's aggrieved and hurt expression, Sang Ying and the other woman walked past her with satisfaction.

Fu Shuangjiang was a step too slow and was pestered by Su Fuyun again. "I really didn't mean it."

"Hmm," he responded.

"So, Senior Brother Fu, you believe me?" Su Fuyun was pleasantly surprised. Had this man suddenly become chivalrous?

Unfortunately, Fu Shuangjiang spoke up again very quickly, "I believe you didn't mean it, but saying such things at this time inevitably seems a bit foolish."

Su Fuyun's smile froze on her face.

Watching the three figures disappear into the distance, Su Fuyun repeatedly tried to harden her heart and not follow. But the voice in her mind kept repeating:

"Don't you want to ascend to immortality? Don't you want to have your master anymore?"

Upon hearing these two questions, Su Fuyun lost all her so-called pride and quickly and obediently caught up with the three people who had gone far away.

Sang Ying's senses were spot on; after several attacks by Demon Beast, the group finally arrived at the legendary central area.

The trees here were incredibly tall, blocking out all the sunlight. The four of them could only see their surroundings through the fluorescent stones they had brought with them. As the stone forest in front of them was gradually illuminated by the fluorescent light, the hideous faces on the stone pillars immediately came into their view.

"Elder Haojing! Elder Linyin!" Fu Shuangjiang couldn't help but cry out in surprise almost as soon as she saw the faces on the two outermost stone pillars.

The two faces, as if they were True Person, were embedded in the stone pillar. Their expressions were filled with pain and despair, as if they were enduring something terrible.

"Do you know these two people, senior?" Sang Ying asked.

Fu Shuangjiang nodded. "They were elders of my sect. Several hundred years ago, they entered the Hidden Moon Forest in search of spirit medicine, and then there was no news of them. I originally still held onto some hope, but I didn't expect..."

His outstretched hand trembled slightly, and in the end, he didn't dare touch the two faces on the stone pillar.

The two elders have perished, so what about his master and sect leader?

Fu Shuangjiang simply couldn't imagine it.

"Since the two seniors are here, it means we haven't come to the wrong place. The others haven't been here long. If we act quickly, we might still be able to save them." Although Sang Ying was only guessing.

As if encouraged by Sang Ying's words, Fu Shuangjiang, whose eyes were already red, rallied. "You're right, let's go in quickly, Sang Ying. No matter what, I need to know what's hidden in the forest!"

Jiang Zhuoxue, standing nearby, frowned: They've started calling her "Sang Ying" so intimately?

No one could understand his ulterior motives. The four of them simply passed over the dozens of strangely shaped stone pillars and entered the center of the stone forest.

The towering trees stretched their branches to the sky, weaving a canopy above everyone's heads. Sang Ying, who was walking at the front, soon discovered that there was a barrier outside the stone forest.

The barrier acted like a dome, concealing everything inside and preventing outsiders from seeing inside.

"The Spiritual Power within this barrier is considerable; it's probably not something an ordinary person could create." Fu Shuangjiang sensed the strength of the barrier with a single touch, but he kept something to himself.

That is, he had seen his master set up this barrier before.

Fu Shuangjiang dared not think any further.

"How can we break this barrier? Does Senior Brother Fu have any ideas?" Su Fuyun asked.

Fu Shuangjiang naturally did not refuse. He considered himself to be the one with the highest cultivation among them, and it was only right that he should break the barrier.

Moreover, it just so happens that his master had once demonstrated to him how to break such a barrier. Today is the first time Fu Shuangjiang has actually broken the formation.

Coincidentally, Fu Shuangjiang also has Ice Spirit Root.

As soon as he made his move, the temperature in the stone forest plummeted. Frost slowly condensed on all the stone pillars, and even the barrier in front of him gradually formed ice flowers.

Sang Ying felt the Ice Spiritual Qi surrounding her body surging wildly towards Fu Shuangjiang. She tried hard to suppress the urge to take back the Ice Spiritual Qi, watching the snow falling from the sky above the stone forest.

The sound of cracking and snapping was incessant; it was the sound of the barrier breaking apart inch by inch.

Boom!

As if a heavy object had fallen to the ground, the barrier was finally shattered completely in Fu Shuangjiang's hands. The scene that had been firmly concealed inside was now fully exposed to the public.

Ignoring the fact that her hands had grown white frost, Fu Shuangjiang went straight to a male cultivator inside the barrier the moment she broke it.

"Master, elders, and all sect leaders... you are all still alive!" This was truly good news for Fu Shuangjiang. He had already given up hope, but unexpectedly, after the barrier was broken, the people trapped inside were the very people who had disappeared for so long!

Seeing this, Su Fuyun quickly followed. She hadn't forgotten the purpose of her trip.

Sang Ying didn't want to compete with her, so she took the opportunity to quietly sized up all the dozen or so people inside.

Sang Ying naturally didn't miss the fact that these people's feet had begun to turn to stone.

"Foolish! Why did you come here? Why didn't you stay outside and lead the sect disciples to fight against the Demon Beast? Why did you come here to die!" Elder Zhou was heartbroken.

If he weren't currently trapped and unable to move, he would definitely give his disciple a good scolding.

Fu Shuangjiang was taken aback by her master's words, not understanding why he was so angry. "Master, don't be angry. There's a beast tide raging outside. If I don't come in and fight, I'm afraid the Black Tortoise Realm won't escape this calamity!"

Upon hearing this, Elder Zhou's expression turned even uglier.

Both master and apprentice wore bitter expressions, and the atmosphere became somber, the initial joy at the breaking of the barrier completely gone.

Sang Ying added a touch of tension to the somber mood, "Senior Fu, wouldn't you like to take a look at your feet?"

Or rather, their feet.

Fu Shuangjiang lowered her head, bewildered, while Elder Zhou closed his eyes in despair the moment Sang Ying spoke.

He soon discovered that the toes of his shoes had somehow turned to stone!

A note from the author:

That's all for today! Hope you can speed things up a bit from here on out!

Love you all~