An Amazing Friend
The original book once recorded that there were two exits in the underground palace. Sang Ying had already revealed the second exit to Fang Chi and the other person after she was caught in the mural.
They also made it clear that as soon as they left the stone chamber, they would head in the direction Sang Ying had indicated.
Now that the underground palace has collapsed, Sang Ying doesn't know if the two of them have passed the test in the stone chamber. The messages sent through the communication talisman have also disappeared without a trace, receiving no response.
However, the underground palace was too dangerous, so Sang Ying dared not linger and could only run in the direction described in the book.
"Don't worry, those two little kids look like they have great fortune, they definitely won't get into trouble so easily." Seeing Sang Ying's worried expression, Gu Shu comforted her at the right time.
Sang Ying couldn't tell whether he had good fortune or not, but she could sense Gu Shu's good intentions, so she replied, "I hope so!"
She was fast and quickly reached the latter half of the underground palace.
The sound of collapse was already behind Sang Ying. She took out the Night-Shining Pearl from her Storage Bag and plunged into the endless darkness ahead.
The tunnel was narrow and deep, and the night-illuminating pearl in Sang Ying's hand could only illuminate a small area in front of her.
She hadn't gone far when she heard faint footsteps approaching.
Fearing danger, Sang Ying immediately put away the Night-Shining Pearl, slipped into a corner, and quietly drew her longsword.
After she finished doing all that, the footsteps hurriedly approached Sang Ying's vicinity.
Without giving the other party a chance to react, she thrust out her longsword the moment the man reached Sang Ying's side.
The opponent reacted quickly enough, narrowly dodging the first sword strike, but the next second Sang Ying's sword was at his neck.
"Fellow Daoist, spare my life! I didn't do anything!" the man suddenly cried out.
The voice sounded somewhat familiar to Sang Ying. She quickly took out the Night-Shining Pearl and placed it in front of the person; the bright white light immediately illuminated the person's appearance clearly.
"Hai Tingzhou, why did you come from that direction?" Sang Ying hadn't forgotten that Hai Tingzhou was heading towards the collapsed area of the underground palace. Shouldn't he be heading outwards? Why was he running back?
Upon seeing Sang Ying, Hai Tingzhou instantly breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression quickly turned tense again. "Something's happened! I was just about to come find you, come with me quickly!"
"Oh, and don't bring the Night-Shining Pearl!" Hai Tingzhou, who was leading the way, reminded Sang Ying.
Seeing his cautious demeanor, Sang Ying naturally dared not disobey and immediately put away the Night-Shining Pearl.
Fortunately, cultivators have eyesight that is far superior to ordinary people; even without the Night-Illuminating Pearl, the two of them could still see the road ahead.
The further they went, the lighter Hai Tingzhou's steps became. Sang Ying followed suit, becoming more cautious in her actions as well.
They hadn't gone far when the tunnel suddenly became empty. Looking into the distance, there seemed to be some scattered, shimmering green light on the tunnel walls.
Hai Tingzhou stopped and made room for Sang Ying: "This is it. Fang Chi is upstairs."
He pointed diagonally upwards, and Sang Ying looked in that direction. All she could see was a huge silkworm cocoon, hanging alone on the stone wall, looking extremely out of place.
"What do you mean? Fang Chi is inside the cocoon?" Sang Ying voiced her guess.
Hai Tingzhou nodded vigorously. "We wanted to go out and wait for you, but we encountered an accident here. Those glowing things are some kind of monster, there are a lot of them and they can spit silk. They will follow the light source and finally wrap people in cocoons before they stop."
He briefly explained his and Fang Chi's experience, saying that neither of them knew whether they were lucky or unlucky.
They successfully passed the test and left the stone chamber before the underground palace began to collapse, but then encountered this strange thing out of nowhere halfway there.
Because Fang Chi was walking at the very front and was the one scouting the way with the Night-Shining Pearl, he received the most attacks.
Although her knife was powerful, it couldn't withstand the sheer number of insects inside, and she was eventually wrapped up in the cocoon by them.
Unable to come up with a solution immediately, Hai Tingzhou had no choice but to go back and discuss it with Sang Ying, which led to their unexpected encounter.
"These things are numerous and attracted to light; they'll relentlessly pursue us even with the slightest disturbance. If we can't wipe them all out in one go, I'm afraid we really won't be able to rescue Fang Chi." Although the three of them hadn't known each other for long, they had been through so much together, and Hai Tingzhou had long considered Fang Chi one of his own, so naturally he didn't want to abandon her.
The same applies to Sang Ying.
But how do we deal with something so troublesome?
After pondering for a moment, Sang Ying said, "I have a plan, but it's very risky. I have Ice Spirit Root and some talent in swordsmanship. I can use Sword Qi to freeze the entire tunnel. Perhaps we can rescue Fang Chi and leave quickly before those insects break through the ice."
This plan requires Sang Ying to be able to use the same sword techniques as in White Foothill City, and also requires Hai Tingzhou to trust her enough and escape with Fang Chi in time.
If either side makes a mistake, they could all be trapped and die in this tunnel.
Upon hearing her words, Hai Tingzhou, who had still held onto a sliver of hope, immediately lowered his head. "Forget it, there are definitely more insects here than just this one spot. Even if we freeze this place, it won't help."
Sang Ying asked curiously, "Why do I only freeze this part? Wouldn't it be better to seal off the entire tunnel?"
Although Hai Tingzhou had always believed that Sang Ying was destined for greatness, she was only at the Foundation Establishment stage at present. The young cultivator recalled the Foundation Establishment sword cultivators he had met before, and he even began to suspect that Sang Ying was exaggerating.
However, recalling the Young Master Bai he knew in the illusion, Hai Tingzhou inexplicably developed trust in her again.
"If you trust me, then let's take a gamble. If you don't, we'll find another way," Sang Ying said bluntly.
The face hidden in the darkness before him was youthful and quite different from the Young Master Bai in his memory, yet Hai Tingzhou felt as if the person in front of him was that Young Master Bai.
He scratched his head and gritted his teeth, saying, "I believe you!"
Upon hearing this, Sang Ying subtly curled the corners of her lips into a smile.
The two quickly made a plan, even discussing how to cut open the cocoon that trapped Fang Chi, until everything was foolproof.
Sang Ying, carrying a long sword, stood in front of Hai Tingzhou.
"Perfect timing! This is a good opportunity for you to practice the third level of the Swordsmanship, 'Obscure the Sun and Cover the Heavens'!" Gu Shu clicked his tongue inside the sword. "Although your current cultivation level certainly won't allow you to unleash the full power of that sword move, you should be able to get to about 80%."
Sang Ying, having activated her Spiritual Power, smiled slightly, "Then I will follow Gu Shu's guidance!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he swung his longsword.
Hai Tingzhou only saw a flash of white light before his eyes, and then the entire tunnel seemed to be pulled into an icy world, enveloped by a thick layer of ice. Even the ground beneath his feet was not spared.
Hai Tingzhou, having painstakingly pulled his shoes out of the ice, looked at the chilling world before him and rubbed his eyes hard.
Great, that's confirmed, he wasn't seeing things.
Looking at the young girl, not yet twenty, in front of him, Hai Tingzhou clutched the collar of his shirt: he suddenly felt as if he had truly made an extraordinary friend.
A note from the author:
Hai Tingzhou: It's not too late for me to start sucking up to powerful figures now, right...? Maybe I started doing it a long time ago?
Thank you everyone for your support~ Love you all~~