Chong Zhao grunted in pain, his face paling further. Er Yun let out a desperate scream, “Stop it, you fiend!”
The figure laughed hoarsely. “What a delicacy… although it’s mostly useful for healing.” He glanced at Chong Zhao with disdain. “If destroying your Golden Core could kill me, your master would have done it already, sparing you little disciples the trouble of coming here with this talisman.”
Gazing at the golden light from Chong Zhao’s core, he added with a sneer, “It’s tasty, but it pales compared to the blood of that girl.”
Chong Zhao’s face twisted in anger, and he snapped, “How do you know about her blood? Don’t you dare—”
“Or what? You can barely protect yourself.” The fiend snorted. “If it weren’t for the risk of a self-destruction backlash, you wouldn’t be alive right now. Once I’ve drained your energy, I’ll capture that girl. Soon, the entire East Sea will be mine… no…” The fiend’s gaze shifted toward the murky sky beyond the tree. “The entire Three Realms will be mine!”
Chong Zhao’s eyes blazed, his blood-streaked hands digging into the vines binding him. Suddenly, the fiend’s expression changed, and he glanced toward the cave entrance, listening intently. He sneered at Chong Zhao, letting out a strange laugh. “Seems you have a very loyal friend. Boy, once I’ve ascended, I’ll reward you with a quick death.”
The figure vanished, leaving Chong Zhao with a desperate shout: “A-Shuo!”
* * *
“What a so-called ‘Lord of Hao Yue’—nothing but a coward and an ingrate!” Bai Shuo muttered as she trudged through the peach grove. “I told him I knew how to defeat that thing, and he just ran off! Coward! Rotten demon! The old tortoise was right, never trust a pretty face!”
“A-Zhao? A-Zhao?” She called out quietly as she pulled a charm from her bag, which turned into a small paper figure, appearing quite exhausted.
“Sniff out A-Zhao’s scent for me,” she ordered. The little figure yawned lazily, unwilling to move.
“A-Zhao is in danger! I’ll give you spirit dew if you find him!” The promise of spirit dew had it up and moving instantly, sniffing the air before gliding off in a particular direction. Bai Shuo quickly followed.
As she moved through the dark grove, a pair of sinister eyes watched her but didn’t act, vanishing into the shadows instead.
At the edge of Fire and Ice Island, waves crashed against the shore, and beyond, the island remained shrouded in the evil barrier. Fan Yue stood on the shore, frowning slightly as he looked toward the sky, poised to depart.
"You're really not going to help her? If Long San takes her blood and ascends before you, he could turn around and devour you, erasing your soul entirely..."
A golden piglet flew from Fan Yue's sleeve, tugging insistently on his robes.
“The twelve disciples from Miao Miao Sect who entered earlier are already dead. He has absorbed their celestial energy, fully healed his wounds. Unless she willingly sacrifices her blood, taking it by force would be useless. The one I faced earlier was only a fragment of him, and even then, I could barely harm it. Under the full moon, my demon power is reduced to half its strength. Even if I went back, I couldn’t save that disciple. Besides...” Fan Yue's tone grew colder, “Two celestial disciples aren’t worth risking my life for. Now that I know where he’s hiding, I'll wait until my powers are fully restored, then come to reclaim this fragment of the Bodhi tree.”
He casually tucked the piglet back into his sleeve and, with a slash of demon energy, tore open the dark barrier, disappearing into a streak of light across the sky.
In the distance, a shadowy figure watched Fan Yue’s retreat, letting out an eerie chuckle before vanishing.
In the water cave, the thorned vine continued draining Chong Zhao’s life force to feed the Bodhi tree. He struggled to summon his remaining energy, but to no avail.
Suddenly, a faint voice echoed nearby.
“A-Zhao… A-Zhao!”
Chong Zhao turned his head and saw Bai Shuo peeking out from behind a tree trunk, a large leaf perched comically on her head.
Chong Zhao’s face turned even paler than when the thorn had first pierced him. He gritted his teeth, anger flickering in his eyes as he leaned towards her. “Why are you here? Who told you to come? Get out, leave the island!”
Er Yun, equally shocked to see Bai Shuo, looked away, her lips tightening in anger and hurt as she watched Chong Zhao’s reaction.
“I came to rescue you. Senior Brother and the others told me you and Senior Sister had come to this island.” Bai Shuo, still clutching the leaf, hurried toward Chong Zhao, mumbling as she eyed the eerie vines around them, “What kind of cursed place is this? The old tortoise’s little paper man led me here—it usually just mooches off my spirit dew, but I guess it’s useful at times like this.”
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