Deep in the dense forest, Qiu Yimeng and the others were fleeing in a panic. Behind her, Luo Xiaoman and Bai Yunfeng both looked haggard, their bodies bearing numerous wounds. Beyond them, of the original dozen-odd Zhenyuan Realm cultivators, two or three had already dropped off.
As they ran, Luo Xiaoman's perky bosom bounced with each stride, like two snow-white hares pressed against her chest.
Under normal circumstances, a lecher like Bai Yunfeng would have been devouring the sight with his eyes, but right now he was in no mood whatsoever. He could barely keep himself alive—how could he care about feminine beauty?
Some sort of pursuers seemed to be on their heels. The group fled blindly, unfamiliar with the terrain, and quickly lost their way. All they could do was follow Qiu Yimeng.
The frantic sprint burned through their Zhenyuan at an alarming rate. When a small mountain hollow appeared up ahead, Qiu Yimeng let out a light pant and said, "Let's stop and rest up ahead. The people behind us shouldn't catch up too quickly. We'll recover a bit before moving on."
Hearing this, the entire group couldn't help but breathe a collective sigh of relief. After running for an entire day and night, no one could sustain that kind of expenditure.
Before long, everyone arrived at the secluded hollow and found spots to sit down, producing pills to recover.
Nearby, a clear spring trickled down from the hilltop. Qiu Yimeng and Luo Xiaoman hurried over to cup a few mouthfuls of water to soothe their parched throats, then splashed their faces, which helped them relax considerably.
Ever since they had encountered that bewitching woman in red that day, their entire group had been cursed with nothing but bad luck.
Three Shenyou Realm cultivators who had come along had been killed by that woman with a single blow. After that, over a dozen Zhenyuan Realm warriors led by Qiu Yimeng had gone to scout the surrounding terrain. Before they could figure out what was going on, they were surrounded by a band of warriors who practiced evil cultivation techniques. A fierce battle broke out, and they barely carved out an opening, but the commotion they'd stirred up attracted even more enemies.
Their group was no weak force, but the enemy simply outnumbered them. Over the past few days, the number of pursuers behind them only kept growing. Left with no choice, Qiu Yimeng had led everyone into this dense forest, hoping to use the terrain to find an opportunity to break through the encirclement.
The two women sat down, both looking exhausted.
"Sister Qiu, where exactly are we?" Luo Xiaoman asked, her large eyes filled with terror.
At her question, Qiu Yimeng's expression froze. After a moment's hesitation, she said slowly, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Cangyun Evil Land!"
"What? The Cangyun Evil Land?" Luo Xiaoman gasped, her beautiful eyes trembling.
Everyone else turned to her in shock. Bai Yunfeng frowned, skeptical. "Miss Qiu, how can you be certain this is the Cangyun Evil Land?"
Qiu Yimeng gave him a flat look and said casually, "Where else besides the Cangyun Evil Land would you find so many warriors who've fallen to the evil path? Didn't you see the way they fight?"
"That doesn't necessarily mean this is the Cangyun Evil Land…" Bai Yunfeng still couldn't quite believe it. "Maybe… it's the territory of some evil sect."
Qiu Yimeng let out a soft laugh, her tone firm and certain. "I can confirm—this is the Cangyun Evil Land!"
"Then what do we do?" Luo Xiaoman had no backbone of her own, unlike Qiu Yimeng, who was confident enough to take charge. Hearing this, the color drained from her lovely face.
"I don't know either!" Qiu Yimeng shook her head, her expression pained. This time she had only been leading a team to the Lingxiao Pavilion. She never imagined they would suddenly end up tens of thousands of miles away in the Cangyun Evil Land.
The margin of error was enormous.
The Cangyun Evil Land was home to countless experts, with evil cultivators everywhere. Their group had no powerful protector. Breaking through the blockade and escaping safely was simply impossible.
What's more, the Cangyun Evil Land and the forces outside were at each other's throats, locked in open war. If their group fell into enemy hands, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Especially Qiu Yimeng and Luo Xiaoman—the two of them were stunningly beautiful. If those unscrupulous evil cultivators captured them, all that awaited them was a fate of humiliation and abuse.
"Get your rest while you can. Luckily, not many real experts came after us this time. Otherwise, we wouldn't even have had anywhere to run!" Qiu Yimeng let out a deep sigh.
"Okay!" Luo Xiaoman nodded obediently and closed her eyes.
The group had barely been recovering for half a shi-chen when Qiu Yimeng's eyes suddenly snapped open. "Move! Now! Someone's coming!" she cried out in a sharp voice.
At her shout, everyone jolted awake from their meditation and hurried after her.
Over the past month, Qiu Yimeng had on multiple occasions detected the enemy's movements in advance, leading the group to avoid one danger after another. Though none of them knew how a ninth-level Zhenyuan Realm cultivator managed such a feat, the people here had long since been won over by her methods and naturally followed her commands without question.
…
Yang Kai and Shan Qingluo walked together through the forest.
After nearly a month in each other's company, Yang Kai had come to realize that this enchanting woman was actually not a bad person at heart. She looked delicate and graceful, with bewitching features. She appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, but she had cultivated some art of preserving her looks—she was indistinguishable from a girl in her teens, only carrying an additional air of maturity that came with the passage of time.
This quality was especially attractive to men. Combined with her seductive charm, Shan Qingluo was the kind of woman who could be the undoing of any man, young or old.
During this period, Yang Kai had been remarkably composed as well, no longer blurting out "big sister" this and "big sister" that like before. This had actually earned him a measure of respect from Shan Qingluo.
It wasn't often you found a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth with that kind of steadiness.
Though they had spent a considerable amount of time together, they rarely spoke. Shan Qingluo was not one for idle chatter, and Yang Kai wouldn't manufacture conversation just to fill the silence and risk annoying her. Most of the time, he simply followed along, and when they rested, he sat in meditation and cultivated, never letting up for a single moment.