The woman appeared to have been injured before, and now she was in even worse shape. The other man glanced back in terror, a flash of struggle and hesitation flickering in his eyes, but his feet never slowed.
"Despicable!" Qu Huashang watched the scene unfold and cursed aloud. She wasn't cursing the attackers—she was cursing the man running at the very front.
The fleeing man and woman were clearly companions—perhaps lovers, or fellow disciples, or something of the sort. Now that danger had come, only the woman had turned back to block a strike, and after being wounded by it, the man hadn't turned to help but had instead run even faster. He had absolutely no sense of responsibility whatsoever.
His actions even carried the suspicion that he was using the woman to buy himself time to escape. In their current state, even if the man had turned back to help, they might not have been able to outrun their pursuers—but at least there would have been a sliver of hope. Abandoned as she was, the woman was as good as dead.
Qu Huashang was a woman too. Putting herself in that position—what a devastating thing to witness.
She recalled Yang Kai's actions. No matter what dire situation he'd been in, no matter how gravely he'd been injured, he had never abandoned her. And she and he weren't even that close—they'd only met once or twice.
Comparing the two men, their character was worlds apart.
She hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now with this comparison, a hint of warmth and sweetness unexpectedly rose in Qu Huashang's heart.
Yang Kai was also furious. Seeing the pursuers about to launch another lethal strike, with the woman too weak to resist, his figure blurred and he appeared directly in front of her, throwing a single punch.
The Spatial Laws surged, and the void shattered!
The pursuers' faces changed dramatically. They all struck to defend, and one of them bellowed: "Who are you?!"
With a series of thunderous booms, the shockwave dissipated. The pursuers were left disheveled, their faces pale, eyeing Yang Kai with undisguised wariness.
Yang Kai regarded them coldly, not even turning his head. "Ruoxi, are you all right?"
The woman had thought she was doomed to die. In that critical moment, a towering figure had suddenly appeared before her, shielding her from the oncoming onslaught. She looked up, and the silhouette was achingly familiar. Hearing that voice, her beautiful eyes went wide as she stammered, "M-Master?"
She almost thought she was dreaming!
Ever since she had departed from the Star Boundary with Master, heading beyond the Heavens, only to be swallowed by the Thousand-segmented Worm, they had lost all contact. She had tried to search for Yang Kai, but the Three Thousand Worlds were vast beyond measure—each Great Realm as boundless as the next. Finding a single person among them was even harder than finding a needle in the ocean.
She traveled and searched, enduring countless hardships, and eventually arrived at the Langya Blessed Land, where she had joined as a Disciple through the legacy of her ancestors.
When she learned the Blood Demon Grotto-Heaven was about to open, she had exhausted every ounce of effort to secure a spot. She reasoned that with Master's abilities and resources, he would surely enter the Grotto-Heaven, and searching for him inside would be far easier than looking in the open world.
The Blood Demon Grotto-Heaven was treacherous everywhere. She happened to reunite with a senior brother, and they traveled together, but they ran into trouble and were hunted down. Just as death seemed certain, Master had miraculously appeared before her.
Zhang Ruoxi wanted to burst into tears! Before seeing Yang Kai, she could endure any hardship alone—she wouldn't have flinched with a blade at her throat. But once she saw Yang Kai, it was like a child away from home who had finally found someone to lean on.
Yang Kai hadn't expected to run into Zhang Ruoxi here either. After so many years, that their reunion would come under these circumstances!
Back in the Grand Desolate Realm, he had tried asking Gu Pan from the Langya Blessed Land about Zhang Ruoxi's whereabouts, but Gu Pan had said she'd never heard of anyone by that name. Yang Kai had suspected that either Ruoxi hadn't gone to the Langya Blessed Land at all, or Gu Pan simply hadn't crossed paths with her—the Blessed Land had many Disciples, and Gu Pan couldn't possibly know them all.
As they spoke, Qu Huashang landed beside Yang Kai. She crouched next to Zhang Ruoxi and gently helped her up, asking concernedly, "Junior Sister, are you all right?"
Zhang Ruoxi slowly shook her head. "I'm fine," she said softly. Then she opened her mouth, and a mouthful of fresh blood spilled out.
Qu Huashang's expression shifted—clearly, this woman was seriously hurt. She quickly produced a few healing pills and handed them over. "Take these."
"Please watch over my friend for a moment." Yang Kai's voice was slightly low—Qu Huashang had never heard that tone from him before. It was calm on the surface, but she could feel the towering fury hidden beneath.
"I've got her. Go." Qu Huashang lifted Zhang Ruoxi and flashed away to a safe distance.
The pursuers frowned deeply at the sight. A young man at their head stepped forward, his expression dark. "Might I ask your name? The Heavenly Sword Alliance is conducting official business. I'd appreciate it if you'd step aside."
"You want to kill my friend, and you're asking me to cooperate?" Yang Kai's gaze was cold steel.
The young man's brows drew together. After a brief pause, he cupped his fists. "If that's the case, then we'll take our leave."
With that, he turned to go—apparently having recognized Yang Kai's strength from that earlier strike and unwilling to provoke a fight lightly.
Yang Kai barked, "You hurt someone and you think you can just walk away? Since when is it that simple?"
What no one expected was that the young man's retreat had been feigned—his real aim was to divert Yang Kai's attention. The instant Yang Kai's voice fell, he suddenly roared, "Now!"
With a sharp hiss, the ground beneath Yang Kai's feet heaved. A green vine burst from the earth like a living serpent, wrapping around him and binding him tight like a zongzi. Not only that—countless razor-sharp barbs sprouted from the vine, piercing into Yang Kai's skin and releasing a virulent toxin.