Yunxi kept her fists moving, not sparing so much as a glance for the Shadowscale Serpent that shot at her in a blur. The instant it woke, Cong Shan had already bristled with spikes and curled into a ball, streaking straight for the serpent's seven-inch vital point without waiting for Yunxi's command.
This time the Shadowscale Serpent had steeled itself. It did not dodge. Willing to risk taking Cong Shan's spike to its seven inches, its head speared forward until it was two fists from Yunxi's brow. A ribbon of gray light fired for her sea of consciousness.
"Hmph. Finally lost your patience."
With a cold snort, the floral mark at Yunxi's brow surfaced in the next breath. The Huadian Immortal Artifact blocked the gray light outside and, with the might of an immortal tool, crushed it to dust.
"Ah!"
A scream rang clear in Yunxi's ears, unmistakably a man's voice.
At that same moment, in a cave dwelling within Wangyou Mountain, a meditating male cultivator suddenly spat blood. His reddened eyes opened, a flash of viciousness gone in an instant. Wiping his mouth, he rasped to himself:
"Hmph. So the Immortal Realm plays it this large. No wonder they ordered this Lord to suppress cultivation and descend. So it was for this.
Heaven helps me. The Shanhe Scroll will be their burial ground. Hahahaha."
His ghastly laughter rolled around the cave, chilling to the bone.
Back inside, once Yunxi had pulverized the evil soul that tried to seize her, the Huadian Immortal Artifact sank from sight. On the other side, the Shadowscale Serpent was being hammered beneath Cong Shan, its body riddled with holes that leaked blood without end, a sight almost too pitiful to watch.
Wei Yunqing had finally blacked out. Only then did Yunxi call, "Cong Shan, back."
Cong Shan yanked the spike from the serpent's seven inches, stepped on the snake's head for good measure, then sprang back into the opened spirit-beast pouch.
Having vented her anger and erased the evil soul tethered to the Shadowscale Serpent, Yunxi finally had the leisure to take stock of her surroundings.
Cong Shan poked out its head. "Master, did we get sucked into Huaxian Gate's scroll? Is this a stage of the tournament?"
It felt like an independent space. Everything around was a blur. Even extending her spiritual sense, Yunxi sensed nothing. It felt as if only she and Wei Yunqing existed here. She shook her head."We were indeed drawn into Huaxian Gate's Shanhe Scroll, but this should not be a tournament phase. This is an evil cultivator's trick. The calm before was only a facade.
They intend to haul in this entire crop of Yuányīng Zhēnjūn and, while they are at it, topple Huaxian Gate as the Central Region's foremost sect."
"Ah. Are we going to be trapped here to die?"
Cong Shan's nose twitched.
Yunxi glanced at Wei Yunqing, playing dead, amusement flickering in her eyes. "Whatever happens, we will not sit and wait. We find a way out. Whether we live or die is on us."
She did not believe Heaven would abandon a "daughter of luck." Heaven leaves a road somewhere. This was a sealed space, not a dead end. There had to be a way through.
She walked over and gave Wei Yunqing a kick. "Stop pretending. Up. We are looking for an exit. Your spirit pet has better sense than you do."
Her gaze slid to the battered Shadowscale Serpent, now shrunken and coiled around Wei Yunqing's wrist. Truly, like master, like pet, both bullies of the weak and cowards before the strong.
Wei Yunqing's nose nearly bent with fury, but fear of another beating forced her eyes open. She put on the picture of a doormat. "D-don't hit me."
"That depends on you," Yunxi said, malice dripping. "Act cheap again and I will scatter your soul. If you fall inside the Shanhe Scroll, Huaxian Gate takes the blame. I can even collect a few heavenly treasures in 'compensation' and make sure they go straight to Du Ruolan."
Wei Yunqing's molars creaked, but she swallowed it. After the lesson just now, she knew Wei Yunxi meant every word. Revenge would have to wait until they got out. Dying here would be dying for nothing.
"I was wrong. I will not do it again."
The apology came at lightning speed, as if a late word would bring a fist. It left Yunxi oddly unfulfilled. If she were not worried the heavens would drop another "daughter of luck" on her head, she would have taken this fine chance to finish Wei Yunqing and even have a ready scapegoat.
Yunxi stared at her for a long moment. Unlike the earlier beating, Wei Yunqing truly felt the killing intent. Her face went paper white. Just as she was about to crush a random teleportation talisman, Yunxi talked herself down and arched a brow.
"Fine. You lead."
"I… I do not know where to go."
She truly did not.
"Then walk where you want," Yunxi said, unconcerned. "Follow your sense. Do you not always boast of your luck? Show me what it is worth inside here."
She wanted to see whether a "daughter of luck" could still bend fate within the Shanhe Scroll.
Wei Yunqing swallowed and picked a direction at random. She had her own little abacus. If she could shake Yunxi and make her scout ahead, all the better.
Yunxi's mouth quirked. She would give no such chance. The red cord was already looped around Wei Yunqing's wrist.
Startled, Wei Yunqing glanced back. Her footfall shifted, and her body began to blur. Yunxi's eyes lit. In a flash she moved to Wei Yunqing's side and grabbed her wrist. The two of them shimmered out together.
Moments later, a Bifang bird appeared where they had been. It had the form of a crowned crane, a white beak, a single leg, and cyan plumage mottled with red. A pair of eyes showed a humanlike doubt. It flapped its wings and flames roared up, burning the ground where the two had stood perfectly clean.
Yunxi and Wei Yunqing reformed in a vast hall. They had barely set their feet when gray vapor seeped from nowhere, surging toward them, threaded with eerie whispers:
"Hahaha. After all these years, someone finally came in."
"Do not fight me. This flesh is mine."
"Roll. Mine."
"Whoever fights me, I will swallow you all."
"Tch. First come, first served."
"Move. Do not crowd."
Wei Yunqing's face went even whiter, but at least she had a cultivator's instincts. Her defensive artifact flared to life, shielding her first.
Yunxi frowned, called Zi Yan from her dantian, and sheathed herself in its violet veil. Then she glared at Wei Yunqing. "Did you not say your luck is the best? How did you manage to bring us to a place like this?"