The atmosphere was quite awkward.
Gu Baiying supported Zanxing’s back with one hand, holding her close, while his silver spear trembled slightly, emitting a faint clink.
Mu Cengxiao had been heavily knocked to the ground by that previous strike. If Gu Baiying hadn’t restrained his power, Mu Cengxiao might have lost his life.
Men Dong and the others rushed in. As soon as they entered, they saw Zanxing being protected by Gu Baiying and Mu Cengxiao lying unconscious on the ground. Men Dong let out a horrified cry: “What have you done?”
Having fought with the still-unconscious Mu Cengxiao, his clothes were torn in several places by the blade. Although he wasn’t exposed, his clothing was in tatters, leading to speculation.
“Junior Sister,” Tian Fangfang looked at her with suspicion: “Did Junior Brother force you?”
At these words, Gu Baiying’s expression suddenly turned cold, and murderous intent from his spear erupted fiercely. Zanxing grabbed the corner of his clothes, stopping him from taking any further drastic actions, and weakly said: “No, don’t misunderstand, we didn’t do anything, we didn’t even have the chance.”
Mu Cengxiao was quite capable. If someone else had inhaled that flower’s fragrance, they would have gone mad and lost all reason by now. Mu Cengxiao, however, managed to hold on and stay conscious, which was no small feat.
“Why do you sound a bit regretful when you say that?” Men Dong looked at her with suspicion: “You wouldn’t be blaming us for arriving at the wrong time and deliberately interrupting you, would you?”
“Yes,” Tian Fangfang also seemed to recall something: “Junior Sister, according to the situation, your cultivation is similar to Junior Brother’s. Even if your spiritual power was damaged before, it shouldn’t have left you completely powerless. Could it be that you…”
He did not finish his sentence, casting a meaningful glance at Zanxing.
Zanxing almost choked on her breath. What were they implying? Suspecting that she was deliberately pretending to be weak to let Mu Cengxiao take advantage?
She looked at her fellow disciples with deep sorrow: “I can’t believe you see me as such a person.”
“That’s not what we meant…” Tian Fangfang awkwardly scratched his head.
“Enough talking.��� The small talk was interrupted by Gu Baiying. He held Zanxing’s wrist, seemingly testing her spiritual power, then was taken aback. His gaze fell on her, and he said, “You haven’t been affected by the Liu Huan Grass?”
“So that glowing flower is called Liu Huan Grass,” Zanxing muttered to herself. “Its fragrance has no effect on me.”
“Impossible,” Men Dong jumped up, looking very doubtful. “Liu Huan Grass controls the desires of anyone who inhales its scent, regardless of gender. Even someone with my master’s cultivation couldn’t avoid it. You’re only at the Gold Core stage, how could it not affect you? And what about Brother Mu?” Men Dong was puzzled. “He seems somewhat irrational, but still okay. Is this perhaps a fake Liu Huan Grass?”
Zanxing remained silent. Mu Cengxiao and she were key figures, and she had the Xiao Yuan Pearl, so it wasn’t easy for them to fall under its influence. However, Zanxing picked up on the key point in his words: “Elder Yueguang? Has he encountered Liu Huan Grass before?”
“Of course,” Men Dong answered without hesitation. “When Master was young, he entered a secret realm for trials and happened to come across the blooming Liu Huan Grass. There was another female cultivator from the Hehuan Sect at that time. They ended up dual-cultivating for seven days and nights in the secret realm. Fortunately, that female cultivator had a special constitution and could still provide some spiritual power to Master during the process. Otherwise, Master would have died from excessive yang essence leakage.”
“Oh?” Tian Fangfang’s expression shifted. “I didn’t realize Elder Yueguang had such an unusual past. What happened to that female cultivator later?”
“Master’s body was damaged after that trial, and the female cultivator abandoned him because she found him inadequate. She realized he wouldn’t be of much help in her cultivation in the future, so she left him. Master suffered greatly from the Liu Huan Grass, which is why he recorded it in the spiritual herb book and warned us to recognize it and never repeat his mistake,” Men Dong said. After a pause, he added, “This is Master’s secret, so don’t spread it around.”
The group nodded in agreement, promising not to reveal it.
“Master also mentioned that once the Liu Huan Grass blooms, cutting it down is useless. We can only wait for the flowers to wither with time. Staying here isn’t a good idea, we should leave,” Men Dong said.
This made sense. Since Mu Cengxiao almost caused a major incident from inhaling just a bit of the flower’s fragrance, if the whole group fell victim, the Taiyan Sect would be facing a huge scandal.
Gu Baiying picked up Zanxing in a horizontal carry and said coldly, “Let’s get out of here first.”
“What about Junior Brother Mu?” Tian Fangfang asked.
Mu Cengxiao was knocked down by Gu Baiying’s strike, and the spiritual power from the Xiu Gu spear was keeping him down. Meng Ying walked over, took out a large burlap sack from her Qiankun Bag, and without saying a word, put Mu Cengxiao inside it. Then she lifted the sack as if it were cargo and said calmly, “Let’s go.”
Zanxing: “….”
She called out, “Wait! The fruit of the Sacred Tree…”
Mu Cengxiao had only picked one fruit before the Liuhuan Grass bloomed, but she wasn’t sure if one fruit would be enough to repair Gu Baiying’s damaged meridians. There were about four or five fruits on the tree, glowing with a golden light.
Gu Baiying swung his spear, causing the fruits to fall. Men Dong scrambled to collect the golden fruits into his Qiankun Bag and also picked up the still-sleeping Mimi from the ground.
The Liu Huan Grass did not bloom again.
Zanxing sighed in relief. It seemed that the flower only bloomed the first time fruit was picked. For ordinary people, inhaling its fragrance without any preparation would be unbearable for even a quarter of an hour, so there was no need for the Liu Huan Grass to bloom a second time.
Then, with a flash of white light, they returned to the previous cave, the place where they had encountered the Sword Mound.
Meng Ying released her grip, and the burlap sack containing Mu Cengxiao fell to the ground. Without the suffocating fragrance of the Liu Huan Grass, everyone felt much more at ease.
The sack rustled, and Tian Fangfang hurried over to untie it and pull Mu Cengxiao out.
Meng Ying wouldn’t have kept a ragged sack in her Qiankun Bag for no reason. This sack was used to contain ferocious beasts. When encountering dangerous beasts causing havoc, it was a pity to kill them directly, so they could be put in the sack and brought back to the sect. Some could be tamed to protect the people of Pingyang Town.
But now, instead of capturing a beast, it had been used to contain a fellow disciple.
As soon as Mu Cengxiao was released, he was still half-conscious, his gaze dazed and his face flushed. He murmured, “Senior Sister Meng.”
Everyone’s eyes quickly turned to Meng Ying.
The relationship between these two was unclear. One was a new disciple still fresh to the sect, and the other was a prodigy being groomed as a future sect leader. Mu Cengxiao seemed to have a special affection for Meng Ying, but it was uncertain if Meng Ying harbored any feelings for him.
Before Zanxing could ponder further, Meng Ying walked over with a calm expression and, without hesitation, slapped Mu Cengxiao.
Mu Cengxiao was stunned for a moment.
Meng Ying looked at him coldly and asked, “Are you awake now?”