“Zi Shang, come over here quickly!” Yun Jiuge waved at him. She was standing not far away from him. She did not notice the devil statue's abnormal behavior at all.
“Alright.” Zi Shang glanced at the devil statue one last time before teleporting to Yun Jiuge's side.
“What were you looking at earlier?” Yun Jiuge asked curiously.
“I was trying to find a way out of this Labyrinth,” Zi Shang said with a poker face. He decided to hide the devil statue's odd behavior from Yun Jiuge.
“Did you manage to figure it out?” Yun Jiuge's attention was diverted immediately.
“At the moment, I haven't discovered any clues that can help us.” Zi Shang shook his head with an unusually solemn expression.
“Is this Labyrinth fraught with danger?” Yun Jiuge felt anxious at once.
No matter how she looked at these blood red walls, it gave her an uncomfortable feeling that someone was spying on her.
She wanted to explore the Labyrinth with her consciousness. However, the walls barred her from probing further.
She could not use the Bat Wings to fly nor activate her Flying Rune. She could only forge forward by walking like an ordinary person.
“This Labyrinth is capable of causing hallucinations. You should be careful. Walk behind me!” Zi Shang turned around and started walking forward.
As they walked, Yun Jiuge stared at Zi Shang's broad figure silently. She suddenly felt down.
She did not know if she was reading too much into things, but it felt like Zi Shang had been emotionally distant towards her of late.
He had stopped flirting with her. Also, every time she faced a dangerous situation in the past, he would take the opportunity to demand kisses and hugs in return for helping her. This did not happen anymore.
When Zi Shang first started acting this way, she was rather happy about it. However, without the usual intimacy, she suddenly felt that they were no different from platonic friends.
What bothered her the most was that they had not performed Dual Cultivation for a very long time.
Since her Elixir Field was in a stable state, she did not need to perform Dual Cultivation with him to replenish Spiritual Energy. But she was really not used to him being so straitlaced!
“Did I lose my charm? Or am I too ugly to capture his interest now?” Yun Jiuge thought to herself.
Yun Jiuge touched her face unconsciously. A few seconds later, she began to deride herself.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh. I used to wish that he would stay away from me. Now, I act like I am l.u.s.ting for him. How can I have no pride at all?”
Zi Shang did not notice Yun Jiuge's mental struggle. He had a serious expression as he concentrated on determining the right path to guide Yun Jiuge.
They walked for two hours. Even though they went past many crossroads, they still could not find any clues that could help them leave this Labyrinth.
While they were walking, Zi Shang was very quiet. At times, he seemed to be deep in thought or looked like he was staring into s.p.a.ce. When Yun Jiuge asked him a question, he would take a long time to react to her. Sometimes, he would not catch what she was saying at all.
Ever since Yun Jiuge practiced the Ten-thousand Beast Technique, her body had gotten stronger. Hence, walking long distances was a piece of cake for her. However, Zi Shang's unwillingness to talk to her made her feel miserable.
She tried to make some small talk with him but failed to engage him in a conversation. She started to feel a bit upset.
“Hmph, since you refuse to pay attention to me, I'll ignore you too. Let's see who gives in first.” Yun Jiuge thought.
Because of this, the two of them walked for another hour in silence.
Zi Shang was unaffected by this. On the other hand, Yun Jiuge was extremely unhappy.
She was about to explode and give him a piece of her mind when she suddenly heard intense fighting sounds from afar and a little child saying ‘Ya' repeatedly.
“It's Liu Mei'er's Ba w.a.n.g Flower.” Yun Jiuge's spirit was lifted at once.
“This way.” Zi Shang pointed in the opposite direction.
“They must be in trouble. I want to save them.” Yun Jiuge started walking towards the source of the sounds angrily.
“If you want to save them, then you should walk this way. You'll only move further and further from them if you insist on walking that way.” Zi Shang held Yun Jiuge's hand and explained things to her patiently.
“Alright!” When Yun Jiuge saw that Zi Shang was looking at her with a sincere face, she decided to follow him in the end.
Even though the fight sounded like it was happening far away, they reached the location of the fight after taking two turns.
Yun Jiuge tiptoed nearer to them and stuck out her head to observe the fight.
Liu Mei'er was commanding the Ba w.a.n.g Flower, while Liu Tian'er had activated her Nine Purgatories Body. They were fighting two unkempt Black Magic Pract.i.tioners who were in the Intermediate Foundation Establishment stage.
One of the Black Magic Pract.i.tioners was a short and fat old man with tousled white hair. He was holding a dark green bamboo staff with three dark green leaves on top of it. It had a veined pattern, which gave the impression that blood was circulating within the staff.
Every time he waved the staff, poisonous thistles would appear and form a wall around Liu Mei'er to constrain her.
The other one was a middle-aged Scribe who looked like a gentleman. He was wearing a brown garb.
He was wielding a black Ring Ruler, which had carvings depicting ferocious, wicked ghosts.
At this time, the Ring Ruler was glowing dimly. The wicked ghosts that were trapped within had expended most of their energy and suffered a lot of damage. This made their attacking power decrease sharply.
Meanwhile, the Liu Sisters seemed to be in optimal form. Since they were not hurt, they were able to fight the Black Magic Pract.i.tioners for a long time.
However, their cultivation level was too low. If the fight continued, they would lose without a doubt.
“Little Cheap Slave, just because you've removed the Slave Mark from your skin, don't think for a minute that you'll be able to run away from me. If you return to my side obediently, I will spare your lives.” The middle-aged Scribe directed the ferocious ghosts to attack Liu Tian'er as he threatened them with a gentle voice.
Unfortunately, Liu Tian'er paid no heed to him.
Both of her eyes were completely red, while her teeth were sharp. As her black hair danced in the wind, her fingernails grew in size. After she transformed into a Living Corpse completely, she attacked the two Black Magic Pract.i.tioners fiercely, intending to finish off her enemy.
Liu Mei'er was fully focused on instructing Ba w.a.n.g Flower to break through the wall. She wanted to kill the fat old man so that she could go and help her younger sister.
“Wicked Patriarch, are you sure that these two girls are the female slaves who ran away from you?” The fat old man asked while leering at the Liu Sisters.
“Even if they were burned into ashes, I'd still recognize them with one look.” The middle-aged Scribe stared at the Liu Sisters lecherously.
If he had known that his two playthings would grow up to be so beautiful, he would have cast a curse on them to shackle their souls to him forever. He would have never given them the chance to escape.
“These girls are pretty good-looking. Would you accept a Rank Four Three Serenities Bone for them?” The fat old man had taken a liking to the Liu Sisters.
“I'll only let you have one of them. But let's take them down first then talk.” The middle-aged Scribe had to fight a Three-headed Rhinoceros in the illusion prior to this, so most of his energy had been depleted by the fight. Otherwise, Liu Tian'er would be no match for him.
“Alright.” When the fat old man heard that the middle-aged Scribe was willing to give one of the Liu Sisters to him, he fought with greater enthusiasm.
Although his injuries were less severe than the middle-aged Scribe's wounds, he had held back his full fighting abilities earlier.
He plucked the three dark green leaves from the bamboo staff and threw them towards Liu Mei'er.
The three leaves morphed into a large red and green net midway in the air before falling on Liu Mei'er's head.
When Liu Mei'er discovered that the old man had used his trump card, she bit her tongue without any hesitation and spit a mouthful of Blood Essence towards Ba w.a.n.g Flower.
Ba w.a.n.g Flower babbled as it waved its small hands. Its red Demonic Eyes shot a red beam towards the large net immediately to stop it from moving forward.
“Not bad, not bad at all.” The longer the old man fought Liu Mei'er, the more impressed he was with her. Although she was just at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage, she was already capable of blocking his Thousand Silk Net. He felt that she had great potential!
However, she lacked experience. He could nurture her then!
The fat old man waved his bamboo staff again. The Thousand Silk Net glowed brighter before moving downwards to hold Liu Mei'er down.
Liu Mei'er's face was as white as a sheet. She felt as if there was a large mountain pressing on her head, almost squas.h.i.+ng her at any moment.
At this time, the middle-aged Scribe's expression changed abruptly. He turned around to the pa.s.sageway on his left and shouted, “Who's there?”