Su Xiaoqi hissed at the four, gesturing in a direction.
Everyone calmed down and heard the sounds coming from ahead.
"Be careful, the young master's skills are not to be trifled with," a hoarse voice cautioned.
"Hmph, Huang Er ge, you're just timid. If you ask me, what's there to be afraid of? Wasn't the young master already injured by the senior disciple at first? He was also given Mu Tan Xiang.
With these black beetles, we'll quickly find him. Once we kill him with a single strike, it'll be revenge for the old pavilion master," another raspy voice sneered.
"Luo Lao Guo, you really have a big mouth. If the young master wasn't injured, you wouldn't even be able to stand straight in front of him,"
"Hahaha…"
The crowd burst into laughter.
The raspy voice said indignantly, "Pah! I, I'm not afraid of him.
He was the young master before, so I feared him. But after the senior disciple becomes the pavilion master, we'll all be meritorious officials. Why should I fear him?
Just you wait, when I catch him, I'll… his pretty face in front of everyone…"
"Hahaha, Luo Lao Guo, you're bragging again…"
The atmosphere of laughter and banter was very harmonious.
If they didn't know they were here to kill people, one might have thought they were on an outing.
"Something's wrong…" Huang Er, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped, signaling everyone to be quiet.
He looked at the ground.
The black beetles that had been leading the way were now still.
They scattered in place, bumping into each other, seemingly having lost their direction and not knowing what to do.
"This is not right. What are these black beetles trying to do? Why aren't they moving?" Luo Lao Guo's raspy voice blared.
Everyone noticed this and crouched down, examining the black beetles.
Soon, someone went ahead at a fork in the road and saw a pile of corpses in black clothing.
"It seems the second team failed, and they were all wiped out," the leader, Huang Er, said dejectedly.
"The young master is truly powerful. Alas, we don't know if we'll live to see the day the senior disciple takes charge of Yan Yu Pavilion."
"Pah! Luo Lao Guo, weren't you just full of confidence? If you want wealth, you have to pay a price!" the person who had teased him earlier said.
Huang Er became unhappy. He glared and cursed, "Stop your nonsense, all of you. Find the person for me. He's definitely nearby. He's seriously injured and can't run far."
The group began searching the vicinity.
But because the black beetles went on strike, they lost their direction. The terrain of the Devil's Stone Forest was too complex, and they had no clues for a while.
They suddenly became like headless flies.
They had to retreat from the fork and look for another one.
Su Xiaoqi and her group breathed a sigh of relief, emerged from the gap in the rock face, and walked in the opposite direction.
Inside, it was winding and twisting. For every turn of a fork, there were hundreds or thousands of possibilities.
After parting ways, the chance of them meeting again was lower. Of course, anything could happen, and no one could say for sure.
Su Xiaoqi confirmed they were relatively safe and began to apply medicine and bandage Xiao Qing's wounds.
After all the torment, he was breathing weakly, as if one more breath and the next would not come.
He was on the verge of death.
Su Xiaoqi became anxious, thinking that if Xiao Qing died, Shen Yun would lose a capable general, which might change his life's trajectory.
Su Xiaoqi, worried, took another spirit medicine from her spatial dimension and mixed it with wound medicine to feed to Xiao Qing.
At this point, he could no longer hold on and had fainted, his teeth tightly clenched, making it impossible to administer the medicine.
Du Yiyi found a small twig to pry open his teeth and force the medicine in.
The spirit medicine quickly worked its magic.
After the medicine was administered, within the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Xiao Qing coughed and woke up.
He looked at Du Yiyi, who was by his side, then at Su Xiaoqi and her servant resting against the wall not far away, and asked a question that the others found incredibly foolish:
"I, how many days have I been unconscious?"
Du Yiyi's eyes widened, finding it hard to believe her ears.
Uh, had she misheard, or had Xiao Qing gone mad?
He had clearly only been unconscious for less than a quarter of an hour.
What had caused his perception of time to be so distorted?
Su Xiaoqi looked at Xiao Qing's beautiful and handsome face, which suddenly showed a bit of color, and had a premonition.
It must be the spirit medicine working, making his injuries stop hurting and filling him with strength.
She didn't know how it worked, but its effect was indeed good.
Whether it was injuries, illnesses, or poisons, it could heal them, and the effects were excellent and fast-acting.
Based on the current situation, Xiao Qing's internal injuries must have already healed.
If her chest bandages were removed now, there would probably only be a faint scar.
But Su Xiaoqi dared not.
If she did that, wouldn't she be exposing her strangeness directly?
She pretended to be calm and gently reassured him, "My medicine is very effective and is already repairing your injured meridians, so you feel much better. However, you still cannot move violently, or your old injuries will recur."
In fact, Xiao Qing could now fly over roofs and run up walls without any problem.
Su Xiaoqi dared not let him try, for fear that he would discover that his wounds had already healed.
By now, the sky had darkened.
The tall shadows of the stones covered everyone, like invisible shackles, tightening around their necks.
Su Xiaoqi asked Xiao Qing if he could find a way out.
"Ah, out? I haven't thought about it," Xiao Qing spread his hands, looking bewildered.
When he was being chased and severely injured, he had simply fled in panic and had no idea this was the Devil's Stone Forest.
Of course, if time could turn back and he had to do it again, he might still choose to enter here.
At least here, there was a glimmer of hope. If he hadn't entered, he would have died outside.
Especially meeting the person who saved him here, it was an unexpected joy.
Thinking of this, Xiao Qing looked at Su Xiaoqi with immense gratitude.
His gaze towards Du Yiyi held gratitude, but also an indescribable sentiment.
Whenever he closed his eyes, he would recall the moments Du Yiyi had fearlessly thrown herself forward to block blades for him.
His father had already ascended to heaven. In this life, no one else could possibly be so good to him.
She was so loyal and righteous; how should he repay her?
"Hey, Xiao Qing, what are you thinking about?" Du Yiyi blinked at him.
She and Su Xiaoqi were discussing how to get out.
"Yiyi, did you encounter Zhao Xiaohua in here?" Su Xiaoqi asked.
Du Yiyi shook her head, "Zhao Xiaohua is also here? What is she here for?"
Su Xiaoqi hesitated, then glanced at Xiao Qing and whispered, "She seems to know something we don't, and came specifically to find Xiao Qing."
"Find him for what?" Du Yiyi still didn't understand.
She wanted to say that even if Zhao Xiaohua found Xiao Qing, could she, with her abilities, save him or treat his injuries?
Su Xiaoqi was also very confused, wondering if Zhao Xiaohua had some other support.
Or perhaps her understanding of the situation was not very deep, and she didn't know that there were dangers lurking everywhere.
She thought she was just coming to rescue Xiao Qing and wait for an easy victory, but she didn't expect so many sword fights and dangers that could cost one's life at any moment.
Of course, there was another possibility.
It was that Zhao Xiaohua knew the dangers lurking here but still chose to enter, because Xiao Qing's future role by Shen Yun's side was too important, holding an irreplaceable position.
Therefore, Zhao Xiaohua, having experienced it once, could not help but care about him.
Su Xiaoqi thought a lot but couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. To find the answer, they would probably have to rely on Zhao Xiaohua.
Du Yiyi told her not to think so much. Even if she had a map to get out, they would still have to meet her.
As long as they met, they wouldn't have to worry about getting the map from her.
Su Xiaoqi thought about it. When she first met Zhao Xiaohua, she had thought of capturing her, but at that time, she was concerned about Du Yiyi's safety, which was why she had rushed to find her.
As they spoke, the sky grew even darker, as if it had been dyed with thick ink.
The tall stone shadows fell upon everyone, like an invisible shackle, firmly gripping their necks.
The group was at a loss for what to do and fell silent, relying on the dim light of a single torch to illuminate the way.