86 None of you need to leave.

Guo Luo suddenly jolted awake, consciousness quickly returning to her body. Her eyelids were heavy, but she still managed to raise them, allowing her to take in the surroundings. The first thing she did was check on Yao Jun who was next to her.

"Thank god, it was not a dream."

Seeing him laying next to her, hearing his heartbeat, and smelling his scent, she heaved a sigh of relief. When she was still living in the Guo clan, she had jolted awake like that several times, each time it was because she had a nightmare. She had only jolted awake like that a few times since she started traveling with Yao Jun, but she was still scared that she might one day jolt awake and find that it had all been just a dream.

"What time is it?"

Guo Luo muttered to herself as she looked at the surroundings. The cave was almost pitch black, only a faint sliver of orange light visible at the entrance of the cave. Guo Luo tried to move her body to crawl to the exit of the cave, to check whether it was sunset or sunrise.

Guo Luo suddenly felt pain in her hip as she tried to move her body, reminding her of her condition. She examined her own body and found that despite the cloth she had tied around her hip being soaked in blood, the wound was already starting to close up.

She could not walk normally, even standing up would be painful, but the wound was at least healing. There was a large blue mark on her abdomen where Zhou San had punched her, while there was still half an arrow stuck in her shoulder. Her left arm still slightly ached, but she could use it without problems.

Guo Luo slowly crawled out from the cave, bringing with her Yao Jun as she did so. Crawling while dragging Yao Jun was hard, but she managed to do it by dragging him a small distance and then crawling a little herself.

She reached the entrance of the cave and leaned Yao Jun against the wall before she herself crawled out of the cave. Once she was outside, she saw that the orange light that shone down was because the sun was rising, it's rays just barely visible over the horizon.

"Seems like I slept for far too long."

When she left the town, it had only been around noon at best. Since it was sunrise now, it meant that she had slept for more than half a day. She said that she had slept for far too long because while she had slept, there was no one standing guard.

She now slightly regretted telling Little Gray to find a place to hide. If Little Gray was here, he could help her stand guard when she slept. What she did not take into account was that she had not slept, but rather fallen unconscious from her wounds and exhaustion.

Guo Luo sat down on the ground outside the cave, breathing in the fresh morning air to clear her head. Her next course of action would be to find a place where she and Yao Jun could rest and recuperate from their injuries. This cave was no good, as she could not get any medicinal herbs around this area.

Yao Jun had several medicinal herbs in his gate, but since he was unconscious it was clearly impossible to get those herbs. This meant that she would have to find a city and buy them there. But she could not go into a city without using her illusions to alter her and Yao Jun's appearance, especially now that there were people blaming Yao Jun for attacks he did not commit.

Guo Luo sat on the ground just breathing in the fresh air for almost half an hour, she had slept for so long, but her body was still completely exhausted and drained of energy. Just as she finally managed to clear her head and start thinking about her next step, a loud screech resounded over the forest.

Guo Luo hurriedly opened her eyes and looked at where the screech came from. In the air above the forest, only a few kilometers away from her, flew five large crows, each the size of an elephant. She could just barely see a few people standing on the backs of the crows.

Guo Luo's face turned pale as she remembered what Zhou She and Zhou San had said when they called for reinforcements. She moved her body as fast as she could, trying to get Yao Jun's body deeper into the cave.

"So you are the one who killed Junior Brother She and San? I guess that man behind you must be the one who killed sect teacher then."

Just as she managed to reach the cave, a cold voice resounded out from the air above her, causing her entire body to freeze for a short moment before she turned her head. In the time it took her to crawl to the cave, the five crows had already managed to appear in the air above her.

The one who spoke stood at the front of one of the large crows, looking at her with a cold gaze. He could sense the Qi that Zhou She had placed on her back, so there was no way he would make a mistake. As they were traveling at max speed, they got the news that the Life Jade's of Zhou She and Zhou San had shattered, meaning that they were dead.

The man was clad in the same leather armor that the Zhou brothers were clad in, but his looks were more elegant and refined. He had long black hair that reached all the way down to his hips. He had smooth and clean skin and a pair of black eyes that were as calm as a lake. From his aura, Guo Luo could sense that he had just reached the 2nd Mortal Earth.

The Qi that Zhou She had shot at her was a special technique that everyone from their sect could use. Once they fired it at something, the Qi would stay there until it was removed or extinguished. It allowed the other people from the sect to sense it's existence, acting as both a beacon and a way marker.

Guo Luo used all her strength to stand up, guarding in front of the cave. Her legs were still shaking, especially her left leg, as the wound on her hip was still there. While Guo Luo was working on standing up, the people standing on the back of the crows jumped down, landing in front of Guo Luo.

There was not enough space around the mountain for the five crows to land, the forest was too dense for them, so the people had no choice but to jump down. There were 11 people, with the elegant man clad in leather armor standing at the front.

"Restrain her, we will take them back to the sect and allow the entire sect to witness their execution."

The elegant man waved his hand and spoke, causing another young man clad in leather armor to step forward and approach Guo Luo. Guo Luo stood in front of the cave, not allowing them to get close, as she pulled out her sword from her interspatial ring.

Her sword did not change back after being transformed when she acquired her armor. It had turned transparent with a multicolored hue, looking like it was carved out of a beautiful crystal. It had also turned far sharper and durable than it was before.

Guo Luo weakly swung her sword at the approaching man, but he easily dodged the attack. After he dodged the attack, he swung out with his fist, landing a punch directly on Guo Luo's face. Guo Luo staggered backward from the punch, but she stopped herself before she hit the entrance of the cave. Yao Jun was still lying right inside the cave, if she fought while she was too close to the cave there was a good chance that he would be implicated.

After the punch, her nose was bleeding heavily, streams of blood running down her face and staining her clothing. She truly made a pitiful sight, with her clothing stained in blood and covered in different wounds, but the people from the sect would not show any mercy.

The man clad in leather armor continued moving towards her, his cold eyes staring straight at Guo Luo. Guo Luo took a step forward and readied her sword once more, she would not let these people lay a hand on Yao Jun.

Just as she was preparing to strike out with her sword again, the man clad in leather armor narrowed his eyes, his entire body tensing up. Without warning, a hand landed on Guo Luo's shoulder, the hand exerted a bit of force, turning her body around.

Before she managed to make sense of what was happening, she felt something soft cover her lips. She closed her eyes in a mixture of shock and fear and was just about to move away when she recognized what was happening.

She had her eyes closed, so she could not see his face right now, but she would never forget his scent. This was a scent that belonged to only him, a scent she had made sure to take in greedily whenever she nuzzled up next to him.

Once she realized who he was, she no longer resisted, instead choosing to savor the moment. The kiss brought with it the taste of blood and was not romantic in the slightest, she was covered in blood and there were enemies right behind her, but that did not stop her from enjoying it.

The kiss did not last for long. Once the soft sensation left her lips, she leaned her entire body forward, her forehead leaning against his chest. She opened her eyes, and slightly raised her head, looking at his face. He was still slightly pale, but he looked much better.

"Since you have already hurt her, there is no need for any of you to leave here."

His voice eyes stared straight at the group of 11 people, his voice colder than the winds of hell. After he spoke, the darkness from the cave behind him stretched forward, turning into a three-meter-long demonic serpent.

The serpent looked at the group of eleven people and opened it's maw as it hissed at them. Its maw did not open like a normal one. Instead, it's lower jaw split into two, each part moving in a different direction. Its entire maw was filled with razor-sharp teeth, its eyes gazing at the 11 people with a hungry gaze.