Chapter Four: Blazing Flames

Run. This word loomed ever larger in my mind, like a blood-stained scythe threatening to burst from my chest. Yet my limbs were paralyzed by an invisible force, and sweat dripped from my forehead, shattering on the ground.

Danger was approaching.

The woman in red leisurely brushed the dust from her garment, her eyes shimmering as she fixed her soul-stealing gaze on me. Her red lips parted slightly, "What a cute little girl, come closer so I can see you better." I could clearly see the gleaming silver awl she hid behind her back as she walked towards me, but I couldn't run.

Just a step away, the sharp awl aimed for my skull, but a moment before it struck, another force intercepted it. The awl's tip embedded deeply into the wood, and green smoke began to waft from it.

"Taking a life so casually just to satisfy your curiosity? The Xinghuo Sect's methods are truly contemptible," a cold voice drifted down from a nearby tree. A flash of blue, and a familiar figure stood before me.

The spell binding my body vanished suddenly, and I quickly shrank behind him. Looking up, I saw it was indeed the immortal who had saved me! Luckily he hadn't left, or I'd be lining up for soup at Meng Po's tonight.

"Que Han, I advise you not to meddle today. Otherwise, the Xinghuo Sect will consider your Qiongyun Sect our enemy. Don't act recklessly," the woman in red warned, while the man beside her, in a more conciliatory tone, added, "Our disciples recently discovered a stone essence beast here. We came today only to retrieve that essence. Does the girl know anything about it?"

Clearly, they wanted to fight the immortal for the item. He had saved me twice; I couldn't betray him. I peeked out from behind him, shaking my head vigorously.

Perhaps my acting was too exaggerated, because the woman in red wasn't convinced. She walked towards me with a fierce look in her eyes, pointing at me, "Hmph, playing innocent! You have the beast's scent on you. Tell the truth, or else..."

"If I said I already took the stone essence, what would you do?" The immortal glanced provocatively at her, cold energy radiating from him, warning others to stay away.

Oddly enough, I felt safer and clung tighter to his robes, trembling.

"But our disciples found it first. If you refuse to hand it over, don't blame me for being rude." The woman's gentle eyes turned sharp. From her delicate sleeves, two serpentine chains shot out, binding the immortal's limbs in an instant.

Normally, chains would restrict movement, but in just a few seconds, sweat beaded on his forehead. These chains glowed red, like leeches draining his energy.

I needed to help him. Glancing at the silver awl embedded in the tree, I quickly pulled it out and charged at the woman in red.

Before I could strike, a sharp pain in my wrist made me drop the awl. Snakes had appeared from nowhere, and one had bitten me.

I slapped the snake away and took a few steps back. Before the venom could take effect, I saw an opportunity and rammed into her stomach.

The chains clinked loudly, one pulling me towards the immortal while the woman in red was thrown several feet away.

I looked up at him, his forehead now adorned with a delicate layer of frost.

"The Qiongyun Sect lives up to its name. Today has been instructive. But it's curious how this girl is still standing after being bitten by a lethal Blood Plum Serpent," the leader remarked, clearly intimidated but trying to hide it. He glanced angrily at the woman in red on the ground before leading his people away.

As the group receded, I finally exhaled the breath I had been holding and stretched, relaxing. "Phew, lucky their leader didn't step in and got scared off. Immortal, why is it still night? It was night when I got here."

"Fool... This is Ghost Mourning Mountain, a place shrouded in resentment and evil. There's no sunlight here," he replied weakly.

"I didn't know. By the way, your voice sounds weak. My name is Qingyue. I don't remember much else except my name. How did I end up here?" I introduced myself, sneaking a glance at him in the moonlight. His face was even paler than before, almost deathly white.

"Drip... drip..."

Suddenly, thick liquid fell on my face. I wiped it off and was horrified to see my hand covered in bright red blood. Looking up his sleeve, I saw a coin-sized bloodstain.

"You're injured!" I stammered, pointing at the wound. What if those people came back? We had to leave quickly.

As I pondered this, he began to sway and leaned against me for support.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back, leaning him against the tree behind us, but he slumped over, unconscious.

With him out cold, who knows when he'd wake up again? If we ran into another monster or wild beast, we'd be doomed. I needed to stop his bleeding and bandage him up first.

An idea struck me. I hurried over to retrieve the silver awl from the ground, carefully wiping it clean on my clothes. I gritted my teeth and used it to cut several strips of cloth from my own clothes to bandage his wound.

He showed no sign of waking, his body stiff as a rock. The wound was too troublesome to treat like this, so I pulled him into my lap to bandage him more effectively.

"What are you doing?!"

I guessed that under normal circumstances, her voice would be sweet and pleasant, but now it was clearly tinged with anger.

I looked up to see a figure emerging from the distant mist, soon revealing herself as a woman in white.

She wore snow-white robes, her flowing hair adorned with several white jade hairpins arranged in a triad. Pearls hung from the pins, bouncing lively with the movement of her graceful neck.

Her eyes were like flowing water, and beneath them was a face as beautiful as morning dew.

Judging by her attire, I guessed she must be a senior or junior sister from the same sect as the immortal.

I attempted to be friendly and said, "You must be the fairy sister the immortal mentioned when he was unconscious, right? He just fought with people from the Xinghuo Sect and was ambushed. Please take him back and check his injuries."

Hearing this, the woman's anger seemed to subside a little, but she soon grabbed the hand holding the silver awl and examined it closely. Her brows furrowed as she quickly seized me.

"This awl is clearly a soul-piercing weapon from the Xinghuo Sect. Were you using it to harm my senior brother, trying to deceive me? I will take you back to Qiongyun to face the sect master."

"It's not like that..." I tried to explain, but she pressed a point on my shoulder, silencing me completely.

She glanced coldly at me and said, "I can't let you speak and cause further annoyance. You'll explain yourself at Qiongyun."

Today, I really couldn't catch a break. Silently, I hoped the immortal would wake up soon and clarify everything for me.

Resigned, I hung my head as she lifted me, tying my legs to her sword.

"Hold on tight, or you might fall and be smashed to pieces," she warned.

I looked up, trying to smile gratefully, and nodded like a pecking chicken.

I never imagined my first time flying on a sword would be under such unfortunate circumstances. The romantic notion of soaring through the sky among the clouds was now replaced by sheer terror.

After a while, I noticed everything around us getting brighter. Looking back, I saw the area we had just left was enveloped in a thick, black mist.

Maybe this was the resentment and evil energy the immortal mentioned. It sent a chill down my spine.

The flight was quite dull, and I didn't have the heart to appreciate the high-altitude scenery, so I closed my eyes and rested.

After an unknown amount of time, the woman woke me up. In the distance, a mountain of silver snow came into view, with white palaces blending seamlessly into the mist. Blue ice tiles covered the roofs, reflecting the light and adding to the mystery.

The mist lay like clouds on the ground, making it feel like stepping on air. It truly felt like being in the clouds.

Two people at the mountain gate saw us and hurried over to speak with the woman in white. She glanced at me and nodded, prompting the two to draw their swords and place them against my neck, silencing me as they escorted me away.

So they were taking me away. Fine. I didn't mind being locked up; I could use the rest.

I assumed that a celestial mountain wouldn't have any sinister places to serve as a prison, but as I was led into a dark cave, I was surprised to find it was fully equipped. No wonder the mice and spiders here were so fat in this spiritual mountain retreat.