Chapter 127: Being Handsome Wasn’t Your Fault!

The ground shook with a rumbling sound like rolling thunder. In an instant, a group of dark shadows filled Xu Ziyan’s field of vision. Xu Ziyan focused her gaze and saw a cavalry squad galloping along the Imperial Highway directly toward her. Xu Ziyan glanced back at Xu Lin and the others who were still sitting cross-legged on the ground, then turned again to watch the approaching riders. They bore down on her group like a swiftly moving hill.

Looking more closely, her anxious heart settled back down. They all only had Houtian cultivation levels, no wonder they weren’t Flying on Swords but just riding horses. There were about a hundred riders. However, no matter how many people of this cultivation level there were, they were like ants to Xu Ziyan. She figured they believed the Qi Refining Stage experts from their clan must have defeated their opponents. If the enemies were captured alive, then by rushing over quickly, they could fight for the chance to escort the prisoners in front of those Qi Refining Stage experts from their clan, hoping to earn some favor. That was why they were charging over in a disorderly rush.

Xu Ziyan took out five top Third Grade Talismans from her Storage Pouch and tossed them into the air. A strong wave of Magical Power suddenly rippled through the air. Immediately after, those three talismans scattered like mist, transforming into countless snowflakes. Mixed within the snowflakes were numerous Ice Blades, swirling and slicing toward the Hai Family disciples.

The five talismans enveloped all nearly hundred people. The Imperial Highway, already covered in snow and ice, grew even colder. Within the area covered by the talismans, the temperature dropped sharply, almost freezing people’s breath. The Ice Blades, swirling amidst the bone-chilling cold currents within the beautiful snowflakes, became deadly weapons. In an instant, they cut and wounded those nearly hundred Hai Family disciples all over.

The three Ice Seal talismans instantly created a frigid, frozen hell in front of Xu Ziyan. The Hai Family disciples let out miserable screams. Puffs of blood mist sprayed from their bodies. The blood, just as it spurted out, turned into glistening icicles, then fell from the sky, shattering on the ground into tiny Blood Pearls, clean and crisp like large and small pearls falling on a jade plate.

The snowflakes in the air gradually dispersed, the swirling Ice Blades vanished without a trace, all that remained were corpses scattered everywhere.

Xu Ziyan quietly looked at the numerous corpses not far in front of her. By now, she had developed some immunity to dead people. But when she saw the ground littered with broken limbs and chunks of flesh, with hardly a single intact body, her stomach still churned. She barely managed to suppress the urge to vomit.

After another two ke (approx. 30 minutes), Xu Lin and the others woke up one after another. Xu Mei, Xu Lan, and Xu Meiruo, upon seeing the ground covered in dismembered limbs and flesh, immediately and without hesitation started vomiting.

“Let’s go!”

Seeing that everyone was awake, Xu Ziyan immediately rose using Sword Flight, calling out to the group to fly toward the Endless Forest dozens of li away.

Xu Lin flew up next to Xu Ziyan. Noticing Xu Ziyan’s somewhat anxious expression, he asked softly:

“What’s wrong? Ziyan?”

Standing on her Flying Sword, Xu Ziyan glanced back at the group and asked loudly: “Is everyone okay?”

“Pretty good, recovered about seventy percent!” Xu Qi and the others responded one after another.

“Good, let’s pick up the pace. It’s only a few dozen li, we’ll be there in a ke (approx. 15 minutes). We killed quite a few people from the Xichui Town Hai Family. I suspect our identities will be exposed soon. By then, the people they send will probably be Foundation Building Stage experts. So we need to enter the Endless Forest as quickly as possible.”

“But what if the Hai Family’s Foundation Building Stage experts catch up to us before we enter the Endless Forest?” Xu Qi asked worriedly.

“That possibility is very small. They probably won’t realize what happened until those Qi Refining Stage disciples fail to return. By that time, we’ll already be inside the Endless Forest!”

“But what if the Hai Family’s Foundation Building Stage experts really do come before we enter the Endless Forest?” Xu Qi still asked uneasily.

“Even if they come, I have a way to deal with them!” Xu Ziyan touched the Kunpeng’s Heart on her arm and scanned the high-grade talismans inside.

Xu Qi looked at Xu Ziyan incredulously, stammering with his mouth agape: “Ziyan, are you telling the truth… or is it fake?”

※※※

The moon hadn’t risen very high when Xu Ziyan and the others finally reached the Endless Forest. No experts from the Hai Family had pursued them. Everyone’s eyes showed relief and joy. After their long escape, they had finally shaken off the pursuit of those forces, broken out of the encirclement, and reached their planned destination.

The Endless Forest was considered the territory of Monster Beasts on the Vast Expanse Continent, a Forbidden Area for humans. But in the eyes of these Xu Clan disciples now, this place was their safe haven. At this moment, their hearts were only filled with the joy of breaking through the siege. No one considered that the Endless Forest was a human Forbidden Area, a domain of potential death for humans. The dangers here were no less than those outside; in fact, they were likely even greater. The difference was that the outside world was full of violence but also brimming with schemes and tricks, something these young members of the Xu Clan were currently least skilled at and most afraid of. Inside the Endless Forest, however, there were no schemes, only violence. But this violence was much more fierce and dangerous than outside. Here, everything followed the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, laid bare.

At this moment, Xu Ziyan was as exhausted as everyone else. Her exhaustion wasn’t just physical but also mental. As the Team Leader of this fleeing group, leading a bunch of novices, the mental strain was even greater than the physical toll.

As soon as they entered the Endless Forest, everyone descended using Sword Flight, jumped off their Flying Swords, and promptly sat down on the ground. The male disciples even sprawled out flat on the grass.

Xu Ziyan also descended using Sword Flight. Now that they had entered the Endless Forest, Xu Ziyan didn’t dare lead them flying on swords. If they carelessly barged into the territory of some high-level Monster Beast, the result would be nothing but death. However, Xu Ziyan also knew that the edge of the Endless Forest was definitely not a safe place either. There probably weren’t any Monster Beasts here, but that also meant pursuers could enter. Ninety li is only half of a hundred-li journey. To fail on the verge of success was something Xu Ziyan absolutely did not want to happen. So, Xu Ziyan shouted sternly:

“Everyone get up! Keep moving! This place isn’t safe!”

The group had just started to relax mentally upon reaching the Endless Forest, hence showing fatigue, but they weren’t actually that tired. After all, they had just finished their Meditative Rest a ke ago. So hearing Xu Ziyan’s sharp command, they immediately stood up from the grass and followed Xu Ziyan deeper into the Endless Forest.

The trees inside the Forest were extremely lush and dense, almost completely blocking out the moonlight. Everything was so dark. You couldn’t see clearly beyond a few meters. Everyone trudged through the Forest floor covered in fallen leaves, stepping deep and then shallow. The layer of dead leaves underfoot had accumulated over who knows how many years; with each step, they sank in up to their knees, making progress very difficult. After struggling on for half a shichen (approx. 1 hour), everyone was panting and out of breath.

Even Xu Ziyan’s own steps began to stagger. But Xu Ziyan persisted. She knew that the further they got from the Forest edge now, the safer they would be. But while she could hold on, others in the group couldn’t, especially the girls Xu Mei, Xu Lan, and Xu Meiruo. Watching Xu Ziyan, also a girl, though her body kept staggering, still stubbornly pressing forward, they felt not only admiration but also self-doubt and discouragement. As a result, their physical strength and morale deteriorated further. Finally, Xu Lan, who had the weakest physique, swayed unsteadily and collapsed onto the ground.

Hearing the noise behind her, Xu Ziyan couldn’t help but stop and walk over to Xu Lan. By now, everyone had gathered around Xu Lan. In the pitch-black night, only the sound of heavy breathing could be heard. Xu Ziyan leaned close to Xu Lan to check, then used her Spiritual Power to scan over Xu Lan’s body. She determined that Xu Lan was just exhausted and weakened. Hearing the heavy breathing all around, she couldn’t help but shake her head slightly and said:

“Everyone, rest here for a while!”

After saying this, she sat down first, took out a water bottle from her Storage Pouch, cradled Xu Lan in her arms, and gave her a little water to drink. Seeing that Xu Lan had woken up in her embrace, Xu Ziyan gently patted her back and said softly:

“Rest well for a while.”

Everyone now lay on the soft bed of dead leaves, fully enjoying this brief moment of peace. Xu Ziyan looked at them, shook her head with a wry smile, took out some food and water from her Storage Pouch, and started eating. She was demonstrating through her actions that no matter how tired you are, you must eat. It maintains your strength, so you aren’t powerless to fight back when extreme danger comes.

Seeing Xu Ziyan eating, and smelling the fragrance drifting in the air, the stomachs of those Xu Clan disciples rumbled in unison. Suddenly feeling unbearably hungry, everyone quickly pulled food from their Storage Pouches and began devouring it ravenously.

Only Xu Tianlang leaned against a tree trunk, not eating, head bowed, tearing apart a handful of dead leaves he held. Finally, Xu Tianlang seemed to make a decision. He turned his head to look in Xu Ziyan’s direction. In the dark night, they couldn’t see each other very clearly, only able to make out two eyes shining brightly.

“Ziyan…” Xu Tianlang said with difficulty, “Today at Xichui Town, I…”

Xu Ziyan immediately realized what Xu Tianlang wanted to say. He thought today’s incident was all caused by him. Even though he wasn’t the one who started the trouble, and he felt wronged inside, the outcome did stem from him. So he had felt somewhat uneasy the whole way, afraid that Xu Ziyan would blame him. But to his surprise, Xu Ziyan hadn’t said anything. Yet, the more Xu Ziyan didn’t say anything, the more uneasy he felt. So, he felt he needed to explain things to Xu Ziyan.

What he didn’t expect was that Xu Ziyan didn’t let him finish. She immediately cut him off, lightly laughing and saying something that made Xu Tianlang feel ashamed and angry, and made the others spit out their food:

“Senior Brother Tianlang, this wasn’t your fault! Being handsome wasn’t your mistake