Chapter 57: The Dangerous Realm
After being struck by the serpent's tail, Xiao Nanfeng fainted, gravely injured. He floated along the river until the rushing rapids slowed and turned quiescent.
Suddenly, as something bit his thigh, Xiao Nanfeng shuddered and awakened.
He choked on water and immediately devolved into a violent fit of coughing.
"I... I'm not dead? Where's Senior Sister Yu'er?" Xiao Nanfeng cried out first in surprise, then in shock. He looked all around him, but Yu'er was nowhere to be seen.
"Again? What's biting me?" Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the water.
He quickly swam to shore. As he clambered up onto dry land, he found that his trousers had been torn by something in the water. Moments later, as the ripples cleared, he saw a few silver fish finally swimming away, upset that their prey had gotten away.
"Just a few ordinary fish, but even they could harm me. The river really is dangerous," Xiao Nanfeng wondered to himself.
He grew increasingly concerned about Yu'er's safety, but could see no trace of her even as he stood by the shore and looked out at the river.
Just then, he saw a figure floating downstream from afar. He rushed over, then dragged the waterlogged figure up to shore.
"This is... a senior disciple? He's dead?" Xiao Nanfeng's heart sank. It was a Taiqing disciple's lifeless body. Xiao Nanfeng sighed and buried him in a pit.
"I hope Yu'er hasn't suffered the same fate. Let me wait a little longer." Xiao Nanfeng began to worry about Yu'er once again.
He walked along the river, trying to see if any other bodies had floated where he had. However, even after a long time, he didn't see a single trace of anyone. Finally, as the skies turned dark, he found another figure floating along the river.
Xiao Nanfeng rushed up to the figure with bated breath, then dragged it to shore.
His eyes widened in surprise. "The Lady Arclight?"
The Lady Arclight's blood had been washed clean by the river, but her clothes were tattered and torn as a result of the fierce battles she had suffered. Her snowy white skin and curvaceous figure were revealed to Xiao Nanfeng.
"Thank goodness she's still alive!" Xiao Nanfeng relaxed as he checked her heartbeat.
The Lady Arclight's breath was weak, and her face was pale and waterlogged. Perhaps because she was so grievously wounded, she showed no trace of waking up.
"Petty though you might be, you've protected us all, and you've loaned me this jade token. I don't mind taking care of you for a few days..." Xiao Nanfeng thought to himself.
Glancing down at her tattered clothes, Xiao Nanfeng frowned. Why was it that he always encountered unconscious women with their clothes in disarray?
"I only have two changes of clothes..." he sighed.
He took out a pair of robes and dressed the Lady Arclight, covering up her exposed extremities.
Xuai Nanfeng didn't notice that, while he was helping dress the Lady Arclight, her forehead creased in a slight frown. Perhaps she was simply unable to open her eyes because of how weak and exhausted she was.
Xiao Nanfeng found a large, secluded tree and climbed up onto its branches along with the Lady Arclight. Through the dense foliage, he continued inspecting the surface of the river.
The skies darkened, and a bright moon appeared. Moonlight reflected over the surface of the river. Everything appeared silent; small mosquitoes the size of fingers flew out of the weeds growing by the shore, skittering over its surface.
Xiao Nanfeng continued watching the lake, but no other bodies appeared. He knew nothing about the hidden realm, and so had to act with incredible caution. He remained immobile in the tree and observed silently.
Past midnight, he saw a spirit emerge from the forest, hunting for food. Although he couldn't make out the shape of the spirit in detail, its eyes were as bright as copper cymbals. It gave off a fierce and domineering aura, causing Xiao Nanfeng to cower.
A leopard spirit three meters tall walked up to the river not far from Xiao Nanfeng's vantage point, drinking the flowing water. It didn't seem to have noticed Xiao Nanfeng, but even so, its body was tightly wound up, as though guarding itself against something. Suddenly, as though spooked, it hurriedly scampered back into the forest.
Who knew what the leopard spirit had seen? The surroundings went quiet once again. Nothing else appeared, but Xiao Nanfeng didn't dare relax. He watched on with bated breath, glad that there was a layer of dense leaves shrouding him and the Lady Arclight from sight.
"The spiritual aether here is far more concentrated than it is outside, and the spirits are far more frightening," Xiao Nanfeng whispered.
That night, although nothing happened, Xiao Nanfeng got a sense of just how frightening such hidden realms could be. Although he had the Immortal Cicada with him, he didn't feel safe at all.
The skies brightened once more, and Xiao Nanfeng looked toward the river once again. He had kept a vigil the entire night, and he didn't believe that any more disciples would float down the river. With the Lady Arclight on his back, he headed quickly through the forest in search of a safe place to make camp.
The forest was dangerous, and Xiao Nanfeng was extremely careful as he scouted. He used his spiritual power to avoid danger time and time again. When he walked toward the entrance to a valley, however, he suddenly saw a golden tree within, only as tall as a person, but with three fist-sized golden fruits hanging on its branches. The fruit glowed golden, giving off a pale fragrance. Even smelling them from afar made one feel carefree and relaxed.
"This is... a golden sunfruit?!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.
He had learned of quite a number of natural treasures within the vault of scriptures, and he recognized these fruits as golden sunfruit with just a single glance. Golden sunfruit were particularly difficult to obtain. They were fruit of pure yang, and even in areas rich with spiritual aether, they might take a century to grow—but there were three right before him! If he were to consume them, his cultivation would advance tremendously.
After a moment of excitement, however, Xiao Nanfeng grew wary once more. He looked all around him—there were frequently spirits keeping guard over such natural treasures, and the fact that there were no birds or beasts in the vicinity of these golden sunfruit meant that this was clearly the territory of a major spirit.
Indeed, there was a huge cave by the side of the valley. A lumbering figure emerged—a silver boar spirit, almost ten meters tall, huffing and showing off its sharp canines. Its beady red eyes glared at Xiao Nanfeng, having discovered an unwelcome guest in its territory.
The silver boar, clearly anticipating that Xiao Nanfeng was intending to steal its golden sunfruit, spat out a ball of frost straight at him.
"An Ascension-realm spirit?" Xiao Nanfeng's face blanched as he hurriedly retreated. The Lady Arclight was still on his back; he couldn't fight at the moment.
With a huge boom, the region that Xiao Nanfeng had just vacated exploded in a layer of frost.
Xiao Nanfeng ran off with the Lady Arclight still on his back. The boar spirit, seeing that its attack hadn't landed, bellowed and charged forward.
As Xiao Nanfeng ran, he manipulated his Immortal Cicada to thrust toward the silver boar's eyes. The boar cleverly shut its eyes and smashed into the sword with its head.
The boar's tough hide and bristly fur, along with its barrier of spiritual energy, allowed it to block the sword thrust fully.
"What incredible defense..." Xiao Nanfeng darted into a dense patch of forest, deliberately choosing a region that was heavy with foliage. The boar spirit was massive, and it wouldn't be able to gain much speed in such terrain.
However, Xiao Nanfeng had underestimated the boar spirit's stubbornness. It bellowed again as it charged straight toward Xiao Nanfeng, even knocking down any trees in its path.
"This boar spirit's far too petty—doesn't it realize that, while it's chasing me, other spirits might take the chance to steal its golden sunfruit?!" Xiao Nanfeng muttered to himself. All he had done was glance at the fruits from afar!
He sent his flying sword out again, but it simply struck the silver boar's fur like metal against rock.
Where the boar charged, trees would topple. The spirits hiding in the vicinity all began to scamper off.
Xiao Nanfeng grew more and more anxious. He was running straight toward the river, intending to escape by diving into it along with the Lady Arclight. His eyes lit up as the river appeared before him, and he dashed forward even more quickly. When the boar spirit realized that it was trying to escape into the water, it roared in outrage, then spat out another ball of frost straight at him.
The ball detonated not far from Nanfeng, expelling waves of energy that sent him and the Lady Arclight flying into the river in two big splashes. The boar spirit charged toward the shore and continued spitting out balls of frost at the two submerged figures.
The river quickly froze over where the balls impacted its surface. The boar bellowed in outrage once again.
Immediately upon entering the water, Xiao Nanfeng sealed his breathing. He didn't dare resurface, not while the boar was right there by the shore—but his eyes suddenly widened. What about the Lady Arclight? He turned to his back, only to see that, although she was still unconscious, she seemed to be automatically holding her breath while underwater.
Xiao Nanfeng sighed in relief. He glanced above him to find that the water had turned to ice for about a hundred meters around. The reeds and grasses by the surface had likewise frozen over, and the black mosquitoes that flitted to and fro were spooked. They flew into the air.
Xiao Nanfeng dove away from the frozen patch of river. Fortunately, the boar didn't give chase via the river, causing him to relax. The worst was over.
After quite some time, thinking that he had gone far enough from where he entered the river, Xiao Nanfeng peeped his head above the surface to check on the boar's status—only to hear the boar bellowing in pain from the distant shore.
What had happened?! He looked toward the direction of the bellow, only to see the boar rolling on the ground in agony. There was no gigantic beast attacking him—only a cloud of black mosquitoes, the same ones whose habitat had just been wrecked by the boar. Xiao Nanfeng had seen them flitting above the river last night, not paying them any mind—until now.
Countless mosquitoes surrounded the boar and continuously stung it with their sharp probosces, as though injecting some sort of poison. The boar's body swelled up at a rate visible to the naked eye as it rolled on the ground in agony. A large number of the mosquitoes were crushed, but there were so many of them that more quickly took their place. In the end, injected with countless mosquitoes' worth of poison, the boar lay paralyzed on the ground, unable to struggle any longer, as the remaining mosquitoes feasted on its blood.
No, not just that—the black mosquitoes' poison was actually able to decompose the boar's blood and flesh, allowing them to consume it in liquefied form. The huge boar shrunk as the mosquitoes slurped up the gooey mess, leaving nothing but a skeleton behind.
Xiao Nanfeng finally understood what it was that had spooked the leopard, causing it to flee in fear—it was none other than these mosquitoes! Even his flying sword had been unable to pierce through the boar's flesh, but the mosquitoes' probosces had easily been able to do it, and their poison was so corrosive it could even melt the boar's flesh! To think that the tree he had been in was right by the river weeds, that he had spent all night by these mosquitoes' side...
Xiao Nanfeng felt a shudder creep all the way up his scalp.
The black mosquitoes flew off happily after consuming the boar's flesh. During that time, Xiao Nanfeng didn't dare to peek out of the surface of the river.
There were monsters all throughout this hidden realm! Just what else was hidden within it?
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