Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 207 - Liu Huan Grass (2)

Qiankun Bags were mostly owned by cultivators, and with so many cultivators having perished here, it was clear that this place was extremely dangerous. Simply destroying the flowers probably wouldn’t solve the problem.

As Zanxing thought this, she noticed that the sweet fragrance in the air was becoming even more intense.

This was bad!

A thought crossed her mind—destroying the flowers didn’t seem to make the alluring scent disappear, instead, it seemed to intensify its dispersal. The fragments of the petals, each only the size of a millimeter, glittered and covered the ground. As a result, the entire cave was filled with the sweet aroma.

Thud—

Mu Cengxiao, seemingly unable to withstand the sweet scent, clutched his chest and half-knelt on the ground. Sweat dripped from his forehead, running down his face, into his neck, and disappearing into his chest.

Zanxing was alarmed. The atmosphere was extremely dangerous.

She gripped her Panhua Staff tightly, swallowed hard, and asked cautiously, “Senior Brother, are you still okay?”

Mu Cengxiao didn’t respond.

The flower scent had little effect on Zanxing, but it was a different story for Mu Cengxiao. At this moment, the young man was half-kneeling on the ground, veins bulging on his neck, seemingly struggling to resist the turmoil within his body.

Zanxing couldn’t help but take a few more steps back.

The appearance of these flowers was indeed too contrived. Zanxing turned to look at Mimi, who was lying on the ground, exposing its belly, stretching its limbs, and looking relaxed. It was unclear if it was affected by the flowers.

Zanxing felt something was wrong.

If these flowers were meant to induce desires and the urge for indulgence, why did those people still end up dead? After death, they became flower mulch, and their bones continued to nourish the flowers’ growth. Unless cultivators engaged in dual cultivation under the flower’s influence, the problem couldn’t be resolved at its source – those destined to die would still die.

As the protagonist, Mu Cengxiao would naturally not die. If Meng Ying had fallen here today instead, she wouldn’t have died either. Perhaps these flowers could even advance their relationship significantly, leading to a dual cultivation upgrade. But now that it was herself in this place, who knew if she would end up like the skeletal remains among the flowers?

More importantly…

Zanxing looked down at her palm.

Among Mu Cengxiao’s eight wives, there was no place for her. If she engaged in dual cultivation with him and took a spot she wasn’t supposed to, these flowers might very well burst out from her hand, and she might be struck by lightning on the spot.

She absolutely couldn’t engage in dual cultivation with Mu Cengxiao!

Just as Zanxing made this resolute decision, she heard a muffled groan from behind. Turning around, she saw Mu Cengxiao gripping the God-Slaying Blade with one hand, his arm bleeding.

He had wounded himself.

Blood flowed continuously from his arm, seeping into the soil beneath him. Mu Cengxiao’s face was flushed, and his breathing was labored, filled with gasps as he struggled to suppress the impulses within him.

Zanxing gripped her Panhua staff tightly, keeping her distance, and spoke with a solemn expression, “Senior Brother, has it come to this?”

Mu Cengxiao’s face showed a layer of embarrassment and anger. He croaked out with difficulty, “Junior Sister, stay away… The flower’s scent is more potent than I imagined.”

“I’m already far away.” Zanxing’s back was pressed against the cave wall, leaving her with no room to retreat. She watched his movements and said, “Listen to me, Senior Brother, you must stay calm. Think about Miss Liu and Senior Sister Meng. You wouldn’t want your good reputation to be ruined because of me, so Senior Brother, control yourself.”

“I know…” Mu Cengxiao’s eyes were already red. He asked, “But why does the flower have no effect on you?”

Zanxing could only respond with a look of helplessness, “I don’t know! Maybe it’s because the poison is transmitted to males but not females?”

Her falling into this place was indeed an accident. There was no romantic entanglement with Mu Cengxiao that was just one step away from becoming a reality, nor was there a forced marriage she couldn’t escape from. The only thing she had was the occasional presence of the Xiao Yuan Pearl on her chest. The flower’s scent was ineffective on her, perhaps because the Xiao Yuan Pearl could absorb the toxin from the scent, or maybe because she was an ‘error’ outside the plot. The exact reason was unclear, but the danger remained.

Especially now, with a solitary man and woman, the kindling was uncertain, but the fire was about to burst.

As she pondered this, a gust of wind suddenly swept towards her. Zanxing was startled as someone’s hand grasped her wrist. Mu Cengxiao, who had just been trying to regain his sanity by injuring himself, had somehow closed the distance and was now right in front of her. His eyes were red and dazed, like a drunk man on the verge of losing control.

Zanxing trembled as she asked, “Senior Brother?”

“Senior Sister Meng…” he murmured.

*

“Senior Sister!” From above the cave, Tian Fangfang called out, “Martial Uncle, the Liu Huan ants have moved!”

The Liu Huan ants, which had been placed on the ground by Gu Baiying and seemed to have lost their direction, had wandered around for a while. They finally began to recover their bearings and crawled in a specific direction. Seeing this, Tian Fangfang, who had been watching the ants in the corner for a while, was excited and felt that his efforts had not been in vain.

Meng Ying and Gu Baiying gathered around.

Previously, they had tried to use spiritual tools to open a passage to the spiritual domain where Zanxing and Mu Cengxiao had disappeared, but they had not found an entrance. Now, as the Liu Huan ants slowly made their way in a particular direction, it was possible that their destination was the spiritual domain where the Sacred Tree was located.

“It’s been this long already,” Men Dong anxiously tugged at his hair. “They haven’t already engaged in dual cultivation, have they? The toxicity of the Liu Huan grass is formidable. Even someone with Martial Uncle’s cultivation would struggle to withstand it. Zanxing might get her wish fulfilled since she has long coveted Senior Brother Mu, but the Qinchong Seed is still with her. We haven’t even seen the Sacred Tree fruit yet. If the Qinchong Seed is lost, wouldn’t Martial Uncle be left with nothing?”

“Qinchong?” Meng Ying and Tian Fangfang asked in unison.

Tian Fangfang asked in confusion, “What is a Qinchong?”

The next moment, with a loud boom, Gu Baiying struck the corner where the Liu Huan ants had disappeared with his spear, coldly stating, “Found the entrance.”

*

With a loud boom, the Panhua staff clashed with the God-Slaying Blade. The blade struck the staff, and the already battered staff immediately showed a new crack.

Zanxing was forced to take two steps back by the force of the blade, quickly looking ahead.

In the darkness, Mu Cengxiao, gripping the God-Slaying Blade with one hand, stared at Zanxing with eyes red as if he were a wolf, as though he was a predator capturing a prey with nowhere to escape.

Mimi had turned over and was soundly asleep.

Zanxing anxiously said, “Senior Brother, calm down.”

The situation had developed to this point about fifteen minutes earlier. Under the influence of the glowing flowers’ scent, Mu Cengxiao’s eyes had reddened. While calling Meng Ying’s name, he had lost control of his beastly instincts. In her desperation, Zanxing had struck him with the staff, which only seemed to further provoke Mu Cengxiao, causing him to completely lose his rationality and start fighting Zanxing.

If this had happened during a routine sparring match among sect members, it would have been different, but now Mu Cengxiao seemed to be driven solely by his hunting instincts, striking without mercy. Zanxing had initially been worried about injuring him because of the Xiao Yuan Pearl on her chest, but now, as she was pushed back step by step, she had no choice but to take the fight seriously.

With a bang, the God-Slaying Blade fell to the ground.

Zanxing was stunned.

The young man seemed to find the spiritual weapon a hindrance, so he discarded the God-Slaying Blade and lunged directly at Zanxing. Zanxing, caught off guard, nearly fell to the ground. In a panic, she gripped the Panhua staff and struck down hard, causing layers of flowers to flow out from between the staff, engulfing Mu Cengxiao in a sea of flowers, which then shimmered with brilliant light.

Zanxing had mastered the first two levels of Qing’e Flower-Picking Staff to perfection. Although the Panhua staff wasn’t much to brag about, it was more than sufficient to handle the rationality-deprived Mu Cengxiao in this underground environment.

Mu Cengxiao was instantly thrown out, hitting the ground and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The power of the Panhua staff was still quite significant.

Zanxing looked towards the Sacred Tree. In the darkness, the fruit of the Sacred Tree shone with golden light. It seemed that even if someone went through great hardships to reach this place and find the Sacred Tree, once the fruit was picked, the glowing flowers would bloom, causing those who inhaled their scent to lose their reason and eventually become flower mud, nourishing these poisonous plants.

It was a perfect symbiotic relationship.

Fortunately, she could still subdue Mu Cengxiao, preventing things from progressing to an irreparable state.

Zanxing tightened her grip on Panhua staff, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in her palm. Looking down, she saw that the flower marks on her hand had deepened, and a piercing pain spread from her palm. The pain was more intense than usual, making her almost faint.

Was it because she had not only altered the plot but also injured Mu Cengxiao, the protagonist?

Damn the Heavenly Dao!

Zanxing cursed inwardly, struggling to stand up. Suddenly, a powerful force surged towards her. Mu Cengxiao grabbed her, threw her to the ground, and pressed himself on top of her. The Panhua staff fell aside, and Zanxing, weakened by the pain in her palm, could hardly move, having to tilt her head to avoid Mu Cengxiao as much as possible.

However, Mu Cengxiao did not continue his actions.

The young man’s hands were braced around her, and at this critical moment, he seemed to regain some semblance of rationality. He looked down at Zanxing, his eyes shifting as if he were struggling with his body’s instincts.

“Senior Brother, think of Senior Sister Meng,” Zanxing tried to awaken him. “She is the future Sect Master of our sect, the one you admire, wearing a white dress with a black sword, a stunning beauty. Look at me, I am not Senior Sister Meng, I am the junior sister you don’t like.”

She tilted her head slightly, letting Mu Cengxiao see the scar on her cheek. The scar from the Yu injury had faded significantly. If she applied some powder, it would be nearly invisible.

As Mu Cengxiao looked at her, his gaze gradually changed, the feverish look in his eyes dissipating a little.

The two of them were locked in a standoff, and just as Mu Cengxiao seemed lost in thought, a sudden loud noise came from outside.

A silver streak shot in.

Zanxing barely had time to see, as the silver light appeared before her eyes, countless snowflakes flying around. The cold, sharp edge of the spear, filled with fierce anger, struck Mu Cengxiao and sent him flying.

Gu Baiying’s face appeared in front of her.

The young man pursed his lips, his usually indifferent expression now looking somewhat pale. He looked down at Zanxing in his arms with a cold gaze, yet there was a hint of concern as he spoke: “Yang Zanxing.”

Zanxing’s heart trembled at his call, and inexplicably, a surge of guilt and self-reproach welled up inside her.

Oh no, she had made the little uncle worried.