"Bai Shengyi?"
"Why is it every time I see you, you're in such a sorry state?"
The rising lilt, the disdainful tone, that familiar voice suddenly reverberated in Bai Shengyi's ears, feeling almost like a phantom.
Yet, strangely, Bai Shengyi didn't feel scared.
The surroundings were so dark she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Though she couldn't make out the other person's appearance, Bai Shengyi could infer from their position the slight upward curve of their eyebrows and the tense expression masked by a nonchalant demeanor.
Even though he merely stood there, her heart suddenly felt at ease.
"King of the Underworld, Young King, or rather, it should be, why is it that every time I see you, I'm so unlucky."
Qin Si finally found her and didn't quite know what to say. Seeing that Bai Shengyi still had the mood for a joke, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Can you get up?"
As he spoke, he met Bai Shengyi's eyes, which were remarkably bright and luminous.
Qin Si's heart skipped a beat.
"Sizzle!"
A wisp of flame ignited, and the surroundings brightened slightly, though only a small patch was visible.
"Look at me, how can I possibly walk..."
Before Bai Shengyi could finish, she saw Qin Si kneel before her.
"You, you... what are you doing?"
Bai Shengyi's speech even started to stutter. Was this really Qin Si? The unreliable, sharp-tongued, bad-tempered Qin Si who had wanted to kill her?
Had he been swapped out?
Bai Shengyi couldn't believe it. She beckoned the Ten Directions Netherfire to circle around Qin Si's head, wanting a clearer look, only to see Qin Si wave at her.
"Get on!" Qin Si said impatiently, "What are you still standing there for?"
Alright, that was the familiar tone.
Bai Shengyi's heart suddenly settled.
She shuffled and climbed onto Qin Si's back.
His broad back looked incredibly secure. In her twenty-something years of life, this was the first time she'd been carried by a man. Bai Shengyi moved uncomfortably and the next moment, felt Qin Si's hand rest on her thigh, feeling like a burning ember, incredibly hot.
Bai Shengyi shivered all over, almost sliding off forcefully.
"What are you doing?" Qin Si was startled by the sudden movement. Couldn't this woman give him some peace of mind?
Qin Si himself was already somewhat flustered. He didn't feel anything when he crouched down, but after putting her on his back, he felt uncomfortable everywhere, in a strange way.
His hands were extremely gentlemanly, minimizing contact with Bai Shengyi. However, Bai Shengyi lay limply on his back, her breath brushing against his neck, the hot air causing his entire body to tense up.
Seeing Qin Si's nervous demeanor, Bai Shengyi became more at ease. The King of the Underworld was quite cute today.
Bai Shengyi rested her chin on her hand and said casually, "I thought you were a fake. Your Highness, how did you get in here? Did you come specifically to find me? Did you encounter Chu Tianle..."
"Shut up!" Qin Si's brow furrowed at the mention of that name, but then he felt his tone was too harsh, and said stiffly, "Who came specifically to find you? This King is here to hunt Void Beasts."
"Oh."
Bai Shengyi pretended to believe him.
"Your Highness, I think you can walk faster. I just killed a Void Beast," Bai Shengyi said leisurely.
Qin Si: ...
He suddenly felt that coming to save this heartless woman was a wrong choice, and he gritted his teeth, "Why didn't you say so earlier!"
"I sort of forgot..."
Qin Si wanted to scold her and couldn't help but want to say something, when he found that the Ten Directions Netherfire in front of them had suddenly extinguished, and Bai Shengyi's breathing had become imperceptibly weak.
"Hey! Bai Shengyi?" Qin Si called out in panic, suddenly having a bad feeling.
He couldn't care about propriety or impropriety and wanted to put her down to check, but saw countless pale white starlight appearing in the distance.
It was a swarm of Void Beasts!
Qin Si's gaze deepened. He had to temporarily give up the thought of checking Bai Shengyi's condition and quickened his pace, starting to run.
One couldn't fly with a sword in the Mustard Layer, but luckily Qin Si was already at the Nascent Soul stage, fully capable of using his understanding of spatial rules to teleport away. Amidst the dark splendor and the void underfoot, he ran for more than half an hour before narrowly shaking off the Void Beasts.
Only then did he have time to check Bai Shengyi's condition. Upon looking, he realized Bai Shengyi had merely fallen asleep. However, she was severely injured. Qin Si didn't know how to treat such injuries, so he took out a variety of fifth-tier pills, including Spirit Nourishing Pills and Spring Return Pills, and fed them to Bai Shengyi.
"See what you'll use to repay me later!"
Qin Si snorted coldly, but resignedly hoisted her onto his back and continued walking forward.
He seemed very familiar with the Mustard Layer, his steps never faltering. If anyone could see his movements in the darkness, they would realize he was walking in a perfectly straight line.
"Qin Si?"
As Bai Shengyi vaguely regained consciousness, she thought she had been rescued and murmured a word, then was startled to realize that the surrounding illusion seemed wrong.
"Awake?" Qin Si, who had been carrying her for several hours, was also a bit tired. "Can you get down and walk now?"
Bai Shengyi found that her spiritual power had recovered by more than half, so she directly got down from his back.
"What pills did you give me for such a quick recovery?"
"Fifth-tier Spring Return Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills..."
"What did you say? I can't hear you?" Bai Shengyi was stunned, wishing time would rewind so she hadn't asked. She abruptly changed the subject, "Where is this?"
"Hmph!" Qin Si knew she was a heartless little thing, and hadn't really expected her to repay him. He followed her words and said, "Youming Valley."
"Youming Valley?" Bai Shengyi was shocked! Wasn't this one of the dangerous places next to Qianlian City? How did they end up here?
"Mmm, don't wander off, follow me." Qin Si grabbed her sleeve and pulled her behind him, "It's very dangerous in here."
As if to verify his words, a fourth-tier spirit beast suddenly charged at them from the side, but before it could get close, it was instantly annihilated by an unnamed force!
Leaving no trace of bone!
If not for the bloodstains on the ground, Bai Shengyi would have thought the appearance of that spirit beast moments ago was an illusion!
"What is this..." Bai Shengyi was filled with doubt, her brow furrowed slightly. That unnamed force, it felt so similar to her spiritual power. However, its lethality and destructiveness were much greater than hers.
Qin Si was clearly no stranger to this place. "Spatial rifts. The space here is extremely unstable, folding into countless small spaces or forming rifts. One wrong step and you'll be torn apart by space."
Bai Shengyi seemed to understand why many people spoke of Youming Valley with dread. This kind of spatial manipulation already involved the application of laws.
As she pondered, she saw Qin Si suddenly stop.
"What's wrong?" Bai Shengyi bumped into his back, her nose stinging so much she almost cried.
Bai Shengyi finally recovered and looked up, only to see Qin Si looking at her with a very strange gaze.
"Bai Shengyi, you really are a bit unlucky."