"Senior Sister Zhou, have you ever heard the saying, 'Let wine and meat pass through the intestines, and the Buddha remains in the heart'?"
Wan Yunting, with his mouth full of oil, said to Zhou Ruoxi, "You just need to hold onto your original beliefs. I believe the Buddha of your Emei Sect won't blame you for eating meat once."
"Moreover, given our current predicament, if you don't eat this meat, do you expect to eat wild grass like this wild rabbit? So, Senior Sister Zhou, you must eat this meat to survive."
Hearing his words, Zhou Ruoxi, who had been inwardly struggling, seemed to have a change of heart. She nodded and smiled, "Junior Brother Wan, thank you for your enlightenment."
"Eat quickly, the meat will be unappetizing when it gets cold," Wan Yunting chuckled.
"Mhm, mhm..."
Zhou Ruoxi nodded, looking at the rabbit hindquarter in her hand. She took a small bite, tasting the meat. Her beautiful eyes lit up, and she happily said to Wan Yunting, "I didn't expect rabbit meat to be so delicious. This is the first time I've eaten meat in over a decade. However, this rabbit meat has a strange taste..."
Seeing her cute expression as she ate, Wan Yunting couldn't help but laugh a couple of times, causing Zhou Ruoxi's cheeks to blush with a hint of embarrassment.
"It can't be helped, we don't have any seasonings. If we had ginger and garlic to marinate it and then roast it, it would be incredibly fragrant..."
"Mhm, mhm, Junior Brother Wan, you know how to cook?"
"No, but Old Master Chang does. The Daoist temple didn't give us food before, so he caught a wild rabbit and made it for us. I learned by watching him..."
As they ate the roasted wild rabbit, they chatted and laughed, completely forgetting their troubles of being trapped...
"Phew, I'm full and feel much stronger."
Having quickly eaten her fill, Zhou Ruoxi looked at the bare bones left on the ground by the two of them. She comfortably rubbed her belly in front of Wan Yunting. Realizing what she was doing, her face turned shy, and she smiled sheepishly, quickly pulling her hands away. She then asked, "Junior Brother Wan, how is your injury recovering?"
"Mhm, I'm much better. After I circulate my qi to heal for a while longer, I should be able to stand up with some effort," Wan Yunting nodded, his voice weak and hoarse.
Zhou Ruoxi raised an eyebrow, looking at him with concern. "But your internal injuries are very serious, and there's no medicine here to treat you."
Wan Yunting smiled and said, "It's fine, I can just circulate my qi to heal. However, we might have to stay in this valley for a couple more days."
Zhou Ruoxi nodded and smiled, "It's alright. Once your injuries heal a bit, we'll find a way to get out. I just worry that my junior sister and Uncle-Master Wuwei will be anxious if we're out of contact for a few days."
Wan Yunting sighed and nodded, "It can't be helped. I hope the reinforcements they called will find this valley quickly and know we're down here. If all else fails, once we're better, we'll just climb out directly."
"Mhm." Zhou Ruoxi nodded, then added, "By the way, I found a cave over there!"
Wan Yunting followed the direction Zhou Ruoxi pointed. It was on the stone wall not too far behind him, but the entrance was covered with overgrown grass, so it wasn't visible.
"It looks like that cave was inhabited, probably a long time ago. I haven't been inside, so I don't know what it's like," Zhou Ruoxi said.
Wan Yunting nodded and said, "No rush. Once I can stand and move, we'll go into the cave to take a look."
"Okay."
Zhou Ruoxi nodded and said, "Then, Junior Brother Wan, let's start circulating our qi to heal."
"Mhm..."
Wan Yunting responded and said no more. He sat cross-legged on the ground and began to circulate his qi to heal. Zhou Ruoxi did the same. Although she didn't have serious internal injuries, she had many external wounds that required more qi circulation and rest to heal...
Meanwhile, above the valley...
"Second Brother, we've pretty much circled this valley, and there's no way down. It's all sheer cliffs and abysses. We didn't bring any ropes, and climbing down with our bare hands is too dangerous," Liu Hongwei said. "Why don't we just give up? I believe they definitely wouldn't have survived jumping down last night."
"No!"
Ma Sai, with his long, horse-like face, stared down into the valley. "I have a premonition that that kid is definitely not dead. We must find a way to get down, dead or alive."
"It's not that, Second Brother, you..."
Seeing Ma Sai's persistence, the third brother, Liu Hongwei, was dissatisfied but also felt helpless. "Second Brother, we don't have ropes now, how can we climb down?"
Ma Sai glared at him and sternly said, "We'll climb down even if we have to use our bare hands."
"Fine, I can't argue with you. Who told you you're my Second Brother? I'll climb, I'll climb, alright..."
Helpless, Liu Hongwei waved his hand, reluctantly obeying his arrangement...
On the other side, Lei Laohu and Wu Laosi, along with Lao Qi and Lao Ba, had been wandering in the Kunlun Mountains for quite a while...
Starting from the spot where Wu Wei Zi and Li Zihang had camped the previous night, they searched in the north, west, and east directions for the entire afternoon. Finally, they confirmed they had lost track of Wu Wei Zi and his party.
"It seems they discovered the person who left marks for us!" Wu Laosi said with resignation.
Lao Qi and Lao Ba nodded, saying to Lei Laohu, "Big Brother, what do we do now?"
Lei Laohu's expression was not very pleasant, but he didn't get angry. "Since that's the case, let's return to our original location and wait for them to come out of the mountains!"
"Big Brother is right."
Lao Qi nodded in agreement, "They'll come out eventually, so we'll just block their return path and intercept them."
Wu Laosi also nodded, sighing, "This is the only way now, lest we continue to wander around here and waste time."
"But what if they come out from another direction?" Lao Ba suddenly reminded them.
"Mhm, there's a possibility."
Lao Qi's eyes widened, Wu Laosi raised an eyebrow, and the three of them looked at Lei Laohu in unison. He waved his hand and turned to walk back, "Let's not worry about that for now. If they really come out from another direction, then I'll go straight to Wuliang Daoist Temple and kill Duan Wuyu to report to the Sect Master!"
"Haha, Big Brother is right, let's go..."
Lao Qi chuckled twice, and Wu Laosi and Lao Ba also smiled, following Lei Laohu back...
At this time, Wu Wei Zi, leading Li Zihang, Xu Lingwei, Jiang Tingxia, Duan Yingying, Chen Bin, Lin Jie, and Peng Lei, who were escorting Lu Bao, changed their course and headed west for the entire afternoon.
"Uncle-Master, let's stop and rest for a while," Li Zihang called out.
"Alright."
Wu Wei Zi nodded, stopping to let Duan Yingying and Xu Lingwei rest where they were, as they had been walking for a long time.
Li Zihang looked back at the path they had taken. He had looked back countless times along the way, but he hadn't seen anyone following them. He couldn't help but say to Wu Wei Zi, "Uncle-Master, even if we had pursuers behind us, we should have shaken them off by now."
They didn't even know if there were any pursuers behind them.
"Let's hope so."
Wu Wei Zi nodded, but his old brows were furrowed. He stood in the mountain forest, surveying the surroundings, and sighed, "What I'm most worried about now is not being able to find that small valley!"
Duan Yingying looked somewhat anxious and worried, "Uncle-Master, we've been out for two or three days, and we still haven't found any trace of the Phoenix Tail Grass. What should we do?"
Xu Lingwei, sitting nearby, also frowned. Although she wasn't eloquent, she was very worried about her master's well-being. She stood up and said, "Yingying, let's go look around together."
"Okay."
Duan Yingying stood up and followed Xu Lingwei to search in the surrounding woods and grass for the Phoenix Tail Grass. Seeing this, Jiang Tingxia also quickly got up and joined them in the search...
Chen Bin, Lin Jie, and Peng Lei sat aside, exchanging glances. They didn't speak, nor did they show any intention of helping with the search...
"Uncle-Master, do you really not remember where that small valley is?" Li Zihang was also anxious and asked.
It was their third day out. They had been on guard against pursuers sent by Sima Boyong from behind. They had traveled in a hurry and paid little attention to the grass at their feet. Everyone had followed Wu Wei Zi, hoping to find the place where he and Ren Dao Ren had gathered the Phoenix Tail Grass before, the small valley!
At this moment, Wu Wei Zi was also anxious and tormented. He scanned the vast snow-covered forest with his old eyes and sighed, "I only remember that the small valley is in the northern direction of the deep Kunlun Mountains. But after so many years, alas, I really can't recall it clearly."
Now Li Zihang was truly anxious. "Uncle-Master, then let's change direction and continue north to find the small valley..."
"Junior Brother Zihang, we still have to go."
However, Chen Bin, Lin Jie, and Peng Lei, who were sitting there, had already expressed their dissatisfaction. They said, "The dry rations and food we brought out were very limited, only enough to last four or five days. We've already been out for three days. If we go deeper into the mountains, we won't have any food and won't be able to get out."
"That's right."
Lin Jie also echoed, "If we keep searching like this, we'll all run out of food and die in the Kunlun Mountains."
"I don't want to die here."
Peng Lei turned his head, his face displeased. "Although we also really want to find the Phoenix Tail Grass to save the Abbot, it's not worth it for us to risk our lives searching for herbs aimlessly like this."
"Exactly..."
Chen Bin and Lin Jie nodded in agreement.
In fact, throughout the journey, they had been suspected of being spies, which had already caused dissatisfaction among the three of them. They now only wanted to leave the Kunlun Mountains, then return to Wuliang Daoist Temple, pack their things, and leave, no longer being disciples of Wuliang Daoist Temple.