"Ouch, it hurts so much, why isn't anyone pulling me up!" Just then, a slender, fair arm, covered in dirt, emerged from a mound of earth next to the large pit.
That voice!
"Ye Huohuo?!" Li Mohan broke free from A Cheng's grasp and ran over in three steps, pushing aside the dirt pile. Indeed, Ye Huohuo's pale but real face was revealed.
"You're alright?!" Li Mohan disbelievingly poked her face with his hand.
It was warm, still with that smooth, delicate touch. Just as he was about to poke again.
"I'm human, not a ghost! Stop poking!" Ye Huohuo turned her head, avoiding his hand. She had narrowly escaped death herself. Now, as Li Mohan thought about how his attitude had severed their fate-connecting thread, the wound in her heart seemed to be torn open again, hurting so much that she had to take a long breath to relieve some of the pain.
Ignoring Li Mohan, she turned to A Cheng and extended her hand, "Help me out, I was almost buried." Her tone was surprisingly relaxed.
Li Mohan squatted by the edge of the pit, his hand outstretched halfway, then stopping completely, unable to move forward even an inch. His expression was vivid, the emotions churning in his eyes almost overflowing. If one looked closely, they could see his fingertips trembling faintly.
A Cheng stood at the edge of the pit, wanting to help, but seeing Li Mohan's state, he was frozen, caught in a dilemma.
"I knew it, good people don't live long, but scoundrels live for a thousand years. How could someone like her die so easily? Seeing you look like you lost your wife is hilarious!" Fang Fang's teasing voice came from behind them. At the same time, she reached out and pulled Ye Huohuo out.
This resolved A Cheng's predicament, and he nodded gratefully to Fang Fang. However, he was almost electrocuted by a flirtatious glance from Fang Fang and quickly averted his eyes, daring not to look at her again.
Ye Huohuo's clothes were covered in dirt, with a few small burned holes, making her look extremely disheveled. However, she had returned to her usual self. Her long hair that reached her heels had shortened, and her entirely black pupils had reverted to normal. Her cat-like eyes were once again shining with lively brilliance.
Li Mohan's face was stern, his voice deep, "You are not allowed to take such risks again. Do you hear me!"
Ye Huohuo didn't look at him directly, only glancing at him from the corner of her eye, "I've always survived in danger like this, I'm used to it, you don't need to worry about me."
Li Mohan's thin lips pursed. He wanted to say something but didn't. However, his light brown eyes were fixed on Ye Huohuo, as if afraid she would disappear from his sight the next second.
"No need to stare so intently, a living person can't fly away!" Fang Fang squeezed in beside Ye Huohuo. "I say, Ye Huohuo, how did you dodge the heavenly lightning just now? I watched the heavenly lightning strike you and then hit that skull at the same time. How come you're fine?" As she spoke, she kept touching Ye Huohuo all over. If she hadn't been wearing a woman's skin, she would truly resemble a lecherous ghost.
"What are you touching randomly?!" Before Ye Huohuo could say anything, Li Mohan slapped her hand away. He instinctively reached out to brush the dust off Ye Huohuo, but she subtly dodged him again.
One hand stopped in mid-air, neither able to advance nor retreat. Li Mohan felt an awkwardness he had never experienced before.
"Don't change the subject, how did you dodge the heavenly lightning just now?" Fang Fang persisted.
"Why are you worried about this? Could it be..." Ye Huohuo deliberately drew out her words, while observing Fang Fang's expression, "that your lightning tribulation is imminent?" Although Ye Huohuo was weak, her gaze was sharp.
Fang Fang's expression faltered for a moment, her eyes darting around. "What lightning tribulation do I have to fear?" Suddenly, she smiled again. "I'm just curious. What divine abilities do you have? I was really worried for you just now. Seeing your spiritual energy overflow, I knew you would attract a lightning tribulation. I was even prepared to help you. I'm so good to you, and you still keep secrets from me?"
Fang Fang's words were so pitiable, her demeanor so heartbreakingly lovely, that Ye Huohuo, a woman herself, was moved by it. She secretly thought, "What a demon!"
"There's nothing I can't tell you. It's actually very simple. I wasn't struck by lightning at all." Ye Huohuo's eyes curved into crescent moons as she looked at Fang Fang, a cunning glint in her eyes.
"Impossible, I watched you get struck by lightning with my own eyes. How could you not have been?" Fang Fang was completely unconvinced.
Ye Huohuo chuckled softly and took out a talisman from her chest. "Don't believe me? Look at this." She placed the talisman into Fang Fang's hand, lifting her chin slightly with a hint of pride. "This is for you. If it can help you, consider it my goodwill."
Fang Fang took the talisman. Initially, she was somewhat perfunctory, but when she clearly saw the talisman drawn on the paper, her eyes widened considerably. "This... this is actually a Lightning Attraction Talisman? This is a high-grade spiritual talisman. How do you have such a high-level spiritual talisman?"
Ye Huohuo's small face, still smudged with a bit of dust, showed a look of pride. "I drew this! In fact, if you look closely, you should be able to see some details that differ from a genuine Lightning Attraction Talisman.
To be more precise, it should be called a Spirit Summoning and Lightning Attraction Talisman!"
"Spirit Summoning and Lightning Attraction Talisman?" Fang Fang looked puzzled. She carefully examined the patterns on the talisman. As a fox spirit, she didn't know much about Xuanmen talismans, only the general idea. After looking for a long time, she still couldn't figure out the trick. "What does it mean?"
"It means exactly what it says: first, summon a spirit, then attract lightning. It's not the same as a real Lightning Attraction Talisman. A genuine Lightning Attraction Talisman can draw heavenly lightning with just a single piece of paper; it's a true high-level talisman.
Mine is a trick, a shortcut. It merely uses the summoned spirit to divert the heavenly lightning when it arrives. That's all there is to it, very simple." Ye Huohuo smiled like a fox. "So, in that sense, mine is at most an intermediate-level talisman."
Fang Fang held the talisman and looked at it again and again, smacking her lips. "I didn't expect you to be a genius at drawing talismans."
"Of course. My spiritual power is sealed. When I encounter danger, I can't always break through the seal. Talismans are the most spiritual power-saving. That's why I've put the most effort into this."
"Spirit Summoning and Lightning Attraction? Since it requires summoning a spirit, what spirit did you summon?" Although Li Mohan didn't understand Xuanmen talismans, he was the first to spot the flaw in Ye Huohuo's words.
Upon hearing his question, Ye Huohuo's expression and movements paused, her eyes flickering. "I didn't summon any spirit!" she said, her eyeballs rolling around.
She glanced around nervously, as if afraid of something.
Fang Fang also sensed something was amiss. She leaned closer to Ye Huohuo, staring into her eyes. "You just said yours is a Spirit Summoning and Lightning Attraction Talisman, which requires summoning a spirit. What spirit did you summon just now?"
"There are so many birds and beasts here, I... I just casually caught one. I didn't have time to see what I caught..." Ye Huohuo's expression became increasingly unnatural, her voice dropping lower, as if afraid of being overheard.
"Ye Huohuo, are you tired of living? You actually killed someone!" At this moment, a hoarse voice of a mynah bird came from mid-air.
Ye Huohuo flinched and narrowly dodged the claw that Nie Ming swiped down. "Senior Brother, you can't blame me. He wasn't exactly a living person. He wanted to kill me. It's not like I indiscriminately killed the innocent by summoning his soul."
"You scoundrel! You had other ways to deal with that living corpse, but you chose this most dangerous method, a method that harms a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of your own. Don't you remember what Master told you? Let others do the selfless deeds; your job is to protect yourself and survive. But what about you?
Don't you know that destroying that person's soul would invite heavenly tribulation upon yourself? Your current fate is already weak, can you withstand heavenly tribulation? You've really made me furious.
You're on the verge of death at any moment, yet you severed your fate-connecting thread with Li Mohan. You..."
Nie Ming circled in the air for a while before landing on Ye Huohuo's head. "Hurry up and reconnect the fate-connecting thread."
Ye Huohuo had been obediently letting Nie Ming perch on her head. Upon hearing this, she shook her head, causing him to flutter a few times before flying to a nearby branch. "You, you, you're trying to rebel!"
Nie Ming, who had finally stopped stuttering, started stuttering again due to Ye Huohuo's anger.
But Ye Huohuo's words startled everyone present, including the bird.