Hong Bao indeed didn't waste any time. She ran to the turn they had taken before and vanished around the corner.
"Miss Hong!" Bai Mu hurriedly called out to her. Who knew if this woman would just enter the secret passageway without showing them where it was?
Thankfully, Hong Bao came indeed back. "What is it? Didn't you say we had to hurry?"
"Yes, but … look at your Senior Martial Brother Qiu. He can't run that fast right now."
Bai Mu tried to speed up his own steps but Qiu Ling couldn't match them. The faster they tried to walk the slower they got. Qiu Ling stumbled forward, almost dragging Bai Mu down with him and getting up seemed to require more energy each time.
Bai Mu finally slowed down. It was still better to walk forward steadily than to try and hurry and make Qiu Ling lose his strength even faster. Hong Bao stood at the turn and anxiously bounced up and down.
Qiu Ling sighed. Ah, he never would have thought that he'd ever need someone to support him just to walk forward. Ugh. And it wasn't even his beloved. He looked to the side and grimaced.
"If you're the son of my uncle-in-law … does that make you … my cousin-in-law?"
"I guess so."
"Ah, no offense but … I'd much rather … have Jing He help me."
"Jing He?" Bai Mu looked at Hong Bao. "Your fiance? I thought he was called Jing Yi."
"Mn." Qiu Ling nodded. "He's called Jing Yi now."
Bai Mu frowned. "I don't understand."
"In the Nine Heavens … Ah." Qiu Ling grimaced and shut up. Who would have thought that even talking could be tiring? Even until now they had only passed half the way to the previous corner they turned. Ah, just imagining that there was another one behind that …
Bai Mu could also see that they weren't making as much progress as they should. He turned back and looked at Xin Lan. "Why don't you help out a bit?"
Xin Lan raised his brows. "I said we should just get your blood and leave. There was no need for any other actions. Now he's getting what he deserves."
"Even if you aren't friends, aren't you at least acquainted?"
"Hmph." Xin Lan snorted but he still came forward and grabbed Qiu Ling's other arm. "I'm not doing this for you."
"Sure, sure." Qiu Ling nodded. Ah, he should probably thank his old man for seducing the old geezer. Now even though Xin Lan didn't like him, he still wouldn't let anything happen to him as long as the old geezer was looking out for him.
Xin Lan dragged him along with him, not caring if Qiu Ling or even Bai Mu could keep up with him. Well, it might not have been the best treatment but at least they were faster.
Only a minute went by until they reached the turn where Hong Bao had been waiting. She turned around and hurried further. The three men didn't lag behind by much this time and soon enough they reached the next turn.
Hong Bao had halted only a few steps around the corner and was looking at them as if Qiu Ling would die if they didn't hurry up. "It's here!" She turned to the side and took the jade pendant from her waist, inserting it at a spot a little below her eye level. Her spiritual energy surged forth next, lighting up the lines of an array. The light congealed in the middle where the pendant had been embedded and pulsed, giving off a green hue.
"Come, come!" Hong Bao didn't wait a single moment and stepped through the array, vanishing from the corridor of the dungeon.
Bai Mu looked at Qiu Ling, his heart racing. "Let's go then."
Qiu Ling nodded but stepped to the side. "You go first."
Bai Mu's lips moved and he peered at Xin Lan but in the end, he nodded, turned around and followed after Hong Bao.
Qiu Ling sighed and closed his eyes. He had no idea how far the way out of the dungeon would be after they stepped through the array. Just how long did he need to hold on? In case it was too long … He turned to Xin Lan. "If it's still a long way, then bring him to the Leyuan region and free Jing He first. I'll get out of here somehow."
"Stop blabbering and go." Xin Lan pushed him forward.
Qiu Ling crashed into the array and fell face-first on the ground. "Ugh." He furrowed his brow and patted around. It was … wet and somehow … prickly? Qiu Ling turned his head to the side and found something green in front of him. He blinked but couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be.
A pair of shoes stepped on the green thing and trod it into the ground. "Have you had enough yet? Then get up. I'm not going to help you again."
Qiu Ling peered up at Xin Lan's face and found his gaze especially condescending. Ah, damn, it wasn't his fault that his mother had been a demon! This guy should have bitched to his father about it!
He closed his eyes and sighed. The smell drifting into his nose made his eyes spring open again though. Wait. Was this … grass? He lifted his head and looked around. Indeed. The wet, prickly, green thing in front of him had been a stalk of grass and it wasn't the only one around. They were actually in some meadow. There were even some nice little flowers growing around them.
Qiu Ling sat up. His strength that had been sapped by the Blood Gem slowly started to return to his limbs. It turned out … Hong Bao's so-called shortcut was actually another exit out of the dungeon. They had already left it and if he wasn't completely wrong, then they had even left the grounds of the Chun Feng Sect.