After an unknown amount of time, the sound of Feng Yudie's voice came from the cave entrance.
"I'm back!!"
The two leaning against each other turned to look at the entrance and saw a petite figure carrying a snow deer that was seven or eight times larger than her, walking into the cave.
Feng Yudie was covered in snow and mud, her clothes were torn in several places, her silver hair, which had been tied into a ponytail, was now loose, making her look as if she had been through a fierce battle. Nevertheless, her expression was still lively.
However, upon entering the cave and seeing Pei Lengxue and Xiao Yunluo snuggling together, she froze instantly.
How did they end up like this?!
Feng Yudie frowned, walked to the fire, dropped the snow deer off her shoulder onto the ground, and asked, "Sister Xiao, what did you just do to Sister Pei?"
"What did I do?" Xiao Yunluo asked in confusion.
"I mean... when I leaned against Sister Pei like this, she slapped me away with a palm. How come she didn't do that to you when you leaned in?"
"..."
Xiao Yunluo was a bit speechless and ignored the question. She looked at the snow deer on the ground instead.
"This deer..."
"It took me a while to find." Feng Yudie stretched lazily and patted the deer's rear end, smiling as she said, "This little guy was really fast, I had to put in a lot of effort to catch it."
Pei Lengxue, who was sitting there, glanced at the giant deer and said disdainfully, "You were supposed to find food, didn't you know to find something smaller? This deer could feed dozens of cultivators."
"Oh, well, I've seen these things before." Feng Yudie scratched the back of her head, grinned, and said, "I wanted to see how tough it was. Besides, I caught it."
"...I'll handle the butchering."
Pei Lengxue sighed and then took off her outer clothes, leaving them to Xiao Yunluo. She stood up, took a small skinning knife from her storage bag, and went over to the snow deer.
With swift and practiced movements, the blood was drained, the skin was peeled off, and the entrails were removed.
In no time, Pei Lengxue had expertly dismantled the deer into bones and organs.
Xiao Yunluo and Feng Yudie watched her with a mix of awe and fear at her skill in disassembling the beast. After all, this process was usually quite bloody, and many cultivators couldn't handle it.
Xiao Yunluo swallowed and asked, "Junior Sister Pei, have you often disassembled beasts like this before?"
Pei Lengxue turned her head at the question, "I lived in a beast cave for a few months before. I could only eat beast meat every day, so I learned how to do it. Hehe..."
Thinking of her senior brother, she chuckled, a sweet smile spreading across her face.
However, Xiao Yunluo felt a tinge of horror as she watched. This beautiful girl was holding a knife, blood smeared across her hands and face, and smiling at people...
It's not a flattering sight!
With the deer expertly skewered on branches, the three of them finished their meal and then settled down for some meditation to pass the time.
Several hours later, the snow outside ceased, prompting them to tidy up a bit before continuing their trek towards the main peak of Profound Star Sect.
After descending from Snow Spirit Peak, they arrived at a swampy area.
Due to the spiritual energy, the area was filled with miasma, with visibility being less than ten feet. According to Xiao Yunluo, this swamp was called "Profound Visionlost Swamp.'' Many alchemy cultivators from Profound Star Sect came here to capture poisonous insects for research, and there were also demonic beasts like crocodiles and pythons.
So, the three of them had to slow down and carefully proceed step by step.
Feng Yudie took the lead, swinging her sword to clear away vines and weeds in front of her to prevent hidden insects and scorpions. But her mind was busy thinking about how to make Pei Lengxue happy.
So far, she had tried more than ten methods from the "Ways to Please Others" that her master had taught her, but none of them had worked.
And not only had they not worked, she felt like Pei Lengxue was growing to dislike her more and more.
Revealing her aggressive side... made Pei Lengxue treat her like a fool.
Acting like a dog... almost got her killed by Pei Lengxue's sword.
Flattery... was ignored by Pei Lengxue.
Letting others feel superior after conquering her... ended up with Pei Lengxue's slap.
Warmth and concern... made Pei Lengxue suspect ulterior motives.
...
"Sigh—"
『Yudie, what silly thoughts are you having now?』 Xiaotian emerged from her head and floated on her shoulder, crossing its legs and hugging its chest, 『Whenever you sigh like that, it means you're thinking about something frivolous.』
Feng Yudie glanced at him and asked in a low voice, "Xiaotian, why can't Junior Sister Pei smile at me?"
『Heh…』 Xiaotian snorted coldly, gave her a disdainful look, and then said, 『Don't ask me about this. If you happened to fall for a 'male' cultivator, I might be able to give you advice and help. But... a female? Absolutely not! Hmph!』
After scolding her, Xiaotian kicked her forehead with annoyance and then returned to Feng Yudie's spiritual realm.
It was at this moment that Feng Yudie suddenly raised her hand and shouted, "Stop!"
"Huh? Is it a demonic beast?"
Xiao Yunluo, who was behind her, jumped in surprise and quickly looked around. However, all she could see was the mist.
Pei Lengxue, at the back, also seemed to sense something. She drew her sword and stayed vigilant.
"Not a beast, it's a person," Pei Lengxue answered.
"A person?"
Xiao Yunluo became even more puzzled.
If it was a person, then it should be another participant in the sect trial.
Fighting between disciples was not allowed during this trial.
Most of the time, people would form teams to face the demonic beasts and other obstacles together.
However...
She looked at the serious expressions on their faces and asked, "What kind of person?"
Feng Yudie explained, "Someone just scanned us with their spiritual sense, and it's clear they have malicious intent."
"Malicious intent?"
It was at this moment that Pei Lengxue suddenly turned around and held her sword up behind Xiao Yunluo.
Ping—
A crisp sound of clashing swords echoed through the swamp.
Amidst the sparks, Xiao Yunluo reacted quickly and turned to look behind her.
A masked black-robed cultivator was close at hand, just two steps away from her.
The short blade in that person's hand was aimed straight at her neck. If it weren't for Pei Lengxue deflecting the attack with her sword, she might have been stabbed in the neck and killed instantly.
Xiao Yunluo couldn't comprehend when this person had gotten so close.
With wide eyes, she hurriedly reached into her storage bag and took out her sword, forged from Mysterious Stone.
However, she was too nervous.
As the sword flew out of her storage bag, she failed to grasp it properly, causing the sword to soar upwards into the sky.
Seeing Xiao Yunluo's reaction, a hint of mocking amusement appeared in the black-robed cultivator's eyes. Meanwhile, Pei Lengxue took advantage of the situation to swing her sword back at him, but he used the momentum to jump back into the dense fog.
As the black-robed cultivator's figure vanished into the mist, another man's laughter suddenly sounded from a different direction.
"This sword is quite nice, but the one who wields it... lacks skill, ahaha—"
Hearing this, Xiao Yunluo suddenly remembered her sword. However, when she looked up to find it, her sword was nowhere in sight.
"... ..."
In an instant, she was left dumbfounded.
By now, Feng Yudie had moved back to her side, and Pei Lengxue had placed herself in front of Xiao Yunluo, effectively sandwiching her in between. She spoke with seriousness:
"Sister Xiao, stay close to me and Junior Sister Pei. There are at least four of them, and the one who attacked just now is at least at the middle Foundation Establishment stage."
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