In the meantime, Mei Lin was creating blood from her cultivation. She didn't have much natural energy, but she sustained the blood loss for more than twelve hours with her natural regeneration and burning her cultivation. She stopped after depleting nearly all accumulated natural energy from the second stage.
Nearly an hour later, she opened her eyes and saw Xia looking at the flower. Mei Lin felt exhausted, and the loss of her cultivation progress took a toll on her strength more than anticipated. She felt frail and wanted to throw up.
"What kind of flower is this? I have never seen a flower like this before. This flower is too sinister. I picked it up yesterday, and now it looks like it regrew back into the ground or something. How can it grow in such a desolate place, and why did you pour your blood on it?"
Xia wasn't stupid, so she asked direct questions. "And why do you smell like you were bathing in blood? You smell just like a corpse."
Mei Lin was shocked by the questions. She took off her bamboo hat and looked Xia in the eyes. As Xia saw this, she was instantly scared. "Do you want to know the answers about this flower?" Xia already knew what Mei Lin would probably say. "No. It's better if you never talk about this flower again. Think of it as just a red flower."
Mei Lin pulled out an empty pot from her storage ring and started to dig the blood flower out of the ground. She dug out a large part of the ground and slowly began to sweep away the furthest parts so it would fit inside. It took more than an hour, and Xia helped her with it. Mei Lin was as careful as possible to avoid damaging the flower.
They were like two children playing with dirt. Mei Lin was determined to save the blood flower, having invested more in it than she had initially intended. Once the ground fit inside the pot, Mei Lin placed some of the chipped-off soil inside and carefully placed the flower in the pot. After securing the blood flower, she put it back inside her storage ring.
Mei Lin smiled as she looked at Xia. "Well, everything is finished. We can go to Peng City now. Go tell the others to pack their things, and we will leave in half an hour."
Xia was even happier and ran back to the camp to tell the others. Mei Lin sat down in a lotus position and began cultivating to replenish at least a little of her natural energy.
'So this is the disadvantage of blood cultivators. Every time I burn away my cultivation, I feel much weaker than before. I need to be careful about doing it next time.' Mei Lin was happy that she had discovered this drawback and then cultivated it for nearly half an hour. Afterward, Mei Lin put on her bamboo-hat and went back to the camp.
Mei Lin quickly closed the distance as she heard screaming coming from the direction of the camp. She began running faster and saw Xia running towards her, screaming and crying, covered in blood. Mei Lin sprinted even faster. They met in no time, and Xia started screaming at her.
"They are attacking us! They killed Mo Huang and Yau Jun! My brother and Wu Jun are still there!" Xia's voice was frantic and filled with terror. Mei Lin tried to get more information about the enemies, but Xia's panic made her incoherent. Realizing there was no time to waste, Mei Lin ignored her and rushed back to the camp.
As she neared the camp, the scene of chaos and violence unfolded before her eyes. Bodies lay scattered across the ground, and the air was thick with the metallic scent of blood. She saw a bandit, his face twisted in a cruel sneer, raising his machete high.
With a powerful swing, he brought it down, splitting Wong Luo in half. Mei Lin could only see the scene as two parts of Wong Luo's body fell on the ground and his insides splashed out on the ground.
"NOOOOOO!!"
Mei Lin screamed, hoping Wu Jun was still alive, but received no response. She didn't wait any longer and turned back to Xia, not caring about her brother. "We need to run!" Mei Lin said, grabbing Xia's hand and pulling her away from the bandits. Unfortunately, the bandits saw them and gave chase. Mei Lin was angry; she wouldn't have encountered them if she had left immediately.
As they ran, Xia tripped. Mei Lin looked at her, seeing the lifelessness in her eyes, but didn't care. She gripped Xia's hand so tightly that it left a bloody print and continued running towards Peng City. Mei Lin couldn't carry Xia, so they weren't fast, and Xia was more of a burden than not. After a few minutes, the bandits were very close. They began firing arrows, but Mei Lin managed to dodge them.
The bandits knew they couldn't outrun them. None were cultivators, so they didn't realize Mei Lin's superior endurance. Four bandits slowly surrounded them, ready to capture both Mei Lin and Xia.
Xia, scared and crying, kept mumbling, "We need to go back, my brother is still there." Mei Lin didn't panic. She stopped running and let Xia fall to the ground. The bandits were closing in, blocking their escape routes. Mei Lin crouched down, hugging Xia tightly. She secretly pulled a knife from her storage ring, her long robe concealing it completely. The bandits didn't know she was armed. Mei Lin also prepared one more knife and gave it to Xia in her hands.
"Listen to me carefully. Put the knife inside your sleeve and don't show it. None of them are cultivators, so we have a chance. When they try to catch us, you need to stab one of them. Do you understand?" Xia didn't respond and continued to cry, so Mei Lin didn't expect any help from her. She looked at Xia and saw her blue eyes turning red from crying.
Even after crying, Xia looked quite beautiful with her emerald-blue eyes and long brown hair. She looked like a fairy, but in tattered clothes after weeks of watering through the mountains. Mei Lin knew what would happen if they were caught, so she prepared herself to kill all the bandits and then run to Peng City with Xia.