The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

"Sister Qingli?"

Looking at the girl before her who had just called out her name—carrying the Heartless Man whose entire body was bathed in fire, her expression twisted in unbearable agony yet still struggling to hold on—Lin Qingxue was stunned.

"Sister Qingli?"

The surrounding dancers were also stunned, looking at each other in dismay.

They looked at the brightly dressed girl, clearly a sect's eldest young lady whom they could never normally interact with, and then looked at Xiao Qingli, their expressions strange.

Qingli actually knew someone like this?

Then how could she have fallen to the same state as them?

"You know each other?" a dancer asked tentatively.

Regarding this question, Lin Qingxue's expression grew even stranger. Did they know each other? Technically, they shouldn't yet. But according to the memories of her rebirth, they had known each other for a long time. In her previous life, she had been fondest of this well-behaved and sensible younger sister with a pitiful background.

Furthermore, looking at Xiao Qingli's appearance.

The other party must have been reborn as well.

Thus, Lin Qingxue nodded, confirming it.

"We know each other."

Seeing this, the dancers finally relaxed a little, opening a gap in their protective circle to reveal Qingli in the center.

"Is this... the Green Lotus Heavenly Fire?"

Looking closely, Lin Qingxue realized that the azure flames were indeed the Green Lotus Heavenly Fire. Moreover, seeing Xiao Qingli's dazed state, she realized the girl had carried Ye Shu all the way here step by step, enduring the agonizing pain of the burning flames.

What kind of willpower was this?

On the other side, Xiao Qingli suddenly realized that at this point in time, Sister Qingxue shouldn't know her. However, the searing pain from the spiritual fire left her with no time to think about this issue.

Since... since Sister Qingxue knew her...

If Sister Qingxue was here.

Then the incredibly powerful Sister Yunxi should be here too, right? In her memories, Sister Yunxi treated Big Brother the best.

At this thought, Xiao Qingli felt thrilled.

She raised her head and looked at Lin Qingxue, her eyes full of starlight. "Sister Qingxue, you are here to help Big Brother, right? That's wonderful! With Sister Yunxi and the others here, Big Brother will definitely be fine."

"Sister Yunxi?"

Lin Qingxue's expression froze, her gaze turning weird. "Master... she might not help us."

"Why?"

Xiao Qingli's eyes were filled with confusion. "Doesn't Sister Yunxi dote on Big Brother the most? How could she ignore Big Brother—"

Before she could finish her sentence.

Boom!!!

A loud explosion suddenly erupted in the distance, and an ice-blue pillar of light shot straight into the clouds.

"Not good!"

Lin Qingxue's expression changed.

If that group of people discovered the Heartless Man, she wouldn't be able to protect him all by herself.

"There's no time to explain! Put him down, we need to leave this place immediately." Lin Qingxue waved her hand, wrapping Ye Shu in spiritual energy and lifting him off Xiao Qingli's back.

Only then did she notice that this pitiful girl had massive, shocking burn marks all over the areas where her body had been in contact with Ye Shu.

But time waited for no one, and she was in no mood to offer comfort.

With a flick of her sleeve, a flying magical artifact resembling a glazed lotus platform appeared out of thin air. The twenty or so dancers present were all swept up and tossed into the flying artifact by her.

"Let's go!"

Before Xiao Qingli could react, Lin Qingxue was already controlling the flying artifact with one hand and supporting Ye Shu with the other, flying toward the outside of the Snake-Man City.

The moonlight had just begun to rise.

The glazed lotus platform left a silver trail across the sandy ground as it sped into the distance.

Lin Qingxue gritted her teeth and pushed the artifact, flying a hundred miles in the blink of an eye.

The Lotus Heavenly Raft.

This was the flying artifact her grandfather had given her after the incident in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. When pushed to its limits, its speed was no less than the full-speed flight of a Nascent Soul realm expert.

The price was the rapid depletion of spiritual energy.

But she couldn't care about that right now.

Escaping was the priority!

Although she didn't know how the Heartless Man had managed to snatch the Green Lotus Heavenly Fire from the hands of so many experts, Lin Qingxue wasn't actually that surprised.

Hadn't she seen the Heartless Man, with merely a Qi Refining body, last time...

...still slay a Soul Formation physical body with his sword?

Inside the lotus platform, watching Lin Qingxue grit her teeth to drive the magical artifact, Xiao Qingli finally relaxed.

She didn't know that Mu Yunxi and the others had already changed.

Or, perhaps they hadn't changed.

They just no longer stood on Ye Shu's side like they did in their previous lives.

She naively believed that Lin Qingxue was going to find Mu Yunxi and the others to help resolve the pain of the strange fire on Ye Shu's body.

Feeling the night breeze brush past her ears, the burning pain on her body eased slightly. Leaning into the embrace of one of the dancers, Xiao Qingli felt a deep sense of exhaustion surge from her heart.

When she finally relaxed, the exhaustion washed over her like a tidal wave.

Xiao Qingli's eyelids grew heavier and heavier until they completely closed. Right before she fainted, she still muttered softly:

"Big Brother... Qingli will protect you..."

Though her voice was light, it still reached their ears.

Lin Qingxue, who was operating the lotus platform, trembled slightly, her complicated gaze glancing at Xiao Qingli.

They were all reborn individuals. Master wanted to kill the Heartless Man.

Senior Sister wanted to kill the Heartless Man.

Feng Mengli wanted to kill the Heartless Man.

Even she herself had once wanted to kill the Heartless Man, yet Xiao Qingli only thought of protecting him.

Her gaze swept over the dancers huddled in the lotus platform. Their eyes held fear and bewilderment, but they spontaneously gathered around the fallen Ye Shu.

At this moment, Lin Qingxue suddenly found it a bit ridiculous.

Master and Senior Sisters believed that Ye Shu, who was perceived as having a terrible personality, being two-faced, and destined to bring disaster to the sect in the future, had actually protected this group of pitiful people. He kept them from being bullied, to the point of suffering severe injuries and enduring the agony of spiritual fire burning his body.

Meanwhile, Master and Senior Sisters, who already knew everything...

...only cared about their so-called lucky chances.

It was no wonder that Xiao Qingli still liked and trusted the Heartless Man as she did in the past. Who could forget the grace of saving a life, let alone saving it twice?

Lin Qingxue withdrew her gaze and pushed the lotus platform to its absolute limit.

Now was not the time to be sentimental.

The Heartless Man was not yet out of danger, and there were pursuers behind them. She had to find a safe place as quickly as possible.

While she was doing her utmost to drive the magical artifact.

No one noticed that the azure flames burning on Ye Shu's fallen body had imperceptibly weakened. A purple flame lion was condensing within his meridians, chasing after those azure wisps of fire and devouring them in large gulps. At the same time, the originally glazed fire patterns gradually took on a touch of profound azure.

.............

Meanwhile, on a sand dune somewhere outside the Snake-Man City, a middle-aged Daoist priest in a white robe sat cross-legged, hovering in midair. He closed his eyes and breathed. With every inhalation and exhalation, the faint sounds of a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry echoed around him.

The Daoist slowly opened his eyes, a glint of sharp light flashing within them.

"I didn't expect that the one to finally emerge would be a Foundation Establishment kid, and it just happens to be that little brat. Oh well, this saves me some effort."

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."