A vine was attacking him from behind, and it was about to land on him.
Xie Jing turned back just in time, his sword cutting the vine before it could reach him.
His gaze shifted away from Qin Jiujiu. All the vines had surrounded him, as if determined to keep him there.
Qin Jiujiu noticed that black mist swirled above the circle formed by the vines.
Why had the demonic energy suddenly become so strong?
Qin Jiujiu suddenly remembered—the system had been malfunctioning for a while. Perhaps the villain's blackening value had been rising for some time, but she hadn't known!
She turned to look at Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo on the periphery. They seemed to have noticed the swirling black energy as well.
They just weren't sure where it was emanating from.
Suddenly, the black energy enveloped all the vines, and in an instant, they were severed at the root.
"Ah..."
A continuous stream of screams, one after another.
Like a cold wind howling on a winter night, like the endless moans of little ghosts in hell.
The broken branches on the ground gradually turned into green smoke and dissipated.
Along with the dissipation of the green smoke, the moans also faded away.
"Xiao Jing!"
Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo ran towards Xie Jing. As they approached him, Bai Qianluo's Qingjue sword hummed, as if it were about to be unsheathed at any moment.
Xie Yun's demon-capturing bell also rang incessantly.
The Qingjue sword, an ancient divine weapon, sensed the presence of demonic energy and became restless.
Bai Qianluo and Xie Yun were both shocked.
In Bai Qianluo's memory, the Qingjue sword had never reacted so violently.
The two of them looked at Xie Jing. Black energy swirled around him, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was looking at them.
The atmosphere between the three of them was peculiar. Qin Jiujiu was afraid that the male and female leads and the male second lead would fall out, and if that happened, the villain would blacken.
She quickly ran towards the three of them, blocking Xie Jing.
The black energy seemed to want to transfer from Xie Jing to her, and then it completely vanished.
Qin Jiujiu, with her back to Xie Jing, naturally did not know that she had almost been attacked by demonic energy just now.
It was only because Xie Jing had forcibly suppressed it that she had escaped disaster.
"Brother Xie, Sister Bai, are you alright?"
She deliberately changed the subject.
Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo both shook their heads, but what was coming would still come. Xie Yun's gaze was fixed on Xie Jing behind her.
His tone was very serious, "Xiao Jing, come with me!"
Qin Jiujiu was a little worried and was about to speak up in Xie Jing's defense. She was really afraid that they would start fighting.
But Bai Qianluo shook her head, signaling her not to interfere.
Qin Jiujiu could only give up and watched the two of them leave.
The two of them went to a secluded place, and Qin Jiujiu was anxious. She was afraid that Xie Jing would blacken at any moment.
And the system was still not working!
She tentatively called out, "System, are you there?"
A faint voice replied, "Host, I am not fully repaired yet and cannot detect the villain's blackening value! Please make your own decision!"
It seemed the system was truly broken!
Bai Qianluo saw the worry on her face that she couldn't hide and comforted her, "Chenzhi is just going to have a chat with Yan Xing! Jiujiu, are you worried about Yan Xing's safety?"
Bai Qianluo suddenly smiled. That smile, in Qin Jiujiu's eyes, made her instinctively want to explain, "How could I?"
But Bai Qianluo's expression didn't show any belief, she just thought she was shy and was making excuses.
"With Yan Xing's current power, even if Chenzhi and I combined, we wouldn't be his match. So, Jiujiu, you can rest assured!"
Qin Jiujiu was inwardly lamenting. She was precisely afraid that the two of them would fight!
After Xie Jing blackened, his power would be unstoppable. Not to mention the male and female leads, even with Bai Qianluo's master, they might not be able to defeat him.
She was afraid that what she saw in her dream would come true!
Bai Qianluo suddenly asked, "Jiujiu, did you already know that Yan Xing had demonic energy in him?"
...
Not long after, the two of them returned.
Xie Yun's face still held his upright and gentle smile, while Xie Jing, with his icy face, had no expression.
On the surface, he hadn't blackened!
Qin Jiujiu breathed a sigh of relief. The male lead was indeed the male lead. Even knowing that his brother, with whom he had lived for over a decade, had demonic energy, he had not attacked him.
Xie Yun explained, "The reason those vines grew so luxuriantly earlier was because they fed on the flesh and blood of living beings like humans..."
Therefore, this tree nearby was so fertile because those vines depended on it for sustenance.
Xie Yun walked to the large tree. There were no more vines on it, and nearby, many white bones had appeared.
Human bones, and also many animal bones!
Xie Yun paused and looked at Qin Jiujiu.
As if wanting to say something, Bai Qianluo walked to his side, "Jiujiu already knew..."
Their gazes swept over Qin Jiujiu and Xie Jing. Xie Yun's face showed a look of relief.
Qin Jiujiu was just an ordinary person, yet she still concealed Xie Jing's demonic energy after knowing about it. This further confirmed the sincerity of Qin Jiujiu's feelings for Xie Jing.
Now that she knew about Xie Jing's demonic energy, recalling the past, the words of the Xie couple and other clan members seemed to have an explanation.
They all knew that Xie Jing had demonic energy!
Xie Yun could not help but feel even more pity for Xie Jing. From a young age, he had been insulted by others, ostracized by his parents, and tormented by that demonic energy because of this.
It was truly not easy for him to have grown to this point!
After the vine incident, they walked in the rainforest for two more days.
The further they walked, the more humid the air became.
Everyone had a premonition that something unusual was happening.
The trees seemed shorter, but the forest was dense and impenetrable.
Qin Jiujiu leaned on a fallen branch she had picked up, walking step by step, occasionally nudging aside the dry twigs and fallen leaves.
Suddenly, a skeleton appeared in her sight. Qin Jiujiu gasped, drawing everyone's attention.
"Jiujiu, what happened?"
Xie Yun was the first to approach, followed by Bai Qianluo.
He followed Qin Jiujiu's gaze, and there, a skeleton had clearly appeared.
It was a human skeleton!
"It's a skeleton!"
Seeing the skeleton, everyone's minds immediately thought of the vines from before.
There must be other monsters here!
A sense of unease permeated the group. Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo both drew their swords and held them in their hands, carefully turning over the surrounding dry leaves and branches.
As expected, before long, they encountered several more skeletons.
These skeletons were not gathered in one place but were scattered everywhere, indicating that the monster could move!
Then it wouldn't be the same vines as before!
Soon, they discovered another skeleton, but this one was a little different—the clothes on the previous few were gone, but this one was still wearing clothes.
It looked rather eerie!
Qin Jiujiu poked at it with her wooden stick, and suddenly several black insects crawled out from within.