Seeing that Xie Jing had already walked a considerable distance ahead, Bai Qianluo planned to catch up quickly. Before leaving, she secretly glanced at the person beside her.
Just as she noticed his reddened earlobes, she felt an inexplicable joy, a happiness that came naturally. But the thought of Qin Jiujiu's uncertain safety immediately brought her back to her senses, casting aside all thoughts of personal affections.
This was no time for matters of the heart. Jiujiu's whereabouts were unknown. Jiujiu, please don't let anything happen to you!
Bai Qianluo saw that Xie Yun was still standing in place, while Xie Jing had already opened up a considerable distance between them. She hurried to say to Xie Yun, "Young Master Xie Yun, aren't you coming?"
Only then did Xie Yun dare to look at Bai Qianluo. He very much wanted to confess his feelings at that moment, but seeing her calm expression, he said no more and quickly followed Xie Jing.
Xie Jing seemed to have been to this underwater palace before and was quite familiar with it. Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo followed him without question.
Xie Yun recognized this as the dungeon where he had been imprisoned last time. When he had been brought here before, he was severely injured and delirious, leaving him with little memory of the place. However, as he followed Xie Jing along this path, he realized it led deeper into the dungeon. It was only when they neared the place where he had been held captive that he remembered it was the dungeon where Jiu Ying had imprisoned him.
The location of their entry might differ, so Qin Jiujiu might not be here. However, they could not afford to overlook any possibility, and the three of them tacitly continued their search for Qin Jiujiu's trace.
Xie Jing remained cold and silent. Without Qin Jiujiu's presence, the atmosphere between them reverted to what it had been many days ago.
Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo then realized that Qin Jiujiu's presence had become a habit during their days together, and without her, they felt uncomfortable.
Xie Jing, on the other hand, appeared unfazed. He kept his gaze straight ahead, showing no sign of the somber expressions of Bai Qianluo and Xie Yun.
But only he knew that at this moment, he was filled with the urge to kill!
The path was long. Seeing this, Xie Yun took out a wooden box from his Qiankun bag. As he opened the box, a small butterfly flew out. It was a colorful butterfly.
"Spirit butterfly, scout the path ahead!"
The spirit butterfly seemed to understand Xie Yun's words. It quickly flew forward, and after a short disappearance, it returned, its wings fluttering. Xie Yun opened the box, and the spirit butterfly flew back inside on its own.
Xie Yun explained, "There is still a long way ahead, but there are no prisoners. It's likely that Jiujiu is not further ahead..."
Bai Qianluo's eyes, which had brightened at the mention of the spirit butterfly, suddenly dimmed again.
This underwater palace was vast. Perhaps Jiujiu was somewhere else!
Jiujiu was usually so quick-witted. She would surely be fine, Bai Qianluo reassured herself internally.
"Young Master Xie Yun, shall we leave this dungeon first and search elsewhere?"
Xie Yun nodded, but Xie Jing remained silent, merely following along.
Qin Jiujiu opened her eyes and felt a throbbing headache that made it difficult to even open them. She took a moment to regain consciousness and remembered what had happened before she was knocked unconscious.
Su Guqiu had told her that this Su Yuqing was not the real Su Yuqing, but a demon in disguise. She herself was not truly mad but was feigning madness because she had discovered this secret and had to act foolish to survive. And when she was eight years old, she had personally seen that her mother's coffin was empty when it was interred!
After discovering the secret, Qin Jiujiu wanted to rush back to find Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo. However, before she could reach them, she was ambushed on the road.
It was Su Yuqing!
When she turned around upon hearing footsteps, she saw Su Yuqing's face, still wearing a gentle smile. Before Qin Jiujiu could react, someone else from behind struck her unconscious with a club.
Who was that person? Su Yuqing's accomplice?
But hadn't the system informed her earlier that the shaman had already died? She had thought that Xie Jing had killed her when they entered the shaman's house that day! So who was this accomplice?
She didn't have time to turn around and see who it was before she fainted.
When she woke up, she was bound. It appeared to be with ordinary rope. They probably assumed she was just a mortal, and a woman at that, so they had tied her up casually and thrown her into this room.
Qin Jiujiu casually surveyed the room and found that its layout was similar to the underwater palace she had visited not long ago. Therefore, she deduced that she had been brought to some part of this underwater palace.
Thinking this, Qin Jiujiu quickly glanced at her waist. Her Qiankun bag was still there.
She rejoiced inwardly. Fortunately, when she had requested talismans, she had also asked Xie Yun to cast a spell on it. While it might not be completely foolproof, her Qiankun bag couldn't be easily taken away. Ever since she realized the usefulness of teleportation talismans, she had specifically asked for many of them. Although they could only be used within a ten-li radius, they were very effective for her when escaping.
And now, she could put them to use.
Since she was in the underwater palace, she could go to the dungeon she had visited last time, hoping it was still there.
Qin Jiujiu was not restrained. They probably didn't worry about her, a mortal woman, escaping. Qin Jiujiu should be grateful for the ordinariness of this body, which made her task easier.
She took out a teleportation talisman and mentally pictured a location. In an instant, she found herself in the dungeon.
The dungeon was very dark. Qin Jiujiu carefully discerned the direction and confirmed that she should move forward. She then continued on her way.
As expected, after a short while, she found the place where she had seen the divine beast that called itself Tianwu.
"Tianwu, Tianwu, are you there?"
Qin Jiujiu called out tentatively, not daring to shout too loudly for fear of attracting Jiu Ying, which would be troublesome. As she was about to call out again, she heard a faint movement from a corner.
Qin Jiujiu moved towards that corner and indeed saw the cage. However, inside the cage was not a white tiger, but a youth, a handsome youth who looked even younger than her.
Qin Jiujiu asked uncertainly, "Are you Tianwu?"
The youth, who had been maintaining a guarded posture, relaxed upon seeing her. His tone softened, "So it's you..." He moved closer to Qin Jiujiu, his voice filled with evident surprise.
Qin Jiujiu nodded. It seemed this youth was the white tiger she had seen that day. Tianwu was said to be the god of water in ancient mythology. Such divine beasts, like Jiu Ying, were very rare, even extinct. However, Tianwu differed from Jiu Ying. Although both possessed the ability to control water, Jiu Ying was a fierce beast with a snake's body, whereas Tianwu was a divine beast with the appearance of a white tiger.
Looking at the youth before her, it was likely that this Tianwu was male.
She approached the youth and said to him, "Were you imprisoned here by Jiu Ying?"
The youth's expression suddenly changed, clearly indicating she had hit the mark.
"Why are you still alive?"
Tianwu spoke, sounding incredulous that Qin Jiujiu had survived for so long. After all, a considerable amount of time had passed since she had last seen Tianwu. It was likely that this youth had not expected her, a mortal woman, to survive here.
Qin Jiujiu raised an eyebrow. "Naturally, I had a powerful individual to save me."
She had actually said this deliberately. It was clear that Tianwu did not wish to say more to her. After all, she was just a weak woman, and talking to her would be of little use. Guessing his thoughts, she deliberately said this to pique his interest and make him spill everything himself.
As expected, Tianwu's eyes lit up. Although Jiu Ying was formidable, he had been imprisoned here for a long time. If there was even a sliver of opportunity, he could not let it pass. He didn't know when he would be able to reclaim his home.
"A powerful individual? Jiu Ying is no ordinary demon. If this powerful individual is so capable, why haven't they eliminated it, allowing it to wreak havoc here?" the youth continued. "Moreover, Jiu Ying is very difficult to kill. It has nine heads. Unless all nine heads are severed simultaneously, as long as one head remains, it will not die and can instantly grow the other heads!"
This was the formidable aspect of Jiu Ying.
Qin Jiujiu saw a flicker of helplessness in the youth's eyes. He had likely clashed with Jiu Ying. This Tianwu was still in his youth and was no match for Jiu Ying. He was probably severely injured, which led to his imprisonment in this dungeon and Jiu Ying usurping his rightful place.
Qin Jiujiu secretly noted down everything the youth said. She needed to extract more methods to administer the right treatment and help Xie Yun eliminate Jiu Ying.
"Have you ever heard of the Xie family of Linjiang Prefecture?" Qin Jiujiu recalled that the Xie family had a great reputation in this novel. The Xie family of Linjiang Prefecture was renowned, and their influence was evident in many plotlines, so Qin Jiujiu decided to try.
As expected, the novel's background was quite strong. Although Tianwu had not appeared, he still knew of the Xie family. Thus, she used this as an opportunity to continue fabricating a story, downplaying the crucial details. She claimed that their group had passed by, encountered the river god's wedding, suspected something was amiss, and investigated. It was confirmed that Jiu Ying was behind everything, and they intended to eliminate the menace for the people. However, their battle was unsuccessful, and she was captured and brought here.
As Qin Jiujiu explained all this to Tianwu, she replayed everything in her mind. She seemed to have stumbled upon something significant.