Lin Yibai, who was following far behind Shen Qing and her group, didn't know that her presence had already been noticed by two people in the team.
Lin Yibai had deliberately hidden her tracks, but her cultivation was not high after all, so she was immediately noticed by Li Xian.
As for Shen Qing, with Ling Zhou's help, she confirmed Lin Yibai's position.
Shen Qing didn't intend to hide it from Li Xian. She had come for him in the first place. If he could notice, it would make things easier for Shen Qing.
Shen Qing turned to look at Li Xian and met his thoughtful eyes.
At that moment, she understood that Li Xian had already discovered Lin Yibai.
That was even better. She didn't have to bother to remind him.
Li Xian raised his eyebrows and silently asked, "Here for you?"
Shen Qing pursed her lips speechlessly and silently replied, "Your little fan girl."
Li Xian didn't comment and just turned back to continue leading the way.
He could sense that the person following them didn't have high cultivation, so Li Xian didn't take that person seriously. Instead, he focused more on leading the way.
Shen Chuyun stared intently at the two of them, so the eye - contact between Shen Qing and Li Xian didn't escape his eyes.
But in Shen Chuyun's eyes, it was Shen Qing flirting with Li Xian, and Li Xian actually seemed to accept it.
In an instant, the image of Li Xian, the number one among the peers, suddenly became worthless in Shen Chuyun's heart.
A person who could be easily charmed by Shen Qing must have an unstable mind. God knows how much water was in that so - called "number one" title.
"Shameless!"
Shen Chuyun gritted his teeth and whispered a curse.
Among the whole team, only Shen Chuyun was so annoyed.
They were very lucky. They didn't encounter any dense mist along the way. Occasionally, they met some low - level spiritual beasts, which were quickly taken care of by the disciples of the Five - Element Dao Sect.
For them, entering the dense forest was just like a kind of cultivation, so no one raised any objections.
On the contrary, Shen Chuyun kept blaming Shen Qing along the way, saying that she could fly with a sword but insisted on walking.
The disciples of the Five - Element Dao Sect didn't take special care of him, so Shen Chuyun's originally clean and white clothes were stained.
This made his already irritable mood even worse.
If it weren't for Xiao Jinglan and Li Xian protecting Shen Qing on both sides, he would have directly tied Shen Qing up and taken her away.
The dense forest was full of plants. The roots were intertwined under the soil, and the thick trees were almost growing together, making it difficult to find a place to step.
But Shen Qing was used to walking on such rough roads since childhood, so she didn't feel anything wrong.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shen Chuyun staggering, and she felt extremely ironic inside.
Since Shen Qing and Shen Chuyun were born, Shen Qing had been given the identity of the elder sister. Almost half of the poor Shen family had been supported by Shen Qing.
But Shen Chuyun had been well protected by the whole family and had never suffered any hardships.
In addition, when he was young, Shen Chuyun was taken up the mountain by Real Person Heng Ling, so he didn't have to endure any hardships. Everything seemed to come easily to him.
It was no lie to say that Shen Qing felt a sense of satisfaction seeing Shen Chuyun in such a sorry state.
"Little disciple, that little tail is gone."
Shen Qing was shocked and quickly looked for Lin Yibai's figure, only to find that she was no longer following them.
Did she give up?
No! It's impossible!
Without a target, Shen Qing felt a little uneasy, not knowing what would happen ahead.
"Be careful. Mist is rising."
Li Xian's voice sounded, and only then did Shen Qing notice that white mist had risen around them at some point.
The mist felt bone - chillingly cold when it touched the skin.
"I found her. Lin Yibai is in front. She... seems to be digging a trap?"
Ling Zhou's voice carried a hint of disbelief. But Lin Yibai was too far away, and Shen Qing's spiritual sense couldn't see what she was doing.
"Master, is there something wrong with this mist?"
"According to your route, you'll be able to get out after walking a bit further. This mist is suspicious. It's better to be careful."
Ling Zhou's words made Shen Qing's heart tighten.
Shen Qing had a hunch that this mist was related to Lin Yibai.
Lin Yibai must have sensed that they were about to get out of the dense forest. If she didn't act now, she would have no chance, so she created this dense mist.
Shen Qing looked at Li Xian worriedly, afraid that he would really die here.
"Shen Qing, walking is too slow. I'll take you out."
"Huh?"
Just as Shen Qing was thinking about what to do, she felt her body lighten, and she was picked up horizontally by Li Xian.
"Junior brothers, fly with your swords. The injured junior brothers should form pairs with those around them. We're going to break through the dense mist."
The disciples of the Five - Element Dao Sect acted quickly. They drew out their swords, and everyone left the ground.
The mist seemed to sense their actions. The moment they left the ground, the dense mist instantly filled the ground.
"Up!"
Everyone took off at the same time, but the dense mist seemed to be conscious and followed closely behind.
Only then did Shen Qing notice that some of the disciples in the Five - Element Dao Sect were pale, as if they had been seriously injured.
No wonder Li Xian had so easily agreed to accompany her. It turned out that there were disciples in his team who couldn't fly with a sword.
What a coincidence.
The dense mist moved very fast, and the lagging disciples were almost surrounded by it.
"Senior Brother Li! Save us! This mist absorbs spiritual power!"
Li Xian looked back and saw that a pair of lagging disciples were almost submerged in the dense mist.
The swords under their feet were also swaying unsteadily, as if they would be thrown off the next second.
"Li Xian, this mist is... coming for us. If we want to save them, we have to stay behind."
Without saying a word, Li Xian rushed directly into the dense mist.
The dense mist sensed Li Xian's approach and immediately left the two lagging disciples, gathering towards Li Xian and Shen Qing.
The two disciples regained their senses. Seeing that the dense mist was about to swallow Li Xian, they nervously shouted, "Senior Brother Li! Be careful!"
Li Xian shouted loudly, "Hurry up!"
The next second, the dense mist surrounded Li Xian and Shen Qing. Their five senses began to fade away slowly, and their bodies felt icy cold.
"Li Xian, there's something wrong with this mist."
Li Xian nodded and took out something like a roulette from his storage bag.
"Break!"
The roulette emitted light and stabbed at the surrounding dense mist.
But the dense mist was not affected at all. Instead, it became thicker and thicker.
Shen Qing didn't have much spiritual power in her body to begin with. After being surrounded by the dense mist, her spiritual power was consumed even faster. Soon, her face turned pale.
Li Xian sensed that something was wrong with Shen Qing and said something to her.
But Shen Qing only saw Li Xian's mouth moving. She couldn't hear the sound. She then realized that her sense of hearing had disappeared.
No, if this continued, they would surely die!
"Little disciple! The barrier stones!"
Ling Zhou's reminder made Shen Qing immediately take out those barrier stones from her storage bag.
The operation of the barrier stones required spiritual power. Shen Qing tried to inject spiritual power into the barrier stones, but a sharp pain came from her meridians, and the barrier stones showed no reaction.
Li Xian recognized the barrier stones in Shen Qing's hand. After putting Shen Qing on the sword, he freed up a hand and placed it on the barrier stones.
With the spiritual power, the barrier stones formed a barrier around the two of them.
The dense mist receded a little.
Seeing this, Li Xian flew the sword upwards.
But after a long time, the two of them were still in the dense mist. Shen Qing gradually found that her vision began to turn black.