"Ah..."
Shen Qing clutched her hand and couldn't help letting out a pained cry. Only then did everyone notice that Elder Yaoyue's acupuncture could no longer stop the spread of the black lines.
The black lines had already crawled up to Shen Qing's neck, winding around it like a strangulation mark.
"Little disciple, the black qi on you is too thick. A part of your spiritual sea has already been invaded by the black qi!"
"It's all my fault for not considering things carefully, which made you fall prey to those petals. What should we do now!"
Ling Zhou's voice was extremely urgent. Although Shen Qing couldn't see his expression, she could imagine from his tone that Ling Zhou must be extremely annoyed.
The black lines stopped spreading after reaching Shen Qing's neck. Shen Qing also felt that half of her upper body was stinging.
Even her head started to throb faintly, and even her tongue went a bit numb.
"Shen Qing, how are you? I'll take you to Qing Qing now and let him treat you!"
True Lord Huxiao scratched his head and looked surprised. "Don't you know that the young master of the Qingmu Sect is unwell and has already returned?"
Shen Qing turned around in shock. She really didn't know about this.
Too many things had happened during this period. She hadn't had time to worry about Qing Qing. Thinking about it, she really hadn't seen Qing Qing and Jiang Zhiyun for a long time.
Unwell?
He didn't seem like that when she saw him before. Could it be that the matter between him and Jiang Zhiyun still hadn't been resolved?
But now wasn't the right time to think about this, because Shen Qing's tongue was getting more and more numb, and she felt that she would be unable to speak the next second.
"Take uus... to the pllace... where you picked the flowerrs..." Shen Qing opened her mouth wide and managed to utter such a sentence with difficulty.
Everyone felt extremely uncomfortable hearing this. Only Li Xian's eyes were full of distress. He immediately rushed to Xian Shiyu and said, "Hurry up and take us there!"
Xian Shiyu almost cried again in fright, but her reaction was very quick. She immediately replied, "The elders have sealed the entrance. If we want to enter the Beast Forest, we have to go to the second entrance, which means climbing mountains for a whole day..."
Li Xian frowned, and annoyance appeared on his face.
Seeing that there was something wrong with the petals, True Lord Huxiao immediately thought of what True Lord Yaoyue had said. It was possible that the medicine True Lord Kunshan had taken was incompatible with these petals, which was why True Lord Kunshan's body had become weaker and weaker.
So he immediately made a decision on the spot. He would apply to the sect to personally lead the team and take Shen Qing, Li Xian and the others into the Beast Forest to check the place where the petals grew.
If there was an antidote in that place, it would be great. On the one hand, it could cure Shen Qing's poison, and on the other hand, it could also help understand the cause of True Lord Kunshan's illness.
So after True Lord Huxiao stated his idea, he got everyone's support.
True Lord Huxiao immediately took out his sound-transmitting jade pendant, but he didn't mention the matter of the petals. He only said that he wanted to take Shen Qing and the others in to pick a rare spiritual herb to replenish True Lord Kunshan.
The elders of the sect immediately agreed to True Lord Huxiao's request. Time was of the essence. Everyone didn't even have time to pack their luggage before heading to the Beast Forest again.
Shen Qing felt that she was really fated with the Beast Forest. She had just come out not long ago and now she had to go in again.
There were two elders guarding the entrance. These two elders already knew that True Lord Huxiao was going to lead the team in. After checking the document issued by the sect, they immediately let them pass.
But before letting them pass, the two elders chatted with True Lord Huxiao. Only then did everyone learn that none of the disciples who had entered the Beast Forest had come out yet. This was a bit strange.
Normally, three days had passed. No matter whether these disciples had found everything or not, one or two of them should have come out to replenish supplies.
But strangely enough... no disciples had come out.
Shen Qing also kept this matter in mind, and that sense of uneasiness emerged again.
When something goes against the norm, there must be something amiss.
Shen Qing even had a rather absurd thought. Maybe all the disciples who had entered the Beast Forest had already had an accident.
Even if she hadn't been poisoned by the petals this time, someone might have deliberately led Shen Qing into the forest. For example, all the disciples in the forest had disappeared, and someone needed to go in and look for them...
This entrance was different from the one Chu Lanqiu had taken them through before. Chu Lanqiu had preferred to take the small paths, but Xian Shiyu was leading them on the main road.
When True Lord Huxiao learned that Xian Shiyu had picked these petals from the forbidden area, he was so angry that his beard almost flew up.
"You rebellious disciple! That place is strictly forbidden for disciples by the sect. You are so bold to go in and even bring out the things inside. If I don't teach you a lesson, you won't use your head!!"
Xian Shiyu pouted but didn't dare to refute. She knew that she had done something wrong and had even harmed Shen Qing.
It was all because she hadn't obeyed the sect's rules that such a big disaster had occurred. True Lord Huxiao not handing her over to the sect for punishment was already giving her a chance to atone for her sins. What did a few scoldings matter?
Shen Qing, who had been harmed like this by her, didn't even blame her. This made Xian Shiyu feel even more uneasy. She would rather Shen Qing had attacked and scolded her like Li Xian than forgive her gently and generously.
She was really about to cry. Shen Qing was really such a good person!
After Shen Qing insisted on walking with the team for a while, she felt a bit overwhelmed. Her head was extremely heavy, and her steps were floating.
Li Xian noticed that something was wrong with Shen Qing. He quickly supported her and found that the black lines on Shen Qing's arm had spread into patterns like vines.
And there was a blood-red color around these patterns, as if she had just gotten a tattoo and was injured.
Li Xian nervously checked those patterns and found that they seemed to be rooted in Shen Qing's meridians, constantly sucking her spiritual power and essence blood.
Shen Qing had already noticed this abnormality in her body when she entered the Beast Forest.
She was able to hold on until now without collapsing thanks to the half set of spiritual bones in her body.
The half set of spiritual bones that hadn't been taken out of Shen Qing was just on the side where the black lines were growing. The spiritual bones healed the places eroded by the patterns for Shen Qing.
But after being healed, they were eroded by the patterns again. This repeated, and Shen Qing felt that her body couldn't take it anymore.
That was why her steps were so unsteady and her body was extremely exhausted.
"Can you still hold on?"
Shen Qing remembered that Li Xian's back hadn't fully recovered yet. Although she wanted someone to carry her, she was too embarrassed to speak up and could only nod reluctantly.
But Li Xian saw Shen Qing's embarrassment. Without saying a word, he reached out and put his arm around Shen Qing's waist, pulling her into his arms.
Then, he squatted down a bit and directly picked Shen Qing up in a princess carry.
"If your body can't take it, don't force yourself. My back is injured, but my hands are fine. You can try to rely on me boldly."
This posture brought the two of them extremely close. Shen Qing could even clearly hear the strong heartbeat in Li Xian's chest.
Shen Qing blushed. She wanted Li Xian to put her down, but because her tongue was numb and the words she said were out of tune, she gave up directly.
Elder Yaoyue and True Lord Huxiao noticed their actions but didn't turn around, so as not to make Shen Qing shy.