"Senior Sister!!"
"Oh my god, how did you end up like this?"
Xian Shiyu rushed up to Chu Lanqiu in a hurry. Her hands trembled as she wanted to touch her, but she was too scared to do so.
The aura around True Lord Hu Xiao suddenly turned cold. He bellowed, "Who did this! Who is trying to harm the disciples of our Beast Taming Sect!!"
"Lanqiu! My dear disciple!!"
True Lord Hu Xiao rushed up to Chu Lanqiu in a hurry. Like Xian Shiyu, he looked at the ice sculpture in front of him in disbelief.
Chu Lanqiu's face was calm, but her half - opened eyes were filled with terror, as if she had seen something terrifying before being turned into an ice sculpture.
Shen Qing and the others didn't care about anything else and quickly walked up to Chu Lanqiu.
Everyone tried to break the spell cast on Chu Lanqiu, but they found that the spell was extremely powerful. Even True Lord Hu Xiao was helpless.
"All these disciples have the same expression. Their opened eyes are filled with fear. They still maintained their postures when they were frozen into ice sculptures. The person who did this must be extremely powerful to complete such a spell in an instant."
Shen Qing noticed that Chu Lanqiu's hand was slightly raised, as if she was about to pick something. But in that instant, she was hit by the freezing spell.
The same was true for the other disciples. They maintained their postures before being frozen.
These people frozen into ice sculptures were neatly arranged at the entrance of the forbidden area, blocking the entrance tightly.
The temperature suddenly dropped. Coupled with these ice sculptures and the dilapidated walls in the darkness, the atmosphere was eerie and made people break out in cold sweat.
"Master, what should we do!" Xian Shiyu was about to cry in anxiety. She looked at her master for help.
True Lord Hu Xiao didn't know what to do either, but his eyes were looking through these ice sculptures towards the depths of the forbidden area.
"We don't know the purpose of this person. He froze the disciples and placed them here, blocking the entrance of the forbidden area. It's as if he's reminding us that if we want to save the people, we have to enter. But it's extremely difficult to enter the forbidden area."
"It seems that we have no choice but to break into this place..."
"Shen Qing, can you still hold on?" Li Xian asked worriedly, feeling the body temperature of the woman in his arms gradually dropping, and she even started to tremble slightly.
"It's okay..."
Shen Qing folded her arms. Besides the pain, she also felt the cold caused by the dropping temperature.
This feeling was like being sealed by a hundred - foot - thick ice. The cold and the pain were intertwined, making Shen Qing unable to tell whether her body was cold or in pain.
"Li Xian... This person's actions are clearly meant to lure us in. It's a blatant provocation... I'm afraid my body will slow you guys down if I go in... Put me down."
After the temperature dropped, Shen Qing's slurred speech improved a lot, and her words were much clearer.
Li Xian knew that Shen Qing was afraid of being a burden to everyone, but to him, Shen Qing's safety was the most important thing. How could he let go so easily?
"Shen Qing, don't say such things again. If I abandon you in times of danger, the promises we made in front of True Lord Honghua and our master would be lies. I will never let go."
Li Xian tightened his grip and held Shen Qing more firmly.
"Since someone deliberately did this, they are determined to lure us here. We can't avoid it."
"Shen Qing, don't worry. I will definitely protect you."
True Lord Hu Xiao carefully moved the disciples away from the entrance of the forbidden area, revealing the sealed entrance.
Those disciples were protected by True Lord Hu Xiao's magic formation. Fearing that someone might attack them again, Shen Qing and Li Xian also took out their defensive treasures and added several layers of protection for the disciples.
Xian Shiyu looked at Chu Lanqiu with heartache. The fear on her small face disappeared.
For her senior sister, she was willing to do anything.
After getting ready, everyone stepped into the entrance of the forbidden area with heavy hearts.
There were some mysterious runes on the broken walls in the forbidden area. But after years of erosion, these runes were in a complete mess, only leaving faint marks that made it impossible to recognize their original appearance.
The vegetation in the forest grew on these broken walls. Some of the pillars were wrapped in vines.
The entrance of the forbidden area used to be restricted by the elders of the Beast Taming Sect. But since this place didn't belong to the Beast Taming Sect and other sects raised objections, the Beast Taming Sect removed the restriction.
During the day, this place was full of sunlight. Although few spirit beasts set foot here, it couldn't stop some curious cultivators.
The cultivators who entered depended on their luck. Some could come out safely, while others disappeared.
But those who came out didn't obtain any precious resources. As time passed, no one came to this forbidden area anymore.
After entering the entrance, everyone indeed found flowers that were the same as the petals around the entrance.
Those flowers grew in clusters and were very lush. Everyone could smell a very strong fragrance here, which was the smell of the petals in the sachet.
Shen Qing covered her nose. The pungent stench rushed straight to her head, making her feel as if her nose was about to be熏掉.
"Is it very smelly?"
Li Xian remembered that Shen Qing said the flower fragrance was no different from the pungent stench. Now that the flower fragrance was so strong, it must be torture for Shen Qing.
"It's a bit smelly..." Although Shen Qing found the stench unbearable, she endured the pain and the stench and carefully observed the flowers. "Put me down. I'll take a look at these flowers."
"Okay."
Li Xian put Shen Qing on the ground. But because of the stabbing pain, Shen Qing couldn't stand steadily. So Li Xian's hand was always supporting her.
Shen Qing squatted down and carefully observed the flowers. Just like the picked petals, there were also tiny crystals on them.
Shen Qing plucked a petal, crushed it in her palm, and found that these petals didn't turn into black powder. Instead, sweet flower juice flowed all over her hand.
Shen Qing put the flower juice under her nose and sniffed: "Strange. The stench I smelled doesn't come from these petals."
Everyone gathered around. Seeing that there was no black powder on the petals, they were all surprised.
"Could the petals not be of the same kind?"
Xian Shiyu also found it very strange. The petals in True Lord Hu Xiao's sachet were clearly picked by her from here. But why were the petals here okay, while the petals in True Lord Hu Xiao's sachet were problematic?
"This kind of flower is called Reincarnation. The crystals on it are the seeds. After the petals fall off the branches, they will gradually become highly poisonous because they need to protect the seeds and allow them to take root safely in the soil."
A melodious voice came, like that of a hermit, floating and boundless.
Everyone looked around, searching for the source of the voice.
A figure slowly walked out from the depths of the forbidden area. There seemed to be a thick fog lingering around the person, making it impossible to recognize their true appearance.
The few of them exchanged glances and immediately became vigilant.
"Who are you?"
True Lord Hu Xiao coldly questioned, which only attracted the person's soft laughter.
"You barge into my dwelling and then ask who I am?"
The person's figure gradually approached. To everyone's surprise, they found that there was a horn on the person's forehead, just like those of the Dragon Clan.