Chapter 568: Your hand is really beautiful

Xie Yan, a great enemy is before us—we cannot treat this so childishly. Yuan Yao took a deep breath, her face solemn, as she said to him.

I know you want to hold my hand; you can hold it later, you don't have to do it when facing an enemy. If we were holding hands and got beaten, wouldn't we both be blown to the ground and roll around? If others saw, wouldn't they laugh their teeth off?

Yuan Yao pointed at him, "Xie Yan, I order you: be rational now, don't drown in lovey-dovey, and don't be overconfident in your abilities."

Xie Yan stared at her: "Really?"

"Huh? What's for real?" Yuan Yao was momentarily dazed.

"I understand."

Xie Yan let go of her hand.

Immediately after, he cautioned: "You have injuries; unless absolutely necessary, you must not act."

Yuan Yao's right hand transformed into a Phantom Spirit Sword, and she said: "Good."

She knew Xie Yan was showing concern for her; if too many strong enemies came, she would definitely not stand by idly.

As soon as that thought arose, the ground transmitted a slight tremor, accompanied by a teeth‑aching howl that drew near from afar.

After just a few breaths, several ferocious‑looking abyssal beasts had already pursued them here; foul saliva dripped from their sharp fangs, and pairs of scarlet beast eyes locked onto Xie Yan and Yuan Yao.

They quickly dispersed, surrounding the two in an encirclement, then immediately roared and launched a fierce attack.

Just as the abyssal beasts lunged, a white figure flashed.

Xie Yan almost left an afterimage in place, raising his sword to block all the attacks.

Yuan Yao narrowed her eyes, focusing her attention on the battle.

There were four abyssal beasts in total; one was slightly smaller, with a weaker aura, roughly fifth‑tier. The other three were huge, with exposed fangs, emanating a stronger killing intent—clearly three sixth‑tier abyssal beasts.

Her heart settled a little.

Xie Yan has now reached mid‑Body Integration Realm cultivation; dealing with these four abyssal beasts, even though three are sixth‑tier, is no problem for him.

Yuan Yao quickly shifted her position, retreating to a relatively safe spot at the edge of the battlefield.

At the same time, her jade fingers flew as she took out a small tortoise‑shell defensive artifact; infusing it with spiritual power, a white shield instantly enveloped her, blocking the impact of the battle's aftermath.

Yuan Yao stood within the shield, quietly watching the white figure in the field.

The youth's movements were graceful and agile, yet his strikes were swift and ruthless; each move contained immense spiritual power, crushing the four ferocious abyssal beasts into defeat.

Watching this scene before her, Yuan Yao's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to when she first met Xie Yan, and she let out a soft sigh.

Back then, Xie Yan toward her was truly… sharp‑tongued, cold‑hearted, arrogant, merciless, and vengeful.

But she wasn't very good to him either.

But in just a moment, Xie Yan had already slain the four abyssal beasts, taken out their beast crystals, performed the Dust‑Clearing Technique, and then handed them to Yuan Yao.

Yuan Yao saw that his snow‑white robe had not a speck of blood on it, and she was somewhat surprised.

However, the back of his hand was injured.

"You're bleeding." That was the mark from the abyssal beast's sharp claws tearing the skin.

Yuan Yao pulled his hand over and applied medicine and bandaged it.

Upon closer look now, his hand is truly extremely beautiful: his skin is cold‑white, beneath the thin layer of skin the veins and arteries are fully visible, his fingers are slender, his joints distinct, and his nails are clean with a hint of pink.

Yuan Yao said, "Your hand is handsome, and your fingers are also long."

No wonder when he interlocks his fingers with hers, it feels like vines wrapping around her, as tight as could be—it turns out his hand is much larger than hers.

"Mm." Xie Yan gave a soft reply, his ears turning red as warm breath seemed to travel from his ears to his cheeks.

It was very hot.

He lowered his gaze to look at the hand that Yuan Yao was bandaging, and couldn't help but recall……

"Why is your face so red?" Yuan Yao, after finishing bandaging his wound, lifted her head, saw his cheeks flushed, and asked doubtfully.

"It's fine." Xie Yan lowered his eyelids; beneath the thin lids his eyeballs seemed to tremble a little nervously, he covered his mouth and gave a light cough, "Maybe it's because I'm a bit tired from fighting those four abyssal beasts."

Yuan Yao didn't think much of it.

"Oh."

"We've been out for a long time; let's hurry and cut some wood." Yuan Yao told him, worried that her senior brothers and sisters would be concerned for her safety.

Yuan Yao lifted her head to scan the surroundings, then fixed her gaze on a certain giant tree.

"This one right ahead." Yuan Yao excitedly grabbed his uninjured hand and said, "Come with me."

…

Meanwhile.

Within the Abyssal Rift, somewhere.

"Fourth Prince, we have discovered that the camp of the Abyssal Elimination Squad is located less than five li from our position." A demon heavenly pride with dog ears, clasping his hands in salute, said to the youth in brocade robes sitting on the withered wood.

Xie Xu slightly raised his eyes, then turned his head to look at the not‑far‑away troop.

The demon troops are now also divided into two groups.

One group is led by Fourth Prince Xie Xu.

The other group is led by Young Imperial Highness Xie Ang.

Xie Xu's troop numbers fifty‑six demon heavenly pride members.

And Xie Ang's troop totals seventy‑eight demon heavenly pride members.

Xie Xu slowly said: "Go tell this news to the Young Imperial Highness."

"Huh?" The dog‑eared demon heavenly pride blinked, somewhat puzzled, and asked: "Fourth Prince, we already split into two troops, didn't we? Do we still need to share information with them?"

The other demon heavenly pride, hearing the conversation between Xie Xu and the dog‑eared one, also showed a hint of doubt.

Xie Xu smiled and said: "Just consider this news as a gift to them. As for why, you'll see."

The dog‑eared demon heavenly pride, hearing this, though dissatisfied inside, nevertheless agreed.

Immediately, the dog‑eared demon heavenly pride conveyed this news to Xie Ang and the other heavenly pride members.

Xie Ang furrowed their brow.

After the dog demon left, Xie Ang immediately looked at She Chao and asked in a low voice, "What do you think of this matter?"

She Chao's expression slightly tightened, and after a moment of thought, they analyzed: "Your Highness, according to this subordinate, the Fourth Prince leaking this news to us can only mean two possibilities. First, they may intend to set up camp nearby and take this opportunity to curry favor with the Human Race Eliminate Abyss Squad, while also hinting for us to voluntarily leave this area."

"How dare they make us leave!!" Xie Ang immediately snorted coldly, their voice full of contempt and anger, their gaze icy as they swept toward the direction of the Xie Xu Squad.

"If we leave, then it's them who leave!"

"Please calm down, Your Highness, let this subordinate finish speaking." She Chao waited for Xie Ang's emotions to ease slightly before continuing: "Just now we also carefully surveyed this area; the terrain is open with no natural defenses, making it easy to attack but hard to defend—certainly not an ideal choice for setting up camp."

"Therefore, this subordinate daringly speculates that this second possibility is—the Fourth Prince may be using the goading tactic against us. They anticipate that Your Highness, being proud and lofty, unwilling to be suppressed, will surely act contrary to their expectations and insist on staying in this unsuitable place. In this way, they would have achieved their goal… completely separating the two squads, leaving them unconnected."