Chapter 91: Trust No One

This demon shadow is simply too strong; Shi Ran is no match for him. Fortunately, neither the demon shadow nor the people on the rock noticed her.

Shi Ran suppressed the fear in her heart, held her breath, and quietly retreated; she had to leave this place as soon as possible! Find Luo Changfeng or any companion whose expression was still clear.

However, the moment she turned, her left foot suddenly stepped on a loose stone, making a slight crack.

The people on the rocky shore abruptly turned their heads, and dozens of icy gazes shot toward her in unison.

"Seize her!" He Chenyen's sharp voice echoed across the empty underground lake.

Shi Ran turned and ran without hesitation; hurried footsteps and the sound of tearing air came from behind, she dared not look back and could only rush forward desperately. Ahead lay a complex cavern passage; she arbitrarily chose one and darted into it.

The passage was damp and dark; Shi Ran stumbled as she ran, hearing only her own ragged breath and heartbeat. Suddenly she tripped, fell hard to the ground, and before she could get up, a black shadow enveloped her.

"Not bad speed!" Qi Chengshuang's cold voice came from above; his blood‑dripping long sword pressed against Shi Ran's throat.

Shi Ran broke out in a cold sweat, terrifiedly looking at Qi Chengshuang: "Second senior brother! It's me!" But Qi Chengshuang's gaze was colder than the outside ice; Shi Ran gritted her teeth, her fingers furtively moving toward the Ice Stream at her waist.

Qi Chengshuang snorted coldly: "Of course I know it's you. My little junior sister!" After saying that, he thrust his long sword fiercely; Shi Ran dodged by turning her head, but the ruthless edge of his Silver Soul still sliced the tender skin of her neck. Blood and pain stabbed her brain, and just as she was about to make a desperate last stand, the entire cavern suddenly shuddered violently.

"What's going on?" He Chenyen looked at Shan Ming, who gripped the crystal in his hand, his eyes completely black and full of bewilderment.

The cavern's shaking grew stronger; fragments of stone kept falling from inside, and the shadow of the skull began to twist, emitting a piercing wail.

"The ritual has been interrupted!" He Chenyen's face changed drastically: "Someone has sabotaged the ritual!"

Shi Ran seized the moment, kicked Qi Chengshuang's Silver Soul away, and sprang to her feet. She saw the shadow at the lake's center suffering a backlash; countless black tentacles shot up from the lake bottom, wrapping around the people on the shore.

"Ah!" Chu Yaoer was the first to be ensnared by a tentacle, about to be dragged into the lake instantly.

At the critical moment, Ruan Xinli promptly grabbed her; Chu Yaoer looked up at Ruan Xinli, her completely black eyes gradually gaining a hint of clarity: "Senior sister!"

The scene descended into chaos; Shi Ran had no time for anything else, turned and ran. Behind her came He Chenyen's hysterical roar: "Stop her! Don't let her escape!"

However, more tentacles surged from all directions, forcing even the pursuers to halt and block; Shi Ran seized the opportunity and rushed into a narrow crack.

She didn't know how long she had run; she stopped only when she could no longer hear any sound behind her, leaning against the cold stone wall, gasping heavily, her heart almost leaping out of her chest—she had to find an exit quickly! Shi Ran forced herself to calm down.

Just then, a faint light came from ahead in the passage; Shi Ran approached warily and discovered it was a floating Lotus Lantern, with a person standing beneath it.

"— — Senior brother?"

The figure slowly turned, but it was not Luo Changfeng; it was a woman in green robes. Her complexion was pallid, her features cold and exquisite; she stood there silently, like a lone lotus blossom in the dust, and said softly, "Come with me!" Her voice was ethereal and drifting.

Shi Ran instinctively stepped back two paces, but the woman suddenly raised her hand, pointing at Shi Ran's rear: "Watch out, he's coming!"

Shi Ran jerked her head back—only to see the enormous skull at the end of the passage hurtling toward her at high speed; the fire burning in the demon shadow's eyes was like the raging flames of hell's inferno.

Shi Ran's pupils contracted, her heart nearly stopped, and she reached out to summon Brahma and Red Pupil from her own sea of consciousness—no matter who, as long as something could come forth to save her life.

"Fall back!" the green‑clothed woman suddenly flashed forward to block Shi Ran; the Lotus Lantern burst with blinding light, the skull shadow let out a mournful howl, was driven back several zhang, but then surged forward even more violently. The woman grabbed Shi Ran's hand: "What are you staring at? Run!"

The two raced through the tangled, chaotic cavern; behind them, rocks dislodged by the skull shadow's impacts rained down from the walls. In her panic, Shi Ran noticed the woman's hand was icy as snow, and while running she could not even hear her breathing.

"Who are you? Why are you alone here?" Shi Ran couldn't help but ask.

The woman gave no answer, merely stopped suddenly; ahead lay a long, deep chasm, the only path a rotting suspension bridge hanging above it. At the far end of the bridge, Luo Changfeng could be faintly seen bound tightly by iron chains, his whole body tied to a stone pillar, head hanging, alive or dead unknown.

"Senior brother!" Shi Ran was about to rush forward when the woman gripped her tightly, "Look carefully!" the woman's voice trembled.

Shi Ran stared intently; her blood nearly froze, the gaps in the bridge planks swarmed with countless black Dream‑eating Gu, while Luo Changfeng's mouth was twisted at a bizarre angle, his eyes a void of darkness, as if he could not see the depths of the road.

"This is an illusion!" Shi Ran broke out in a cold sweat.

"They're called Dream‑eating Gu, and they excel at devouring hope!" The woman's words had barely fallen when the passage behind her trembled with earth‑shaking force; the demon shadow had closed in, and at the critical moment a clear sword note rang from below the abyss. A blade of light shot up to the heavens, shattering the suspension bridge and the illusion alike.

It was the true Luo Changfeng arriving on his sword, his robe stained with blood but his eyes blazing like torches; behind him followed the tattered Wei Yuzhu and Mei Ruoxue, the black mist gone from their eyes, clearly freed from control.

"How are you?"

"No time to explain!" Luo Changfeng grabbed Shi Ran onto his sword: "That demon shadow is the Slaying God General of the Ancient Demon Sect, He Yuan! He is using the Candle Yin seal to restore his power."

Luo Changfeng spoke while flying his sword toward the fissure at the cavern's top; Wei Yuzhu and Mei Ruoxue followed silently behind them. Below them the skull demon roared earth‑shakingly, the underground lake boiling like molten lava. Shi Ran anxiously looked back, seeing only the green‑clothed woman standing still on the edge of the collapsing cliff, her Lotus Lantern emitting a lustrous glow. She smiled, gestured for Shi Ran to hurry, and her form gradually dissolved into a shower of stars—she had actually been a spirit all along!

"Senior brother!" Shi Ran hastily seized Luo Changfeng: "We can't leave yet; they're still down there!"

Luo Changfeng nodded, gave a faint smile: "You're right, little junior sister! None of us can get out now!"

Shi Ran widened her eyes, feeling that the Luo Changfeng before her was becoming more and more like that skull demon!