The cave where the bats resided was deep, and the further one ventured inside, the darker it became, to the point where one couldn’t see their own hand in front of their face. The surroundings were pitch black.
After entering the cave, the bat demon flew with Yun Qingxue for a short while before suddenly releasing its grip on her.
Yun Qingxue felt her body plummeting rapidly. In her panic, she quickly cast a spell to summon the wind and gently descended.
“You lot, guard them well! This human and snake are important prisoners. No one is to touch them without orders, understand?” The bat that had dropped Yun Qingxue commanded in a grating voice.
“Understood!”
Voices responded from the darkness. Yun Qingxue saw pairs of red dots flickering in and out of sight not far away.
If nothing was amiss, those red dots were likely the eyes of the bats guarding her and Adai.
“Adai?” Yun Qingxue called softly.
The surroundings were eerily silent, with no response. She grew anxious.
From the bats’ earlier words, she could deduce that she and Adai had been imprisoned together.
Yet Adai hadn’t responded to her call at all, which could only mean…
Yun Qingxue didn’t dare let her thoughts spiral further.
The place where the bat demons had imprisoned them couldn’t be too large, so the immediate priority was to find Adai!
“Adai… Adai!”
In the pitch-black darkness, Yun Qingxue called softly while slowly feeling her way along the ground.
“Look at what that woman is doing,” a rough, unpleasant voice asked with curiosity.
“Who knows? Maybe she’s gone mad from fear, knowing she’s about to die?” another bat demon suggested.
“The boss and the others went straight into seclusion in the secret realm as soon as they returned. They didn’t look too good…
What could have happened in such a short time outside?”
“Who knows!” another bat chimed in. “But one thing is strange… Every time the boss brings someone back, don’t they either drain their blood and magic themselves or have us do it?
Why didn’t they kill that human and snake right away this time? What are they keeping them alive for?”
The bats shook their heads, but suddenly, a strange, intoxicating fragrance filled the air.
“Hey… do you smell that…?”
“Such a… sweet… scent…”
The flickering red dots in the darkness vanished completely.
Yun Qingxue glanced around, then lightly flicked her finger, summoning a small flame at her fingertip.
The warm orange glow illuminated the oppressive darkness of the chamber.
She quickly scanned the area and finally spotted Adai lying motionless in the center of the stone room.
Adai was sprawled on the cold ground, seemingly devoid of all vitality, his body covered in wounds of varying sizes.
“Adai!” Yun Qingxue rushed over, picking him up and cradling him in her palm.
“Adai…” she called softly, her heart aching.
Adai struggled to open his eyes.
Yun Qingxue swiftly retrieved a healing pill from her storage ring and placed it in Adai’s mouth. “Eat this, quickly!”
As Adai swallowed the pill, Yun Qingxue racked her memory for the healing spells she had learned from Master Ziqu Shengjun.
She recalled that there were indeed spells for healing, though given her current level, her master had only taught her the simplest ones.
Yet even these basic healing spells proved invaluable now for Adai’s severe injuries.
Reciting the incantation, Yun Qingxue helped tend to Adai’s wounds before surveying their surroundings.
Three stone walls, one barred door, no windows—apart from the faint glow in her hand, the place was engulfed in darkness.
Outside the door, the bat demons tasked with guarding them had succumbed to her floral poison, lying unconscious on the ground.
The prison door was made of ordinary bamboo bars. When Yun Qingxue reached out, a dark purple light flashed, repelling her hand.
A barrier had been placed at the entrance!
“M-Mistress…” Adai’s weak voice called out just then.
“Adai!” Yun Qingxue immediately abandoned her inspection and turned to him.
“Are you alright? Does anything still hurt?”
“I’ll be fine…” Adai’s voice was still weak, laced with deep guilt. “I… dragged you into this. I’m useless…”
“Don’t be silly!” Yun Qingxue cut him off. “How is this your fault? We’re the best of friends!”
She extended her wrist, allowing Adai to coil around it, then extinguished the faint light in her hand.
The darkness here was absolute, and she feared even the slightest glow might attract the bat demons.
While she could easily break the barrier at the door, she worried it might be linked to other spells. If shattered, it could alert the other bat demons, making escape nearly impossible.
But staying meant waiting for the old bat demon to return and deal with them.
After a moment’s thought, Yun Qingxue turned to the stone wall behind her. Groping in the dark, she approached and pressed her hand against it.
Fortunately, the wall was just ordinary stone. Passing through it with a wall-penetration spell shouldn’t be an issue.
But new concerns arose.
First, she vividly remembered her first attempt at the wall-penetration spell—getting stuck midway. Though it was a simple spell, the risk of being trapped remained.
Second, this was the bat demons’ lair. Who knew what lay beyond the wall? What if it was even more dangerous than this cell?
What if she and Adai emerged right in front of a powerful bat demon or a swarm of smaller ones?
Standing before the wall, Yun Qingxue hesitated.
“Adai… are you willing to gamble with me?” she whispered, her gaze gentle despite the darkness.
“Mm!” Adai responded softly. “Things can’t get much worse than this anyway!”
True. Yun Qingxue smiled wryly. Overthinking now was just a waste of time.
Between a rock and a hard place, how much worse could it get?
“Get ready,” she murmured to Adai before reciting the wall-penetration spell. Closing her eyes, she stepped forward into the stone.
Soon, a squeezing sensation enveloped her—she had entered the wall. Focusing, she continued chanting the spell, inching deeper.
She couldn’t tell how thick the wall was. After several steps, the pressure of the spell persisted, but she pressed on.
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