Chapter 33

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Chapter 33: The Allure of the Red Dress

"Friend Ming, please save me."

In a dim, sparse area of the deep forest, a woman in red was bound by blood-red vines to a tree trunk, unable to move. Her vibrant red attire radiated heat, making it difficult to discern if she was injured.

At this moment, she gazed at the girl in blue who had appeared nearby, her expression darkening. After struggling fruitlessly against the unyielding blood-red vines, a flicker of annoyance crossed her eyes. When she looked up again, her demeanor shifted to one of helplessness and sudden hope.

Ming He stood at a distance, showing no intention of approaching. After leaping to the treetops and confirming that the star-shaped spiritual artifact was not in the valley palaces, she had parted ways with Su Cheng Feng and the others.

After all, the cave dwelling was filled with opportunities, and she had no reason to expect them to follow her plans. As for those opportunities… Ming He narrowed her eyes, choosing to ignore them.

Having confirmed the absence of the star-shaped spiritual artifact in the valley palaces, it wasn’t hard to guess where it might be.

That dense forest, connected by black stones and stretching beyond the cliff edge, was a place even the ancient fierce beast Kui feared to tread.

Once she determined the direction, she cautiously made her way there, avoiding the path she had taken with Qin Chu Yi. And here, she encountered this woman in red—a possible Dao partner of Young Master Zheng Qi of the Hehuan Sect?

From her aura, she appeared to be at the Spirit Guiding Eighth Level, two small realms above Ming He, matching Su Cheng Feng’s cultivation level.

Blood-red vines.

Ming He stared at the vines that had nearly claimed her life before, her expression impassive as she pondered the woman’s presence here.

"You know me?" Ming He asked, noticing the blood-red vines showed no signs of attacking her. She lazily leaned against the trunk of a towering tree, speaking slowly, entirely unbothered by the life-and-death urgency of the situation.

After all, the woman was merely bound; she wouldn’t die just yet.

Ming He thought this, leaning even more comfortably against the tree.

"Yes," the woman in red replied, her expression growing more vulnerable as she noticed Ming He’s lack of urgency. Internally, she nearly laughed.

This detached, indifferent attitude was amusing—if only it weren’t directed at her own peril.

Truly, this was an ancient cave dwelling.

Her cultivation was heavily suppressed. At this moment, she might not even be able to defeat this small cultivator, whom she would normally overlook.

What a wretched place!

She cursed inwardly. If it weren’t for the Star Lock, she would never have stooped to coming to this remote Eastern Region!

"I heard from the young master about the Bloodhand Butcher and know he died by your hand," she said softly, her eyes brimming with hope for survival.

"Is that so?" Ming He took a few steps closer, her gaze flickering to the eerily still blood-red vines. A flicker of curiosity stirred within her. "Then what is your name?"

In the cave dwelling, opportunities and dangers always coexisted. She had already explored enough opportunities. As for the dangers…

Ming He smiled faintly, waiting for her answer.

"My surname is Ji, and my name is Wu Xu," the woman in red said, lifting her head to meet Ming He’s gaze directly.

Ming He. The inherited disciple of Liu Yun Sect?

She remembered.

Ji Wu Xu?

Ming He repeated the name, finding it vaguely familiar. Her mind sharpened, and she straightened from the tree trunk, her nonchalance fading as she met the woman’s gaze. The woman was strikingly beautiful, with jet-black hair and eyes, her phoenix-like eyes reflecting Ming He’s own image.

"Are you a disciple of the Hehuan Sect? What is your relationship with Zheng Qi? Why did you enter the cave dwelling? Why are you here? And how did you end up bound by the blood-red vines?"

"Are you acting alone? Why aren’t you with the others?

Are you a sword cultivator? For no reason at all, why would Sect Master Zheng mention the Bloodhand Butcher to you?"

Ming He’s mind raced as she searched for questions to ask, her eyes fixed tightly on Ji Wu Xu’s flawless face, unwilling to miss any change in her expression.

The name that seemed familiar could only belong to a character from the original story.

Ji Wu Xu.

After thinking it through, she realized she had no impression of this name, just a shallow recognition—either a bigshot or a cannon fodder.

But could cannon fodder survive this long? After all, Dragon Hero hadn’t even been born yet.

Could she be an experienced cannon fodder? Ming He boldly opened her mind, speculating as she awaited Ji Wu Xu’s answer.

Ji Wu Xu: "…"

"Look into my eyes," she said softly, her voice calm yet seemingly holding a kind of magic.

At the moment Ji Wu Xu raised her gaze, Ming He felt her heart leap, a warning ringing in her mind. But when she heard Ji Wu Xu speak, she uncontrollably looked into her phoenix eyes, her consciousness gradually fading away, leaving her feeling a bit fuzzy.

"Draw your sword and cut the vines." Ji Wu Xu blinked her enchanting eyes, her voice becoming softer but filled with irresistible allure.

Under her command, Ming He uncontrollably drew her sword, channeling sword energy into the sword tip, and swung down— severing the blood-red vines that fell around her.

"Very good." Ji Wu Xu watched the broken vines scattered on the ground, her gaze relaxing as she exhaled, "Now turn around and leave this place, and—"

She looked at the girl in blue clothes and seemed to hear again the long string of questions she had just asked, mischief dancing in her dark eyes. "Find a cliff and jump off it. Did you hear that?"

"I heard." Nonsense!

Ming He gazed at herself, shocked at how she had uncontrollably drawn her sword to save her, then heard the absurd request, so ridiculous that she wanted to laugh.

Nonsense!

Just as she intended to retort, she heard her own emotionless voice as she slowly turned around.

Hey? Hey! No way?

Ming He felt as if something had trapped her in her own body, watching as it moved away from the deep forest with determination, picking a direction and marching forward… to certain death?

How absurd!

Who goes to their death with such a fighting spirit?

Ming He silently cursed, then belatedly remembered that the red-dressed beauty had suggested she find a cliff to jump off?

No way, no way? She couldn’t really be walking to her doom like this?

Ming He sighed in her consciousness space, her sharp eyes catching a glimpse of the distant horizon where the deep blue sky met the land, and the cliff was right ahead.

Ming He: "…"

"Ha!" Ji Wu Xu watched Ming He’s departing figure with a radiant smile, her stunning beauty enhanced by the red attire she wore—a true beauty who could topple kingdoms, a mesmerizing enchantress leaving a powerful impression.

She thought of it as a reply to that string of questions!

Ji Wu Xu smirked; if Ming He truly died, it was just a sign of her own weakness. Who could she blame?

Hmph!

She kicked the now-lifeless blood-red vines beneath her, turning to vanish into the deep forest.

At the edge of a cliff within the ancient cave dwelling, the girl clad in blue clothes gripped her white long sword tightly, advancing step by step with a mechanical precision, each step measured and devoid of any emotion. The area was unnervingly silent, a secluded part of the cave dwelling where no cultivators were present.

"Stop!" Ming He’s voice thundered in her consciousness. The chirping of birds was unusually clear and melodious, the air was still, and a gentle breeze caused the leaves to rustle and drift down to the ground. It was a perfect embodiment of the desolate autumn wind.

"Damn it!" Ming He muttered under her breath, her eyes fixed on the rapidly approaching cliff edge. One hundred meters! Fifty meters! Ten meters! One meter!

"Hmph!" With a grunt of defiance, Ming He summoned an unexpected surge of strength fueled by her deep-seated resentment and anger, letting out a fierce cry that halted her steps just in time. As she regained her senses, she realized she had somehow wrested control of her body back from Ji Wu Xu’s secret technique.

Looking down, Ming He noticed a small stone she had inadvertently kicked off the cliff, tumbling silently into the dark, misty abyss below without a sound. Her right toe teetered on the very edge of the cliff, half of it already suspended over the void.

Swiftly, Ming He retracted her foot and stood firmly on the cliff, facing the wind. She gazed at the distant clouds and the radiant sunset, a shiver of fear running through her. The control over her body—wasn’t it reminiscent of her last encounter with the black cat in the cave dwelling?

No, it was more potent. The black cat’s cries had merely immobilized her, but Ji Wu Xu had taken full control of her body. The black cat’s method was auditory; blocking her hearing could thwart it. But Ji Wu Xu’s technique was something else entirely.

Ming He narrowed her eyes, pondering if it was the charm technique briefly mentioned in the Liu Yun Sect’s scripture repository among the tales of the strange. She felt a vague familiarity with the term, but what good was a mere impression? She was still at a loss. If faced with it again, she doubted she could resist.

So, how had she broken free this time? Ming He closed her eyes, reliving the brink of life and death—her fierce resistance to being manipulated, her deep regrets from her past life. It was her refusal to be controlled that had spurred her to break free. Her all-out effort had granted her a new lease on life.

Opening her eyes, a cold glint shone within them, fierce and mesmerizing. Such a person couldn’t merely be the young master’s partner from the Hehuan Sect. Though the Hehuan Sect was significant, in the grand scheme of things, it was too small. The woman in red, Ji Wu Xu, must have come from a far more expansive realm.

What was her purpose here? Ming He raised an eyebrow, retracing her steps back into the deep forest, where she found the ground strewn with broken vines and nothing else. Ji Wu Xu had indeed left; otherwise, Ming He wouldn’t have dared to return.

Blood-red vines. Ming He knelt, her fingers brushing against the broken vines, noting their stillness. A hypothesis began to form in her mind. They didn’t attack her.

Ancient cave dwelling, valley palaces, the ancient fierce beast Kui, the star-shaped spiritual artifact, blood-red vines, blood-sucking bees, the black cat, and that last woman—Ji Wu Xu. Ming He organized her thoughts, surveying her surroundings, the answer crystallizing in her mind.

The star-shaped spiritual artifact was also known as the Star Lock, as Qin Chu Yi had mentioned. Ji Wu Xu had come for it. Charm techniques, seduction, perhaps the Breath Control Technique’s Second Level, and the sixth acupoint in Closing the Acupoints could be used against Ji Wu Xu?

Ming He speculated quietly, regretfully accepting that she only possessed the upper scroll. She turned and left the deep forest, choosing a path that led in the opposite direction of Ji Wu Xu’s.