Fortunately, Qin Yu didn’t do anything further.

And he even looked upright and aboveboard.

Su Xiyue didn’t break free, but deep inside, she felt extreme resistance. Even through their clothes, a layer of goosebumps visibly rose on her skin.

She was the Saintess of Cyan Mountain Sect, the First Fairy of Yunlan Domain—when had she ever been touched like this?!

[Emotion Point from Su Xiyue +1]

[Su Xiyue Romantic Point: -10 (Hostile)]

???

Qin Yu’s movements paused for a moment.

Just a single touch and she’s already giving me Emotion Points?!

This fairy is just too...

Of course, Su Xiyue’s current feelings definitely weren’t fear or... desire.

Still, it’s hostility.

I’m helping her here!

This also showed that Su Xiyue’s impression of him was not at all favorable.

But Qin Yu learned something useful—even if the Romantic Points are negative, it can still generate Flame Points.

What about negative one hundred?!

To be hated that badly—just imagining it is terrifying.

Qin Yu immediately gave up that particular thought.

Better to play it safe!

He steadied his emotions, then sprinted out of the cave with the fairy on his back.

"Whoosh!"

The two figures vanished instantly.

Trapped, Leng Ruyu could only watch helplessly as they left. No sound could pass through the array, so no matter what threats she hurled at Qin Yu, he wouldn’t hear a thing.

All she could do was stomp her feet in fury!

"Little thief! Don’t let me run into you again!"

Once the two were gone, Leng Ruyu suddenly put away her anger. Instead, the corners of her lips slowly curled upward.

"Sister Xiyue, my Purple Spirit Fire isn’t something so easy to endure."

"With just that little Qi Refining brat, how far do you two think you can run..."

She seemed to recall something amusing, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

...

They ran madly along the way.

If you’re running, there’s bound to be some bumping; with bumping comes all sorts of weird collisions.

Especially those frequent knocks on his back—Qin Yu was in quite a mood.

At one point, making a sudden leap, maybe due to momentum, Su Xiyue didn’t react in time. Her delicate body pressed fully onto Qin Yu’s back, her cheek nearly meeting his in an intimate way.

Even though it was only "nearly," Qin Yu still felt Su Xiyue’s warm breath landing on his face, making his heart race and blood surge.

Totally worth it!

This is pure profit!

He deserved it, after all, he was taking a risk!

Su Xiyue felt endlessly shy, but she bit her lips through the whole ordeal and never uttered a sound.

This only made Qin Yu act even bolder. Even on flat ground he’d purposely jump, keeping all his attention on his back.

Every single time.

Qin Yu could clearly feel the dainty hand on his shoulder clench a little tighter, clearly the fairy behind him was desperately resisting that feeling of collision.

Su Xiyue felt both angry and embarrassed.

If not for having to rely on him at this moment, she would have pinned this junior cultivator to the ground already.

Finally, she couldn’t hold it anymore and snapped, "If you keep this up, forget ever getting the antidote!"

"Fairy, I swear I’m not doing anything..."

Qin Yu put on a look of pure innocence.

He was being completely proper! It was all inertia, and the fairy was the one bumping into him, how could he be to blame?!

But honestly—

The thrill of teasing a fairy like this... it really was amazing. If anyone else knew...

Su Xiyue was about to say something when Qin Yu abruptly changed the subject, "Fairy Xiyue, how long can your array keep that demoness held?"

Now that he was with Su Xiyue, of course he had to call Leng Ruyu the "demoness" from her perspective.

"About one hour or so."

Su Xiyue wasn’t entirely sure either.

The next instant, Qin Yu stopped abruptly. Caught off guard, the fairy crashed into him again.

This time, she was truly angry.

"Fairy, if we keep running like this, that demoness will eventually catch up to us!"

But Qin Yu’s next words made Su Xiyue’s face turn serious.

He had a point.

She had to admit, Qin Yu’s endurance was impressive. He didn’t seem like a mere Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator, and most notably, she couldn’t tell he was using any Spiritual Power to aid him.

It was truly strange.

Still, even so, Leng Ruyu would have no trouble catching up.

Su Xiyue was perfectly aware of this in her heart.

"Fairy, if we hide, does she have a way to track us down?" Qin Yu’s eyes swept around, clearly searching for a place to hide.

"I have a Breath-Holding Array... mmph..."

Before she could finish, Su Xiyue’s face suddenly changed, and she let out a suppressed groan, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of her lips. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Qin Yu turned to look, alarmed.

"Fairy..."

"Quick, hide!"

Qin Yu wanted to ask what was wrong, but Su Xiyue grew suddenly agitated, her face even paler than before.

"Fairy, do you trust me?" Qin Yu glanced back the way they’d come, fixing his gaze on the river.

...

"Boom!..."

Back inside the waterfall cave, as the array shattered with a thunderous crash, a streak of purple light shot out of the waterfall, exuding a terrifying aura.

It was the little demoness, Leng Ruyu.

She frowned and scanned the area, took out a strange little bead and sensed carefully. Soon enough, she directly chased after the direction Qin Yu had fled.

Her speed was astonishing.

Perhaps she cultivated some special body technique, and she was at least ten times faster than Qin Yu—not just running, but flying. In the span of one incense stick, she’d already reached where Qin Yu paused earlier.

The Qi Mechanism disappeared?!

Leng Ruyu’s eyes flashed with a thoughtful glint.

Suppressing her Qi Mechanism wouldn’t be difficult for Su Xiyue.

She began calculating the distance from the waterfall to here.

Strange!

Just a Qi Refining Fourth Layer junior cultivator, and he managed to get this far in only one hour? How did he do it?

"Sister Xiyue, you’d better hide well. Don’t let little sister find you..."

Leng Ruyu’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried far.

She was confident Qin Yu, carrying Su Xiyue, couldn’t have run far and must be hiding nearby.

"Boom boom!..."

Trees tumbled down, rocks shattered, earth flew everywhere.

Some time later—

Leng Ruyu was exhausted, but she’d found nothing.

"Hehe, that’s way more fun..."

She wasn’t discouraged. In fact...

She was even more excited.

...

At the waterfall—

Qin Yu had followed the river back, dug out a hole big enough for two near the falls, and crawled in to hide.

Boom!

Almost as soon as they’d squeezed in, Leng Ruyu broke the array and stopped right above them.

Qin Yu tensed every muscle in his body.

He and Su Xiyue were shielded under a thin protective array.

Thankfully—

Leng Ruyu didn’t linger, and soon rushed off in the direction he’d fled earlier.

Not until there was utter silence did Qin Yu finally let out a breath of relief.

Looking down, he saw Su Xiyue was now deathly pale, her brows tightly knitted, eyes squeezed shut—clearly enduring some great pain.

"Fairy, what’s wrong..."

It was only then that Qin Yu noticed, from the torn part of the fairy’s clothes, faint wisps of black qi were seeping, seemingly devouring her body.