A Taoist Priestess

On the rooftop opposite the mourning hall stood a Taoist Priestess. No one knew when she had arrived there. The lower hem of her blue-and-white Taoist robe and her plain Taoist headscarf flapped gently in the wind. In the moonlight, she reminded one of a fairy that might fly away.

She watched the mourning hall in silence. It was as if she could see the two people in the pit.

"The demonic energy is so dense. God knows how many people they have killed. I can't imagine why Princess Zhaoyang of Nanli would put herself in such danger. As reckless as she is, she's a very brave woman," the Taoist Priestess whispered. "I'll wait for a little while and see if she can get out of this predicament herself."

At the bottom of the pit.

There was a time when Qin Yi thought Li Qingjun was flat-chested.

Even that night when her clothes were soaking wet from his trap, revealing her curves, he still didn't see much happening on her top half.

That thought only flashed across his mind, because the next second, Qin Yi was alarmed. He could smell an aphrodisiac in the air.

He felt drowsy, and the soft body under him had never seemed so tempting. He could sense the heat coming off Li Qingjun's cheeks and as for her… It was obvious that Li Qingjun had inhaled the aphrodisiac as well.

It had taken effect on Li Qingjun. Normally, a woman's instinct would be to push the man off her immediately, but she didn't do that as she felt conflicted. His weight made her uncomfortable, but somehow, she didn't despise him and started to like this feeling…

For a moment, their heavy breathing was the only sound in the darkness. They couldn't see each other's faces, but it only made the atmosphere feel more intimate, as though they were encouraged to let things happen… Since they had both been drugged, why not?

Qin Yi bit his lower lip and jumped to his feet.

Other people might be able to pretend to give in to the drug, but not him.

He was an alchemist and a herbalist. He should know better.

Moreover, Liusu was with them.

Qin Yi quickly reached into his pocket, took out some pills, and stuffed them into his mouth. They might not be an antidote, but at least they could reduce the drowsiness and quench his desire. He started a fire with the flint and fed some pills to Li Qingjun as well.

The Taoist Priestess murmured, "This teenager is very level-headed and determined, and he's a man of honor as well…"

"Just admit it. You're a eunuch…" Liusu, the witness, had a completely different verdict.

Qin Yi was too busy getting the drug out of his system to retort Liusu.

After taking the pills, Li Qingjun sat up as well and smoothed her clothes with an awkward expression on her face.

Qin Yi looked away when Li Qingjun raised her head. She only stared at him with wide open eyes, as though she wanted to shout at him but didn't know what to say.

Liusu was still commenting at the side. "Life is harder for reasonable women, so they should learn to be more unreasonable. She won't feel so embarrassed if she starts yelling at you now."

Qin Yi fought back the impulse to roll his eyes and pulled Li Qingjun to her feet. "Are you alright?"

"Yes…" Her lips moved a little, and what she finally said was, "I'm a fighter. This height didn't hurt me."

The fall is hardly the problem here! Despite that thought, Qin Yi was clever enough not to criticize her. Instead, he said earnestly. "Yes. I think this pit is only about seven or eight meters deep."

His mild temper made Li Qingjun sigh. She then asked, "I've done a reckless thing again, haven't I?"

Qin Yi said, "Thanks to your recklessness, I didn't get beaten up that day."

Li Qingjun chuckled. It was true. Because of her impetuous act, she fell into Qin Yi's trap and was hung upside down. She was so furious that day, but now, it became Qin Yi's way of comforting her.

This Qin Yi isn't so bad after all. He fell into this trap because of me, but rather than blaming me, he tried to comfort me…

He seems to be a good person, Li Qingjun thought.

Despite her calmness, their moment of intimacy was still fresh in her memory. Had it not been for her pretend indifference and his tacit understanding, she would've smashed her own head into the wall.

They both dropped the subject and looked around the place. What Li Qingjun saw made her shudder, and she immediately stopped thinking about everything else.

Qin Yi pursed his lips as well.

They were surrounded by human bones. Instead of being scattered all over the place, they had been neatly arranged into eight sections in eight directions. Each section consisted of a skeleton, which had been taken apart and rebuilt on a platform on which the skull rested. The two of them had fallen right into the center of the bones, and the eight skulls surrounded them in all eight directions. Hollow eyes seemed to be staring at them, and their bare teeth looked like contemptuous smiles.

A faint red smoke was coming out of the skulls' mouths. The smell made their hearts race, and they couldn't look each other in the eye.

Li Qingjun finally managed to say, "I think we've found the missing people."

"I agree," Qin Yi said in a low voice. "Someone set up this formation, and they must've realized we're here. This is not the time to get to the bottom of things. We should leave now. Staying here will get us killed."

Looking up, Li Qingjun saw that the hole through which they had fallen in had already closed up. She couldn't see an exit anywhere nor could she think of a way to blast the stone floor open.

"But how?" She looked expectantly at Qin Yi. "You know how this formation works, don't you?"

Qin Yi explained as he listened to Liusu's instructions. "This is a type of essence-gathering formation which can gather the vital essence of other living things to enhance the owner's cultivation. It also contains some of the eight-door golden lock tricks. Open the right door and you'll find a way to reach the exit. But the result won't be so pleasant if you choose the wrong door."

In fact, Liusu's original version was, "What kind of a dumbass would set up their formation like this? The essence-gathering function has mostly been used up. The vital essence has all dissipated, and the only thing left behind is useless energy. And this eight-door golden lock they used is bullsh*t! You can spot the right door right away, and everything else stinks… Don't worry. The owner of this formation is useless. If he shows up, you can bash his head in with me."

Naturally, Li Qingjun didn't hear anything Liusu said, but seeing how confident Qin Yi was, she felt much more relieved. Without hesitation, Qin Yi walked toward the skull on the east side.

The Taoist Priestess was making some calculations with her fingers. "This eight-door golden lock changes each hour, and there are 96 possible combinations. It's too complicated for them to solve. Maybe it's time for me to save her… What?"

She cried out in surprise because Qin Yi had found the accurate direction. He then pressed the skull, and the floor overhead opened again.

Elated, Li Qingjun took Qin Yi's hand and leaped up. The next second, they were back on the ground.

"So, the teeanger is a fellow cultivator. He solved the double formation of the time-controlled golden lock without difficulty, and I'm sure he can easily resolve the situation here." The Taoist Priestess smiled and vanished into thin air.

In fact, footsteps were already coming toward the mourning hall as she spoke. The young master led a large group of armed men and surrounded Qin Yi and Li Qingjun.

The Taoist Priestess had seen these people, but she still thought that the situation could be "resolved". She either overestimated Li Qingjun's capabilities or put too much trust in her "fellow cultivator". Or did she not care about conflicts between common people at all?

The young master had no idea that he had had an unusual visitor. His stomach lurched when he saw Qin Yi and Li Qingjun, because these two people had broken into the mourning hall while his step-mother went to Li Qinglin. Would she be alright?

Concerned, he sent a servant to check on Li Qinglin before turning to Qin Yi with a smirk. "My mother was kind enough to let you stay here for the night, but she had no idea that she invited some thieves into our house!"

Before Qin Yi could reply, Li Qingjun scolded him. "There's a trap in your mourning hall and piles of human bones underground! How dare you call us thieves?!"

The young master snorted. "This is my family shrine, and the bones belong to my ancestors. It's none of your business! And that trap is there to keep out people like you!"

Li Qingjun glared at him and couldn't think of anything to retort him.

Qin Yi asked indifferently, "Did your ancestors set up that sinister formation to gather the vital essence of living creatures for their own use?"

The young master looked confused. "What formation?"

Qin Yi frowned.

The young master wasn't in the mood to argue with them. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Take them down!"

The servants rushed towards them, and Li Qingjun raised her spear.

Just then, they heard a scream coming out of the guest room a short distance away. It was filled with pain and fear that it gave everyone the creeps.

The voice belonged to Mrs. Zhang, but it was out of tune and sounded like the scream of a ghost.

"No!" The young master paled and immediately forgot about the two "thieves". He hastily ran for the guest room and almost tripped at the doorstep. He looked panic-stricken.