The woman’s eyes are so cold, like she is not a human. She casts an emotionless glance at Lin Luoran and asks indifferently,
“Who is…Baojia?”
Lin feels that she just took a head-on blow.
Baojia went missing outside of the Bushman’s tribe. Lin and Wen forced Yakee, chief of the tribe, and Barney to be their guides. The four of them walked in the desert and were attacked by the scorpions. Then they were drawn into this underground world by drift sand. Lin later met Wen at the foxes’ cave and the two went through the danger of lava… Baojia is like a sister to Lin. Lin feels obliged to save her.
Now, Baojia is standing right in front of Lin, but she is acting like they are strangers. Lin feels cold all over her body.
Seeing that Lin Luoran is about to lose herself, Wen Guanjing, who has been in silence, pulls Lin’s sleeves.
“Sister Lin… This may not be the real Baojia.” Wen says in a low voice but he doesn’t try to hide his voice. He has a feeling that this “Baojia” who came here on a beast is extremely powerful. As a bystander, Wen is actually able to think more calmly.
Qin Baojia’s level of cultivation was low. There is no chance that her power can feel like a deep sea. The woman in front of them is definitely not Sister Lin’s best friend!
After being reminded, Lin comes to her sense. She is usually composed and she was being surprised by “Baojia”’s sudden appearance. Lin steps back and checks on this woman. She is in a loose ancient costume and a ribbon is in her long hair — This woman looks nothing like Baojia except for her face.
Baojia never likes ancient costume. She always says that she can’t get the Tang costume Li Xi’er wears every day.
Before coming to Africa, Baojia cut her hair to cope with the hot weather. It has only been days since Lin last saw her… Her hair can’t grow so fast.
Baojia’s long eyes are always so glowing and the glow makes her look beautiful and elegant. If Lin Luoran can be compared to a gentle jade, Baojia will be a shining diamond.
Lin looks “Baojia” in the eye. Her eyes are blank and empty. The expressions in her eyes feel like the clouds in the sky, which is unreal.
This is not Baojia!
Without noticing, Lin clenches her fists.
She steps back. After coming here on a beast, the woman who looks like Baojia has said nothing after the question “who is Baojia”. It’s like that she doesn’t care about Lin and Wen at all.
The woman looks around. She seems to be satisfied by all the shivering animals on the ground. Suddenly, she turns around and asks Lin and Wen, “Why don’t you two kneel?”
Kneel—? Why should we kneel?
Wen asks.
Hearing Wen’s question, “Baojia with long hair” finally shows another expression except indifference… Is she slightly angry?
Yes. She is.
The woman flicks her sleeves and Wen falls back. To be more specific, Wen is blown away like a stone!
Of course, Lin won’t stand there and watch Wen get hurt. Rolling lava is right behind them. If Wen falls into the lava, he will be immediately melted. Therefore, in a flash, a vine rushes out of Lin’s palm and circles around Wen Guanjing. With wood Reiki, Lin Luoran has managed to help a seed of the iron thorn to grow up into a vine in one second.
“Bound!” Lin Luoran shouts. She tries to draw the vine and Wen back, but the momentum on Wen’s body is so strong that Lin is almost dragged into the lava. Lin’s feet are off the ground. She steps on the wall around the platform and her shoes are almost on fire. Luckily, she manages to land on the ground along with Wen Guanjing.
Lin gasps. She looks at the woman with long hair warily. Now Lin is sure that the woman in front of her is not Baojia — This woman only looks like Baojia. She tried to kill Wen with the first strike. How could she be Baojia?
Lin Luoran doesn’t want to think about the worst scenario. The worst case is that the woman here is Baojia, only being possessed…
The woman is more powerful than Lin and Wen. They don’t know what to do except for staring at the woman warily.
“You stupid Qi-trainers…are so reckless.” The woman draws a conclusion on Lin and Wen. She doesn’t seem to want to kill Lin and Wen now, and she even stops to ask them to kneel.
The beast which has four burning hoofs and a horn on its head looks like a bull or a dear. It moos.
The woman seems to be able to understand what the beast is saying. She is surprised.
She stands up and looks at Lin’s feet. A cyan little fox is lying by Lin’s feet.
“It is you. Why are you hiding?” The woman smiles and waves her hand. The cyan little fox loses control of its own body and it flies to the woman reluctantly.
Lin worries that the woman may hurt the little fox. She moves her right hand. The next second, a ball of light hits Lin’s right hand. Lin feels a sharp pain.
The woman says coldly, “Silly Qi-trainer, don’t try again. If you do, don’t blame me, the saintess, for killing you instantly despite of the sacrifice.”
Saintess? Sacrifice?
Lin and Wen are both confused. However, the saintess ignores them and gets on the back of the beast with the cyan little fox in her arms. In front of the eyes of Lin and Wen, the woman rises into the sky and disappears through the big huge on the roof of the sanctuary.
Lin looks at her right hand after the woman is gone.
The back of her hand is burnt and her fingers are still shivering because of the pain. The careless strike of the “saintess” almost disabled Lin’s hand.
Right hand means so much for cultivators.
Most people use their right hand to hold pens when they write and forks when they eat, so do the cultivators. Cultivators use their right hand to make gestures so that they can cast spells.
The saintess is so cold and mean. She is more like a witch rather than a saintess.
Now, Lin Luoran is finally sure that even if the woman is Baojia, she has lost her memory.
“Sister Lin, should we follow her?”
Wen didn’t say a word after Lin saved his life because he didn’t want to distract her. Now, seeing that Lin is in a daze, he can’t help reminding. Light pours down through the hole in the roof. Wen is tempted by the thought that the hole may be their way out of the underground world.
Lin would have followed the woman even if Wen didn’t bring it up.
What if the woman is Baojia who is possessed?
She will not give up as long as there is hope. Also, the cyan little fox was taken away by the woman. Lin has promised the white fox to take care of the little fox. She can’t just let it go.
The entire platform shakes when Lin and Wen is going up on the flying sword. For a moment, Lin Luoran thought that the sanctuary was about to collapse. Then she realizes that the platform is going up slowly.
Some animals standing at the edge fall down into the lava and are melted.
Being startled, Lin has to hold Wen’s hand in order to stand straight.
The platform is going up faster and faster. The hole in the roof expands. Light becomes brighter. There are over ten thousand of animals on the platform, yet the mysterious force lifts it up from the ground. Lin suddenly starts to have a bad feeling about the “sacrifice” the saintess talked about.
The animals scream while the platform gets higher.
Finally, the platform reaches the roof and it fits right in the hole.
This turns out to be an exquisite design!
Someone made this design based on the platform. Lin Luoran looks around while holding back her surprise.
Lin is sure that she has never seen so many animals in her life. The animals on the platform are all panicking.
Lin counts. There are eight platforms around and in the center of the platforms, there is a high terrace.
There are stairs made of jade. The saintess in her pale pink long dress is walking up. Lin can’t see the end of these stairs.
They are out of the underground world!
Lin suddenly notices that the platforms are surrounded by soft sand, and the stairs lead to twinkling stars.
The wind in the desert is dry and hot. However, compared with the underground world filled by lava, the desert is quite comfortable. Lin Luoran takes a deep breath. This must be the Kalahari Desert. She never expected that she could get out of the underground world so easily.
The saintess keeps going up on the stairs. She is disappearing into the night.
The saintess stops when Lin Luoran is wondering when she will stop. The Fire-hoof Beast runs down from the terrace. The saintess pats its head gently with kindness.
With her sharp eyes, Lin sees that the cyan little fox is on the back of the beast.
The saintess holds the fox in her arms. The fox jumps on the ground. The saintess wants to hold it again, but she can’t help being angry, “I was going to take you with me for our old time together. Since you don’t want to, you can become one of the sacrifices!”
Lin Luoran’s heart starts pounding. She casts the Wind-riding Spell and catches the cyan little fox. There are tears in its eyes. The little fox seems to be afraid of the saintess.
The saintess sneers and rises up to the sky on the Fire-hoof beast. Lin is alarmed by the “sacrifice” the saintess keeps talking about. She drags Wen along with her and runs to the edge of the platform.
A light wall rises. Wen’s sleeves are cut into pieces. Eight huge light beam cover the platforms.
Lin Luoran has a subtle feeling about how the sacrifice will begin.
