Transmigrating into the world of Jade Dynasty, I was targeted by the female lead in a reverse romanc

"Jiang Xiaochuan!"

Lu Xueqi's voice snapped him out of his reverie.

He raised his head.

Lu Xueqi had already rushed in front of him.

Her face was still pale, but her usually cool eyes were now filled with undisguised worry, lingering fear, and a hint of... shock.

She reached out as if to touch him, but then saw the crisscrossing wounds on his body and the filth on his hands, and her hand froze in mid-air.

"Are you...are you alright?" Her voice trembled almost imperceptibly.

Jiang Xiaochuan looked into her eyes, where his disheveled, blood-soaked appearance was clearly reflected.

He tried to smile, but the movement only aggravated the wound on his face, causing him to hiss in pain.

"I'm alright. You...aren't you hurt?"

Lu Xueqi shook her head vigorously, her eyes reddening.

"I'm fine. You..." Her gaze fell on the hideous wounds on his body, and her throat seemed to be blocked, unable to speak.

Jiang Xiaochuan followed her gaze and looked down at himself.

The newly changed black clothes were now tattered rags, mixed with blood, mud, and the tree spirit's black sap, clinging to his body.

"I..." He opened his mouth, wanting to explain the strange devouring and the blood-red gun light just now, but he didn't know where to start.

In the end, he simply looked at her and asked softly, "You...don't you have anything you want to ask?"

For example, his inhuman strength just now, that strange gun, and his act of devouring the tree demon.

Lu Xueqi looked at him quietly, at the bloodstains on his face, at the cautious, uncertain look in his eyes, and at his pale lips, slightly pursed due to nervousness.

Then, she shook her head, her eyes clear and resolute.

"No," she said. "I believe you."

I believe you.

Those three simple words were like a warm current, instantly dispelling the unease and confusion in Jiang Xiaochuan's heart.

He stared at her blankly, and suddenly felt that the wounds on his body didn't hurt so much anymore.

He grinned, and this time he actually smiled, though the smile was distorted by pain.

"That's good."

As soon as the tension eased, a wave of intense fatigue and dizziness washed over me.

He swayed, and his vision blurred.

Lu Xueqi immediately stepped forward and supported his arm.

"Be careful!"

Her arms were slender but strong, steadily supporting most of his weight.

The clean, crisp scent emanating from her, mixed with a very faint smell of blood, wafted into his nostrils.

"I...I'm a little tired." Jiang Xiaochuan leaned against her, panting. He barely had the strength to stand up.

"Let me help you sit down," Lu Xueqi said softly. She helped him slowly move to a relatively flat and clean open space next to them.

As Jiang Xiaochuan approached the spot, he was about to sit down when he suddenly stopped.

On a whim, he endured his dizziness and weakness, pulled out a thick, clean, dark gray blanket from his storage space, unfolded it, and spread it on the open ground.

"Sit...sit here." He spread out the blanket and said to Lu Xueqi, while he himself planned to sit on the rock next to him.

Looking at his pale face, the cold sweat beading on his forehead from pain and weakness, and his struggle to spread the blanket, Lu Xueqi shook her head, her voice calm yet firm: "No need. Please sit."

"Please sit down," Jiang Xiaochuan insisted.

The two stared at each other; one was pale and weak, yet her eyes were stubborn; the other was as cold as snow, her gaze filled with an unyielding determination.

In the depths of this cold, dark abyss, a stalemate ensued over who should sit on a blanket.

Finally, Jiang Xiaochuan was too exhausted to argue with her anymore. He sighed, his body swayed, and he almost couldn't stand up.

"Okay, okay, don't sit down..." Before he could finish speaking, a strong wave of dizziness hit him, his vision went black, his legs went weak, and he was about to fall.

Lu Xueqi quickly supported him, half-dragging and half-carrying him to the edge of the carpet, and pressed him down to sit without saying a word.

"You..." Jiang Xiaochuan wanted to say something more.

"Sit down." Lu Xueqi interrupted him, her tone carrying an unusual, unquestionable command.

She then sat down next to him, shoulder to shoulder, her arm still supporting him to keep him from falling.

Jiang Xiaochuan leaned against her, able to smell the crisp soap scent in her hair, feel the warmth emanating from her body through her clothes, and the small amount of strength that sustained him.

He was indeed extremely tired and in great pain, his body fluctuating between cold and heat. Leaning against her seemed to... make him feel a little more comfortable.

He stopped struggling, obediently leaned against her, and closed his eyes. His eyelids felt as heavy as lead.

Lu Xueqi felt his weight leaning closer and closer, her breathing gradually becoming longer but still somewhat rapid.

She turned her head slightly to look at him, who was leaning on her shoulder in a semi-conscious state. His face was dirty, with blood and ash mixed in, his hair was disheveled, and his brows were slightly furrowed even in his sleep. His lips were pale, dry, and chapped.

She reached out and gently brushed away a strand of wet hair stuck to his forehead with blood, her movements very light, as if afraid of waking him or hurting him.

"It's not dirty to lean against her," she thought to herself.

Darkness and silence descended once more, broken only by the sound of the merciless sea below and the mingling of breaths.

The God-Slaying Spear had somehow been pulled out of the rock and flown back, hovering quietly not far from the two of them. It emitted a faint but steady red light, separating this small space from the darkness outside and keeping out the countless sinister souls that lingered and peered in the darkness further away, but dared not approach due to fear of the red light and the terrifying aura from before.

Time seemed to lose its meaning beneath this desolate abyss.

I don't know how much time passed, maybe a quarter of an hour, maybe half an hour.

"clatter."

"Da, da."

A faint yet remarkably clear sound, like a hard object gently tapping on rock, came intermittently from the darkness on the right, sometimes near, sometimes far.

Jiang Xiaochuan and Lu Xueqi opened their eyes at the same time.

The weariness and confusion in his eyes were instantly replaced by vigilance.

The two stiffened slightly, but did not move immediately. They simply held their breath, listened intently, and stared sharply in the direction from which the sound came.

The sound was unhurried, carrying a peculiar rhythm that seemed to possess a certain cadence, amplified infinitely in the absolute silence.

It wasn't the sound of water, nor the sound of wind, but more like... footsteps? Yet it was lighter and more elusive than human footsteps.

Who is it? Or... what is it?

In this Abyss of the Dead, besides the two demons that were just killed, are there any other living creatures?

Or rather, is it an existence even more bizarre than a demon?

Lu Xueqi's hand silently tightened its grip on the cold hilt of Tianya sword once more.

Her body was still empty, but she had secretly gathered the negligible amount of spiritual power she had just recovered.

Jiang Xiaochuan tensed up as well. Although he was exhausted, he had already made a loose grip with his right hand, establishing a faint connection with the God-Slaying Spear floating beside him.

The two stood close together, back to back, facing the direction from which the sound came.

The "tap, tap" sound grew closer and clearer.

In the depths of darkness, a soft halo of light gradually brightens, approaching from afar.

The light was not the warm yellow of the Six Harmonies Mirror, nor the clear blue of the Heavenly Sword, nor the dark blood red of the God-Slaying Spear, but a faint, hazy, moonlight filtered through thin clouds, carrying an indescribable, melancholic quality.

The halo gradually drew closer, finally emerging from the dense darkness and stepping into the edge illuminated by the red light of the God-Slaying Spear, where it intertwined with the halo of the spear's light.

The person who came out was a single person.

A young girl.

Dressed in a light green outfit, she stood out starkly against the backdrop of the monotonous, oppressive abyss filled with endless darkness and crimson light, almost blindingly so.

The green was so fresh and vibrant, as if the tenderest new buds of spring had been draped over its body.

Her eyebrows were as slender as willow leaves, her eyes as bright as stars, and her skin was as white as snow, almost transparent under the hazy moonlight, radiating a warm, jade-like luster.

The corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, with a faint, ambiguous smile. Her eyes were bright and lively, and her gaze was cunning and witty, as if she could speak.

Her exquisite and beautiful appearance was in no way inferior to Lu Xueqi's, only their temperaments were completely different.

If Lu Xueqi is like the cold, aloof ice that never melts on the mountaintop, then this girl in green is like the lively, unrestrained stream in the mountain valley.

Biyao.

Jiang Xiaochuan's pupils contracted slightly. It was indeed her. Encountering her in this Abyss of the Dead seemed to be some kind of "inevitable" occurrence.

He just didn't expect it to happen when he and Lu Xueqi were both in such a sorry and weak state.

Lu Xueqi frowned and tightened her grip on Tianya's hand.

She remembered this girl in green. In the Mountain and Sea Garden of Heyang City, she sat at the same table with that masked woman. Her words were straightforward and even a little arrogant. She was no ordinary person to be able to appear safely in this Abyss of the Dead.

Moreover, the girl seemed casual at the moment, with light steps, steady breathing, and clear eyes. She had obviously not experienced a fierce battle, nor was she affected by the cold and deathly silence of the abyss. This made Lu Xueqi's alarm bells ring even louder.

Holding the Heartbreak Flower, Biyao stepped out of the darkness, her gaze casually sweeping over the small area shrouded in dark red light. It swept over the carpet on the ground, over the floating dark red spear that exuded an aura that made her feel slightly uncomfortable, and finally settled on the two people standing hand in hand, covered in blood and disheveled, yet still watching her warily.

Her gaze lingered on Jiang Xiaochuan's face for a moment, a hint of surprise flashing across her bright eyes. Then, the smile that was neither a smile nor a frown deepened, turning into a clear, undisguised, and... playful "Eh."

"what?"

She took two steps forward, getting closer, and stood at the edge of the red light range of the God-Slaying Spear. She carefully examined Jiang Xiaochuan's face, as if confirming something.

Then, she smiled sweetly, her voice like pearls falling on a jade plate, exceptionally clear in the deathly silent space:

"What a small world!" she drawled, her eyes darting around with a mischievous glint in them. "Young Master Han Li?"

She pronounced Han Li's name clearly and deliberately.

Jiang Xiaochuan's face remained expressionless, but he sighed inwardly. The alias he had casually made up that day had unexpectedly become the subject of her teasing in this abyss.

Upon hearing this form of address, Lu Xueqi frowned even more deeply.

Han Li?

Seeing the girl's gaze fixed on Jiang Xiaochuan without any attempt to conceal it, and her tone frivolous, she felt a strange sense of disgust rise within her. She took a half step forward, shielding Jiang Xiaochuan even more firmly behind her, thus blocking the green-clad girl's view.

"Who exactly are you?"

Biyao seemed to only then notice Lu Xueqi, or rather, only then was she willing to shift her gaze away from Jiang Xiaochuan.

She turned her head slightly to look at Lu Xueqi, who was blocking her way. Her gaze swept over Lu Xueqi's beautiful, cool, pale, and tired face, then paused on the close proximity of the two of them. The curve of her lips seemed to hold a different meaning.

But she didn't seem to take Lu Xueqi's obvious hostility and cold questioning to heart.

Her gaze returned to Jiang Xiaochuan, who was being shielded behind Lu Xueqi. She seemed oblivious to Lu Xueqi's question, continuing to speak in her own clear voice, now tinged with a hint of inquiry:

"Hey, young hero Han Li, are all the people of your Qingyun Sect acting this way...unconventionally?"

Her gaze swept meaningfully over Jiang Xiaochuan's tattered, blood-stained clothes and the traces of the battle left behind.

"To be in such a sorry state in this Abyss of the Dead... it seems you went through a 'bitter battle'?"

She paused, then took a small step closer, ignoring Lu Xueqi's sudden sharp gaze, and stared into Jiang Xiaochuan's eyes, asking the question she truly cared about, this time with a more serious tone:

"Excuse me, how long have you been in this Abyss of the Dead? Have you...?" A hint of eager anticipation flashed in her eyes, "Have you found any trace of the 'Dripping Blood Cave'?"

Jiang Xiaochuan remained silent, looking at the undisguised expectation in her eyes. He recalled her persistence, her background, and her eventual fate in the original story, and his feelings were somewhat complicated.

His silence, in Biyao's view, seemed to have another meaning.

Seeing that he was only looking at her with a complicated expression, remaining silent with his lips pursed, Biyao's smile gradually faded, her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her tone carried a clear hint of displeasure:

"Hey, I'm asking you a question!" She pouted, revealing her usual sneer at so-called "reputable schools" and a hint of self-mockery.

"You righteous people are all so arrogant and rude, looking down on everyone?"

These words and this expression subtly overlap with the words she uttered in the moonlit garden that night, when she said, "You men are all the same."

I'll say it again!

Seeing that she completely ignored her and kept pestering Jiang Xiaochuan, Lu Xueqi felt a surge of anger. The annoyance and cold hostility she felt because of her appearance, her attitude, and the "acquaintance" between her and Jiang Xiaochuan that she did not understand instantly rose to its peak!

She suddenly took another step forward, almost stepping out of the red light range of the God-Slaying Spear to face Biyao head-on.

The Tianya Sword rang out with a clear "clang," emerging half an inch from its sheath! The azure sword light illuminated her frosty face, the tip pointing directly at Biyao. Her voice, sharp as a knife, demanded again:

"Who are you?!"

This time, the sword aura and killing intent emanating from her body were no longer concealed!

Despite the weakened spiritual energy, the power of the Tianya Divine Sword and the sharpness of the Nine Heavens Divine Weapon still added a chilling sharpness to this cold abyss!

Biyao seemed to have her temper completely provoked by the woman's relentless questioning, especially the impolite pointing of her sword.

The smile vanished completely from her face. She turned her head and looked directly at Lu Xueqi. The corners of her mouth curled up, but it wasn't a smile; instead, it was a cold arc filled with sarcasm, mockery, and deep weariness.

"Me?"