The Northern Song Dynasty returned south, seeking the truth of the Dao.

Wang Zhenhuan held Xiao Liuzi's hand, continuously channeling spiritual energy into him. Ao Shuang was right; Xiao Liuzi's condition was very poor. Even though Wang Zhenhuan didn't understand medicine, he could sense the thinness of the yang energy within Xiao Liuzi's body.

Taoism believes that all things in the world are created from the two energies of Yin and Yang. In the 81st volume of the Yunji Qiqian, it says: "After a person dies, the soul ascends to heaven, the spirit enters the earth, and only the three corpses wander, which are called ghosts."

The soul is a person's yang energy, while the spirit is naturally yin energy. Currently, Xiao Liu's yang energy is insufficient, so his three souls are in a chaotic state. Therefore, he remains unconscious.

One of the three souls is called Shuangling, which is a person's spiritual consciousness. There's a folk saying that if a child cries incessantly, it's because they've been frightened away and lost their soul. This "soul" refers to Shuangling.

While channeling spiritual energy into Xiao Liuzi, Wang Zhenhuan carried him a few steps back into the cave. Then, Ao Shuang transformed into a dazzling white light, and after the light disappeared...

To Wang Zhenhuan's surprise, it did not fully reveal its true form, but only transformed from its head up into a giant dragon head. It looked like a monster with a dragon's head and a human body.

He let out a low groan and stretched his neck toward the cave entrance. As his neck grew longer, the dragon's head also grew larger, eventually reaching the size Wang Zhenhuan had seen in the cave before.

He braced his dragon horns against the boulder, unleashing a deafening roar. The boulder, bearing the weight, began to slowly move forward with a clattering sound. It was an astonishing sight.

If Wang Zhen hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have imagined it. The huge rock blocking the entrance was slowly pushed forward by Ao Shuang until the light from outside the cave was revealed.

Wang Zhenhuan was overjoyed and was about to step forward. But unexpectedly, the boulder, which had been moving, suddenly stopped. He turned to look at Ao Shuang and saw his feet on the ground.

It was actually slowly retreating!

There are people outside! That was Wang Zhenhuan's first thought. He held Xiao Liuzi in his arms, hurriedly went to the edge of the boulder, and used his spiritual energy to push it up.

The boulder's retreating momentum finally stopped. Wang Zhenhuan frowned, deep in thought. This whole affair seemed incredibly strange. Who was outside? And why did they want to harm him and Ao Shuang?

Although he can hold on for now, this can't go on forever. And it's not just him; Ao Shuang should have sensed it too. The spiritual energy within this cave is completely undifferentiated by the five elements.

The indistinguishability of the five elements means that even if spiritual energy enters the body, it cannot be used. In other words, this place is a dead end. The outcome of his continued stalemate with Ao Shuang is...

He was trapped here and died after his spiritual energy was exhausted. Thinking of this, he became even more anxious. Don't forget, he still had Xiao Liuzi in his arms who needed spiritual energy to survive.

If they were truly trapped here, Xiao Liu would surely die. So he shouted loudly towards Ao Shuang's dragon head, "Brother, the spiritual energy here is not divided into the five elements; we cannot continue this stalemate!"

Ao Shuang clearly noticed this as well, and before Wang Zhenhuan could finish speaking, he let out a low roar and instantly transformed into his giant tortoise form. His four thick dragon claws took a step forward, and he charged ahead with a mighty lunge.

Wang Huanzhen seized the opportunity and squeezed out through the crevice. Ao Shuang followed closely behind, transforming into a white light and leaping out of the crevice before the boulder could return.

boom--

With a deafening crash, the boulder slammed into the cave entrance, sending dust billowing up all around. Wang Zhenhuan coughed a few times and waved his hand to clear away the dust.

After the dust settled, something surprising happened to Wang Zhen: where the cave entrance had been, there was now a perfectly intact stone wall, smooth without a single crack.

It was as if the cave had never existed. Wang Zhenhuan was astonished. Pointing at the stone wall, he turned to speak to Ao Shuang. Suddenly, he noticed a white figure behind Ao Shuang.

The white figure looked so familiar, instantly reminding him of the moment last night when the river overflowed. He was about to speak when, unexpectedly, the white figure stretched out her slender, jade-like arm.

He slapped Ao Shuang on the back!

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, before Wang Zhenhuan could even react. He saw Ao Shuang cough up blood and fly backward. The surprise on his face instantly turned into panic.

He couldn't understand why this female Daoist would suddenly attack Ao Shuang. But the current situation left him no room for hesitation. He gathered his energy and leaped straight towards the direction Ao Shuang had flown from.

He wanted to capture Ao Shuang. But something unexpected happened again. The white-clad figure arrived before him, appearing in Ao Shuang's path before he could even react.

He slammed his palm down at Ao Shuang, who was still in mid-air. At the same time, he held a talisman between his left and right hands and chanted incantations. Ao Shuang, who was already injured, only had time to reach out and block in mid-air.

However, with only the cultivation level of Crimson Qi, how could he possibly withstand this female Daoist? He was then struck in the chest by another palm strike from the female Daoist, causing his chest to cave in, and he slammed directly to the ground.

Ao Shuang vomited blood profusely on the ground, turned to look at Wang Zhenhuan, and stretched out her hand, opening her mouth. Judging from her lip movements, Wang Zhenhuan seemed to want to say, "Run!"

Wang Zhenhuan's mind went blank for a moment, and he felt a surge of anger burning like a raging fire, almost extinguishing his reason. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth. He was about to rush forward and fight the woman to the death.

Suddenly, he felt Xiao Liuzi in his arms reach out and tug at him. At that moment, the figure in white turned around and walked towards him. Wang Zhenhuan clenched his fist.

He glanced at Ao Shuang, who lay dead on the ground, her eyes wide open. Then, he turned and carried Xiao Liuzi into the woods. The woman, seeing Wang Zhenhuan flee, paused, reached out to him, and whispered:

"Wait a minute!!"

Unfortunately, Wang Zhenhuan was consumed by rage and his only remaining rationality was to escape, so he didn't hear those words. He bit his lip, tears streaming down his face like a broken string of pearls.

Ao Shuang's unseeing face kept replaying in his mind. He trembled violently, whether from anger or despair, it was hard to tell. Even the little boy in his arms seemed incredibly heavy.

He didn't know where he should go, so he just kept running and running. Until his spiritual energy was almost gone, he stopped by the tree, panting heavily, and looked back.

Fortunately, the figure in white did not pursue them. He was holding Xiao Liu Zi when he suddenly knelt down, roared to the sky, and then lowered his head, burying his face in Xiao Liu Zi's body and weeping uncontrollably!

Seemingly influenced by Wang Zhenhuan, Xiao Liuzi also woke up. He raised his hand and gently stroked Wang Zhenhuan's tear-streaked face, saying weakly:

"Sir, don't cry, Xiao Liu is alright..."