After transmigrating into the body of the protagonist's childhood friend, he was targeted by a

Lin Zhixu and Jiang Che walked together.

They dared not go any further once they reached the edge of the deepest part.

They could sense that it must be very dangerous inside, and their cultivation level was insufficient to deal with it.

The two had no choice but to explore the edge.

However, they did find quite a few good things.

The secret realm is rich in spiritual energy, and many spiritual plants that are difficult to survive in the outside world can be found here.

Jiang Che was overjoyed.

The two of them were so greedy that they practically plucked everything off the surrounding area.

When evening came, the two found a place to rest.

Jiang Che set up a simple perimeter around the area, and the two agreed to take turns keeping watch at night. Jiang Che would keep watch for the first half of the night, and Lin Zhixu would keep watch for the second half.

In the latter half of the night, Jiang Che went to rest, while Lin Zhixu sat by the campfire, staring blankly at the flickering flames.

The firelight reflected off his face, flickering on and off.

I wonder where Zhou Tong and Chu Yan are now, and whether they have encountered any danger?

And then there's Yu Linzhou. He clearly said before he went into seclusion that he would come out before the secret realm opened, but he hadn't come out before he entered the secret realm. I wonder if he encountered a problem.

Suddenly, he stopped poking at the fire.

Suddenly, he heard a faint noise in the distance, and he stood up alertly.

Jiang Che opened his eyes almost at the same instant, sat up, and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

The two stood side by side, their eyes simultaneously turning towards the direction from which the sound came.

"You heard it too?" Lin Zhixu lowered his voice.

Jiang Che nodded, his expression grave: "I heard it, it sounds like someone is calling for help."

The two exchanged a glance, and Lin Zhixu stepped on the campfire to extinguish it.

After hesitating for a moment, I decided to go and take a look anyway.

The two followed the sound and soon spotted the disheveled figure beside a pile of rocks.

A boy was cornered against a rock wall by a monster. He was covered in blood, his sword was broken in two, and he could only barely hold on with a tattered protective shield.

With each strike of the monster's claws, the magic shield dimmed a little, cracks spreading like a spiderweb.

The boy was almost out of strength to call for help; his voice was so hoarse it was barely audible, and the despair in his eyes grew stronger.

Jiang Che glanced at the demonic beast; it was at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, still within his control. He immediately drew his sword and charged forward.

Taking advantage of the moment when Jiang Che lured the demon beast away, Lin Zhixu flashed to the boy's side, grabbed his arm, and dragged him out of the battle.

The boy was completely exhausted and collapsed to the ground as soon as he was pulled out, his chest heaving violently.

Lin Zhixu squatted down and brushed away the blood and stray hairs smeared on his face.

His face was covered in blood and mud, making it impossible to see his features, but judging from the outline of his eyebrows and eyes, he shouldn't be very old.

He took out two pills and put them into the boy's mouth. After the medicine took effect, the boy's breathing finally became more stable.

The first thing he did after recovering was struggle to get up and thank them.

"Thank you so much, my two senior brothers, for saving my life!"

Lin Zhixu pressed down on his shoulder to signal him not to move, and frowned as he asked, "How did you end up here? There's a dense forest right ahead; someone with your cultivation level should be active on the outskirts."

Upon hearing this, the boy's expression turned even more grim than if he were crying: "How could I have wanted to come here? That damned teleportation array threw me into this godforsaken place the moment I stepped in."

"I couldn't figure out which way to go, so I could only find a place to hide. I didn't expect to encounter a monster and be chased by it."

Lin Zhixu was silent for a moment, a rare moment of genuine pity arising within him.

That's really bad luck.

This damned secret realm is utterly inhumane; teleportation is completely random. If you're lucky, like him, you might land in a safe zone.

If you're unlucky, you might even fall right into the mouth of a monster.

Jiang Che swiftly and decisively killed the demonic beast, sheathed his sword, and walked over quickly.

He glanced around and lowered his voice, saying, "The stench of blood is too strong here; we shouldn't stay any longer. Let's find a safe place to talk first."

Lin Zhixu nodded, and the two of them, one on each side, lifted the boy up and quickly left the area.

The three moved to a secluded cave to stay in.

Jiang Che set up a warning array at the cave entrance and checked the surroundings again to make sure there were no traces of demonic beasts before leaning against the stone wall to catch his breath.

Lin Zhixu took out a clean handkerchief from his storage bag and handed it to the boy.

The boy was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening. He took the bag somewhat embarrassedly and bent down to wipe the blood and mud off his face.

The handkerchief was quickly stained black, and his face was finally revealed.

When Lin Zhixu saw his face clearly, his gaze sharpened slightly.

At first glance, this face bears a striking resemblance to Yu Linzhou.

However, the boy is still young, and his facial features still have a touch of childishness. In addition, his temperament is completely different, so the resemblance is diminished.

He quickly looked away, not taking it to heart.

The world is so big, there are plenty of people who look somewhat alike, nothing unusual about it.

The boy looked down at the dirty handkerchief he had wiped in his hand, his ears turning slightly red. He carefully folded it and put it in his pocket, whispering, "I'll wash it clean and return it to my senior brother."

Lin Zhixu waved his hand to indicate that there was no need to worry, but the young man had already sat up straight and bowed to the two of them seriously: "My name is She Zhiyi. I am a new disciple this year and I am assigned to the outer sect of Beast Taming Peak."

"Thank you both for saving me this time. If it weren't for you, I would probably have been eaten by beasts long ago. If you ever need my help in the future, I will do my best."

Lin Zhixu frowned: "That's not right. Since you're in danger and can't defeat it, why don't you smash the jade tablet?"

She Zhiyi explained, "...I lost the jade pendant when I ran away."

Lin Zhixu: "..."

Jiang Che: "..."

She Zhiyi's words silenced the two of them.

This is beyond bad luck; it's like God is chasing after you to feed you and you still manage to smash the bowl.

Jiang Che's lips twitched, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh. He just sighed and said, "Alright, then you come with us for now. We'll try to find it again when it gets light. Maybe we can still find it."

She Zhiyi nodded hurriedly, tears of gratitude streaming down her face: "Thank you so much, senior brothers! Although I'm not good at direct combat, I've learned some auxiliary spells. I know a little bit about insect repelling, scouting, and identifying monster tracks, which will definitely be helpful on the way!"

Lin Zhixu didn't say anything more, only nodded slightly in agreement.

He sat down again by the fire, the firelight illuminating his profile, his expression unreadable.

Jiang Che also went to rest on the side.

She Zhiyi pursed her lips as she looked at Lin Zhixu in the firelight.

Since he couldn't sleep anyway, he kept an eye on the fire, adding firewood every now and then.

As dawn broke, Jiang Che got up, extinguished the campfire, and gave She Zhiyi a few qi-boosting pills.

The three of them searched back along the route they had taken yesterday. She Zhiyi followed behind the other two, carefully identifying the traces along the way and marking the forks in the road to prevent them from backtracking.

They searched around but couldn't find the jade pendant, so they guessed that someone might have picked it up.

She Zhiyi's face turned a little pale.

Without the jade token, he would lose a life-saving trump card for the next two days. If he encountered danger again, he wouldn't even have a chance to teleport out and would have to tough it out until the secret realm ended.

Lin Zhixu and Jiang Che exchanged a glance.

Anyway, they have to wait until the secret realm ends, and since She Zhiyi is quite obedient, they'll take him with them for now.