I courted death and then tried to escape, so the whole sect wants to get rid of me.

Song Yao accepted the cloak without hesitation and put it on.

The fluffy hat covered most of her face, leaving only a bit of her chin showing.

She looked up at Cheng Yue, her eyes crinkling into a smile: "Thank you."

Cheng Yue awkwardly looked away, then turned to see the young man coughing against the stone wall. She walked over and asked, "How are you?"

After a while, the young man straightened up and said, "I'm fine, I won't die. My name is Yu Qun, you can call me Senior Brother Yu, or if you don't mind, you can call me Third Sister's husband."

Song Yao: "?"

Fortunately, everyone was clearly a little bothered by it.

Chen He, clearly displeased, reminded him, "Fellow Daoist Yu, your relationship with my third senior sister isn't exactly official, so this way of addressing her is inappropriate."

Yu Qun immediately objected: "Song Yao stole my clothes and ruined my reputation. Aren't we in the right? I'm more legitimate than that fickle Ye Chang'an outside."

Chen He: "What if stealing the clothes was just a misunderstanding?"

Yu Qun: "Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?"

Song Yao really didn't want to listen to this nonsense about her, so she interrupted, "Shut up, or you'll attract a snake demon and you'll all go to hell with Song Yao."

The two then fell silent.

After a while, Yu Qun said again, "Here's what we'll do: you all follow behind me and find a secluded place to hide. I'll go out and scout around."

However, the entire cave was quiet, and not even a trace of the snake demon could be seen.

Song Yao paused, her gaze sweeping over the connected grottoes on either side: "Which direction did the tremor come from?"

Mingran thought for a moment, then pointed deeper into the cave: "It should be over there."

Following the direction she pointed, the group passed through two narrow openings and went deeper into the cave.

A deep, bottomless crack appeared in the center of the ground, revealing darkness below, with something faintly flickering within.

Song Yao raised her hand and pressed down on the hilt of the Azure Water Sword. A pale blue light slowly shone along the blade, illuminating the churning pebbles at the edge of the crack.

She took a step forward, the tip of her sword about to pierce the crack, when her gaze suddenly sharpened, and she almost instinctively rolled backward.

Several dark figures suddenly darted out from the caves all around, and a foul-smelling wind rushed straight at her face.

Senbai's fangs grazed her cheek and almost touched the skin on the side of her neck.

"Be careful!"

Chen He let out a low shout, drew his sword, and stood in front of Cheng Yue and Ming Ran. The sword energy cleaved through the wind, forcing back the snake demon that was pouncing on them.

Yu Qun reacted immediately and blocked the outside with his sword.

In the blink of an eye, the group was surrounded by the snake demon.

Those snake demons were clearly more ferocious and faster than the Golden Scale Snake Demons in the miasma forest.

Its entire body is covered in dark black scales, which gleam with a cold, hard luster in the dim light. Its thick, long body is coiled on the rock wall of the cave, and the tip of its tail sweeps across the slippery rocks, bringing up fine stone chips.

The forked antlers swayed, their hissing sounds echoing throughout the empty cave.

The foul-smelling saliva dripped onto the stone floor, corroding it and leaving tiny dents.

Mingran gritted her teeth: "Damn it, how did they suddenly appear! We're no match for them!"

If these snake demons were human cultivators, they would be at least at the late Golden Core stage, or even higher!

Chen He frowned deeply: "This shouldn't be possible. How could there be demonic creatures of this level of cultivation in the Myriad Bone Forest secret realm? And so many of them appearing at once!"

Yu Qun gripped the sword tighter: "Indeed, such a situation has never occurred before."

"Why else? Of course, it's to protect what's below."

Song Yao approached the crack again and raised her sword once more. Sure enough, the snake demon suddenly became agitated and tense, hissing deafeningly, as if it would rush up and devour her in the next second.

A slight smile curved her lips. "Let me guess, is that lotus bud grass underneath?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she lowered her wrist, and the Azure Water Sword plunged into the crack in the ground without hesitation.

The moment the sword tip pierced through, all the surrounding snake demons suddenly erupted in ear-piercing screams, their dark scales standing on end in a frenzy as they lunged at Song Yao like madmen.

The entire worm twin cave shook violently, and large rocks crashed down, the booming sound making one's eardrums ache.

"The cave is about to collapse!"

Mingran roared, sweeping away the falling boulders with her sword. "Watch out!"

Caught off guard, everyone scrambled to dodge the snake demon's attacks and the falling rocks.

Before they could escape, a muffled thud came from the direction they had come from, and the thick rock wall collapsed, completely blocking the passageway they had entered.

Using the sword energy, Song Yao flipped over to avoid the snake's fangs. Without turning around, she stared at the surging black shadow in the crack, and pushed the tip of her sword down another half inch.

A strange and painful shriek suddenly erupted from the depths of the crack.

Even the frenzied snake demon twisted in pain.

The next second, a scalding, foul wind exploded from the crack, and the shockwave, carrying rubble, violently overturned Song Yao.

Fortunately, Cheng Yue reacted quickly and caught her, and the two rolled around in a ball.

Just as everyone regained their footing and retreated together, the central crack collapsed again with a deafening roar.

Amidst the flying stone dust, a giant worm covered in grayish-green slime and topped with a withered yellow bird's head slowly emerged, its skin still clinging to a semi-transparent cocoon that hadn't fully shed its skin.

Everyone simultaneously broke out in goosebumps and swore in unison.

What the hell is this?

How can someone be so unattractive!

Chen He was silent for a moment, then asked, "This wouldn't happen to be the Lotus Bird Grass, would it?"

Song Yao emerged from the cloak with a dusty face: "You got it right."

Chen He: "But, isn't *Lotus Root Grass* a medicinal herb?"

Song Yao: "This kind of food has higher nutritional value, right?"

Chen He: "..."

Regardless of its nutritional value, how can anyone eat something that looks like this?

"It's probably about to become a spirit."

Cheng Yue quietly added, "The Lotus Bird Grass is both a bird and a grass. It has a certain probability of turning into a cocoon and transforming. These snake demons must have become so strong because of its nourishment, and at the same time, they were forced to protect it, forming a relationship of mutual dependence."

"No wonder I couldn't find it earlier; it was underground."

As they were talking, Lianwu Quecao's cloudy, round eyes slowly turned and finally locked onto them.

As if receiving an invisible command, the limp snake demons around them straightened up, flicking their forked tongues, and slowly surrounded them again.

Yu Qun hurriedly took out a stack of talismans from his storage bag, took a deep breath, and said, "These exorcising talismans of mine can blast open a gap. In a moment, I will activate the talismans, and you all follow me and rush in that direction. Remember, don't look back, just keep running forward!"

Everyone immediately nodded: "Okay."

Yu Qun took a deep breath and poured all his spiritual power into the talisman in his palm. The talisman suddenly lit up with a dazzling golden light.

The next second, golden light exploded, and a scorching shockwave carrying debris and dust rushed towards them. Yu Qun roared, "Run!"

Almost instinctively, everyone rushed forward, stepping on the sharp-edged pebbles as they filed out.

The rumbling sound of collapse still echoed from the cave behind them, and the serpent demon's shriek gradually faded away, muffled by the thick rock walls.

The moment they rushed out, the blinding sunlight made them squint instinctively. A cold wind carrying the pungent smell of grass and trees, mixed with the smell of dust, choked them and made them cough repeatedly.

The group slumped onto the muddy ground outside the cave entrance, panting heavily, their faces and hands covered in black ash.

Yu Qun, catching his breath while supporting his knees, wiped the dust off his face and turned to count the number of people.

and many more.

Something's not right.

Why is one missing?