Chapter 51 [051] Soul Locking Array
Shi Qing looked at him quietly and asked, "Is it important?"

Is this question important?

Regardless of whether it was a misunderstanding or not, whether one was aware of it or not, and what the reason was, the outcome has already happened and the marriage has been called off. Why should one still hold on to that little bit of unimportant thing?

Zhongli Jin saw the meaning in Shi Qing's eyes. The young man pursed his lips slightly. His black pupils were as dark as ink, rich and deep in the night, with stubbornness and seriousness - "Important."

"Shi Qing, tell me."

"..." Shi Qing felt that it was not important, it was just that the boy was too persistent.

Of course, she didn't know what Zhongli Jin was insisting on.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard Zhou Xiaowu's exclamation: "Xiaobao!"

Then a black shadow rushed out of the cave at an extremely fast speed and disappeared into the night in an instant.

Shi Qing was stunned and saw clearly that the guy who ran away was Zhou Xiaowu's treasure hunting rat.

"Xiaobao!" Zhou Xiaowu was so anxious that tears came out of his eyes. He stood up and was about to rush forward.

Shi Qing reached out and grabbed his collar, stopping the boy and saying, "Don't go out."

"No! Xiaobao was suddenly attracted by something! I have to bring him back!" Zhou Xiaowu tried to break free from Shi Qing's hands and cried, "Senior brother said that Tushiling is full of snakes at night. If they find Xiaobao, they will definitely eat him!"

"But if you go out rashly, you may run into trouble!" Zhong Lijin also advised: "Besides, it's so dark at night, how can you find its trace?!"

The noise at the cave entrance seemed to wake up the few people who were sleeping lightly.

Cangying rubbed his eyes and looked over here, asking: "What's wrong with you?"

Zhou Xiaowu said: "Sister Cangying, my little treasure suddenly ran out. I don't know if it found something."

The boy's well-behaved and delicate face was covered with tear marks, and when he cried he looked like a weak girl.

Disciple Xu frowned and said, "It's too dangerous at night, Taoist friend Zhou, let's go out and look for it together tomorrow morning, okay?"

"But I'm afraid that the longer I delay, the more likely Xiaobao will be eaten by the snake! It's a treasure-hunting rat, and those evil snakes love to eat animals with spiritual power! Xiaobao managed to save my life today, I can't lose it!"

Monsters usually like to devour spiritual creatures, so the boy’s worries are not unreasonable.

Seeing that they were all worried about the danger and unmoved, Zhou Xiaowu was anxious for a moment, and shook off Shi Qing's hand with all his strength, and rushed out crying, "I will go find Xiaobao by myself! I won't drag you down!"

The boy ran too fast, and Zhong Lijin didn't even have time to stop him. "Hey! Wait--!"

You say you are not a burden, but running out alone to die is already a burden!
As a disciple of a righteous sect, how could I stand by and watch someone die without helping? !
"Junior brother!" Liu Xitong also woke up. Seeing that Zhou Xiaowu refused to listen and ran out, he got so anxious that his eyes turned red and he wanted to chase him immediately.

Cangying stopped her and said, "Don't be anxious! Don't panic!"

"My junior brother ran away! How could I not be anxious?!" Liu Xitong had a face full of grief, tears streaming down his face. He looked frail and pitiful, with a bit of heartache and worry for his junior brother.

The boy's figure was also swallowed up by the night and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Shi Qing rushed out immediately after Zhou Xiaowu broke free. Cangying knew that Shi Qing would definitely go to rescue people, so she took out something from her arms and threw it to her, admonishing her: "Be careful! That's realgar, use it well! Come back quickly when you find the person!"

Shi Qing caught the porcelain bottle and turned around to chase in the direction where Zhou Xiaowu disappeared.

"Shi Qing——!!" Zhongli Jin shouted.

Even if you have realgar, it would be difficult to escape if you encounter a giant python with evil spirit!

idiot!!
"Here are some Death Powder and its antidote. Please prepare them, Senior Sister Cang." Zhong Lijin suddenly spoke in a dark and calm tone, took out some poison and handed it to Cangying, "Senior Sister Qing will go check it out at any time. You and Senior Brother Xu will guard this cave!"

Cangying was startled, "You're going too?! Wait, Junior Brother Zhongli——"

Before she finished speaking, the young man followed her out.

Cangying: “…” Ahhhhhhhhh!!! What is going on!!
Late at night, only four people were left in the cave with the bonfire burning!!
Cangying was anxious, but now she had to remain calm.

Looking back, only Shen Xiang was still asleep, not awakened by the noise at all.

*
Zhou Xiaowu ran forward and Shi Qing chased him from behind. At first, she could still hear some of the boy's crying, but later on, perhaps because the mountain wind of Tushiling was too strong or the rustling sounds around him were too noisy in the night, Shi Qing could no longer hear him.

It was pitch black all around, with only the pale and cold moonlight shining on the protruding and rugged rocks, making it look eerie and strange.

"Zhou Xiaowu?" Shi Qing asked in a different tone, his expression indifferent but his eyes were a little wary.

The wind whistled in her ears and she stayed where she was.

He lowered his eyes and looked at the scattered white footprints on the ground.

The realgar powder that had been moistened and stirred with pest control water at the entrance of the cave was stained on Zhou Xiaowu's shoes. Shi Qing found the boy's footprints and continued to move forward along the marks.

Suddenly she heard footsteps behind her. She thought it was Zhou Xiaowu, but when she turned around she saw Zhong Lijin's handsome and delicate face.

The young man had a frightening look on his face, as if he was anxious or angry, and his pair of black pupils were staring at her intently, as if he was chasing her.

"Shi Qing, I'm with you."

Shi Qing frowned slightly: "No need, go back quickly."

"Two people are always better than you alone." Zhongli Jin said.

"No," Shi Qing said, "You are weak."

"Weak?" The young man laughed in anger. His voice was low, mocking and angry. His pupils turned cold instantly. His eyes were extremely cold and his words were aggressive. "In terms of swordsmanship, I am not inferior to you. It's just that my repaired spiritual roots can't support me to hold the sword. But now you can't use spiritual power either. In some ways, there is no difference in our strength tonight. What makes you say I'm weak?"

"The poison in my sleeve can save people, exorcise demons, and kill the living. If you encounter a snake demon with demonic energy, Shi Qing--" He sneered, approached the girl, stared at her face, his eyes were like fire, quiet and dark, and said word by word: "With your few sword moves without spiritual power, how much damage can you do to them?"

Shi Qing: “…”

It’s important to find Zhou Xiaowu.

She didn't have time to waste arguing with Zhongli Jin about who was stronger and who was weaker.

Since the young man has the means to save his life, there is no harm in following him.

"Let's go," Shi Qing turned around and said, "Looking for someone."

She finally stopped charging forward alone. Zhong Li Jin looked at her back, and the anger in his heart finally dissipated a little.

The young man stepped forward to catch up. He naturally knew that the most important thing now was to find Zhou Xiaowu, but Shi Qing would not let him catch up without arguing.

The grayish-white footprints on the ground gradually faded until they disappeared completely.

Shi Qing was about to continue moving in the direction of the footprints, but his ears moved slightly and he seemed to hear a burst of dense rustling sounds coming from the front.

She stepped back, pulled Zhongli Jin behind her, turned over and squatted behind a big rock, hiding her body, and manually sprinkled some realgar powder around.

Soon, the ground began to tremble slightly, as if some huge creature was approaching. Shi Qing held his breath and glanced at Zhong Lijin beside him.

Use your eyes to remind him to be careful.

The boy saw what she meant, raised his eyebrows slightly, and with a slightly amused smile in his eyes, he asked her in amusement - How much do you distrust me? You even have to remind me of this?
“……” Shi Qing understood, nodded, retracted his gaze, and continued to observe the surrounding situation.

——Junior Brother Zhongli is not a junior sister after all, so she may not need her to care too much.

——I will pay attention to this in the future.

After a while, a black object suddenly emerged at the end of the dirt road, and those guys surged like a tide, marching towards here in a large army.

With the help of the white moonlight, Shi Qing could clearly see that there were thousands of snakes of different colors, some bright, some grayish white.

They coiled, swam, spit out their tongues, and made hissing sounds continuously.

Those smooth and cold scales sparkled with a chilling luster under the faint moonlight, and the sharp and terrifying vertical pupils also glowed with a faint green light, revealing a heart-pounding chill.

The snake tide quickly rushed towards the mountain road. They intertwined together to form a huge black stream, which kept moving forward like a mountain torrent.

The rocks on both sides of the mountain path rustled as they were struck by their bodies, causing a suffocating feeling of oppression to fill the air.

Zhou Xiaowu should have continued running forward, but now a tide of snakes is coming from the direction where the boy disappeared, so Zhou Xiaowu is likely to encounter an accident!
really--

In the middle of the snake tide, a white shadow suddenly appeared.

The boy was lying on his back, carried on the backs of the snakes. The poisonous snakes did not eat him immediately after catching him, but instead wrapped around him tightly, leaving no idea where they were going.

Baijie Pills can not only detoxify immediately, but also protect against the effects of other poisons within one day. Therefore, when Zhou Xiaowu was bitten by a snake again, his face was a little pale, but there were no other signs of poisoning.

Shi Qing gripped the scabbard at his waist tightly, placed his other hand on the hilt, and prepared to draw the sword to save someone.

In order not to alarm the snakes, Zhong Lijin leaned over and lowered his voice, and whispered in Shi Qing's ear: "There are too many of them, we can't fight them head-on. When Zhou Xiaowu is less than two feet away from us, I will sprinkle the Death Powder. You take the opportunity to save him, and then sprinkle him with the antidote for the Death Powder."

One packet of Death Powder is enough to destroy a city. It is highly poisonous to mortals. Although it is not fatal to cultivators, it is enough to paralyze their entire body for a long time. However, if the antidote is sprinkled on them in time, the body can immediately regain consciousness.

Zhongli Jin was here, and Shi Qing knew that a head-on confrontation now would be troublesome, so he nodded in agreement with the young man's idea, took the antidote to the Death Powder, and sprinkled some on himself and Zhongli Jin first.

When the tied up and entangled Zhou Xiaowu came into the range of the two men's snatching, Zhongli Jin leaped up. The figure of the young man in white clothes seemed brighter and whiter than the bright moonlight in the sky in the night.

The fiery red headband drew an arc in mid-air along with the ponytail, making the hair look fluffy and showy.

His eyes were deep and serious. He mixed the Death Powder with realgar and splashed it towards the group of snakes!
"!!!"

All of a sudden, all the snakes started to riot, as if being driven by something terrifying, and fled in all directions.

The giant python wrapped around Zhou Xiaowu felt the power of the Death Powder, and the powder began to produce a strong corrosive effect the moment it landed on its body!

The night wind was blowing gently, spreading the powder of the death powder. Even the snakes that had just escaped were soon contaminated by the dust mixed in the air. Their scales began to corrode, and they struggled by shaking their tails in pain.

Even though its body was corroded, the giant python did not let go of Zhou Xiaowu.

Shi Qing's eyes were cold. He drew his sword and chopped the snake into several pieces. Then he grabbed Zhou Xiaowu, sprinkled the antidote on him, and carried the young man away from the snake group.

The boy might have been frightened, and was shocked for a moment when Shi Qing picked him up.

His body leaned somewhat stiffly in her arms.

Because of the smell of death powder and realgar, snakes dared not approach this area, and there were many dead bodies lying on the ground.

Shi Qing stood on the highest stone for a while, until the last struggling snake died, then he jumped down and put Zhou Xiaowu in his arms.

Zhongli Jin stood among the snake corpses, his white robe still fluttering in the wind, like a saint who remained untainted by the mud, and killed a large number of poisonous creatures indifferently.

An alternative way of fighting poison with poison.

"Are you okay?" Shi Qing asked Zhou Xiaowu.

After being put down, the boy blushed a little and nodded gently: "I'm fine... Thank you."

Zhong Lijin said in a deep voice: "Little Daoist Zhou, come back with us now, and don't be so impulsive again."

"But..." Zhou Xiaowu looked worried: "Xiaobao hasn't been found yet."

Just as he finished speaking, the pile of stones nearby suddenly moved, and then a small black mouse with a mouse-like body and nimble movements crawled out from there and jumped into Zhou Xiaowu's arms!
"Xiaobao!" The boy's eyes lit up and he was extremely happy.

The next second, the treasure-hunting rat jumped back to the ground and tugged at Zhou Xiaowu's pants, as if asking the boy to follow it.

"Sister Shiqing, Brother Zhongli, Xiaobao must have discovered something! Let's go to the mountain and take a look!" Zhou Xiaowu said.

"No." Shi Qing refused indifferently: "It's dangerous."

Just now a group of snakes rushed down the mountain. Who knows what else is up there.

Zhong Lijin also said, "It's the dead of night and there are snakes everywhere. If there is any danger up there, wouldn't it be a waste of life? Now that we have found the treasure-hunting rat, it's better to go back."

The treasure-hunting mouse suddenly squeaked twice at Zhou Xiaowu. The boy was stunned, as if he understood what it said, and asked in surprise: "Really?!"

Treasure Rat nodded.

"Sister Shiqing, Brother Zhongli! Xiaobao said there is a soul-locking formation on the mountain, and he just explored it. There are no other dangers there except for some snake monsters with little Taoism!"

——Soul Locking Formation.

Zhong Lijin was stunned, and the old man in his mind was also surprised: [It turned out to be a soul-locking array! No wonder spiritual power cannot be used in this area! Youngsters, if you can destroy the array, your spiritual power will be restored! ]

He clicked his tongue twice and continued: [The treasure-hunting mouse is indeed a treasure-hunting mouse. It can really find hundreds of treasures and smell everything.]

Zhongli Jin murmured, "If it really is a Soul Locking Formation, then it would be best to destroy it now."

The Soul Locking Formation is not strong. Although spiritual power cannot be used in this formation, it is one of the easiest formations to break.

There are no other monsters there except the snake demon. Use the Death Powder to corrode and paralyze it. This should be the easiest time to get through.

He looked at Shi Qing and asked, "What do you think?"

Shi Qing said: "Do you have any more Death Powder?"

Zhongli Jin nodded: "Of course I have prepared a lot."

It took him three bottles to make one black bamboo shoot, and he still has some unopened ones.

"Okay." Shi Qing said, "Go ahead."

Here I come!! Good night! ~~~