Chapter 125: Rescuing the Person (Third Update)

As Liu Yiyi pushed against him, she immediately felt a surge of intense heat radiating from his skin. Ignoring it, she continued to nudge him, but Xiao Cheng remained motionless, eyes fixed on the ceiling of the cave, showing no sign of awareness.

Liu Yiyi reached out to check his carotid artery. There was a pulse, and it was beating rapidly. Seeing that Xiao Cheng was still alive, she breathed a sigh of relief. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be suffering from a potent toxin.

"Could it be... could it be that Brother Xiao just saved me? It must be!" Liu Yiyi stared blankly at Xiao Cheng, muttering to herself. Though she was naive and sheltered, she was not unintelligent. She easily deduced that she must have been saved by him. She had fallen into the water, and there was no reason for the demonic python to have spared her. Upon waking, she found herself in this peculiar cave right by the lake, and her large mobile device was beside her; if she had simply fallen into the cave by accident, the device would not have been there.

"Did Brother Xiao get poisoned by the python while saving me?" The thought made her eyes well up with tears. Her master had once said that the python’s venom was lethal to ordinary people upon contact. Was Brother Xiao going to die because of it? The more she thought about it, the more heartbroken she became, knowing his condition was a direct result of rescuing her. Tears began to stream down her face like a broken dam.

"What should I do?" Panic set in, but suddenly her eyes brightened. "Right, I must find Master! Master will surely have a way to save Brother Xiao!"

Liu Yiyi sat down beside the stone bed, formed a complex hand seal, closed her eyes, and placed one hand over her heart. "Big Sister, can you hear me? Big Sister... Second Sister..." No matter how she called out, there was no response. After a long while, she opened her eyes, her small face filled with dread and anxiety. The telepathic technique that had never failed her was now useless; she could not sense her sisters at all. She did not realize that they were in the cave of a powerful master, which was undoubtedly protected by special seals.

"What do I do? If I can't reach my sisters, I can't reach Master!" Frantic, she remembered another possibility and quickly opened her tablet. After watching that video yesterday, she had been moved, and upon returning to her sect that night, she had snuck into her master’s study and used the tablet to photograph a manual on dual cultivation. She recalled a technique within it that could be used for healing. If Xiao Cheng knew she had photographed the manual with a tablet, he would have marveled at her ability to adapt to new technology so quickly.

She carefully reviewed the healing posture and techniques on the tablet, then frowned. Her master had once mentioned that the manual was merely a set of diagrams, and the accompanying Heart Sutra had been lost for centuries. Without the sutra, how could the dual cultivation healing be performed?

Her gaze wandered until it landed on a familiar object: the jade pendant at Xiao Cheng's waist. "Wait, isn't this our sect's special mark?" She picked it up, puzzled. It was indeed the mark of her sect. Curiously, she noticed an inscription on the back—it was the Heart Sutra. Overjoyed, she recognized it as the missing piece. Comparing it to the fragments her master had recited in the past, she confirmed it was the genuine Heart Sutra.

"Brother Xiao, wait for me. I’m coming to save you; I will definitely heal you!" Liu Yiyi steeled herself. She felt no hesitation; if not for her, he would not be in this state. To her innocent mind, dual cultivation was simply a method of practice or healing, devoid of any shame.

She shed her clothes and climbed onto the stone bed. Looking at the unresponsive Xiao Cheng, she hesitated, then placed the tablet aside and searched for the right position. "I'll use the 'lotus' position!" she decided. "Brother Xiao, please don't move; I'm doing this to heal your poison."

Summoning her courage, she positioned herself over him, circulating her qi as required by the sutra, and slowly settled into the posture depicted in the diagrams.

Xiao Cheng was in a state of chaotic delirium, his consciousness dormant and his internal energy in disarray. However, when he felt a sudden, intense sensation, his instincts flared. He instinctively flipped over, pinning Liu Yiyi beneath him. She gasped in surprise at his sudden movement.

"Brother Xiao, don't move, I'm trying to heal your poison," she cried out in agitation. But Xiao Cheng’s eyes were vacant; he had no consciousness and acted purely on instinct. Soon, however, Liu Yiyi realized that his movements were perfectly aligned with the essence of the manual, so she allowed him to continue.

Only sixteen years old, she could hardly withstand the intensity of his movements. She did not realize that this was not true dual cultivation—which required the conscious participation of both parties—but rather a form of extraction, similar to the predatory techniques of evil cultivators. However, it worked by sheer coincidence. Xiao Cheng’s internal energies were clashing violently, and through the dual cultivation technique of the *Zhongling Yunhua Sutra*, she absorbed the excess pure Yang energy, resolving the primary crisis within his body.

Afterward, Xiao Cheng collapsed back onto the bed, still devoid of consciousness. Yet, Liu Yiyi noticed the deep purple hue on his skin slowly fading. She let out a sigh of relief, feeling a profound sense of accomplishment. Looking at his face, she felt something new bloom in her heart—a sense of attachment, kinship, and care that was difficult to describe. As she saw him recovering, the energy she had absorbed surged within her, and, overwhelmed, she drifted into unconsciousness.

***

On the cliffs of Mount Shenfeng, two identical women sat in the same posture as Liu Yiyi, forming seals and calling out.

"This is bad, I still can't find Yiyi. What do we do? Could she have..." the girl in the red dress asked, looking at the girl in the white dress with worry.

"I can't find her either. I fear the worst for her. But Master is still in seclusion! And our only sky lantern is gone; we have no way to get down!" The girl in the white dress was calmer, but her fingers trembled as she held the seal, betraying her fear.

"Should we wake Master?"

"Master is in a life-or-death meditation, but we have no choice. Let's go wake her!"