The Spirit Sect... it seems I'll need to visit the Spirit Sect after this matter is settled.
Ye Lanshan and her group continued toward the Misty Forest. Familiar with the path now, they passed through it with little trouble this time and arrived at the lava cave.
"Mu Xinlian, which one is the young master?" Qingdai glanced at them but only recognized one familiar face—Mu Xinlian.
"The scholar who keeps waving his fan."
"Young master, you're finally back. You have no idea how hard these days have been for us. Stuck here so long, we're suffocating. Yet so many people kept coming into the mountains searching for something, and we dared not go out." Qingdai finally let out a breath, her eyes welling with tears as she looked at Ye Lanshan.
This was nothing like Qingdai. When had Qingdai ever not been thorough and thoughtful? Now she was acting like a fragile woman?
Just as Ye Lanshan grew suspicious, Qingdai quietly whispered in her ear, "Be careful. There are people in the lava. They've captured Huo Feiyan, and Yun Di has been unconscious for days without waking."
"I've come to take you all out now, so don't worry. Those people outside aren't after you. Have you heard of the Twin Fruit? Someone claims to have found a Twin Fruit tree here, and it's a mutated one—twice as potent as the ordinary kind."
Ye Lanshan spoke gently, keeping her composure, but her eyes held a layer of suspicion as she looked at Qingdai.
"Really?" Qingdai asked with feigned surprise, though her expression remained calm.
"Of course. I've even prepared a trump card." Ye Lanshan pulled out a talisman—a Binding Talisman, one Qingdai had seen before.
Qingdai glanced at it dismissively and asked with little interest, "Young master, what kind of trump card have you prepared?"
Ye Lanshan shook the talisman in her hand. "Do you know what this is?"
"What is it?"
"This is the Source of All Poisons. Anyone who touches it will suffer全身溃烂 and bleed to death."
"Is it really that powerful?" Qingdai naturally didn't believe it, but though the talisman looked familiar, she couldn't be sure, so she pretended ignorance.
A cold smile curled at the corner of Ye Lanshan's lips as she gazed at Qingdai with icy detachment. By now, she was certain Qingdai was an impostor. But how did she know Mu Xinlian? And how was she so familiar with her affairs?
From her words, though, it was clear she desperately wanted Ye Lanshan to jump into that lava.
But the lava was already full of corpses. Why would she want me to jump in?
"You're not Qingdai. Tell me, where is the real Qingdai? And who are all these impostors behind you?" Ye Lanshan used her fan as cover, whispering coldly into the fake Qingdai's ear, her tone dripping with bloodthirsty menace that seemed to seep through her ear and into her heart.
"Don't worry, I won't harm you. To be honest, your companions were just caught in the crossfire. When the time is right, I'll find a way to save them," the fake Qingdai quickly replied, also using the fan as cover.
"Why should I trust you? And what exactly is your goal?" Ye Lanshan leaned down, studying the group. Each of them played their roles so perfectly it was almost indistinguishable from reality.
"Do you know the greatest power in the Sunset Mountains?" the fake Qingdai asked loudly, dropping all pretense.
"The Sunset Mountains are desolate. I wasn't aware of any power here." Ye Lanshan recalled her first visit to the Sunset Mountains, when she encountered Chu Tiankuo, who was under the control of some force within.
"You're quite interesting. No wonder you managed to wipe out the Demon Ice and Evil Fire."
"I don't know any Demon Ice or Evil Fire. I think you've mistaken me for someone else." Ye Lanshan was puzzled; she'd never heard that name.
"The two people you killed beneath the lava," the fake Qingdai said, chanting a brief spell before reverting to her true form.
"A cultivator?" Ye Lanshan's eyes sharpened as she studied her, wondering which figure from the cultivation world she might be.
"No, no, no. I'm no cultivator. I'm from the Spirit Clan." She blew on her nails, exuding a coquettish air, with none of a cultivator's grace or elegance.
"You practice cultivation. If you're not a cultivator, what are you?" Ye Lanshan clearly sensed the spiritual energy fluctuations within her.
"So this is what they call cultivation? I didn't even know myself." She laughed, her whole body shaking with mirth, and those behind her also transformed into their true forms.
"I suggest you release my people, or don't blame me for being rude." Ye Lanshan released her pressure, and the woman laughing before her stopped in disbelief.
"Foundation Establishment? How is that possible?"
"Why not?" Ye Lanshan snorted coldly.
"Seven-Petal Lotus. Yes, the Seven-Petal Lotus." Flustered, she pushed up Ye Lanshan's sleeve and indeed found the mark of the Seven-Petal Lotus.
Ye Lanshan struck her with a palm and pulled her arm back, baffled by this woman's madness. She was clearly a cultivator, yet insisted she was from the Spirit Clan.
Wait—Shangguan Xin had also claimed to be from the Spirit Clan. What kind of race was the Spirit Clan?
"Chieftain, please accept my bow." To Ye Lanshan's surprise, the woman she'd struck didn't fight back but knelt down, tears streaming down her face.
What was this? When had she become their chieftain? Ye Lanshan's mind was full of questions, but her face betrayed nothing. She calmly raised her hand, signaling them to rise.
"Since that's the case, can I have my companions back?" Ye Lanshan watched them quietly.
"This... I can't decide that. Though we're from the Spirit Clan, the leader of this force isn't. His strength is immense—perhaps only the Holy Land could rival him in all the world."
The woman looked troubled, genuinely helpless.
"Then at least tell me where they're being held." Ye Lanshan gazed at her thoughtfully, her mind clearly calculating something.
"They're... they're locked in the headquarters' dungeon." The woman hesitated for a moment before finally answering.
"Chieftain, we beg you to save us."
Before Ye Lanshan could respond, the group knelt again, tears of sorrow streaming from their eyes.
"If you help me rescue my companions, I'll consider whether to save you."
Ye Lanshan was truly stunned by their reaction. Begging for help from a stranger and calling her chieftain—this was the strangest thing she'd encountered in a thousand years.
Ye Yutian watched them coldly, ready to strike them down at the slightest sign of treachery.
Yue Shu and Mu Xinlian observed everything like outsiders.
"Really? That's wonderful! We're finally saved! No more hiding, no more putting up with that person."
The kneeling group rejoiced, pledging their loyalty to Ye Lanshan.