Chapter 25: True Face

At the entrance of Poisonous Snake Ridge.

As Lin Yan set Zhou Wanqing down, her legs still felt a bit weak.

"It's safe now. You can get down."

"Th... thank you!"

Zhou Wanqing steadied herself and looked up at him. His expression remained as impassive as ever. His breathing was perfectly even, and he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Mr. Lin," she began, taking a small bamboo tube from her sleeve. "This is a Unity Insect. I hid another one inside the whistle I gave Mei; they are a matching pair. Once you enter the ridge, open the tube, and the insect inside will lead you to her."

Lin Yan accepted the tube, grasping it in his palm. "Understood. As long as she's not dead, I will definitely bring her back." His gaze swept over the scattered rocks outside the entrance. "Make sure you find a place to hide."

Zhou Wanqing nodded emphatically. "Don't worry. I'm very familiar with this area. Nothing will happen to me."

Lin Yan glanced at her without another word, then turned and walked toward the pale green miasma. The thick fog quickly swallowed his silhouette.

Standing at the entrance, Zhou Wanqing watched the churning green mist. She didn't immediately look for a hiding spot. Instead, she crouched down and cupped her face in her hands. Ever since her husband's passing, this was the first time she had been in such close contact with a man. Her emotions were in absolute turmoil.

Meanwhile.

POP. Lin Yan uncorked the bamboo tube with a crisp sound. A tiny insect flew out from the opening. Scarcely larger than a grain of rice, its body was a translucent white, emitting a faint fluorescent glow in the dense fog. It circled Lin Yan once before fluttering its wings and darting deeper into the mist.

Lin Yan immediately followed. The fog grew thicker, but fortunately, the insect didn't fly too fast, making it easy to track. He trailed it around a rocky slope and across a dried-up ravine. The surrounding venomous insects and snakes seemed startled by something, scurrying out of his way and producing a continuous RUSTLE among the rotting leaves.

After walking for an indeterminate amount of time, the fog ahead suddenly thinned out. Lin Yan soon spotted two figures engaged in combat.

In the distance, Mei was wildly swinging the sword still gripped in her hand. Her opponent was a Female Gu Person covered in colorful, grotesque patterns that made one's scalp tingle. The woman wielded a whip, lashing it in an impenetrable flurry.

Mei, on the other hand, was in dire straits. Her black clothes had been whipped to shreds. Half a sleeve was missing, her collar was torn down to her chest, and the fabric around her waist was completely shredded, exposing a stretch of fair, slender skin.

Even more critically, the tightly bound chest wrap she never took off had somehow snapped its ties during the skirmish. Now, it was reduced to a few scraps of cloth hanging loosely from her body, revealing her true curves. Compared to her slender frame, she was heavily endowed.

Furthermore, the sickly, sallow hue on Mei's face had completely vanished, replaced by a complexion as flawless as white porcelain. Her facial features had entirely changed. With eyebrows like distant mountains and captivating, peach-blossom eyes, she exuded a cold yet glamorous aura. Contrasted against vast stretches of her snow-white skin, she looked like a breathtaking temptress capable of stealing a man's soul.

Just then, Mei's sword was finally snared by the whip. The Female Gu Person flicked her wrist, wrenching the blade from Mei's grasp. It spun through the air a few times before burying itself into the trunk of a dead tree with a heavy THUNK. Stumbling backward, Mei crashed into a boulder and slumped weakly to the ground.

The Female Gu Person grinned, revealing two rows of jagged, razor-sharp teeth. She raised her whip. The tip traced an arc in the air and lashed toward Mei's face with a piercing, cracking sound.

As Mei squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the fatal blow, the anticipated pain never arrived. Confused, she pried her eyelids open. A familiar flash of gold entered her vision, and her entire body instantly relaxed.

She wondered, "Am I saved?"

The Female Gu Person's smile froze on her face. Her whip had failed to land because Lin Yan had caught it directly in his bare hand. To him, the impact wasn't even worth a mosquito bite.

Suddenly, the Female Gu Person let out a bizarre screech and viciously swung her other hand. Dozens of cold glints shot out from her sleeve. They were Poison Needles laced with a deadly toxin, their bright green tips dragging a trail of green light through the fog.

The Poison Needles struck the golden bell.

TINK TINK TINK TINK!

Just like before, the needles clattered uselessly to the ground, completely ineffective.

The Female Gu Person's pupils shrank. Realizing this enemy was far beyond her strength, she released her grip on the whip, turned, and bolted. She moved incredibly fast, scampering away like a startled gecko and covering several dozen feet in the blink of an eye.

But Lin Yan was faster. He unleashed a sudden burst of pure power. Stomping the ground and instantly shattering the rock beneath his feet, he shot forward like a golden meteor, appearing behind the Female Gu Person in a split second.

His fist descended. The Female Gu Person's body violently exploded. Under the sheer force of that punch, her bones, flesh, and organs were blown into countless bits, raining down from the sky like a storm of blood.

Yet, not a single drop of blood landed on Lin Yan. The gore smashed against his golden bell and was immediately repelled. Glancing at the gruesome mess on the ground, he turned and walked toward Mei.

She was leaning against a rock, gasping for air. Watching Lin Yan approach, her lips twitched as she tried to thank him, but she suddenly froze. She abruptly realized what she looked like at this moment. Looking down, she saw that her chest wrap was long gone, leaving her ample peaks standing proud, rendering her too indecent to look at.

She thought, "This... this..."

Right then, Lin Yan reached her. Hearing his footsteps, Mei's mind let out a loud BUZZ, and she went completely blank. She tried to cover her chest, but the injury to her left shoulder made it impossible to lift her arm. Even the slightest movement sent an agonizing spike of pain through her body.

Just as Mei was at a loss for what to do, a piece of clothing fell over her, completely covering her head and shoulders.

"Put this on."

It was Lin Yan. He had already taken off his outer robe and tossed it to her. This woman was hiding her true identity and clearly harbored secrets, but he didn't care. After all, there were plenty of people with secrets in this world.

By the time Mei pulled the robe down from her head, the man in front of her had already turned around and started walking forward. This allowed her to breathe a long sigh of relief, easing the humiliation and embarrassment in her heart.

She thought, "Mr. Lin truly is an honorable gentleman."

With this in mind, she forced herself up from the ground and put on his coarse cloth robe.

"I'm ready!"

Hearing her voice from behind, Lin Yan turned back around. Mei stood by the rock, drowned in his ridiculously oversized robe. She clutched the collar tightly with one hand while the other hung limply by her side. Her head was bowed, hiding her expression, but the exposed skin of her neck was so flushed it looked as if it might bleed.

"The fog was thick just now. I didn't see anything." After a moment of thought, Lin Yan offered a proactive explanation.

He would have been better off staying silent; the moment he said that, Mei's head snapped up. While she didn't know the phrase "an explanation is just a poor cover-up," the attempt to hide his slip-up only made it far too glaringly obvious.

However, Mei couldn't really say anything. After all, he had come to save her, hadn't taken advantage of her vulnerability, and had even behaved with the utmost decency. Gritting her teeth, she could only change the subject.

"Where is Doctor Zhou!?"

"Outside."