Chapter 276: Beautiful Woman in Troubled Times

As the monster with steel claws turned its head, Siming's finger seemed to transcend distance, piercing its heart.

It was a slender finger that pierced the skin, tore through flesh, and then exploded in its heart.

Blood splattered everywhere.

The woman in white immediately deployed her sword domain to block, retreating to the wall. She looked at the two corpses at her feet, deliberately keeping her distance—a distance precisely chosen to counter any feigned death and sudden counterattack.

The woman in white was Lu Jiajia.

She had a premonition that someone was hidden deep within the dark cave. She wasn't sure if her intuition was correct, but she gambled desperately.

She won the gamble.

When the person was suddenly called out, they indeed harbored murderous intent and chose to ambush and kill the stronger monster first.

Even with its heart exploded, the monster was not entirely dead. Its body twitched on the ground, steel claws digging into the earth as if trying to rise again.

Lu Jiajia couldn't dwell on it, for she sensed a greater danger.

The person in the darkness... Lu Jiajia couldn't discern their full appearance; she could only see a wooden mask painted with a fox demon. Silver strands drifted around the mask, amidst the pervasive scent of blood from the strewn corpses, appearing like a rising mist between them.

Through the mask, Lu Jiajia saw her eyes.

In that moment, she was certain the person was a woman.

Those eyes had pupils like the purest snow and whites like the clearest water. Their gaze was cold but not piercing, instead evoking a sense of standing on a perilous cliff overlooking ice and snow.

Lu Jiajia contemplated this beauty, then realized something was wrong—her spirit had been captivated by the other's gaze.

She immediately guarded her inner self.

Siming's raised finger slowly lowered.

Her physical injuries were manageable, but the destruction of the Heavenly Stele just as it was forming had, in the end, left severe and lingering trauma in her Dao Heart.

Earlier, to conceal herself, she had also overdrawn much of her power.

Siming looked at her coldly, like a tigress warning others not to enter her territory.

But soon, the woman in white in her vision split into two, then into four…

Her head began to feel heavy.

Siming knew she couldn't afford to faint now. She bit the tip of her tongue hard, but the backlash from the Heavenly Stele was too severe. Finally, she could no longer bear it, rested her head against the wall, and lost consciousness.

Lu Jiajia wasn't sure if Siming was faking it.

However, the hostility and killing intent had indeed vanished.

Without an ounce of slack, she immediately pierced the struggling monster with her sword, severing it into several pieces before incinerating it with sword fire until only ashes remained. Then, she used her sword to pierce the vital points of all other corpses on the ground.

When she pierced the old man, he let out a shrill scream.

He had been feigning death, waiting for an opportunity.

He hadn't expected Lu Jiajia to be so cautious.

The old man's scream made Lu Jiajia's heart clench. She decapitated him and only felt relieved after burning his head with sword fire.

After confirming that everyone was dead, Lu Jiajia used her sword domain to block out the foul stench of the corpses and walked deeper into the cave.

She stood for a moment not far from Siming, and only after confirming that the other woman wasn't truly unconscious did she approach.

Lu Jiajia's finger traced an arc in front of her, conjuring an illusory sword.

She wasn't sure of Siming's cultivation level or her intentions, but dead people were always the most reassuring.

If it were Zhao Xiang'er, this sword would have pierced through without hesitation.

But even in this era of pervasive slaughter, she couldn't bring herself to strike with the sword, simply because when she had cried out for help in despair, the other woman had responded.

She was her benefactor.

Lu Jiajia could use countless reasons to convince herself to kill her, for morality was predicated on survival.

Lu Jiajia struggled internally, her fingers trembling slightly, and the illusory sword before her grew fainter and fainter.

If Ning Changjiu were here, what would he do?

Lu Jiajia couldn't help but wonder.

She looked at the fox demon mask on Siming's face, her sword-like gaze tracing the elegant curves of the black robe. The undulating lines entered her vision like invisible swords, possessing a beauty that struck her spirit. Even Lu Jiajia couldn't help but feel a flicker of curiosity about what breathtaking face lay behind the fox demon mask.

Lu Jiajia did not approach. She pointed at the air, slightly hooked her finger, and gently lifted Siming's fox demon mask.

The mask slowly came off.

Lu Jiajia gazed at the face, momentarily lost in thought.

The face was exquisitely beautiful. If it were the lifelong masterpiece of a craftsman, then that craftsman must have been a lord of the divine realm.

Siming's silver hair was dishevelled, matted with blood against her pale cheek. Her long eyelashes lay still, and her soft red lips, tinged with a faint blush, seemed frosted, presenting a tragic and resplendent beauty akin to the onset of death.

Lu Jiajia leaned closer. For some unknown reason, after seeing the other woman's face, she felt an inexplicable sense of security.

But emotions could deceive and harm oneself.

She placed her hand on Siming's chest and injected a surge of sword energy.

If Siming were to suddenly awaken and show hostility, this sword energy would instantly destroy her heart.

After doing this, Lu Jiajia placed the fox demon mask on the silver-haired woman's chest, then gently lifted her and carried her deeper into the cave.

The cave was very deep, and marks from bone scales rubbing against the walls were still visible, suggesting it might have been the lair of an ancient dragon.

The deeper she went, the larger the space became, and the stench of corpses behind her gradually faded.

Lu Jiajia cradled the woman in her arms and placed her on a relatively intact large stone.

After much hesitation, she finally decided to save her life.

Many had said that the prettier a woman, the more viperous her heart. But Lu Jiajia considered herself kind, so she hoped this beautiful woman was also good; otherwise, her heart would be an injustice to such a lovely appearance.

Lu Jiajia looked at her and sighed softly, knowing this was merely her wishful thinking and that she might well pay the price for her actions.

She opened her sword-eyes, gently touched her fingers to Siming's body, and began to staunch the bleeding from her several fatal wounds.

Lu Jiajia stopped her bleeding.

She could perceive that Siming had suffered not only external injuries; her Dao Heart was likely deeply scarred, a wound Lu Jiajia was powerless to mend.

Lu Jiajia used her spiritual energy to protect Siming's vital points.

She wasn't even sure if historical figures from the Luo Book truly possessed lives.

"Silver hair, black robe, unparalleled beauty… Is this catastrophe so powerful that it can erase the name of such a peerless woman? Or perhaps her cultivation level isn't high, and that's why history hasn't remembered her?" Lu Jiajia wondered, hoping for the latter.

Yet, the blow that killed the steel-clawed monster still left her with lingering trepidation.

This woman, at her weakest, should still be a master at the peak of the Violet Court realm.

After staunching the silver-haired woman's wounds, Lu Jiajia walked to the damp rock wall, cupped the clear spring water with sword energy, and brought it to her mouth. She wet her dry, slightly cracked lips, her expression softening a little.

She drew more water, returned to the silver-haired woman's side, gently parted her soft, delicate lips and teeth, and let the water glide past her finely arrayed pearly teeth, flowing gently inward.

Siming's eyelashes trembled slightly.

But she did not wake.

After doing what she needed to, Lu Jiajia sat down nearby to meditate and recover from her own injuries.

Every time she circulated spiritual energy through a full cycle, she would open her eyes and glance at Siming.

Siming lay completely unconscious on the stone bed, like a sleeping beauty.

She dreamed nothing, her mind plummeting into an endless abyss, without anything to grasp onto, falling, falling, with a face ashen as death.

Lu Jiajia also sensed something was wrong.

She approached Siming again, placing a finger on her glabella and probing with a stream of spiritual energy, intending to assess her physical condition.

The spiritual energy vanished without a trace, as if a stone had sunk into the sea.

Lu Jiajia withdrew her finger.

Siming's condition was worse than she had imagined…

Lu Jiajia knew that Siming's consciousness was slowly deteriorating and sinking. If nothing could be done, her spirit would wither, fade, and perish like a flower deprived of water.

Lu Jiajia immediately recalled a time she had encountered a similar situation, when Ning Changjiu used a secret technique of the Joyous Union Sect to pull her spirit back.

However, this silver-haired woman's consciousness was already fading, so that method clearly wouldn't work.

Lu Jiajia injected streams of spiritual energy into Siming's body, attempting to stimulate her and force her awake.

But it was all in vain.

On Siming's exquisitely beautiful face, the essence of death spread like drops of red floral perfume diffusing in clear water, creating a tragically stunning beauty.

She sighed softly in her heart.

Perhaps fate was already sealed.

She took off her white outer robe, then gently tore open Siming's blood-matted outer robe. After tearing it, her heart trembled. The sight before her was beautiful as snow, with blood like plum blossoms. But… were all beauties this poor now, to wear only one layer of clothing? She gently covered Siming with her own soft, clean robe, then crumpled the black robe and used sword energy as water to strip away the dirt.

Lu Jiajia gazed at Siming's captivating body, feeling pity, as one would for a withering flower.

By the time she finished cleaning the black robe, Siming's consciousness had almost completely descended into an unseen abyss; her breathing and heartbeat were barely perceptible.

Lu Jiajia gently lifted the white robe, intending to dress her again.

Suddenly, her gaze was drawn to something.

"What is this…?"

Lu Jiajia noticed something drawn on the inside of Siming's right thigh.

She reached out, grasped Siming's ankle, gently parted her legs, and looked to the right.

It was a complex mark.

The mark glowed faintly red, like a tattoo, striking against the pristine white skin.

Was this some kind of organizational insignia?

Lu Jiajia hesitated for a moment, then couldn't resist reaching out to touch it.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the woman in her arms, who should have been dead, suddenly stirred.

Lu Jiajia's testing finger touched it.

It was not an illusion.

She watched as Siming's eyelashes fluttered.

This mark seemed to be connected to the most fundamental part of the spirit, possessing extraordinary magic, and it pulled her consciousness back from the brink of oblivion.

This mark was like the switch to a mechanism!

Lu Jiajia gently lifted her, holding her in her arms, and continuously pressed the dark red mark, tentatively injecting spiritual energy to stimulate it.

The body, cold as porcelain in her embrace, gradually grew warm.

"Mmhmm…"

Siming suddenly let out a low groan.

Lu Jiajia infused more spiritual energy using a Daoist technique from a certain sect.

She felt as if she were adding fuel to a furnace…

But the fire indeed grew stronger and stronger.

Siming's soft body subtly tensed, her delicate head tilted forward, and her legs slightly bent. With a soft moan, her consciousness was pulled back into her sea of knowledge.

After a good while longer, her eyes finally opened a slit.

Resting in Lu Jiajia's arms, she slowly awoke.