Chapter 67 - A Girl Dies Every Day in Her Dream Life

"Ugh..." Luo Xue found herself buried in a heap of softness. Every breath she took was filled with the choking scent of sandalwood, mixed with a few traces of heavy blood. The woman in black moved with agility, and after the medicinal effects of the Nine-Turn Soul Replenishing Pill started to take hold, her injuries significantly improved. More importantly, she was quite familiar with Ghost Demon Pass. Even... more familiar than Elder Wu. Although Elder Wu was a cultivator at the Core Formation stage, he dared not use his spiritual sense for a large-scale search within Ghost Demon Pass, relying instead on tracking aura. Ghost Demon Pass was a place of hidden talents; even the powers controlling the region couldn't completely dominate it. In reality, only three major forces were known to have Nascent Soul elders in Ghost Demon Pass. Yet, who could say if other Nascent Soul elders might be hiding their identities, dwelling within its depths? If one recklessly used spiritual sense and disturbed some eccentric Nascent Soul elder... even the Tianhai Sect might be unable to pay the price, leaving Elder Wu to simply accept his bad luck. Such circumstances granted the woman in black a chance to escape. Otherwise, it would have been near-impossible for someone at the Foundation Establishment stage to flee from a Core Formation cultivator with the power of a micro-world. The spiritual sense of a Core Formation cultivator was incomparable to that of a Foundation Establishment one, imbued with a hint of micro-world prowess; once locked on, escape was futile. Without the aid of spiritual sense, Elder Wu's pursuit was fraught with difficulty, yet he kept close. However, it wasn't until the woman in black crossed an unseen line that Elder Wu halted. He watched as her elegant figure vanished among the clustered structures, his expression growing somber, but he did not continue the chase. "The Medicine Sect..." Indeed, the woman in black had escaped into the domain of the Medicine Sect. The Tianhai Sect and the Medicine Sect were long-standing adversaries. As a high-ranking member of the Tianhai Sect, Elder Wu couldn't thoughtlessly enter the domain of the Medicine Sect without risking provocation. Even if a confrontation between the Tianhai Sect and the Medicine Sect seemed imminent, the responsibility of igniting the war wasn't something Elder Wu was prepared to assume. "Such severe injuries, yet she managed to escape at such speed... She must have taken some kind of precious healing elixir," Elder Wu pondered, furrowing his brow as he cooled his nerves. The situation struck him as peculiar. "To achieve such a feat, it must be a rare treasure even among Core Formation cultivators. "But the question remains, if she possesses such a pill, why rob a mere apothecary? "No, wait... Was it truly about robbing the apothecary? "Perhaps..." Elder Wu lifted his gaze, narrowing his eyes slightly. "It's related to the Medicine Sect." Yes, such a valuable pill could only be dispensed so lavishly by the Medicine Sect to an adept at the Foundation Establishment stage. Moreover... to a body refinist. The body refining path had numerous advantages over traditional cultivation, but it came with significant drawbacks: slow progress, excessive resource consumption, and a reliance on exceptional talent. Across Ghost Demon Pass, only the Medicine Sect could afford to maintain body refinists. As these clues converged, Elder Wu speculated he was approaching the truth, and his expression darkened further. With his aura brazenly manifesting at the border between the Tianhai Sect and the Medicine Sect, several Medicine Sect elites turned their attention, seemingly on guard. Each faction had only so many Core Formation elders; they watched every movement intently. "So it is..." Elder Wu let out a few quiet laughs, then declared loudly, "Fine tactics, Medicine Sect. Tomorrow, I'll bring the Sect Master to demand an explanation and justice!" With that, he spun on his heel and left, refusing to further engage with the Medicine Sect. The Medicine Sect members watched Elder Wu's retreating figure, gradually becoming puzzled, whispering among themselves, "Did Elder Wu from the Tianhai Sect take the wrong medicine today? What's this sudden, out-of-context declaration?" "Humph, the Tianhai Sect has coveted our Medicine Sect's resources for a long time; this might just be their conspiracy!" "But I just observed Elder Wu seemed to be chasing someone... yet there's no trace of an aura..." "I confirm, he was indeed chasing a silhouette, but it doesn't rule out the Tianhai Sect doing this deliberately. Remember when we used a disciple's disappearance as an excuse during our Ghost Demon Pass maneuver..." The Medicine Sect's leadership conferred at a distance without gleaning any concrete conclusions. They sought the figure that had infiltrated their territory, yet found no trace, no clues at all. The woman in black was a body refinist, traveling solely with her physical strength, devoid of any spiritual aura, making tracking arduous. If not for Elder Wu preemptively locking onto her aura, he might have lost her long ago. In the end, they assumed the Tianhai Sect might be making excuses for an attack, preparing to counter any moves by the Tianhai Sect the following day. ... While the Tianhai Sect and the Medicine Sect exchanged suspicions, the instigators of it all, the woman in black and Luo Xue, had already reached a low-profile inn. The woman in black didn't enter through the front door—given her condition, it wasn't feasible. Instead, she slipped quietly through a window. As soon as she landed, she wobbled and fell, collapsing onto Luo Xue. "Ugh..." Luo Xue almost couldn't breathe under the weight, struggling for a while before finally poking her little head out to catch a breath. "She is really... heavy..." Reflecting on her journey while blindfolded, Luo Xue made a little remark. "Water..." The woman in black lifted her head, the mask now off, revealing a radiant face with dazed eyes, unwittingly drawing close to Luo Xue. Luo Xue quickly wriggled out of the hold, only then realizing she was covered head to toe in the woman’s blood. Looking down, she was startled by the sheer volume of blood. "This is an insane amount of bleeding..." Blood pooled beneath the woman in black, creating an expanding stain, eerily reminiscent of a crime scene. And she kept murmuring, "Water..." "Water, water—I'll get you water!" Luo Xue scrambled through her storage ring, trying to find water. Or at least something resembling a liquid. "This won't do, neither will this… wait, big sister, you can't drink that! That’s highly toxic!" Luo Xue snatched a gourd of wine from the woman’s hand, heaving a sigh of relief. The Ninth Wonder Poison was no beverage... "Hey, there's actually water here. Who put this in?" Luo Xue pulled out a waterskin, giving it a light shake to hear the slosh of water inside. Opening it, a familiar fragrance wafted out. "This is... familiar?" Luo Xue sniffed, then realized, widening her eyes, "Damn, it's mother’s cheap wine! When did she sneak this in?" Maybe it was her senior sister who secretly placed it while organizing things? No matter. Saving a life was more important. Wine counts as water! Luo Xue pried open the woman’s lips and poured the wine directly from the waterskin. "Tsk, big sister, stop moving! I’m giving you water... wine! Don’t bite my fingers! Or lick them!" Luo Xue arduously managed to complete her task of feeding... the woman in black, stopping only when her expression relaxed. She then stowed the waterskin away. "This waterskin is a magical artifact too, just like the gourd. It holds a lot." Luo Xue shook it, realizing no water had been lost. Of course, her mother, being a Nascent Soul powerhouse, having a few treasures wasn't unusual. Though, might it have been pilfered goods… Luo Xue shook her head, casting away such errant thoughts. The woman in black, after drinking the wine, collapsed to the floor in a deep sleep, her cheeks a flushed red. But Luo Xue couldn't rest as she did. After all, the scene was... too gruesome. If someone stumbled upon it, rumors would fly about an underage girl murdering a young woman. Of course, in Ghost Demon Pass, it might not even be news. Moreover, she couldn't just leave the woman in black as she was. With a sigh, Luo Xue found herself inexplicably drawn into this event, inexplicably turned into an accomplice, and now all she could do was tidy up after it. Firstly, she needed to treat the woman in black's injuries. Blood was still oozing from her, and even a Core Formation strike wasn't something a Foundation Establishment cultivator could easily withstand. “Well, we’re both women, so I’ll just take off her clothes.” Luo Xue drew a dagger, cautiously cutting open the black woman's clothes, meticulously separating them from the blood-soaked flesh beneath. Dealing with injuries had been a frequent task for Luo Xue in her post-apocalyptic world, giving her considerable experience. Not only was she a companion, but Luo Xue had treated countless similar wounds on herself before. When she finished removing the clothes from the woman's back, fully exposing the injuries, Luo Xue drew a sharp breath. "This sword strike... it completely sliced away the flesh..." The sight was gruesomely intense—a sword wound as thick as an arm stretched across the back, with the damage spreading outwards in both directions. The entire back was riddled with sword wounds. The potency of the Nine-Turn Soul Replenishing Pill was indeed working to mend these astonishing injuries, yet another force continuously counteracted this healing, causing the blood to spurt uncontrollably, impossible to stanch. Just a glance made one's own nerves tingle with phantom pain. Luo Xue couldn't fathom how the woman in black had managed to carry her this far, escaping the grasp of a Core Formation cultivator... And that injury was sustained because of Luo Xue. "She was saving me..." She recalled a fleeting image of the woman in black lunging to protect her. All because she assumed Luo Xue was her comrade... "A comrade... very well, let's just be comrades." Luo Xue collected herself and exhaled deeply. Now aware of the issue with the woman in black's injuries, there was no need to waste another Nine-Turn Soul Replenishing Pill. Its healing effect wasn't particularly outstanding; it was precious due to its versatility—applicable to all types of injuries and capable of preserving a life, which was its true value. This wasn't a game where everything could be quantified by numbers. "Thankfully, my senior sister also packed me some trauma ointment. Though, the amount of medicine she gave me seems overkill..." Luo Xue pulled out a bottle of "Golden Wound Healing Ointment" and glanced at the other medicines within her storage ring. Truly, there was a remedy for every conceivable injury...