186 - The Demon Fox Wife is a Foodie

Ye Yanran frowned, "What nonsense are you talking about again?!" "I'm not talking nonsense," Chen Er replied calmly, as if she were immune to boiling water. "I don't know what Xuan Yuanmu is doing; you can't pull me up alone. Don't think I can't see you're just putting on a brave face. If you keep this up, we'll both fall in together." Ye Yanran lowered her eyes and murmured quietly, "…Then let’s just fall." "Hmm? What did you say?" Chen Er complained after not hearing her clearly, "You’re already losing your strength, yet you still won’t let go!" Ye Yanran gritted her teeth and fell silent. At that moment, a shadow suddenly fell beside her. Xuan Yuanmu approached the edge of the trap. Upon seeing her, Chen Er was overjoyed, "Ah Mu, you're finally here, save me!" Unexpectedly, Xuan Yuanmu remained calm and said to Ye Yanran, "Miss Ye, let go." Chen Er was shocked, "?!" Chapter 200 "What?!" Chen Er and Ye Yanran were both stunned. Xuan Yuanmu, however, lifted the Xianxuan Token, casting a spell to raise it higher, yet it didn't light up. She then lowered it closer to the ground, and suddenly it responded, emitting a soft golden glow. Ye Yanran was taken aback. Chen Er's eyes widened, "Hey, there it is! The token of passage!" From the response of the Xianxuan Token, it seemed the token of passage was underneath the maze, just beneath where Chen Er was currently standing. Ye Yanran asked Xuan Yuanmu, "Shall we go down together?" Xuan Yuanmu nodded, "Of course." So, instead of letting go, Ye Yanran relaxed her grip, allowing Chen Er to fall, and followed her down into the pit. Standing by the trap, Xuan Yuanmu watched the scene unfold, her eyebrow arched in understanding. She didn't think about it too much; any further delay would mean they might truly get separated. Helping others is all well and good, but given the circumstances, obtaining the token of passage took precedence. She leaped into the pit, following them. Despite the dim light that made it difficult to see, she easily located Chen Er by the sound of her piercing cries. During the fall, Ye Yanran's ears buzzed from Chen Er's screams, causing her frustration, "Stop yelling!" "But it's so high!" Chen Er shouted, "Why haven't we hit the bottom yet?!" Ye Yanran was speechless, "If you keep howling, it wouldn't matter if you fell to your death!" Chen Er quickly shut her mouth. With the silence, Ye Yanran was finally able to focus on observing her surroundings. The wind roared past her ears while the Xianxuan Token cast a pale light, illuminating about twenty feet around them. Judging by the token's reaction, the pit was at least a hundred feet deep. Calculating the right moment, Ye Yanran struck a palm blow downward. Boom— The force collided with something solid, absorbing the impact, slowing her descent. She pulled Chen Er close, wrapping an arm around her waist, and adjusted their position just before landing. Realizing Ye Yanran's intent, Chen Er's eyes flickered. She retrieved a small white orb with her free hand. With a muffled thud, Ye Yanran landed on her back with Chen Er cushioned in her arms, using her body to absorb the impact. Expecting a hard landing that could peel off a layer of skin if not outright kill them, Ye Yanran was surprised by the softness around her. She lay there, reaching out to grab the cold soil covering the ground. Upon closer inspection, it was a crystalline, snow-like layer already beginning to melt against her skin. It was snow. While Ye Yanran sat there momentarily astonished, Chen Er crawled up and asked, "Are you okay?" "Where did the snow come from?" Ye Yanran voiced her confusion. The temperature of this labyrinth's secret realm didn't seem to support snow and ice. But they had landed precisely in a large snow pile, emerging almost unscathed. Chen Er grinned with satisfaction, "I prepared this for snow-escape techniques, didn't expect to use it so soon. Am I smart or what?" "…" Ye Yanran paused for a moment before nodding begrudgingly, "It's alright." Though she wanted to quip back at Chen Er's unwarranted pride, she had to admit that her thoughtless preparation had indeed been crucial. Chen Er could sense the faint praise in Ye Yanran's words and hummed softly in dissatisfaction, "You can't even praise me a little?" Ye Yanran shot her a sidelong glance, choosing not to mention whose fault it was for this predicament, and agreed, "Thanks to you." Chen Er, beaming, helped Ye Yanran to her feet. She looked up at the small sesame dot-sized hole they'd fallen through, wondering aloud, "Why hasn't Ah Mu come down yet?" Xuan Yuanmu had been moving slowly all day, making Chen Er wonder again, "Could she be reluctant to jump?" Ye Yanran provided a fair explanation, "The entrance is so high, and it’s pitch black here. You can't see her; naturally, she can’t see you. She likely fell somewhere else." Chen Er, considering this, found it reasonable, and called out loudly, "Ah Mu! Where are you?!" After a few moments, a faint echo responded from the darkness, "Over here!" Indeed, as Ye Yanran had predicted, Chen Er gave her a thumbs-up, "Didn't know you were so bright!" Ye Yanran: "…" Somehow, it didn’t feel much like a compliment. Chen Er turned towards the voice, while Ye Yanran shook her head in mild exasperation. Before long, Ye Yanran and Chen Er reunited with Xuan Yuanmu. The glow from their Xianxuan Tokens was even brighter than before, leading Xuan Yuanmu to deduce, "The token must be nearby, but it's too dark here." She took out three luminous stones, keeping one for herself and giving the remaining two to Ye Yanran and Chen Er. The light from the stones illuminated further than the Xianxuan Tokens, providing visibility up to about ten feet. "Let's explore a bit," Xuan Yuanmu, acting as the group's leader, led the way with her luminous stone, while Ye Yanran and Chen Er naturally followed. The structure of this underground cave differed from the maze above, featuring uneven, rolling terrain. Chen Er felt a sharp stone against the bottom of her shoe, bent to look, and found her shoe had scraped away some soil, revealing a jagged rock beneath. This rock was a mix of purples and reds, neither quite like blood nor wholly rock. "What’s this?" Chen Er illuminated it with her luminous stone, "The color's strange." Ye Yanran, close by, glanced over and exclaimed, "It's hematite." "Hematite?" Xuan Yuanmu, hearing the exclamation, hurried back to inspect the rock at Chen Er's feet. Chen Er, clueless, asked, "What is hematite?" Xuan Yuanmu crouched, brushing away the dirt, and explained, "It's a rare type of meteoric iron with another name: celestial meteorite." Chen Er was astonished, "Wow! This is celestial meteorite ore?" Iron refined from this ore was strong and nearly unbreakable, used to forge many high-tier magical artifacts. But such ore only appeared in outer-world battlefields, with extremely scarce output. Only the heavenly realm knew how to refine and process it. Ordinary people, even if they stumbled upon it, couldn’t recognize it or utilize it. Xuan Yuanmu busied herself evaluating the meteorite's size, while Chen Er quietly asked Ye Yanran, "But how did celestial meteorite end up in Mingjingtai?" Ye Yanran pressed her lips together in silence. That was a question only those within the Celestial Alliance might answer. "It's not large, just a small fragment," Xuan Yuanmu said, revealing the head-sized hematite after clearing away the topsoil. She extracted it, tested its weight in her hand, and remarked joyfully, "Though it can’t be used without refining techniques, it’s still a collector’s item." Then, she looked to Ye Yanran, "Miss Ye, interested?" Ye Yanran shook her head, "You keep it." "Alright," Xuan Yuanmu said, placing the ore into her space pouch. Chen Er protested, "Aren’t you asking me? I was the one who found it!" Xuan Yuanmu glanced at her, scooping up a thumb-sized fragment from the ground and placing it in Chen Er's hand, "This should suffice for you." Chen Er: "…" She huffed in pretend displeasure but wasn’t truly upset. Instead, she pocketed the small piece Xuan Yuanmu had given her. The detour involving the discovery of the ore quickly passed, and they continued their search for the token of passage. Throughout, Xuan Yuanmu kept her eyes peeled, hoping for a stroke of luck to find more significant hematite. However, fortune didn't consistently favor them, and they found nothing more of the sort on their path. As they navigated around a small hill, Chen Er suddenly stopped and looked around. Ye Yanran asked, "What's wrong?" Hearing the commotion ahead, Xuan Yuanmu also came to a halt. Chen Er looked puzzled, "Did you hear that?" Ye Yanran listened intently but shook her head, "No, nothing." Xuan Yuanmu inquired, "What did you hear?" Chen Er frowned, hesitantly, "It sounded like someone calling for help." Ye Yanran and Xuan Yuanmu exchanged a glance, silently agreeing to listen more intently. "... Help." In the darkness, there indeed came a faint sound. Xuan Yuanmu quickly assessed the situation, "Over there." Ye Yanran cautiously suggested, "Should we go check it out?" Without hesitation, Chen Er replied, "Let's take a look. If someone is in trouble, saving a life is a noble act." Xuan Yuanmu considered for a moment, "Those trapped down here are likely fellow disciples seeking the token, just like us. Let's go see." If aiding them helped in finding the token, it would be ideal. Otherwise, the decision to save or not was still theirs to make. With so many powerful beings around the Mingtai Mirror, it was unlikely for anyone to come to serious harm. The three agreed to head toward the source of the cries. Xuan Yuanmu led the way, with Chen Er and Ye Yanran watching their sides and rear, progressing methodically. The cries grew louder, yet it seemed impossible to pinpoint their exact origin. Chen Er was puzzled, "Why does it seem like the sound keeps changing locations?" Ye Yanran and Xuan Yuanmu noticed it too, with Xuan Yuanmu cautioning, "Stay alert." Suddenly, Chen Er saw a shadow dart by in the distance. "Over there!" Xuan Yuanmu and Ye Yanran turned in the direction she pointed, but saw nothing. "It ran off!" Chen Er exclaimed. Ye Yanran questioned, "What was it? A person?" Chen Er shook her head, "No, it looked like..." Xuan Yuanmu frowned, "Can’t you finish a sentence?" "Uh," Chen Er shrugged, even finding it a bit unbelievable herself, "it looked like a tree." Ye Yanran and Xuan Yuanmu were puzzled in unison, "A tree?" "Yes, a tree," Chen Er confirmed with a nod. Just then, she glimpsed the dark figure again and quickly hurled her luminous stone in its direction. Thump— The stone struck something solid but bounced off after a brief flash. In that instant, it was enough for Ye Yanran and Xuan Yuanmu to take in the creature before them. It was a tree about thirty feet tall, lush and full of branches and leaves. The trunk had developed into several spider-like legs that quickly scuttled across the ground. Furthermore, the tree's branches extended wildly, with vines thrashing about. A disciples from their order was tightly bound by a vine like a cocoon, hanging from a branch, swaying wildly with the tree's movements. The cries, which seemed to drift further and nearer, were emanating from this person's mouth.