"Youlan, watch out for the python!" Dongfang Zhan's gaze sharpened, and he warned in a deep voice.
Li Youlan paused, turned her head, and saw the python was right in front of her, its blood-spitting maw biting her wrist hard.
"Ah!" The python was extremely fast, and Li Youlan had no time to dodge. It bit her squarely, and a sharp pain, accompanied by waves of numbness, quickly spread throughout her arm, which gradually lost sensation.
She swatted the python away with a swing of her arm, then looked closely and saw that the bite mark had turned black. Oh no, she had been poisoned by snake venom. She had to get an antidote as soon as possible, otherwise the venom would spread throughout her body with her blood and reach her heart, and she would be doomed!
The cold stone flower is important, but her life is more important.
Gritting her teeth, she glared hatefully at the python, then kicked the cliff face with both feet with all her might. Using the force of the cliff, she flew back to the mountain peak. She kicked so hard that the large rock on the cliff, covered in cold stone flowers, trembled twice, and a large amount of rock fragments fell into the bottomless abyss.
"Cousin, I'm sorry!" Landing on the mountain peak, Li Youlan held her injured and poisoned wrist, her eyes warm and full of apology. That giant snake was too ferocious; she couldn't handle it.
"It's alright, I'm just glad you're okay!" Dongfang Zhan said calmly, glancing at her blackened wound: "The snake is very venomous, take the medicine to detoxify quickly!"
"Yes!" Li Youlan swallowed a pill, calmed herself down, took out silver needles and inserted them into several acupoints, then swung her dagger to cut open the wound. A stream of thick, black blood flowed out, emitting a foul stench.
Seeing that everyone's attention was on Li Youlan, Shen Lixue quietly took a step forward and stood on the edge of the mountain. Just as she was about to step onto the cliff at the right moment, her wrist was tightly grabbed. Turning her head, she met Dongfang Heng's deep eyes:
"Li Xue, the snakes are very venomous, and the cliff is unstable. It's very dangerous for you to go and pick the flowers!"
Shen Lixue chuckled twice: "Don't worry, I have a way to deal with pythons. I weigh less than 100 pounds, that cliff should be able to support me!"
"Are you sure you want to pick the Cold Stone Flower?" Dongfang Heng looked at Shen Lixue and tightened his grip on her hand.
Shen Lixue's wrist ached from his grip, but she raised the corner of her mouth and said, "I need to pick the Cold Stone Flower before the old prince can wake up. He is very ill, and we can't waste any more time!"
Li Youlan's gaze sharpened; it was the old prince of the Holy King's Mansion who needed the Cold Stone Flower.
Dongfang Heng remained silent. The old prince indeed didn't have much time left, but he didn't want her to take any risks.
Shen Lixue patted his hand reassuringly: "Don't worry, I'll be fine!"
Dongfang Heng gazed at Shen Lixue for a long time before solemnly saying, "Be careful!" These two simple words contained boundless concern.
"Don't worry!" Shen Lixue smiled slightly, withdrew her small hand, took out a dagger, and turned to look at the cliff.
On the cliff, a giant python flicked its long red tongue, looking defiantly at Shen Lixue.
Shen Lixue lightly touched the ground with her feet, her slender figure flying towards the cliff. She had only recently learned lightness skill and was not very proficient in it. With her feet in mid-air, she suddenly felt that she had run out of strength and her body was about to fall. Below was a bottomless abyss, and falling down would surely mean certain death.
With a sharp look in her eyes, she lunged forward, her dagger plunging deep into a crevice in the cliff face. Hanging from the cliff, a shadow suddenly loomed overhead. Danger loomed. She looked up and saw a python with its jaws wide open, spitting blood, lunging at her.
Shen Lixue smiled, dodged the python to the side, and with a flick of her wrist, a silver light flashed as the dagger plunged deep into the python's vital spot, pinning it firmly to the cliff face.
The people on the mountainside secretly breathed a sigh of relief. They had dealt with the giant python and obtained the Froststone Flower, so everything would be fine.
Li Youlan narrowed her beautiful eyes, a strange smile flashing in them. When she returned, she deliberately kicked the cliff with force. The cliff was already very loose. Even if Shen Lixue got the Cold Stone Flower, it was unknown whether she could come back alive.
The python was pinned to its seven-inch mark, its eyes bloodshot, struggling in its death throes. Its large tail lashed out with a loud cracking sound, sending pieces of rock falling into the ravine, and the loose cliff face teetering on the verge of collapse.
Dongfang Heng's gaze sharpened, and he urgently warned, "Li Xue, the cliff is about to collapse, get out of here quickly!"
Everyone's anxious gazes fell on Shen Lixue.
Shen Lixue took a deep breath. She could clearly feel the cliff shaking, and loose rocks and sand were falling down with a whooshing sound. She could no longer hear any sound. The cliff was indeed about to collapse.
"Li Xue, come back quickly!" Dongfang Heng's deep, anxious voice was infused with his inner strength and carried far and wide on the breeze.
Li Youlan looked at Shen Lixue on the cliff and smiled. The cliff was about to collapse, and she was afraid that she would not be able to come back.
Shen Lixue looked up and saw the Cold Stone Flower swaying gently in the breeze a meter away from her.
With her snowy eyes narrowed, she suddenly leaped upwards, her fingers touching the Cold Stone Flower. In the instant she plucked it, the cliff suddenly slid down, and Shen Lixue's slender body plummeted rapidly towards the bottomless abyss. Her flowing black hair resembled a brilliant sea flower, a vibrant black spectacle.
"Li Xue!" Dongfang Heng's obsidian-like eyes suddenly narrowed, and he leaped into the abyss, quickly chasing after Shen Li Xue.
Dongfang Zhan frowned, watching the two figures rapidly descending into the abyss. To die together in the same grave—such a bond was truly...
"Your Highness!" Zi Mo exclaimed, quickly taking out a long rope and throwing it to Dongfang Heng: "Catch the rope."
Dongfang Heng used the Thousand Gold Pendant to quickly catch up with Shen Lixue, stretched out his arm to tightly embrace her small waist, and grabbed the long rope that Zi Mo had thrown down with his other hand. The two of them leaned against the cliff and hung there. The cliff rock fell down, and for a long time no sound was heard. This mountain ravine was unfathomably deep.
"I told you to get off the cliff quickly, why didn't you listen?" Dongfang Heng looked at Shen Lixue, his sharp eyes surging with a storm of rage. He held her arm, which trembled slightly. He was so close to losing her.
"I want to pick the Froststone Flower!" Shen Lixue shook the Froststone Flower, blinking innocently, "It's already so close, there's no reason to give it up!"
"You almost got yourself killed trying to pick the flowers!" Dongfang Heng roared, still shaken by the near-death experience.
"I'll be fine, look!" Shen Lixue flipped her wrist, and a long blue whip flew out from her sleeve, embedding itself deeply into the cliff face.
Dongfang Heng was taken aback: "The long whip can still save itself!"
Shen Lixue smiled and said, "This whip is made of special materials. It can be used to hit people or to save them!" Even if Dongfang Heng hadn't jumped into the abyss to save her, she wouldn't have been killed.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, hold on tight! I'll pull you up!" Zi Mo's reminder came from above.
Shen Lixue smiled, pulled hard on the long whip, and her slender body leaped out of Dongfang Heng's arms. Using the force of the whip, she flew upwards quickly, lowered her head, and winked at Dongfang Heng.
Dongfang Heng shook his head, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes: "Your speed is too slow!"
With a light touch of his feet on the cliff face, his slender body soared upwards like an arrow, instantly catching up with Shen Lixue. He stretched out his long arm, gently embraced her waist, and used the force of the long rope to quickly fly up the mountain peak.
"Your Highness, Your Highness!" The mountain wind was cold. Seeing that Shen Lixue and Dongfang Heng were both unharmed, Zi Mo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they were both alright. Otherwise, if one of them had been injured, the other would not have survived alone.
Shen Lixue wiped her forehead: "I got the Cold Stone Flower, let's go down the mountain!"
Five pure white petals fluttered gently in the mountain breeze. Li Youlan's eyes narrowed. She was lucky; she had actually managed to pick the Cold Stone Flower.