The Celestial Labyrinth: Love Across Ten Continents

Ferocious beast

By then, Taoyuan Mountain was in chaos. Taowu, who had been hiding in the back mountain, was stimulated by something and broke through the demon-subduing curse and ran out. He ate no less than a hundred people all the way from the back mountain to the front mountain.

When Muti and Ban hurried back, Taoyuan Mountain Qi Master Wu and four elders were trying their best to open a new small barrier to trap Taowu inside. The older disciples released their spirit beasts and fought with Taowu.

The front gate of the mountain was in a mess. Taowu was trapped in a small barrier and roared and banged wildly, with a momentum that shook the world. Ban covered her ears tightly and was almost unable to stand. She remembered that when she first arrived in Qingyuan, she accidentally went to the Kongsen forbidden area in the back mountain, where she met the eldest brother and Manqing. The spirit beast raised by Manqing was extremely ferocious, but a hundred of them put together were not as terrifying and huge as this Taowu.

All kinds of spirit beasts flew around in the sky, but they were hesitant and did not dare to get too close, for fear of becoming Taowu's dinner. Their owners were so anxious that they cursed and yelled at them, but were helpless.

Mu rarely showed a serious look, and gently pressed Ban's shoulder: "Back off, stay away."

Ban covered his ears and looked for a place to hide. Suddenly, he heard someone behind him calling, "Master! Ban!" They both turned around and saw Feng Di and Feng Yi rushing over. Feng Yi was riding the Snow Suanni, which had its eyes wide open and was roaring at Taowu viciously, with its long hair standing on end.

"Just now, a few disciples were practicing swords on the cold sword platform. I think the sword energy alarmed Taowu, so he went crazy. Now Patriarch Qiwu has trapped him with a barrier, but he is almost at the end of his strength. I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on soon." Feng Di frowned tightly, "Master Shanghe asked us to pass on a message, asking Master to leave first! We don't want the disaster of Taoyuan Mountain to affect others!"

Before he could finish his words, there was a roar of thunder in the sky. It was the elders of Taoyuan Mountain who called upon the thunder to strike Taowu, but it seemed to have no effect on Taowu. It just shook its head and became even more manic, tossing and turning desperately in the barrier.

Feng Yi jumped off the back of Xue Suanni, looked back at the frantic Taowu, and said with a wry smile: "No one can deal with this, Master, let's retreat. We should discuss a countermeasure with the Grandmaster."

Mu stared at Taowu for a while, and suddenly asked, "Did this beast really swallow the golden pipa?"

Feng Di was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "This... the disciples are not very clear either..."

Mu smiled and said, "I don't think it has eaten the golden pipa. It doesn't seem to have diarrhea."

Feng Di's face darkened: "...Master! Stop talking nonsense at a time like this!"

Mu laughed, turned around and touched Xue Suanni's head: "Xiaoguai, take Ban and stay away. Don't come close. Do you understand?"

The Snow Suanni opened its mouth and bit Ban's back, then threw her on its back and jumped a long distance away. It was rare for it to be so obedient.

Who would have thought that as soon as it jumped up, the furious Taowu raised his hand and slapped it. Xue Suanni narrowly avoided it, but could not avoid the palm wind. It was like a gust of wind, and Ban was almost blown away from the back of Xue Suanni.

There were many people screaming below. It turned out that Taowu suddenly discovered the precious Snow Suanni spirit beast. He immediately stared at it, howling excitedly, and chasing after it with all his four claws.

The Snow Suanni dodged and jumped flexibly. Ban hugged its neck tightly. She was shaken so hard that her heart almost jumped out of her throat. She didn't want to die yet...

Mu called out from behind, "Little cutie!"

Snow Suanni immediately understood and leaped up. This jump was higher than Taowu's head. Auspicious clouds appeared under his feet and he was about to fly up to the clouds. Suddenly, he heard a sharp sound of wind behind his ears, breaking through the air, and Taowu's big claws grabbed him again.

It would have been easy for the Snow Suanni to dodge its clumsy attack, but Taowu's every move was accompanied by a violent wind, which was enough to disperse the auspicious clouds it had gathered and prevent it from soaring. This hurricane blew it rolling in the air, and Ban was almost thrown out.

After two more blows, she really couldn't hold on any longer. Ban held Xue Suanni's neck tightly, and was thrown dizzy and couldn't tell east from west.

In a trance, he heard many people chanting incantations loudly, and the sky above his head suddenly became bright and shining, as if another sun had risen. Countless huge swords fell from the sky and stabbed into the ground fiercely, making the ground like a hedgehog. Taowu was slow to dodge, and was pierced through the body by a dozen giant swords. He was nailed to the ground and could not move.

A rumbling sound was also heard from underground. In an instant, the ground cracked open, and countless spears and axes shot out from below, hitting Taowu.

It howled wildly in pain, struggled desperately, and blood was all over the ground.

Ban finally breathed a sigh of relief. She moved her stiff arms and was about to take a good breath when she suddenly felt her body being swept up by a strong wind. She was thrown off the back of Xue Suanni. In the chaos, her head hit something and she lost consciousness immediately.

She was going to die again. Falling from such a high place, her head would be smashed. Even if her head wasn't smashed, it would become Taowu's dinner, although it wouldn't be enough to fill its teeth.

Alas, her parents must be heartbroken for her. Their daughter died in a foreign land for no apparent reason, and she never got to see the face of Master Qingling. She wanted to go home, but in the end, it turned out to be a dream.

Ban felt very sad. She sniffed, turned over and continued to sleep.

There was the rustling sound of flipping pages from the other side, and a soft voice said: "If you are awake, sit up. You will catch a cold if you sleep on the stone."

Ban suddenly opened his eyes and looked around in disbelief. She wasn't dead? Then he looked at the person opposite him, dressed in a white shirt and with a handsome face. Who else could it be but Master Mu?

"Ah! Master!" Ban sat up suddenly, moved his arms and legs, and seemed to have no pain. "I'm not dead?"

Mu sat opposite her, leaning against the tree, looking down at the book he had bought from the bookstore for five taels of silver. As he read, he said absentmindedly, "How can I die with my master around?"

"But... where is this place?" Ban looked around in confusion. There were rocks everywhere and the trees in the forest had tangled roots. It was obvious that no one had ever set foot here.

Mu said calmly: "Good question. This is the bottom of the cliff. We were pushed down from above by Taowu."

Ban looked at him in confusion.

Mu slammed the book shut, and Ban realized that something was wrong with him.

"Master, are you hurt?" she asked cautiously.

Mu nodded solemnly, "Yes, at that time, Taowu slapped you off Xiaoguai's back. I was afraid that you would fall to your death, so I had to tie you up with the immortal rope. Unexpectedly, Taowu was hit by the Tai'a technique and was able to break free. He hit me with a palm, so we fell off the cliff together. My little finger was broken."

He raised his left hand, and sure enough, his little finger was badly swollen.

Ban laughed dryly: "Thank you very much, Master... um... you have worked so hard..."

Mu still maintained his original posture, leaning against the tree without moving, with a leisurely look on his face: "It's nothing. Just take a rest and wait for them to come down and find us. Husha, I'm a little thirsty, go to the stream in front and get some water."

Ban agreed and hurried to the woods to find a stream.

But the more he walked, the more he felt something was wrong. He couldn't help but look back at Mu, who was still leaning against the tree trunk like a boneless man. Although he was usually easygoing and friendly, he rarely made such an impolite gesture in front of the younger generation. Moreover, he just said that he would wait for someone to find him. If it was a normal day, he could just use the cloud-flying technique to fly back. Why go to so much trouble?

Ban gasped, turned away and walked back quickly, squatting in front of him, not knowing how to ask.

Mu lowered her eyelashes and read a book. She whispered, "Why don't you go get some water? Why are you standing here like an i***t?"

Ban was stunned for a long time, and suddenly his eyes blurred. He couldn't help but shed two tears, and said in a trembling voice: "Master...you, you are more seriously injured? Is it my fault?"

Mu laughed, "Don't worry, it's just a broken rib, some internal injuries, temporarily unable to use magic power, two or three days of recuperation will be fine. Two or three days is enough time for them to come, just go get some water, don't cry."

Ban hesitated for a long time. He said it easily, but she was not a fool. How could he only get a little hurt after being hit by such a powerful beast like Taowu? He couldn't even use his magic power, and couldn't even heal his wounds. It was obvious that he had suffered serious internal injuries.

Ban was confused and wanted to ask for clarification, but he was afraid that saying too much would exhaust him, so he gritted his teeth and turned around to run for water.

Deep in the woods there was a small stream, surrounded by small yellow and white flowers. Ban searched in it for a long time but couldn't find any herbs that could heal his wounds. So he gave up and filled a bamboo tube with water and hurried back.

Mu was still leaning against the tree in the same old posture, flipping through the book page by page, with a calm expression and no sign of pain.

"Master, the water is here." Ban knelt carefully beside him and handed him the bamboo tube.

Mu raised his hand to take it, but dropped it halfway with a bitter smile on his lips.

Ban said anxiously: "Master, I will help you."

She uncorked it, carefully held the bamboo tube to his mouth, and fed him about two mouthfuls. He shook his head to show that he had finished drinking it, but then he sighed regretfully, "It's not as good as Silver Mist Tea."

Ban sniffed and looked around: "But...but I can't find Silver Mist Tea here..."

She had a look on her face that said "it's all my fault", which made Mu angry and amused: "Where can you get tea from under the cliff, kid... Master is not dead yet, don't cry. If you have the energy to cry, why don't you help me find some branches? I need to straighten my bones and bandage them."

Ban then remembered that she was so panicked that she failed to find even the most basic things. She quickly wiped her tears and went to pick up branches, then tore her skirt into strips and used them as bandages.

Mu was not in a hurry to straighten the bones. He looked around and whispered, "This is a bad location. I'm afraid it won't be easy for them to find us. Was there a kind of small white flower where you fetched water just now?"

Ban nodded.

"That is Jingcao, the favorite food of captive phoenixes and cranes, so it is the only way for them to pass through. Let's go to another place." As he said this, he was about to get up, but his ribs were in great pain and his body felt empty. He couldn't muster any strength, and his face turned pale with pain as soon as he moved.

Ban immediately took one of his arms, placed it on her shoulder, and gently lifted him up. His breath sprayed on the soft hair beside her ear, instantly reminding her of the first time she met him, when she also carried him along the mountain road in this way.

An inexplicable emotion rose in her heart again, just like the last time she learned that he was going to be her master. It took her a long time to accept and agree with it.

Ban lowered his head and his face slowly turned red.

"Thank you, Ban." He smiled calmly without any discomfort.

She shook her head, as if trying to drive something out of her head, trying hard to deny it.

Deny it.