195: Chapter 195 Tao Tao

A dense rain of arrows shot continuously from the walls on both sides. Senior Sister Tao Tao followed behind a Senior Brother from her Sect, retreating toward the entrance of the Forbidden Ground just like everyone else.

But for some reason, the Senior Brother in front of her suddenly stopped. Senior Sister Tao Tao quickly asked,

“Senior Brother, what's wrong?”

The Senior Brother didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned his head to look around, as if confirming something.

After a few breaths, the Senior Brother confirmed the situation and turned back to whisper to Senior Sister Tao Tao, who was following closely behind him,

“There's no way back. Quick, keep moving forward.”

Perhaps because she had been following this ninth-stage Senior Brother all along, Senior Sister Tao Tao wasn't as alert as usual, and she didn't notice the anomaly in the crowd right away.

But she was, after all, second on the Beauty Ranking. Hearing her Senior Brother say this, she also looked up to scan the crowd, just as he had done.

The light in the passage was very dim at the moment, but she could still see some people squeezing through the crowd, moving in the opposite direction toward the depths of the passage.

Furthermore, these people shared a common characteristic: most of them were in the God Realm, and the few who weren't were all at the very Peak of the eighth stage.

“Senior Brother, let's keep moving forward too.”

Perhaps because this Senior Brother had a relatively easygoing personality, or perhaps because he was captivated by Senior Sister Tao Tao's exquisite, pretty face. In any case, in this small two-person team, Senior Sister Tao Tao, with her slightly lower cultivation, was the one who made the decisions.

The two of them immediately turned around and pushed forward against the flow of the crowd. The Senior Brother moved in front of Senior Sister Tao Tao once more, parting the crowd with his hands to clear a path, while Senior Sister Tao Tao grabbed the hem of his robe and followed closely behind.

After a while, the two of them finally broke away from the main crowd completely. Everyone ahead of them was now moving in the same direction.

These people who had been the first to notice the anomaly were all true experts. Most of them were at the ninth stage, and even the lowest among them were at the Peak of the eighth stage.

Moreover, there were a few at the Late Stage or Peak of the ninth stage who, like Lin Qing, had also noticed that the walls on both sides were closing in toward the center.

As a result, their pace was much faster than when everyone had been crowded together. Under these circumstances, the already small advancing group was stretched thin.

When everyone had been squeezed together and retreating earlier, the crowd was bloated, and the incoming arrows were blocked by the people on either side. But now, almost everyone had to face them on their own.

These arrows were extremely powerful. Even though Senior Sister Tao Tao was at the Peak of the eighth stage, she was in no position to take them head-on. Facing the increasingly dense rain of arrows, she could only dodge in a disheveled manner.

Fortunately, the Senior Brother beside her was at the ninth stage. Once there was no one blocking their path ahead, he moved behind her.

Whenever she couldn't dodge in time, the Senior Brother would always strike at the critical moment, blasting the dangerous arrows to deflect them slightly from their course.

In this manner, after the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the two of them finally left the arrow-rain zone.

Once out of danger, Senior Sister Tao Tao turned around and said to her Senior Brother excitedly,

“Senior Brother, we made it out!”

But when she saw her Senior Brother behind her clearly, the smile on her face instantly froze.

His body was already drenched in blood, with several large holes in his torso. His entire left arm was gone, and even his sleeve had been torn away, exposing the mangled flesh of his shoulder.

“Se... Senior Brother, how did this happen?!”

Senior Sister Tao Tao's voice trembled, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

She had entered the Wanyan Spirit Pavilion in her twenties. With her extraordinary talent, she was directly taken in as a Personal Disciple by a God Realm expert.

But how could a God Realm expert have so much spare time? Most of the time, it was this Senior Brother in front of her who took care of her.

Back when she was only at the fifth stage, this Senior Brother was already at the eighth stage. At that time, she admired him greatly and followed him around every day.

Through their long-term interaction, the Senior Brother gradually fell in love with Senior Sister Tao Tao. However, when he confessed his feelings to her, Senior Sister Tao Tao rejected him.

Because by that time, Senior Sister Tao Tao had already reached the eighth stage, while her Senior Brother had only progressed from the Late Stage of the eighth stage to the Peak of the eighth stage. She felt that he was somewhat unworthy of her.

Thus, she began to distance herself from him.

Later, Senior Sister Tao Tao began to make a name for herself in the Central Continent. Although her strength was not yet top-tier, her appearance was truly outstanding, and she quickly made it onto the Central Continent's Beauty Ranking.

Due to her strength, she was only ranked at the bottom of the Beauty Ranking at the time, but she still quickly attracted a large number of suitors.

Most of these suitors expressed their feelings openly and honestly, but there were always some who tried to use underhanded means.

Before this, Senior Sister Tao Tao had spent most of her time cultivating within the Sect, so she could be considered naive and inexperienced in the ways of the world. These people employed all sorts of tricks, and several times she had nearly fallen into their clutches.

Whenever that happened, her Senior Brother would appear out of nowhere to rescue her, often leaving himself covered in wounds from fighting others.

Later, as Senior Sister Tao Tao gained more experience and saw many so-called Geniuses, she finally realized that her Senior Brother was indeed the best.

Although his talent was not top-tier, his feelings for her were genuine and sincere. She thought that for two people to be together, cultivation might not be the most important thing.

She stopped deliberately distancing herself from him and began to go on missions with him frequently. It seemed as though they were finally about to be together.

But at this very moment, fate seemed to play a cruel joke on her.

Her Senior Brother had been injured once again to save her, and this time, it seemed it would be the last.

At this moment, her Senior Brother could no longer hold on. His body collapsed to the ground, and he coughed up large mouthfuls of blood.

Senior Sister Tao Tao hurriedly rushed back to his side, crouching down to grasp his only remaining right hand.

She didn't know what to say; she could only weep uncontrollably.

Her Senior Brother looked at her tenderly, tremblingly raising his hand to wipe the tears from her face.

“Taozi... go, quick, go.”

“Catch up with them... and survive!”

Senior Sister Tao Tao grabbed her Senior Brother's hand, pressed it against her face, and shook her head repeatedly.

“No, it won't end like this.”

“Senior Brother, it's too dangerous here. Please get up, I still need your protection.”

“I'm sorry, Taozi, I might not be able to protect you this time.”

“You must believe in yourself. You are second on the Beauty Ranking, and you are the strongest Spirit Realm Cultivator in the world.”

While Senior Sister Tao Tao was still shaking her head and crying, her Senior Brother suddenly pulled back his right hand, placed it on her shoulder, and pushed her away.

As she stumbled backward, Senior Sister Tao Tao saw her Senior Brother staring at her, a doting smile on his face, just like the one from over a hundred years ago.

Then, he raised his hand high and slammed it down hard between his brows.

“No!”

A wretched scream echoed through the passage.