Chapter 50: Is still dangerous?

Jiu Baiyun had barely finished speaking when Su Zhiyun immediately nodded and scooped up A Ran’s small bundle with brisk efficiency.

A Ran, however, looked worriedly at Xiao Mu, who was still trembling slightly and pale-faced.

She reached out proactively and whispered soothingly, “Little sister, don’t be afraid. Follow us.”

Xiao Mu took two steps back instead, shaking her head to indicate she was fine.

“I’m fine… just a little scared of heights…”

Jiu Baiyun watched Xiao Mu force herself to shake her head and say “fine,” but the legs still shaking faintly and the bloodless face told him she hadn’t recovered from the high-altitude flight just now.

But time was tight, and he couldn’t afford to slowly calm her down.

“Good, you’re fine. Let’s hurry,” he said in a low voice, his gaze sweeping over Su Zhiyun and A Ran.

“Let’s go!”

With that, he didn’t hesitate.

He bent down again and hoisted Xiao Mu, who was still trying to steady her breathing, onto his back.

This time, his movements were faster and steadier.

Su Zhiyun also understood that Xiao Mu and Jiu Baiyun had a decent relationship—it didn’t seem like she had been abducted—so she opted not to stop him.

“Ah!”

Xiao Mu, caught off guard by being lifted, let out a short, startled cry.

Her body instantly tensed again, and her hands subconsciously moved to strangle Jiu Baiyun’s neck.

“Don’t strangle my neck!”

Jiu Baiyun quickly barked, simultaneously adjusting his posture to secure her more firmly with his arms and channeling a gentle thread of spiritual energy to envelop her.

He had really been choked miserably by Xiao Mu just now.

And since they weren’t going airborne this time, he didn’t want to be strangled the whole way—that would be deadly!

“We’re not going airborne this time. Just grab my shoulders!”

Hearing Jiu Baiyun’s words, Xiao Mu was momentarily stunned.

Then she felt the solid strength beneath her and that strange warm current, and her rapid breathing eased slightly.

Trembling, she changed her grip to tightly clutch Jiu Baiyun’s shoulder clothes.

Her small face flushed a little, and she buried it deep in his back.

Confirming that Xiao Mu had a firm hold on him, Jiu Baiyun’s gaze swept over Su Zhiyun and A Ran.

He gave a low shout: “Stay close to me!”

With that, he charged ahead toward the downhill path.

This time, he chose not to expend spiritual energy on flying but relied solely on his physical strength to sprint through the forest.

Each step was steady and powerful, yet his speed was astonishing.

His figure wove between the trees, kicking up a gust of wind.

Jiu Baiyun also deliberately controlled his stride to prevent the Xiao Mu on his back from jostling too much.

“Jiu Baiyun! Slow down! Wait for us!”

Su Zhiyun felt a blur before her eyes as Jiu Baiyun’s figure was already several zhang away.

She couldn’t help but exclaim in a low voice.

She didn’t have Jiu Baiyun’s physical condition, and with A Ran’s small bundle on her back and having to consider A Ran’s pace, she simply couldn’t keep up with his explosive speed.

A Ran, on the other hand, seemed to be handling it much better.

She hurried forward and could barely keep up with Jiu Baiyun.

Though young, she was used to moving around the mountain and had better stamina than Su Zhiyun had imagined.

“Sister Su, hurry!”

Seeing Su Zhiyun fall too far behind, A Ran couldn’t help but call out.

Su Zhiyun watched A Ran running ahead and suddenly wanted to slap herself.

A Ran’s stamina was clearly better than hers—why had she been so foolish as to show off by taking that bag?

Hearing the shouts behind him, Jiu Baiyun slowed slightly.

He glanced back to confirm the two could still keep up, then maintained this slower but still superhuman pace to lead the way.

Xiao Mu lay on Jiu Baiyun’s broad back, feeling the solid support.

The dizziness and fear from the high altitude finally began to fade.

The wind whistled past her ears, and the surrounding trees receded rapidly.

Though the speed was still fast, at least she wasn’t high in the air—the ground was less than half a meter below her.

At least the ground close by gave Xiao Mu enough sense of safety, allowing her tense body to gradually relax.

She buried her face in the crook of Jiu Baiyun’s neck and shoulder, catching the scent of cleanliness from him.

The despair of being abandoned and the uncertainty about the future were temporarily replaced by the strange sense of security this wild run brought.

After Jiu Baiyun slowed down, Su Zhiyun and A Ran finally caught up.

Su Zhiyun, panting heavily, shot Jiu Baiyun an annoyed glare.

First he said they were leaving but then suddenly had something to do, and now he wasn’t in a hurry himself but was running for his life.

What a lunatic!!!

Griping a couple of times in her mind, as if to get back at Jiu Baiyun, Su Zhiyun asked, “Now can you explain what the deal is with this girl?”

Jiu Baiyun caught the dissatisfaction in Su Zhiyun’s tone and sighed helplessly.

While maintaining his downhill pace, he turned his head slightly and explained as briefly as he could, his voice somewhat rushed in the wind of their running.

“Her name is Xiao Mu, a village girl. Her father was bewitched by some ‘Immortal Elder’ and wanted to cut off her hands and feet in exchange for ‘Immortal Fate.'”

Jiu Baiyun’s voice was low, tinged with a hint of anger.

“She didn’t want that, ran to me for help. Her father came after me with a hatchet and even tried to chop me.”

He paused, feeling Xiao Mu’s grip on his clothes tighten again, clearly recalling the terror from before.

“I couldn’t just watch her get dragged back to have her limbs chopped off, could I? Situation was urgent, so I had to bring her along.”

Jiu Baiyun’s explanation was concise but covered the process.

Hearing this, Su Zhiyun’s expression, which had been full of complaint and suspicion, froze instantly.

Chop off hands and feet!?

After sucking in a cold breath, Su Zhiyun immediately dropped her objections to Jiu Baiyun taking time to bring Xiao Mu along.

Though she also knew the immortals of this world weren’t good people, actually hearing it still left her feeling complicated.

After all, she had always operated in secrecy, never contacting or even thinking about contacting any immortals.

A Ran, after listening, immediately showed a sympathetic expression toward Xiao Mu.

She didn’t know what immortals were really like.

She only knew that the Lord Fox Immortal she believed in was truly good!

Although he never responded to her, whenever there was danger, the Fox Immortal would surely appear!

And he never made any demands or conditions!

Compared with the immortal that Xiao Mu’s father believed in, A Ran couldn’t help but feel a little superior.

But bringing up the matter again still stirred up strong emotions in Xiao Mu.

Feeling the dampness on his back, Jiu Baiyun sighed inwardly.

He didn’t slow his pace and said in a deep voice, “This isn’t the time for details. Su Zhiyun, how’s your ‘feeling’? Still dangerous?”

During their conversation, they had already left the Back Mountain area and reached flat ground.

On the village path, there was no one around at this hour, but Jiu Baiyun had no intention of following the path.

But before that, he still needed to confirm with Su Zhiyun whether it was still dangerous or not.