Chapter 163: Puppet Double

Qin Feng, wake up. Ling Xinyue could no longer afford to overthink. She cradled my head, gently slapped my cheek with one hand, and said anxiously.

At this moment, I was still unconscious, showing no sign of movement.

Just then, the armored giant buried in the pile of rocks suddenly reached out a massive hand.

Ling Xinyue's heart tightened. Supporting me with one arm, she hoisted me onto her back and quickly fled from the dangerous place.

Inside a secluded cave, Ling Xinyue set me down, erected a concealment array at the entrance, and finally let out a sigh of relief.

Sitting beside me, Ling Xinyue stared at my blood-stained face. Unable to help herself, she reached out a small hand and gently wiped away the grime and blood from my face.

Then, her hand slid down to the lapel of my clothes. She paused for a moment. Seeing that my entire body was stained with blood, she wondered if she should help tend to my wounds, but...

"In times of urgency, one must be pragmatic. There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Ling Xinyue thought to herself, directly pulling open my garments.

Instantly, her pupils constricted, and her heart gave a painful twitch.

My body was densely covered with deep and shallow wounds, to the extent that not a single patch of skin appeared intact.

Ling Xinyue took out a specially formulated healing ointment from the Supreme ethereal Smoke Monastery and began applying it to my body.

After tending to my wounds, she suddenly remembered that she, too, was injured.

Glancing at me and seeing that I showed no sign of waking up anytime soon, Ling Xinyue walked aside, removed her outer garments, and was left in only her undergarments.

The wounds on her front were quickly treated, but a large gash on her back proved difficult to reach on her own.

Right at that moment, I opened my eyes and slyly stared at Ling Xinyue's figure.

"I'll help you," I said as I sat up.

Startled, Ling Xinyue hurriedly draped her outer robe over herself, her pretty face burning with a fiery blush.

"You... when did you wake up?" Ling Xinyue asked.

"Just now. For a second, I thought I was dreaming," I replied. Although my body had lapsed into unconsciousness, my consciousness had already recovered the moment Ling Xinyue hoisted me onto her back. It was a sort of instinct—when danger arose, it forced the body to wake up immediately. Since there was no immediate danger, I simply let nature take its course.

I stood up, walked over to Ling Xinyue, gently stroked her fine hair, and said, "Turn around. I'll apply the medicine for you."

"N... no need..." Ling Xinyue stammered shyly.

"Be a good girl. You're my wife, what are you being shy about?" Without giving her a choice, I pressed both hands on Ling Xinyue's shoulders and turned her around.

With her face burning like fire, Ling Xinyue clutched her outer garment against her chest, exposing her entire smooth, pink back completely to my view.

I took the ointment and applied it to Ling Xinyue's back.

During this process, my fingers inevitably brushed against her skin.

Every time this happened, a slight, involuntary tremor would ripple through Ling Xinyue's body.

"Are... are you done yet?" Ling Xinyue asked, biting her lower lip. The wound already felt cool and soothing, meaning the medicine must have been fully applied, yet this fellow's fingers were still gently gliding across the skin some distance away from her wound—he was clearly taking advantage of her.

"Not yet," I replied with a straight face.

"There are no wounds where you're touching," Ling Xinyue turned her head, casting a reproachful look at me.

"I know. That's why I said I haven't finished applying it properly yet," I winked at her.

"You... shameless," Ling Xinyue scolded. She took two steps forward to escape my clutches and quickly slipped her clothes back on.

I suddenly closed the distance by two steps, braced my hands against the cave wall, and caged her within my embrace.

"Move aside!" Ling Xinyue gave me a gentle push.

"Since you already called me shameless, if I don't act shamelessly once, how could I live up to the title?" I chuckled in a low voice, slowly leaning my lips toward her crimson ones.

In that fraction of a second, Ling Xinyue's brain seemed to freeze, momentarily losing the ability to react. She could only wide-eyed watch as my lips drew closer and closer.

Just as my lips brushed against the corner of hers, she suddenly snapped back to her senses, reached out, pressed her hands against my face, and shoved me hard to the side.

"Wife, we ran into each other across the threshold of life and death, and you won't even give me a reunion kiss?" I rubbed my face and said with a aggrieved tone.

"If you keep acting this outrageous, don't blame me for being unpolite..." Ling Xinyue warned with a trace of genuine anger.

I shrugged and said, "Alright, alright. Tell me, what's going on here? I was clearly in the Evil Emperor's Tomb, so how did I end up falling into the ascetic cave of the Holy Monk Cangyang?"

Ling Xinyue then recounted everything that had happened prior.

"So you're saying the ascetic cave of the Holy Monk Cangyang is actually connected to the Evil Emperor's Tomb? Could it be that the two of them were close friends in life—sharing the same bed in life and the same coffin in death? What a poignant love story," I smiled.

"Is your brain filled with mush?" Ling Xinyue glared at me.

"Then how do you explain it?" I asked.

"How would I know? Perhaps it's just a coincidence," Ling Xinyue said.

I shook my head. There were no such coincidences.

"You mentioned that the Holy Monk Cangyang turned into a ghost. What was he like?" I asked.

Ling Xinyue described his appearance, which only made my frown deepen. "Why does this description sound almost identical to the Holy Monk Cangyang in the Evil Emperor's Tomb? Could there be multiple Holy Monks Cangyang?"

"My sect mission has already been completed. Our top priority now is to escape this place," Ling Xinyue said.

Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from outside—step by step, shaking the cave violently.

Ling Xinyue and I exchanged glances, stopped talking, and prepared ourselves with full alertness.

"Boom."

Outside, the giant clad in blood-colored armor raised a massive blood-stained spear and began sweeping indiscriminately in all directions.

I licked my slightly dry lips. Was this carpet-search tactics? Moreover, this giant felt somewhat different from before.

Right at that moment, a dark red flame brushed past the concealment array at the cave entrance, instantly leaving the array fractured and incomplete.

Just as our hearts leaped into our throats, the sound of fighting suddenly rang out from afar. With an angry roar, the blood-armored giant hoisted its spear and charged toward the source of the commotion.

"Are there other people here?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes. There is an extremely bizarre person. I haven't seen him face-to-face, but I know he exists. It seems he entered this place even earlier than I did," Ling Xinyue said.

"Then his strength must be formidable," I raised an eyebrow and said.

"Perhaps. Now that he has attracted the giant's attention, let's get out of here quickly," Ling Xinyue urged.

We crept out of the cave, but Ling Xinyue's expression immediately turned grim. "That person is near the exit. He lured the blood-armored giant and a group of evil warriors right over there. It's going to be troublesome for us to get out now."

"Let's go see who this sacred person is. Maybe we can join forces," I suggested, moving stealthily with Ling Xinyue toward the sounds of battle.

We crept closer, but just as we poked our heads out to look, a dark shadow flashed and plunged into the rock forest.

Roaring in fury, the blood-armored giant pursued the shadow, shattering huge boulders with the dark red flame-coated spear in its hand.

Beyond the rock forest lay a bottomless abyss, from within which tongues of flame periodically licked upward.

Not far from the abyss stood an arched stone gate, which served as the exit.

However, at this moment, the mysterious person had already slipped out through the exit, while the exit itself was blocked by hundreds of evil warriors.

"Well, that guy managed to escape, leaving us trapped here. Are there any other exits?" I frowned and asked.

Ling Xinyue shook her head. "Just this one."

"I'll go lure them away," I offered.

Hearing this, Ling Xinyue nervously grabbed my hand and said, "You're injured. I'll go."

I smiled, patted her hand, and said, "I'm not going to lure them personally. I have a way."

With that, I employed the Soul Sculpting technique from the Great Netherworld Yin-Yang Arts, condensing several phantom-like figures shrouded in ghostly energy and ordering them to charge toward the group of evil warriors blocking the exit.

Instantly, the pack of evil warriors grew restless and charged after the phantoms.

Under my control, the phantoms immediately changed direction, drawing the group of evil warriors away.

However, the blood-armored giant remained completely unmoved.

I stared at the blood-armored giant, raising an eyebrow. It truly was different; even its aura felt altered.

Moreover, it felt far more bizarre than before.

"Let me try," Ling Xinyue said softly. A crystal-clear jade sculpture appeared in her hand, bearing a likeness closely resembling her own.

"A puppet avatar?" I asked in astonishment. I had only ever heard of such life-saving treasures without ever seeing one; the Supreme ethereal Smoke Monastery truly possessed a profound foundation.