Fang Ruxue's eyes caught a group of fierce-looking men consisting of five people. Each of them was big and burly, as if they could carry a horse on each shoulder. And yet, their skin looked clean and pristine, as if they had never done a day of manual labor in their lives. The contrast made her eyes widen. "Cultivators!"

This was bad. Very, very bad. If these cultivators were truly from the Qing clan and looking for her, then there was no mistaking it. Liu Xing's presence on this island had been discovered, and they were intent on catching him. This meant she and her sisters were in danger—especially her, alone as she was.

When one of the cultivators suddenly raised his head and looked in her general direction, Fang Ruxue instantly dropped down, trying to hide. Then, she looked at Brother Rou and the old man and whispered, "I need to go."

Brother Rou's face widened and grew a bit pale, but he quickly hardened his expression as if he had steeled his resolve. The old man likewise gave her a serious nod. Both of their expressions were grave, as if they intended to never divulge information about her. Fang Ruxue thought the sentiment absurd; after all, they were practically strangers. However, she hoped her guess was correct. After all, she did not want to be caught, detained, interrogated, and then tortured.

"Walk slowly here," the old man said, "there's a door in the back."

Fang Ruxue nodded, and as she crouched, she moved as fast as she could toward the old man. In a moment, she successfully crossed the room and followed the old man, who bent his back so low it looked painful, into the kitchen. "Careful here, press your back to the wall."

To her right was the open door she had used to enter the house. The old man had decided not to close it. Those cultivators had probably already seen the open door, and it would be suspicious if it suddenly slammed shut. So, she needed to move as carefully as possible with her back pressed tightly to the wall. As long as she did that, she would not be seen.

They crossed the little kitchen in an instant and arrived at another door. This one was closed but not locked. The old man twisted the handle slowly. Sweat beaded on his face. Soon, the door was open. He pushed it slowly, creating a faint creak that sent her heart galloping. The door swung open little by little, and a moment later—though it felt like an eternity—it was fully open.

As Fang Ruxue saw the back of the house, where trees, bushes, and shrubs filled her view, she glanced to the side and whispered to the old man, "Thank you. I owe you. I'll make sure to come back and repay your kindness."

The old man nodded. "I did nothing."

"Still, thank you. Also, say thanks to Brother Rou. The information he gave me is so valuable and helpful."

At that moment, Brother Rou suddenly coughed. However, the sound was unusual; it was as if he had just said the word "sea." Then, another cough reverberated, and this time it sounded like "floor." Instantly, Fang Ruxue's eyes widened in understanding. Seafloor. He had said he had a guess where the Jin clan's Alchemy Hall was located. It was to the north. But that cough gave her additional information. It seemed the Alchemy Hall was built on the seafloor north of the island.

"Once again, thank you," Fang Ruxue said to the old man.

He nodded, then pointed forward. "Run straight. In about ten minutes, there's another river. Cross it. You'll arrive at a Jin clan farm. Those from the Qing clan would never cross that river."

She looked forward. The trees were spaced evenly, suggesting this little forest was not natural but planted by someone. She would not be surprised if this blind healer had planted all of them. The ground was a tangle of grass, bushes, and wildflowers. Rocks jutted out from the earth, each covered by green moss. Soon, she realized that the tall trees were also covered in moss, making the area feel damp. Then, she looked down and realized that the ground was muddy, and there was no trail. She would have to run through mud. Upon realizing this, she tightened her lips. Running on muddy ground would be hard, but she had no other choice.

"Go!" the old man said, and the footsteps of the cultivators grew louder, accompanied by the creaking of bamboo. They were already on the bridge.

"Once again, thank you," Fang Ruxue said, and then she ran while crouching, passing through a small shrub right behind the house.

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Her feet landed in the mud and sank slightly. She pressed her lips together, forcing herself to keep moving as she planted her other foot on the ground. Her movement slowed instantly. While her feet sank with each step and the ground was slippery, it was not difficult to pull her feet free and take another step. She could not run, and she was afraid to slip and fall, which would slow her down further, but she could still move.

As she took step after step on the muddy ground, walking straight through the grass and shrubs, her heart hammered in her chest. She was terrified that those cultivators would burst out of the little house and catch her. This fear motivated her to move as fast as possible. At one point, the bottom of her dress was fully caked with mud, and sometimes the shrubs and low branches caught her dress, slowing her down further. Without hesitation, she ripped at the hem of her dress. The result was messy. She couldn't rip it cleanly into a shorter skirt. She was a normal human, after all, and the dress was surprisingly tough. However, she succeeded in tearing some of it away, making it possible for her to take wider steps.

"Come on, come on," she muttered. The old man said there would be another river in ten minutes. Her ten-minute pace was different from the old man's, so she expected to see the river soon.

Minutes went by, and Fang Ruxue kept walking, hoping that the cultivators would not catch up to her and that the old man and Brother Rou would be okay.

Each step she took made a loud squelching noise, especially because the little forest was eerily silent. No insects, birds, or small critters made a sound, as if the forest itself held its breath. Only the splat, splat, splat of her feet and her own loud breathing reverberated through the trees. After a while, Fang Ruxue felt her lungs burning, her arms and legs trembled, and the cold sweat covering her body made her feel like a sick person trying to run a marathon.

After a while, she heard the sound of running water in the distance. It was faint, but her ears did not lie. Her head snapped up, and a jolt of energy shot through her. She decided to risk running on the muddy ground. There were shrubs in front of her, and her first instinct was to crash through them like a runaway cart to get there faster, but logic prevailed. Plowing through would only get her tangled. In the end, she ran to the side until she found a small gap and then ran through it without hesitation. Instantly, she could see the river. It was blue, the sunlight hitting it and making the surface glitter. Colorful fish swam against the current, and some even jumped from the water, making it splash. Upon seeing the river, intense relief flooded her heart. After she crossed it, she would be in Jin clan territory. While it did not mean she was safe, it meant those cultivators would have a harder time catching her.

She looked left and right, trying to locate a bridge to cross the little river, and found one to her right several meters away. It was a proper bridge, made from wooden planks secured by thick ropes, with two more ropes as handrails. The brown wooden planks looked as though the bridge had been built recently.

She ran toward it. The muddy ground she had been fighting was finally behind her. The ground was stable and steady, allowing her to run as fast as she could. The wind whipped at her face, and some of her hair came untied, strands of it swinging in front of her face. The bridge grew closer, and closer, and closer. She was merely several steps away from reaching it and crossing into Jin clan territory.

Suddenly, a rushing wind tore through the trees, followed by the rapid thud of footsteps and the violent slash of blades cutting through foliage. As she ran, she turned her head to the right, where the sounds originated. When she saw two cultivators in white and blue robes, their faces twisted with intensity, their gazes fixed on her, her eyes widened and her jaw fell. They had unsheathed their swords and were running straight toward her, slashing through the bushes, shrubs, and small trees in their path. They had arrived.

Intense fear flooded her heart, but adrenaline surged through her system, making her feel impossibly light, and she ran faster than she ever had in her life. It was almost as if she were the wind itself. Soon, she reached the side of the bridge. She slowed down and turned to her left; she was a mere step away from it.

Just then, a louder thud echoed from behind her, followed by a sharp whistling sound. Fang Ruxue bit her lip and decided to ignore it in favor of running. Her feet landed on the wooden planks, and the force of it made the suspension bridge swing up and down and left and right. However, she had arrived. She had made it.

But before she could take another step, a huge man suddenly flew past her through the air. She instantly looked up and saw the man rotating, his body pressed together, making him look like a giant ball. He landed hard on the rope bridge. The impact threw Fang Ruxue off balance, and she grabbed the rope to her side to keep from falling into the river. Right in front of her, the man rose. He was so tall that Fang Ruxue had to look up to see his face.

"You cannot run, little lady," he said, his lips twisting into a predatory smile. "We're the Qing clan. Everyone who messes with us ends up dead. Including you. So, I suggest you surrender. Or else…" The sword that he held suddenly gleamed under the sunlight, as if intent on killing her.

Knowing there was no way in hell she could get past him, she turned around, intending to bolt. However, the other cultivators had arrived too

"Surrender yourself!"

She was trapped. She couldn't run or hide. In that instant, her mind frantically searched for a solution. Then, she looked to the side at the blue river. Without hesitating for a second, she planted her feet and threw herself off the bridge.

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