Lan Yuexi and Chu Ze exchanged glances and shook their heads.
"No."
"Being here, I always feel a pair of eyes watching me." Chu Lingwei felt a sense of disorientation. Just now, the aura that had been following her suddenly flashed.
"What?"
Long Ziqian immediately stood up, looking around vigilantly. "Aunt, is someone here?"
"I don't know." Chu Lingwei always felt as if a veil was obscuring her vision. Every time she tried to see clearly, a hand would tightly cover her eyes, preventing her from seeing ahead.
"Father, Mother, the most important thing now is for us to find a way to leave here."
A voice in Chu Lingwei's heart kept telling her that they had to leave quickly, or they would run into trouble.
"Weiwei, I'll go find the exit." Feng Ming immediately transformed into a faintly visible phoenix and flew into the distance.
"Feng Ming, be careful."
Chu Lingwei stood up and her artifact for finding people flew out. This artifact could not only find people but also help them locate the entrance they had used.
"We can follow the direction of the artifact to reach the place where we entered."
Chu Lingwei summoned the flying artifact and followed it forward.
Suddenly, Feng Ming flew back.
"Weiwei, it's not good. Those cultivators are all coming towards us. Their current state is just like that Song Qianshan we encountered."
Upon hearing Feng Ming's words, Chu Lingwei and the others immediately stopped.
Immediately after, a large number of cultivator auras surrounded them.
"This..."
"Let's go quickly." Chu Ze's heart leaped. Surrounded by all the cultivators in the secret realm, it would be difficult for the four of them to break through. He found an opening and led them to escape.
"Weiwei, what's going on? Why are they..." Lan Yuexi held Chu Lingwei's hand, very worried for her.
"Don't worry, Mother. They are probably being controlled."
If Song Qianshan was an accident, then everyone in the entire secret realm coming after her was definitely not an accident.
The cultivator auras behind them were getting closer, and Chu Lingwei's expression tightened. If this continued, they would all be surrounded sooner or later.
"Father, take Mother and Ziqian and leave first."
One of them had to hold back these pursuers for the others.
"No." How could Lan Yuexi watch her daughter in danger and escape alone?
"Mother, don't forget, I have trump cards. Even if they trap me, I have a way to escape." Chu Lingwei let go of Lan Yuexi's hand and pushed her to Chu Ze's side. "Father, hurry and take them away, I'll catch up later."
"This..." Chu Ze hesitated.
"Father, leave quickly. I told you, I will be fine."
Chu Lingwei's voice rose. She summoned the bronze ancient sword, stood on her sword, and sent spiritual energy into the flying artifact, urging them to go ahead.
"Weiwei..." Lan Yuexi's eyes were red. Watching her daughter in danger while she couldn't help felt so powerless.
"Grandma, Aunt will definitely be fine."
Long Ziqian held Lan Yuexi's arm. He believed that Chu Lingwei would return alive.
"Yuexi, Weiwei can face powerful beings alone. She will definitely be fine." Chu Ze's eyes were complex. He hardened his heart and quickly left with Lan Yuexi and Long Ziqian.
Chu Lingwei stood on the bronze ancient sword. In less than two breaths, cultivators surrounded her.
"Chu Lingwei!"
A cultivator at the Tongtian Realm stood before Chu Lingwei, hatred in his eyes. "You finally decided to show yourself."
"Who are you all? I don't think I know you, do I?" Chu Lingwei smiled faintly. From their eyes, she saw hatred.
It seemed she had truly become a public enemy.
"Chu Lingwei, if you hadn't destroyed that lake, our spirit beasts wouldn't have been killed?" Another cultivator pointed at Chu Lingwei resentfully, his artifact emitting immense spiritual energy, capable of killing Chu Lingwei at any moment.
Chu Lingwei couldn't help but laugh at this. "Actually, you should thank me."
"You..."
Everyone heard this, and their aggression intensified.
"Did I say something wrong? If it weren't for me, how could you have merged with your spirit beasts? Tell me, shouldn't you be thanking me?"
Chu Lingwei's eyes held a smile. Song Qianshan had characteristics of spirit beast attacks during their fight. If these people were the same as Song Qianshan, then they must have had spirit beast characteristics.
The cultivators before Chu Lingwei heard her words, and their pupils contracted sharply.
"It seems I was right."
Chu Lingwei's gaze turned cold. She swept her eyes over all the cultivators present. Since they had come to her, they could not be allowed to leave alive to harm others.
"Chu Lingwei, we will kill you."
"Just in time, that's what I was thinking too."
Chu Lingwei's right hand moved, and a surge of spiritual light erupted beneath her. Barriers instantly surrounded the cultivators before her. "Merged with spirit beasts, your vigilance is simply too low."
"Kill."
The divine power of the bronze ancient sword surged with the spiritual energy from beneath her feet, engulfing all the cultivators. A blood-red light flashed, causing the entire secret realm to vibrate violently.
"Weiwei."
Lan Yuexi and the others looked back, their eyes filled with anxiety.
"Yuexi, don't worry, Weiwei will be fine. Let's find the exit first." Since Weiwei was blocking the danger for them, they couldn't just wait to die.
"They really are too weak."
Chu Lingwei stood like a war god before the dying cultivators.
"Chu Lingwei, don't kill me." The cultivator lying on the ground was full of despair. "I... I couldn't control myself..."
They didn't know what was happening either. Many of their actions were beyond their control.
Chu Lingwei's eyes showed no pity. If she let them leave, more cultivators would die by their hands in the future.
Her eyes closed slightly, and all their auras vanished.
Chu Lingwei looked up. The last star in the sky was hidden in darkness. On the horizon, a ray of dawn appeared.
"Come out? After following me for so long, aren't you tired?"
The bronze ancient sword in Chu Lingwei's hand still faintly glowed red. Her voice echoed throughout the secret realm, startling the surrounding spirit beasts into fleeing.
A moment passed with no response.
"What a coward."
Chu Lingwei snorted and turned, stepping on the bronze ancient sword to chase in the direction her father's group had left.
Shortly after she left, a leaf where Chu Lingwei had stood shimmered slightly before returning to its original state.
"Weiwei, you're back."
Lan Yuexi's eyes lit up with joy upon seeing her daughter return.
"Mother, I'm fine."
Chu Lingwei returned to stand behind Lan Yuexi. Just then, Chu Ze and the others found the exit.
"Let's go, we're leaving."