I'm caught in the cycle of endless competition, you're waiting for me in the apocalypse.

An Xin's consciousness returned to its place, and when she opened her eyes, she met a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes.

The owner of the eyes has a rich range of facial expressions, from surprise to joy to shyness... An Xin can only say: No wonder he is a top star who has never had plastic surgery, look how natural his facial expressions are.

"Um... Anxin... I'm holding you because you have a fever, you're cold one minute and hot the next... I really can't help it..." Gu Shuohan's face turned redder and redder, even his neck and ears turned red, he looked like a cooked shrimp.

"Thank you...this is just a temporary measure, I understand!" An Xin looked at the shy face of the top star and really wanted to pat it. But Di Ting stopped her in her mind's eye!

"Are you a pervert? Don't you even think about where you are and what hardships and dangers await you? You still want to harass an innocent boy..." Di Ting was almost dumbfounded with anger!

"Ah, thank goodness you stopped me, otherwise... I would have felt like a weird auntie too..." An Xin said, embarrassed. "No wonder those fans are so crazy... With this look, with this contrast... I can't take it! I can't take it!"

"Cough cough... I'm so sorry... I should say thank you... I really didn't have any strength just now, and I might have been sick. You've been taking care of me the whole time..." An Xin wiped her forehead, not even knowing what she was saying!

She finally got out of Gu Shuohan's embrace and laboriously sat down beside him. Only then did she realize that Gu Shuohan wasn't wearing a shirt, and her own clothes were tattered and in a sorry state… She felt her face growing hotter and hotter… Good heavens, were they just hugging like that? No wonder Di Ting called her a pervert…

A large, cold hand touched An Xin's forehead: "What's wrong? Your fever has spiked again?"

"Ah! It's alright, it's alright, I have medicine..." An Xin hurriedly took out the spiritual liquid from her Qiankun World and drank it down. She then found another bottle of diluted medicine and handed it to Gu Shuohan.

Seeing that he stood there for a while without taking a drink, An Xin said with a grin, "You know what a 'sleeve-in-a-space' is? Just think of it as a portable space." After a while, he nodded, and An Xin continued, "Hurry up and drink some water to replenish your energy. I should have some clothes and food here. Let's get ready and then go find a way out."

An Xin drank the spiritual liquid, and after a while, all the negative effects on her body disappeared. She moved her wrist, flicked her hand, and all the water droplets on both of them were drawn away and into the river. She took a set of her all-black tracksuit from the Qiankun World, and then had Di Ting exchange a set of dark Chinese-style casual clothes (185+ height) from the scroll.

An Xin turned and entered the Qiankun World, quickly tidying herself up before returning to her original spot, feeling completely relaxed. Seeing Gu Shuohan still struggling to put on his clothes, she stood beside him with her arms crossed, a slight smile playing on her lips, and said, "Second Young Master Gu, how did you get knocked unconscious in the cave?"

"I was ambushed by that shameless guy with a karate chop. That man is my livestreaming platform's liaison manager. I saw him acting suspiciously, so I asked him what he was doing there. He said he was there to gather material. I then asked him why he was going to Master Zou's secluded place in the middle of the night. He knocked me unconscious when I wasn't looking." After finally getting dressed, Gu Shuohan continued, "By the way! Do you know where this is?"

“This is a world of ghosts and monsters that resonates with our world, but I don’t know exactly what it’s like. It might be a bit like the Ghost Path.” An Xin had already asked Di Ting in her sea of ​​consciousness, so it was easy for her to explain now. “We were all seasick in the water, and we can’t go upstream in the Nether River. In short, we can’t go back the way we came. Also, we are foreign souls, so there won’t be any boats to pick us up. We have to cross this forest to reach the city.”

Gu Shuohan looked at An Xin with a puzzled expression: "How do you know so much?"

“I have my own channels and methods. Don’t worry about how I know. If you still trust me, then follow me.”

After her previous training at the Taoist temple and the events in Fulin Village, those closest to An Xin knew she had many hidden strengths. They tacitly refrained from questioning their origins; they only knew this lovely yet strong young girl was kind and absolutely trustworthy. Everything else would simply become an asset. Therefore, An Xin stopped fabricating lies and openly shared her secrets with everyone.

Although Gu Shuohan is often with everyone and has been confirmed to be a trustworthy person, the two haven't had much contact or collaboration so far. There will likely be a lot of adjustment and getting to know each other here. It's best to be upfront about these things now to avoid future misunderstandings.

"Gulu——"

Gu Shuohan awkwardly clutched his stomach, while An Xin immediately understood and took out a cup of hot soy milk and a jianbing (Chinese crepe) from her Qiankun World. "Here, have some!"

Gu Shuohan had probably never in his life stared so hard that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets several times.

An Xin chuckled at his exaggerated expression: "Alright, eat up! I can go without food now, unless I'm extremely short of energy. These are all things I bought and stored in my space. The space has preservation technology that keeps the food in its original state. So, you can have a bargain. Just tell me if you're hungry."

He took the food, felt the warmth in his hands, blinked, and nodded blankly.

After finishing their meal, they reached the edge of the forest, gazing at the dark trees, bare branches, and deep, eerie atmosphere. The lifeless woods echoed with a chilling howl from the hollow tree trunks.

"Are we really going to walk there? Can't we use your Ruyi to fly there?" Gu Shuohan rubbed his arms, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"Feel this, there's almost no spiritual energy here!" An Xin placed her hand on a small tree at the very edge and channeled some spiritual energy into it. Unexpectedly, within just a few breaths, tender green buds sprouted on the tree's branches. When An Xin removed her hand, the tree immediately wilted, and the green buds withered and dried up at a visible speed.

"If you use too much spiritual energy here, you'll run out and that's it!" An Xin shrugged, indicating that she couldn't do anything about it. However, she still kindly pulled out a high-powered flashlight for him. Then, she strolled into the forest, swinging her arms with ease.

........................

Di Ting guided them through their sea of ​​consciousness, An Xin carried A Ye and led the way, while Gu Shuohan carried the lantern. They walked for half a day without encountering a single wandering spirit.

"Xiao Jiu, isn't it said that there are many wandering souls, hungry ghosts, and unsaved spirits in the forests of the underworld? How come we haven't encountered any for so long, and we haven't seen a single boat in the River of the Underworld either!"

"Don't you even think about what day it is today? It's the Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell are wide open and ghosts go out to receive offerings and prayers for their souls' salvation."

"Ah, I forgot about that! Sigh, I wonder how things are at the Taoist temple. They must be so worried about us." An Xin felt dejected and upset, thinking about how everyone must be worried about her.

"An Xin, what's wrong? Why do you look so listless? Are you tired? Do you want to take a rest?" Gu Shuohan suggested, tilting his head.

"Uh, let's find a place to rest." After another silence, they finally found a clearing beside a thicket of thorns. They broke off some dry thorns and branches, lit a small fire, and An Xin and Gu Shuohan sat down. An Xin gave him some food and drink, and whispered, "They must be very worried about us."

"Yeah, and it's the Ghost Festival again, they're probably going crazy."

"I wonder if that manager has been caught. From what he said, he seems to be one of the ghosts here, or maybe he's just possessed."

"I never expected that I'd known him for a while, and Qi Mingxuan even asked me to ask him about Anna. I never imagined they'd be in cahoots."

"Who would have thought? Even I didn't know when Anna learned magic. It's ridiculous. At first, I thought she was just a pure and innocent girl, and we were just playing a game of pretending to be rich. Although I have recently noticed that there is something wrong with her, I never thought she was hiding it so well..."

At this very moment, Anna and Kwon Yuri, who were keeping a low profile, were in the village closest to Cheongsan-gwan Temple. They had booked a secluded guesthouse online. And right now, they were engaged in dual cultivation…

After a passionate encounter, the wounds on the man's body inflicted by An Xin had scabbed over, and the injuries inflicted by Master Zou's magic were almost completely healed.

Donning a bathrobe, Kwon Yuri leaned against the headboard, hugging Anna as she said, "I didn't expect that An Xin was so capable; you actually killed her?"

"Yes, I watched them sink unconscious to the bottom of the pool. I stayed there for quite a while. But she is indeed very strange. Ever since she inexplicably injured her brain that time, she has changed. She was favored by a Taoist priest of the Xuanmen sect, and her cultivation speed is exceptionally fast..."

"Fast cultivation speed? No matter how fast you are, you're faster!" Kwon Yuri curled her lips into a wicked smile, looking at Anna with a wicked grin, and began to fondle her softness with one hand.

"Yes, if I hadn't met you back then and received this cultivation technique from you, how could I have reached the Foundation Establishment stage so quickly? It's a pity that Wei Ran didn't succeed last time, otherwise..." Anna gritted her teeth in anger when she thought of An Xin and Qi Mingxuan's interference back then. If she had been able to obtain Wei Ran's pure primordial yang and cultivation, she would be far more than just a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator by now.

"Otherwise what? You still want to cultivate with other men? You're so insatiable..." With that, the man flipped over and pinned Anna down again...

........................

"Xinxin, there seems to be a lake ahead... and something in it!" Diting suddenly spoke up to warn Anxin.

"What good things could there be in a place like this? I hope it's not some kind of monster or demon!"

"No, come closer! Let me take another look, or do you need to open your third eye?"

"No, opening that thing wastes a lot of spiritual energy. Besides, even you can't see it clearly, so it's useless for me to open it."

An Xin tugged at Gu Shuohan's sleeve: "Wait a minute, there's a lake ahead, let's go take a look."

Gu Shuohan felt that An Xin must have something to rely on, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to find her way so accurately in the forest. After all, there was no sun or stars in this world, so he had no way to find his way. Therefore, he made up his mind and followed An Xin without thinking. So now, he would obey her every whim, no matter where she wanted to go. He nodded and followed behind An Xin, holding the flashlight for her.

After walking for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, we finally arrived at a dark lakeside.

The lake was completely still, calm and deep, like a black mirror.

Di Ting called out again in the sea of ​​consciousness: "Xin Xin, quickly take out the piece of warm jade with dragon carving that your father Qi Mingxuan gave you last time, it's actually reacting!"

When I took out the warm jade, it emitted a faint glow, and its texture changed from warm to hot.

At the same time, as if summoned by some force, the calm lake surface began to ripple in layers from the center. The waves grew larger and larger, and even a waterspout formed on the lake's surface.

An Xin was debating whether to run away when she heard a "whoosh" sound of water breaking. Then, the phantom of a giant dragon flew into the air.

With a roar of dragon breath, the lake surface was already rippled with thousands of waves.

Gu Shuohan disregarded everything else, grabbed An Xin's hand, and ran into the woods. But before they had run a few steps, they were blocked by a huge phantom dragon head.

The phantom opened its blood-red maw and roared at the two of them. The resulting gust of wind made their hair dance wildly in the air, and Gu Shuohan's Chinese-style casual clothes flutter loudly.