The Princess Cannot Escape: The Cunning Prince Is Not to Be Messed With

Chapter 279 Man-eating Flower

The little thing spun onto Yin Quan's ring, and a burst of golden light erupted from the ring. A series of runes flew out from the ring, sealing the silver sphere inside. As the runes dissipated, the halo around the silver sphere disappeared, revealing a semi-transparent little ghost.

"Mom, you've finally come. So many years have passed, don't you remember Ying'er?" The little one who called herself Ying'er was the soul of a young woman, but she was much smaller than a normal person, only about the size of Yin Quan's palm.

Yin Quan looked her over and felt that her appearance was familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was for a moment.

"Are you a human or a ghost?"

"I am Ying'er. Ying'er is Ying'er. I am neither human nor ghost." Looking at the little thing's serious answer, Yin Quan felt that her worldview had been completely destroyed. What kind of place is this Tuoran Mountain? What are all these strange things?

A sudden, violent tremor came from beneath her feet. Yin Quan thought of Xiahou Ying, who was still outside. "Do you know how to get out of here?" Ying'er shook her head. "Didn't Mom seal me here so that the man-eating flowers could protect me? Why do we need to go out? Isn't it good for us to live here?"

"I'll say it again! I'm not your mother! I don't even know who your mother is!" Yin Quan turned around, and suddenly a thought flashed through her mind: Mother?

"Wait, you said 'Mom'? Who taught you the word 'Mom'?" The word "Mom" clearly doesn't exist in this era. Such an advanced word seems to only exist in her time, right? So, is this "Mom" someone who has traveled from another time like herself? Thinking of this, Yin Quan became a little excited.

She wanted to hug the little thing, but unexpectedly, it passed right through her body. "I forgot you're just a spirit." The little guy tilted its head and looked at Yin Quan innocently. "What is a spirit?" Well, looking at her like this, like a newborn baby, it seems unlikely that she'll get anything out of her.

The tremors beneath their feet grew more intense. "Tell me how to get out!" Ying'er clung to Yin Quan, looking completely bewildered. "Ying'er really doesn't know."

Yin Quan saw a raised area on the ground in the center of the space. The closer she got to the raised area, the less the vibrations became. In the center was a soft sphere that pulsated like a heart! Could this be the heart of the man-eating flower?

Thinking of this, Yin Quan pulled out the dagger from her bosom and stabbed it into the heart. The world spun around her, and Yin Quan was thrown away by a great force. Ying'er asked worriedly, "Mom, are you alright?" Yin Quan was thrown out of that space, and the surrounding flower walls began to gradually become transparent as air rushed in. Ying'er suddenly curled up in pain.

"Mom, I feel so bad." Yin Quan frowned and wanted to touch her, but as soon as she got close, the ring on her hand started to flash. Ying'er was sucked into the ring by a suction force, and in a flash, Yin Quan was launched like a cannonball.

With a loud thud, she crashed into the hard stone wall, causing a tightness in her chest. The man-eating flower curled up and then exploded with a loud bang after a violent tremor, spraying its viscous fluid everywhere. Yin Quan limped to her feet and saw Xiahou Ying lying unconscious to the side, his face pale and his legs covered in blood and gore. Fortunately, the explosion had shaken him out of the stone peak.

"Xiahou Ying? Xiahou Ying, how are you?" She patted Xiahou Ying's cheek. He frowned, weak from blood loss. "What...what just happened?" Ying'er flew out of the ring. "Huh? This person's life is about to end. Mom, are you still going to save him?"

Yin Quan spat, "Don't talk nonsense. He'll be fine. We can save him as long as we find the Ancient Spirit Pearl." Xiahou Ying looked around, puzzled as to why Yin Quan was talking to herself. "Who are you talking to?" Yin Quan had forgotten that ordinary people couldn't see souls. "Nothing. How are you feeling?"

Xiahou Ying tried to get up, but the slightest movement caused him to gasp in pain. Ying'er whispered in Yin Quan's ear, "Mother, there is a Wanling Fruit in this cave. Ordinary people can eat it to strengthen their bodies and enhance their skills, while patients can eat it to relieve their symptoms and improve their blood and qi." Yin Quan settled Xiahou Ying down and said to him, "You rest here for a while. I'll go find something."

Xiahou Ying wanted to stop her, but Yin Quan insisted on going, so he had no choice but to tuck a small crossbow into her sleeve to help her defend herself. "Be careful in everything you do, and never take any risks for me." Yin Quan nodded.

Guided by Ying'er, she arrived at the stream where the vines had withered, leaving only a patch of brown, dry stems. The water was no longer flowing, but a bright red fruit had appeared under the large-leaved plant. Yin Quan was delighted and picked the fruit.

After eating the fruit, Xiahou Ying sat cross-legged for a while. His pale, bloodless face turned rosy. Yin Quan lifted his pants and was shocked by the wound. There was a scratch on Xiahou Ying's leg that was more than a meter long. The skin and flesh on both sides were turned outwards, and the places where the man-eating flower's sap had splashed were still vaguely rotting.

After giving him a quick rinse with water, Yin Quan used the hem of her skirt to bandage Xiahou Ying's wound.

After meditating for a quarter of an hour, Xiahou Ying finally opened his eyes. Seeing that he had recovered most of his energy, Yin Quan finally felt relieved.

Xiahou Ying pulled Yin Quan over and examined her thoroughly. "Are you hurt? What are those things on the ground?" Yin Quan wasn't injured; she only had minor scrapes. "It's nothing, just some scrapes. Those on the ground are man-eating flowers." Xiahou Ying looked at her suspiciously.

"What is a man-eating flower? Why is it not mentioned in any books?" Yin Quan did not expect that there was no man-eating flower in this time and space. Then everything in Tuoran Mountain was too strange. Everything here was completely consistent with Yin Quan's understanding in the modern world. Could it be that this time and space was separated?

As soon as the idea popped into Yin Quan's head, she felt it was too absurd and shook her head. Xiahou Ying never asked about Yin Quan's identity, but he felt that Yin Quan was too mysterious, as mysterious as a fog. He could see her but could not touch her or see her clearly.

"Yin Quan... how... how did you know all this?"

"Me? I read about it in an old book when I was a child. Let's not dwell on that. The most important thing now is to get out of here quickly, otherwise Gu Lounan and Jing Yu will be worried sick." Xiahou Ying could tell from her evasive eyes that she was hiding something from him, but since she was unwilling to say, he would not press her for details.

Although Xiahou Ying had difficulty moving around, the two decided it was better to leave quickly, lest something strange happen.

The two walked into the cave, and the further they went, the narrower the cave became, until they came to a fork in the road. Yin Quan had a natural fear of making choices. "Xiahou Ying, what should we choose?" Xiahou Ying walked to the two cave entrances, reached out and touched the walls of the two entrances, and pointed to the cave entrance on the right.

Ying'er suddenly popped out of the ring. "We can't go there. There's something very dangerous there." Yin Quan blurted out. "How do you know?" Xiahou Ying thought she was asking him. "There's a slight airflow at the right entrance, and the air is quite humid. There should be an exit there. The left one should be a dead end."

Ying'er shook her head desperately and reached out to block Yin Quan, "I can't let Mom go on an adventure. There's a very fierce ancient mythical beast in there, and you can't defeat it."

Yin Quan looked at Xiahou Ying and said tactfully, "Why don't we try the left side? Maybe it's different from what you think?" Looking at Yin Quan, who seemed a bit strange, Xiahou Ying felt that she had been acting unusually ever since she came here.

"Yin Quan, do you know something?" Xiahou Ying seemed to be able to read her mind, always able to see through her little thoughts. She quickly looked away, not daring to look at Xiahou Ying again.

"I... what can I know? It's just intuition, hehe. Don't they say women's intuition is very accurate?" Xiahou Ying said firmly this time. "At first I wasn't quite sure, but now that you've said this, I can be certain that the exit is on the right. There must be something troublesome on the right, right? There must be some ferocious beasts guarding the exit. So it seems that the exit is undoubtedly on this side."

Looking at Xiahou Ying, who resembled Conan, Yin Quan swallowed hard, finding it hard to believe that there could actually be someone in the world with such strong logical thinking.

Ying'er pointed angrily at Xiahou Ying's nose and said, "What a stubborn mule! Mom told you it was dangerous, but you still insisted on going. Mom, let's not go with him, let him go to his death!"

Yin Quan rolled her eyes at Ying'er. Looking at Yin Quan winking at the air, Xiahou Ying felt as if there was something in the air. He waved his hand haphazardly in front of his eyes, and it passed right through Ying'er's body.

Yin Quan's eyes widened and she hurriedly took Xiahou Ying's arm. "Let's go inside quickly." Xiahou Ying squinted at the air in front of her, then suddenly gave Ying'er a sharp look, which made her shiver involuntarily and shrink back into Yin Quan's ring in fright.

"Mom, that man's eyes were terrifying. He must have seen Ying'er." Yin Quan's heart skipped a beat, and she pulled Xiahou Ying, saying, "What are you looking at? Why are you so suspicious?" Xiahou Ying remained silent, but he felt it was really necessary to investigate Yin Quan's identity thoroughly.

As the two walked into the cave, they felt the humidity increase as they went deeper. At the deepest part of the cave, there was a pool of water with a small bridge over it. Crossing the bridge led to the cave's exit.

Although Yin Quan had been on tenterhooks the whole time, she hadn't seen any ferocious beasts along the way. With the exit in sight, she could finally relax and her mood brightened.

"Xiahou Ying, the exit is just ahead. I should have listened to you." Xiahou Ying's expression was tense as he reached out to stop Yin Quan, who was about to step onto the bridge.

"It's too quiet here. I'm getting a little uneasy. This place is definitely not as peaceful as it looks. There might be something strange on the bridge." Xiahou Ying picked up a small stone from the side and threw it on. The stone rolled a few times before falling into the pool next to it with a splash.

"See, I told you it was nothing."