Transmigrated into a book? A vicious female supporting character? A senior sister? Tsk tsk!

"Thank you. I, Yu Zechen, hereby promise that in the future, no matter what you desire, and regardless of whether I can make the decision, I will certainly offer it to you with both hands!"

Tang Xinyan hurriedly said:

"Okay, hurry up and put the box away. Our injuries are almost healed, and it's time to leave this awful place."

Yu Zechen put the box away, composed himself, and asked, "Where do we go next?"

Tang Xinyan raised an eyebrow: "Are you going to keep following me?"

Yu Zechen wore an expression that seemed perfectly natural:

"Of course, Junior Uncle is my biggest gain from this secret realm. How can I part ways with him after getting the benefits?"

"Don't worry, Junior Uncle. I'll handle any dangers we encounter, and any treasures we find are yours."

Tang Xinyan was amused. She hadn't expected someone with such a flamboyant and unruly appearance to have such a silly side. But there was still plenty of time.

"We can work together for now, and if we feel it's not a good fit later, we can go our separate ways," Tang Xinyan thought, nodding.

"Alright, let's go then. We'll just keep going forward. Ahead should be a broken canyon, where there are many spiritual herbs. We can pick some to complete the mission."

Yu Zechen: "Okay."

The two took out their tents, packed themselves up, and set off towards the Broken Canyon according to their planned route.

As night fell, the two found a cave at a higher elevation near the entrance of the canyon and decided to rest there for the night.

Yu Zechen lit a fire, took out a crow-feathered beast he had eaten on the way, and suggested to Tang Xinyan:

"Junior Uncle, would you be interested in trying my cooking? My grilling skills are pretty good."

Tang Xinyan had also intended to do so, and readily agreed:

"Sure, I was just thinking the same thing. Do you need my help?"

Yu Zechen waved his hand:

"It's just grilling some meat, Junior Uncle, just wait and enjoy."

Having said that, he carried the Raven-feathered Beast out of the cave. A short while later, Yu Zechen returned, carrying the cleaned Raven-feathered Beast.

After setting the crow-feathered beast on the fire, Yu Zechen casually remarked:

"Junior Uncle, you seem quite familiar with spiritual herbs. Are you planning to learn alchemy?"

"Yes, but I need to form a contract with a different flame first. I came to the secret realm this time to try my luck and see if I can find a suitable one."

Upon hearing that Tang Xinyan needed a different kind of fire, Yu Zechen's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly:

"Speaking of different kinds of flames, before I entered the secret realm, I heard from the head manager of the auction house that a seller had donated a different kind of flame for auction, and after appraisal..."

That strange fire is the White Flame, ranked sixth on the Strange Fire Ranking. Junior Uncle, if you want it, I'll contact someone now to have it left behind.

Although Tang Xinyan was curious about how Yu Zechen contacted the outside world, she didn't ask further. She simply shook her head and politely declined.

"No need, let's try our luck in the secret realm first, and decide what to do after we leave."

Seeing that Tang Xinyan was indeed uninterested, not embarrassed, Yu Zechen didn't continue. The two chatted casually.

As the aroma of meat wafted out, Tang Xinyan sniffed it and praised:

"This smell is so appetizing! Luckily, there's a barrier at the cave entrance, otherwise it would have attracted all the monsters and demons in the area!"

Having received affirmation, Yu Zechen's face lit up with a smile again. He tore off a piece of leg and handed it to Tang Xinyan, saying with a smile:

"It's not as exaggerated as you say. Here, try it and see how it tastes."

Tang Xinyan took the bite and nodded in satisfaction.

"Great! I never knew you, young master, had such skills."

Yu Zechen shrugged: "I can't help it, it's just my taste."

********

The next day, the two continued gathering medicinal herbs as they ventured deeper into the valley. They had a considerable harvest by noon, and when they sat down to rest,

Tang Xinyan felt something was off and couldn't help but ask Yu Zechen:

"Young Master Yu, do you think it's normal that we haven't run into anyone these past two days?"

Yu Zechen hesitated for a moment, then said somewhat uncertainly:

"The secret realm is so vast, and the places we've been to these past two days have all been quite remote, so it's understandable that we haven't encountered anyone... right?"

Tang Xinyan frowned slightly, still feeling that something was wrong:

"It's normal that there's no one on Sunset Grassland. As for the Blood Spirit Mushroom in Red Leaf Forest, perhaps only people from your sect would be interested. But this Broken Canyon, a place full of spiritual herbs..."

Even if other sects don't come, the Pill Sect will definitely come. Although the entrance to the secret realm is random, it's been a week, and there's still no one here.

Yu Zechen frowned as well. He carefully sensed the surroundings and guessed:

"Could it be that we've entered some kind of illusion? Or some kind of barrier? But I haven't sensed any special fluctuations."

Tang Xinyan also used her divine sense to probe, and then released Xiao Bao to help her sense it, but Xiao Bao didn't detect anything unusual either.

Most importantly, the spiritual herbs that Tang Xinyan put into the Fate Realm and had Tuanzi plant are still in the ground, which means that this is not an illusion.

Unable to figure out why, the two became increasingly cautious as they continued their journey. They walked for two days in this way, finally reaching the depths of the canyon.

Looking at the deep cave entrance in front of him, Yu Zechen took the first step into the cave. The passage inside the cave was obviously formed naturally.

At first, the passage could only accommodate one person at a time. After about fifteen minutes, the passage gradually widened until it could accommodate two people side by side.

Three paths appeared ahead, and Yu Zechen looked at Tang Xinyan:

"Junior Uncle, which way should we go?"

Thinking of the treasure-hunting mouse's silly and clumsy appearance, Tang Xinyan thought it best to build up some understanding first and let it out when it was a bit older.

She handed Yu Zechen a few communication talismans, pointed to the left and right sides, and suggested:

"Let's take turns going left and right and see what's going on on both sides. Contact us immediately if anything happens."

Yu Zechen took the communication talisman, and the two entered the two passages on either side, one on the left and one on the right. The passage on the left was somewhat narrow.

The further they went into the cave, the lower the ceiling seemed to get; at one point, Tang Xinyan even had to crouch down. After walking for about two hours…

A cave appeared before them. The cave was not large, and its entirety could be seen at a glance. Inside, there were scattered rocks. Tang Xinyan looked around but could not find an exit.

Just as we were about to turn back, Xiao Bao suddenly spoke up:

"Sister, wait a minute, I smell something sweet."

After saying that, he jumped into the cave and quickly darted inside. Tang Xinyan, fearing he might encounter some danger, hurriedly followed him.

When Tang Xinyan reached a corner inside the cave, she discovered a narrow crevice on the side that was blocked by rocks.

Xiao Bao had already squeezed into the narrow crevice. The crevice was too narrow for Tang Xinyan to fit inside, so she had to use her divine sense to investigate the situation inside.

About 500 meters inside the narrow crevice, Xiao Bao was squatting there. Sensing Tang Xinyan's divine sense, Xiao Bao said excitedly:

"Sister, look! It's this white thing, it smells really good."