Nan Chaoyu nestled in Mu Qihan's arms, not daring to move a muscle.
Mu Qihan, however, let out a soft chuckle and suddenly reached out to put his arm around Nan Chaoyu's waist.
"Y-you?!" Caught off guard by this intimate contact, Nan Chaoyu felt the blood rush to her face, and her cheeks instantly flushed bright red!
Feng Xiao, standing opposite them, changed his expression upon seeing this. "Let go!"
Mu Qihan's gaze flitted lightly across Feng Xiao's face. Although he showed no expression, it made Feng Xiao shiver involuntarily, and he instinctively tensed up in defense.
At this moment, all of Nan Chaoyu's attention was focused on the arm around her waist. She was in a daze for quite a while.
All she could think about was: He hugged me. He really hugged me!
Mu Qihan picked her up, moved forward a bit, and then withdrew his hand. With a push of the bamboo pole in his hand, the small boat swayed gently towards the center of the lake.
"...That's it?"
Seeing Mu Qihan let go of Nan Chaoyu, Feng Xiao on the side whispered, "My lord!"
Nan Chaoyu immediately came back to her senses. She composed herself and erased all other expressions on her face, as if the shy woman from just now had never existed.
She gave Feng Xiao a reassuring look and then started to look around.
This Secret Realm of the Soul - Devouring Sea was completely different from what she had imagined. There was very little land here, and in the middle was a spiritual lake that seemed to have no visible boundaries. There must be some kind of barrier!
Thinking of this, Nan Chaoyu was a bit puzzled. "Will everyone who enters from the entrance be teleported to different places? Will anyone fall into the lake?"
The spiritual lake looked rather sinister, and the water below was extremely calm.
Both the spiritual lake and the Valley of the Dead Souls showed signs of eeriness everywhere in this secret realm.
Mu Qihan pushed the bamboo pole and gazed into the distance. "There are no teleportation arrays above the spiritual lake. Only the land around it has them. Our current location is probably in the north of the secret realm. With the strength of those from Dream Sea City, the range of the teleportation arrays won't be too large. As long as we search in this direction one by one, we'll be able to find Xiaotian and your companions."
Nan Chaoyu squinted her eyes and shifted her gaze to Mu Qihan. "It seems that Young Master Mu is very familiar with this place. Have you been here many times?"
But as far as she could remember, Mu Qihan had always been on Snow God Mountain, a place with no easy access in or out. It was impossible for him to have come down the mountain.
Then how could he be so familiar with this place?
In an instant, a thousand thoughts flashed through Nan Chaoyu's mind, but she never once suspected that the person in front of her wasn't the one she knew.
"Even the Xie family in Dream Sea City has a tattered map. It's not surprising that I know these things!"
Nan Chaoyu's eyes swept across his calm expression. The Bone Fan of the Dead Souls was hanging on his waist, and his hands were on the bamboo pole.
He looked extremely elegant and handsome, and for a moment, her eyes became a bit dazed.
Feng Xiao, standing behind, saw his master acting like a love - struck fool again and couldn't bear to watch. "Ahem."
Nan Chaoyu snapped back to reality in an instant and said calmly, "Of course it's not surprising. Young Master Mu is so sincere. I'm only too happy!"
Mu Qihan twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't say a word.
Hearing Mu Qihan mention the Xie family, Nan Chaoyu suddenly remembered something. She took out a map from her bosom and unfolded it.
The map was just a tattered page, exactly of the northern area. After comparing it, it was consistent with what Mu Qihan had said.
She couldn't quite believe it and mumbled, "Could the Xie family really be so kind?"
It didn't seem so! The Xie family were all despicable and immoral people. Old Master Xie was really good at plotting. How could he take out the real map just to set up a trap?
Nan Chaoyu had a hunch that there was something wrong with this map. Unfortunately, she had never been to the Secret Realm of the Soul - Devouring Sea and didn't know much about it, so she couldn't figure it out.
Just as she was completely confused, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and snatched the map from her hand.
Mu Qihan took one glance and immediately saw the problem. "The location of the Flower of the Soul - Devouring Sea is wrong. The place marked on the map is a bit too far south."
"What's the place on the map?"
"The center of the secret realm, the Eye of Death!"
Nan Chaoyu suddenly understood. No wonder Old Master Xie was so generous.
The Flower of the Soul - Devouring Sea, a specialty of this secret realm, could break any seal. Most of the people who came here were after this flower. If they were all led here by this useless map...
"Old Master Xie really has a good plan!"
Hearing this, Mu Qihan showed no expression. He didn't need this map, nor did he have any interest in knowing what the Xie family had plotted!
Nan Chaoyu thought: Alright!
After a while, the small boat docked on the shore, and the three of them got off.
This time, Nan Chaoyu was prepared and didn't get flustered. It felt really good to have her feet on the ground.
Mu Qihan noticed her reaction, and his eyes flashed. He asked, "It seems that you don't like staying on the water. I'm a bit curious. How did you manage to go in and out of the pirate's lair three times and activate the great formation?"
What did he mean by that?
Nan Chaoyu couldn't quite figure out his intention for a moment.
But she wasn't stupid. From the killing intent he showed when he heard that the formation had been activated the other day to now when he mentioned this for the second time, it wasn't hard to guess that Mu Qihan was testing her, or perhaps testing how much she knew about that formation.
Thinking of this, her peach - blossom eyes flashed, and she showed a bright smile. "It's just a rumor. Young Master Mu actually believes it?"
"Miss is being too modest. The great formation in the pirate's lair isn't something that an ordinary person can activate."
"Does Young Master Mu seem to be very interested in that formation? Or are you interested in the fact that I activated the formation?"
Mu Qihan withdrew his gaze. "Since Miss doesn't want to talk about it, then forget it!"
Nan Chaoyu pouted. This guy was so boring.
The place where they landed was a lush forest, which seemed more normal than the previous place.
But soon she noticed something wrong. Although the forest seemed lush, just like the stagnant water and the valley, it lacked vitality!
Did that mean that there was no vitality anywhere in this secret realm? But then why could the Flower of the Soul - Devouring Sea exist here?
Although Mu Qihan looked cold on the surface, he had been secretly watching the girl beside him.
Seeing the expression on her face change from surprise to shock, he felt a stir in his heart.
She was really smart.
Sure enough, the next moment, Nan Chaoyu suddenly spoke up. "Young Master Mu, there shouldn't be any living creatures in here, right?"
Mu Qihan hooked the corner of his mouth and shook his head. "It's not that there aren't any. The Flower of the Soul - Devouring Sea is still alive."
"But only one kind of creature has been bred in such a large space. Don't you think it's eerie?"
Thinking of his original intention for coming here, Mu Qihan shook his head. "Whether it's eerie or not, we're already here. Do we have a choice?"
"I thought you at least knew."
"Miss thinks too highly of me."
As they chatted, the three of them stepped into the forest.
The moment they entered the forest, Nan Chaoyu felt a chill run down her spine. Before she could react, she heard a commotion coming from inside the forest.
Feng Xiao listened intently, and his expression changed. "My lord, it's Feng Ji and the others."