In a red maple forest a hundred miles away from the Xuan Sect, Zhao Zhao was struggling painfully on the ground. Green vines began to grow from her fingertips, and the tree branches resembling dragon horns emerged from the top of her head. These were signs that she was losing control and about to reveal her true form.
She had run away on her own because she had just seen the leaves sprouting from her head in the mirror in Su Yuan's room.
Zhao Zhao tried hard to restrain the spiritual power leaking from her body. She formed hand seals and recited the incantation taught by Master Chongming, attempting to forcefully suppress the changes in her body with the seal.
But no matter how hard she tried, it was all in vain.
The blue - black patterns on her arms kept spreading. Zhao Zhao was anxious and scared. She was afraid that someone might come and discover her identity as a demon. She still hadn't completed the task assigned by her master...
"Bad thing! Get out..." Zhao Zhao held back her tears and endured the pain as she cut open her wrist. The black blood dripped onto the ground, mixing with the red maple leaves, looking glaringly red.
The infant worm had nested deep in her flesh and blood, and it was impossible to separate it from her body.
But Zhao Zhao forcefully drove out the troublesome worm with the endless spiritual power in her body. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and she bit her lips tightly.
It hurt so much...
Zhao Zhao's body was immune to all poisons, and her wounds would heal quickly on their own. So she had no choice. Facing such a worm now, she could only cut open her wrist again and again.
She wouldn't get injured or leave any marks, but she had to experience the pain for real.
After repeated efforts, the infant worm that no one had ever been able to separate alive was actually forced out by her and disappeared as a wisp of green smoke.
Her body was repairing itself, but she didn't have much strength left.
The wounds on her body healed, and the blue - black patterns gradually disappeared. But the originally stable spiritual power in Zhao Zhao's body suddenly soared, and she could hardly bear it.
"Ah——! It hurts so much..." Her human form couldn't carry the excessive spiritual power, and she couldn't maintain her human form anymore. She wanted... to turn into a small tree.
"Zhao Zhao? Zhao Zhao——" Song Yao's voice suddenly rang out, and Su Yuan, Nan Jia and others came along with her.
Su Yuan had found this place through the induction of the dragon scale. The dragon scale didn't vibrate, which meant that Zhao Zhao was not in danger. This was a blessing in disguise.
Hearing the familiar voices, Zhao Zhao was so panicked that she was about to cry. She propped herself up and stumbled out of the bed, trying to find a place to hide herself.
She couldn't let them see her like this. Zhao Zhao thought of A Qing, who had died miserably in Po Suo Village, and the look of disgust on her cousin's face when she mentioned demons.
If her cousin knew that she was a demon, she would surely want to kill her without mercy...
And what about Su Yuan? What would he do?
Zhao Zhao didn't dare to take the risk. She was very scared.
The voices were getting closer. The dragon scale hanging around her neck began to warm up and glow. From afar, Su Yuan seemed to be inspired by something and walked towards Zhao Zhao.
Zhao Zhao bit her lips. She closed her eyes and held the dragon scale, whispering a prayer: "Please, don't tell Su Yuan I'm here..."
The tears in her eyes fell and dripped on the dragon scale in her hand. Strangely enough, the dragon scale really stopped glowing.
Su Yuan paused, frowned and looked around.
The induction between him and the dragon scale was gone...
Zhao Zhao secretly watched as Su Yuan stopped. She covered her mouth to keep quiet.
However, Su Yuan only stopped for a moment. Soon he took steps towards this direction again.
Zhao Zhao completely lost control. The dragon scale slipped from her hand, and she revealed her true form.
It wasn't entirely accurate to say it was her true form, because she turned into the appearance of a maple tree. This was the last thing she could do.
Su Yuan walked step by step towards Zhao Zhao and suddenly stopped.
Zhao Zhao's heart was in her throat. The leaves on the tree trembled slightly in nervousness.
Su Yuan stared at the tree in front of him for a long time, and then reached out his hand.
Zhao Zhao's human - form spiritual body shrank into a small ball inside the tree and nervously closed her eyes.
It's over. Could it be that Su Yuan has seen through her?
Su Yuan's hand got closer to Zhao Zhao little by little. While holding her breath, Zhao Zhao tried hard to control herself not to run away in the form of a tree.
Su Yuan's hand brushed past Zhao Zhao, and he bent down to pick up the dragon scale on the ground.
So close! It turned out he was just picking up the dragon scale!
Zhao Zhao let out a big sigh of relief and hoped that Su Yuan would leave quickly.
However, Su Yuan just stood there, motionless, looking at the dragon scale in his hand.
"Boss, what are you standing here daydreaming about? Have you found the sweetheart?" Nan Jia suddenly appeared behind Su Yuan and asked curiously.
Su Yuan didn't answer her. When she saw the dragon scale in Su Yuan's hand, she also fell silent.
After a while, she comforted him: "Boss, don't worry... The sweetheart will surely be okay."
But Su Yuan's face was very calm. He put away the dragon scale, his gaze fell back on the small maple tree in front of him, and he suddenly reached out to lift a leaf of the small maple tree for a closer look.
Nan Jia followed Su Yuan's gaze. It was just an ordinary small tree. What was the boss doing? Was he so worried about the sweetheart that he was going crazy?
"Boss... You don't think this tree is the sweetheart, do you?"
Zhao Zhao was already trembling nervously because of Su Yuan's touch. Hearing what Nan Jia said, she almost lost control and wanted to run away.
Fortunately, after looking for a while, Su Yuan took back his hand and said calmly: "No."
Su Yuan turned around and left. He said to Gu Qing who was coming towards him: "Find the local earth god here. I have something to ask him."
"Yes."
Nan Jia and Gu Qing exchanged glances. Feeling a bit guilty, Nan Jia turned around and plucked a leaf from the small maple tree and played with it in her hand.
Zhao Zhao shrank inside the tree and cried silently. It hurt so much...
"Hey, why does this small maple tree look so much more beautiful than the surrounding trees? Even its leaves are so special." Nan Jia stared at the leaf for a while and then criticized Zhao Zhao's tree: "Tsk... It's just a bit too short."
Zhao Zhao inside the tree: …
Nan Jia muttered a few words and left. The others also gradually moved away from this area.
Zhao Zhao used magic to sense the surroundings. Only after she was sure that there was no one around did she completely relax.
She was so tired. She could hardly hold on...
As time passed by, the soaring spiritual power in Zhao Zhao's body calmed down, and she returned to her human form. Only the small leaf on her head appeared again.
She was lying quietly on the ground, sound asleep, completely unaware that someone was gradually approaching.
The man was wearing a ghost - face mask. He squatted down to look at Zhao Zhao. When he saw the red mark floating on Zhao Zhao's forehead, he smiled knowingly.
"The divine mark of the Chongming bird. Hehe... No wonder the Yinglong didn't recognize you. So that's how it is. With such a heavy seal, I'm afraid the Chongming bird is spitting out blood from exhaustion on Wutong Mountain by now." The masked man looked at the small leaf on Zhao Zhao's head and smiled slightly: "It's really a perfect carrier. It's just a pity that it's not quite enough yet... Alas, if you were really that thing, it would be much easier."
"Forget it, forget it. This is good enough."
The masked man shrugged and took out a seed. The spiritual power in Zhao Zhao's body was actually drawn into the seed by him, and the leaf on Zhao Zhao's head disappeared accordingly.
"I'll borrow what you're worried about for a while. As a reward..." He put away the seed and whispered maliciously: "Let the Yinglong Venerable come to the red maple forest to pick you up. Do you think he will have any suspicions?"