Life and Death Battle

Seeing the tiger lunge forward, she quickly drew a talisman and shouted, "Exploding Lotus!"

The talisman flew toward the tiger, bursting into a series of powerful explosive attacks. She handed two talismans to Bai Xiao and said, "Run! I will hold it back here."

"But... but..."

She yelled angrily, "Go, hurry! Do you want to die?"

Only then did Bai Xiao turn and run. The White Tiger naturally wouldn't let them escape so easily. It let out a roar, and the crowd of souls behind it surged toward Bai Xiao.

Bai Xiao took a yellow talisman and threw it at the ghosts. A flash of light destroyed a portion of them, but that was only a small fraction. There were still many, and they clung to him relentlessly.

Seeing that her talismans didn't destroy many wandering souls, Wan Ru lost her focus, thinking: *Dammit, my talismans have only absorbed Spiritual Energy for a day, so they aren't strong enough!*

The White Tiger didn't miss this opportunity, but fortunately, she regained her senses in time to block the attack.

They showed no fear and kept charging, likely because it was the tiger's command.

A massive, crimson wandering soul was about to reach Bai Xiao.

As it stretched out its arms to grab Bai Xiao, a Peach Wood Sword flew over and pierced through it. The wandering soul vanished into nothingness.

Wan Ru had thrown her Peach Wood Sword at the soul, saving Bai Xiao's life.

The Tiger Demon Chang seized this chance to strike at her with its claws.

She took the hit and was knocked flying back.

Without hesitation, Bai Xiao picked up the sword and rushed straight toward her.

At that moment, the tiger intended to deliver a fatal claw strike to kill her. She used a Heart-Protecting Talisman, causing the strike to backfire.

Wan Ru dragged her exhausted, aching body, running closer to Bai Xiao.

The White Tiger raised its claws toward her again, and she managed to catch the Peach Wood Sword just in time.

She parried its attacks with greater skill.

Seeing that she had caught the sword, Bai Xiao ran off with peace of mind.

He slid down the slope, the ghosts behind him still pursuing him relentlessly.

But they couldn't chase him for long before red talismans from the ancient trees flew toward them.

Those ghosts exploded all at once.

Black blood splattered everywhere, even landing on Bai Xiao's face.

He wiped the black blood from his face and said, "Come out!"

A group of strange figures leaped out from the bushes, kneeling before the Crown Prince.

Another man clad in black stood beside him and said, "There are still wandering souls behind the Crown Prince. Does this subordinate need to eliminate them as well?"

Seeing this terrifying scene, the wandering souls in the distance retreated in fear, not daring to make a move.

"No need. Capture them."

Upon hearing Bai Xiao's command, the group walked toward the wandering souls, each holding a vial of blood. No one knew what they used the blood for.

Wan Ru was struggling against the White Tiger Demon Chang. Now exhausted, she said, "White Tiger, we only took one Soul Child from you. You still have a whole crowd of subordinates, don't you? How can you be so stingy?"

"I am not a generous soul. If I let you leave, wouldn't you seek out Daoist Masters to eliminate me? You humans never run out of schemes."

She laughed heartily and said, "So you can speak. Yet you remained silent at the beginning."

"I simply thought it unnecessary to speak much with a dying person."

"Then I shall speak no more with you either."

Wan Ru looked at her sword, thinking: *I must risk it all.*

She spun her sword, drawing a figure-eight around herself, and shouted, "Heaven and Earth Spiritual Slip!"

Strange smoke rose from the figure-eight. She regulated her breathing, letting the smoke merge into her sword.

With extraordinary speed, she lunged to attack the White Tiger. The White Tiger also met her strike fiercely.

In the heat of the battle, she suddenly felt a dense surge of Yin Qi.

She turned to look toward the slope. A crowd of ghosts was approaching, brimming with killing intent.

Seeing its subordinates, the White Tiger said smugly, "Now you have no way to escape!"

The White Tiger didn't forget to mock her. "I have never seen a woman stay behind to fight for her beloved like you. After all, he will marry someone else in the future anyway."

She covered her mouth, trying to suppress an untimely giggle.

"He is my beloved? It seems you are mistaken."

Her eyes were sharp, all the answers hidden within those fearless eyes.

She took out a talisman, preparing to attack. The White Tiger commanded, "Kill her!"

Sweat dripped onto the talisman. She thought to herself: *They are the same ghosts from earlier, but why do they feel so different now? They weren't this terrifying before.*

The ghosts charged, and she was about to throw the talisman, but the direction they flew was toward the Tiger Demon Chang.

She widened her eyes in shock. She could no longer believe her own eyes.

As she stood watching, a cold hand grabbed hers and said, "Run! Are you standing here to be slaughtered?"

He handed her back the jar and pulled her along. The two of them finally left the tiger's territory.

Along the way, she kept stealing glances at Bai Xiao. Noticing her strange behavior, he said, "Princess, is something the matter?"

"Why did those wandering souls turn against the White Tiger? Not only that, but I felt they were much stronger than when they were chasing you?"

"Why are you asking me? I was only running for my life."

Enraged, she pinched his chin and pushed him against a tree, saying, "Nothing in this world happens without a reason. There is no way they would suddenly go mad like that. You had better be honest."

Although he was in a passive position, his tongue was still sharp as he said, "Are you accusing me? The Princess has no evidence to convict me!"

She gnashed her teeth and strained her neck, saying, "Do you think you can deceive me?"

He smiled and said, "Even if I did, wasn't it to save your life? Instead of blaming me, you should thank the heavens."

"Are you finally showing your true colors?"

"No one would sit idly by when falsely accused, Princess."

She was indeed furious, but what was the point when she had no evidence? *Forcing him to speak now would only waste my energy.*

She let him go and said, "You had better not play underhanded tricks behind my back."

She clutched the jar and walked ahead. Bai Xiao rotated his wrist. Inside his sleeve was a blood-soaked handkerchief.

He tucked it deep into his sleeve before catching up with her.

On the surface, she appeared indifferent to him because of what had just happened, but in truth, she thought: *I lost control of my emotions just now and showed a weakness. How am am I going to convince him to refine the Emotion Orb later?*