At this critical moment of life and death, Song Peiwan displayed the decisiveness expected of a lady from a prestigious family. She temporarily cast aside her feminine restraint, took a deep breath, and stepped forward to embrace Zhao Ya's waist.

The maid named Xiaoman, seeing this, also blushed and followed suit.

Once both had embraced him tightly, Zhao Ya wound his removed outer garment around them a few times, using it as a rope to bind the three of them together. Then he bit down on the Meteorite Iron Saber, standing on the edge of the cliff looking downwards.

Clouds and mist swirled below, but with Zhao Ya's eye power, he could vaguely see the gigantic tree canopies at the valley bottom.

He estimated roughly that it was at least a hundred meters deep.

At this distance, forget carrying two other people—even if Zhao Ya were alone, jumping down would be certain death.

Fortunately, Zhao Ya was prepared. Many vines grew along the edge of this valley, and Zhao Ya donned deerskin gloves, selecting a particularly thick and sturdy vine. After tugging on it to ensure its strength, he spoke gravely.

"Hold on tight, and if you're scared, close your eyes!"

With that, Zhao Ya grasped the vine and leapt down.

The sound of the wind rushed past their ears, scaring Xiaoman into tightly closing her eyes.

Song Peiwan was much calmer. Although her face was still pale with fear, she tried hard to keep her eyes open.

She saw Zhao Ya gripping a vine with both hands, rapidly sliding down with the two of them.

From time to time, Zhao Ya would gently tap the cliff wall with his foot to slow their descent.

In the blink of an eye, they slid down over ten zhang.

Seeing Zhao Ya's concentrated expression, Song Peiwan's face blushed unexpectedly.

Just now, at the top of the valley, she really thought Zhao Ya, seeing no way out, planned to make a move on her.

This thought made her feel very embarrassed now.

How could she have thought that?

Just as Song Peiwan was lost in her thoughts, noise suddenly echoed from above the valley, and someone shouted.

"Here! They went down here!"

"Quick, cut all the vines and let them fall to their deaths!"

Hearing this, Song Peiwan's expression changed dramatically, knowing it was the rogues from Cyan Bamboo Ridge.

At the same time, the surrounding vines started falling, clearly cut from above.

Once their vine was cut, they'd inevitably fall to the valley floor, crushed to pieces.

But dying like this was better than falling into those rogues' hands and suffering humiliation. It was just a pity for this gallant young man.

If not for my burden, he might have escaped on his own.

This thought sprang into Song Peiwan's mind, filled with regret and guilt.

But at that moment, Zhao Ya suddenly said sternly, "Hold tight!"

Song Peiwan instinctively clung tightly to Zhao Ya, pressing her face against his chest.

At the same moment, Zhao Ya kicked off the cliff wall, pushing his Lightweight Body Technique to the utmost, and flew horizontally outwards.

He had just let go when the vine fell away beneath them.

By now, they had already descended over twenty zhang, but there were still thirty meters to the valley bottom.

As Zhao Ya flew horizontally outward, Song Peiwan could even see the massive canopies of the trees flashing by below.

These trees at the valley's bottom, competing for sunlight, grew desperately tall and large.

From Song Peiwan's perspective, those canopies looked like enormous blankets.

As the force from Zhao Ya's kick was expended, his body inevitably began to fall.

Crack, crack, crack!

Countless branches snapped, cushioning Zhao Ya's fall in the process.

In addition, Zhao Ya seized the moment to remove the Meteorite Iron Saber from his mouth, plunging it into the trunk of a large tree.

The saber cut into the trunk, carrying further downwards, leaving a long gash.

White sap flowed out as if the tree were injured.

But regardless, Zhao Ya and the others were saved.

When they landed, Song Peiwan and Xiaoman let go of each other, inspecting one another to find they were uninjured save for some scratches from the branches. They couldn't help but feel relieved to have survived.

Zhao Ya wasn't injured either, just slightly exhausted.

After all, safely descending this hundred-meter cliff took more than luck and courage.

If Zhao Ya hadn't broken through to the Third Stage, refining both his Lightweight and Body Techniques to a state of refined skill, he wouldn't have dared attempt it.

Zhao Ya retrieved a piece of dried meat from his pack, tossing it into his mouth. His abilities, Water and Valley Essence, and Heart Devotion and Red Transformation, activated, swiftly restoring his drained energy. Then he said, "Let's go. Cyan Bamboo Ridge's people will soon come down to check. We must leave immediately!"

After this incident, Song Peiwan was already listening to Zhao Ya unquestioningly and immediately agreed.

But where in this vast forest should they go?

Song Peiwan was fretting when she saw Zhao Ya seemingly perform magic, pulling a compass from his pack, surveying all around, then pointing.

"This way!"

The Great Buddha Temple was northwest of Wuxiang City.

Now, Zhao Ya, Song Peiwan, and her maid had landed on the back mountain of the Great Buddha Temple. To return to Wuxiang City, they naturally needed to head east.

In fact, following Zhao Ya's usual habit, now he should have headed west, going against the grain to loop around back to Wuxiang City.

Though it would take much longer, it was safer.

But this time, Zhao Ya didn't do so.

He understood that the Cyan Bamboo Ridge people wouldn't give up; they would surely pursue him through the woods.

What Zhao Ya intended was to seize this chance to hit back hard at these people, as a preliminary payback for their past actions.

Zhao Ya dared to do this first because his strength had greatly improved, and secondly, the forest was his domain.

Most importantly, in this deep forest, the tainted master adept in fire attacks wouldn't dare to set fires.

After all, igniting a fire in these vast woods was akin to suicide.

With these advantages, Zhao Ya was confident.

Rewind a few minutes, and after the flames at the Great Buddha Temple had slightly subsided, Ma Ling and Huo Tianxiao led the Cyan Bamboo Ridge people into the temple.

Along their path were scores of monks burned to death, and a few fortunate escapees were also killed by Cyan Bamboo Ridge members.

This was Cyan Bamboo Ridge's way—ruthless actions, leaving no survivors, non-resistors or otherwise.

Pitifully, a temple with nearly a hundred years of legacy was reduced to ashes.

When Ma Ling, Huo Tianxiao, and others reached the valley, they found no trace of Song Peiwan and her companions.

They immediately realized Song Peiwan and her companions had descended the valley using the vines.

So they promptly cut the vines, intending to let them fall to their deaths.

Meanwhile, Ma Ling eyed the leftover armor on the ground, lost in thought.

This item wasn't Song Peiwan's for sure; it most likely belonged to the guardian they had.

But observing it, Ma Ling felt a lingering sense of familiarity.

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