After Transmigrating Into The Body Of The Chief Disciple, The Villain Was Reborn. - Chapter 8

At this moment, Yun Sheng and his group caught up with Lu Shi’an and the others. Before anyone could speak, vines erupted from the ground with a swish, swish, swish sound.

Everyone immediately began hacking away at them, but the vines seemed inexhaustible. Every time one was severed, new ones would sprout.

Observing this, the group’s expressions grew grave. Just as they were trying to find a countermeasure while fighting, a disciple’s cry for help rang out from the side.

“Ah! Senior Brother, save me!” Before anyone could react, the disciple was dragged away by the vines and vanished.

Excluding Lu Shi’an, whose cultivation was at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, the strongest among them were Yun Sheng of the Moon Worship Sect at the mid-Golden Core stage, followed by two disciples at the early Golden Core stage and two at the peak of Foundation Establishment. The disciple who had just been dragged away was one of the two at the peak of Foundation Establishment.

Faced with these endless vines, Lu Shi’an had to fight while protecting Ning Yuzhao. Just then, a Moon Worship Sect disciple was about to be snatched away by a vine. Lu Shi’an rushed to support him, but he had not expected that his momentary departure would leave Ning Yuzhao exposed.

No sooner had he dealt with the vines threatening the Moon Worship disciple than he saw Ning Yuzhao being swept up by a vine. His pupils constricted. Without time to think, he lunged out and grabbed Ning Yuzhao. Seeing more and more vines closing in, and realizing that he himself was being dragged away, Lu Shi’an shouted, “Follow me!”

He grabbed Lu Shi’an’s leg, and the three disciples of the Moon Worship Sect followed suit, each grabbing the ankle of the person in front of them. Like a string of Gourd Brothers, the six of them were dragged away by the vines in a chain.

…

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Shi’an slowly regained consciousness. He was in a cave, bound tightly by vines. Seeing Ning Yuzhao tied up beside him, he felt a wave of relief. Thankfully, he had only fainted and sustained some scrapes, with no serious injuries.

He turned to look at the Moon Worship disciples also lying unconscious nearby, his mouth twitching. He had seen their chain-like formation earlier; they looked exactly like the Gourd Brothers. Looking around, he saw that in addition to the Moon Worship disciples, there were several other unknown individuals bound there as well.

This scene reminded him of something. In the book, after the original host saved Ji Yu, he also encountered vines. Afterward, just like him now, they were dragged into this cave and bound. If he had not known what was happening before, he understood perfectly now: Ji Yu had encountered his first major opportunity in this very cave—the Wood Spirit.

The Wood Spirit could remedy the deficiencies of a wood-element spiritual root, allowing those without one, or those with low affinity, to utilize wood energy to refine pills. In the book, it was actually the original host who found the Wood Spirit first, but Ji Yu had claimed his spiritual root value was low and pleaded for it. The original host, thinking of his own Lightning Spiritual Root and lack of interest in alchemy, had given it to Ji Yu.

Recalling the plot and knowing the solution, Lu Shi’an used his lightning power to shatter the vines binding him. He did not wake the others, but instead walked toward a stone door like the original host. He knocked on the stone door—three times on the left, four times on the right—and the door creaked open.

Lu Shi’an pushed it gently, and a dazzling green light flooded in. He stared intently to see a green plant radiating immense vitality—it was indeed the Wood Spirit!

Lu Shi’an approached it cautiously, preparing to store it in his storage ring, when a disturbance came from behind him. He looked back to see two men bound by vines falling into the chamber. A closer look revealed them to be Mu Leng and Ji Yu.

Lu Shi’an raised an eyebrow. He had not expected them to arrive so soon. Naturally, he could not leave this Wood Spirit for Ji Yu. Besides, the original host had found it first; it was not really Ji Yu’s destiny to begin with. Taking the Wood Spirit for himself was a matter of course.

While everyone else was still unconscious, he quickly stored the Wood Spirit in his storage ring. This ring, a gift from the Sect Leader, could contain not only inanimate objects but even living things. Immediately after, he quietly exited the chamber, carefully restoring everything to its original state, and feigned the appearance of someone just waking up. Then, he began to deal with the vines strangling the others.

First, he woke Ning Yuzhao and Yun Sheng. Before they could ask any questions, he hurriedly explained, “I woke up and realized we were trapped, so I broke the vines and immediately came to wake you all.”

“Senior Brother! I was so scared!” The moment Ning Yuzhao saw his senior brother, he wailed and threw himself into his arms. The terrifying scene from moments ago had left him petrified; he had feared he would never see his senior brother again.

“Yuzhao, don’t be afraid. It is Senior Brother’s fault for failing to protect you.” Lu Shi’an patted his back, soothing him gently.

By this time, Yun Sheng had already moved aside to wake the other trapped disciples while Ning Yuzhao was still burying his face in Lu Shi’an’s chest. Just then, an exclamation of surprise rang out: “Junior Brother Lu, come over and take a look! Here are disciples from your sect. Are these the people you were looking for?”

Hearing this, Lu Shi’an took Ning Yuzhao by the hand and walked over to inspect them closely. “Yes, this is indeed Senior Brother Su and Senior Brother Mu.”

Senior Brother Su Boyun was the eldest disciple of Uncle Yuling, and Senior Brother Mu Fengyin was the second disciple of Uncle Chaofan. They gradually woke the others, and the missing fellow disciples were all accounted for, including those from the Moon Worship Sect. When Su Boyun and his companions saw Lu Shi’an, they were overjoyed.

“Junior Brother Lu, why are you here? Were you trapped here too?”

Yun Sheng smiled and said, “Junior Brother Lu was not trapped here. He came to save you. It was he who cleared the vines from your bodies.”

“Senior Brother Su, a few days ago, Uncle Yuling and Uncle Chaofan could not contact you, so they sent me to see what had happened,” Lu Shi’an said gently.

Su Boyun slapped his forehead in vexation, “We were dragged here by vines as soon as we entered the Phantom Moon Forest and have been unconscious ever since. I thought only a day or two had passed; I did not realize it had been so long.”

He knew that if it had only been a few days, his master would not have sent someone to rescue them. Since they had sent help, it must have been a long time.

During their conversation, the others learned that it was Lu Shi’an who had saved them and hurriedly thanked him. Just then, Mu Leng approached Lu Shi’an with Ji Yu in tow.

“Junior Brother Lu, thank you for your intervention. I did not expect to meet again so soon. I apologize for what happened before.” He then gestured for Ji Yu to apologize to Lu Shi’an.

Even though he was reluctant, Ji Yu stepped forward to apologize to Lu Shi’an: “Senior Brother Lu, I am sorry. I spoke out of turn before.”

Lu Shi’an frowned, “The person you need to apologize to is not me.”

Seeing Lu Shi’an making things difficult for him and refusing to let him off the hook, Ji Yu harbored secret resentment. It is all that Ning Yuzhao’s fault. If it were not for him, why would Senior Brother Lu treat me like this? However, he had to bow his head; he still needed Lu Shi’an to help him find treasures.

Suppressing his resentment, he stepped forward unwillingly, “Junior Brother Ning, I am sorry!”

Detecting the resentment in Ji Yu’s eyes, Lu Shi’an pulled Ning Yuzhao behind him.

“Since it was a slip of the tongue, we shall let this matter rest. If you are unable to speak properly in the future, then it is better not to speak at all.”

With that, he pulled Ning Yuzhao aside to search for clues on how to leave the area.