The rabbit spirit led the way ahead, its figure swift as lightning as it darted through the increasingly deep and dense forest. Xiao Qi exerted all his strength to execute the "Fish Swimming Steps", following closely behind, sweat already beading on his forehead. Ancient trees towered around them, their branches and leaves blocking out the daylight, leaving only dim, dappled light filtering through the gaps in the foliage to illuminate the moss- and decaying-leaf-covered ground. The air was filled with a peculiar scent, a mixture of decay and vitality intertwined.
How long had they walked? It felt as if this path would never end. Just as I was beginning to grow impatient, the rabbit spirit leading the way ahead suddenly slowed its pace. I focused my gaze and saw that it had reached a particularly dense thicket of crimson thorns. This thorny thicket was like a natural barrier, almost completely obscuring our view, making it impossible to see what lay beyond. The rabbit spirit carefully skirted around the thicket, then, as if performing a magic trick, with a "swish," its figure vanished behind the thorns like a flash of lightning, as if there were a secret passage there.
Xiao Qi's heart tightened, and he hurried to catch up. He cautiously pushed aside the thorny branches—cold to the touch and sharp—and squeezed through sideways. Before his eyes, the previously obscured scenery suddenly became clear, as if a heavy curtain had been torn open, revealing an entirely new world. This abrupt transformation caught him completely off guard, causing his body to involuntarily freeze, and he stood there dumbfounded.
This was not the demon beast lair or treacherous, deadly place he had imagined, but rather the remains of a garden plot, clearly artificially carved out, nestled within a mountain hollow. It wasn't large, about half an acre in size, surrounded by crumbling low stone walls covered with withered vines. Inside the garden, weeds grew rampant, nearly waist-high, yet one could still vaguely discern the once-neat rows of planting beds and several stone-paved paths swallowed by the wild grass. Some long-dead, peculiarly shaped tree trunks stood crookedly, like silent tombstones.
This was a corner forgotten by time, a desolate herb garden standing quietly there, as if recounting its former glory and prosperity. Around the garden, dilapidated walls were draped with moss and weeds, making it hard to imagine this place had once been full of life. Time, like a relentless carving knife, had left deep marks upon this land. Everything here lay in desolation, seemingly abandoned by time; its former splendor had long since vanished, leaving only broken walls and ruins, a scene of decay.
Yet, unlike typical desolate places, there was no sense of heart-palpitating danger here. Instead, it exuded a tranquility forgotten by the ages. In the air, the scent of decay and vitality intermingled grew even more pronounced here. The decay came from the sediment of time—those ancient structures and broken walls that had witnessed countless rises and falls, their very existence a testament to history. The vitality stemmed from the power of nature; though this place lay abandoned, plants still grew tenaciously, bringing a touch of green and life to this land.
The rabbit spirit stood in the center of the garden, its figure particularly conspicuous amidst this sea of green. This was a lush garden surrounded by high walls, with only the sky overhead open and expansive. The spot where the rabbit spirit stood was where the weeds grew slightly sparser, like a tiny island within this green world. It stood upright anxiously, its two front paws waving incessantly, as if trying to catch Xiao Qi's attention.
Xiao Qi stood at the edge of the garden, watching the rabbit spirit from afar. He noticed its movements, and curiosity welled up within him. What could this rabbit spirit possibly want from him? Xiao Qi slowly walked toward the rabbit spirit, his footsteps light, afraid of disturbing this little creature. As he drew nearer, the rabbit spirit's movements grew more urgent; its front paws waved even faster, as if urging Xiao Qi to hurry over. Suppressing his surprise and confusion, Xiao Qi quickened his pace.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that in that area grew a plant of bizarre form. It was about a foot tall, its main stem a pale purple with fine silver patterns on the surface. At the top, where a flower should have bloomed, instead hung a fruit the size of a longan, entirely crystal-clear white, as if carved from jade. But now, this jade-like fruit appeared dull, its surface even showing several fine cracks, exuding an aura of decay. Even more shocking was that the plant's main stem and branches were tightly wrapped and constricted by a strange, deep-purple vine with an ominous, greasy sheen!
The purple vine clung like a blood-sucking leech, deeply embedded in the plant's stem, continuously draining its vitality. Where it was entwined, the pale-purple stem had turned black, the silver patterns blurred, and the entire plant displayed a withering, barely-alive state.
The rabbit spirit ran to the side of the entangled plant, gently nuzzling the nearly-withered leaves with its nose, then looked up at Xiao Qi, its ruby eyes filled with sorrow and helplessness, emitting low, tearful whimpers. It pointed with its paw at the plant, then at the deadly purple vines, finally fixing its pleading gaze firmly on Xiao Qi.
Xiao Qi understood instantly. The rabbit spirit had brought him here so urgently for this peculiar plant, on the verge of being strangled by the strange vines! It wanted to save it! He crouched down, carefully examining the plant and the purple vines entwined around it. Though he recognized many low-level spirit grasses, this plant bearing the white-jade fruit was something he had never seen in any herb compendium or illustrated manual; clearly, it was no ordinary thing. As for the deep-purple vine, it emitted a chilling, sinister aura—definitely not benign—and was probably also a rare, aggressive demon plant.
How to save it? Xiao Qi frowned. He tried pulling at the purple vine with his hand. The moment his fingertip touched it, he felt a bone-chilling cold spread along his finger, while the vine offered a faint rebounding force, exceptionally tough—certainly not something he could break by hand. He then attempted to channel the faint fire-attributed spiritual power within him, concentrating it at his fingertip, wanting to use "heat" against this cold vine. But that bit of spiritual power vanished like a clay ox entering the sea, having no effect on the vine. Instead, it seemed to cause the vine to writhe slightly, tightening its grip a bit more, and the cracks on the white-jade fruit seemed to widen a fraction.
Seeing this, the rabbit spirit circled anxiously, uttering even more sorrowful whimpers. Xiao Qi grew frantic too. He could tell this plant was extremely important to the rabbit spirit—likely a treasure it had guarded for a long time. If they didn't find a way soon, it might not survive the night. Yet his cultivation was weak, his methods limited; facing this bizarre vine, he was utterly helpless! Should he go back to find his senior brothers and sisters? Leaving aside whether he could persuade them, by the time he found someone and returned, the plant might have already lost all vitality.
Just as he was at his wit's end, looking into the rabbit spirit's despairing eyes and feeling his heart ache with pity, the jade pendant at his chest stirred once more!