Xu Taiping remained unmoved and instead turned to the Sixth Princess to confirm:
"Let me see that half of the bracelet you mentioned."
As he spoke, he took out his own half of the jade bracelet.
Before completing the task, he needed to confirm the identity of the Sixth Princess one last time.
"Taoist priest, the token I spoke of… it's that bracelet!"
Upon hearing this, a sly glint flashed across the beautiful eyes of the Sixth Princess before she spoke with a tense face.
Xu Taiping frowned.
"When lying, it's best to keep the fluctuations of your aura a bit more stable."
He said this expressionlessly while gesturing for the Sixth Princess to hand it over.
As a cultivator from the Gazing Abyss Realm, he could clearly sense even the slightest fluctuations of aura or soul from ordinary people like the Sixth Princess.
At his words, the cheeks of the Sixth Princess flushed red.
"Forgive me, Taoist priest, I… I just really wanted to retrieve that item."
She spoke timidly while pulling a necklace from her neckline, and dangling from it was the very half of the jade bracelet.
"That's right."
Xu Taiping took the bracelet, compared it, and then nodded.
Right after he finished comparing it, the Sixth Princess quickly took the half-bracelet back.
"My mother told me to give this half-bracelet to you, Taoist priest, only after everything is over," the Sixth Princess said as she tucked the half-bracelet back into her neckline.
"Don't worry, I won't take your bracelet until I've safely escorted you," Xu Taiping said nonchalantly.
"Taoist priest, are you really not going to pursue the young master of Blood Spider Valley? They already know our whereabouts, and they might gather forces to encircle us tonight."
Commander Cao approached at this moment.
His request to pursue the young master of Blood Spider Valley wasn't for the sake of the lost token of the Sixth Princess, but purely out of concern for their safety.
Xu Taiping still didn't relent.
It wasn't that he was inflexible, but protecting the Sixth Princess was his top priority. If he agreed to their request, they would surely make more demands along the way.
"Taoist priest, we trust your strength, of course, but there is a Blood Demon Spider ancestor in Blood Spider Valley, rumored to possibly be a king-level demon beast. If it comes after us, we will be in real danger," Commander Cao continued to persuade.
Xu Taiping's attitude remained unchanged at first, but upon hearing that there might be a king-level demon beast in Blood Spider Valley, his eyes lit up.
"Taiping, king-level Blood Demon Spiders are rare, and the silk they produce should fetch a high price," Fairy Lingyue's voice also echoed in Xu Taiping's mind at that moment.
Clearly, they were both thinking along the same lines.
"If we can capture it alive and keep the Blood Demon Spider in the green gourd, feeding it Dragon Gall Wine from time to time, we should be able to harvest silk over a long period," Fairy Lingyue added.
At these words, Xu Taiping was tempted.
"Are you certain there's a king-level Blood Demon Spider inside Blood Spider Valley?" he asked, looking up at the Sixth Princess and Commander Cao.
"Although we haven't seen it, it's very likely," Commander Cao nodded with concern.
Seeing Xu Taiping's tone soften, the Sixth Princess's expression brightened.
"Taoist priest, if we let the young master of Blood Spider Valley escape back there, our journey will not be peaceful," she said, thinking Xu Taiping was afraid of the Blood Demon Spider ancestor and thus relenting.
"Come with me," Xu Taiping said, glancing at the Sixth Princess.
"Huh?" The Sixth Princess was taken aback.
"Taoist priest, wouldn't it be unsafe for Her Highness to accompany you?" Commander Cao asked worriedly at that moment.
"Can you find a safer place than by my side right now?" Xu Taiping countered.
At his words, the two had no rebuttal.
"Commander Cao, settle the injured guards here. Her Highness and I will return shortly," Xu Taiping said as he walked toward his black horse with the Sixth Princess, tossing a batch of Minor Rejuvenation Pills to Commander Cao.
"Thank you, Taoist priest!" Commander Cao excitedly caught the bottle of pills.
He had just taken one of those pills to save his life, and now with this bottle, he could save at least a dozen people.
While they spoke, Xu Taiping and the Sixth Princess had already mounted the horse.
The black horse, with its Spirit Horse lineage, still looked spirited even with two riders.
"Hm?"
Xu Taiping was about to spur the horse forward when he felt two hands on his waist.
Without looking, he knew they were the Sixth Princess's.
"Your Highness, need you place your hands on my waist?" Xu Taiping turned his head and looked seriously at the Sixth Princess.
"Ah?" The Sixth Princess quickly withdrew her hands.
"But Taoist priest, without something to hold onto, I'm afraid I'll fall off," she said timidly.
However, as soon as she spoke, she felt an invisible force, like an arm, pressing her firmly onto the horse's back.
For a moment, the Sixth Princess was speechless, thinking to herself:
"Truly the immortal of a mountain."
And so, the two rode together on the same horse, speeding toward Blood Spider Valley.
Under the evening glow, the Sixth Princess's flowing robes fluttered in the wind, making it seem as if the black horse had sprouted wings.
***
Half an hour later.
"Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop…"
The black horse galloped at top speed for over a hundred miles, finally bringing Xu Taiping and the Sixth Princess to the entrance of a gorge.
The gorge's passage was only wide enough for a single horse, and from a distance, it looked like a line dividing the sky.
They stopped because the young master of Blood Spider Valley's aura had disappeared here.
"We're a step too late," the Sixth Princess sighed from behind Xu Taiping.
Protected by Xu Taiping's True Qi, she wasn't too tired from the journey, but she regretted not catching the young master of Blood Spider Valley.
"Why do you say that?" Xu Taiping asked, scanning the surroundings without turning back.
"Beyond this narrow path is Blood Spider Valley. I suspect the young master has already fled back there. If we want to catch him, we'll have to venture deep into Blood Spider Valley," the Sixth Princess said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
In her view, since the young master had escaped back to Blood Spider Valley, the item she sought was likely lost for good, as Blood Spider Valley was known as one of the Black Vulture Nation's three great demon lairs. How could they recklessly intrude on their own?
However, Xu Taiping's eyes shone upon hearing this, "Isn't that even better?"
"Huh?" The Sixth Princess was puzzled.
"Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop!"
Before she could ask why Xu Taiping thought so, he suddenly spurred the horse toward the narrow path, charging into the gorge.
"Taoist priest, there must be an ambush from Blood Spider Valley in that gorge. If we rashly enter, we'll be attacked!" The Sixth Princess exclaimed in fear.
She couldn't maintain her princessly composure and instinctively grabbed Xu Taiping's robe.
But Xu Taiping seemed not to hear her at all, still holding the reins with one hand while the other gripped the hilt of the Spring Tiger saber.
"Boom!"
As they charged into the gorge, boulders wrapped in blood-colored spiderwebs fell like rain from above.
At the same time, many Blood Demon Spiders emerged from the caves on both sides of the gorge.
As if responding to a command, they spat out webs in unison, quickly crisscrossing the entire gorge with blood-colored threads.
Any collision would surely entangle them.
"We're done for."
With falling boulders above and spiderwebs blocking the way ahead, the Sixth Princess felt utterly hopeless.
But at that moment, Xu Taiping "swooshed" as he drew the Spring Tiger saber, and while still urging the black horse at full speed, he slashed straight down towards the narrow path.
"Boom!"
With a blast of air, a saber qi over ten zhang long formed a massive saber shadow, bursting out from the narrow gorge.
"Bang!"
Amidst the thunderous noise, the previously despairing Sixth Princess suddenly found that both the falling boulders and the obstructing webs were cleaved apart by that single slash.
"Whoosh!"
As they burst out of the gorge, the moist mountain breeze hit their faces, slapping the Sixth Princess awake.
"My mother didn't lie to me; as long as I open the second brocade pouch, as long as I wait for the person with the other half of the bracelet, everything will be resolved."
With this thought, the shock in the Sixth Princess's eyes gradually turned into excitement and joy, and her grip on Xu Taiping's robe tightened.
Proofreader & Editor: Lotas