However, the speed at which Ba Lv recovered from that massive blow just now surprised Jiang Cheng secretly.

This girl is not simple.

When Jiang Cheng was unsealing Ba Lv's chains, she spoke again, asking him: "Why are you alone? Didn't Yanran come?"

Since Ba Lv mentioned Yanran, Jiang Cheng couldn't refuse to answer: "Uh, I was worried she might be in danger if she came with me, so I had her hide somewhere and wait for me."

Ba Lv's face turned tense: "Quickly, don't worry about me, go and find Yanran."

Jiang Cheng looked at her strangely, not understanding why she was so nervous.

"Oh, don't you understand your junior disciple? Do you think she is the type to obediently follow instructions? Haven't you realized she's a girl with her own ideas? Plus, you should know how important the Little Flaming Firebird is to her, right?"

Ba Lv continued: "Therefore, she definitely won't just stay still and wait for you to come back. Either she followed you secretly, which seems not the case, or she's already gone down another path to search on her own."

"I am confident in my judgment," Ba Lv said, looking into Jiang Cheng's eyes seriously.

She glanced at Jiang Cheng: "You should go first. As for now, I'll manage to find my own way out."

Jiang Cheng's mind raced: If Yanran stayed in place, everything would be fine.

If she didn't, it's already too late, and if Yanran leaves, he alone would struggle with the many paths, so Ba Lv must stay by his side to help.

Therefore, Ba Lv couldn't be left behind.

Moreover, undergoing such a blow, whether Ba Lv has lost hope regarding the Black Exhaust Group, Jiang Cheng wasn't sure, and if this girl before him decides to report their infiltration to the Black Exhaust Group to atone, both him and Yanran—and Yanran and the Little Flaming Firebird—would be in danger.

So, no matter what, Ba Lv must go with him.

Once Jiang Cheng's thoughts were clear, Ba Lvluo didn't say anything else, and she joined Jiang Cheng to head toward Yanran's hiding place.

Indeed, just as Ba Lv predicted, Yanran had already left.

Seeing the sweat on Jiang Cheng's forehead, for some unknown reason, Ba Lv felt a bit envious of Yanran.

Jiang Cheng couldn't believe that, after so many days of being together with Yanran, Ba Lv seemed to understand Yanran better in such a short time.

Is this a woman's intuition?

Ba Lvluo, just released from prison, was still weak and found a place to sit down.

Jiang Cheng searched slowly in the Zhou Country, looking to see if Yanran left any marks. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Sure enough, in a hard-to-notice spot, Jiang Cheng saw faint claw marks, confirming they were left by Yanran's steel claws.

Ba Lvluo barely supported herself, and upon confirming Yanran indeed took this path, her expression grew serious. She told Jiang Cheng: "I really don't know whether your junior disciple's luck is good or bad. She's on the way to the headquarters."

Jiang Cheng understood Ba Lvluo's point. The road to the headquarters would be heavily guarded, and the chance of Yanran encountering danger was higher.

Jiang Cheng internally vowed to make Yanran realize her mistake after this incident was resolved.

He was determined to make her remember this lesson.

"Let's go," Ba Lv said as she stood up: "We can't dawdle any longer, you've already spent too much time on me."

"I'll guide you." Ba Lvluo gave a mocking smile, though there was a tinge of sorrow in it: "Follow me; at least for now, I can be a qualified guide." Jiang Cheng understood her meaning; perhaps Ba Lv never thought she would betray her own organization. She used to be an important member of it.

"It's all your fault!" Ba Lv thought bitterly. Since they didn't believe her, locked her in a death cell, attempting to destroy her, they couldn't blame her for not being kind.

A woman's vengeance is heavy, once they make up their minds, they will go to any lengths to deal with their enemies and will spare no means to achieve their goals.

Ba Lv held such thoughts. Her original vindictive nature was increased by the near disaster in that death cell, fanning her anger intensely.

Those who seemed like family locked her up, while ironically, it was her enemy who taught her a lesson.

Who indeed was the enemy and who was a friend, Ba Lv decided in her heart.

Now is the time for her revenge.

Her mind was made up!

She was about to make a clean break with the Black Exhaust Group!

Jiang Cheng advanced along the path Yanran had taken, guided by Ba Lv.

Initially, nothing happened, but after a short while, they discovered marks Yanran had left at different positions.

Following these marks shortly, they encountered enemies. From the way they acted like facing a great enemy, it was certain that Yanran's actions had been discovered.

Jiang Cheng hid Ba Lvluo after realizing Yanran hadn't followed him here, causing her to pale in shock, claiming Yanran definitely ventured deeper into the cave alone to search for the Little Flaming Firebird's whereabouts.

Sure enough, when they reached Yanran's hiding spot, she had already left.

Luckily, Yanran was smart enough to know Jiang Cheng would worry and so left marks continuously along her way for them to follow.

However, Yanran had already alerted the enemies, and Jiang and Ba Lv saw that several enemies were tracking along the same route.

Jiang Cheng and Ba Lv wrapped themselves around a corner, halting their breaths; they still didn't intend to alert the enemy.

Four armed enemies passed by, their faces full of vigilance.

After the enemies moved further, Ba Lv whispered to Jiang Cheng: "This won't work, Yanran has already alerted them. If we keep following this path, we'll just encounter more enemies; we need to find another route to reach her."

Jiang Cheng hesitated: "But by doing so, we might lose track of Yanran."

Ba Lv said: "The Black Exhaust people discovered there was an intrusion into the headquarters, but they don't know specifically who. They are just searching, which means Yanran hasn't been captured, or else it wouldn't be this quiet.

Moreover, Yanran wouldn't engage with them; after all, you came here to find the Little Flaming Firebird. She would certainly try to avoid confrontation, only fighting if absolutely necessary, as she'd want to sneak into the headquarters' heart." Ba Lv explained each point calmly to Jiang Cheng, attempting to contribute something for both him and Yanran.