The team approaching from the horizon was Xuan Zi escorting the Tang Sect members. They looked very tired, covered in dust, and their weary faces held a hint of sadness.
Zhu Ziyang, along with Cai Meier, Yan Shaozhe, and others, immediately went to meet them and asked, "Old Xuan, what happened?"
"Alas!" Xuan Zi sighed, his old face filled with helplessness and defeat. He was about to answer Zhu Ziyang's question but was interrupted by Huo Yuhao, who rushed out from behind him.
"Senior Brother, please save Xiao Xiao!" Huo Yuhao rushed directly in front of Zhu Ziyang, knelt down with a thud, and pleaded in a hoarse voice.
Everyone was stunned, Zhu Ziyang included. However, he immediately pulled Huo Yuhao up and, with a frown, reprimanded him, "A man's knees are worth gold; how can you easily kneel!"
Zhu Ziyang noticed Xiao Xiao lying on Huo Yuhao's back. Her expression was serene, her face pale, and she had no breath. If Zhu Ziyang hadn't sensed her life force rapidly draining away, he would have truly thought she was just sleeping.
His face darkened, and he asked, "What happened to Xiao Xiao?"
"..." Huo Yuhao's face was filled with grief, and he choked, unable to speak.
Zhu Ziyang had no choice but to look at Xuan Zi and Tang Ya. Xuan Zi said, "Ziyang, this matter is very complicated and cannot be explained in a short time. Let's return to Tian Yuan Pavilion first and see if Xiao Xiao has any chance of survival."
"Alright!" Zhu Ziyang glanced at the Tang Sect members, noticing that all of them had sorrowful and dazed expressions, clearly having just experienced a significant ordeal or calamity.
—
Tian Yuan Pavilion, inside a wooden house.
Old Zhuang performed a comprehensive examination of Xiao Xiao, and the final conclusion was that Xiao Xiao's life force was rapidly draining away. Within a month, Xiao Xiao would completely die. All he could do was supply her with life force to slow down the rate of her life force loss, thereby buying her some time.
But, Old Zhuang finally sighed and said, "It's like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water! Xiao Xiao's current condition is like a pool where the outflow is much greater than the inflow, making it difficult for water to accumulate. To save her, we must find this outflow point, but I've checked several times and haven't found the reason for this child's life force loss! So... alas!"
"Why is this happening? Why?" Huo Yuhao found it hard to accept such a result. His eyes were vacant, and he looked like a deflated ball, filled with helplessness and despair.
"I understand, Old Zhuang." Zhu Ziyang said to Old Zhuang with a heavy expression, "Thank you for your hard work."
"Alas, it's nothing." Old Zhuang waved his hand and sighed, "What a pity for this little girl, Xiao Xiao! Ziyang, I'm going to treat Xuan Zi's injuries. I'll leave this place to you."
"Mhm!" Zhu Ziyang nodded. He looked at Huo Yuhao, who was kneeling by Xiao Xiao's bed, crying on her, and an inexplicable surge of irritation rose in his heart. Just as he was about to leave to find Tang Ya and others to understand the cause of the matter, Electrolux's voice suddenly came to his ears.
"Ziyang, this little girl's soul is gone!" Electrolux said.
"What?" Zhu Ziyang's body shook, and he immediately understood the reason why Xiao Xiao had fallen into her current half-dead state. He suddenly realized, "So that's it!"
Normally, a person's soul only leaves the body after the Death of the physical body, and then returns to heaven and earth. Under normal circumstances, the soul of a living person cannot leave the body. Once the soul leaves the body of a living person, that living person becomes a living dead.
The living dead's body will still maintain vitality, but its life force will slowly drain away. If the soul cannot return to the body before the body's life force is completely depleted and the body completely dies, then this living dead will become a truly dead person, just like Xiao Xiao's current condition.
Old Zhuang's previous analogy was quite apt. A person's body is like a pool that accumulates life force, and a person's soul is the valve of this pool. The soul leaving the body means the pool has no valve, and the life force in the pool naturally drains uncontrollably. This situation, among ordinary people, is called'soul loss syndrome'.
Why is it called'soul loss syndrome' among ordinary people? That's because Spirit Masters do not suffer from soul loss syndrome. A Spirit Master's soul is linked to their Spirit, and the Spirit is closely integrated with the body. Therefore, under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a Spirit Master to get soul loss syndrome.
If a Spirit Master suffers from soul loss syndrome, there is only one possibility: their Spirit is shattered, and the protective effect of the Spirit between the soul and the body is missing, making it possible to contract soul loss syndrome.
Xiao Xiao's current condition is exactly the same as soul loss syndrome. But what's strange is that both of Xiao Xiao's Spirits are intact, and her spirit power realm has not dropped. This means that her Spirits are fine, and if her Spirits are fine, her soul naturally cannot leave her body.
This is also why Old Zhuang couldn't tell that Xiao Xiao was missing her soul. He simply didn't think in that direction, and it was impossible for him to think in that direction, because it was too abnormal.
If Zhu Ziyang hadn't been reminded by Electrolux, he wouldn't have thought of this either. It can only be said that Electrolux, as a soul body, has an incredibly strong perception of souls.
Now that the reason for Xiao Xiao's predicament is known, the next step is to figure out why her soul disappeared out of thin air.
Actually, the answer is already quite clear. Although Spirit Masters also cultivate mental force, the existence of the soul level is too profound. Even Limit Douluo can only be said to have grasped some superficial knowledge, capable of short-term astral projection. But to be able to easily abduct a Spirit Master's soul, and a Spirit Emperor-level Spirit Master at that, a Limit Douluo is clearly not qualified. Only a deity possesses such an ability.
Considering the divine phenomenon that appeared in the Sun Moon Mountain Range, and considering Niu Tian who intercepted him and Ma Xiaotao, does it still need to be stated who the culprit of all this is?
A difficult-to-describe anger appeared on Zhu Ziyang's face. He took a deep breath, suppressed this anger, but in his heart, he had already prepared for a future divine war.
Huo Yuhao was still crying, constantly blaming himself. Although Zhu Ziyang didn't understand exactly what happened to them, he clearly understood that his poor Junior Brother had been targeted by that Sea God. The Child of Destiny isn't always so easy to grow up. However, he didn't understand why the Sea God would imprison Xiao Xiao's soul. Could it be to coerce Huo Yuhao into becoming his person in the future?
"Yu Hao, if you don't want Xiao Xiao to really die, then stop crying!" Zhu Ziyang said coldly.
"What?" Huo Yuhao's crying stopped abruptly. He jumped up, looking at Zhu Ziyang with a face full of hope and fear, and stammered, "Senior Brother, do you have a way to save Xiao Xiao?"
"Mhm!" Zhu Ziyang nodded and said, "The most urgent task is to preserve Xiao Xiao's body and not let her body die. Otherwise, even if you revive Xiao Xiao in the future, whether Xiao Xiao is still the Xiao Xiao you love will be hard to say."
"Oh, oh!" Huo Yuhao wiped away his tears upon hearing this and hurriedly asked, "I understand, Senior Brother, then how can I protect Xiao Xiao's body?"
"It seems you're really in a hurry." Zhu Ziyang looked at Huo Yuhao speechlessly and said, "Isn't your second Spirit Ultimate Ice? What else has a better sealing effect than Ultimate Ice?"
"Oh, oh!" Huo Yuhao was enlightened by Zhu Ziyang's words, and a hint of a smile finally appeared on his face. He said, "I know, I know!"
He immediately turned around, directly released his second Spirit, and prepared to condense Ultimate Ice. However, as soon as he stretched out his hand, he turned back to look at Zhu Ziyang and asked, "Senior Brother, this won't hurt Xiao Xiao, will it? She won't be cold, will she?"
"No!" Zhu Ziyang said, "I can tell you clearly that Xiao Xiao's soul is no longer in her body, so she won't experience any emotions!"
"Senior Brother, is this the reason Xiao Xiao is dying?" Huo Yuhao very keenly grasped the key information and asked with a sad expression.
"Yes." Zhu Ziyang nodded and said, "Alright, go ahead. I'll go out first to find Tang Ya and the others to understand the whole story, and then I'll tell you about Xiao Xiao's soul."
"I understand." Huo Yuhao said with a grateful expression, "Senior Brother, thank you!"
Zhu Ziyang waved his hand and walked out of the wooden house.