The night falcon slipped through the branches, weaving nimbly through the dark. It had no idea that its casual movement had thrown off the detection auras of two cultivators, nudging them just slightly off course. That tiny shift set off a chain reaction.
Within a radius of two or three li, seven or eight cultivators suddenly realized that there were others nearby. For a moment, confusion spread among them.
Thousands of streams of qi clashed and tangled in the darkness, then slowly sorted themselves back into separate domains, until calm was restored.
Yet the disturbance it caused rippled outward again, setting off an even greater wave of unrest. It was like watching a clumsy pantomime. The stage was serious, but what played out could only be seen as ridiculous.
This was the jungle as Shui Die Lan perceived it.
At her level, very little could escape her senses, except for someone like Blood Wanderer. A man who had already reached the terrifying heights of a grandmaster.
In her eyes, he was like a haze of gray mist, melting seamlessly into the forest. He seemed to be part of the scene, yet also standing apart from it.
Whether before or after I take the treasure, it looks like there's no getting rid of this guy.
She wasn't afraid, but she couldn't help finding it troublesome. And right now, that sly Hundred Ghosts seemed intent on testing her patience. How much longer would that beastly lust of his take to burn itself out?
She was beginning to regret agreeing to Hundred Ghosts' so-called "brilliant idea."
In truth, his plan wasn't exactly brilliant, but it was solid enough. He had arranged for Gu Pin'er to take on the guise of Xiao Zhongzi somewhere nearby, luring cultivators in that direction. Then the two of them could slip in unnoticed, break the formations, and ideally enter the Mist-Hidden Pavilion without a sound, seize the treasure, and claim the ground with ease.
The problem was that leading others away was easy. Leading Blood Wanderer away was not.
As long as he remained here, it didn't matter if everyone else was drawn a thousand li off. It would still be useless.
Because of that variable, Hundred Ghosts kept delaying the plan, day after day. Now it had already been five days.
During those five days, he and his lover had met almost daily. Though Hundred Ghosts insisted it was all part of "refining the plan," he was practically spending every day lost in bed with her. Was that really what he meant by refining it?
Five precious days had already slipped by. And five days was no small thing. It was enough for people originally hundreds of thousands of li away to travel into this forest.
So far no new troublesome figures had shown up. Even so, Shui Die Lan had already caught the scent of something off. The Bliss Sect had been here since five days ago, and they were still holding their forces just a few hundred li out. There was no way Heart-Consuming Concubine had come all this way just to sit back and watch the show.
They were less than fifty li from the ruins of the ancient temple, still well within the range of many sect cultivators' spiritual senses. For Hundred Ghosts to dare "do business" under those conditions… Shui Die Lan had to admit, she was impressed.
At that moment, she leapt openly onto a tall tree. She didn't care if Hundred Ghosts noticed. She simply found herself a good vantage point and began to watch in person.
It was obvious that Hundred Ghosts' methods were brutally rough. Gu Pin'er was no Flayer of Yin. After only a short while she had already passed out. Hundred Ghosts showed no pity, as he forced her awake and continued the flogging.
When he finally lifted his face and their eyes met by chance, Shui Die Lan understood what was in his mind.
She knew that the man had found a way to escape his humiliation, at least for the moment. And it was by defiling her in thought, by degrading her, by imagining her shamed.
But to her, it meant nothing.
So much time had passed that she had already seen the filthiest corners of the human heart. And while she admitted that her own nature wasn't much better, she was certain of one thing: a man like this, no matter how gifted, would always be trapped in the gaudy currents of his own desires, tossed about endlessly.
In other words, he was no threat to her. So she simply didn't care.
As these thoughts passed through her mind, Hundred Ghosts shifted position and lay down on the ground. Gu Pin'er, naked, twisted and writhed on top of him.
Hundred Ghosts' gaze slid past her shoulder and fixed itself in Shui Die Lan's direction.
Watching the way he slowly slipped into madness, Shui Die Lan felt a strange sense of satisfaction. There was something deeply indulgent about toying with a man so arrogant and clever, making him dance in the palm of her hand. Well, that and her obsession with exotic, intoxicating spices.
Should she think about creating a sharp reversal now, letting Hundred Ghosts crash headlong out of his fantasies?
The thought made her smile at him.
Hundred Ghosts' gaze went hazy at first, then stunned, and finally…
Fear.
Fear?
Shui Die Lan froze for the briefest instant, then her instincts kicked in. Her reaction was faster than most could imagine. The very moment she sensed something amiss, she unleashed her Reverse Shadow Escape technique at full force, slipping free of her own silhouette as if detaching from it, and in an instant her body slid sideways.
She had barely vacated her position when the stench of blood swept past her shoulder, striking down with the force of thunder.
Her protective true breath shuddered violently, but that was all.
"It wasn't aimed at me."
That was her second thought.
But after throwing herself sideways at full speed, trying to move again immediately was impossible. No matter what, there had to be a gap, even if it lasted only the barest fraction of a heartbeat. And that half-step of delay was enough.
In that instant, the only part of her body still unrestrained was her eyes. They fell on Hundred Ghosts below, who seemed frozen in shock. He clearly hadn't expected that the mighty Blood Wanderer would target him. Pinned under Gu Pin'er's body, he had no way to break free.
Shui Die Lan's gaze flickered. Damn it. Could it be that Wei Bufan knew I couldn't handle restrictive formations, so he…
Just then Gu Pin'er let out a piercing scream. Her body was ripped violently off Hundred Ghosts' and flung upward, landing squarely between him and Blood Wanderer.
"Good!" Shui Die Lan praised aloud. Her true breath finally settled, and she folded her body into motion, shooting straight toward Hundred Ghosts.
But her speed, fast as it was, could not match Blood Wanderer's monstrous reflexes. His broad palm brushed across Gu Pin'er's back, and that delicate body twisted in midair, redirected with terrifying force; straight at Shui Die Lan, ten times faster than before.
Her eyes chilled. She swayed aside, letting the body streak past, but the momentum of her own charge faltered.
She didn't care about Gu Pin'er's life. What caught her attention was the flush spreading rapidly across the girl's skin. That told her all she needed to know: Blood Wanderer had already laid some vicious trick upon her body. And who could say what would happen if she made contact?
That brief hesitation left her unable to catch up. All she could do was watch as Blood Wanderer stretched out his massive hand, reaching for Hundred Ghosts' chest.
At that instant, Hundred Ghosts suddenly raised his own palm, eyes blazing as he shouted, "Stop!"
From the look on his face, he actually meant to fight back with his life. Shui Die Lan cursed under her breath, "Fool," yet still did what she could, hurling herself toward them. But when she was still twenty feet away, their palms had already collided.
She could almost see it already. Hundred Ghosts' seven orifices bursting with blood, a gruesome sight. Her brows knit tightly and her body froze in midair.
Then, in the very next moment, she thought her eyes must have deceived her. Out of Hundred Ghosts' palm, a pair of hands, pale and smooth as carved jade, had seemed to "emerge," sliding between his and Blood Wanderer's at the exact instant of impact.
Centered on the spot where Hundred Ghosts lay, the earth within twenty feet turned to a mire of rotting mud, while every tree and blade of grass inside that circle withered and collapsed in silence.
Hundred Ghosts spat out a mouthful of blood, and his body sank rapidly into the soil below, vanishing into the deeper layers of earth.
Up above, a strange look crossed Blood Wanderer's face. His massive frame shuddered in midair, then twisted into a roll, pulling back to create distance before he finally came to a stop.
Nethermyst Puppet? Shui Die Lan immediately thought of the legendary life-saving treasure said to belong to Hundred Ghosts.
She had once believed the tales exaggerated. But seeing it now, a puppet that could withstand even an attack from Blood Wanderer. Calling it a treasure was no overstatement.
The problem was, if it could block one strike, could it withstand a second?
The thought had barely flashed through her mind when Bloods Wanderer's gaze swept over and locked with hers. Shui Die Lan frowned slightly. With a flick of her finger, a dazzling ray of qi shot out, meeting the hidden force he had just unleashed. The impact split earth and stone, and a heavy muffled explosion shook the air.
With a desperate cry, Hundred Ghosts tumbled up from the clash of energies. His face was a ghastly sight, blood streaming from all seven orifices.
Shui Die Lan had been keeping her spiritual sense fixed on him, so she knew he was using Earth-Escape to burrow in her direction. Seeing him surface here came as no surprise.
But though he was now within arm's reach, Blood Wanderer was right behind, chasing relentlessly.
Gone was Hundred Ghosts' usual arrogance. His eyes, bloodshot and broken, shone only with a mix of terror and relief. Staggering forward, he stretched out his hand toward her, begging for rescue.
Shui Die Lan stepped in, pinched his fingertips with two of her own, and gave a sharp pull. His scream of pain at the dislocated joints didn't slow her in the slightest. She spun gracefully, using the momentum to fling him behind her.
Blood Wanderer was still half a step too late. He had no choice but to meet Shui Die Lan's ultimate killing strike head-on.