The shadows were incredibly fast, but even more bizarre was their movement, blurry like a wisp of smoke, making their forms indistinguishable.
Watching the approaching shadows, Zhou Shu raised his hand, and two thunderstorm talismans suddenly appeared, exploding before him.
Simultaneously, he leaped back.
Beside him, You Jing was bewildered, his massive bucket strapped to his back, frozen like a log.
"A trifle,"
the shadow sneered, slicing through the lightning and grabbing at him from thin air.
Zhou Shu froze, crushed by the sudden, immense pressure. He couldn't even muster his spiritual energy, and the green vine talisman he held in his hand became useless. He allowed the shadow to lift him up, and then he lost consciousness.
An unknown amount of time passed before Zhou Shu slowly awoke.
He endured a splitting headache, but he suppressed a sound. His body was numb, and he felt a bit sluggish, as if he'd been drugged. Fortunately, however, it was manageable.
The air was chilly, and the surroundings were pitch black, like midnight. But judging by the time, he hadn't been unconscious that long; he must have been in a cave somewhere.
A large bucket lay before him, and You Jing lay motionless beside it, oblivious to the danger.
Thump, thump—
a few soft footsteps echoed from not far away.
Zhou Shu, with his Qi channels fully activated, had eyesight and hearing far superior to those of ordinary cultivators. Upon hearing the sounds, he held his breath and concentrated, remaining completely still.
Two masked cultivators slowly approached, glanced at the fallen Zhou Shu, and said with disdain, "It seems like this is the third time we've encountered this fellow. He was always alert, but we still caught him. Haha."
"A mere Qi Refining Realm, a casual cultivator at the second level, could actually escape our Five Finger Mountain? Ridiculous."
"Last time I saw him, he was at the first level. He's improving quite rapidly. By the way, did you feed him the Spirit-Erosion Pill?"
"Of course."
The cultivator looked up, seeing many cultivators lying nearby, their faces pale, dazed, and unconscious.
"Feed them every day to maintain their effectiveness. This Soul-Erosion Pill isn't as effective as those demonic elixirs."
"I know."
"Catch three more, and we'll have the full complement. Then the master can set up the Fire Refining Formation and collect their spirits. It will be a huge benefit to all of us."
"Haha, the hard times are almost over. Let's work harder these next few days and try to gather them all."
The two laughed for a while and then headed out the way they came.
Once they were far away, Zhou Shu quietly sat up, looked around, and was suddenly startled.
The cave was pitch black and vast. Looking closely, he saw the ground covered in unconscious cultivators lying in a mess. A closer look revealed nearly eighty people, both men and women. It
was a shocking sight.
Being in this place for no apparent reason was terrifying.
But Zhou Shu remained calm, thinking quietly.
"These people are most likely missing independent cultivators. I can't believe they were captured here. What's this Fire Refining Formation the masked cultivator mentioned..."
Just thinking about it, it's definitely not a good formation. These independent cultivators, including myself, will probably be in great danger.
I have to find a way to leave quickly.
Beside me, You Jing was still asleep. Zhou Shu fiddled with him a few times, but there was no movement. He opened his eyelids and saw that his pupils were dim and lightless, indicating that he had temporarily lost his mind and was unable to regain consciousness.
"It must be because of the Soul-Erosion Pill. Taking it every day has caused these cultivators to temporarily lose their mind and cannot regain consciousness. But why am I awake?"
Zhou Shu didn't find it strange, but after a little spiritual energy training, he began to understand.
He could sense the remaining medicinal power in his body, but the amount was very small, not enough to cause him to lose his mind. Obviously, most of the medicinal power had been lost through the broken meridians, and it had no significant impact on him.
"I didn't expect a damaged Qi channel could be a good thing at this moment..."
Damaged Qi channels hindered his absorption of spiritual energy, making uncontrolled pills useless. Meanwhile, poisons were useless against him.
After countless rehearsals, Zhou Shu knew his body like the back of his hand. It took him over half an hour to force out the remaining drug effects, his mind clearing and his body returning to normal.
He lay back down, lost in thought.
The cave had only one exit, seemingly not far away, but escape seemed difficult.
The two shadowy figures who had captured him and You Jing were clearly far more advanced, at least at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm, not to mention the master they spoke of, who was undoubtedly even more powerful. Leaving the cave rashly would likely lead to discovery, and being captured again would be disastrous.
Furthermore, when he was captured, all his talismans and other belongings had been confiscated, leaving him with nothing but the Green Vine Talisman he held in his hand. A
head-on encounter with the masked cultivator would offer little chance of victory.
But there was still time. Judging from the masked cultivator's words, they seemed to need to gather enough people before setting up the formation, which would take more than a day or two.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Shu slowly stood up and moved towards the unconscious cultivators one by one.
"Don't blame me, everyone. I'll look for a way to escape. Once I'm out, I'll find someone to rescue you."
After searching around, he found little. The place was full of independent cultivators, and they had all been searched by the masked cultivators. There was almost nothing left. Aside from three hairpins resembling gold and jade, there was nothing else.
He put away the hairpins and lay back down. Soon, an idea came to his mind.
Those masked cultivators came every day to feed these independent cultivators the Erosion Pills to maintain their effectiveness. At that time, it seemed that there was only one cultivator. Perhaps...
Time passed, and the dark and damp cave was as quiet as night, broken only by the occasional sound of dripping water. The sound of
footsteps
gradually arrived. As expected, there was only one person.
The masked cultivator who came in scanned the place with a sinister look, and when he found nothing unusual, he took out a jade bottle and walked inside from the door, feeding the God-Erosion Pill to each cultivator lying down.
Zhou Shu clutched the golden hairpin in his right hand, his whole body relaxed, waiting for his opportunity.
Soon, the masked cultivator approached Zhou Shu.
"Hmph,"
he glared at Zhou Shu with disdain. He lowered his body, his right hand resting on Zhou Shu's jaw. His jaw snapped open, and a brilliant yellow pill was tossed into Zhou Shu's mouth. Just
as the masked cultivator was about to rise, something unexpected happened!
Two golden hairpins suddenly flew up, hurtling towards his eyes at incredible speed.
The distance was too close, and the masked cultivator had never imagined Zhou Shu would be conscious, still able to use spells and even possess a weapon.
While his cultivation level was several levels higher than Zhou Shu's, he wasn't at the Foundation Establishment stage, unable to project his spiritual sense and unlikely to foresee danger.
Panicked, he tried to raise a protective shield, but was a moment too slow.
The hairpins pierced his eyes, sending blood splattering and blinding him.
"Ah—" He
barely uttered a cry of surprise
when his mouth suddenly felt blocked, as if something had blocked his throat and sank into his stomach.
It was Zhou Shu who, through his mouth, unleashed the Cloud-Removing Technique, returning the unswallowed Eclipse Pill to the masked cultivator.
The masked cultivator, enraged, clasped his palms together and struck out with all his spiritual power, simultaneously leaping back, attempting to escape.
But by then, the Eclipse Pill had already taken effect, slowing his movements.
Zhou Shu, however, was prepared and dodged. In a split second, a strange green vine loomed beneath his feet.
The vine talisman required considerable time to activate, but Zhou Shu had timed it perfectly before the masked cultivator administered the pill, and it took effect perfectly.
The vine emerged from the ground like a nimble green snake, swiftly wrapping itself around the masked cultivator, wrapping him like a dumpling in a flash.
With a puff, the masked cultivator collapsed to the ground.
Every arrangement had been carefully calculated, leaving no room for error.