MOF Chapter 20

Chapter 20: One False Step, Falling into the Endless Cave… So, His Pursuit of Me, What Exactly Does It Mean…?

Chapter 20: One False Step, Falling into the Endless Cave… So, His Pursuit of Me, What Exactly Does It Mean…?

Luo Huaiji’s face darkened, and he glared at Xie Yiling, “This is just your conjecture!”

“Is it?” Because of his position, Xie Yiling looked down at Luo Huaiji, with an air of condescension, “Then how do you explain the severe loss of your own spiritual power? Someone is extracting your spiritual power, so how could you not resist? Or are you simply unable to resist?”

Nangong Ci steadily held the lamp, silently watching Xie Yiling’s profile, seemingly not hearing what he was saying at all.

At this moment, Xie Yiling suddenly tugged on his sleeve, forcibly involving him, and the lamp swayed twice, “Master, what do you think is going on?”

Nangong Ci came back to his senses and said, “Extracting spiritual power from others, if not to enhance one’s own cultivation, then there is only one possibility – using a living person as a catalyst to cultivate Yin Corpses.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Xie Yiling sighed regretfully, but the corners of his mouth were upturned, showing no trace of regret, “It seems that Young Master Luo is just a catalyst for them.”

Luo Huaiji lowered his head. After a while, he chuckled softly, “Is this how all of you Immortal Clan are, making conjectures without any evidence, and then convicting people?”

It seemed he had guessed correctly.

Xie Yiling was in a good mood, and he ruthlessly exposed Luo Huaiji’s self-deception, “Young Master Luo, wake up. Look at who my master is.”

He pointed to Nangong Ci, who was standing behind him, radiating immense pressure even without saying a word, his expression revealing a mischievous smugness.

“To hear your true thoughts is just a matter of my master moving his fingers. However, rather than forcing you to tell the truth, gradually crushing your inner self is much more interesting to me.”

Luo Huaiji’s face became quite ugly, he pursed his lips tightly. Having witnessed Xie Yiling’s sharp tongue, he began to avoid speaking.

Xie Yiling couldn’t possibly miss this thought, so he continued to stab at Luo Huaiji’s heart, “You’re being used as a catalyst, will you still remain loyal? You’re indifferent to Hua Jieyu, your companion, and may even be at odds with her, will you betray them? Your master knows both puppetry and the Three-Severing Gu, what will he do to better control you? Young Master Luo, are you afraid? Are you being cautious?”

Only then did Luo Huaiji realize something was wrong, but it was already too late.

Behind him, Nangong Ci swiftly brought Azurefall down on his neck, and with a thud, the man fell unconscious.

Xie Yiling squatted down, and a lamp immediately leaned over his head, illuminating him. He rummaged through Luo Huaiji’s body and quickly pulled out a cloth bag. Opening it, he found it filled with He Guigen.

“Got it!” Xie Yiling said with a smile, holding up the cloth bag.

Before ascending the mountain, the two had left a formation in the open space for Gu Huanzhi and Jiaojiao to ensure their safety.

Gu Huanzhi had been given the antidote for quite a while before he slowly woke up. After waking up, he supported himself against the tree trunk, about to get up, when he turned his head and saw a person tied to a tree, staring at him. He was immediately startled, “Who are you?!”

Xie Yiling, who was leaning against the other side of the tree trunk waiting for him to wake up, heard Gu Huanzhi’s words and explained, “He is Luo Huaiji.”

“What?” Hearing this, Gu Huanzhi was instantly enraged, “So it was you!”

Luo Huaiji moved his sore neck a few times and said in a languid tone, “I didn’t know I had become so famous.”

Gu Huanzhi sized him up and turned to ask Xie Yiling, “Senior Brother Xie, how did you catch this person?”

Xie Yiling said, “We met him while looking for the medicine.”

“Looking for medicine?” Gu Huanzhi asked strangely, “Why look for medicine?”

Xie Yiling poked his shoulder with his finger, “Of course, it’s to detoxify the poison in your body.”

Gu Huanzhi remembered the pain he felt when he fell unconscious and said with a dazed expression, “I remember now, but what kind of poison did I get?”

A Si lay on Jiaojiao, seemingly fast asleep. Not far away, Nangong Ci returned slowly, carrying firewood in his arms.

“It’s the Three-Severing Gu.”

Just as Xie Yiling finished telling him, he saw Nangong Ci returning and quickly went forward, “Master, let me help you carry it!”

Nangong Ci didn’t give it to him. He arranged the firewood and conveniently started a fire.

Xie Yiling sat in front of the fire, his right hand pressing his rumbling stomach. He didn’t say a word, but saw Nangong Ci take out two small wild fruits from his sleeve.

“Non-toxic, eat them.”

A very small voice came from not far away, “What about mine?”

Nangong Ci glanced at A Si, only to see him turn over on the horse’s back, facing away from the crowd. After moving his hands and feet a few times, he began to speak again, “Delicious, so delicious. Hmm, another bowl…”

The flames trembled in the cold wind, falling into Nangong Ci’s light-colored eyes, becoming a few spots of warm-colored light.

Nangong Ci said softly, “He’s talking in his sleep, you eat first.”

Gu Huanzhi also sat down. The three surrounded the fire, blocking most of the cold wind. The flames finally stabilized, burning silently.

Xie Yiling took a bite of the wild fruit and found it unexpectedly sweet. He picked up another one and wiped it on his clothes, “Master, here.”

Nangong Ci shook his head, “You eat it, I found it for you.”

“What’s wrong with that?” He directly stuffed the fruit into Nangong Ci’s hand, “Try a bite, I didn’t expect the fruits on this mountain to be so sweet.”

Gu Huanzhi licked his somewhat dry lips, feeling strangely cold. He hugged his arms, feeling strange in his heart. He was clearly a cultivator, and should no longer fear the severe cold of the mortal world.

“It’s good that you’re eating.” Nangong Ci’s tone was very calm, no different from his usual speech.

Xie Yiling didn’t take the fruit back, just looked at Nangong Ci, took a bite of the wild fruit in his hand, with some subtle emotions in his eyes, a trace of barely perceptible loss flashed past.

The wild fruit felt cool against his palm. Nangong Ci seemed to sigh lightly, and because it was so light, it sounded like a long breath. He picked up the wild fruit and put it to his mouth, taking a light bite. Under Xie Yiling’s somewhat expectant gaze, he rarely showed a smile, “It’s indeed very sweet.”

Xie Yiling’s face immediately bloomed with a smile, “It’s because Master has good taste.”

Looking at his eyes, Nangong Ci suddenly found this kind of scene very familiar.

Xie Yiling’s current behavior and expression were very similar to when he was chasing after him in Southern Return when he was young.

What does this mean, Xie Yiling he… even after being reborn, does he still like me?

“Master, I’m a little cold.” Xie Yiling ate the wild fruit and suddenly shivered twice, “Can I lean on you? I heard that cultivators have pure Yang energy in their bodies and are not afraid of external cold, is that true?”

Seeing through Xie Yiling’s thoughts, and his guess confirmed, Nangong Ci pursed his lips and pondered: but he doesn’t remember me now, so his pursuit of me, is it truly liking me, or “transferred affection”?

“Come a little closer then.”

Xie Yiling’s eyes brightened a few points, and he quickly snuggled closer to Nangong Ci, putting his head on his arm, “Master, I’m a little sleepy.”

Nangong Ci said, “Then sleep.”

Gu Huanzhi rubbed his arms, feeling even colder.

Luo Huaiji, who was tied to the tree, had long since had numb limbs, causing tingling pain. He opened his mouth and shouted, “If you’re going to tie someone up, don’t tie them to a tree, can you let me go to the fire too? Hey, are you listening?”

A Si pursed his lips, raised his head, and met Luo Huaiji’s gaze. He said in a low voice, “What are you shouting for? I’m already hungry, and your shouting makes it even harder for me to sleep.”

Luo Huaiji ordered, “Little ghost, come and untie me.”

A Si said unhappily, “Dream on!” After saying that, he turned his head, covered his ears, and continued to sleep.

The fire burned out until almost dawn. Nangong Ci cast a barrier to block the wind, and only withdrew it after Xie Yiling woke up.

Gu Huanzhi, having been detoxified from the Three-Severing Gu, asked with a vigorous spirit, “Immortal Lord Fufeng, what’s the use of keeping Luo Huaiji?”

Xie Yiling supported himself up with Nangong Ci’s leg, still feeling somewhat sleepy after just waking up. To drive away the sleepiness, he tried punching the tree trunk twice, but ended up with a body full of dew, and he instantly woke up, jumping several steps away from under the tree.

“Mount Wangen must have a secret.” Xie Yiling said, shaking off the dew on his body, “Perhaps the group behind Luo Huaiji is in the mountain right now.”

Nangong Ci undid the spell on Luo Huaiji’s body, and the man instantly fell from the tree.

“Xie Ci is right. In this Mount Wangen, there must be a nest for them to hide.” With a wave of his hand, the platinum rope on Luo Huaiji’s body automatically stretched out and flew into his hand. Then, he looked at Luo Huaiji with a cold gaze, “Will you lead the way yourself, or will we coerce you to lead the way?”

Azurefall pushed aside a clump of freely growing wisteria in front of Xie Yiling. Xie Yiling turned back and said to Nangong Ci, “Thank you, Master.”

Under Luo Huaiji’s lead, they gradually entered the depths of Mount Wangen.

Gu Huanzhi consciously took over the task of looking after Luo Huaiji. He walked behind Luo Huaiji, able to see the things that appeared in front first.

They didn’t know how long they walked, but finally reached the end. Gu Huanzhi stopped and said, “Immortal Lord Fufeng, there’s a cave ahead!”

Hearing this, Xie Yiling and Nangong Ci quickly stepped forward. Behind them, A Si led Jiaojiao, and their walking speed was no less than theirs.

Above the cave entrance, strange rocks were scattered, forming a natural whole with the mountain scenery, and dense wisteria covered most of the cave entrance, concealing it from view.

“Endless Cave?” Gu Huanzhi walked forward, using Frost Guest to pick open a cluster of wisteria, and read out the three words revealed above the cave entrance, one word at a time.

The crowd’s attention was drawn to the cave. Behind them, Luo Huaiji slowly moved backward, a flash of malicious glee passing through his eyes.

The ground suddenly shook, and the place where the crowd was standing collapsed.

Just as Xie Yiling felt his body sway, a hand immediately pressed against his back, stabilizing him.

“Crap!” Xie Yiling suddenly realized, “We’ve been tricked!”

After he finished speaking, he hurriedly turned back to look for Nangong Ci’s face, receiving a reassuring look from Nangong Ci before falling.

With one hand grasping A Si, and the other tightly holding Jiaojiao’s rope, Gu Huanzhi barely stabilized himself, falling down, scraping against the stone wall as he went.

A Si screamed in fright, lay on the ground, and felt his undamaged butt. Only then did he belatedly realize that he was not injured, and he climbed up with a slightly red face.

Jiaojiao, on the other hand, seemed to have seen a lot of the world. After staggering up from the ground, she almost slipped again, but she still calmly nudged A Si and casually swept her tail twice.

“That Luo Huaiji really didn’t have good intentions!” Gu Huanzhi’s tone was full of anger at being tricked. His elbow was burning with pain at this time, but fortunately, it was harmless through the clothing.

Looking up and looking around, Gu Huanzhi discovered that Luo Huaiji hadn’t fallen down with them. Perhaps before the ground collapsed, he had found a safe place.

“How do we get out now?” Xie Yiling looked up at the place where they fell, which was now sealed with stones, cutting off the light as well.

Nangong Ci raised his hand, and a white spiritual force struck the stone, but was blocked by a blue light similar to a formation.

“This,” Gu Huanzhi stammered somewhat, “What is this? A formation? Is it going to imprison us inside?”

Xie Yiling stopped studying the cave entrance and instead looked ahead.

“Why did Luo Huaiji lure us in here?” He frowned slightly, guessing, “Could there be something terrifying inside?”

The others followed his words and looked ahead.

The cave was large and empty, with yin air rising without wind, and strange rocks clustered together. When people walked, there were often echoes.

However, the ground was fairly flat. When they first entered, three or four people could walk side by side without any problems. Further in, there seemed to be a passage that not only became narrower but even darker.

But Xie Yiling noticed the carvings on the cave wall at this time.

“What is this?” He looked at the somewhat familiar steps on the cave wall, subconsciously beginning to recall.

The method of refining corpses?!

Nangong Ci, next to him, noticed the movement here, leaned over to take a closer look, and said, “It’s the method of refining Yin Corpses.”

Gu Huanzhi suddenly shouted at this time, “Immortal Lord Fufeng, Senior Brother Xie, come and take a look!”