Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Good Night~ Master~

***

On the edge of a cliff deep in the mountains.

“B-Boss! How did she suddenly disappear?!”

A hunter stared wide-eyed, pointing at the empty air in front of them, his voice filled with disbelief.

Just moments ago, in the blink of an eye, Lin Xiaoyun had vanished into thin air right before their eyes.

The hunter boss stood in place, staring at the cliff that had suddenly appeared ahead, also stunned.

He frowned and pondered for a moment, then suddenly as if remembering something, turned to look at a tall, thin hunter beside him:

“Third Brother, when did you say you discovered this place last time?”

Third Brother scratched his head, answering somewhat hesitantly:

“About… a month ago? I was chasing a rabbit at the time and accidentally ran here, that’s when I discovered there was such a cliff.”

“We’ve been hunting in these mountains for over ten years. We could navigate every mountain and stream around here with our eyes closed. When has there ever been such a cliff?”

The hunter boss quickly crouched down, grabbed a piece of broken stone from the ground, and threw it toward the cliff.

Strangely, as soon as the stone touched the “edge” of the cliff, it disappeared like it had fallen into water, vanishing instantly without even making a sound.

“B-Boss! This cliff is fake?!”

The other hunters, seeing this, suddenly realized what was happening, their faces filled with shock.

“That’s right. This isn’t a real cliff at all. It must be an illusion set up by a Cultivator to conceal something.”

The hunter boss stood up, his expression growing serious.

“That cat demon must have hidden inside the illusion.”

“Then… should we still chase her?”

One hunter shrank back, his voice trembling slightly.

“I heard that Cultivators’ illusions are extremely dangerous. What if we go in and can’t get out…”

“Chase! Of course we chase!”

The hunter boss glared at him righteously, his tone carrying unquestionable determination.

“Don’t forget, Lord Wolf Demon wants that fruit. If we can’t bring it back, we’ll all be finished! We’re dead either way, might as well take a gamble!”

With that, he took a deep breath and was the first to jump toward the cliff, instantly disappearing from everyone’s sight.

The other hunters, seeing this, also jumped down one after another.

…

“Xiaotao, don’t you think this village feels strange?”

Lin Muyu entered the space inside Xiaotao’s bead, dimming the Sunlight Ring’s brightness as she spoke, then walked toward the bed.

For convenience during this outing, she had already moved the bed, wooden table, and other daily necessities into Xiaotao’s bead space.

The spiritual energy concentration inside this space far exceeded the outside world. Even just sleeping here could subtly nourish one’s cultivation, making it truly beneficial in multiple ways.

“It is indeed very strange, but I can’t figure out exactly what’s wrong for the moment.”

Xiaotao put down the open book in her hands and responded.

Her gaze fell on Lin Muyu, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed as if deep in thought.

Although in terms of age, she was a spirit weapon that had existed for a long time, she was a homebody artifact who had never experienced the twists and turns of human society. Faced with the current abnormalities, she naturally had no clues either.

“Actually, the most abnormal thing is the villagers’ attitude.”

Lin Muyu bent down to gently lift Xiaomu, who had rolled onto the floor and was sleeping soundly, back onto the bed, tucking in the blanket before continuing.

“I’m wearing a Qinglan Sect Daoist robe. This identity practically screams that I’m here to eliminate demons, but when the villagers saw me, not only did they show no welcome, they were filled with fear instead. This really doesn’t make sense.”

“Right! And the village chief’s family’s behavior is completely different from the other villagers, like they’re two different groups of people.”

Xiaotao, holding her book, also lay down on the bed, positioning herself on one side with Xiaomu on the other, perfectly sandwiching Lin Muyu in the middle.

This was their habitual sleeping arrangement, which they claimed could enhance the understanding between master and weapon spirit.

Lin Muyu, trapped in the middle, was quite helpless. She didn’t like sleeping so cramped, but couldn’t win against Xiaotao and Xiaomu, so she had to reluctantly accept it.

“They clearly asked me to suppress the wolf demon on their own initiative, but when I actually wanted to go, they tried every way to stop me. I always feel like they’re deliberately trying to distract my attention to cover up something.”

As Lin Muyu was speaking, she felt a weight around her waist.

It turned out that Xiaomu was restless in her sleep, and her snow-white thigh had wrapped around her again.

She helplessly but gently moved that leg back to the bed.

“Mm, their every move feels strange. Even I can sense something’s not right.”

Xiaotao softly agreed.

Even a homebody artifact like her could detect the abnormality, which showed that the village chief’s family’s attempts at deception were really not sophisticated at all, their performance was too stiff.

“How about this: tomorrow I’ll go ask the village chief’s daughter-in-law, and also that little girl I saw in the village during the day. Maybe I can get some clues from them.”

Lin Muyu actually already had a vague guess in her heart, but still lacked evidence to confirm it. This suggestion was also a deliberate test.

“Alright, let’s sleep first. We can deal with whatever comes up tomorrow!”

Xiaotao said, casually placing the book in her hands at the head of the bed, then affectionately hugged one of Lin Muyu’s arms, gently nuzzling her cheek against it.

“How come you’re not reading today all of a sudden?”

Lin Muyu was somewhat surprised. Usually, Xiaomu was always the first to fall asleep, while Xiaotao basically didn’t sleep and mostly spent time reading books.

“Because I have to listen to master’s words and sleep together with master~”

Xiaotao moved her body even closer to Lin Muyu, her voice soft and sweet, the affection in her tone almost overflowing.

If one didn’t know Xiaotao’s age, Lin Muyu might really think she was a girl who was good at acting spoiled.

“Such a good girl~”

Lin Muyu raised her hand to gently stroke Xiaotao’s pink hair, but her heart didn’t have many ripples.

Her thoughts were still repeatedly going through today’s encounters in the village. Those abnormal details were like a tangled mess that she couldn’t sort out.

“Good night~”

As Lin Muyu’s words fell, the Sunlight Ring floating in mid-air slowly dimmed, its gentle light gradually fading until the entire space was plunged into tranquil semi-darkness.

In just a moment, Lin Muyu couldn’t resist her fatigue and fell into deep sleep.

After all, she had traveled the entire day today, rushing about and exhausting all her energy.

However, Xiaotao, who should have fallen asleep together with her, slowly opened her eyes after Lin Muyu’s breathing became steady.

Her gaze was fixed intently on Lin Muyu’s profile, unblinking.

5,000 years was a long time, and she had already slept enough. Now she had no need for sleep whatsoever.

Her only thought at this moment was to quietly watch her lovely master like this and deeply engrave this image in her heart.

Then use all her strength to protect her!

“Good night~ Master~”

…

“Where is this?”

Lin Xiaoyun looked around in confusion, completely stunned by the scene before her eyes.

This clearly wasn’t the deep valley she had seen when jumping off the cliff, but rather a lush, unfamiliar forest she had never seen before.

She clearly remembered that not long ago she had been standing at the cliff’s edge, resolutely leaping down.

But just as her body was about to fall into the abyss, solid ground had appeared out of nowhere beneath her feet.

Before Lin Xiaoyun could recover from the relief of escaping death, several familiar yet grating voices came from behind her, making all the hair on her body stand on end instantly.

“The boss was indeed right! This place really is an illusion!”