Chapter 152

Chapter 152: Oh, There’s a Little Mouse Here Too~

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The moment Lin Muyu disappeared, two black-clothed figures emerged from the shadows behind the altar like ghosts.

“Where is the person?”

One of the black-clothed figures looked at the empty ground around the altar, their tone full of confusion.

“Could it have just been an illusion? Was there no one approaching at all?”

The other black-clothed figure lightly tapped his toe on the ground, and his body floated into the air, demonic energy swirling around him as he probed the surroundings.

Lin Muyu, hidden inside the spatial bead, stared intently at the movements outside, her heart involuntarily skipping a beat.

She could clearly feel the cold touch of that demonic energy as it swept across the bead’s surface, and a thin layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.

Fortunately, she had just recently broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, and the spatial bead’s disguise ability had also greatly increased as a result.

Now this bead could not only simulate the rough texture of a pebble, but could also automatically adjust its form according to the surrounding environment.

At this moment, it had transformed into a withered yellow fallen leaf with curled edges and a dark color, lying quietly in a pile of fallen leaves, mixed in with hundreds and thousands of real fallen leaves around it. Unless one looked closely right in front of it, there was no way to spot any flaws.

“Impossible!”

The other black-clothed figure retracted the demonic energy they had extended.

“The Seed of Demonic Corruption clearly triggered its attack mechanism just now. This means something living definitely passed through here. There’s no way I’m wrong!”

As they spoke, they stubbornly searched every place that could hide a person.

“How about… we do a sweep with divine sense?”

The first black-clothed figure hesitantly suggested, their voice pressed extremely low.

Hearing this, Lin Muyu’s heart instantly jumped to her throat, feeling incredibly nervous.

She was very clear that a cultivator who could freely use divine sense had to be at least at the Golden Core stage or above.

If the other party really spread out their divine sense to carefully investigate, no matter how exquisite the bead’s disguise was, it probably couldn’t hide her aura.

Although with the spatial bead’s defensive power, the other party might not be able to break through directly, she didn’t dare gamble on it.

“Divine sense, my ass!”

Before Lin Muyu could think further, the other black-clothed figure sharply interrupted their companion’s words, their tone full of rebuke.

“Have you forgotten how close we are to Qinglan Sect? If you dare release divine sense here, you’re lighting a lantern in a toilet, looking for death!”

Divine sense was something that, once they dared release it, would be like a light bulb suddenly appearing in front of the strong experts of Qinglan Sect, glaringly obvious.

The black-clothed figure who had made the suggestion earlier shrank their neck after being scolded and closed their mouth sheepishly:

“Alright, alright, then… maybe it was just a demon beast that ran particularly fast earlier, and it fled after triggering the Seed of Demonic Corruption?”

The two searched around the altar for quite some time but never discovered any abnormalities.

Seeing that aside from the rustling sound of wind blowing through fallen leaves, there were no other movements, they finally gave up the thought of continuing to search and were just about to retreat back into the shadows to stand by.

Suddenly, one of the black-clothed figures seemed to sense something. Their expression changed abruptly, and they quickly pressed their hand on their companion’s shoulder, urgently calling out in a lowered voice:

“Don’t make a sound! Something’s coming from the east. The aura is very weak. Let’s hide first!”

Before their words had finished, the two figures flickered and once again concealed themselves in the darkness behind the altar.

Lin Muyu, hiding in the pile of fallen leaves, didn’t dare relax at all. Instead, she became even more nervous than before.

“Could it be a disciple from Qinglan Sect?”

Lin Muyu speculated to herself.

The reason she had found this altar was because it was located on the outskirts of Qinglan Sect. It wasn’t particularly hidden, and on normal days, sect disciples would often come here to clear out low-level demon beasts.

But precisely because of this, those who came here to clear demon beasts were basically Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stage disciples, who wouldn’t pose a threat to them.

Sure enough, barely three breaths after the black-clothed figures disappeared, a blue figure emerged from the forest.

It was a young male disciple wearing Qinglan Sect’s standard Daoist robe, about 17 or 18 years old. His face still carried some childishness, and he held an unsheathed longsword in his hand. He was obviously here for training.

As soon as he walked to the side of the altar, his gaze was attracted by the Seed of Demonic Corruption in the center that was giving off a black-purple luster. He frowned and took a few steps closer, muttering to himself with a face full of confusion:

“What is this thing? The sect’s records don’t seem to have any documentation of something that emits demonic energy like this…”

“Run! Don’t go near that thing!”

Inside the bead, Lin Muyu was so anxious she was stomping her feet, wishing she could rush out and pull that disciple away.

But she didn’t dare. She was very clear that those two black-clothed figures were definitely still watching from the dark. As soon as she made any unusual movement, she would immediately be exposed.

What made her even more afraid was that she had had a terrible guess earlier, and now watching the male disciple step by step approach the trap, that guess seemed to be coming true bit by bit.

Just as the male disciple sensed the danger of the Seed of Demonic Corruption and wanted to retreat, that black round seed shot out a thick strand of demonic energy that lunged toward the male disciple’s face like a venomous snake!

The male disciple’s expression changed drastically. He obviously hadn’t expected this thing would suddenly launch an attack.

He didn’t understand the terrifying property of demonic energy that could corrode spiritual energy, so he instinctively circulated the spiritual energy in his body and condensed a light blue defensive barrier in front of him.

But that strand of demonic energy seemed to ignore defenses. It easily pierced through the spiritual energy barrier and instantly wrapped around his arm.

“Ahh—!”

A shrill scream suddenly rang out in the forest.

The male disciple only felt a heart-wrenching, bone-deep pain coming from his arm, as if countless tiny insects were gnawing at his flesh and blood. The spiritual energy in his body also began to become chaotic and uncontrollable.

He staggered back a few steps and finally fell powerlessly to the ground.

Almost at the same moment the scream rang out, two black shadows darted out from behind the altar.

“The 185th one.”

One of the black-clothed figures stared at the male disciple struggling on the ground, the corner of their mouth hooking up in a cruel smile, their voice full of excitement.

“Quickly check if this kid is suitable. If he works out, our mission will be complete. Hahahaha…”

The other black-clothed figure didn’t speak. They quickly walked to the male disciple’s side, extended a finger and pressed it on his forehead, and a wisp of black aura drilled into the male disciple’s body along their fingertip.

A moment later, they withdrew their hand and slowly shook their head, their tone as flat as if evaluating an object:

“No strong resentment, and no special physique either. Not suitable to be a host for the Seed of Demonic Corruption.”

The smile on the face of the black-clothed figure who had just been laughing instantly disappeared, replaced by deep regret:

“Another useless one? Fine, fine. Then let’s follow the old rules. Erase his memories of today, then hide the demonic energy deep in his dantian, and trigger it later when we need to.”

Lin Muyu, hiding in the spatial bead, heard the conversation between the two clearly. A chill ran from the bottom of her feet straight to the top of her head, making her entire body feel cold.

“So it really is like that… This place is a trap!”

She finally understood the black-clothed figures’ purpose, they deliberately set up the Seed of Demonic Corruption on the outskirts of Qinglan Sect to lure sect disciples into the trap, then secretly plant demonic energy inside the disciples’ bodies, attempting to corrupt the entire Qinglan Sect from within!

What was even more terrifying was that this was already the 185th one, which meant that at least 185 Qinglan Sect disciples had that terrible demonic energy that could devour spiritual energy lurking inside their bodies!

“No, I must immediately report this matter to the sect!”

Lin Muyu bit her lip. This was the only thought left in her mind.

She watched the two black-clothed figures skillfully erase the male disciple’s memory, then drag him like trash to the edge of the forest before preparing to leave. She immediately concentrated her mind and carefully had Xiaotao control the spatial bead disguised as a fallen leaf, moving little by little toward the forest outside the altar.

The spatial bead transformed into a fallen leaf slid lightly on the ground, moving as slowly as ants moving house. Every inch it moved, Lin Muyu had to hold her breath, afraid of making the slightest sound.

Fortunately, the two black-clothed figures were busy dealing with the male disciple’s aftermath and didn’t notice this unusual fallen leaf by their feet.

Seeing that the spatial bead was about to move out of the danger zone, just a few more steps forward and it could slip into the dense forest.

By then, with the cover of the forest, she could completely escape the black-clothed figures’ surveillance.

Lin Muyu’s taut nerves finally relaxed slightly, and a smile was just about to appear at the corner of her mouth.

Suddenly, a charming yet cold female voice rang out by her ear. That voice was completely different from the hoarse voices of the two black-clothed figures earlier, carrying a strange bewitching power:

“Oh, so there’s a little mouse hiding here too~”