The next day, after a night of rest and recuperation, the three of them relied on Shucao’s flight ability to quickly head toward Ningzhou City.
“You two, we’re almost at the outskirts of Ningzhou City. Get ready to land.”
“Ehh? Give me a moment to prepare!”
As she spoke, Yu Qing, who was being carried on Shucao’s back, immediately tightened her arms around her and activated the small arrays inscribed on her daoist robe.
At the same time, Hong Wenqing, who was being held in Shucao’s arms, curled up slightly.
She had nearly fallen the last time they landed because she moved in fright, so she was afraid of being thrown off again during descent.
Once the array fully covered the three of them, Shucao immediately changed direction and descended diagonally downward.
Rumble!
With a massive rumble, the three landed on the ground.
“Even though this is already the third time, landing like this still feels way too thrilling every single time.”
“Sorry about that. I’ll definitely practice my flying properly when I have some free time.”
Yu Qing checked their direction and said,
“If we walk in this direction for a while, we’ll reach Ningzhou City. Let’s hurry and get going.”
“Mm.”
Just as the three were about to set off, a familiar voice suddenly came from the woods behind them.
“What are you three doing here?”
The three turned around and saw a black-robed figure walking out of the forest.
From the voice, they could tell it was Ningzhou City’s Foundation Establishment cultivator, Bai Yumo.
“Senior Bai.”
The three of them cupped their hands in unison, lowered their heads, and greeted her respectfully.
“The three of us went out to investigate something and have just returned.”
Seeing this, Bai Yumo waved her hand, indicating they could raise their heads, and said,
“No need to be so formal. I’m only a few minor realms above you. By the way, was that pink light just now related to you three?”
Hearing this, Shucao immediately replied,
“Yes, that light was produced by my artifact while flying.”
Bai Yumo stroked her chin and said,
“I see. I noticed the light moving extremely fast earlier and thought some Foundation Establishment cultivator from elsewhere had arrived, so I came over to check. Turns out it was you three.”
She then looked at Shucao and continued,
“That artifact of yours is quite nice, but it’s best to keep it hidden so you don’t attract the attention of people with ill intentions.”
“Thank you for the warning, Senior Bai.”
“Mm. Since we’re all heading back to Ningzhou City, how about I give you a ride? You probably decided to walk back because flying would be too conspicuous, right?”
With that, Bai Yumo summoned a black flying boat and gestured for the three to board.
“Um, Senior Bai.”
Yu Qing suddenly spoke up, stopping Bai Yumo.
“What is it?”
Yu Qing said seriously,
“Senior Bai, while we were out of the city this time, we investigated two villages that had been attacked by demonic cultivators. We found some suspicious items inside and wanted to show them to you.”
Upon hearing about matters concerning the demonic path, Bai Yumo’s expression beneath her hood grew serious.
“Let me see them.”
Yu Qing took out the two blood-red array disks from her storage pouch and handed them to Bai Yumo.
“This is… a Foundation Establishment array? It feels rather special though.”
“Correct. The array on it is capable of extracting the blood essence of people within its range. Those demonic cultivators used this array to massacre the mortals in those villages.”
“I see. Did you find anything else related to the demonic cultivators besides this array?”
“No. But what’s strange is that even though the villages had already been destroyed, the demonic sect still placed these array disks back inside them. Moreover, when we found the second disk, it was in a state where it could be activated at any moment.”
“So the demonic sect wants to use this array to do something else in those villages?”
“Exactly. We feel there might be something bigger behind this, so we wanted to inform you and hear your thoughts.”
Bai Yumo lowered her head slightly, seeming deep in thought. After a moment, she said to Yu Qing,
“Did you manage to discern anything about this array’s specifics?”
“It is somewhat more complex than ordinary Foundation Establishment arrays. Beyond that, because my cultivation is still shallow, I wasn’t able to fully analyze it.”
“I see. I suspect this array might have the ability to store the extracted blood essence or some other effect. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be this complicated.”
“I thought the same, but it’s only speculation for now. If I can successfully refine the spiritual artifact passed down from my master’s lineage, I should be able to fully decipher this array.”
“Something from Daoist Qingxu, huh? I’m not very knowledgeable about arrays myself. Looks like it’ll be up to you.”
Bai Yumo returned the array disks to Yu Qing and added,
“These demonic cultivators have attacked quite a few mortal villages recently. They might be plotting something. I’ll have the loose cultivators keep a closer eye out for related incidents. If there are any findings, I’ll notify you all. Of course, if you obtain any new clues, make sure to inform me promptly as well.”
“Understood. Thank you, Senior Bai.”
After expressing their gratitude to Bai Yumo, the three boarded her flying boat and flew toward Ningzhou City.
Under the cover of spells, the flying boat went completely unnoticed by any mortals as it flew straight into the rear courtyard of the restaurant.
Once inside the restaurant, Shucao and the others parted ways, as each of them had their own matters to attend to.
Shucao returned to the Welcoming Crane Pavilion. She wanted to rest for a bit first, then practice flying techniques with An Qianhua using magic power.
Afterward, she would look for ways to earn some spirit stones.
Although she had obtained some spoils from the male loose cultivators during this outing, her wealth was still not particularly abundant.
After all, one could never have too many spirit stones.
Upon returning to her room upstairs, Shucao happened to run into Xiao Simeng, who was coming out of the room opposite hers.
Seeing that Shucao had returned, Xiao Simeng immediately said excitedly,
“Eh, Shucao, you’re back at just the right time! Are you free right now?”
“Uh, I do have some free time. What’s up?”
“Can you come take a look at the new clothes I made?”
Seeing Xiao Simeng’s eager expression, Shucao found it hard to refuse and followed her into the room.
“I tried adding some ruffled decorations to the new clothes based on your artifact outfit. What do you think?”
Xiao Simeng held up what looked like an outer coat.
She had sewn frilly lotus-leaf edges onto the cuffs and hem.
“Hmm. The ruffles on the sleeves don’t look that great, but the ones on the hem are quite nice.”
Shucao evaluated it while comparing it to her own magical outfit.
“I see. I also thought the ruffles looked a bit strange on the sleeves of this kind of coat. Your outfit is better after all. Maybe using ruffles on the cuffs of a dress would work better. Still, adding them to the hem of an outer coat looks pretty good too.”
As she spoke, Xiao Simeng folded the garment neatly and placed it on a nearby cabinet.
“By the way, Shucao, are you interested in going with me to hunt a demon beast?”
Shucao was taken aback.
She hadn’t expected the conversation to jump straight from clothes to hunting demon beasts.
She asked,
“What kind of demon beast are we hunting?”
“A Sharp-Horned Demon Spider.”