If something had happened to my Junior Disciples—
Crash!!
Terrifying cold erupted from the girl’s feet.
Before anyone could react, it swept through the area like an ice storm, engulfing the entire secret chamber and everything within a ten-mile radius.
An Lingran was in a terrible mood. She desperately wanted to break the Illusion Technique, and every second she remained unable to see her Junior Disciples filled her with overwhelming unease.
This wasn’t an ordinary situation.
It was a battlefield, where people died every second.
Losing contact with someone meant not knowing whether they were alive or dead!
“Ranran, calm down! Don’t fall into the caster’s trap. This Illusion Technique most likely has the effect of amplifying emotions!”
Golden specks of light flew from the silver-haired woman’s sleeve, quickly bringing the Spirit Master back to her senses.
Blinking her beautiful eyes, An Lingran took a deep breath and gradually calmed herself before speaking helplessly.
“Yun Qing, is there a way to break it using the power of nature?”
Although she was anxious, there was little she could do on her own.
In this situation, Yun Qing was far more useful than she was.
“Yes. Give me five minutes! Oh, don’t be so impatient!”
“Mm, as soon as possible.”
With another soft sigh, the silver-haired girl leaned against the wall and slowly sat down with her knees drawn up.
Her lowered, beautiful eyes were filled with worry.
Junior Disciple, please be safe.
“Strange.”
“How did I end up alone just by walking around? And where are my two beautiful Senior Sisters?”
Walking down a dark street, He Qiu muttered to himself with a troubled expression.
Originally, he had been following his fellow disciples, cutting through obstacles, assisting in battles, and leeching experience while having a wonderful time fighting Demon Cultivators.
But in the blink of an eye, his vision had suddenly gone dark, and strange purple demonic energy had filled his surroundings.
He Qiu gradually lost his sense of direction in the mist, as though he had stumbled into a dreamlike space from another world.
By the time he regained his senses, he was astonished to discover that he was no longer in the secret passage.
Instead, he had somehow arrived on a deserted street in Tianxin City.
Looking up at the sky, the youth discovered three full moons, all blood-red, casting an ominous atmosphere over the night, as though this were a dark, windy evening made for murder.
“What the hell…”
After complaining, He Qiu continued deeper into the endless street, sword in hand.
After all, there was only one road ahead. Standing around like an idiot wouldn’t accomplish anything.
He might as well explore and figure out what kind of place this was.
He Qiu walked forward aimlessly. Before long, he blinked and suddenly noticed a shop at the far end of the street, its lights still on and vague figures moving behind the windows.
He immediately felt as though he had found a glimmer of hope and quickened his pace.
An inconspicuous boundary lay beside the illuminated shop, and the youth carefully stepped across it.
Buzz!
A strange demonic sound swept past his ears.
He Qiu took another step, only to suddenly realize that the street had regained the lively bustle of a night market, while the moonlight overhead had returned to normal.
The blood-red moons were gone.
It seemed he had unknowingly crossed out of some kind of dreamlike boundary…
At that moment, He Qiu recalled the shop he had seen on the dark street, the only one illuminated like a lighthouse guiding lost travelers to safety.
Now, that very shop stood right in front of him, barely ten steps away.
After a brief hesitation, the youth approached it.
“Welcome, customer! What would you like to buy?”
A shop assistant came forward with a grin, twirling a small dagger he had just finished wiping clean.
“I’m just looking.”
The white-robed youth crossed his arms and remained silent, thoughtfully observing the shop before him.
In truth, He Qiu had no idea what the shop sold, nor had he intended to buy anything.
He had simply noticed that it was the only illuminated shop on the dark street earlier. By heading toward it, he had somehow found his way out of the Illusion Technique’s boundary.
Naturally, he couldn’t help wondering what made this shop so special.
However, his silence and thoughtful gaze made the shop assistant standing across from him increasingly nervous.
On the surface, this place appeared to be an ordinary general store, but in reality, it was a small stronghold of the Demon Sect.
The shop assistant was actually a Demon Cultivator who had attended the meeting the previous night and was currently in disguise.
His codename within the Demon Sect was Black Feather.
Following Wan Caimei’s plan, he had been stationed at this shop to await further contact.
According to the original plan, once Wan Caimei’s group obtained [Tianxin Demon Crystal] and finished preparing the explosion, they would flee the city.
Their first stop would be this general store operated by Black Feather.
Wan Caimei was supposed to come here, retrieve the previously kidnapped “Bai Muxue,” and escape with the city lord’s daughter.
Thus, Black Feather was the contact responsible for hiding “Bai Muxue.”
His task was to wait for Wan Caimei to arrive, pretend to conduct ordinary business, and hand over the box containing “Bai Muxue” to her.
But by now, Wan Caimei should have arrived.
Instead of the seductive woman wearing a purple veil, however, the visitor was a very familiar white-robed youth.
The moment the youth entered the shop, he had stood with his hands behind his back, looking as though he were contemplating something profound.
This was extremely strange.
His instincts told him that the youth was up to something.
Narrowing his cold eyes, Black Feather stared intently at the white-robed youth’s profile.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen that handsome face somewhere before.
Wait—!
Suddenly, Black Feather noticed something he had overlooked.
Thinking carefully, hadn’t the most striking young Demon Cultivator at last night’s meeting also been dressed in white robes, with an extraordinary and imposing presence?
There was no mistake!
Black Feather trusted his memory. He clearly remembered that the masked youth at last night’s meeting was the very same white-robed youth standing before him now.
He was absolutely certain he hadn’t mistaken the man’s appearance or clothing!
What was this young Demon Cultivator big shot doing in his general store at this hour?
Wait—!
Black Feather seemed to realize something else.
Ever since this youth had left the meeting yesterday, he had never appeared again.
Could the Young Sect Master have secretly assigned him a special mission?
And tonight, during the operation, the youth had seemingly made a casual visit to the general store, standing with his hands behind his back as though waiting for something.
There was no doubt about it. He had come on a mission and was waiting for Black Feather to respond!
Perhaps he was the contact sent by Wan Caimei to retrieve Bai Muxue and flee the city!
“Customer, our little shop has a box of fine goods. Would you be interested in taking a look?”
With a tentative smile, Black Feather spoke again.
Although he had practically confirmed He Qiu’s identity, he still wanted to test the waters to make absolutely certain.
Faced with the shop assistant’s sudden offer, He Qiu was momentarily stunned.
After thinking for a moment, he smiled and nodded, pretending to be relieved.
“What kind of fine goods? I’m very interested.”
He Qiu’s years of experience hunting for treasures told him that whatever the shop assistant was referring to had to be extraordinarily valuable!
This premonition was just like the feeling he’d had when An Lingran gave him the Cultivation Method, or when he’d encountered the Jade Pendant on Luo Qianning ten years ago.
His sixth sense was instinctively urging him to obtain whatever lay inside that shop!
And whenever He Qiu’s intuition took a liking to something, it usually turned out to be a genuine treasure.
He was quite experienced in such matters.