Tongtian Square to the north, cliffside Daoist temple.
The day after the insect disaster had passed, Lin Su arrived here early in the morning.
“Liang Junior Brother, is the Oversight Courtyard available to see me?”
Liang Yi wore a guilty expression, “Master got a Jade Green Beetle, a rare and unusual insect. He’s planning to decline visitors and shut himself in to study it, you see…”
Lin Su’s expression darkened.
I’ve waited for more than a month, only to be met with a ‘decline of visitors’?
He quickly took out a cloth bag and handed it to Liang Yi.
“It concerns the bloodline of my family, please put in the effort, Liang Junior Brother!”
Liang Yi’s face showed difficulty, “You know Master’s temperament. Once he immerses himself in the study of strange insects, he really hates to be disturbed by others. I… I really can’t…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Su stuffed another weighty cloth bag into his hands.
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother, even if Master kicks me out, I must do this for you!” Liang Yi declared with a big wave of his hand, and with a turn of his palm, he tucked the cloth bag into his sleeve and walked into the temple.
Watching the decisive Liang Yi, Lin Su had a bad premonition.
Did this kid just play me?
Damn!
A heart black as coal!
…
After a good while, Liang Yi finally reappeared beside the wooden building.
He had a discouraged look that filled Lin Su with dread.
This bastard, is he planning to swindle another sum of money from me?!
“Senior Brother, as per your request, I’ve found the records of the day your direct kin disappeared,” Liang Yi handed Lin Su a palm-sized white jade plate.
Like an insect in amber, silvery filament patterns were inlaid within the jade plate.
“On the day that member of your clan disappeared, besides the people who were already in the residence, there was another stranger.”
“He left after Dong Cheng disappeared.”
Liang Yi pointed to a mung-bean-sized ink spot on the white jade plate, “Within an hour, the jade plate can temporarily connect to the Round Light Mirror.
“If you follow it, you’ll be able to locate the person from that day, at their current location.”
Lin Su was overjoyed, barely managing a bow before he turned and hurried off the wooden structure, quickly disappearing from sight.
“Why run so fast?” A look of regret crossed Liang Yi’s face.
He’d just wanted to put on a pitiful act, to stir up some sympathy. But Lin Su was only focused on the treasure and didn’t give a glance to his performance.
“Such a waste of my emotional buildup,” Liang Yi muttered to himself.
Watching the other’s retreating figure, curiosity arose in Liang Yi, “What on earth is so valuable that Prefect Lin would spend so much?”
“With all this effort, wouldn’t it be better to concentrate on refining the Divine Orifice?” Liang Yi shook his head disdainfully.
Thinking of the junior brother from the Lower Courtyard who was about to be troubled, Liang Yi’s eyes narrowed, “Being targeted by Lin Su and Dong Cheng, that person really has bad luck.”
“Being in Jianghu for so long, hasn’t he learned that wealth should not be exposed?”
Liang Yi took out the Round Light Mirror, watching the flickering black spot on it.
“Let it be, in the end, he is a brother from the Lower Courtyard, not an outsider.”
“I’ll give you a pointer; whatever the outcome, it’s up to your fate.”
A wisp of misty white fog immediately appeared on his right index finger, aiming at the ink spot on the mirror.
The Round Light Mirror and the Daoist Seal originated from the same source; the Green Fei Mother-and-Child Talisman inside the mirror allowed the Round Light Mirror to trace and connect to the Daoist Seal.
It can also alter the Daoist Seal marking through casting spells remotely via the Round Light Mirror.
As this finger touched down, although it couldn’t harm the host of the Daoist Seal, it made the seal show itself.
Like a brand, causing just a moment of pain.
As Lin Su, holding the jade plate, grew nearer, the Daoist Seal would become more apparent.
“An hour, we’ll see who runs faster.” Liang Yi smirked with a chuckle. He pressed his finger onto the ink spot.
The ink spot, like a suction-filled black hole, whooshed as it absorbed the white smoke into itself.
Liang Yi looked at the black spot with interest, imagining the chase between the two, wishing he could watch from the sky with his master.
The next moment, he saw the ink spot that had absorbed the white fog as if it had taken in bleach.
It diffused outward and then disappeared.
The smile on Liang Yi’s face froze as if someone had hit the pause button, and it never fully blossomed.
“This… this is different from what Master said!” Liang Yi was caught off guard and stood there in a daze, “How could it disappear with just a light touch?!”
…
The day after the insect plague, at the foot of Low Mountain.
Chen Mu, as usual, weeded, watered, and fertilized the Yellow Bud Rice Fields.
After the insect damage, his ten acres of Yellow Bud Rice had shrunk to seven and a half acres.
The main losses occurred on the first night, about an acre of crops was destroyed.
If only an acre was lost, given his outsider status, those Lower Courtyard disciples who suffered heavy losses might be green with envy and come to trouble him.
To make it look convincing, he harvested a batch of Yellow Bud Rice in advance.
Though the yield was small and the grains shriveled, they were still edible.
With Second Rank Planting Technique, the fieldwork was quickly completed.
Back at the Low Hill Courtyard. He poured a cup of cool tea onto the short table.
Chen Mu took out the White Jade Plate and inserted White Jade Coins. As usual, he closed his eyes and chanted the True Sun Mantra.
An hour later, Chen Mu opened his eyes.
A dark red pellet the size of a peanut emerged in his hand.
“The Sand Containing Technique activates in only five seconds at Third Rank. It’s not very useful in a direct confrontation, but it’s quite effective for a surprise attack from the shadows,” he mused.
He glanced at the proficiency.
Sand Containing Technique: 3951/10000/Third Rank;
“If it reaches Fourth Rank, maybe I could activate it instantly!”
He was pondering whether to devote more effort to the Sand Containing Technique.
Suddenly, a flash of enlightenment came to his mind.
A cold sensation suddenly struck between his eyebrows.
It took a good while for Chen Mu to come to his senses.
He abruptly reached out, and a touch of icy black smoke emerged in his palm.
But this black smoke was not the Five Ghosts Yin Spirit.
Chen Mu looked at the gray wall in front of him.
Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique: 1/10000/Eighth Rank;
A Cloud Mirage is a kind of cloud-like creature.
“But you didn’t tell me it was a bunch of dark clouds!” Chen Mu couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head.
Just now, his Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique had naturally progressed to Eighth Rank.
With a thought, his whole body was enveloped in black smoke.
“This is great, next time Gongsun Sheng makes an appearance, there’s no need for the Five Ghosts Bag gimmick.”
“The Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique comes with its own special effects! Heh…”
“I wonder what use this thing has.”
Just as he was enjoying himself, a sudden sharp pain came from his right arm.
It was as if someone was pressing a hot iron against his arm.
Chen Mu was so frightened that he quickly shook his hand and pulled up his sleeve to look.
The mark of the Jilong Road’s Lower Courtyard, which was previously black, had now changed to red. It looked like flowing magma, burning so intensely that veins on Chen Mu’s forehead bulged.
The next moment, a wisp of black smoke emerged around the bright red mark.
It was like charcoal sprayed with freeze spray; the red mark rapidly cooled and turned black.
Chen Mu subconsciously wiped it with his hand, and the Daoist Seal, which had already shown cracks, immediately turned into a pile of black ash and disappeared.
Chen Mu was left standing there in shock.
The Daoist Seal mark… was gone?!
The mark that bound the Lower Courtyard disciples, forcing him to do unpaid labor, it was gone!
In his memory, to get rid of that thing, one had to serve Jilong Road for twenty years or achieve Perception.
“I… I’ve achieved Perception?!”
“The Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique achieved Perfection at Seventh Rank, which corresponds to Perception?!”
A huge surge of elation instantly filled Chen Mu’s heart.