Teng Xiaolian had not been expecting to meet Lin Mu so fast just after separating. He had thought that the boy was most likely exhausted after using the High-grade healing technique. Even if the boy was at the Peak stage of the Qi refining realm, Teng Xiaolian knew of the exhaustion brought on by using any High-Grade technique.
Healing techniques were even more intense and their spirit qi conception would depend on the person it was being used on. Seeing Zhou Ye's condition and how fast he was healed, Teng Xiaolian couldn't even imagine it.
That's why, when he saw Lin Mu asking to check the corpse of the Ashen Cloak mercenary he was surprised.
'He's rather dutiful, Hong Luo did good asking him for help. He's helping us with this even when he's tired.' Teng Xiaolian thought.
Teng Xiaolian let Lin Mu enter and then saw him staring at the dead mercenary. He then informed him of the time of death. Lin Mu went close and became silent. Teng Xiaolian easily guessed that Lin Mu was just observing using his spirit sense.
But when he saw a troubled expression appear on Lin Mu's face, he felt nervous. It was then that it happened. Strange and esoteric chants started coming out of Lin Mu's lips. Even though they were faint, due to the tent being enclosed and him being near, Teng Xiaolian was still able to hear them.
It would be fine if he just heard them, but the chants were nothing but fine. Teng Xiaolian had been through many life-threatening situations, he's had deadly beast's glare at him and blades pointed at him by enemies.
But this feeling that he got from these chants was just simply terrifying. It was as if countless blades were pointed at his body and were just about to touch his skin. He felt his life hanging by his thread and thought that he would be dying the instant he tried to do anything.
A couple of seconds later the feeling got less intense and Teng Xiaolian was finally able to breathe. By now, his entire body was covered with cold sweat. He understood that whatever these chants were, they were not targeting him, but rather something else.
'What terrifying killing intent! Even if it's not targeting me, just its mere presence is enough to freeze me.' Teng Xiaolian thought.
The belief that he had in his heart about Lin Mu being the disciple of a top sect was completely cemented now. If it was affirmed when he saw Lin Mu using the High-grade healing technique, now it was unshakable.
In the words of a legendary cultivator, 'He would pity the fool', who would mistake Lin Mu for any common cultivator.
But just as he was about to come out of his thoughts, Teng Xiaolian heard the most inhuman screech he had ever heard. He then saw the dark black smoky aura rising from the corpse and forming an irregular figure that had bone spurs and skulls on its body.
Just looking at the figure made Teng Xiaolian feel repulsed from the very bottom of the heart. Its presence was also something he had never felt before. It was as if a mixture of fear, loathing, and repulsion was formed in his heart.
Another screech resounded, and he then saw Lin Mu extend his hand and catching the figure. But alas, the figure faded away and disappeared into thin air. This entire ordeal was extremely shocking to Teng Xiaolian, and he didn't know what to make of it.
*****
Lin Mu stood in his place with his hand still extended.
"What was that senior?" Lin Mu questioned in a serious tone.
"I… do not know. That is not something I've ever heard of, or seen before. It also does not seem like a natural being, the repulsive feeling that you were feeling; it was not arising out of disgust. But rather from the imprint of this world that you have on your soul. It was telling you to get rid of that being, as it does not belong to this world." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu was a little surprised upon hearing that even senior Xukong did not know what kind of being that was. Just as he was about to speak again, he saw something that pulled his attention.
A small black dot had appeared at the place where the figure had disappeared from.
"Senior…" Lin Mu spoke.
"So it is true. That is a being not of this world. That spatial point is just the proof of that, if it were not for your ring, we may have not even been able to know this." Xukong replied.
"How should we proceed now? I doubt that being is weak, considering that it was able to enter this world." Lin Mu asked.
"That is indeed true. We need to take a steady approach here. First, we get more information from Zhou Ye, only after that can we decide." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu nodded and turned to face Teng Xiaolian, who was covered in sweat and looked to be nervous.
"You saw that right?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Y-Yes… Everything. Wh-what was that?" Teng Xiaolian asked while stuttering.
"I do not know either, but we need to be extremely careful. Inform the others, we will discuss this in the morning." Lin Mu replied.
Before Teng Xiaolian could even reply, Lin Mu walked out of the tent and went towards his own. Teng Xiaolian was left standing there dumbly. But he did not mind it, for Teng Xiaolian could not even imagine the being that he had just seen and could judge that this matter had gone beyond anything that they could deal alone.
Lin Mu entered his tent and sat down on the bed. He had decided to cultivate till the morning as even he felt that the upcoming days were going to be tough and distressing. He wanted to be as strong as he could be.
He sat cross-legged and started chanting the severing heart sutra. Hours passed by in the blink of an eye, as Lin Mu was lost in his cultivation. By the time he woke up, it was already morning and the sunlight could be seen peeking through the edges of the tent.
Lin Mu observed his dantian and saw that his spirit qi capacity had actually increased by fifty wisps. His dantian's current storage stood at around nine hundred and fifty wisps of spirit qi.
'Only five hundred and fifty more to reach the next stage.' Lin Mu thought.
It was now that someone called out to him.
"Sir Lin Mu, leader Hong Luo is asking for you. He said that it is time." A mercenary called out.
Lin Mu immediately stood up and walked out of the tent.
"Take me to him." He ordered.
The mercenary nodded and took him to a tent that was located at the very center of the camp. It was close to Hong Luo's tent and looked the same as Lin Mu's.
"They're waiting inside for you, sir." Another mercenary that was guarding the entrance spoke.
Lin Mu lifted the tent flap and walked inside. Hong Luo and Teng Xiaolian with his team were standing there surrounding a bed on which Zhou Ye was lying. Lin Mu approached, and they all turned to look at him.
"Zhou Ye is just about to awaken." Hong Luo spoke upon seeing him.
Tense expressions could be seen on each and everyone's face here. Evidently, they had been informed by Teng Xiaolian of last night's incident and they had also heard the inhuman screech, thus they had no doubts about believing it.
Lin Mu extended his spirit sense and scanned Zhou Ye's body. Most of the major injuries had been healed, but the hidden sequelae would take a long time to heal. Zhou Ye seemed to be twitching and moving in his sleep. His body was covered in bandages and medicines had been applied to his body by the healers.
"Use the technique I taught you once again, he should wake right up," Xukong suggested.
Lin Mu nodded and stood beside Zhou Ye. The others made way for him tacitly and stood to the side. They then saw Lin Mu placing his hands on Zhou Ye's abdomen and heart. The next second, Zhou Ye opened his eyes and gasped.
"Wh-Where am I?" Zhou Ye questioned.
"You're at the mercenary camp of Northern Town, Zhou Ye. We found you injured last night when you walked here from the forest." Hong Luo answered.
Zhou Ye had a flash of realization as his memories soon came rushing back to him.
~Aaaah~
He winced in pain as he held his head. The others let him be and waited for him to regain his mind. Ten minutes passed by and finally, Zhou Ye was starting to stabilize. He let out a breath of fatigue as he removed his hands from his head and laid back on the bed in a more relaxed manner.
"Are you fine, now?" Hong Luo asked gently.
"Y-Yes…" Zhou Ye replied.
"What happened to you, can you tell us?" Lin Mu questioned.
"I-It's a long story…" Zhou Ye spoke.