Chapter 21 Part 1

Since he did not know if the four Soul Scattering Needles were poisoned, Mu Cheng did not touch them with his hands. Instead, he used a palm wind to flip open the Wooden Box and probed it remotely with his spiritual power.

Lian Yunzhi also wanted to go over and look, but he searched around and did not see any clean undergarments on the bed.

Thus, he tentatively extended vines right under Mu Cheng’s nose into the wide-open wardrobe. Seeing that Mu Cheng’s expression remained unchanged, he boldly began rummaging through it.

When he discovered that the clothes Mu Cheng had just brought were all in his size, one vine immediately turned into two, and they began wildly selecting styles he liked with great flair. In no time, he picked out a set that was both fitting and to his taste and put it on.

“Any discoveries?”

Lian Yunzhi walked over with his hands behind his back and asked casually.

Mu Cheng glanced faintly at Lian Yunzhi.

Lian Yunzhi: “…”

Lian Yunzhi immediately remembered his current identity and silently lowered his head, standing by the table without speaking.

After a while, he could not resist extending a thin little vine and quietly poked at the ornate carvings on the Wooden Box, wondering if he could find any clues.

“What is this?”

Mu Cheng finally asked about Lian Yunzhi’s vines.

The three-inch-long thin vine instantly swelled several times larger and twisted menacingly in the air, showing off its robust form to Mu Cheng.

Lian Yunzhi could not help but boast: “This is a special ability I just discovered belonging to the Top-Grade Wood Spiritual Root. I can use it without mobilizing spiritual power.”

Mu Cheng expressionlessly extended his hand.

It looked like he wanted to snap the vine.

The vine instantly shrank back with a “whoosh” as if frightened!

Mu Cheng: “Extend it.”

Lian Yunzhi: “…”

Lian Yunzhi gritted his teeth and extended the vine, inwardly regretting his earlier boasting.

He had not misjudged Mu Cheng after all. This ruthless man pinched the vine’s sharpest and tenderest tip the moment he touched it.

Sweat beaded on Lian Yunzhi’s forehead: “Hiss.”

“Don’t use it recklessly, and don’t touch things randomly,” Mu Cheng released his hand indifferently. “This might be your Lifebound Vine.”

Lian Yunzhi lowered his head and silently retracted the vine obediently, no longer daring to poke around the Wooden Box with it.

.

At Mu Cheng’s request, Lian Yunzhi recounted his dream encounter in full detail.

Mu Cheng: “He said you don’t belong here?”

Lian Yunzhi did not understand: “But I am from Xiaoze State… Though he kept insisting that he doesn’t belong here either, which means he’s from the outside world and currently trapped in Xiaoze State?”

Lian Yunzhi thought of the collapsed Black Wind Cliff and the sealed exit to the outside world. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Mu Cheng narrowed his eyes: “He said I was mad?”

“He was talking nonsense,” Lian Yunzhi said firmly. “You are perfectly clear-headed.”

The words had barely left his mouth when Lian Yunzhi’s body stiffened.

He could hardly believe such servile words had come from his own mouth.

So even he, Lian Yunzhi, could be changed by his circumstances, to the point of abandoning all dignity.

Lian Yunzhi thought sadly.

But suddenly, he remembered how Mu Cheng had flattered him just as shamelessly—perhaps even more excessively—when he was treating him like a demon beast.

His heart instantly balanced.

Fine, who could blame his bad luck? Fortune’s wheel turns, and perhaps next time when he grew strong again…

A tiny vine fidgeted restlessly at Lian Yunzhi’s fingertip.

.

Mu Cheng continued pondering Lian Yunzhi’s words.

Lian Yunzhi held back again and again but finally could not resist asking: “What about the other four? Did they confess anything? Was it the same as mine?”

Mu Cheng: “All dead.”

Lian Yunzhi: “…”

Mu Cheng: “I killed the first one the moment he acted. The second self-detonated after his assassination failed.”

Mu Cheng paused before continuing: “The other two were at the scene. After I searched the Wooden Boxes from them, they self-detonated too.”

Lian Yunzhi: “…”

Lian Yunzhi was greatly shocked and did not know whether to sigh that those self-detonating brothers were cowards or brave for a moment.

At the same time, he felt an indescribable sense of absurdity and eeriness.

Lian Yunzhi: “These four’s identities were…”

Mu Cheng: “My fellow sect junior brothers.”

…Even stranger.

Lian Yunzhi furrowed his brows tightly: “So the Cyan-Clothed Person approached them because they were outsiders? They killed you to leave Xiaoze State? But that’s too…”

Too insane, too reckless.

Moreover, just days ago, they had called him Eldest Senior Brother one after another, worshipping Mu Cheng immensely. How had they turned to fighting him with their lives in the blink of an eye?

Lian Yunzhi thought thoughtfully: “Could they have been controlled or bewitched by the Cyan-Clothed Man?”

But Mu Cheng recalled how those people, just like Lian Yunzhi, had bodies untainted by the Black Mist. He remembered their trembling bodies and the fear in their eyes when they saw him, and he vaguely felt the matter was not that simple.

“The remaining seven should have also made contact with the Cyan-Clothed Person you mentioned, but they haven’t acted yet,” Mu Cheng tapped his knuckles lightly on the table. “Next, I will let you go out and contact them…”

Lian Yunzhi understood.

The task was so arduous, and his role was so crucial.

Lian Yunzhi could not help but cough lightly, straightening his back: “I will cooperate with you, but after the matter succeeds, you must let me leave…”

Mu Cheng turned his head, his dark eyes looking at Lian Yunzhi without emotion.

Lian Yunzhi: “…”

His back began to chill, and his hairs stood on end.

The words he wanted to say stuck in his throat.

Lian Yunzhi lowered his head and stiffly changed the second half of his sentence in a small voice.

“…Release my Spiritual Power Restriction.”

Mu Cheng reached out and patted Lian Yunzhi’s head.

Just like Lian Yunzhi had once patted his “demon beast.”

But Lian Yunzhi would say sweet words to his “demon beast,” praise him, and even make generous promises.

Mu Cheng said nothing.

“Go,” he said indifferently.

Lian Yunzhi: “…”

Damn it.

Lian Yunzhi angrily turned and walked out. Though his face showed nothing, his push on the door was much harder than usual.

Then his footsteps suddenly halted.

Sunlight poured over him from outside the room. Lian Yunzhi clearly sensed the strange force that had blocked all his meridians, preventing him from using spiritual power, dissipating strand by strand.

—His body had recovered.

Lian Yunzhi stiffly turned his head back.

Mu Cheng was lowering his head, collecting the Wooden Boxes one by one, his expression still cold and stern, as if nothing had changed.

Lian Yunzhi touched his nose tip and gently closed the door.

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