Only someone as extravagant as Ning Yuzhou could afford to feed a demonic beast with spiritual pills. For most cultivators, such a thing was unthinkable.
Now, with only two days left until Lintai Hunting Valley closed, Ning Yuzhou aimed to avoid unnecessary trouble, intending to pass the remaining time peacefully and leave with Wen Qiao.
As for investigating the secrets of the underground cave mansion, Ning Yuzhou had no interest.
However, while Ning Yuzhou might not be interested, other cultivators were obsessed, especially those confident in their strength and eager to obtain the treasures left by the cave mansion’s demonic master. Many cultivators, along with outsiders who had sneaked into the valley, were engaged in constant conflicts—killing and treasure-snatching, with many casualties along the way.
As they traveled, Ning Yuzhou’s group frequently encountered corpses of cultivators and ran into those ready to fight at the slightest disagreement.
Each time, Ning Yuzhou and the Qianlin Guards would avoid the conflicts entirely, steering clear of the disputes.
—
That day, the rabbit led them through a narrow, secluded passage.
The passage was quite remote, untouched by other cultivators, and abundant with spiritual herbs.
After they harvested a fourth-tier herb hidden within a crevice, the rabbit caught another spiritual pill tossed by Ning Yuzhou. This time, it didn’t eat the pill immediately but stored it in its cheek pouch before hopping ahead to continue leading the way.
Once they passed through the narrow passage, the area ahead opened up.
Suddenly, the rabbit’s ears twitched, and it turned its head warily toward another passage.
The Qianlin Guards immediately went on alert.
Qian Shou stood protectively by Ning Yuzhou’s side as they remained still. A cluster of towering stalagmites ahead provided a natural cover, hiding them from view. Moments later, a figure appeared in the passage—a woman clad in red, fleeing in a panic.
Ning Yuzhou’s expression remained unchanged, but Qian Shou was slightly taken aback.
It was one of the Wen sisters, Wen Mei.
Wen Mei was in a miserable state. Her alluring and beautiful face bore a bleeding whip mark, and her body was covered with numerous similar wounds, indicating that the weapon used against her was a whip. She looked extremely weak, her lips an eerie shade of purple—a clear sign of poisoning.
Not long after, two cultivators—a man and a woman—appeared in pursuit down the same passage.
The man had a sinister expression and a thin frame, while the woman, though plain in appearance, had a seductive figure. She wielded a whip crafted from snakeskin, which lashed out with a sharp crack, toppling the surrounding stalagmites.
The two quickly caught up and cornered the fleeing Wen Mei.
“Little girl, still trying to escape?” the seductive woman teased with a coquettish laugh. “You’ve been poisoned by my snake venom. Without the antidote, that lovely, delicate face of yours will slowly rot away until you turn into a hideous monster…”
Her laughter grew increasingly high-pitched and gleeful.
Wen Mei barely managed to stand, gritting her teeth as she scolded angrily, “Despicable scum!”
“Despicable? So what?” the woman, who called herself Feng Sanniang, retorted smugly. “I, Feng Sanniang, absolutely hate women who are prettier than me. I’ve heard you’re a prodigy from some aristocratic family in Dongling Kingdom. But aside from that face, there’s nothing remarkable about you. That ‘prodigy’ title seems undeserved. How about giving me your face instead, hmm?”
Wen Mei’s face turned pale, and she bit her lip, spitting disdainfully, as she secretly gathered her strength.
Feng Sanniang, done with her taunting, swung her snake whip again. The whip aimed directly for Wen Mei’s face. Wen Mei barely dodged, but her sword was knocked away, and she took a brutal hit from the whip. She spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying, crashing to the ground where she lay, unable to get up.
Feng Sanniang prepared to strike again, but the man beside her stopped her.
“What? You’ve taken a liking to this little beauty?” Feng Sanniang asked.
The man’s eyes, dark and malicious, lingered on Wen Mei’s delicate face, revealing a lecherous glint. However, his words betrayed none of his intentions. “What are you talking about? She’s just a little girl, nothing compared to you, Sanniang, with your mature and voluptuous beauty. I’m only interested in women like you. This little thing doesn’t interest me.”
Feng Sanniang laughed, clearly pleased by his flattery.
Seeing her in a good mood, the man continued, “This girl does have her charms, though, and she possesses a water-attributed Yuan Spiritual Root. Let’s spare her life and present her to Ninth Master. I’m sure Ninth Master will be quite pleased.”
Feng Sanniang studied Wen Mei’s face, begrudgingly admitting that the young girl’s looks were indeed stunning. Coupled with her water-attributed Yuan Spiritual Root, she would be a coveted dual cultivation partner for many male cultivators. Gifting her to Ninth Master could indeed curry favor with him and secure more benefits in return.
“Fine. I won’t take her pretty face. Let’s hope Ninth Master likes her,” Feng Sanniang relented.
Overhearing this, Ning Yuzhou and his group were reminded of the three foreign cultivators they had encountered at the Moon Bee Flower Valley, one of whom was a man who controlled a draconic lizard—Xu Jiuxiu.
Could this “Ninth Master” be Xu Jiuxiu?
As Feng Sanniang and the man closed in on Wen Mei, with Feng Sanniang’s whip ready to entangle her, Ning Yuzhou signaled Qian Shou to intervene.
Qian Shou leapt forward, his sword intercepting Feng Sanniang’s snake whip. In one swift motion, he grabbed the fallen Wen Mei and hurled her toward the stalagmites where the group was hiding.
A Qianlin Guard appeared, catching Wen Mei mid-air before retreating behind the stalagmites with her.
“Who’s there?” Feng Sanniang roared, her snake whip lashing out like a shadow.
Qian Shou parried her attacks, engaging her in combat.
The male cultivator moved to assist Feng Sanniang but was interrupted by a flash of white. A blur streaked past him so swiftly that he couldn’t react before feeling a sharp pain on his face. He was sent flying by a tremendous force, crashing into the stalactites above and shattering several of them.
“Ahhh!” The man screamed in agony, clutching his face.
Hearing his cries, Feng Sanniang glanced over, startled, only to see a fluffy ball of fur—a rabbit—leaping through the air and kicking the man like a ball.
This moment of distraction gave Qian Shou an opening. His sword entangled the snake whip, and with a palm strike imbued with force, he struck Feng Sanniang in the chest.
Feng Sanniang spat out blood, her body hurtling backward into the sharp stalagmites on the ground. She suffered heavy internal injuries and collapsed, too weak to stand.
The demonic rabbit hopped onto the male cultivator’s body, bouncing a few times as it made happy grinding noises, before gleefully running over to Ning Yuzhou, clearly seeking a reward.
On the other side, Wen Mei, caught by the Qianlin Guard, initially thought it was another enemy. However, upon recognizing Ning Yuzhou nearby, she visibly relaxed.
Ning Yuzhou glanced at her, then tossed her a bottle of antidote pills.
“Antidote pills.”
With trembling hands, Wen Mei poured out a pill and swallowed it. The purplish hue on her lips gradually faded, and soon, the snake venom that had troubled her dissipated. The Yuan Spiritual Energy in her meridians flowed smoothly once again.
She looked at Ning Yuzhou in amazement, realizing that the antidote pill was of exceptionally high quality—a top-grade Mysterious-level pill. No wonder it could counteract fifth-tier snake venom.
As she marveled, a demonic rabbit hopped over, standing in front of Ning Yuzhou and chirping at him.
Ning Yuzhou fed it a spiritual pill, and the rabbit happily hopped off to gnaw on it.
The act seemed so natural, as though this was a routine occurrence. Feeding a low-tier demonic rabbit spiritual pills? How wasteful! Even with the Ning clan’s deep reserves, this level of extravagance was shocking.
Wen Mei’s brow twitched slightly but she refrained from commenting. Whatever Ning Yuzhou did was none of her business.
Soon, the Qianlin Guards brought the two captured cultivators over, securely bound.
When Wen Mei saw them, her face showed a mix of disgust, hatred, relief, and gratitude toward Ning Yuzhou. If it weren’t for him, she would have fallen into the hands of these despicable foreign cultivators, and who knew what terrible fate awaited her.
Ning Yuzhou scrutinized the two captives before instructing Qian Shou to take them away for interrogation.
It was rare to encounter foreign cultivators. Naturally, they needed to find out how these individuals had infiltrated Lin Tai Hunting Valley and their purpose for being here.
Wen Mei, sitting off to the side, began healing her injuries. Glancing toward Ning Yuzhou, she suddenly asked, “Seventh Highness, isn’t Ah Chuo with you?”
Ning Yuzhou, who had been gently stroking the leaves of the little sapling in the white jade pot, froze for a moment.
The tiny sapling that had been quietly brushing against his finger stiffened instantly, pretending to be an oblivious little plant.
“We got separated,” Ning Yuzhou replied, his expression unchanged.
Wen Mei frowned slightly, her face showing a hint of concern, though she hesitated to speak further.
Ning Yuzhou didn’t need to ask to understand what worried her. Wen Qiao was frail and sickly, with low cultivation. Alone, she would struggle to navigate this perilous underground space teeming with demonic beasts and scheming foreign cultivators. No matter what she encountered, it wouldn’t bode well.
Though Wen Mei hadn’t spent much time with Wen Qiao and wasn’t particularly close to her, they were cousins. Naturally, she didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.
However, she felt it inappropriate to voice such concerns directly to Ning Yuzhou. After all, he was Wen Qiao’s husband, and any implication that Wen Qiao was in trouble might be unwelcome.
Instead, she changed the subject. “Thank you for saving me, Seventh Highness.”
Although Ning Yuzhou was technically her brother-in-law through his marriage to Wen Qiao, Wen Mei herself was betrothed to the Third Prince, Ning Zhezhou. The tangled relationships made it difficult for her to decide how to address him, so she followed convention and simply called him “Seventh Highness.”
Ning Yuzhou responded with a faint “Mm” before abruptly asking, “Do you know anything about this underground space? Or the maze above?”
Wen Mei was momentarily stunned and couldn’t help but glance at him. She was surprised that someone who couldn’t cultivate would dare venture into such a dangerous place. However, as a royal from the Ning clan, with the Qianlin Guards protecting him, he certainly had the confidence to do so.
Her eyes drifted to the white jade pot in his arms. A strange-looking spiritual plant grew inside, resembling a mere weed. She felt a peculiar sense of unease. Could it be that her third sister’s love for growing weeds had rubbed off on the Seventh Prince, giving him this odd hobby as well?
“You don’t know?” Ning Yuzhou pressed.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Wen Mei hesitated before replying truthfully, “To be honest, this is the cave mansion of a demonic beast that attained human form. That day, I entered the maze above with the Third Prince. After wandering for days, we were fortunate to find a palace. At its center was a glowing stone. The Third Prince accidentally touched it, and then… the palace collapsed…”
The collapse of the maze was something all cultivators who entered through the Light Gate were aware of. Wen Mei had no intention of hiding this from Ning Yuzhou; after all, the Ning clan would find out once they left this place.
Upon hearing her explanation, Ning Yuzhou gave a faint smile. It seemed that his third brother, Ning Zhezhou, had encountered quite a fortuitous event, likely tied to the Nether Leopard he had once subdued.
The Nether Leopard, born in the lands of the netherworld, could harness the power of the nether and was adept at lurking and tracking. With such a reliable guide, it was no surprise they had been able to reach the center of the maze so quickly.
The glowing stone Wen Mei mentioned was likely one of the rare treasures and the very catalyst for this cave mansion’s emergence. After Ning Zhezhou touched it, he must have taken it. That would have triggered the collapse of the maze, revealing the space beneath it.
This underground space appeared to be the resting place of the demonic beast that had attained human form. Somewhere within these depths lay its remains.
In mere moments, Ning Yuzhou pieced together the situation in the cave mansion, drawing from the clues and events they had encountered along the way.