readytorunbook Chapter 152 Smooth Situation
Chapter 152 Smooth Situation
Chapter 152 Favorable Situation
Since the specific work of setting up the magic array was not Lan Ying and the others' responsibility, and they were not capable of constructing such a massive array, the work after finding the spiritual vein was really like planting landmines—they only marked the locations and left the rest to chance.
It's not that they can ignore it. When marking the spot, they should pay attention to the surroundings to avoid a city god or earth god suddenly appearing. Even if they haven't officially started, the two of them will still come into contact with the spiritual veins and attract anything.
Unexpectedly, ever since the two of them directed the crocodile demons to find the spiritual vein and then followed it to the main trunk to mark the points, the whole process went incredibly smoothly. It had been a long time since they had experienced such a smooth journey since they discovered that a "regular army" had come to this world to oppose them.
"Not a single deity appeared, not even a spirit or monster."
Shouldn't a place where spiritual veins converge be a very lively place?
"Things will inevitably turn into their opposites when they reach an extreme."
In places with abundant spiritual energy, there will be more intelligent and cultivation-capable creatures. However, too much good stuff can have the opposite effect. The spiritual energy around the spiritual vein is so dense that it feels almost tangible. Even people with special constitutions like the two of them felt a sense of oppression. The pressure felt by ordinary creatures would only be stronger.
Those crocodile demons are the best example; once they arrived at the destination, they refused to move forward and wouldn't even fight.
"It's almost over."
Lan Ying sent out the prepared message and couldn't help but raise her hand to massage the back of her neck. However, she felt something was wrong with the touch. She frowned and pulled her hand back, only to find that she had wiped a handful of blood.
"Tsk."
Looking at the bloodstains on her hands, Lan Ying's eyes showed disgust, but she couldn't ignore it. The overly dense spiritual energy near the spiritual vein seemed to have some negative effects on her body. Now she was unaware that her hands were covered in blood with every touch. If she left it unattended, it might crack open on the spot.
"I'm going to take care of some things. You wait here for Ying to come and meet me."
"Judging from your appearance, something seems to have happened."
"It's been so long, it's not surprising that something went wrong. That good-for-nothing Hongmei ran off and got herself killed."
If their companion with the ability to change his appearance were still alive, they wouldn't have needed to stay in the White Lotus Sect for so long. They could have simply changed their identities and started causing trouble.
Without the convenient abilities of a painted skin, the original disguise methods could not last long, and problems were bound to arise sooner or later. No matter how much Lan Ying disliked it, she was helpless in this regard, as it was beyond her capabilities.
Before leaving, she glanced at Qingyangzi, who was meditating with his eyes closed, and whispered something.
"Be careful."
The feeling Lan Ying got from Qingyangzi was too different from that of the previous Asura King, and she was still afraid that something might go wrong with him.
"There's no need for any unexpected events to occur at this stage, is there?"
Yan Chao glanced around. They were currently in the "blank" phase, having completed the initial setup and waiting for their teammates to arrive and push forward. If something went wrong at this juncture, the reward would be minimal.
Not long after Lan Ying left, the surrounding light and shadow suddenly distorted. On the ground covered by shadow, a shadow suddenly bulged outward, as if the shadow on the ground had suddenly split apart. An irregular shadow broke out from it and moved towards the person.
Sensing something approaching, Qingyangzi opened his eyes and saw a dark figure crawling towards him in an extremely contorted posture on the ground in front of him, where there was nothing there.
If some gloomy lighting and music were added at this moment, this lump on the ground would have an atmosphere of malevolent spirits seeking revenge. In any case, it didn't look like a good thing at all. Qingyangzi picked up the fan beside him, and it looked like he was about to make a move.
"Wait!"
Yan knew the special effects of his companion's abilities, and Qingyangzi's attack was most likely a waste of time, but that didn't mean he would just stand by and watch someone attack his ally. He immediately spoke up to stop it.
Moreover, someone like Qingyangzi makes too much noise when he makes a move. Normally, not many creatures would notice this side, but if he uses his fan, it might attract other people's attention.
"He's quite a special companion."
Qingyangzi could see it clearly. The unknown object crawling towards them was just a shadow on the ground. As it approached, it would even distort due to the undulations of the ground, without any sense of three-dimensionality.
So, before the Empress of Tien Harvest, Yuan Wuxiang was chasing after a seemingly inexplicable shadow, were they? Those two must have had quite the perseverance.
The shadow on the ground was probably also frightened by Qingyangzi's actions, and stopped halfway. After receiving assurances from its companions, it changed to a route that was farther away from Qingyangzi.
After the shadow stabilized, it slowly climbed up the adjacent wall, gradually forming a human-shaped outline, but it was still a dark shadow.
"Who is he?"
Although it was unclear what he was referring to, everyone present knew he was asking Qingyangzi.
“A companion of the Asura King.”
"...Excuse me for speaking frankly, but he seems more like a companion who is hunting me down."
“I do know Shuangxiu.”
Before Yan could explain anything further, Qingyangzi spoke up. He stood up from his meditation spot and looked at the shadow figure on the wall.
"They are all famous figures in the Taoist community, and I have had many dealings with them."
"You're looking for this kind of guy..."
Goodness, he openly admitted on the spot that he was connected with their enemies, without even pretending.
“He was sent by the Asura King. In terms of magic, we are indeed at a disadvantage.”
"Weaknesses? Are Lan Ying and Yi Yang just for show?"
“They’re in different fields. One of them uses magic like a poison, and the other… well, we need him right now.”
A cloud of black smoke floating in mid-air, arguing with a shadowy figure projected on the wall—the scene was both bizarre and comical.
They are eerie because both of them only have a vaguely human appearance and look like they crawled out of a horror movie; they are comical because their overall style is that of a black blob, without facial features, and their body movements are unclear, and their emotions can only be judged by their tone of voice.
"You shook off those two guys?"
Seeing that the argument was going nowhere, and since their side really needed Qingyangzi and Shouwanjie's help, Yan quickly changed the subject and steered the conversation toward Ying.
This guy has been out of contact with the main force for so long because he was being relentlessly pursued by the enemy, putting on a show of fleeing and being chased in various places, with no one able to escape. The fact that the enemy was able to meet him successfully this time means that they have finally gotten rid of those two treacherous enemies.
"more or less."
Perhaps realizing that such an argument was too childish, Ying naturally followed the advice given to her by her companion.
“A few days ago, there was a dragon incident. I hid on the dragon and they couldn’t find me.”
When he possessed the tiger earlier, he lost his judgment in his haste. Not only was the tiger unafraid of him, it also turned around and stabbed him, catching him off guard and causing him to be injured.
Although the golden-haired figure never used a similar move again after that, and the two sides returned to a stalemate where neither could gain the upper hand, Juan Shou Tian's sword strike truly made Ying feel threatened.
Originally, among the entire group of illegal transmigrators, his ability was the most unique and the least likely to be harmed. He could come and go freely without restraint. Who would have thought that the enemy would have a way to harm him?
During his subsequent escape, he did nothing but focus on shaking off the two men. He was a shadow that could imprint itself on anything; as long as Zhao Ming wasn't around, no one could find him in the darkness. This should have been an easy way to escape, but unfortunately, the enemy was too persistent and always managed to catch up, making him think that they had planted a tracking device on him.
Just as Ying was fretting, thunder suddenly roared in the sky, followed by a torrential downpour. Accompanied by thunderclaps that seemed to shake the sky apart, a dragon fell from the sky and crashed not far away. However, it did not die, but was just stunned by the fall.
This is truly heaven's help! This dragon is so big and can fly through the clouds. If I just find a gap and hide on its body, then nothing will be visible to me.
Ying thought this way and did it. It just so happened that it wasn't a white dragon. He hid on the dragon's body. It happened to be a thunderstorm, and the surroundings were dark. It would only suddenly become bright when there was thunder. He hid relatively easily and flew with the dragon for a while.
"I wonder what that dragon did to provoke the Thunder God. Luckily, I ran away in time, or the Thunder God would have found out. Where is Lan Yingren?"
After talking for a while, he finally realized that one of his companions was missing.
"She had some health issues and went to get them treated."
"what is the problem."
"Simply put, she needs to consider changing her image. Without Hongmei, it might be a bit difficult."
"Even if it's difficult, it's better than being shameless."
Lan Ying returned just in time to hear her companions teasing her. She glanced at the black smoke on the wall and saw that no one was missing any limbs, so that was fine.
Are you sure you've shaken them off?
"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't dare to come back."
He was well aware of the dangers of letting the wolf into the house, and only after ensuring that there were no pursuers behind him did he reply to Lan Ying and Yan's message about meeting up.
How much longer can you hold on?
When Lan Ying returned, she had several bandages around her neck and some blood on her sleeves.
"It can still hold on; it should be able to last until the mission is over."
With her easy way of disguising herself gone, she had no choice but to make do with what she had for now. The most urgent task was to succeed in cutting off the spiritual veins so that they could leave immediately, and then she wouldn't have to worry about what she was wearing anymore.
"I've already sent the message to Yi Yang. We just need to wait for him to bring his men over, and do so without attracting attention."
Lan Ying twisted her wrist, which also had bandages on it, as if she had been going out and was starting to resemble a mummy.
"Speaking of which... when I was experimenting with the murals, I felt like I'd seen that monk from the capital somewhere before."
Recent actions have been going smoothly, and my tense mood has eased somewhat. My thoughts have started to wander, and I recall that hurried experiment in the capital, when the old monk in the temple revealed their identities.
Strangely enough, Lan Ying knew very well that when she and Yi Yang were infiltrating the capital, they had not visited any temples or met many monks. They had stayed in the Yan family mansion and had basically never gone out.
Aside from that one time, she couldn't think of anywhere else she could have seen the old monk, but the more she thought about it, the more familiar the old monk who was the "riddler" seemed.
Now that things have come to this, there's no point in dwelling on it anymore. I just regret that I acted too late. I shouldn't have worried about the official monks; I should have just taken control of them and turned them into puppets for the government.
"Hurry up and set up the teleportation array. Now we just need to wait for Yi Yang to arrive."
The formation to sever the spiritual veins is not only difficult to execute, but also requires a considerable number of materials and manpower. If Yi Yang were to lead such a large force alone, not to mention whether the speed could be guaranteed, they would probably be dealt with by the imperial court's rebel forces on the spot after only a few steps.
To transport so many materials and personnel, a teleportation array is of course necessary.
……
"This is……"
The waiter stared in disbelief at the cage placed in front of him.
Inside the cage was a bird, the kind Little Sister had seen before. Its feathers were very beautiful, but one wing was covered in blood and drooped limply, as if it had been broken.
There were talismans hanging outside the cage, indicating that the little bird inside was a demon, but its appearance was truly pitiful.
"Big brother, what are these?"
Looking around, there were many cages of various sizes, containing all sorts of little monsters, and people were moving them one by one to unknown places.
"It's a monster, obviously."
Zhao Changqin, the second brother, said nonchalantly that he did not have the same talent for cultivation as his father and sister and could not learn magic. However, he had studied and was once a scholar who could write and paint. Therefore, after joining the White Lotus Sect, he managed to get a small management position.
Currently, he is in charge of moving these monsters. Originally, these cages were stored in a fixed place, but today he suddenly ordered them to be moved to a magic circle.
"Of course I recognize monsters, but why... are there so many?"
Having received Ding Ziming's advice and realizing that something was amiss herself, Xiao Er felt that staying in the White Lotus Sect was not a long-term solution and wanted to discuss it with her brother. However, upon arriving, she found a large number of cages covered in talismans.
She knew the White Lotus Sect was capturing monsters, but she never knew there were so many, and they were all harmless little monsters with injuries.
Xiao Er suddenly realized where the sounds he occasionally heard at night, which resembled the howls of wild animals, came from.
What exactly is the White Lotus Sect trying to do? Even if they really want to rebel, at most they would just recruit soldiers and horses. What are they trying to do by bringing in so many monsters?
"Waiter, what are you doing here?"
A very familiar voice rang out from behind; it was Yi Yang, Xiao Er's nominal master.
At this moment, he was carrying a birdcage covered with a cloth, which looked like the kind of cages that spoiled young masters used to play with birds. However, Yi Yang was just carrying it casually, without any of the airs of a young master carrying a birdcage.
"I've come to talk to my brother."
Xiao Er wasn't lying; she did come to chat with her brother Zhao Changchun, but unexpectedly encountered these pitiful little monsters.
"Don't get in my way, come with me."
Yi Yang glanced at it casually, then turned around and gestured for the waiter to follow.
"Yes, Master."
The girl obediently followed, not daring to disobey Yi Yang, but inevitably curious about the birdcage in his hand. It had no talismans on it and didn't look like it was for imprisoning monsters.
But with her keen senses, she could also detect the yin energy emanating from the cloth. What was inside? It was truly intriguing.
The waiter followed behind, peering around curiously, while Yi Yang casually carried the cage, seemingly unconcerned. Finally, as the waiter eagerly awaited, a gentle breeze lifted the cloth covering the cage, revealing a corner of what was inside.
It was a human head with wide-open eyes, standing upright in the cage. When the cloth was lifted, the head's eyeballs moved, making eye contact with the waiter outside.