Southern Foothills Market, west gate.
Since the South Foothill Gathering had only recently ended, the market had grown quieter, but quite a few cultivators still came and went.
In a concealed street corner, a hunched Rogue Cultivator in a gray robe hid in the shadows, sweeping his gaze back and forth over every cultivator leaving the market.
Who knew how much time passed.
Three figures clad in black robes and wearing conical hats hurried out of the market.
Although black robes and conical hats were a common sight in major markets, Uncle Fu, the old servant, recognized at a glance that these three were undoubtedly Luo Yu Lei and his companions.
The reason was simple: the old book sold to Luo Yu Lei had long been dusted with a special, invisible medicinal powder.
Without further thought, he immediately crushed the communication talisman in his hand and informed his young master, Chen Heng, that Luo Yu Lei had left Southern Foothills Market.
"I hope everything goes as smoothly as Young Master anticipated."
The old servant murmured a few words, then vanished into the shadows of the street corner.
Elsewhere.
Chen Heng had arrived early at the location marked on the beast-hide map as the site of an ancient cultivator's cave abode.
This place was called Bamboo Branch Mountain. It lay west of Southern Foothills Market, near Little Bamboo Peak. Its spiritual energy was similarly sparse, its terrain rather steep, and it saw few visitors.
Yet its bamboo groves, large and small, were lush and verdant; its grass and trees flourished, clear streams and springs crisscrossed its slopes, and the scenery was quite pleasant.
"I never thought a spirit-poor place like this would also have an ancient cultivator's cave abode."
Chen Heng hid atop a bamboo grove and looked at an utterly inconspicuous stretch of ridges within Bamboo Branch Mountain.
This stretch of ridges was unremarkable among all of Bamboo Branch Mountain, utterly ordinary and no different from its surroundings. Its spiritual energy did not even reach the first-tier standard.
Low spiritual energy meant that neither demonic beasts nor Rogue Cultivators were likely to stay here for long. At most, they would only pass through now and then.
At this moment.
Within the bamboo grove, three figures in black robes and conical hats raced toward the nearby ridges.
The man in the lead held a rather old beast-hide map in his hand.
From time to time, he stopped to compare directions. The two behind him had no objections and followed closely after him the whole way.
Watching this scene, Chen Heng secretly thought, Could those two be Luo Yu Lei's guards? They're both seventh-level Qi Refinement cultivators. The Luo Family really does value him.
After about the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, Luo Yu Lei settled on a direction and led the two behind him toward a certain spot in the ridge before them.
Not long after.
Once the three had left, Chen Heng descended from the bamboo grove and quickly followed the traces they had left behind.
After traveling only a few hundred paces, he found a sinkhole several zhang wide before him. Its interior was pitch-black, and nothing could be seen.
"This place is well hidden. No wonder that senior built his cave abode here."
After muttering softly, Chen Heng did not hesitate. He took the Ruyi Water-Fire Cudgel from beside his ear, controlled the magical artifact, and leaped down into the sinkhole.
This sinkhole was actually several hundred zhang deep!
After descending, he found seven or eight underground passages stretching in all directions, their ends unknown.
There was also an underground river, its rushing waters especially conspicuous in this silent place.
Following the invisible medicinal powder left by Luo Yu Lei, Chen Heng entered one of the passages.
This invisible medicinal powder was a secret formula developed by Uncle Fu, that old Spirit Planter. No outsiders knew of it yet.
Before long, a massive cavern appeared before him.
The underground river flowed into an underground lake, and the clamor of the water immediately diminished considerably.
Chen Heng surveyed the cavern and found it to be over ten zhang high and more than thirty or forty zhang in length and width. One side held the underground lake, while the other was filled with jagged, grotesque rocks.
Many sharp stalactites hung from the ceiling of the cavern, a magnificent sight to behold.
"What a pity. The spiritual energy here is insufficient, so it cannot nurture stalactite heart stone milk." Chen Heng shook his head and sighed.
All of a sudden.
A burst of abrupt fighting sounds came through a stone wall.
"Wang Yi, you old, undying bastard! You actually dared to scheme against this young master!"
"Luo San Mu, Luo San Shi, beat that old bastard to death for me!"
"Quick, use your full strength! You've actually lured this lord over here..."
"Not good, it's a Fire Thunder Talisman! Move!"
The sounds of battle gradually weakened, but they continued.
Following the sounds, Chen Heng came to a stone wall at the edge of the cavern and stopped.
The fighting sounds were coming from inside the stone wall!
He pressed his ear against it and listened, roughly judging that seven or eight people were fiercely fighting inside.
There were sounds of spells colliding and magical artifacts clashing, but even more frequent were the explosions of talismans.
A strange expression flashed across Chen Heng's face. That old talisman master had secretly hoarded so many talismans. Good thing he had not fallen for the trap.
Rogue Cultivator Li Zheng had not lied. Wang Yi really was an old libertine who loved frequenting brothels to listen to music and discussing the Dao beneath a curtained roof. Ordinarily, he truly was as poor as a church mouse.
Chen Heng had investigated all of this thoroughly.
He had not expected this group to act so convincingly just to swindle cultivators.
But they had run into the Luo Family's rich young master. Their luck had run out.
Chen Heng retreated several steps and began studying the stone wall. As expected, some kind of mechanism or restriction had been set upon it. As long as he found the crucial point, he could open it.
By now, the fighting sounds had also grown fainter and fainter.
"Li Zheng, I never thought that a fellow who looks so full of righteous integrity would engage in such sneaky, underhanded business."
"You people actually got one of my guards killed. You truly deserve to die!"
Luo Yu Lei's furious voice came through the stone wall.
The corners of Chen Heng's lips rose slightly. He had already found the indentation that would open the stone wall, but he was in no hurry to enter the fray.
Not long after.
Luo Yu Lei's puzzled voice rang out again. "Luo San Shi, search carefully. How could such an ancient cave abode possibly contain nothing at all?"
"None of the storage bags on these fellows had anything related to the cave abode either."
After a while.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! This is actually a completely empty cave abode!"
Hearing Luo Yu Lei's exasperated voice, Chen Heng felt the time was about right. At this moment, Luo Yu Lei's vigilance should have fallen to its lowest point.
He held two fingers together like a sword, condensed fire into a thread, and flicked his finger.
Flame Heart Finger shot toward an inconspicuous indentation.
Boom!
The stone wall suddenly rose upward, accompanied by a shower of shattered rocks collapsing from above.
The instant Luo Yu Lei and Luo San Shi heard the sound, they froze for a moment before turning toward the stone wall.
But all the two saw was a talisman thrown inside, and a dense mist immediately rose within the cave abode.
"Not good, it's a first-tier high-grade Mist Illusion Talisman!"
"Watch out!"
Thud! Thud!
Two muffled blows rang out in succession, followed by the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground.
The mist dispersed.
Within the ancient cave abode, only Chen Heng stood with his cudgel in hand. Everyone else lay on the ground.
Some were already dead as a doornail. Some were still alive, but once they woke up, they would probably suffer worse than death.
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