Nightmare Butterfly

Spirit Hall?

Mu Zhe nodded to himself, tempted. Spirit Hall truly was the organization that knew Soul Beasts best.

But they didn't sell intelligence? Did that mean he wouldn't have to pay?

"How do I get to Spirit Hall?"

"Turn right when you leave..."

The waitress's eyes trembled slightly, regret rising in her heart. She had only wanted to invoke Spirit Hall to send Mu Zhe away, but after hearing her, he actually looked interested?

This was bad!

Offending Spirit Hall never ended well. If this young man went to Spirit Hall to obtain clues, he would probably... be thrown out, and perhaps even receive a vicious beating.

But... everyone had seen it.

He had asked for the directions himself, and he was going there of his own accord.

He had forced her to point him toward Spirit Hall. She truly hadn't wanted to do it.

Meanwhile, following the waitress's directions, Mu Zhe arrived before an enormous building.

Although the town itself was not large, only two-thirds the size of Suotuo City, the Spirit Hall here was far more massive than the one in Suotuo City.

Because it had been built on the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Soul Masters stationed within were also far stronger than those at Suotuo City's Spirit Hall.

Among those Mu Zhe could see, there was no shortage of Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings. He guessed there were even Soul Sages, perhaps even Soul Fighting Douluos, stationed inside.

At that moment, Mu Zhe stood not far from the entrance, quietly waiting for someone destined to come along.

Spirit Hall was far too large. He could not possibly just walk in and search for information.

So he could only wait, until the hunting party the waitress had mentioned arrived.

Then he would see where they recorded their information and where they stored it. Once night fell, he could enter and search for the information he needed.

The sun gradually set. Mu Zhe waited for a long time before, finally, a travel-worn team approached Spirit Hall.

There were seven people in the team. Every one of them wore damaged robes—some because of Martial Soul Possession, others because they had been torn during battles with Soul Beasts.

They also all bore injuries to varying degrees, looking exceedingly bedraggled.

Suddenly, the leader kicked a skinny monkey-like man beside him and barked without ceremony.

"Let's see if you dare be careless again next time. Get back and write your self-criticisms."

The skinny man scratched his head sheepishly and nodded. This soul hunt had not gone smoothly, mainly because of him; he had dragged everyone into an illusion.

The other team members exchanged glances, then ran off in a hurry.

The leader was called Hao's Team. He snorted coldly, and only after lecturing his members did he enter Spirit Hall.

Mu Zhe entered the Void State and followed Hao's Team into Spirit Hall.

Aside from looking somewhat disheveled, Hao's Team had not suffered any serious injuries. He refused the offer of a healing Soul Master who approached him and headed straight for a room.

"Huh? Hao's Team, you're back? How did it go? Did you encounter any danger on this trip?"

There were more than a dozen people in the room. Each sat at a desk, pen in hand, writing and drawing as they recorded something.

When one of them saw Hao's Team return, he immediately stepped forward to greet him warmly.

"Don't even mention it. If I hadn't been quick-witted, those little brats on the team might have been in danger."

"Yesterday, we ran into two Nightmare Butterflies. They had those kids completely bewitched. If my Soul Skill hadn't countered illusions, even I would've fallen for it!"

Hao's Team said angrily, raising his arm to show a one-inch-deep gash on it.

It had been inflicted by a Nightmare Butterfly when he had first fallen into the illusion, though it had already healed.

At the mention of those two Nightmare Butterflies, his teeth itched with anger, and the wound on his arm even seemed on the verge of splitting open again.

"Hahaha, calm down, or your wound will split open again. But this isn't entirely a bad thing. After this experience, they'll learn their lesson."

The man smiled, then got down to business with Hao's Team. "Nightmare Butterflies are rare spiritual-attribute Soul Beasts, and Spirit Hall doesn't have much information on them."

"Record the location. If everyone encounters them in the future, they can take a detour. You should have the details of the battle as well, so record those too."

Hao's Team nodded. This was the responsibility of a soul hunting team leader; each time, they needed to record all intelligence encountered along the way.

He walked over to a desk and sat down, picked up a pen, and began recording the information.

In the void, Mu Zhe watched this scene thoughtfully. He had unexpectedly heard some useful intelligence.

According to the information market's records, Nightmare Butterflies had weak physical bodies but exceptionally powerful Spiritual Power. Their primary Soul Skill was creating illusions.

The Soul Devouring Demonic Spider could grow stronger by devouring souls and particularly enjoyed hunting Soul Beasts with high Spiritual Power. Nightmare Butterflies happened to be one of its favorite foods.

Whenever Nightmare Butterflies appeared in an area, there was a high possibility that Soul Devouring Demonic Spiders would appear as well, just as bear-type Soul Beasts could always find the nests of bee-type Soul Beasts.

Of course, it was only highly possible. Whether there really was a Soul Devouring Demonic Spider still required further deduction.

Before long, Hao's Team finished writing the report on this soul hunting operation. After handing what he had written to the people in the room responsible for subsequent processing, he left the room.

Mu Zhe familiarized himself with the room's layout and memorized the process by which these people stored information, then left Spirit Hall as well.

These people were still working now. He would have to wait until the place was empty at night before it would be convenient to sneak in and search for information.

Soul Masters were the most esteemed people on the Douluo Continent. Even when working jobs assigned by Spirit Hall, there was no such thing as overtime. They always got off work on time in the afternoon or at dusk.

In Nuoding City, Mu Zhe often took advantage of Spirit Hall personnel getting off work to sneak into the library and read. He was thoroughly familiar with the whole routine.

A few hours later, night fell.

Mu Zhe arrived at Spirit Hall once again. At the entrance stood only two guards with the cultivation of Soul Grand Masters. Sweeping his gaze into the hall, he saw a few more people at the reception desk in the first-floor lobby.

Other than the higher-ups, they were the only people left in Spirit Hall.

Ignoring the guards, Mu Zhe entered the Void State and headed straight for the room where the records were kept.

He soon reached the door and saw that it was locked. Delight appeared on Mu Zhe's face. This meant there really was no one left.

Maintaining the Void State, he passed through the door and entered.

The room had been tidied impeccably. The desk was completely bare, while rows upon rows of shelves were packed with dense files.

Following the methods he had learned from the information market, Mu Zhe quickly found the records on spider-type soul beasts, as well as those on butterfly-type soul beasts.

They were two boxes, marked with either a spider or butterfly symbol.

Mu Zhe opened the box. What greeted his eyes was a catalog-like list, with the corresponding page numbers written beside every type of spider soul beast.

Moreover, the page numbers were not limited to one. Whenever new information was added, another page number would be appended after the soul beast's name.

Mu Zhe found several records concerning the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider, a thick stack of papers in his hand.

They documented every Soul Devouring Demonic Spider encountered over the past few years, including its age, where it had been found, and the full course of the battle.

However, recalling the Nightmare Butterflies Hao's Team had mentioned today, Mu Zhe opened the nearby box containing butterfly-type records as well.

He flipped directly to the final page and found the Nightmare Butterfly records Hao's Team had entered today.

Suddenly, delight appeared on Mu Zhe's face. He carefully compared the information on the two soul beasts.

The location where Hao's Team had encountered the Nightmare Butterflies was not far from where a Soul Devouring Demonic Spider had appeared a year ago.

It seemed there was indeed some basis for the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider appearing near Nightmare Butterflies.

Furthermore, that Soul Devouring Demonic Spider was very likely still somewhere near those two Nightmare Butterflies.