Seeing that Lu Qingshan ignored him, Great King West Rat swallowed and continued, "That Magic Beast looked savage and terrifying. It made my skin crawl, and just as I was about to slip away, someone came in."
The newcomer was an exceedingly lecherous-looking male cultivator carrying a Spirit Beast Bag. He actually collected the Magic Beast from the blood pool directly into it.
Since that beast had already been taken away by the cultivator, I planned to sneak into the blood pool and steal a few more red spirit pearls. Last time, I ate one pearl and became like this. If I ate more this time, perhaps I could take human form.
But who would have thought that a transparent barrier covered the area around the blood pool? Not only did it keep the blood pool's scent from spreading, it also kept me from entering. So I had no choice but to come back and ask you."
So it had failed to steal another bite, and only then had it come back to ask him for a solution.
Lu Qingshan understood.
"You've got some nerve. A little demon that hasn't cultivated any techniques actually dares to burrow into a cultivator's home at random. Aren't you afraid of getting caught?" Lu Qingshan clicked his tongue in amazement.
Great King West Rat had always seemed timid as a mouse to him.
Great King West Rat looked a little embarrassed and stammered, "Ever since I swallowed the spirit pearl from the blood pool, I've felt as though something sleeping inside me has been constantly waking up.
Then, because of that, I keep gaining new abilities. The day before yesterday, I seemed to awaken another new ability, so I dared to..."
"Oh?" Lu Qingshan could not help but grow interested.
He had originally thought that Great King West Rat's Phantom Rat Bloodline had already fully awakened.
But according to Great King West Rat, it was still continually gaining new abilities. That meant the Phantom Rat Bloodline within it had not completely revived and still possessed tremendous potential.
Lu Qingshan used the Heavenly Eye Technique on Great King West Rat once more.
Sure enough, he found a brand-new skill on its attribute panel.
Ghostly Sneak: Innate Skill. A ghostly sneak into a room, silent and soundless. After activating this skill, unless the user attacks proactively, all traces of presence will fade away, making them difficult to detect. Cooldown: 3 days.
Ghostly Sneak was one of the most bizarre innate skills the Phantom Rat Clan could master.
It was also an extremely practical skill.
Phantom rats with the Ghostly Sneak innate skill concealed their tracks well. Whether stalking and assassinating or stealing confidential intelligence, they could be said to sweep through all obstacles.
He had never expected Great King West Rat to awaken this skill.
This looked like a European rat.
Lu Qingshan muttered to himself.
"Are there any other cultivators in that residence?" Lu Qingshan asked.
He was genuinely interested in probing the depths of this Ku Mansion. Perhaps there would even be some unexpected gains.
"Other than that lecherous-looking male cultivator, there are only some mortals left." As if recalling something, Great King West Rat spoke in a strange tone before continuing, "But after that male cultivator left with the Magic Beast last night, he never returned."
Lu Qingshan pondered for a long while before saying, "Take me to that residence."
Today was the fifteenth day of the seventh month.
The cultivators of the underworld should all have mobilized and begun the operation they had plotted for so long.
The fact that the lecherous-looking male cultivator Great King West Rat mentioned had yet to return after leaving was proof of that.
While the boss was away, it was time to steal the chicken.
Players were especially good at stealing chickens.
As an elite player, Lu Qingshan was naturally no exception—his Innate Sword Seed had been obtained by stealing a chicken.
This could even be called the most successful chicken theft in the history of the game "Nine Heavens."
Unfortunately, before he could post on the forums and show off, he had arrived in the game world.
Otherwise, he definitely would have made those unlucky players green with envy.
Lu Qingshan felt somewhat regretful.
Led by Great King West Rat, Lu Qingshan soon arrived at Ku Mansion.
It was a massive residence occupying several mu of land.
Above the residence's black-lacquered gates hung a plaque bearing the words "Ku Mansion."
Below the plaque, two burly men in fitted clothes stood on either side. They appeared to be Ku Mansion's guards.
Lu Qingshan's expression twitched slightly.
This Demon Cultivator was truly bold. Most people of the underworld kept as low a profile as possible whenever they could.
For instance, Blood Corpse True Person had not only placed his residence in an extremely remote location, but the huge estate also housed only him.
Yet the owner of this Ku Mansion had bought such a large property in the busiest district of Yuanshan City.
But on second thought, there was a bit of reverse thinking in that.
Lu Qingshan circled around to the rear of Ku Mansion, circulated the spiritual power within his body, and vaulted directly over the wall into the mansion's back courtyard.
Ku Mansion's back courtyard was a fairly large garden planted with many strange flowers, grasses, and medicinal herbs.
A delicate fragrance wafted toward him.
Lu Qingshan could not help taking a deep breath.
"Eh?!" Lu Qingshan let out a soft cry.
"What is it?" Great King West Rat asked cautiously.
Lu Qingshan's expression turned strange. He shook his head and indicated, "Nothing."
The flowers and grasses planted here actually had aphrodisiac effects.
After taking only a slight sniff of the floral fragrance, he felt his body grow somewhat feverish.
Fortunately, they were merely mundane things.
Lu Qingshan circulated his spiritual power. A cool sensation surged out of his dantian and made a circuit through the meridians of his body.
The feverish feeling immediately dissipated.
Lu Qingshan held his breath and dared not delay any longer. Following Great King West Rat's directions, he slipped deeper into the estate.
Ku Mansion was rather interesting. It had actually arranged many mortal sentries in the shadows. It looked heavily guarded, but to cultivators, they were undoubtedly mere decorations.
Lu Qingshan easily bypassed the many hidden sentries.
He stopped in front of a three-story building.
More than a dozen people guarded the vicinity of this small building.
They guarded it so heavily—could there be something important inside?
"What is in there?" Lu Qingshan asked Great King West Rat.
Great King West Rat hemmed and hawed, not knowing how to answer.
Seeing this, Lu Qingshan asked no further questions. His figure flashed like lightning, and in a blur, he arrived beneath the building. With a push of his feet, he silently flipped up to the second floor.
Lu Qingshan pressed himself against the wall outside the second-floor room and peered inside.
The room was filled with smoke. After taking a slight sniff, Lu Qingshan found that it had the same origin as the flowers and grasses planted in the back courtyard. It should be aphrodisiac incense made from medicinal herbs.
At the center of the room stood a large sandalwood bed draped in a layer of gauze. Through it, he could vaguely see several women lying on the bed, all unclothed, revealing rosy thighs and jade-like arms in a most alluring sight.
Yet Lu Qingshan frowned.
The women on the bed were all breathing weakly and looked extremely frail.
—Their yin energy had been harvested through the Cultivation Technique of Harvesting Yin. These mortal women did not have long to live.
No wonder the back courtyard was planted entirely with aphrodisiac herbs. No wonder Great King West Rat had looked as if it wanted to speak but held back. So that was what was going on.
The Demon Cultivator here was actually an Evil Cultivator who practiced the Cultivation Technique of Harvesting Yin.
This entire small building was filled with cauldrons he had raised.
Shaking his head, Lu Qingshan headed toward the third floor.
He had already roughly guessed why Wu Yi had come here.
The third floor likewise held a large bed, but there was only one woman on it.
The woman lay on her side with her back and buttocks facing Lu Qingshan. Her shapely, slender curves rose and fell like rolling mountains, captivating and moving.
As if hearing some sound, the woman shifted lightly and turned around in a somewhat languid posture. She wore no clothes.
It was Wu Yi.
Great King West Rat had apparently discovered that this building contained women whose yin had been harvested. Without carefully investigating the third floor, it had gone elsewhere.
That was why it had never found Wu Yi within Ku Mansion.
The instant Wu Yi turned over, Lu Qingshan had already drawn the Peachwood Sword from his Storage Bag, its tip pointed directly at Wu Yi's throat.
Wu Yi, who had been enchanting and flirtatious the day before yesterday, now had not a trace of color in her face, with a hint of aging decay about her.
—Once a woman had her yin energy harvested, she would rapidly grow old.
Facing the sword tip at her throat, Wu Yi remained calm. Not caring about the vast expanse of spring she revealed, she sat up slightly. "Who are you?"
"I've seen you before." Wu Yi caught sight of Great King West Rat standing on Lu Qingshan's shoulder. Before Lu Qingshan could answer, she suddenly chuckled. "Back at the Great Xia Trading Company, you were also carrying this black rat. I found it curious at the time—there was actually a cultivator who kept a black rat by his side—so I still remember you somewhat."
"Who is the owner of this place? You were following Blood Corpse True Person, so why did you become a cauldron for someone's harvesting?" Lu Qingshan asked.
At Lu Qingshan's question, a ripple suddenly appeared in Wu Yi's previously still, water-like eyes.
"Did you come to kill Cry Soul True Person?"
"Yes, you must have. I did not hear the slightest sound, yet you appeared here. You must have evaded the guards to come up. Moving so ghostily, you are either a thief or a bandit.
"If you were a thief, you would surely avoid me as well and would not reveal yourself so easily."
Lu Qingshan neither confirmed nor denied it. "What if I'm a lecherous thief?"
Wu Yi shook her head. "Hehe, impossible. There is no lust in your eyes when you look at me. For a woman like me, if any man looks at me with even the slightest trace of desire, I can feel it. He cannot hide it from me."
A woman's intuition was sometimes more accurate than a cultivator's spiritual perception, especially when it came to matters between men and women.
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