A Fright (Thanks to Wang Xingren from Meow Star for the Alliance Leader)

After scattering enough Spirit-Confusing Medicine to knock out an entire village, Yu Ziqing quickly retreated from the earthen hole and went straight to find the Village Chief.

Someone had infiltrated the village and was scattering handfuls of Spirit-Confusing Medicine everywhere—if he didn't tell the Village Chief, the whole village would be done for by morning.

Of course, more importantly, Yu Ziqing figured he definitely couldn't beat the infiltrator. He couldn't even beat the aunties in the kitchen right now. Those aunties might not need to go down the mines, but their strength was definitely among the top in the village; any one of them could pin him down with one hand and rub his face into the dirt.

Yu Ziqing kept his expression normal and found an excuse to have Er Han take him to see the Village Chief.

When they reached the Village Chief's earthen kiln, he gave the Village Chief a look and let his face turn a bit more serious. The Village Chief immediately said to Er Han, "Go stand guard at the door."

With that, the Village Chief led Yu Ziqing deep into the earthen kiln, where a strange power seeped out from within. "Speak."

"Village Chief, an outsider has infiltrated the village and gone to the Mushroom Forest to eat part of the Jinlan Mushrooms."

The Village Chief leaned on his cane, his eyes suddenly sharpening. He paused for a moment, then said, "Three months ago, I had Er Han run a test. His strength is roughly comparable to a Third Tier Body Refining cultivator from outside. But the cultivation divisions outside are too complicated, and the aspects differ, so I can only make a rough judgment. A year ago, when An Yue last visited, he said that if Er Han could get out, he'd break straight into Fourth Tier within three months."

Yu Ziqing thought back. Old Yang had said before that the Shepherds were actually subordinates of the Black Goat. The Black Whips they carried had Black Goat wool woven into them, and the Shepherds' Livestock Transformation strength was directly tied to their artifacts. Working backward from that, Old Yang had deduced that the Shepherds' superiors—that Black Goat—was at most a Third Tier demonic beast. If it had crossed Third Tier, the Shepherds' Livestock Transformation level would have jumped up another notch.

Plus, the Black Goat had never existed as a combat unit on the Seventh Floor; its combat power was mediocre. Its real value lay in the Shepherds it deployed, spreading out to form an intelligence network. For someone to sneak in so stealthily and even manage to steal Jinlan Mushrooms, the person with the Black Goat was likely also not a combat specialist, but someone good at hiding and running—an intelligence operative.

Even if they hadn't been hit by the Spirit-Confusing Medicine, with Er Han's strength, a direct confrontation might not crush them, but it should be enough to drive them back. Add in the others in the village who were weaker than Er Han, and the odds of not losing were at least ninety percent.

"That's enough." Yu Ziqing nodded and said to the Village Chief, "It's best if you don't come out, Village Chief. That person infiltrated at some unknown time and hasn't been discovered yet, so he must be skilled at hiding."

"Alright, go ahead." The Village Chief didn't say much more and didn't plan to go direct things on-site.

Yu Ziqing didn't rush to do anything, just stayed alert at all times. Old Yang hadn't come out all day either.

It wasn't until nightfall, after everyone had eaten and gone to rest, that Yu Ziqing quietly slipped out of his earthen burrow in the dead of night. He found Er Han, who had been crouching by the door, and led the group to the entrance of the earthen hole.

Two fierce aunties stood guard at the hole's entrance, each carrying an iron club thicker than Yu Ziqing's thigh.

"How is it?"

"Something definitely went in, but I guarantee nothing came out." The two aunties took up stances, blocking the hole. The iron clubs, weighing at least a hundred catties, were swung horizontally, whistling like ghosts wailing. Even a mosquito flying out would have to take a hit first.

"Er Han, let's go. Time's about right. Be careful when we go down."

"Old Black, have you noticed? The one I ate today has stronger medicinal power. Bigger really is better."

The Black Goat didn't eat the same mushroom as last time; it picked a new, larger Jinlan Mushroom. As it spoke, it stuck out its tongue and licked the powder off the mushroom's surface clean, afraid of wasting any if it fell off while eating. It had heard before that this stuff was the essence of the Jinlan Mushroom, worth even more than the mushroom itself, so it wasn't about to let it go.

The black-robed man beside it, seeing the Black Goat being so careless and licking spit everywhere, quickly moved to another spot to continue eating raw. He copied the Black Goat, licking off the spore powder first before gnawing on the mushroom. His knowledge couldn't be worse than a demonic beast's—he knew full well what was valuable.

After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the black-robed man muttered to himself, "Old Black, have you noticed? This Jinlan Mushroom tastes different. It's getting sweeter. No, wait—it's both sweet and sour now, just like Great Qian's Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs. Same texture, same flavor..."

The Black Goat's eyes were glazed over; what it heard was just incoherent mumbling. But it was eating more happily than ever, feeling like this Jinlan Mushroom had come alive, holding it and feeding it those precious spore powders, making it bleat with joy.

By the time Yu Ziqing led the group all the way to the Mushroom Forest, they saw this scene from a distance: a young man in a black robe, pale-faced with tattoos on his cheeks, hugging the main stalk of a Jinlan Mushroom and gnawing like an idiot. He'd bite off a chunk, chew, and shout, "These steamed ribs are getting chewier! Just right! Old Black, you gotta try some..."

On the other side, a huge black goat as tall as a man lay sprawled on the ground, humming and sticking out its tongue to keep licking the dirt. It wagged its tail happily as it ate, eyes squinted shut.

"Old Black, I've decided not to leave. Next year, I'm going back to kick the boss's head in..."

Yu Ziqing quickly stopped the others and watched from a distance, his hairs standing on end. The effect of the Spirit-Confusing Medicine was far better than he'd expected.

He hurriedly pulled a small pouch from his chest, containing freshly sliced Jinlan Mushroom root. Holding this under the tongue could resist the medicine's effects. As for an antidote, Yu Ziqing had never bothered to make one. Who brews a poison and makes an antidote to go with it? If he got caught, the enemy could just detoxify immediately—what was the point of making poison in the first place?

If you could knock the enemy out with one punch, who'd bother with poison? Why waste the effort? When you actually used it, just make sure you didn't get poisoned yourself. If you could avoid an antidote, do it. If you really couldn't win and got killed, at least the poisoned enemy would go down with you.

Everyone took a slice of Jinlan Mushroom root and held it under their tongues, slowly approaching the Mushroom Forest, ready in case the two were faking it and suddenly attacked.

But to the one man and one goat, whose five senses were scrambled and perception severely distorted, they saw a completely different scene.

Their chaotic consciousness suddenly sharpened, the endless obsession with eating instantly receding as an indescribable, immense terror began to well up within them.

The entire world seemed shrouded in a layer of mist, except directly ahead, where the mist was dissipating.

Something unspeakably malevolent slowly spread outward, and wherever it passed, the very light dimmed.

A jarring sensation, both distorted and clear, made them want to vomit, yet the clarity only grew sharper, and the distortion more twisted.

They saw an indescribable thing, its entire body seeming forged from black flames or congealed from black oil, vaguely humanoid, with only the faint red glow of eyes in the place of a face, step by step, walking toward them.

With each step it took, their side of the world was corroded and twisted; everything around them seemed to recoil and flee in terror.

A horrific aura, mixed with a pressure that made it impossible to breathe, pressed down step by step—something they had never experienced before.

Behind this being, one after another, red-faced, fanged evil spirits wreathed in flames followed in its footsteps, guarding its rear.

Among them, two evil spirits each dragged a black evil dragon, hauling the two scarred beasts along like dead dogs.

Faced with the intensifying pressure and terrifying aura, the Black Goat was so frightened it dropped a pile of sheep pellets, its body stiffening as it collapsed to the ground, motionless, as if scared to death.

The black-robed man went limp all over, falling to his knees with a thud, prostrating himself fully, not daring to lift his head, trembling and stammering.

"Black Five, wel... welcomes the Immortal... Devil King... ar... arrival."

"Mercy, mercy, this humble one will serve like a dog or horse, even unto death without regret..."

Beside him, the Black Goat, whose limbs had been stiff as if scared to death, suddenly came back to life, lying on the ground and mimicking the black-robed man's words, chanting over and over.

"Black Eight, welcomes... welcomes... arrival."

Yu Ziqing and his people watched these two, silent for a long time.

They all looked at each other, momentarily unsure whether they should just beat them to death on the spot.

In truth, none of them had considered leaving survivors—sneaking into the village to steal Jinlan Mushrooms, catching them and killing them on the spot was perfectly normal.

But right now, at first sight, the enemy was already covered in filth, lying on the ground, babbling like madmen, their wits seemingly scared out of them. Even Er Han found it hard to strike.

"Young Master Yu, what do we do?" Er Han scratched his head; he had truly never seen such a scene before.

In the village, when those condemned to death were executed, even the most wretched of them at their final moment couldn't compare to these two, who clearly had some cultivation strength.

"Take them back first, let the Village Chief decide."

After Yu Ziqing finished speaking, he specifically pointed toward the back of the Mushroom Forest.

"The ones in the back are all poisonous, don't eat them recently. The ones in front, better not eat them for now either. Doesn't the village have plenty of stored grain? Eat the stores first, and I'll deal with these poisonous ones later."

Looking at the state of those two, Yu Ziqing also felt a lingering fear.

He realized he had misjudged the effect of the Spirit-Confusing Medicine, or rather, the standard he had assumed was completely different from what Old Yang had told him.

On top of that, it seemed the amount of Spirit-Confusing Medicine those two had consumed could probably have been a meal.

In the short term, they were utterly useless, and it was possible their brains had been damaged, leaving them crippled for good.

Ha, thanks to Gegewu for the ten thousand points.