The Blood Demon Flower could improve one's aptitude. Now that it had appeared, Su Chen would naturally claim it without hesitation.
"But the Blood Demon Flower grows in an unusual environment. It needs countless corpses."
"But there shouldn't be any corpses in a place like Qin Cui Mountain. How could a Blood Demon Flower have appeared there?"
Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed Su Chen's mind.
Qin Cui Mountain was no battlefield. No one had died there, so it didn't fit the Blood Demon Flower's growing conditions at all.
"Could Qin Hao have gotten it wrong?"
Su Chen couldn't help thinking.
But Lei Hall had indeed sent a large amount of void-ming ore over there.
There was no way he'd be mistaken!
Su Chen furrowed his brow.
He had never seen either a Blood Demon Flower or a Fifth-grade Lotus Platform, so even if he saw one, he wouldn't be able to tell which it was.
"Maybe I can sell this information."
"Surely someone will know what it really is?"
Su Chen thought.
At that, he thought of Madam Liu of Changhen Palace and Shangguan Ziyun of Su Mansion—or rather, Zi Hanyue.
After pondering for a moment,
Su Chen decided to visit Liu Wumei.
He rose and left Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower, heading for Yuchun Courtyard.
When he entered Yuchun Courtyard, Su Chen saw Aunt Gui.
"I'm here to see Madam Liu. I have something to discuss."
Su Chen spoke.
"Please, Lord Su. Madam said you could see her whenever you came."
Aunt Gui led Su Chen to the rear courtyard of Yuchun Courtyard.
Inside an elegant room,
Madam Liu, dressed in white and alluring in appearance, saw Su Chen and said, "Lord Su, we only parted last night, and you're already here to see me."
There was a teasing lilt in her voice.
"Madam Liu, I came this time to sell you some information I just received."
"It concerns the Fifth-grade Lotus Platform."
Su Chen looked at Madam Liu.
A rose was beautiful, but it was still a rose with thorns. He was better off keeping his distance.
"The Fifth-grade Lotus Platform!" Hearing Su Chen's words, Madam Liu's expression turned serious. She waved for Aunt Gui and the others to leave.
"You've found information about the Fifth-grade Lotus Platform?"
"That's right. I can sell you this information for ten thousand taels of silver, Madam Liu."
Su Chen said.
"So you're planning to earn back the money you spent here!"
"But I need this information right now. I can pay you, but if it turns out to be false, don't expect to leave this room with the money."
Madam Liu looked at Su Chen.
As she spoke, she produced ten one-thousand-tael Silver Notes and placed them on the table.
She rested her jade-like hand on the notes and watched Su Chen.
"If I'm selling you this information, you can be sure it's reliable."
Su Chen gently moved Liu Wumei's hand aside. Her jade-like hand was translucent and cool to the touch.
He picked up the Silver Notes from beneath her hand and tucked them into his robes.
"I received two accounts about the Fifth-grade Lotus Platform. One says it's a Fifth-grade Lotus Platform; the other says it's a Blood Demon Flower."
"The location is marked here."
Su Chen took a map with the location marked on it from his robes and laid it on the table.
"You said Blood Demon Flower? Not Fifth-grade Lotus Platform?"
Liu Wumei didn't take the map. Instead, she asked him.
"You'll have to identify it yourself, Madam. I'm not very familiar with either the Blood Demon Flower or the Fifth-grade Lotus Platform."
"I looked up information about both, but I still couldn't figure out which it was."
Su Chen said gravely.
"Then we'll go take a look!"
Liu Wumei opened the map, glanced at it, and said, "Come with me. We're going there now!"
Liu Wumei needed to confirm the authenticity of the item.
As she spoke, Liu Wumei had already risen and gone into the bedroom. Before long, her appearance changed dramatically. She became a middle-aged woman dressed in simple cloth clothes, completely transformed from the person she had been.
When she came out, she tossed Su Chen a set of plain clothes and a cloak.
"Change. We're leaving!"
Watching Liu Wumei's brisk efficiency, Su Chen went into the adjacent bedroom.
A delicate fragrance wafted through the bedroom, whose furnishings were rather plain.
As Su Chen looked around, Liu Wumei's voice came from outside. "Stop dawdling and looking around!"
Su Chen shook his head, took off his outer robe, changed into the clothes, put on the cloak, and left the room.
Creak.
A passage to a secret chamber appeared before Su Chen.
The passage was pitch-black.
Su Chen's brow furrowed slightly.
Once he entered the passage, Bai Tianyu might no longer be able to sense him.
If he ended up in danger, Bai Tianyu might not be able to come to his rescue.
He began to hesitate.
"Are you afraid I'll attack you? If I wanted to, I could do it right here. You may have reached the Xiantian realm, but in my hands, you're still a weakling."
Liu Wumei looked at Su Chen.
Then she stepped into the secret passage first.
Su Chen put aside his hesitation. Liu Wumei was right: compared to her, he was indeed the weaker one.
The two of them walked for a long time through the secret passage.
Drip, drip—the sound of water falling from the rock walls echoed through the passage.
They had no idea how long they had walked.
They emerged from an abandoned residence.
"You built this passage quite far out," Su Chen said to Liu Wumei.
"Come on, little guy. Qin Cui Mountain is a long way from here. At our current pace, we probably won't get there until evening."
As Liu Wumei spoke,
Su Chen fell silent and followed behind her.
Outside the small courtyard, a carriage was waiting.
The driver was an old man holding a long-stemmed pipe. At first glance, Su Chen noticed nothing unusual, but his senses picked up a hint of danger.
This old man was no ordinary fighter.
Su Chen followed Liu Wumei into the carriage.
The old man flicked the reins and drove toward Qin Cui Mountain.
Elsewhere,
Bai Tianyu had also left the city and was racing toward Qin Cui Mountain at full speed.
He couldn't follow Su Chen through the secret passage, but he knew the location and planned to wait for him at Qin Cui Mountain.
Meanwhile,
on the official road from beyond the pass to Qingcheng City,
a woman in a purple dress and a burly man were galloping toward Qingcheng City.
A while later,
they stopped in front of an open-air teahouse beside the road.
They tied their horses to a hitching post, then sat down at a table.
"Boss, bring us two bowls of iced tea, and fill our water flask while you're at it."
The middle-aged man spoke.
"Coming right up!"
The teahouse owner brought them two large bowls of iced tea, then picked up their water flask and went around back to fill it.
Just then,
two figures appeared on the road in the distance.
Both wore black clothes and masks, and each held a long saber.
In the blink of an eye, they appeared in front of the teahouse and fixed their gaze on the woman in purple and the burly man.
The woman in purple and the burly man were just about to drink their tea when their expressions changed.
"Miss, looks like they've come looking for trouble!"
The burly man spoke.
The other people in the teahouse hurriedly ran away,
afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
As he spoke, the burly man stood and walked up to the two newcomers. He stared at them with a cold gaze. "I didn't expect someone would come to die before we even reached Qingcheng City. I'll send you on your way first!"
Whoosh!
But as he spoke, the two men in black robes struck first.
Their long sabers flashed from their hands, sending fierce blades of light slashing toward the burly man too swiftly for anyone to follow.
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