The cold night wind penetrated the canyon and dispersed the smell of blood a little, but the silence in the cave seemed to have solidified.
Lu Chen's fingers gently rubbed the spliced fragments. His eyes stayed on the pattern of Ghost Face Mask for a moment, and then turned to the increasingly clear red dotted line on the map.
The direction pointed by this dotted line is exactly the depth of Hundred Demon Cave, an area he has never set foot in.
Su Qingxue stood aside all the time, his body stiff and his breathing slowed down deliberately.
She didn't know what Lu Chen was thinking, but from his focused and slightly solemn expression at the moment, she could feel that this picture was extraordinary.
"Where did this picture come from?" Lu Chen's voice broke the silence. His eyes were still on the residual picture, not at Su Qingxue, but the sharpness and unquestionability in his tone made Su Qingxue's body tremble suddenly.
She knew that this was Lu Chen asking for information from her, and there was no room for concealment.
"Back to senior... this residual picture was obtained accidentally by the elders of Qingxue's family on the black market of Nanling Prefecture."
Su Qingxue answered cautiously, with an extremely respectful tone, "It is said that the seller said at the time that this picture was the key to an ancient ruins, but no one could tell its authenticity, and no one could piece it together completely. Gao Zhuang and the others... seemed to have heard the news, so they spent a lot of money to look for it on the black market."
Lu Chen tapped the map with her fingertips, indicating for her to continue.
"That black market businessman... Qingxue has seen him once from a distance. He is thin and pale. He has a black mole on his left earlobe. He usually wears a dark gray cloak and behaves in an extremely mysterious manner."
Su Qingxue tried hard to recall every detail, trying to prove his worth, "The transaction location is Ghost Market west of Nanling Prefecture City. Dragons and snakes are mixed there, and the news spreads very fast."
Lu Chen's eyes flickered imperceptibly.
Thin, pale complexion, black mole on his left ear, gray cloak... these features were strikingly similar to the descriptions of some of the peripheral members of Ghost Face Organization he had come into contact with.
He did not interrupt Su Qingxue, but let her continue.
"Gao Zhuang and the others... showed great interest in this picture at first, and even wanted to get it at any cost."
Su Qingxue's voice deepened, with a hint of self-mockery, "Qingxue thought they were just coveting the treasure at first, but now it seems... maybe they are just pawns being used. After all, they may not know anything about the true value of this map."
Lu Chen withdrew his gaze and finally looked at Su Qingxue.
"Did they mention the pattern of Ghost Face Mask?"
Su Qingxue was suddenly startled. She had never seen the back of the residual image, so naturally she didn't know that Ghost Face Mask existed.
She shook her head blankly. "Back to seniors, Qingxue doesn't know. They never mentioned this thing."
Lu Chen didn't ask any questions, he already got the information he wanted.
Gao Zhuang and others do not know the existence of Ghost Face Mask, which means that they are just peripheral and used chess pieces.
And that black marketeer is most likely a member of Ghost Face Organization, or at least has close contact with Ghost Face Organization.
Ghost Face Organization, a mysterious and huge force, actually penetrated into Hidden Dragon Trial, and even targeted Godslayer Broken Halberd for clues. This made Lu Chen feel an unprecedented pressure. The tentacles of this organization were deeper and wider than he imagined.
He once again penetrated the power of his soul into the spliced fragments.
This time, he no longer simply perceived, but tried to use the weak resonance of Godslayer Broken Halberd as a guide to analyze the hidden secrets of this ancient map.
Above the residual picture, the ancient and vicissitudes of atmosphere seemed to echo Godslayer Broken Halberd's murderous intention, but it also carried a completely different heaviness and silence.
Lu Chen's consciousness shuttled through the texture of the residual image, feeling the ancient restrictions and spatial fluctuations contained in it.
This is by no means an ordinary thing, and what is involved behind it may be a secret far beyond what his current cultivation level can touch.
He withdrew his soul and his eyes fell on Su Qingxue again.
Su Qingxue was stared at by Lu Chen until his scalp went numb.
If it weren't for the fact that there was no lust in the other person's eyes, she might have thought that she had fallen into the tiger's mouth again.
"You are seriously injured. If you walk alone in Hundred Demon Cave, you will definitely die."
Lu Chen put away the spliced fragments and said, "Let's go, it's not advisable to stay here for a long time. Heal your wounds first."
About a quarter of an hour later, Lu Chen stopped in a pile of rocks.
With a flash of light in his eyes, he looked at a stone wall covered with vines and moss.
Here is a hidden cave he accidentally discovered while exploring the road before.
"Go in." Lu Chen ordered in a low voice.
Su Qingxue stepped forward as instructed and pushed aside the thick vines with his hands, revealing a narrow hole that could only allow one person to bow down and enter.
The interior of the cave is dry, without any Demon Beast smell of feces or decay. Instead, there is a faint fragrance of stone and earth, and the breath is stable. It is indeed an ideal retreat.
Lu Chen walked into the cave, his spiritual thoughts spread instantly, and he carefully checked every corner to confirm that there was no other life breath lurking.
He took out several talismans from Storage Bag, which were all looted from Blood Leopard and others. Although they were not of high quality, they were more practical.
He attached the talisman to the cave wall in a specific direction and activated it with his own True Qi. Soon, faint spiritual lights flashed, forming a more sophisticated concealment and warning talisman array at the entrance of the cave.
Unless someone at the peak of the Meridian Opening realm deliberately investigates, it will be difficult to find the anomaly here.
After doing all this, he took out a simple jade box from Storage Bag.
The moment the jade box was opened, an extremely pure earth essence surged out like a substance, instantly filling the entire cave.
The breath carried the weight of earth and the vitality of life, which cheered up Su Qingxue's originally exhausted spirit.
In the jade box, lying quietly is a crystal the size of a baby's fist. The crystal is milky white, and there seems to be flowing lotion inside. It is the rare treasure - Earth Vein Spirit Marrow!