Young Master Has Impressive Skills

For a moment, Mu Ye even doubted the authenticity of the information.

For a demon to be hiding in Taiping City Prefecture, and within the prefecture itself at that, seemed far too absurd.

"Does the young master not like me?"

Seeing the latter hesitate, Yuanshuang's eyes turned pitiful, full of allure.

"This Taiping City Prefecture is a residence established by the imperial court. Even if there really were treasure inside, how could a commoner like me have the guts to go in and search for it?"

Mu Ye felt the information was still insufficient and decided to probe a little more.

"It is naturally easy..." Yuanshuang seemed to have expected this. "In a few days, the Prefect of Taiping City Prefecture will be visiting Zuixiang Pavilion, and the entire Taiping City Prefecture will have no guards. It will be very easy for you to sneak in. The treasure is located behind a secret door on the lowest level of the Taiping City Prefecture dungeon."

"It's that easy?" Mu Ye continued to press.

"Oh my... young master, it isn't difficult." Yuanshuang acted coquettishly. "Would I lie to you? Just take this map with you, and you will know once you go there. With your abilities, young master, you will definitely be able to find the location of the treasure. Remember, you must carry this map on your person to find it; otherwise, it cannot be found."

"If you truly cannot find it, it is no matter. I will help you think of other ways..."

Heh.

Mu Ye didn't know why, but this Yuanshuang was so certain he could find it.

He didn't believe in any treasure; this was likely the location of the Seven Absolutes Demon.

That the Seven Absolutes Demon was imprisoned in the dungeon of Taiping City Prefecture was not entirely impossible to imagine.

After all, Taiping City Prefecture also had Demon Sealers. Many of the official Demon Sealers had been dispatched to accompany Shen Tianxing to Chishui Village previously.

Of course, not all of these Demon Sealers possessed the ability of the Demon Subduing Body.

Since that was the case, he would go and investigate.

"So, in a few days, young master, you only need to follow the plan and head to Taiping City Prefecture."

"How about it?"

"If you can find the treasure and redeem me, then you and I will have endless wealth, and we can fly away together..."

"Young master, you must not fail me..."

The sweet words of a beauty were enough to melt steel.

Mu Ye agreed. After leaving Zuixiang Pavilion, he immediately logged into his Thief persona and headed straight for the Taiping Prefecture.

Wait a few days? I think not. I'm going to take a look right now.

Taiping City Prefecture was not large—it was even smaller than the Feng family estate—but the dungeon was quite sizable. Furthermore, it was guarded by Demon Sealers, and there were soldiers patrolling the perimeter. The difficulty of sneaking in was even greater than that of the Feng family.

"There are no real experts in the Taiping City Prefecture..."

"With my current strength, sneaking inside is not a problem at all..."

The seemingly tight security meant nothing in the eyes of a fourth-rank expert.

Taking advantage of the night, Mu Ye easily infiltrated the Taiping City Prefecture. With the aid of the Light Body Technique, he slipped into the dungeon in a few flashes.

Upon entering, Mu Ye realized that the dungeon was surprisingly large.

"There is Devilish Qi..." Mu Ye took a deep breath. "It seems there really are demons imprisoned in this dungeon..."

In Reality Mode, as a player, Mu Ye possessed Mind Eye, which meant that any character he extracted would also have Mind Eye.

This was because the first ability he had extracted was the Demon Sealer's Mind Eye.

"However, these traces of Devilish Qi... they seem... very weak?"

The dungeon was built underground, and judging by the layout of the stairs, there were likely several levels.

"Could it be that the Taiping Prefecture found the Seven Absolutes Demon long ago and has already captured it for secret interrogation?"

This thought flashed through Mu Ye's mind.

That didn't seem right. If that were the case, given how important the Seven Absolutes Imperial Map was and the fact that the dynasty was on the verge of collapse, why wouldn't they send some powerful figures here if they had information on such an important treasure?

Or was the Taiping City Prefecture trying to keep it all for themselves?

At this moment, a squad of officers walked up from the lower levels.

Seeing this, Mu Ye leaped lightly, crawling onto the rafters like Spider-Man. With a gentle exertion of force from his fingertips, he adhered to the ceiling, blending into the darkness.

This was the third move of the Zuixiang Eighteen Hands, Spider Adhesion.

Its essence allowed the fingertips to generate a clever force, enabling one to remain firmly attached regardless of the surface's orientation.

The officers were carrying burlap sacks on their backs, moving in pairs, one in front and one behind.

A familiar scent of meat wafted over.

"This is... Bitter Flesh?"

Mu Ye's expression shifted slightly as his gaze fell upon the sacks.

"Wait, could this place be where Bitter Flesh is produced?"

"Is the imperial court itself producing and selling Bitter Flesh?"

As one officer after another walked out of the dungeon, Mu Ye's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Sigh, when will these bitter days ever end?"

"Stop complaining. There aren't many demons left. In thirty or forty days at most, it should be about over."

"By then, we'll be transferred out of this place and sent to Ling Prefecture to enjoy ourselves."

"That's true... given Prince Qi's wisdom, I hope I can take three or four concubines by then..."

The soldiers' complaints drifted over.

Occasionally, they were laced with a hint of longing for the future.

Mu Ye found it quite interesting.

Prince Qi.

Han Qi had mentioned before that he had once joined the army under Prince Qi...

Mu Ye pondered for a moment before sneaking into the levels behind him one by one.

Just as he had thought, the rear levels held quite a few demons, and there were even some special individuals using demon corpses to craft Bitter Flesh.

Finally, he reached the last level. This floor was deserted, piled high with numerous demon remains, appearing like a disposal site for corpses.

It looked quite gruesome.

Yuanshuang had said there was a secret door on this level. After searching for a long time, Mu Ye indeed found it beneath a stone slab.

This secret door shows no signs of abandonment. Has someone been here? Since Yuanshuang knew about this place, does that mean she has been here before?

Stepping through the secret door, the scenery around him changed subtly. The gloomy dungeon was replaced by the brightness of daylight, and instead of dark, cramped cells, he found himself on the streets of Taiping City.

"This is... a formation?" Mu Ye was startled. "An illusion formation?"

The Cultivation World had formations. Mu Ye was not well-versed in them, but he had seen them before.

This was clearly an illusion formation.

Once trapped in an illusion formation, things would become troublesome.

Illusion formations were often linked to traps; one wrong step could easily cost him his life.

"Damn, I'm not an expert in formations... even if this is the trashiest formation, I'm at a loss..."

Mu Ye took a few random steps, and in an instant, the surrounding scenery vanished. A dense barrage of arrows and firestones rained down upon him from all directions.

Even for a Fourth-Rank martial artist, being caught off guard by such a sudden trap was perilous.

Even with precautions, at best he could only retreat unscathed; advancing was simply impossible.

Is this a scripted death event?

Watching the screen gradually fade to black, Mu Ye fell into deep thought.

Unless he played on normal mode and kept reloading his save to experiment.

But infiltrating on normal mode was quite difficult. Without the Light Body Technique, the security here was even tighter than at the Feng family estate.

However, if what Yuanshuang said was true, the security at the Taiping City Prefecture would decrease in a few days, making it easy to pass through even on normal mode.

Since that was the case, Mu Ye did not force another attempt.

A few days later, Mu Ye entered the game again and arrived at the Taiping City Prefecture as promised. Just as Yuanshuang had said, the security at the Taiping City Prefecture was very lax at this time.

There were many officers patrolling the prison, and even if one were not a Thief, as long as they were agile, it would be easy to sneak in.

Of course, no one would normally infiltrate the Taiping City Prefecture, especially a place like the prison.

Because he was following the normal route guided by Yuanshuang, Mu Ye did not use the Thief, but instead used the Brothel Patron.

This time, he successfully reached the second floor, and Mu Ye began trying to break through the maze.

"This maze is quite interesting."

How to put it? It was similar to a labyrinth. The labyrinth was the crisscrossing and shifting streets of Taiping City; taking one wrong turn would trigger a trap mechanism.

It was extremely difficult to walk the correct streets.

Because the streets were constantly changing, it was easy to fall into a visual illusion.

After observing for a long time, Mu Ye discovered that this maze...

"Why does it look somewhat similar to that Taiping River Map?" Mu Ye was slightly startled.

Yuanshuang's Taiping River Map depicted the scenes of the many streets in Taiping City. By using light, one could see the time changing within the painting, among other things.

Thinking of this, Mu Ye carefully observed the pedestrians, carriages, and vendors on the streets... Because the amount of information to memorize was too vast, he could only keep reloading his save to try again.

Until...

"East Third Street, Pear Blossom Alley, North First Street, Taiping Alley, West Second Street, Rice Alley..."

"The number of pedestrians, carriages, and vendors on these streets is unusual; there are subtle differences compared to the other streets... So, following the sequence..."

Mu Ye walked through these streets one by one, following the order of proximity.

To observe these things, he had to memorize the number of pedestrians, vendors, and carriages on the previous streets every time he reached a new one... Otherwise, it would be very difficult to discover the differences within.

One wrong step would trigger a trap mechanism.

It seems those questions Yuanshuang asked earlier weren't just for show—could they have been to guide someone to this dungeon and teach them how to navigate this maze?

Mu Ye pondered.

To find the correct street, one had to be intimately familiar with every detail of the preceding and succeeding streets to spot the subtle differences between them.

The further one went, the greater the memory load became; it had nothing to do with one's actual strength.

An ordinary person would find this completely impossible.

Before long, after stepping out of the final street, the surrounding scenery rapidly vanished.

A cavern appeared in his field of vision, with a massive gate standing ahead.

"How come I don't sense the aura of any demon?"

Mu Ye was puzzled.

He had expected to encounter the Seven Absolutes Demon boss after clearing the maze. Now that the maze was gone, why was there only a gate?

Walking a bit closer, Mu Ye saw a few characters inscribed on the gate:

"Imperial Map Secret Treasury."

Hm?

Mu Ye was stunned. Imperial Map Secret Treasury?

Could this be the location of the treasure recorded in the Seven Absolutes Imperial Map?

Wasn't this supposed to be the lair of the Seven Absolutes Demon?

Where is my boss?

The boss didn't show up, but he had found the treasure first?

Just then, a smiling voice suddenly rang out:

"Young Master, you truly have impressive skills. I never expected you to actually break through the Imperial Map Maze."

Turning around, he saw Yuanshuang standing not far away, looking lovely and wearing a full smile.

Her smile was alluring, but... also a bit chilling.

[1. Of course, I'm super amazing.]

[2. You used me?]

[3. The Imperial Map Maze isn't as interesting as breaking you.]

[4. ...]

"..." Mu Ye.