Revealing His Location

Judging from the conversation between the yellow-robed cultivator and the Purple Robe Old Daoist, the place where Tie Ce's people were hunting Heart Devouring Worms should have been Green Wind Mausoleum.

The name Green Wind Mausoleum sounded ordinary enough, but whenever Wei Suo thought of it, his scalp still prickled.

Lingyue City was originally located at the southern edge of the Sky Vault on Tianxuan Continent. The city itself faced south with mountains at its back, while Green Wind Mausoleum lay another three thousand li south of Lingyue City, already at the very edge of the Sky Vault.

Thus, if high-level cultivators from Lingyue City wanted to take the shortest route out of the Sky Vault to see the countless varieties of high-level demon beasts, they only needed to go straight through Green Wind Mausoleum. Yet even cultivators from Lingyue City who wished to leave the Sky Vault to hunt high-grade demon cores and gather materials usually took a detour through Black Rooster Mountain southeast of Lingyue City, where many black crow-chicken trees grew.

The closer one got to the Sky Vault, the more demon beasts there were. Although many high-level demon beasts simply could not pass through the Sky Vault and enter Tianxuan Continent, some low-level demon beasts with barely any spiritual energy fluctuations could pass through it. Aside from having far more demon beasts than other places, Green Wind Mausoleum was also a gloomy mass grave thick with ghostly air.

Perhaps it had been a geomantic treasure land in ancient times, for it actually contained the underground tombs of many great figures. When Wei Suo had previously reached the edge of the Sky Vault, he had also passed through the relatively safe Black Rooster Mountain, where high-level cultivators had plowed through the demon beasts again and again as if tilling fields, rather than going through Green Wind Mausoleum. Yet from rumors and records alone, Wei Suo could be certain that the combined territory of several intricate underground tomb complexes within was no smaller than Lingyue City.

These underground tombs also produced a kind of upper third-level demon beast found nowhere else: the Corpse Devouring Worm. Its true body was an ugly, palm-sized creature resembling a black-shelled beetle, except it had several tentacles growing from its body. These demon beasts fed on the organs of rotting corpses, which alone was enough to turn one's stomach. But after consuming everything inside a corpse, they could actually attach themselves within it, control the corpse's movements, and use it as a shell. They also continuously secreted mucus over the corpse's surface, making it as extraordinarily tough as the hides of certain demon beasts.

There were many of these nocturnal Corpse Devouring Worms around Green Wind Mausoleum. Those unaware of the truth who happened to see them would think they had encountered a horde of zombies or something similar, when in fact they were all corpses controlled by Corpse Devouring Worms.

Killing these demon beasts was also extremely troublesome. Most Corpse Devouring Worms hid in a corpse's head, but quite a few individualistic ones insisted on hiding elsewhere. When faced with one of those, one had no choice but to fight head-on and smash the corpse apart before killing that eccentric Corpse Devouring Worm.

From south of Lingyue City to Green Wind Mausoleum, one had to pass through two Teleportation Arrays. First, one teleported from the array south of Lingyue City to Guangling Ruins, then from Guangling Ruins to the northern side of Green Wind Mausoleum.

On the way from Golden Jade Pavilion to southern Lingyue City, Wei Suo had spread some information on several notice boards. He directly claimed that someone was plotting against Tie Ce's people at Green Wind Mausoleum, and that some kind of spiritual medicine had appeared there.

As for whether this would make the yellow-robed cultivator and the others think their scheme had been exposed and abandon it, or draw cultivators to Green Wind Mausoleum to watch the spectacle, Wei Suo had no certainty at all in the middle of the night. In any case, the safest course for him was to try his luck and see whether he could find one of Tie Ce's people directly after reaching Green Wind Mausoleum.

Amid a flash of white spiritual light, Wei Suo stepped out of the Teleportation Array in Guangling Ruins.

Guangling Ruins had once been an important stronghold established by cultivators. Later, for some unknown reason, it suddenly drew an assault from a group of high-level demon beasts. Although those high-level demon beasts were eventually slaughtered clean by formidable cultivators from nearby cities such as Lingyue City and Luoyue City, the place had become ruins and was only turned into a Teleportation Array transfer station by Tianyi Sect.

Since it was nighttime, there were barely any cultivators in Guangling Ruins. It was as deserted as a brothel whose star courtesan had been poached by a rival.

"Wei Suo?"

Just as Wei Suo stepped out of the Teleportation Array connected to Lingyue City, spiritual light flashed from another Teleportation Array nearby, and two people emerged. Upon seeing Wei Suo, they froze briefly before their faces filled with delighted surprise. They were actually Wei Suo's acquaintances, the siblings Ye Xiaozheng and Ye Guowei.

Wei Suo was stunned as well. "Why are you here?"

"Brother Wei Suo!" The honest, burly Ye Xiaozheng came up and gave Wei Suo a bear hug, while the quiet Ye Guowei's face reddened slightly and she did not quite dare step forward. "We accepted a commission to hunt several night owls and happened to pass through here. We were just planning to stop by Lingyue City to see you, but who would have thought we'd run into you here? Why are you here so late at night?"

"Someone is planning to deal with Tie Ce, and Nangong Yuqing is among them." Wei Suo certainly would not have told anyone else, but Ye Xiaozheng and Ye Guowei had gone through life-and-death trials with him. Like Nangong Yuqing, they were among the few people he truly trusted. Thus, only after pulling Ye Xiaozheng some distance away did Wei Suo quickly tell the two siblings about overhearing the yellow-robed cultivator and Purple Robe Old Daoist speaking in an alley at the northern city market.

Both Ye Xiaozheng and Ye Guowei changed expression after hearing the whole story. "Brother Wei Suo, we truly did not make the wrong friend in you." After exchanging a glance with Ye Guowei, Ye Xiaozheng immediately said, "We'll go to Green Wind Mausoleum with you."

"It's too dangerous for you to come with me. It would be better if you went to Lingyue City and spread the news further." Wei Suo immediately shook his head. He could see that Ye Xiaozheng and Ye Guowei were still only cultivators at the Third Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm. Judging from their strength last time, they would basically be unable to help him against Circulation Realm cultivators and might instead hold him back.

Ye Xiaozheng was indeed straightforward. Upon hearing this, he felt that Wei Suo was even more righteous and loyal than ever, and said excitedly, "Now that we know about this, how can we let you risk your life alone, Brother Wei?"

Looking at Ye Xiaozheng's expression, Wei Suo felt depressed. He could hardly say outright that they were too weak and would drag him down, so he could only say with utmost seriousness, "Brother Ye, it's far more important for you to return to Lingyue City and spread the news than to come with me. If word spreads, those people may realize their plot has been exposed and not dare act. Then there won't be much danger in my going to warn Tie Ce either. If no one is in danger, wouldn't that be better than the two of you accompanying me only to be besieged by several Circulation Realm cultivators..."

After listening to Wei Suo give a whole pile of reasons, Ye Xiaozheng finally felt that he made sense and nodded. "All right, we'll go to Lingyue City and spread the news as much as possible."

"You need to be careful. It would be best not to let others know directly that the news came from you, otherwise I'm afraid those Circulation Realm cultivators may target you afterward," Wei Suo instructed.

"Brother Wei Suo, take care!" Ye Xiaozheng gave Wei Suo another bear hug. "We don't have anything particularly good on us, but the Spirit Mist Bead and Invisibility Talisman we happened to obtain this time might be useful to you."

"Spirit Mist Bead? Invisibility Talisman?" Wei Suo's eyes widened somewhat as he looked at the two items Ye Xiaozheng and Ye Guowei took out.

The Spirit Mist Bead was a magical artifact refined from the eyeball of a white nether fish. It could release dense mist over a radius of one hundred zhang, making it an excellent item for obscuring an opponent's sight and escaping.

The Invisibility Talisman could activate a spiritual light barrier that distorted light, concealing one's tracks for as long as half an incense stick.

Spirit Mist Beads were not difficult to find, but talismans with special functions like the Invisibility Talisman were ancient talismans whose crafting methods had long been lost. They could only occasionally be found in ancient ruins or on the corpses of ancient cultivators.

"Take care!"

When parting from Ye Xiaozheng and Ye Guowei, Wei Suo hugged the blushing Ye Guowei as well. This time, however, he did not feel lecherous. After all, if he had not even gotten to hug a girl a couple of times before dying due to bad luck on this trip, then this life would truly have been far too much of a loss.

I should have gone to Liuxia Alley yesterday.

As the spiritual light of the Teleportation Array appeared outside Green Wind Mausoleum, Wei Suo could not help wailing inwardly again.

The scene before him was simply too desolate, treacherous, and sinister. Teleportation Arrays elsewhere were at least covered by some sort of building, but the moment one emerged here, danger seemed to rush straight at one's face. This Teleportation Array, not far from Green Wind Mausoleum, had actually been set within the belly of a mountain split by a fissure, with an obscuring formation set outside. The reason they had hidden it within the mountain and still set up a formation to keep people from seeing it was obvious: not only were there many demon beasts nearby, but high-level demon beasts might also appear at any time, so it had to be concealed. Even the person guarding the array was a Tianyi Sect disciple at Divine Ability Realm Fifth Level. He clutched several spirit stones in his hand and wore a vigilant expression, as though he was ready to flee through the array the instant things turned bad.

The entire Green Wind Mausoleum resembled a gigantic burial mound. Its gray-black rocks, muddy ground, and twisted, grotesquely shaped trees were steeped in ghostly gloom. To the south lay a vast marsh, with rotten dead branches and broken bones floating within. No matter how one looked at it, such a place could not be associated with a geomantic treasure land.

Not long after Wei Suo's figure vanished onto the mountain path leading toward Green Wind Mausoleum, seven or eight cultivators suddenly emerged from the mountain belly containing the Teleportation Array. At their head were none other than the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator and the Purple Robe Old Daoist.

"Based on the appearance described by that Tianyi Sect disciple just now, the one who leaked the news should be that brat we encountered in the small alley of the northern city market!"

The moment they emerged from the mountain belly, the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator immediately said to the Purple Robe Old Daoist and the others beside him in an incomparably sinister tone, "Now we can only fight it out! That brat shouldn't be able to find Tie Ce's people immediately. Fellow Daoist Zi Xiao, you, Fellow Daoist Liu, and I will split up to find him!"

"Fellow Daoist Wen, disguise yourselves as Tie Ce's people and say that Tie Ce is surrounding and killing a powerful demon beast here. Seal off this place. No one except our people is allowed in!"

The distant sky had already begun to brighten slightly. South of Green Wind Mausoleum stretched a savage wilderness that seemed to run beyond the reach of the eye, yet within it was a faint white curtain of light linking heaven and earth, its end utterly invisible. It formed a distinct boundary between the wilderness beyond and Green Wind Mausoleum.

Green Wind Mausoleum remained dark and ghostly. At that moment, Wei Suo stood beside a pool with an unpleasant expression.

The situation was extremely bad.

Because he had never been to Green Wind Mausoleum before and had no map of it, Wei Suo inevitably became disoriented after entering. He had wandered for more than half an hour and still had not encountered a single one of Tie Ce's people.

During that half hour, Wei Suo had poured True Essence into his communication jade talismans at least five or six times. Yet aside from the talismans glowing when he infused his own True Essence into them, none of the three communication jade talismans on him had lit up even once.

That meant he had probably never even come within three hundred li of Nangong Yuqing.

And now, dawn was almost here.

Unaware that the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator and the others had changed their plans and moved ahead of schedule, Wei Suo felt that he had to take action now.

"Old man, can your vitality still hold up? If it can, help me fight this out once more, will you?" Wei Suo, standing beside the pool, took out several Fireball Talismans and spoke to the Green Robe Old Man at the same time.

"You already understand how to use the Yin Charm Blade, don't you?" The Green Robe Old Man snorted coldly, seemingly well aware of Wei Suo's plan. "Don't worry, I won't die no matter how much you use it. As long as you're lucky enough to survive this time, cultivate harder and improve your cultivation faster. Just don't let me die before you reach the Golden Core Realm."

Wei Suo nodded without saying anything more, his gaze fixed directly across the pool.

On the other side of the small pool, a black toad the size of a human face was crouching there. Its yellow eyes bulged with a vicious gleam, but it seemed wary of Wei Suo as well and made no move for the moment.

Boom!

A blazing fireball shot from Wei Suo's hand toward the black toad. At the sight of the incoming fireball, a flicker of fear flashed through the toad's eyes. With a puff, it spat out a green water arrow. But with a hiss, the water arrow only dispersed less than half of the fireball, which still slammed into the black toad with a boom.

Without pausing in the slightest, he activated another Fireball Talisman. It blasted into the black toad as it croaked miserably and tried desperately to leap into the pool, flipping it onto its back and leaving it utterly lifeless.

Though he had already killed the black toad, Wei Suo still sent another Fireball Talisman roaring toward the upper slope.

After waiting motionlessly for a moment, the Green Robe Old Man's voice suddenly rang in Wei Suo's ears. "It's here!"

The instant those words sounded, Wei Suo, wearing the Wind Cloud Boots, immediately drifted lightly into the air and hid in a large tree nearby. At the same time, he activated an ancient talisman. Amid faint, indistinct flickers of light, his entire body vanished from the tree.