When the sky was dark, footsteps could be heard on the narrow slope to the south of Rock Terrace.
The monk on night duty was the first to notice it, put his hand on Law Artifact and looked down.
After a few breaths, the figure of the visitor came out of the morning mist.
Uncle Qu.
People on Rock Terrace looked over.
Li Yuan also opened his eyes.
Uncle Qu's status is not quite right.
He still walked steadily, but the robe on his right shoulder had a tear, and the edges were scorched, as if he had been burned by spiritual power.
The cuff of his left hand was rolled up to the crook of his elbow, revealing a scabbed wound on his forearm. Dark red blood flowed down from the wound and dried up.
His breath was also a bit lower than usual, fluctuating slightly from time to time, obviously not completely stable yet.
After the two walked up to Rock Terrace, Uncle Qu patted the storage bag, and suddenly a sack appeared on the ground. The sack was not tightly wrapped, and a boot was exposed from underneath.
Corpse.
The expressions of several monks who were close to him changed and they took half a step back.
Uncle Qu ignored the gazes of others and first scanned the number of people on Rock Terrace. Then his eyes carefully turned around in the crowd and landed on Li Yuan.
After looking at it carefully for two breaths, he nodded and raised his chin towards Li Yuan.
"Come here."
Li Yuan stood up and walked over.
Uncle Qu turned around and walked a few steps towards the edge of Rock Terrace, and stopped when he reached a position slightly far away from the others.
The Wang Family monk did not follow.
"There's something for you to do."
Uncle Qu's voice was low-pitched, hoarse with a hint of fatigue. He spoke without any foreshadowing and went straight to the point.
"Go to Loose Cultivator Market and pick someone up."
Li Yuan did not answer the call immediately.
Uncle Qu turned around and raised his chin in the direction of the corpse. The monk Wang Family understood and tore half of the linen cloth apart.
The corpse was that of a man in his thirties, with an ordinary face, neither high nor low cheekbones, and a stature about the same as Li Yuan, maybe half an inch shorter.
He is wearing a dark gray bundt. The style of the bunt is different from the Rogue Cultivator clothes that are common in the city. There is an inconspicuous Hidden Pattern embroidered on the collar, sewn with dark silk thread, and it is almost invisible if you don't look carefully.
There is a token on his waist, made of copper, one size smaller than the inspector's waist badge, with the character "" engraved on the front.
Li Family people.
Uncle Qu squatted down, stretched out his hand to untie the short jacket from the body, and casually placed a Cleaning Spell. Then he took off the Token from his waist, folded it with the clothes, and placed it on a stone next to it.
"Put on your clothes and bring Token."
Uncle Qu took out a palm-sized sheet from his arms. It was off-white and had a texture like some kind of animal skin. The edges were neatly cut and the lines on the front were fine and complex.
"Disguise Mask. Stick it on your face and inject spiritual power to change your face."
He also put Mask on top of his clothes.
"But you can only change your face, not your body shape. And it's not a real change. The spiritual power simulates a layer of illusion on the surface of the skin. It feels different from the real face."
"If the distance is too close, the light is too bright, or the other party's cultivation level is much higher than yours, it may be seen through."
Uncle Qu gently tapped Token on the stone surface.
"Secret code. The other party asks you when the east wind will come. You answer after the frost."
Li Yuan squatted down, picked up the Mask and flipped through it.
The animal hide is very thin, almost transparent, and the fine lines on the front are Spirit Pattern, which are extremely finely carved.
Li Yuan poured a bit of spiritual power into Mask, and a faint gray light immediately appeared on the surface of Mask. Spirit Pattern lit up for a moment and then dimmed.
Panel No response.
Cannot be equipped.
Li Yuan put Mask on his face and tried it. As soon as the spiritual power was poured in, the contours of his cheeks and chin seemed to change - it felt rough to the touch, like a thin film, completely different from real skin.
But from a visual point of view, Mask is indeed changing his face. His cheekbones have become lower and the bridge of his nose has become straighter.
Li Yuan took off Mask and placed it back on the stone.
"Who to pick up?"
"A Artifact Refiner." Uncle Qu leaned against the stone wall and lowered his voice a little lower.
"Use these clothes and Token to enter Loose Cultivator Market, find him, match the code, and bring him out. The remaining monks are responsible for meeting other Rogue Cultivator outside Fang City."
Li Yuan looked at the set of the Li Family clothes and Mask on the stone and was silent for two breaths.
"Why me."
Uncle Qu raised his eyes and looked at him.
"This is the perfect place for you."
He nodded towards the corpse with his chin.
"My body shape is similar to yours, so you won't look too out of place in his clothes."
"Secondly, the contact person's cultivation level is around Qi Refining Sixth Layer. You are also Qi Refining Sixth Layer now, and the aura is close. The other party will not be suspicious immediately when they meet."
Uncle Qu paused.
"And even if something goes wrong, it won't be a big problem. The other side won't dare to do anything to you, and it will be easy for you to run away. To put it bluntly, just give it a try and it will work best. If it doesn't work, it won't involve others."
Li Yuan didn't answer the call and asked a second question.
"What happened last night?"
Uncle Qu tapped his fingers on his knees twice, thought about it, and said without hiding it.
"I felt something was wrong on the way."
His eyes swept over the endless low hills below Rock Terrace.
"I felt something was wrong on the way."
His eyes swept over the endless low hills below Rock Terrace.
"I had doubts before setting off, so I deliberately stayed at the same place for several days to repair along the way without rushing forward."
Uncle Qu tucked the scabbed wound on his arm into his sleeve.
"As expected."
"Yesterday during the day, I led people around to the south, and found traces in a low ditch about three miles west of where we Station earlier went. Someone had been active there, and the footprints and spiritual energy remnants on the ground were very new."
"Then I kept watch for half the night, waiting for someone."
Uncle Qu raised his chin towards the corpse.
"Four, all Qi Refining Mid-to-Late Stage. After the fight, two were killed, one escaped, and one was captured alive. In the end, he couldn't hold on and died."
Uncle Qu didn't mean to hide anything. He took out something from his sleeve and placed it on the stone surface.
It is a fist-sized copper disc with densely engraved Spirit Pattern on the surface and a small dark green stone embedded in the middle. The workmanship is not very fine, and the Spirit Pattern carvings are of varying depths, as if they were rushed out of work.
"After injecting spiritual power, it can emit a special Spiritual Qi wave, which has a driving effect on Demon Beast of Low-grade First-Order." Uncle Qu tapped the dark green stone with his fingertips.
"It has no effect on First-Order Mid-Grade and above. We can only rush Low-grade First-Order, and we have to buy some Medicinal Pill powder in advance to reduce Demon Beast's sanity."
Li Yuan glanced at the copper plate, and then at the corpse wearing Li Family clothes.
The crazy energy with which those Low-grade First-Order and Demon Beast rushed over last night now has an explanation.
Being driven Law Artifact forced me to rush in one direction. No wonder I didn't avoid people. No wonder I kept crawling forward after being cut.
Li Yuan was silent for a few moments and then asked the third question.
"Who is that Artifact Refiner."
"A master Artifact Refining Dao with good skills." Uncle Qu looked at him with a calm but serious tone.
"Before, he had been staying at Loose Cultivator Market, doing some Artifact Refining Dao work for various parties. But in recent years, he has mainly worked for the Li Family. According to the intelligence, it is possible that he practiced those Beast-Driving Artifact."
Uncle Qu continued.
"We have intelligence personnel at Loose Cultivator Market, and recent news came back that Li Family plans to send someone to pick up this Artifact Refiner."
"It's most likely what this corpse was originally going to do."
Uncle Qu tapped Token on the stone surface with his fingers.
"I intercepted their people. The secret code, clothes, and Token of the joint are all here. You put on these clothes and go in, and use the secret code to bring them out."
"Once you have the person, ask whatever you can. This Artifact Refiner knows a lot of things."
Uncle Qu withdrew his gaze from Token and looked at Li Yuan.
Li Yuan looked down at the set of things on the stone surface.
The dark gray daggers were neatly stacked, with Token placed on top, the copper surface reflecting the morning light. The Disguise Mask next to it was a thin piece.
The mission itself is not too dangerous, but it is not without risks.
If you pretend to go in, if the password is wrong, if Mask is discovered, or if there are other people at the Li Family in the city, things will become complicated.
Uncle Qu Although it is said that the best can be achieved, it does not matter if it is not achieved.
But it seems I can't refuse this.
Li Yuan reached out and gathered the clothes, Token and Mask on the stone surface, and put them into his arms.
"Okay."