The Demonic Person

"Brother Zhang, you mean—the Great Sage Teacher is coming?"

Yang Xiao was climbing down the vine ladder inside the well. The moment he heard Zhang Long say that, his descent suddenly halted.

A trace of gravity crept into his voice.

The Peace Sect's inheritance had lasted for thousands of years, enduring the rise and fall of dynasties without decline.

Emperor Ming of the Great Yan Dynasty had personally led campaigns three times, mobilizing the entire nation's manpower, wealth, and resources, yet he had not even found the slightest clue as to where the Peace Sect's lair was.

Could the cultivation of someone able to become the current Heavenly Master possibly be low?

"Fairy Bai is the holy maiden, and she has undergone two blood exchanges. The Great Sage Teacher's cultivation is so high that there's no way he has only undergone three blood exchanges. It's extremely likely he's—a grandmaster!"

The more Yang Xiao thought about it, the more panic rose in his heart. By instinct, he wanted to flee.

But curfew was in effect now, and a Yellow Turban Warrior was also holding down the cloth shop aboveground. Yang Xiao had nowhere to run!

"If I run now, Zhang Long will definitely grow suspicious. All it would take is one furious shout, and I'd be killed on the spot..."

His mind spun rapidly. After weighing the pros and cons, Yang Xiao instantly understood that, at this point, he had no choice but to follow Zhang Long down this road into the dark.

"Old Zhao, the Great Sage Teacher's arrival at our capital branch is a heaven-reaching opportunity."

"When we reach the Sacred Pool later, you absolutely must not get too excited, lest joy turn to sorrow and you anger the face of Heaven. Remember that. Remember it well!"

Zhang Long did not think too much of it. He only assumed that Yang Xiao, this fake Zhao Hu, was excited and nervous, so he immediately gave him a warning.

Yang Xiao hurriedly nodded and agreed.

The two of them climbed down along the vine ladder for who knew how long before their feet finally landed on solid ground.

Yang Xiao tried to activate the Spirit Cicada Transformation, and was immediately astonished to discover that he could actually only see within a range of two zhang above the ground.

"In other words, I'm now more than ninety zhang underground?"

Yang Xiao could not help clicking his tongue.

Vermilion Bird Tower's Scripture Pavilion was underground as well, but that place had an extremely long history, one that could even be traced back hundreds of years ago, to the time when the Great Yan Founding Emperor campaigned across the realm.

And though the underground world beneath this ancient well before his eyes was not as extravagant as Vermilion Bird Tower's Scripture Pavilion, it was already filled with tunnels, stretching in all directions.

This could not help making Yang Xiao suspect that the history of these tunnels was probably not merely a few hundred years old, but even longer!

"No wonder the Peace Sect's demons clearly know that the Great Yan capital has a hundred thousand Red Flame Army soldiers stationed there, yet still have the confidence to cause chaos during the Grandmaster Dao Discussion..."

Yang Xiao followed Zhang Long forward, a faint understanding dawning in his heart.

The existence of these tunnels could ensure that once the Peace Sect's plot failed, they could quickly break apart from a whole into scattered pieces, leaving calmly and safely without worrying about any search!

"If I reported the secret of these tunnels' existence to the Sixth Princess, wouldn't I be able to soar into the sky in one leap?"

The instant this tempting thought surfaced in his mind, Yang Xiao forcibly snuffed it out.

The Great Yan Dynasty already showed signs of the end of days, and Yang Xiao had far too many secrets on him. Once he entered the Sixth Princess's field of vision, that would absolutely not be a good thing.

Yang Xiao would never entrust his own safety to others, nor would he gamble on the hearts of men.

"Stop!"

At the corner of the tunnel ahead, two burly men with yellow scarves wrapped around their heads suddenly appeared in a bizarre manner, blocking Yang Xiao and Zhang Long's path.

Both men had their hands pressed to their saber hilts, their gazes bloodthirsty and icy.

They looked very much as if, at the slightest disagreement, they would draw their blades without hesitation and cut them down.

"These two Peace Sect demons actually don't have any qi appearing above their heads either?"

Yang Xiao sensed something was wrong.

Peering with the Spirit Cicada Transformation, two sinister, yin-chilled skeletons instantly appeared in Yang Xiao's mind.

However, compared with the Yellow Turban Warrior "Li San" in the cloth shop's rear courtyard, the two men before him both had the skeletons of normal adults, with nothing extraordinary about them.

But these two men's skeletons, compared with ordinary people's, were sturdy to an extremely bizarre degree.

Their skeletons were covered in pitch-black, foul-smelling flesh and blood. Most of the flesh was the size of fists, packed densely together into a dark, oppressive mass.

However, the quality of this flesh and blood was clearly inferior to Li San's, and inferior by more than just a little.

"Wolf meat, pork, beef, venison..."

Yang Xiao very quickly "saw" the clues in that flesh and blood, and was instantly stunned.

This flesh and blood was actually all a hodgepodge.

It was just like—swill!

Swill?

Wait!

"Although the Yellow Heaven Body Casting Scripture: Warrior Chapter can devour flesh and blood to cultivate, it requires high-quality flesh and blood."

"Uncle Mute devours swill. Could Uncle Mute's current condition be exactly the same as Li San's and these two Peace Sect demons'?"

The more Yang Xiao thought about it, the more puzzled he became. He only felt that the matter was tangled and confusing, with layer upon layer of doubts.

"In the next few days, if by some lucky twist of fate I can safely observe Uncle Mute's qi..."

Yang Xiao's heart could not help stirring.

The Qi-Observing Stealing Technique could be used once a day, allowing Yang Xiao to forcibly learn one martial skill from the target he was stealing from, free of the limits of his physical strength, essence, qi, and spirit.

And every memory, experience, and insight that person had gone through while cultivating that martial skill would all be absorbed by Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao had once stolen from Uncle Mute and learned the Yellow Heaven Body Casting Scripture: Warrior Chapter, then, in a muddle-headed haze, advanced that technique into the Myriad Phenomena Heaven-Swallowing Art.

According to Yang Xiao's guess, if he observed Uncle Mute's qi again, he should gain something unexpected.

But for the sake of safety and certainty, this matter could only be left to fate. Yang Xiao would not force it.

"Big brothers, this little brother's blood exchange is imminent. I need to go to the Sacred Pool to listen to the Great Sage Teacher transmit the Dharma. Here is my token!"

Zhang Long took down the token at his waist and held it high.

The two burly men swept a glance over the token in Zhang Long's hand. The vicious aura in their eyes instantly vanished, and they no longer paid Zhang Long any attention. In perfect unison, they turned to Yang Xiao.

An extremely dangerous feeling suddenly surfaced in Yang Xiao's heart.

"With my current strength, defeating these two shouldn't be hard."

"But these tunnels are spread out like a spiderweb. There definitely aren't only two Peace Sect demons here. Unless it's a life-or-death struggle, I absolutely cannot act rashly."

Sensing that feeling of crisis coming from who knew where, Yang Xiao's heart immediately chilled. Without changing his expression, he took down the token at his waist.

This token had originally belonged to Zhao Hu. Now that Yang Xiao had taken it out to impersonate him, he was not worried about being exposed.

However, after the two men looked at the token in Yang Xiao's hand, killing intent abruptly erupted in their eyes. They drew their blades at the same time and were about to hack at Yang Xiao.

"Stop!"

Zhang Long flew into a rage and raised his token again.

"Zhao Hu is the guardian for my blood exchange. You demon-cultivating wretches dare act so insolently? Stand down!"

The instant his voice fell, the killing intent in the two burly men's eyes receded. They stepped back at the same time, and their figures vanished in an eerie way.

Yet Yang Xiao "saw" that the two of them had not disappeared. Instead, they had strangely "embedded" themselves into the wall at the tunnel corner.

On that wall, two more sets of white bones had appeared, unmoving, steeped in a dense, sinister chill.

"This place is way too evil. In the future, unless it's absolutely necessary, you can beat me to death and I still won't come back!"

Yang Xiao's heart felt hollow with fear. He forcibly made himself calm and steady, then followed behind Zhang Long without a change in expression and continued forward.

"Old Zhao, you must follow me closely. Don't get lost."

"If not for my blood exchange being imminent, I wouldn't have known either that beneath our capital branch, such a massive and hidden tunnel network had actually appeared."

"For your token to have permission to pass through this place, the branch master must first approve it and stamp it."

"Even so, I can't wander around here. I can only take the fixed route I'm allowed to take."

"Otherwise, I'll also be killed by guards appearing from who knows where, and if I die, I die for nothing."

Along the way, Zhang Long warned him.

"Don't worry, big brother. This little brother understands."

Yang Xiao hurriedly nodded.

The two continued forward and soon reached the end of the corner.

Yang Xiao focused his eyes and looked ahead. His eyes instantly widened.

Cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead...