Qin Mu Breaks Through!

Yu Xiaogang swallowed, his voice terribly dry.

"On the surface, he looks like an enlightened monk who subdues demons and eliminates evil, but behind the scenes, he actually uses such sinister methods, penning monsters up like pigs and dogs, using monsters to eat people and nourish his Buddhist golden body?"

"The cultivators in these Great Ruins act in ways even more shameful than some of the evil soul masters on our side."

Tang San stood to the side and nodded deeply in agreement, his eyes filled with shock.

He had always prided himself on his intelligence, on being good at observing and scheming.

But if he had been in Qin Mu's position, there was no way he could have seen through the surface and uncovered the truth behind it in such a short time, just from a single chain.

"This ten-year-old child... that mind and insight are truly terrifying."

Looking at Qin Mu on the Sky Screen, carrying a medicine basket on his back and smiling with an innocent face, Tang San actually felt a deep trace of wariness rise in his heart.

On the Sky Screen.

Among the ruins of the broken temple.

After her brief collapse, Xian Qing'er once again turned her bloodshot vertical pupils toward Qin Mu.

Right now, there was only one thought in her mind: to tear apart every living thing before her and vent the stifled resentment and fury in her heart.

"Little beast, even if I'm just a laborer, today I'll flay you first and drink every drop of your blood!"

Xian Qing'er shrieked, her two sharp claws raking wildly at the ground, leaving deep furrows in the mud.

Qin Mu looked at the way she wanted to eat someone but couldn't, then jumped down from the large rock beside him.

He patted the dust off his backside and walked step by step toward Xian Qing'er.

Seeing this from afar, Hu Liena was so frightened her heart nearly leaped into her throat.

"Little brother! What are you doing! Come back, it's dangerous!"

Hu Liena shouted loudly, wanting to rush over and pull Qin Mu back, but because of that terrifying Centipede Spirit, her legs seemed to have rooted themselves into the ground, unable to move even a single step.

Qin Mu ignored Hu Liena's cries.

He strolled over unhurriedly and stopped only two finger-widths away from Xian Qing'er.

This spot was exactly at the very edge of where Xian Qing'er's claws could reach. Not even an inch farther.

"Big bug, you want to eat me?"

Qin Mu crouched down, propped his chin in both hands, and blinked at Xian Qing'er, looking especially adorable.

Xian Qing'er stared at the prey so close at hand and smelled that sweet scent unique to human children, a greedy swallowing sound rising from her throat.

"Come here... little brother, take one more step closer."

"Big sister promises it won't hurt at all. I'll bite through your neck in one mouthful."

Xian Qing'er forcefully suppressed her violent rage and tried hard to squeeze out a smile uglier than crying, her voice filled with a bewitching tone.

Not only did Qin Mu not back away, he actually leaned his head forward.

"Sure, but I've got a rule."

Qin Mu grinned, revealing two neat rows of small white teeth, his smile dazzlingly bright.

"If you want to eat my meat, you at least have to pay for the meal, right?"

"Grandpa Butcher in our village taught me that taking other people's things without paying is something only scoundrels do."

"If you want to eat me, hand over all the valuable treasures you have, and I'll stand right here and let you take a bite. How about it?"

At those words.

Xian Qing'er froze.

Hu Liena in the distance froze.

Outside the light screen, the entire Douluo Continent was dumbstruck as well.

Asking a monster to pay for its meal? What kind of outrageous train of thought was this!

Xian Qing'er stared at Qin Mu with her pair of dark yellow vertical pupils. Though she felt something was off, the temptation before her was simply too great.

As long as this brat moved even one inch closer, she could end his life in a single bite.

"Fine! Big sister will give you money. Big sister has plenty of treasures!"

Xian Qing'er stretched out a hand covered in dirt, pulled a piece of jade pendant glowing with a faint light from the gap in her carapace, and threw it beside Qin Mu's feet.

"This is thousand-year cold jade. Wearing it can ward off a hundred poisons."

"Come over and pick it up. Once you pick it up, it's yours."

Qin Mu glanced at the jade pendant on the ground.

He did not reach out to pick it up. Instead, he lifted the wooden probing stick in his hand and gently flicked it, pushing the jade pendant behind himself.

Then he crouched back down in the same spot.

"Just one lousy rock? That's not enough to buy my meat. Take out something else."

Qin Mu curled his lip, looking utterly disdainful.

Xian Qing'er was so angry her teeth itched, but for the sake of getting a bite of that fresh meat, she could only swallow her anger.

She fished out another sharp gold-inlaid dagger from her clothes, several round, lustrous pearls, and a small, heavy pouch of gold coins, then threw them all over in one go.

"This should be enough, right? Hurry up and get over here!"

Xian Qing'er's eyes had gone red, and her two sharp claws waved irritably in midair.

Qin Mu still used that wooden stick to rake all those things over.

He checked them carefully, poured the gold coins into his hand and weighed them, listening to the crisp clinking sound, then nodded in satisfaction.

"Fine. Since you're so sincere, I'll come over and let you take a bite."

After saying that, Qin Mu stood up and really took a small step forward.

With that step, more than half his body had already entered Xian Qing'er's attack range!

"Hahaha! You little brat, die!"

Xian Qing'er let out a wild laugh, and the ferocity she had suppressed for so long exploded in an instant.

Her huge mouth full of fangs suddenly opened wide, carrying a foul stench, and with lightning speed, it snapped viciously down toward Qin Mu's head.

Hu Liena let out a despairing scream and shut her eyes in pain.

The viewers of Douluo Continent also turned their heads away one after another, unable to bear watching.

Yet at the very instant Xian Qing'er's fangs were about to touch Qin Mu's hair.

Qin Mu's figure suddenly blurred where he stood.

Blind Man's Footwork, Willow Swaying in the Wind!

His body moved in a posture that defied common sense, sliding back half a foot strangely and lightly, skimming along Xian Qing'er's fangs.

Crack!

Xian Qing'er's upper and lower rows of fangs slammed together, producing a crisp sound that made one's teeth ache.

Two of her venomous fangs even snapped off on the spot because she had used too much force.

Not only had she failed to bite Qin Mu.

Because the motion of that pounce had been too large, the golden chain around her waist instantly stretched taut to its limit.

Hiss, hiss, hiss!

Blinding Buddhist light erupted along the chain, and golden runes branded themselves directly onto her black shell.

Xian Qing'er screamed, backlash from that vast Buddhist power sending her crashing heavily to the ground.

She rolled all over the floor in agony, plumes of foul, scorched black smoke rising from the shell across her body. That burning pain deep in her bones left her wishing she were dead.

Qin Mu stood outside the safe line and leisurely packed the gold coins, pearls, and dagger on the ground into his little cloth bag one by one.

He looked at Xian Qing'er, who was in so much pain she would rather be dead, spread his hands, and wore an utterly innocent expression.

"Big bug, your teeth aren't very good, are they?"

"I already came over and let you bite me. You couldn't manage it yourself and even broke your teeth. You can't blame me for that."

Qin Mu tossed the cloth bag in his hand a couple of times, producing a clattering sound, his smile especially bright.

"I'll take the money, and you already had your bite."

"Fair trade, honest to old and young alike."

"Big sister, let's go. Time to pick mushrooms."

Qin Mu turned around, waved at Hu Liena, who was still in a daze, and strode cheerfully toward the outside of the ruined temple without looking back.

Behind him, all that remained was Xian Qing'er in the ruins of the temple, letting out bursts of heart-rending, hysterical, impotent rage.

"You little beast! You'll die a horrible death! I'll kill you! Aaaah!"

Xian Qing'er pounded the ground madly, her entire mind completely shattered.

She had lived for several hundred years and had tricked countless passersby in these desolate mountains.

Today, she had actually been played for a fool by a ten-year-old cowherd boy. Not only had she failed to get even one bite of meat, she had even lost several hundred years' worth of savings!

Watching the figures of the adult and child recede into the distance on the Sky Screen, and listening to the shrill screams coming from the ruined temple.

Outside the light screen, Douluo Continent remained silent for a long time.

After a long while, inside the Supreme Pontiff's Palace in Spirit City.

Bibi Dong leaned back on her throne, looking at Qin Mu's departing figure, and suddenly burst into a hearty, delighted laugh.

"Good! What an honest trade to old and young alike!"

"Unbound by the rules of the mundane world, facing danger without fear, and even able to turn around and extort a monster for a fortune."

"Such courage, such ruthless, black-hearted methods—he is simply a natural-born overlord!"

"If Nana can follow this child, then as long as she learns even one-tenth of his skills, among the younger generation of Douluo Continent, who will still be her match?"

At that moment, an absurd feeling rose in the hearts of every viewer across Douluo Continent.

He was supposed to be a weak and helpless little boy facing a life-and-death crisis.

Yet through sheer courage and mysterious movement techniques, he had forced a vicious great demon into losing everything and mentally breaking down.

This cowherd from the Great Ruins acted even more like a monster than the monsters did!

In the Sky Screen's image.

Hu Liena followed beside Qin Mu. Even after they had walked a long way, she could still faintly hear the Centipede Spirit's despairing roars behind them.

She looked at the little boy in front of her, who was walking with his head lowered as he counted gold coins, and her gaze became incredibly complicated.

There was awe, gratitude, but more than anything, an unreadable confusion.

The two of them continued along the ancient road, preparing to head for Pheasant Ridge as Pharmacist had instructed.

But just as they had climbed over a small hill.

The bright sky above their heads suddenly darkened without the slightest warning.

This darkness was not the gloom of dark clouds blocking the sun.

It was a blackness like someone had covered the heavens with a massive iron pot, instantly draining away every trace of light.

"What's going on? Why did the sky turn dark?"

Hu Liena jumped in fright and abruptly looked up.

She saw the fiery red sun at the edge of the sky vanish without a trace, as if it had been swallowed in one gulp by some invisible maw.

The surrounding temperature plummeted at a visible speed, and even a thin layer of white frost formed over the withered grass on the ground.

The night of the Great Ruins had arrived early!

"Oh no!"

For the first time, Qin Mu's ever-grinning little face showed an unprecedented gravity.

"It got dark way earlier than usual today. We can't make it back to the village!"

Qin Mu grabbed Hu Liena's wrist and yanked hard.

"Quick! Big sister, we have to retreat to that ruined temple from before! Only the Buddhist light there can block the night!"

The two of them ran back the way they had come with all their might. No sooner had their front feet stepped within the range of the ruined temple's collapsed walls...

Than the endless darkness outside the gate surged over like a bursting flood.

This darkness was ten times, a hundred times more terrifying than what Hu Liena had seen in Crippled Old Village last night.

In the darkness, there was not even the faintest sound of wind.

However, just as the darkness was about to devour them, the one-armed Buddha statue in the center of the ruined temple lit up again with gentle golden light.

The radiance formed a semicircular barrier that firmly kept the night outside three feet away.

From within the darkness came teeth-grating chewing sounds and bloodcurdling hisses.

Hu Liena collapsed onto the ruined temple's broken bricks, gasping for breath in great mouthfuls, her chest heaving violently.

She stared at the inky, viscous night beyond the light barrier, cold sweat streaming down her forehead and along her cheeks.

Just as the two of them had finally breathed a sigh of relief, a crisp jingling of ornaments suddenly came from a corner of the ruined temple.

Along with that sound, a sickly sweet fragrance spread through the air.

Qin Mu turned his head and saw that the Centipede Spirit, who had just been burned black all over by the Buddhist light and forced to reveal her true form, had now changed appearance again.

She shed that hideous black carapace and once more became a peerlessly beautiful young woman dressed in thin white gauze.

The young woman leaned against half a broken stone pillar, her clothes half-slipped, revealing large swathes of snow-white skin.

Her watery eyes gazed at Qin Mu with tender affection, and a pitiful tear still hung at the corner of her eye.

"Little brother..."

The young woman's red lips parted slightly, her voice soft and sweet enough to drip water, carrying a bewitching charm that seemed to burrow straight into his bones.

"It's so dark outside, and the temple is so cold. Why don't you come sit with big sister for a while? Big sister is very warm."

The moment that voice entered her ears, Hu Liena felt her mind buzz, and her gaze instantly became somewhat dazed.

As the Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall, her mental strength was far from weak, yet before this great demon's seductive voice, she could not even withstand it for a moment.

Qin Mu stood where he was, and his clear eyes also became slightly absent for an instant.

That sweet fragrance drilled through his nose and into his internal organs, making his whole body feel hot as his blood and qi began to churn uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Xian Qing'er's lips curled into a cold smile of triumph.

She was trapped by the golden chains, so fighting head-on definitely would not work anymore.

But as long as she could use illusions and her seductive voice to trick this brat into coming over, she could still bite through his neck in one snap.

Just as Qin Mu's foot lifted slightly, as though he were about to step forward.

Suddenly, Qin Mu bit down hard on the tip of his tongue.

A faint taste of blood spread through his mouth, and with the help of that stabbing pain, his eyes instantly regained their clarity.

"Those demonic sounds seem like they're meant for dealing with ghost tricks like this."

Qin Mu stood where he was without moving, his small mouth parting slightly as a string of strange, obscure syllables suddenly came from his throat.

"Duo! Ma! Ni! Ba!"

The sound did not seem like anything a human could make at all. Instead, it was as if countless ancient devils hidden deep beneath the Nine Netherworlds were quietly chanting some eerie scripture together.

The moment the demonic sound emerged, the air inside the ruined temple began to shake violently with it.

The sweet, cloying fragrance Xian Qing'er gave off was instantly shattered under the impact of that demonic sound.

Not only that, but the qi and blood within Qin Mu that had originally been churning endlessly because of the bewitchment now transformed, under the guidance of the demonic sound, into an unprecedentedly vast surge of vital qi.

This vital qi was like a surging river, rushing all the way upstream through his meridians and charging straight toward his forehead.

"What a chance!"

Qin Mu's eyes lit up. He had long heard the Village Chief say that if one wanted to step through the gates of cultivation, one had to use vital qi to break through the Spirit Fetus barrier deep within the forehead.

When he cultivated normally, his vital qi was always just a little short.

Today, with the life-and-death pressure brought by the dark night outside, plus the roiling qi and blood stirred up by this Centipede Spirit's seduction art, it was simply the perfect opportunity to strike at the barrier.

Qin Mu closed his eyes, and the demonic sound in his mouth grew faster and faster.

He twisted all the vital qi in his body into a single rope and slammed it fiercely toward the invisible barrier deep within his forehead.