The third riddle: Surface and substance

"Have you noticed that our fellow Daoists Xiao Liuwan and Yang Yiliu seem off, inside and out?"

Mo Chen merely frowned slightly at that. It was hardly just those two who seemed off!

Buddy, haven't you noticed that this entire Cave Abode, along with the message that brought us here, reeks of something fishy?

Who did those two women think they were, anyway?

Whatever those two female cultivators were plotting was none of his damn business.

Ever since discovering the teahouse proprietor's true nature, Mo Chen had only one thought left: get out of this damned place as soon as possible.

He had already come out ahead on this trip. He had no interest in getting mixed up in anyone else's schemes.

After some deliberation, Mo Chen said, "If we're talking about anything unusual, those two fellow Daoists merely dress a little conspicuously and jingle as they walk. They certainly aren't quite like ordinary cultivators."

Yuan Ming's thick eyebrows practically twisted into a knot. "All you noticed was their fondness for dressing up? Don't you think..."

Yuan Ming seemed to have some difficulty saying it, so he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

They had only known each other for a few hours. What could he possibly have noticed?

Mo Chen was rather speechless.

"I've only known everyone for a few hours. I don't have fiery eyes that can see through everything. But Brother Lang, weren't you already acquainted with those two fairies and agreed to come here together? If anything really is strange, you should know better than I do."

"Never mind. I'll say it outright."

"I only met Xiao Liuwan and Yang Yiliu a few days before this treasure hunt, too. I had a vague feeling something was wrong with them, so I found someone to cast a divination. Guess what the result was? Dire misfortune!"

"They definitely want something else from me. And you should be careful they don't scheme against you, too."

After hearing that, Mo Chen stopped brushing him off.

He had experienced this divination business before.

They would cast a divination at the drop of a hat!

And the results were freakishly accurate.

That man in Maozhou City had shaken and scattered a few copper coins and even worked out, with barely any error, that Mo Chen wanted to sell seventy jin of spirit herbs.

Since the divination foretold dire misfortune, he needed to weigh this carefully.

Seeing Mo Chen begin to think seriously, Yuan Ming took a Talismans from his Storage Bag and handed it over. "Please, Fellow Daoist Mo, you must accept this."

Mo Chen took the Talismans and looked it over.

The paper was yellowed and extremely light in his hand, with both sides covered in arcane runes he had never seen before.

Although Mo Chen was far from proficient in Talismans, he had browsed a few Talismans catalogs in the Scripture Pavilion. He recognized it as a Voice Transmission Talisman, though it differed greatly from ordinary ones.

"A Paired Sound Transmission Talisman!"

Yuan Ming explained.

"It's simple to use. Inject a thread of Dharma Power and speak directly to the Talismans. The other matching Talismans will light up to alert their holders. Receiving messages works just like with an ordinary Voice Transmission Talisman."

Mo Chen did not immediately accept the Paired Sound Transmission Talisman.

"Brother Lang, what do you mean by giving me this?"

As he spoke, Mo Chen formed a seal with one hand, guarding against Yuan Ming suddenly turning hostile.

"I'm afraid those two might harm me, and I can't find anyone else to help. I can only swallow my pride and ask you, Fellow Daoist Mo."

"Oh? Then tell me how you found me."

Seeing that Mo Chen remained unmoved, Yuan Ming anxiously scratched his ears and head.

"As for how I found my way here... I entered the second opening from the right. After traveling about two li, I reached a fork and took the right passage again. I continued straight ahead until I sensed fluctuations of Spiritual Power up ahead. That's how I ran into you."

Mo Chen did not answer immediately.

The silence made the atmosphere in the cave awkward for a moment.

Just as Yuan Ming wished he could turn into a Burrowing Rat and crawl into a crack in the ground, a spiritual glow suddenly lit up inside his sleeve.

Mo Chen stepped back, only to see Yuan Ming take another Paired Sound Transmission Talisman from inside his robe.

Yuan Ming instinctively started to turn aside to listen privately, then paused and turned back, activating it in front of Mo Chen.

An urgent female voice immediately rang out from the Talismans.

Both Mo Chen and Yuan Ming recognized the voice.

It was Yang Yiliu.

She spoke anxiously. "Fellow Daoist Yuan, hurry to the middle opening and help us! Shortly after Sister Xiao and I met here, three Snake Demons surrounded us. We're in grave danger! Brother Lang, please come quickly!"

Mo Chen remained silent, his thoughts racing.

He had only just learned that the divination foretold dire misfortune, and now a plea for help had arrived. The timing was far too convenient.

Seeing Mo Chen hesitate to respond, Yuan Ming said urgently, "I'll give you the Paired Sound Transmission Talisman I bought myself. If my life is in danger, I'll activate it. If you save me then, I'll give you another two hundred spirit stones."

With that, Yuan Ming waved his hand and tossed over a bag of spirit stones.

Mo Chen crooked his hand, drawing the Storage Bag toward him. A sweep of his divine sense confirmed that it did indeed contain two hundred spirit stones.

"Very well. I'll accept it. Brother Lang, if you truly send a distress signal, I'll do my best to help."

With that, Mo Chen also put away the hovering Voice Transmission Talisman.

"With your promise, I can rest easy!"

Mo Chen's expression remained unchanged, but he was already planning an escape route.

Yuan Ming rode a gust of cool wind and sped toward the cave's exit.

What fucking friendship could there be in a team thrown together like this?

They had only been in the cave for an hour, and someone already couldn't wait to offer the full service of setting a trap and hauling in the net.

But experience told Mo Chen that, since the proprietor could plant Snake Demons in the Cave Abode, he surely had a fallback plan to burn the bridge after crossing the river—sealing the entrance once everyone was inside.

Charging straight out now would most likely send him headfirst into the Restrictive Wards the Four Directions Teahouse had placed at the entrance. He would be better off moving carefully inside the Cave Abode and seeing just what these people were plotting.

He had made a windfall during the Monster Uprising in Flowing Cloud City. The greater the chaos, the greater the opportunity.

So Mo Chen cast the Aura-Concealing Technique and Form-Concealing Art, drawing in the spiritual glow around him, and followed Yuan Ming from a distance.

They emerged from the cave passage and returned to the five branching openings. After a brief pause, Yuan Ming took out the Paired Sound Transmission Talisman Xiao Liuwan and Yang Yiliu had given him, told the two women he was coming to help, and turned into the middle opening.

Mo Chen followed him roughly three li deeper before something suddenly happened!

A deep pool beside Yuan Ming's path abruptly erupted in a shower of water. A giant python as thick as a bucket burst out at astonishing speed.

This Snake Demon was clearly proficient in concealing its aura. It had completely evaded Yuan Ming's divine sense, only revealing its Demonic Aura an instant before attacking.

Caught off guard, Yuan Ming was seized around the waist by the Snake Demon's thick body and slammed heavily onto the rocky ground.

Fortunately, his Protective Aura defended him automatically, and he suffered no real injury.

Mo Chen was about to reveal himself when a brilliant blue sword light shot from Yuan Ming's waist, circling the snake's body like a roaming dragon as it slashed at high speed.

Hidden in the shadows, Mo Chen probed with his divine sense. It was a Demon Beast at the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer.

There was no need to intervene. Yuan Ming could handle it himself.

So Mo Chen remained hidden and continued restoring his Dharma Power.

The blue sword light traced several dazzling paths through the dim cave.

Yet the Snake Demon's scales were exceptionally tough. Sharp as the blue sword light was, it could only leave a few shallow white marks on them.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming directed Dharma Power into his throat and spat a wave of fire at the Snake Demon's head.

Enraged that it had failed to bite through his Protective Aura and had been struck back instead, the Snake Demon bit even more viciously, then lifted Yuan Ming in its coils and slammed him hard against the ground.

Yuan Ming did not panic. Instead, he poured in more Dharma Power, intensifying the wave of flames and scorching the Snake Demon's eyes.

In pain, the Snake Demon abruptly released Yuan Ming from its enormous jaws and let out a hiss.

Yuan Ming seized the opportunity to break free and immediately rose into the air, stopping only once he was beyond the Snake Demon's reach.

Hovering in midair, Yuan Ming kept his hands moving, swiftly taking two earthen-yellow Talismans from the Storage Bag at his waist.

The Talismans ignited as soon as they left his hands, turning into two masses of spiritual light that sank into the surrounding rock walls.

In an instant, a rumble filled the cave. The rock walls shook violently, shedding countless fragments of stone.

A small portion of the rubble gathered before Yuan Ming, swiftly forming a sturdy Rock Shield that enclosed him.

The rest of the rubble transformed into Earth Spikes, stabbing at the Snake Demon from every direction.

The Snake Demon twisted swiftly through the cave, evading several lethal thrusts, but more Earth Spikes kept forming and shooting toward it.

Under this dense barrage of Earth Spikes, the Snake Demon was soon wounded.

Seizing his chance, Yuan Ming also directed his flying sword to stab madly into the wounds the Earth Spikes had torn open.

Demon blood splattered across the ground, and its bloody stench immediately filled the air.

The Snake Demon's eyes reddened with pain. It turned and sprayed a great cloud of dark green poison mist at Yuan Ming.

The poison mist spread rapidly, engulfing Yuan Ming in the blink of an eye.

Mo Chen could no longer hold back at the sight, but then he suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation of Dharma Power from deeper in the cave.

So Mo Chen maintained the Form-Concealing Art and continued lying low in the shadows.

At that moment, countless vines grew wildly from the pool in the cave, locking the Snake Demon firmly in place. Then a pair of Golden Scissors flew out from behind a rock, flashed above the snake's head, and snipped it off with a crunch.

Yang Yiliu emerged from behind a massive boulder with her hands on her hips.

"Oh my, good thing Sister Xiao and I acted in time, or you really might have come to grief, Fellow Daoist."