Chapter 38

Ever since Mu Chenlin had run into Xu Ruozhen while holding the mask last time, he had naturally been mistaken for the invader.

While Xu Ruozhen was disappointed that the person was not Xie Yu, he also wanted to put this ignorant trespasser to death.

Because Mu Chenlin did not dare use demonic energy, he naturally could not beat Xu Ruozhen. After exchanging only a few moves, he used another treasure for a golden-cicada escape, instantly swapping places with the cultivator he had killed and teleporting himself to the mass burial mound outside Buzhou Mountain.

In the cultivation world, treasures that allowed instant escape like this were mostly very precious. Mu Chenlin controlled the entire black market and was even stretching his hands into other industries, so he naturally lacked neither spirit stones nor such treasures. Still, using two in one day for the sake of Xie Yu made his heart ache.

Only after escaping danger did he finally have time to properly ponder the mystery surrounding Xie Yu.

To the Demon Clan, the aura on her body was an extremely obvious Demon Clan bloodline, yet it was also different from the feeling of demonic energy swirling around someone. That aura possessed overwhelming majesty. It made people unable to resist wanting to submit beneath that bloodline. It even carried a trace of faith, making one want to continue uncovering the veil of mystery, yet also fear offending a god.

Qiu Yan must have known about this long ago. He simply had never reported it.

Thinking this, Mu Chenlin gritted his teeth again. That Qiu Yan. Not only had he caused Mu Chenlin to investigate this matter in depth, he had even hidden the information and refused to tell him.

Although the relationship between the two of them had always been bitterly hostile, and Mu Chenlin knew Qiu Yan’s ambitions were not small—which was why he had suppressed him from time to time—looking at it now, what he had done truly had been extremely wise.

Because he had only met Xie Yu once, he could not obtain more information. If he could bring Xie Yu to his side and study her carefully, perhaps he could discover the truth of the matter.

But if that was the case, he would have to start worrying about how to find Xie Yu’s tracks again.

Just as he was troubled over this matter, the Demon Lord visited once more.

This time, it was only for one recent matter: Canglong Mountain’s auction. It was said that the finale item to be auctioned came from the Demon Realm. They had not even announced in advance what it was, only saying that it was exceptionally precious.

But in this world, there was no wall that did not leak wind. Mu Chenlin, who controlled a hidden intelligence network, had already learned the truth.

The Demon Clan relic to be auctioned was the Evil God Sword, which had disappeared together with the evil bone.

Although this Evil God Sword was called by that name, its importance could not be compared [bailiantales.com]to the evil bone’s. That was because this thing was nothing more than an ordinary black iron sword.

None of the Demon Clan’s great powers had been able to bring out any effect from it. In the end, they concluded that it was simply a black iron sword, and whether it was truly a relic of the Evil God was doubtful.

As time passed, it became the most useless symbol of the Evil God guarded by the saintess.

When the previous saintess fled, it was not only the evil bone that disappeared. This sword was lost with it as well. But no one cared at all. It was just a black iron sword. If it was gone, then it was gone.

Unexpectedly, it had now appeared at Canglong Mountain’s auction. Even the people of the Demon Realm had never heard that Canglong Mountain had obtained the Evil God Sword. They had hidden it quietly for more than ten years, waiting until the previous mountain master passed away before taking it out for auction.

Of course, compared to the value of the Evil God Sword itself, what was more important to the Demon Realm was probably the clue behind it regarding the evil bone. After all, this thing had been lost together with the evil bone.

The Demon Lord had come to Mu Chenlin precisely because of this matter. He also requested to attend the auction together and demanded that the Evil God Sword be won at all costs.

And so, at this moment, he appeared together with the disguised Demon Lord at the foot of Canglong Mountain. Just as he passed by Gong Dongling’s group, he suddenly felt a familiar aura from nearby.

It was the aura he had sensed from Xie Yu last time!

The Demon Lord beside Mu Chenlin also froze mid-step. His sharp gaze shot to the side like an arrow. Compared to the submission and reverence others felt, in the perception of the Demon Lord, the leader of the Demon Realm who stood above ten thousand people, it leaned more toward a provocative and dangerous signal.

After all, how could the Demon Lord possibly submit to anyone? Unless he was facing the descent of the Evil God.

Sensing that the Demon Lord was about to erupt, Mu Chenlin broke out in cold sweat and could only remind him in a low voice, “Master, do not expose your identity.”

That unique aura belonging to Xie Yu dissipated completely in the blink of an eye, making it impossible to trace its source. There were also many people on the street, so it was truly difficult to find where Xie Yu was.

He looked around and suddenly locked onto a few suspicious people wearing veiled hats and layer upon layer of disguises, dressed much like themselves.

Among the three of them, the person in the middle was taller and more imposing. Just by standing there, he showed a sense of authority. He should be an older male cultivator. As for the two slender figures on either side, they seemed like his two female disciples.

Suddenly, the steps of one female cultivator clearly paused, as if she had sensed something wrong. She sharply turned her head and looked toward Mu Chenlin and the Demon Lord.

That glance made Mu Chenlin even more certain that the people before him were Xie Yu and her group. After all, only she knew him. Although he had already changed his appearance and stolen content disguised himself, with her sharp intuition, it was not impossible for her to recognize him.

Without thinking, Mu Chenlin turned around and followed them in a few steps, blocking the path of the three. Using his altered voice, he said, “May I ask, if we did not receive an invitation from the mountain master, can we still enter and participate in the auction?”

His gaze stuck to Gong Dongling, whom he had mistaken for Xie Yu, wanting to carefully observe her reaction.

Gong Dongling did not know that Mu Chenlin and Xie Yu had once met. She only thought that today’s disguise was too similar to the one from that day and had drawn Mu Chenlin’s suspicion. She simply stood there stiffly, not daring to say even one extra word.

It was the Immortal Lord who spoke first. After changing his appearance and voice, he had become a young male cultivator in his thirties, and his voice was especially warm and smooth. “Fellow Daoist, we are all wandering cultivators and only came today to join the excitement. We are not clear on this matter either. If the two of you are truly curious, you can go try first.”

As he spoke, Immortal Lord Nandou took off his veiled hat and smiled meaningfully at Mu Chenlin, then turned and glanced at the Demon Lord, who was watching from afar among the crowd.

Mu Chenlin had not expected that this young-looking cultivator’s strength would be so unfathomable. With only one glance, he had known that the two of them were together.

By calmly removing his veiled hat, he was also warning them both: even if he revealed his identity, there was nothing they could do to him.

With this great power present, if they acted in this busy market, even the combined strength of Mu Chenlin and the Demon Lord would likely be unable to do anything to Xie Yu. Mu Chenlin [read the original at bailiantales.com]suddenly remembered how Xie Yu’s aura had appeared only for an instant before disappearing earlier and vaguely guessed that this great power had silently shielded it.

In any case, he no longer had any reason to stand before them like a roadblock. He could only step aside and watch from afar as the three walked away.

“Master, can you tell what cultivation level that person has?” Mu Chenlin asked the Demon Lord uneasily.

“At the very least, he is one of the few old ancestors still existing in the cultivation world.” The Demon Lord’s gaze was obscure. He might even be an old enemy from the past.

These old ancestors were all only one step away from ascension, but they were stuck at a bottleneck and had been unable to progress. Now, during this era of peace, they had long since secluded themselves in hidden paradises and stayed far from disputes. If this was one of them, then he had likely come for the finale item as well.

But compared to that great power, what concerned the Demon Lord more was indeed that aura that could possibly overturn his rule. Seeing Mu Chenlin’s abnormal behavior, he already had a faint guess.

Sure enough, he then heard Mu Chenlin say, “I wonder if Demon Lord sensed that aura that vanished in an instant. I have met the owner of that aura once before. I did not expect to encounter her here today. But what especially concerns me is that she is also Qiu Yan’s junior sister, and an important reason he became demonic.”

“Your investigation speed exceeds my expectations. You truly do cherish your life,” the Demon Lord said sarcastically after a long silence.

“Although it is not suitable to act right now, their goal must be tonight’s auction. We still have a chance. When the ​stolen content​time comes, I will definitely seize Xie Yu and deliver her before Master.” Mu Chenlin knew what he should do and declared his loyalty in a serious tone.

Ahead of them, Immortal Lord Nandou slowly put his veiled hat back on. He did not look at Gong Dongling beside him, only said casually, “What, do you know that person?”

Although Mu Chenlin and the Demon Lord had both restrained their auras, Immortal Lord Nandou had still sensed them keenly. He had quickly used his own perception to silently shield the pull of Xie Yu’s Demon Clan bloodline. Even so, however, it seemed to have still drawn their attention.

What surprised the Immortal Lord was that Gong Dongling had also recognized that person. That should not have happened.

“He feels like someone I once had a grudge with. I’m not entirely sure.” Although Gong Dongling was certain that it was Mu Chenlin, the matter involved too much of the original plot, and she had no way to explain it clearly. She could only summarize it as a grudge.

“There is something suspicious about those two. You must be especially careful.”

He aimed the latter half of the sentence at Xie Yu.

Immortal Lord Nandou knew that the evil bone the Demon Realm was digging three feet into the ground to search for was inside Xie Yu. Sooner or later, they would discover it. When that time came, if Xie Yu had not grown and did not possess enough power to resist them, she would only be subjected to cruel torture as they carved the bone from her body.

The reason Immortal Lord Nandou had brought Xie Yu along this time was precisely for that Evil God Sword. In ​read the original at bailiantales.com​others’ hands, it was an ordinary black iron sword. Only in the hands of the Evil God himself would its sword soul awaken and return to its true nature.

And Xie Yu had the evil bone inside her, which already counted as the existence of the Evil God. She too could awaken the sword soul. One could say that the Evil God Sword was naturally meant to belong to Xie Yu.

The auction began in the evening. The reason the Immortal Lord had brought them here so early was to give Gong Dongling time to take an alchemist certification exam. There happened to be a branch of the Alchemist Association at the foot of Canglong Mountain.

This time, Gong Dongling was taking the exam for middle-grade alchemist. Because unrelated people were forbidden from entering the hall during the exam, Xie Yu and Immortal Lord Nandou sat down at the restaurant across from it.

They deliberately chose a seat by the window, which happened to let them see Gong Dongling walking step by step into the hall. Even after she had disappeared from sight, Xie Yu’s gaze still involuntarily drifted over there from time to time.

“It is still early. No need to worry. Why not listen to this storytelling instead? It is rather interesting.” A meaningful smile floated across the Immortal Lord’s face. He grabbed a handful of melon seeds and cracked them while looking down from the second-floor railing at the storyteller on the stage below.

“Last time, we spoke of that famous escort-robbing gang on the bounty list. Today, let us speak of the newly risen twentieth place.”

“Tch, only twentieth? Why not tell it in order…” A wave of dissatisfaction instantly rang out among the seats. Presumably, they had never paid attention to two nameless juniors like Xie Yu and Gong Dongling.

The storyteller remained unmoved. Stroking his beard, he began speaking on his own. “People only know that this newly risen twentieth place belongs to two female disciples under Buzhou Mountain’s Daofa Zhenren, Read on BaiLianTalesGong Dongling and Xie Yu. But they do not know why these two fled Buzhou Mountain, nor why Zhenren would spend so much manpower and money to search for them.”

“Isn’t it just that Zhenren has outstanding character and is very strict with his disciples, so those two disciples couldn’t bear the burden and ran away?”

“Not so, not so. Fellow Daoists, what you do not know is that the relationship between these two female disciples is not limited to senior and junior sisters. Their story is quite exciting!” The storyteller snapped open his folding fan and began telling this melodramatic, twisting tale.

Author’s Note:
The CP shipping has danced right in front of the real people.

Senior Sister: What an old rumor-mongering monster! I didn’t! I’m not!