Chapter 50
Stalking is a highly technical skill. When everyone first descended the mountain for training, they suffered many losses in this area. Therefore, many disciples of Tianyu Mountain began to diligently practice this skill to avoid being detected. After long-term practice, they achieved considerable success, for example, consistently managing to spot their own people while stalking.
Right now, Shi Yunzhou was utterly baffled. How could he and Lin Jichen be so destined to meet, running into each other everywhere they went? If it weren't for their feud, he would have suspected that fate was playing a trick on him.
"It's you again." Shi Yunzhou spoke first, going all out to gain the upper hand.
Lin Jichen said with a forced smile, "Yes, what a coincidence."
Today, Gu Qingci was shopping with some girls from high-ranking families in the capital. Lin Jichen was not among those invited, but because it was a task assigned by her master, she was now following closely behind Gu Qingci.
However… she looked Shi Yunzhou up and down and said, “Are you with a mortal girl?” She emphasized the word “girl”.
"How could that be? I was with my senior sister."
Lin Jichen's mocking smile froze. The word "Senior Sister" coming from his mouth somehow sent chills down her spine. She could lose to anyone, but she absolutely couldn't lose to Shi Yunzhou. Suppressing her disgust, she said, "Junior Brother's concern for me makes me, as his senior sister..." She drawled, looking at the disgusted person with obvious excitement, "I'm so happy!"
I was genuinely happy; the smile on my face came from the bottom of my heart.
The surrounding vendors looked at the two strange-looking people in front of them and wanted to drive them away. Not only were they standing there without buying anything, but they were also getting in the way of doing business.
"As long as my senior sister is happy."
Although the two were arguing, they still paid some attention to Gu Qingci. Seeing that Gu Qingci had moved to another place, they followed suit.
Zhou Xuanzhi had come to terms with it. It was actually better that these two argued every time they met than to fight. He looked at the vendor, thought for a moment, then picked up something, left some money—consider it compensation!
"The happiest thing in my life is being with my senior sister."
Lin Jichen almost threw up her leftover dinner. She looked at Shi Yunzhou, pursed her lips, and forced a smile. "Really? Did Junior Brother remember something happy?"
This scene felt somewhat familiar to Zhou Xuanzhi; it seemed like a storybook he had read before. After the male and female protagonists had this conversation, it seemed like they did something.
Looking at Lin Jichen, who was still unwilling to admit defeat, Shi Yunzhou smiled and said, "Senior sister, how can you say such a thing in broad daylight?" After saying that, he lowered his head, took a step behind Lin Jichen, and looked as if he was shy.
This topic seems... a bit off-topic. Lin Jichen stopped and watched Shi Yunzhou walk towards him, giving him a thumbs up. "You're awesome."
Although she knew that Shi Yunzhou was saying those words on purpose, and that he might say in a moment, "You yourself are impure and have dirty thoughts," she simply couldn't continue the conversation.
Lin Jichen was furious at Shi Yunzhou's appearance. Any girl would be angry in the face of someone like that, but this was clearly a case of neither of them willing to admit defeat, each trying to disgust the other, which led to the current disgusting situation.
Seeing Lin Jichen, who was disgusted by him, Shi Yunzhou, if he had a tail, would probably be wagging it in the air right now.
Fearing that the two might start fighting at the slightest provocation, Zhou Xuanzhi tried to divert Lin Jichen's attention by asking, "Junior Sister Lin, are you alone?"
Lin Jichen snorted coldly and said, "The Exorcism Division is also here."
"Murong Jing?"
"They should be following my master's orders, just like me." Although that's what he said, he always felt that the relationship between the two of them was not simple, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was different about it. In short, it was very strange.
Murong Jing had been following Lin Jichen for a long time; the Exorcism Division was certainly quick to act. Shi Yunzhou, looking at the disciples of other sects on the street, asked, "It's not just the Exorcism Division, is it?"
It's normal to see disciples from other sects on the street, so normal that Lin Jichen didn't even notice. Does that mean all these people are here for Gu Qingci?
"Them too?"
The mystery surrounding Gu Qingci is related to Shi Wanqing, but it has nothing to do with other sects. Why are they so concerned?
Shi Yunzhou looked at Lin Jichen, who indeed seemed to know nothing, and asked in surprise, "Didn't your master tell you?"
There are only a few things that can get so many people to care about, and even fewer that are related to Gu Qingci. But Huanmo is because of her junior uncle's feelings for her...
"She..." Lin Jichen was startled by her own thought. She lowered her voice and said, "Isn't it because of Junior Uncle?"
"It is indeed because of Master, but how did the Demon Clan know about her connection with Master before this?" Shi Yunzhou's disappointed expression made Lin Jichen clench his fists.
So, everyone came out together for two reasons: one was to find out about the Illusion Demon, and the other was to find out who the traitor who sent her into Guancheng was? Lin Jichen found it hard to believe. People of the immortal sects all take it as their duty to subdue demons and eliminate evil, and to uphold justice for the world. How could they be in cahoots with the demons?
What evidence do you have to support your claim?
"Do you think you're solving a crime? Evidence? We've been following her the whole time, what evidence can't we find?"
She looked at Shi Yunzhou and Zhou Xuanzhi, her expression somewhat grim: "Even if we're all together, we're no match for the Illusion Demon, are we?"
Isn't that obvious?
"If there really is a traitor, wouldn't he be able to detect our true intentions? That traitor couldn't possibly be just an ordinary disciple of a cultivation sect."
Lin Jichen's words stunned Shi Yunzhou and Zhou Xuanzhi, but they quickly recovered. Shi Yunzhou asked, "Then what are you protecting her for?"
"My master instructed us to first find clues about the bracelet on her wrist, and second, that some demons have become interested in her and we should protect her."
"Is this why you followed her?" Zhou Xuanzhi was clearly starting to lose his composure.
Seeing the two of them on the verge of collapse, Lin Jichen swallowed back the sarcastic remark that was about to escape her lips. She said, "Otherwise what? What are you thinking?"
"The Illusion Demon is so powerful, naturally it was Master and the others who took action. If it were really as you think, would the Illusion Demon care about us?"
As soon as the words were spoken, the scene around them changed. The street was still the same street, but the pedestrians and vendors on the roadside had all disappeared. Only their group of cultivators and Gu Qingci and her group, who were still ahead and had not yet noticed anything amiss, remained on the street.
Lin Jichen looked around, his lips pressed tightly together. How could it be like this? The Exorcism Division wasn't there, and the formation at the city gate wasn't activated? When did the Illusion Demon infiltrate?
Shi Yunzhou looked at Lin Jichen, "Is this what you meant by 'their senior uncles and elder brothers taking action'?"
"I...I haven't even said you're a jinx yet!" What's going on? Could they have actually been right?
Seeing the two still bickering, Zhou Xuanzhi said nothing and immediately rushed to Gu Qingci's side. The two, seeing this, also stopped talking and drew their weapons, preparing for the battle they were destined to lose.
The nearby cultivators also rushed towards Gu Qingci's direction. After Zhou Xuanzhi explained the situation to the girls, they noticed the difference in the street. The group of cultivators they had discussed earlier had now surrounded them. Lin Jichen, being quite familiar with them, stood guard beside them.
"Are they really demons?" A girl looked at the scene and murmured to herself in a trembling voice.
Gu Qingci held her hand and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, everything will be alright."
The girls were quiet, not as noisy as everyone had imagined. Although they were afraid, they tried their best to cooperate with everyone's actions, and they slowly moved their position into the formation that the Qingxu Sect disciples had just drawn.
But once everyone had entered the formation, those Qingxu Sect disciples suddenly collapsed to the ground. Zhou Xuanzhi, who was closest to them, went forward to check on them one by one, his expression growing increasingly grim.
"They've fainted." The moment the words left her lips, the formation's properties changed. It shifted from protecting to absorbing people's spiritual energy and essence.
Lin Jichen didn't care that her spiritual power was being drained little by little. She had already protected the girls in her formation so that their vital energy wouldn't be completely drained.
"It's that trick again," Shi Yunzhou said resentfully.
Lin Jichen's spiritual energy was being absorbed the fastest within the formation. The others were still trying to break free, but their attempts all ended in failure. At this moment, Su Liyue from the Exorcism Division came to Lin Jichen's side and began casting spells to protect the girls, just like her. She said to Lin Jichen, "You should rest for a while."
It was certainly a good thing that someone else could take over and give her a rest. After she withdrew, she looked at the people around her, some of whom were the ones who had fought against the Illusion Demon together before.
“We went out last time.” Lin Jichen’s words immediately drew everyone’s attention to her.
"only……"
"It's all thanks to external forces. Everything here is fake. Everyone, guard your minds and don't put up any futile resistance. Gather your strength and wait for the right opportunity," Zhou Xuanzhi stepped forward and stood in front of Lin Jichen.
The people of Medicine God Valley are currently caring for the unconscious disciples of the Qingxu Sect, and they have no objections to this. The Exorcism Division, lacking experience in dealing with demons, also has no further objections.
Murong Jing stepped forward and asked, "What was the scene like when you last faced the Illusion Demon?"
"Yunzhou, the Illusion Demon and a female demon are committing murder together." There are many people here, and Shi Yunzhou is unsure whether they are trustworthy. If they find out that this is for Gu Qingci, he doesn't dare to think about the consequences.
Murong Jing, however, focused his gaze on Gu Qingci. The expression in his eyes was something Shi Yunzhou couldn't understand. He slightly turned his body to block Murong Jing's view.
"Then how did you all get out?" Murong Jing withdrew his gaze and asked Shi Yunzhou.
"A senior helped us, and the Phantom Demon at that time only wanted to test our strength." Only the second half of these sentences is true.
Seeing Shi Yunzhou blocking his way, Murong Jing said nothing more. He turned around and said, "None of us have experience dealing with the Illusion Demon. Although they don't have any winning strategies, listening to them at this time should be the right thing to do. My master has already set up an array in the city. Although we don't know what methods this Illusion Demon used to infiltrate the city, it will definitely be detected once it uses any techniques within the city."
Shi Yunzhou's expression didn't understand, but Lin Jichen did. It was clearly a look of worry, shock, and fear. Lin Jichen looked ahead and whispered to Zhou Xuanzhi in front of her, "His feelings for Miss Gu are unusual." She gestured to the group of girls behind her.
Before Zhou Xuanzhi could say anything, he saw Murong Jing walking towards him.
Lin Jichen panicked for a moment, certain that her voice wouldn't be heard by the person in front of her. But he passed her and took over from Su Liyue.
This formation is trapping everyone, and no one can get out. Our spiritual energy is slowly being depleted, and we don't know when the Illusionary Demon will appear before us. This feeling is really unpleasant.
Finally, someone couldn't bear it any longer. He stood up and tried to attack the formation, but he was knocked unconscious by the backlash. The people of Medicine God Valley took him to their side without complaint and cared for him.
How long did this last time last for you?
“One night.” That night was extremely long. Zhou Xuanzhi looked at the formation that could not be broken through and said helplessly, “We are now in the environment of the Illusion Demon. No matter what we do, we will eventually become the Illusion Demon’s things, just like this formation now.”
"Is there really no other way?"
“Reciting scriptures clarifies the mind,” Master Yunzhou said.
Just as everyone was chanting scriptures, a member of Medicine God Valley suddenly looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "What's that?"
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