At the same time, Baili Zhen’s voice spread outward from the house: “Who’s there?!”
-The commotion in the courtyard had been too loud. Mu Congyun’s leaked aura had alerted Baili Zhen, who had been resting inside.
Baili Zhen’s cultivation far surpassed his own. Retreating now would be too late—he would inevitably be chased down and exposed.
Thinking quickly, Mu Congyun concealed his presence and leaped onto the roof, crouching behind the ridge to suppress his breath.
If Baili Zhen overlooked the obvious and pursued elsewhere, he might still have a chance to escape.
Mu Congyun held his breath, his heartbeat nearly still.
Baili Zhen emerged from the house, Madam Liu close by his side.
Seeing the ruined rose branches and startled butterflies in the courtyard, Baili Zhen did not recklessly give chase. Instead, he took out a flute and began to play.
The sound of crawling insects rustling through the surroundings reached Mu Congyun’s ears.
He knew Baili Zhen was using the flute to command nearby poisonous creatures to search for intruders.
His heart tightened with dread.
Hidden in the shadows, Shen Qi observed the scene.
Glancing at the rooftop, he let out a soft scoff and flicked his sleeve, releasing the Red Falcon.
“Lure him away.”
The Red Falcon flapped its wings and flew in the opposite direction.
Baili Zhen detected the movement and immediately put away his flute, chasing after the Red Falcon.
Mu Congyun’s tension eased slightly.
Not daring to delay any longer, he took a shortcut back to the Scarlet Rose Courtyard.
Shen Qi, seeing this, flickered away, arriving ahead of him.
*
Back in the Scarlet Rose Courtyard, Mu Congyun finally allowed himself to relax slightly.
There was something unnatural about those rose vines.
As he hurried back, he felt his spiritual power growing increasingly sluggish and strained, his speed slowing to near exhaustion.
Barely managing to stumble inside, he didn’t even have time to call for Jinni before collapsing weakly.
Shen Qi, who had returned first, caught him in time.
Jinni was still unconscious on the daybed.
Shen Qi laid Mu Congyun down on the bed and examined the injury on his leg.
The area around Mu Congyun’s left calf, where the rose vines had coiled, had swollen and turned black.
Dark veins pulsed beneath the skin, and the puncture wounds from the thorns oozed black-red blood—a gruesome sight.
Shen Qi dipped a finger into the tainted blood, rubbing it between his fingers to sense the corrupt energy within.
He clicked his tongue.
“So this is where it was hidden. No wonder I couldn’t find it earlier.”
His attention had been diverted by the butterflies and Madam Liu, leading him to assume they were the source.
He had overlooked the roses, which were everywhere.
Wiping his fingers clean, he turned back to Mu Congyun.
The unconscious man’s brows were tightly furrowed, his face pale and tinged with green from the Corrosive Mist’s influence.
The roses in the courtyard had mutated under the Corrosive Mist’s corruption for some unknown reason.
Mu Congyun had been careless and injured by the vines, allowing the mist to invade his body.
Given his cultivation level, this small amount of Corrosive Mist shouldn’t have been so severe.
But in his haste to evade Baili Zhen, he had ignored the injury entirely, forcibly circulating his spiritual power to sprint back-worsening the damage.
“If you had encountered me, you’d have been beyond saving.”
Shen Qi looked down at him with a condescending gaze and murmured to himself, “Since I’m saving you today, you’ll have to repay me double in the future.”
He pressed his palm over the wound on Mu Congyun’s leg, drawing all the corrupt energy into his own body.
With the influence of the Corrosive Mist removed, the injury on Mu Congyun’s leg returned to its normal color, and the blood flowing from it turned bright red.
Shen Qi retrieved medicinal ointment and bandages to dress the wound.
Once everything was taken care of, he was about to wake Mu Congyun when he noticed another wound on the back of his right hand.
It was small, with only a few beads of blood seeping out.
Against the backdrop of cold, pale skin, the red stood out vividly.
Shen Qi stared at it for a long moment before, as if bewitched, he bent down and licked it.
The taste of blood-salty and metallic-spread across his tongue.
He was no stranger to this flavor, yet for the first time, he felt something akin to excitement, as if something within him was boiling.
His expression unreadable, Shen Qi gazed at that snow-white hand and, as if testing a theory, licked it again.
His tongue grazed over the wound, leaving behind a glistening wetness.
He toyed with the soft fingers in his grasp, his eyes darkening.
Just as he was lost in thought, Jinni’s groggy voice suddenly came from behind him: “Shen Qi? Senior Brother?”
Shen Qi’s movements stilled.
Reluctantly, he released the warm hand and slowly turned to look at Jinni, his eyes already filled with killing intent.
This useless fool always ruined things at the worst moments.
Jinni, still groggy, didn’t notice the dangerous shift in Shen Qi’s expression.
Rubbing his aching head, he stumbled out of bed and finally registered Mu Congyun lying pale and unconscious.
Panicked, he rushed to the bedside, forgetting his own discomfort.
“What happened to Senior Brother?”
Shen Qi lowered his head, his face shadowed and expressionless, but his voice was appropriately anxious: “I don’t know. He collapsed as soon as he entered. His leg was injured, but I didn’t know what to do, so I just bandaged it.”
Though Jinni wasn’t skilled in medicine, he could still tell whether a wound was serious.
He checked Mu Congyun’s leg first and confirmed it was only a superficial injury.
Then he channeled a wisp of Spiritual Power to probe a few key acupoints, verifying that the energy flow was stable.
“I can’t find anything wrong. Why would he be unconscious?”
Muttering to himself, Jinni grew increasingly uneasy.
But with Shen Qi-younger and seemingly more vulnerable—present, he forced himself to stay composed, pacing restlessly around the room.
The noise grated on Shen Qi’s nerves, making him waver between killing Jinni or letting him live.
Fortunately, a sudden knock at the courtyard gate interrupted them both. Jinni stiffened, then straightened up, remembering that as the
only capable one left, he had to take charge. After a few deep breaths, he said, “I’ll go see what’s happening. If things look bad, I’ll stall them.
You take Senior Brother and escape first.”
He had a vague feeling the disturbance outside was related to Mu Congyun’s nighttime excursion.
Shen Qi glanced at him, wondering how Xie Cifeng could have taken on such an idiot as a disciple.
With a heavy heart, Jinni pushed the door open and stepped out.
By the time he reached the courtyard gate, his expression had returned to its usual cheerfulness.
He yawned as he pulled open the door, leaning halfway out to look. Seeing the Poison Sect disciples holding torches surrounding the courtyard gate, he wore a bewildered expression: “What’s going on? I could hear the commotion even in my dreams.”
The leading disciple clasped his hands and said,
“There was an assassin attack tonight. Madam was injured, and the culprit managed to escape. Everyone is now searching everywhere for the fugitive. The sect leader is concerned that the esteemed guests might be implicated, so he sent us to investigate. We must ensure the culprit isn’t hiding in this courtyard to harm you.”
Though his words were polite, the underlying meaning was clear-they intended to search the premises.
Jinni suspected the so-called culprit was none other than his senior brother. With the latter still unconscious, he dared not let them in.
Blocking the door with his body, he feigned drowsiness: “No one came this way. With my senior brother here, any intruder would’ve been caught and handed over to Sect Leader Baili long ago.”
“While that may be true, the sect leader’s orders must be followed. We must do our due diligence to avoid any oversight that could harm you. Otherwise, we cannot answer to the sect leader.”
“That makes sense, but…”
Jinni no longer blocked the door. Instead, he slung an arm around the leading disciple’s shoulder in a friendly manner, deliberately raising his voice: “But my senior brother is currently meditating. He has a terrible temper and hates disturbances. Keep your voices down, and it’s best not to enter his room. Otherwise, if he loses his temper, I won’t be able to stop him.”
As he spoke, he prayed silently that Shen Qi would catch his hint and act accordingly.
The leading disciple nodded and waved for the others to search the courtyard.
Jinni stood casually in front of Mu Congyun’s door, though internally he was so nervous he wanted to shake his leg.
The disciples combed through the courtyard and empty rooms but found nothing.
The leader turned to Jinni: “Only one room remains unchecked. For safety’s sake, we must proceed.”
Jinni reluctantly shuffled aside, muttering, “You really insist? If my senior brother gets angry, I can’t protect you.”
“We’ll apologize for disturbing Senior Brother Mu’s rest,” the leader said firmly, stepping forward.
Jinni racked his brain for a way to stop them when suddenly, the sound of a door opening came from behind. Mu Congyun’s cool voice rang out: “You may enter.”
Mu Congyun emerged from the room, with Shen Qi close beside him.
Shen Qi glanced at the group and said softly, “Making such a fuss-one might mistake us for the culprits.”
The leading disciple’s expression shifted slightly, and he hurriedly apologized: “Senior Brother Mu, please forgive us. The sect leader’s orders leave no room for negligence.”
Mu Congyun stood with his hands behind his back, nodding impassively. “Understood. Proceed.”
The disciples entered the room, conducted a quick search, and soon retreated.
The leader clasped his hands again: “Our apologies for disturbing you tonight. We shall report back to the sect leader now.”
After seeing the visitors off, Jinni quickly went to latch the courtyard gate before hurrying back inside.
Circling Mu Congyun excitedly, she asked with delight: “Senior brother, you’re alright now?”
Mu Congyun was also somewhat puzzled.
Earlier he had indeed felt his Spiritual Power stagnating and difficult to circulate, but after waking from unconsciousness, it had returned to normal.
After some thought, he could only attribute it to the thorns on the rose branches being poisonous, though the toxicity wasn’t severe and had dissipated on its own.
Seeing Jinni looking nervous, Mu Congyun nodded slightly and said, “It’s alright. We’ll find another chance to discuss tonight’s investigation tomorrow. For now, let’s rest to avoid raising suspicions.”
While the three were resting, the investigating disciple returned to report at Canglan Courtyard.
“All three from Hongqiang Courtyard are present, with one missing. Their complexions appear normal, and none seem injured.”
Madam Liu frowned slightly, lost in thought. “If it wasn’t them, then who could it be?”
Among the disciples of Profound Ridge, Mu Congyun, the eldest disciple, possessed the highest cultivation.
When someone was discovered intruding Canglan Courtyard, she had immediately suspected him and specifically sent someone to investigate.
Tonight’s intruder had been injured by the flower branches.
If it truly were Mu Congyun, there would inevitably be some telltale signs.
But the investigating disciple reported no injuries among them.
Could there truly be someone else?
Had another outsider infiltrated the Poison Sect?
After pondering for a moment, Madam Liu gazed at the severed rose branches, her beautiful face flashing with anger.
“Bring two people here. The flower fertilizer needs replenishing.”
She walked slowly into the flower bushes, touching the sword-cut ends of the branches, and whispered softly, “Don’t worry. When I catch that thief, I’ll drag them here to be your fertilizer.”
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