There was only a small patch of shadow, so the two of them were standing extremely close, practically pressed together.
The moment the Huang father and son disappeared, Lin Huanhuan quickly took a step back, putting distance between herself and Bai Lingfeng. This left Bai Lingfeng feeling a tiny bit frustrated.
Lin Huanhuan furrowed her delicate brows, thinking to herself, ‘A moment ago, I caught a faint scent of flowers. It’s gone now that I’ve stepped away. It must have been coming from Bai Lingfeng.’
‘…Don’t tell me this guy uses girly incense? The original story didn’t mention that.’
The basement was located directly beneath the main hall of the Huang residence. To reach it, one had to descend a rather hidden staircase. If not for Huang Huasheng’s tip-off, this place would have been quite difficult to find.
On the surface, the number of guards watching the basement wasn’t as high as those at the storehouse. But after observing for a while, they discovered the guards here used a rotation system. Two guards were posted for one hour, but only one of them would be replaced the next hour. The benefit of this method was that there were no gaps in the defense.
Seeing this scene, Lin Huanhuan and Bai Lingfeng weren’t worried—they were pleased. Such strict security precisely proved that what they were looking for was inside.
However, getting inside was a major problem. Charging in directly was out of the question; that would be an immediate fight. Without knowing what the Huang family’s hidden cards were, that would be extremely unwise.
Bai Lingfeng watched as Lin Huanhuan in front of him fell into deep thought and couldn’t help but smile slightly. In truth, he had already thought of a plan, but he felt Lin Huanhuan should be able to think of it too, so he decided not to speak up just yet.
‘I’ll wait for Huanhuan to say it first, then I can praise her. That should definitely raise her favorability quite a bit. And even if she can’t think of it, I can just say it later. Coming up with this kind of plan, I’m just too clever!’
He was watching Lin Huanhuan, and she was watching him right back. A slight twitch lifted the corner of Lin Huanhuan’s brow. ‘If I’m not mistaken, this is exactly what Bai Lingfeng is thinking. In terms of raw strength, I can’t compare to you, but when it comes to cunning, you’re not even in my league!’
‘I’ll play along with him. It’ll save him from overthinking things.’
Lin Huanhuan thought for a moment before speaking. “Judging from their conversation earlier, the thing inside needs to be fed flesh and blood regularly. They should be transporting it in soon.”
“They said flesh and blood, but I’m guessing it’s fresh corpses. The container used to carry them must be quite large. Fitting both of us inside shouldn’t be a problem. That way, we can sneak in.”
“What a brilliant idea, Huanhuan. You’re truly clever,” Bai Lingfeng couldn’t help but praise. Although he very much wanted to shower Lin Huanhuan with the most beautiful, flowery compliments, preferably enough to make her dizzy with delight, he was at a loss. Having almost never tried to flatter anyone else before, he simply couldn’t think of any good words of praise.
After a careful search, they finally found the fresh “flesh and blood” in a room resembling a morgue. Looking at the seven corpses neatly arranged inside a large wooden crate, Bai Lingfeng couldn’t help but frown.
He said in a low voice, “No wonder there have been so many disappearances in Weiyang City recently. They all ended up here…”
Lin Huanhuan glanced at him and then offered some comfort. “That’s just how the world is. This is the demonic path. To grasp even a sliver of a chance to grow stronger, they can abandon everything.”
“The demonic path…” Bai Lingfeng nodded with a complex look in his eyes and said no more.
Next, Lin Huanhuan stuffed two of the corpses into her Qiankun Bag, nearly filling it to the brim and pushing the items originally inside to one side.
It couldn’t be helped. Spatial-type magical artifacts were particularly precious. Her spatial artifact was already considered quite roomy and was worth over 3,000 spirit stones on the outside.
Lin Huanhuan wrinkled her brow and let out another soft sigh. “Forget it. Lying down it is, then.” Just as she was about to move, Bai Lingfeng stopped her.
“Wait. Perhaps it doesn’t have to be so difficult.”
Bai Lingfeng took out a blanket-like magical artifact from his own Qiankun Bag. It was spoils of war he had acquired earlier. It could block odors and even turn transparent. It was perfect for this situation.
Lin Huanhuan couldn’t help but show a look of pleasant surprise. They did a little more minor disguise, using to whiten their faces and skin before lying down.
Not long after, two Huang family servants arrived.
Lin Huanhuan had been worried they might inspect the crate, hence the disguise. But who could have guessed? They were afraid of being tainted by bad luck from seeing the corpses. They simply lifted the crate, tested the weight, felt it was fine, and carried it off directly.
The two of them didn’t say a single word the entire way, the picture of professionalism.
After a long, bumpy journey, Lin Huanhuan’s ears finally heard a thud. The crate was set down. They must have reached their destination.
After staying inside for a while longer, Lin Huanhuan’s ears finally picked up voices.
“Hey, what exactly is this thing anyway? It needs to eat so many corpses every day. I wonder where the main family gets them from. Pretty impressive.”
“Judging by the clothes on these corpses, they’re probably from the outskirts of Weiyang City. They used beggars before, but now it’s residents. With so many beggars disappearing, I wonder if it’ll raise suspicion.”
“Sigh… When I first saw this thing, I was terrified. Now, after seeing it for so long, I’ve grown a bit numb. I really don’t know what will happen in the future… Hey, have you heard? Quite a few people have gone missing from the Huang family recently too. You don’t think they ended up in there, do you?”
“Shh, shh! Don’t talk nonsense. If the main family hears this kind of baseless speculation, you really will get thrown in there. And even if it’s true, so what? I hear this thing needs to eat the corpses of cultivators every so often. What are we mere mortals?”
“Sigh, what can we do? We already know too much. The Huang family would never let us leave. We can only keep working here. Hopefully, one day the Huang family will prosper, and we can rise along with them.”
What they didn’t know was that the crate behind them had quietly opened a crack. Two pairs of eyes began observing everything around them.
When she clearly saw the surrounding scene, Lin Huanhuan’s expression visibly stiffened.
It was a confined space. The only light came from a few torches stuck in the walls. The two Huang family servants stood ahead, stirring something in their hands as they chatted.
The air was filled with an extremely unpleasant stench of decay. The sound of dripping water could be heard, causing a distinct sense of discomfort.
In the very center was a blood pool. Strange bones occasionally surfaced in the crimson liquid. Floating above the blood pool was an eerie, purplish-black banner. The banner was tattered and worn, embroidered with a tangled mass of skulls.
Lin Huanhuan couldn’t help but exclaim in a low voice, “It’s actually a Ten Thousand Soul Banner!”