But this moment of peace and tranquility did not last too long, and it was soon interrupted.
“Tss—” Jun Xiaomo sucked in a breath of cold air. She felt a twinge of pain on her finger, and looking closer at it under the candlelight, she realized that a drop of crimson blood had seeped out from the tip of her index finger.
“How did you hurt yourself?” Ye Xiuwen furrowed his brows as he tried to recall what Yao Mo might have touched accidently.
Jun Xiaomo promptly sucked on her finger for a while until the bleeding stopped before retracting her finger.
“Brother Ye, don’t worry. This is not an injury.” Jun Xiaomo smiled as she explained. She held her chin and tapped on her cheek as she added, “Remember how I placed a Humanoid Puppet on the bed this afternoon? I had used a drop of fresh blood and a talisman paper plus a basic Humanoid Puppet formation array to create this. Someone has probably just destroyed the Humanoid Puppet, and therefore my drop of blood has come back to my body.”
Ye Xiuwen did not have a very thorough understanding of things like Humanoid Puppets. Therefore, after he heard Jun Xiaomo’s explanation, he curiously raised his eyebrows, “Brother Yao, you seem to know a lot about these things.”
Strictly speaking, Humanoid Puppets are not considered a part of either the discipline of formation arrays, or the discipline of talismans. But at the same time their creation required both talismans and formation arrays. Therefore, it could be said to be an even more complex discipline than just talismans or formation arrays.
Furthermore, there were few people from upstanding and reputable sects who would learn to make Humanoid Puppets. This was because many people were of the impression that Humanoid Puppets was a discipline that demonic cultivators liked to dabble in – some demonic cultivators would even temper with the dead and create high-level Humanoid Puppets called “Zombies”. These Humanoid Puppets were unable to think for themselves or feel pain, and they would only listen to the commands of their creators. It was a terrifying existence.
Therefore, most people from upstanding and reputable sects would not even bother learning about these Humanoid Puppets to begin with.
Even though Ye Xiuwen did not know how to create a Humanoid Puppet, this did not mean that he was averse to these matters either. Everything had two sides to them. Knowledge in and of itself did not distinguish between good or evil; rather it all depended on the intentions of those who used this knowledge. For instance, Yao Mo’s creation of a Humanoid Puppet had not involved dead people; and it was used for self-defense purposes only.
Jun Xiaomo discovered that Ye Xiuwen’s did not reveal any look of disgust in his eyes, so she smiled charmingly at Ye Xiuwen, lifted her chin and said, “But of course! No matter who comes looking for me tonight, as long as he underestimates my abilities, he will definitely meet with a tragic fate. Hmph! Don’t he dare think for a moment that my Humanoid Puppet is just for show. Whoever breaks it will definitely pay for his crimes.”
Ye Xiuwen’s eyes flashed with a trace of bemus.e.m.e.nt. It once again dawned on him that this young man is very similar to his little martial sister – they both lift their chin like a peac.o.c.k when they are proud of something they have done.
However, this proudness was not loathsome at all. In fact, it was in some ways rather charming.
“Alright, amazing brother Yao, it’s not early anymore. Don’t you think it’s about time you took a bath and turned in? We still have to wake up early tomorrow.” Ye Xiuwen rubbed Jun Xiaomo’s head tenderly as he asked playfully.
“Pfft…cough cough…” Jun Xiaomo almost spit out her tea.
Ah, she might have been too pleased earlier that she had almost forgotten the dilemma she was in – should she sleep on the floor or sit at the table the whole night?
In the end, the fact of the matter was that she actually only had one proper choice, and that was to share the bed with Ye Xiuwen…
On the other side, just as Jun Xiaomo had expected, Ke Xinwen who had just been sucked into the room had noticed a human-shaped object wrapped under the blanket. Thinking that it was Yao Mo, he immediately mustered his Wind Blade Technique and sent a Wind Blade slas.h.i.+ng towards “Yao Mo”!
The Wind Blade Technique was a fundamental technique of cultivators with wind-based spiritual roots. Even though its name was far from being impressive, it was nevertheless a difficult technique to master. The number of Wind Blades, the speed of these blades, the cutting edge of these blades, and even the cultivation level and aim of the user all played a part in whether the user could draw out this technique’s full potential.
Even though Ke Xinwen did not have a good control over the Wind Blades he generated, he nevertheless enjoyed summoning several Wind Blades all at once. As this swarm of Wind Blades surged towards “Yao Mo”, Ke Xinwen laughed out viciously. At this moment, he was absolutely certain that “Yao Mo” had just drawn final breath!
Ke Xinwen awaited Yao Mo’s tragic scream of pain as he got diced by the several Wind Blades he summoned. However, the only response he got was a loud tremor – Bang!
Once the Humanoid Puppet on the bed was cut in half, it immediately exploded.
The immense shockwave generated by the explosion instantly sent Ke Xinwen flying back, causing him to slam into the door behind him so hard that it felt as though his internal organs momentarily s.h.i.+fted. But before Ke Xinwen could recover from this impact, another ten sharp Windneedles immediately shot towards Ke Xinwen, plunging straight into his chest area.
“Cough…cough cough…” Ke Xinwen clutched painfully at his chest immediately. His breathing suddenly grew difficult, as though someone was choking him; and every breath he drew would cause him to wince in immense pain.
Of these ten Windneedles stuck in his chest, three of them had penetrated directly into the meridians near Ke Xinwen’s Dantian, thereby cutting off the flow of spiritual energy from his Dantian. If he could not get rid of these three Windneedles, then there was a good chance that he would perish here tonight.
Ke Xinwen immediately retrieved a Spirit Relieving Pill from his Interspatial Ring, stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed it with some difficulty.
Spirit Relieving Pills were generally used to aid with the flow of one’s spiritual energy after one’s meridian had been clogged up by poison. It was not a cheap pill to obtain, so Ke Xinwen only had three of these pills within his Interspatial Ring. However, Ke Xinwen could hardly care less at this moment. This series of unfortunate events had given him a bad premonition for what is to come.
Moments after taking the Spirit Relieving Pill, the pain in Ke Xinwen’s chest started to subside. He supported himself on the door panel as he stood up, glaring directly at the bed – Yao. Mo! I won’t be a man if I don’t kill you today!
Ke Xinwen was not only a hot-tempered person, he was also a narrow-minded person. He had thought that killing Yao Mo tonight would have been as easy as squas.h.i.+ng an ant. Yet right from the start of his attack until now, he had never managed to gain an upper hand in the situation.
Let’s not even talk about killing Yao Mo – Ke Xinwen had not even managed to touch the corner of Yao Mo’s clothes at this moment.
If the person who had come tonight was Qin Lingyu, he would definitely have wised up to the situation and left the room. After all, it was wise to choose to live to fight another day. These formation arrays were clearly set up by the array master Yao Mo and designed to trap any trespa.s.sers and chain attacks against them. Continuing to hang around would only be asking for more trouble.
However, Ke Xinwen was not Qin Lingyu, and once the fire of fury had ignited in his heart, it immediately consumed all his rationality. At present, the only thought running through Ke Xinwen’s mind was to tear Yao Mo to pieces!
Where’s Yao Mo?! Ke Xinwen jolted to his senses as he discovered the bed was completely empty, and not a single person was there.
“Very good. You’re actually hiding from me!” Ke Xinwen laughed sardonically, “You’ve got a couple of tricks up your sleeves, huh. But I don’t believe that you can hide from me the whole night!”
Yet, even at this point in time, the possibility that Yao Mo was not in that room did not even cross Ke Xinwen’s mind – Yao Mo, or Jun Xiaomo, was currently enjoying tea and chatting leisurely with her beloved martial brother right now! She was probably even imagining Ke Xinwen’s looks right now when he had stumbled upon the different traps she had laid for him in the room!
At this moment, Ke Xinwen retrieved a large sword from his Interspatial Ring, walked over to the cupboard and viciously slashed away at it. The wooden cupboard was immediately cleaved in two. Yet, the insides were completely empty.
Ke Xinwen had thought that Yao Mo would be hiding in his cupboard, and thus he had cleaved it in two with his large sword. But as it turned out, there was no trace of Yao Mo in the cupboard.
“Ah, very good! Then let me see if you’re hiding under the bed!” Ke Xinwen lunged at the bed with a manic look on his face before swiftly sending a few Wind Blades towards the bottom of the bed. Yet once again, nothing happened.
However, Ke Xinwen did discover a small note on the bed at this moment. This small note emitted a faint glow, as though it had been soaked in a special liquid. The note read – Dear Uninvited Guest, are you feeling mad because you can’t find me? Haven’t you heard of something called an Invisibility Talisman? I love seeing that look of despondence on your face. :)
The raging fury in Ke Xinwen’s chest momentarily erupted. He chuckled coldly as he crumpled the little note and tossed it fiercely into the ground.
“Yao. Mo. Do you think I can’t kill you if you’re invisible? Hahahahahahaha…”
As he laughed wickedly, Ke Xinwen swiftly retrieved and consumed a Spirit Convergence Pill which effectively doubled his attack powers for a short period of time. Then, Ke Xinwen slowly mustered his strength as his aura swelled instantly. Right then, with him as the center of the vortex, innumerable Wind Blades started to congeal in the air around him and circulated around him with increasing speeds.
This was the strongest area of effect spell that a wind-based spirit cultivator at the twelfth level of Qi Mastery could use – Windsquall! At this moment, Jun Xiaomo’s room looked as though it were being battered and torn apart by a twelfth-grade great squall, and the squall even contained innumerable tiny Wind Blades, each of which were sharp enough to be able to slice through human bones. There was no place to hide at all! If a person whose cultivation level was too low stood here right now, he would definitely become minced meat – there wouldn’t even be any traces of his bones left in the wake of the squall.
“Die!” Ke Xinwen roared in fury again as he squeezed out the last of his energy in one final burst of power, turning everything around him into dust.
Ke Xinwen had actually used his most powerful skill, Windsquall, against a measly array master at the first level of Qi Mastery.
“Hahaha…” Ke Xinwen stood in the middle of the aftermath, completely drained of his spiritual energy, as he slowly looked around at the destruction in the wake of his most powerful spell.
Windsquall was a technique that drained an immense amount of spiritual energy, especially for cultivators like Ke Xinwen who had not even attained the Foundation Establishment stage. Therefore, there were few cultivators at the twelfth level of Qi Mastery who would resort to this ma.s.sive spell unless the situation absolutely called for it.
Jun Xiaomo had forced Ke Xinwen to use his strongest spell – this evidently showed how much Ke Xinwen was irked by her antics and her ploys.
As Ke Xinwen laughed and laughed like a maniac, the expressions on his face slowly hardened and the joy in his heart gradually subsided – he did not smell any stench of blood at all.
Logically speaking, even if Yao Mo had used an Invisibility Talisman, Ke Xinwen would still be able to smell the stench of blood after killing him. However, apart from the smell of wood shavings around him, there was absolutely no trace of blood scent in the air.
“What’s going on?!” Ke Xinwen’s eyes bulged out in surprise. He could not accept the fact that he had been unable to kill Yao Mo after resorting to his strongest technique!
Just this moment, Ke Xinwen discovered another light glowing where the table in the room used to be. He slowly walked over and saw the corner of yet another note peeking out from under the wood shavings.
A chill went down Ke Xinwen’s back. He suddenly realized that he might well have walked straight into another one of Yao Mo’s traps.
Who is this Yao Mo? How could he calculate my every move with such accuracy? Perhaps it was a mistake to attempt to kill Yao Mo today…
But Ke Xinwen was reluctant to return in such a tragic state after being beaten to a pulp. At the very least, he had to gain something out of this trip. After hesitating for a moment, he bent down and picked up the note from the wood shavings.
This note looked as though it had been securely fastened somewhere, and Ke Xinwen had to use some strength before he managed to pick it up.
Ke Xinwen wanted to see if this note was only just written by Yao Mo, or whether it had been placed here for some time already. After all, he did not notice any note on the table when he first stepped into the room.
Could it be that Yao Mo is not dead yet, and he’s still in this room?! The more Ke Xinwen thought about it, the colder the chill sent down his spine. He even contemplated the possibility that Yao Mo’s cultivation level was far higher than he said it was. Otherwise, how could he possibly have survived Ke Xinwen’s Windsquall technique?
The contents of that note were written in the same style, designed to provoke and anger its reader – I don’t want to scare you, but I’m really not dead yet. :) Oh yes, this note had been pasted under the table and attached to a formation array. If you have removed this piece of paper from its original location, then congratulations, you’ve just activated the array! Enjoy this glorious festivity as my final gift to you! No need for any thanks!
“Wh-…What?!” After reading the entire contents of that note, Ke Xinwen discovered that an eerie blue light coming from under his foot lit up a round formation array. This formation array was ma.s.sive, and it practically covered the floor of the entire room.
As the eerie blue light grew brighter and brighter, Ke Xinwen’s feet looked as though it were completely plastered to the floor – absolutely immovable. Amidst the glowing light, slowly, but surely, a black figure appeared. And the ident.i.ty of the figure grew clearer and clearer; clearer and clearer…
As Ke Xinwen finally made out the ident.i.ty of that person who walked out of the light, his pupils constricted and quivered with abject fear!
“Ahhhhhhhhh------”
A completely silently room echoed with a cold, shrill shriek.
Yet outside that room, everything was as serene and tranquil as it had been all night. The darkness of the night loomed ahead.