Chapter 571: The Ghost Infant's Kiss

Duan Rong looked at the Green Flame Grass leaf in his hand with a grave expression.

Guo Tian glanced at Duan Rong. He knew Duan Rong had been searching for Green Flame Grass, but this place was truly too dangerous now; although the ghost infant Evil Spirit had been startled away, it could return at any moment.

Holding up a torch, Guo Tian suddenly said, "Duan Rong, Xu Hui, you two take over guard duty for Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue. We must leave here as quickly as possible."

The group gazed into the surrounding darkness with expressions of terror. The ghost infant hiding deep within the darkness might pounce out at any moment... No one opposed Guo Tian's opinion; everyone wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

Duan Rong and Xu Hui each lit another torch and stood on either side of the group to keep watch. Now, four torches surrounded the group, illuminating the area around them more brightly.

Jiang Hanyan huddled in the center of the group, supported by Su Xinjue; she had been extremely terrified and only now slowly stopped sobbing.

The group walked faster toward the exit at the end, their expressions all somewhat uneasy. After all, that ghost infant was somewhere in this darkness, and it might even be following them nearby.

Although the group was panicked the whole way, the latter half of the journey was quite smooth. When they reached the side of the exit and saw daylight shining in through a half-meter-wide crack in the giant rocks, dispelling the darkness near the exit, their hearts all eased slightly.

Guo Tian stood by the exit holding a torch, letting the four people in the center of the group go out first, followed by Duan Rong and Xu Hui. After the two walked out, Guo Tian glanced at the deathly pale Yang Sui and said, "Yang Sui, you go out first."

"Many thanks!" Yang Sui said as he stepped out.

Guo Tian stood there, scanned the surrounding darkness, and also quickly stepped out.

As soon as the group saw the bright daylight outside, their expressions all relaxed significantly, and they all revealed smiles of having survived a disaster.

Du Wan said, "How unlucky! We just encountered an Evil Spirit by the water pool last night, and we actually ran into another one here just now. If it weren't for Instructor Lin and Instructor Liu repeatedly saying there were at most two Evil Spirits in here, I would have thought this God-Demon Relic was crawling with them!?"

In fact, what Du Wan said was also what everyone was thinking. They were indeed a bit unlucky to have run into two Evil Spirits in a row just after entering the God-Demon Relic. The instructors hadn't taught them about this kind of situation during training!

At this moment, Su Xinjue's expression suddenly changed. Looking at the back of Jiang Hanyan's neck, she said, "Hanyan, what is this thing on the back of your neck?"

Hearing this, Jiang Hanyan was slightly stunned and said, "What thing?"

As she spoke, she reached out to touch the back of her neck, but she didn't feel anything, so she turned her head and looked at Su Xinjue with a strange expression.

"There's a dark, blurry lump," Su Xinjue said, reaching out to wipe it. Her expression was slightly shocked as she said, "It doesn't seem to wipe off!"

Jiang Hanyan panicked slightly because she could tell that Su Xinjue's expression was serious and she wasn't just talking nonsense.

At this time, everyone else gathered around to look at the back of Jiang Hanyan's neck.

Su Xinjue pushed aside Jiang Hanyan's hair and flipped down her collar, letting Jiang Hanyan's snow-white neck be completely exposed.

Although it was somewhat unseemly for a woman to be watched by so many men, Su Xinjue already sensed the evil nature of that thing and no longer dared to use her hand to wipe it.

Jiang Hanyan asked with a deathly pale face, "What exactly is that thing on my neck?"

Her eyes were full of fear at this moment. She was afraid that the thing was related to the ghost infant Evil Spirit they had encountered earlier; after all, that thing had stayed on her back for quite a while. The methods Evil Spirits used to harm people were varied and unfathomable—Lin Youjian and Liu Su had lectured on this plenty during training.

Lu Chu stared at the two cyan-black flaps on the back of Jiang Hanyan's neck for a while and suddenly said, "This looks like a lip print!?"

"A lip print!?" Jiang Hanyan's expression froze; she didn't understand at first.

But once Lu Chu said that, everyone reacted. "Yes, it's a lip print! Look, these wrinkles..."

Jiang Hanyan wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging herself; she had understood. That ghost infant Evil Spirit had actually kissed a lip print onto her neck.

A ghost infant's kiss!?

She didn't know what this meant, but it was clearly not a good thing.

Jiang Hanyan panicked for a moment, then suddenly looked up with a fierce expression. She looked at Su Xinjue and said, "Xinjue, where is that lip print? Point it out to me."

Su Xinjue took Jiang Hanyan's hand and pressed it onto the lip print on the back of her neck, saying, "Right here, in the middle of the back of your neck."

Jiang Hanyan pressed her two fingertips there and began to rub hard, rubbing with increasing force.

Before long, blood was already flowing from her fair neck.

Su Xinjue grabbed Jiang Hanyan's hand. "Hanyan, have you lost your mind?!"

Jiang Hanyan's expression was somewhat ferocious, not knowing if it was caused by the repeated shocks.

Only then did Jiang Hanyan realize that her two fingers were already covered in blood. She couldn't care about much else and hurriedly asked, "Is that lip print still there?"

A flash of fear crossed everyone's eyes at this moment.

They looked at the center of Jiang Hanyan's fair neck; the area there had been rubbed until it was a bloody mess, but the cyan-black lip print remained clear, not even a single detail of its fine wrinkles changed.

"How is this possible!? This is too sinister!"

Duan Rong stood there, also looking at the cyan-black lip print on Jiang Hanyan's neck, his eyes deep and flickering.

That lip print was clearly left by the ghost infant.

As for the ghost infant's goal and what was strange about the lip print, it was currently impossible to know, but the methods of an Evil Spirit were absolutely unfathomable.

Just as everyone was in a panic, Duan Rong suddenly said, "You all rest here for an hour, and while you're at it, wait for me."

"Wait for you!?" The group looked at Duan Rong with confused expressions.

Duan Rong said, "I need to go back for a trip."

"Go back for a trip!?"

Hearing this, the group's expressions all turned to shock.

Guo Tian looked at Duan Rong with a strange expression and asked, "Is it because of the Green Flame Grass?"

Duan Rong nodded. Everyone knew he was looking for Green Flame Grass.

Du Wan said, "Duan Rong, there are Evil Spirits in there!?"

Du Wan couldn't understand; that ghost infant was so sinister, and the ghost infant's kiss lip print it left on Jiang Hanyan's neck—who knew what its intent was? At a time like this, Duan Rong actually wanted to return to that dark space.

Duan Rong said, "Green Flame Grass has harsh requirements for its growing environment; it can only grow in shady, damp places. And mature Green Flame Grass is even rarer. If I give up on the Green Flame Grass here, I don't know if I'll be able to find any more in the God-Demon Relic!"

Xu Hui, who usually didn't speak much, looked at Duan Rong and said, "Brother Duan, Green Flame Grass is indeed rare, but is it really worth taking such a risk for it?"

Duan Rong said with a firm gaze, "Green Flame Grass is very important to me!"

Everyone could see Duan Rong's determination, and some of the words they had intended to use to persuade him were swallowed back down.

Duan Rong said, "Wait for me here for an hour. If I haven't returned after an hour, you all leave; there's no need to wait any longer!"

After finishing, Duan Rong didn't look back as he stepped into the half-meter-wide rock crack not far away and his figure disappeared.

The group's expressions were somewhat ugly; if something happened to Duan Rong, it would be a significant loss for them. Only Su Xinjue stood in the crowd, her eyes flickering. She was thinking that there were Evil Spirits in there; if Duan Rong died inside, she wouldn't have to do it herself, and she could still report back to her master.

After Duan Rong stepped into the rock crack, he pulled out a Fire Folder and lit a torch again. His two hands had been wearing the Phosphor Silk Gloves since earlier and had not been taken off.

He held a torch in one hand, and with a flip of his other hand, he grabbed the blood-red Red Bridal Veil.

Within his Spirit Sea, only one Soul Piercing Needle remained, and since he still had no idea where the Ghost Infant's true body was, he felt very little confidence in relying on this Soul Piercing Needle.

However, the Ghost Infant was clearly very afraid of this Red Bridal Veil. Perhaps he could use this item to suppress the Ghost Infant and harvest some mature Green Flame Grass.

Duan Rong stood in the daylight at the edge of the crevice, took a look at the thick darkness not far away, and then took a large step inside.

Just as he stepped into the darkness, his heart suddenly stirred, and he released his Divine Sense.

During the ten days of intensive training, Lin Youjian had told them that within the God-Demon Relic, Divine Sense probing could not be used.

Therefore, from the moment he entered this God-Demon Relic, Duan Rong had never released his Divine Sense.

But earlier, during the struggle with the "Ghost Bride" Evil Spirit by the pool, he discovered that the Soul Piercing Needle could be used, and its power was quite astonishing.

Because of this, the moment he stepped into the darkness, he wanted to try Divine Sense probing to see if it was truly completely unusable as Lin Youjian had said.

The instant his Divine Sense was released, a flash of astonishment crossed Duan Rong's eyes.

The world around him probed by his Divine Sense was as if filled with thick fog; he could see nothing clearly, and even the area illuminated by the torchlight at his feet was obscured by the thick fog...

"This... Lin Youjian was right after all... Divine Sense probing is completely unusable within the God-Demon Relic..."

It would not be easy for Duan Rong to find the place where the Green Flame Grass grew in this pitch-black space, so he was somewhat unwilling to give up and tried Divine Sense probing. If this Divine Sense probing had even the slightest effect, it would still be more reliable than holding a torch and searching blindly in the dark.

However, the Divine Sense probing that was always effective in the Jiuzhou World seemed unable to penetrate the air within this God-Demon Relic.

In fact, within this God-Demon Relic, the broken wills of gods and demons floated everywhere; over endless years, these god-demon wills had continuously blurred and fractured, floating in this world like mist.

Because these mist-like god-demon wills existed in the air, human Divine Sense probing could not penetrate them.

The reason the Soul Piercing Needle could be used was that its penetrating power far exceeded that of Divine Sense probing; if an ordinary person in the Jiuzhou World were hit by a Soul Piercing Needle, their Divine Soul would shatter and they would die instantly.

Although these floating mists of god-demon wills could block the penetration of Divine Sense probing, they could not stop the Soul Piercing Needle.

Duan Rong immediately retracted his Divine Sense; since Divine Sense probing was useless, how was he to find the Green Flame Grass in this pitch-black space? And there was still a Ghost Infant Evil Spirit lurking somewhere, unknown.

He gradually walked into the depths of the darkness, his expression growing increasingly somber and heavy.

Duan Rong decided to first return to the place where the Ghost Infant had initially attacked them, which was the very center of this space.

Rather than searching blindly in the dark, he preferred to first identify a priority area.

That Green Flame Grass leaf had clearly been brought by the Ghost Infant, and the place where the Ghost Infant first attacked them might not be far from where the Green Flame Grass grew.

Duan Rong stood in the center of this space, surrounded by thick darkness, and a touch of fear could not help but rise in his heart.

Since the Ghost Infant had attacked them here before, it was very likely to attack him as well; he could not afford to be anything but careful.

Duan Rong held the torch in one hand and grabbed the Red Bridal Veil with the other; as he walked, he spun the Red Bridal Veil in his hand as if performing a two-person folk dance.

Duan Rong scanned his surroundings with a cold gaze; the blood-red Red Bridal Veil, illuminated by the torchlight, spun with flickering red shadows, looking quite eerie. He was not doing this to show off; he wanted to scare away the Ghost Infant that was lurking in the darkness, waiting for an opportunity to act.

He walked for a while, then his nose suddenly twitched; he smelled a strange odor.

"What is this smell?!" Duan Rong's nose twitched lightly, his gaze flickering in the darkness.

In his mind, the text he had seen during training regarding the characteristics of Green Flame Grass flashed by. He remembered it very clearly, almost not a single word wrong.

Even mature Green Flame Grass has no scent when it blooms.

It was just like the crabapple flowers of his past life on Blue Star, which have no fragrance.

Even so, Duan Rong always felt that the faint strange odor here was related to the Green Flame Grass.

Because as he had walked along earlier, he was very certain that in this space, only this middle area had that faint strange odor floating about. And this place was where the Ghost Infant had attacked them; there must be some connection between these things.

Thinking this, Duan Rong suddenly bit the torch in his mouth and took out the Green Flame Grass leaf he had picked up here earlier.

He held the leaf and sniffed it in front of his nose, a flash of doubt crossing his eyes as he secretly thought: "That doesn't seem right, the leaf doesn't have much of a smell either!"

Duan Rong's brows suddenly furrowed; he rubbed his two fingers together, crushing a clump in the middle of the leaf into a pulp between his fingers.

He brought the crushed leaf pulp to his nose and sniffed it again.

This time, Duan Rong's expression changed abruptly!

The crushed leaf and the strange odor floating here were exactly the same smell!

No matter how it happened, it was clear that the strange odor floating here was the smell of crushed Green Flame Grass leaves.

Duan Rong immediately began to search, sniffing the scent. He kept twitching his nose, judging the intensity of the odor, often walking in one direction only to turn back again.

Gradually, he finally locked onto the direction.

He walked toward a corner of this pitch-black space, his nose twitching lightly, the strange odor he smelled becoming more and more intense.

Just then, Duan Rong suddenly discovered a Green Flame Grass leaf at his feet!

His heart stirred, and he continued to walk forward, seeing Green Flame Grass leaves appearing on the ground one after another, though they were sparse! But this meant he had found the right place!

After walking a bit further, the leaves on the ground gradually became more numerous, and suddenly he looked at the place not far ahead.

He saw that the ground there was almost covered in Green Flame Grass leaves... just like mouse droppings near a mouse nest...

(End of chapter)