Chapter 2259: Changing Faces

In the dark forest, everything was there—spiderwebs, wild fruits, bird feathers, insect eggs, leaves—yet none of it clung to him.

Such a person should be wandering among blooming flowers, yet now he appeared in the desolate wilds.

The hat-wearing man saw him and felt only strangeness in his heart; the other rushed straight to the ruined house—clearly coming for him.

Indeed, the blue-clad man spoke, and he startled him: "Tang Jingye?"

"Who are you?" the man frowned, sizing him up repeatedly, "What kind of prank is this?"

He had emerged from seclusion over a hundred years ago on business, only to be tricked once by his fellow sect brothers.

Those forgetful fellows—could they be repeating their old tricks again?

"The Tianwu you're waiting for won't come." The blue-clad man kindly told him, "It stole the Xuanjing warehouse in Tongyue Town, was caught last night after a failed attempt."

Tianwu, Tongyue Town! As soon as those two key words were spoken, Tang Jingye's heart skipped a beat, his gaze uncertain: "How do you know?"

"I just came from Tongyue Town." The blue-clad man sighed, "You newly emerged Xian Sect demons, having gotten some half-true, half-false news, don't realize the outside world has changed—you'll only be used as tools."

Tang Jingye's hand flashed red light, drawing his long sword, the tip pointing at him as he said:

"Are you from Cangyan?"

"I am not." The blue-clad man smiled, becoming even more handsome, "It's a shame you bear the name of an ancient great sect, yet your methods are still so petty—just stealing a bit of Xuanjing."

Tang Jingye's forehead veins twitched, wanting to speak but holding back.

Of course, the other knew his name, and naturally also knew his origin.

"What do you want?"

"I'm here to help you, to help you make things even bigger." The blue-clad man suddenly stepped forward, "But first, I want to borrow your face for a moment."

His movement seemed slow but was actually fast—he reached Tang Jingye in a single step!

"Courting death!" Tang Jingye raised his wrist, his sword forming three points of cold plum blossoms, aiming at the blue-clad man's throat, abdomen, and lower vital points. Though the motion was light and agile, the sword's aura was fierce; though the branches nearby were clearly three feet away, they were cleanly severed!

A large mountain stone to the blue-clad man's rear rear emitted a dull cracking sound, also split in two by the sword's aura.

A mountain wind blew, the forest swayed, masking all movement within.

Shortly after, a squirrel crept forward, peeking out, seeing the battle before the ruined house had already ended.

Tang Jingye collapsed beneath a pine tree, a bowl-sized hole in his chest, blood flowing freely. His long sword was flung three zhang away, embedded in the ground.

Yet he was not dead—though his head lolled, he lacked even the strength to lift his neck, but he still glared at his enemy before him.

"You… you…" Who exactly are you!

The blue-clad man stood before him, looking down, lightly licking the blood droplet from his fingernail.

That was Tang Jingye's blood.

"Quite fresh."

After saying this, his face changed, his features slightly shifting.

In just a few breaths, the blue-clad man's face became—

Tang Jingye's face!

Witnessing this, the fallen Tang Jingye widened his eyes, while the other tilted his head, matching the angle of Tang Jingye's skull.

Referring to the original template, his features underwent another fine adjustment.

These two faces were now identical, like a mirror—even the mole on the jawline was perfectly matched.

"Alright, we've been out long enough." The blue-clad man grabbed his neck with one hand and lifted him up, "We, well, I should return to the sect."

The last thing Tang Jingye saw in his life was "his own" face smiling—familiar yet terrifying.

When the next mountain wind blew, there was no trace of anyone before the ruined house.

At the chen hour, a group of riders arrived, surrounding the ruined house, led by Chen Tongling and Mao Ling Giant.

Inside and outside the house, not a ghost was seen—only the squirrels in the trees disturbed several times, chattering angrily.

Mao Ling Giant was displeased: "Could it be that the Tianwu lied again, its accomplices not even here?"

Making a futile trip was infuriating; yesterday they had been rushing night routes, it should have been catching up on sleep in this cool morning, yet instead Zhu Xiuer kicked it out to run errands.

It glanced enviously at its elder brother, the dwarf sleeping soundly on its shoulder.

At this moment, guards discovered a pool of blood beneath the pine tree behind the house.

Blood was on both the tree trunk and the ground, indicating someone had suffered severe injury here.

Chen Tongling crouched to examine: "The bloodstain hasn't changed color long—this person was injured at most an hour ago."

Mao Ling Giant reached out, rubbed the blood-stained sand, brought it to his nose to sniff, even licked a mouthful: "Human, male, likely several hundred years old, cultivation not weak—spiritual energy still lingers in the blood. Moreover, this person is probably dead."

Chen Tongling wondered: "How can you tell?"

Just by tasting a bit more, you can draw so many conclusions?

"I just tasted a small piece of flesh, a fragment from the heart valve, very fresh." Mao Ling Giant smiled, using his tongue to lick his mouth full of yellow teeth, as if savoring, "This person's heart was dug out—I see he could hardly survive."

It had been a long time since he last ate human flesh, and he missed it dearly.

"Was the Tianwu's contact killed?" Chen Tongling frowned, "Someone actually got ahead of us—could it be their enemy?"

Mao Ling Giant stood up, turned, and walked back: "Then who knows."

It's none of his business, he couldn't be bothered to think more.

……

Since he had to travel with Zhu Xiuer, Pu Hua and Sun Hongye no longer rode the mountain eagle, but switched to Mao Ling Giant's special train.

Mao Ling Giant merely looked somewhat human in appearance, actually having little blood relation to humans. They are innately gifted in earth and wood, possessing the ability to shrink land to inches; when rushing, one step can span thirty to fifty zhang.

No matter how rugged the mountains and steep the ridges, they tread as if on level ground. Sun Hongye sat on the giant's shoulder—one moment still in the valley bottom enjoying leaves brushing his face, the next moment standing on a cliff's peak feeling the mountain wind rush at him, then lowering his head to gaze into a ten-thousand-zhang abyss—how thrilling!

Only now did Sun Hongye understand why Zhu Xiuer scolded them: with such speed, they could still be late? Before battle, this fellow was likely hiding in some corner slacking off, oversleeping.

Mao Ling Giant also mentioned the ruined house incident, but the group lacked sufficient information, couldn't clarify what actually happened, and wild guessing could only be abandoned.

￥￥￥￥￥

As they walked toward Ju City, the wilderness grew sparser and the towns more prosperous; not only did the number of carriages and horses on the road increase noticeably, but birds in the sky also came and went constantly.

Both land and air were bustling.

The Giant of Mao Ridge took the less-traveled path, choosing cliffs and secluded valleys, and this strange sight often drew travelers to stop and watch, pointing and whispering, though most onlookers were filled with curiosity rather than fear.

After all, along this route there were too many extraordinary sights—even villagers who came out to see the world, after seeing them again and again, had broadened their horizons.

Aside from that, on this plain where they were currently traveling, small whirlwinds often danced about, generally following the main roads or smaller paths.