Chapter 254: The Flower Plucker Targeted Old Jiang (Part 2)

On the return journey to the sect.

“Hm?!”

Jiang Ye’s unhurried steps suddenly halted, his brows lifting slightly.

Since he had seized a strand of Hua Ning’s dual-heart spiritual essence.

His senses had long surpassed those of ordinary martial artists; even masters of the same realm could hardly hide from his perception.

At this moment, he faintly sensed a gaze clinging to him like a parasitic tick.

That gaze was cold and sticky, carrying an indescribable malevolence that made him deeply uneasy.

He stood firm, preparing to activate his Fire Eyes to scan the surroundings.

The next instant, a faint, elusive fragrance drifted into his nostrils on the mountain breeze.

The scent was sweet and rich, like flower perfume, yet also medicinal.

The moment he smelled it, Jiang Ye felt his blood and qi surge like ignited gunpowder.

A scorching heat rose from deep within his dantian, spreading along his meridians to every limb and joint.

“Is this a sedative incense?!”

Jiang Ye’s pupils contracted slightly.

Under the bright sun and open sky, someone had dared use sedative incense on him.

Could it be he’d accidentally run into that ‘famous’ Flower Plucker?

That demon’s tastes were truly grotesque—he even wanted to target an old man like him.

And his audacity was beyond ordinary recklessness.

This place was mere moments from the sect’s main gate; daring to act under the sect’s very nose explained how he’d roamed freely in Linzhou’s great city for half a year without capture.

Jiang Ye’s lips slowly curled into a chilling smile.

If this truly was that ‘famous’ Flower Plucker,

it was like picking up twenty thousand merit points for free.

Just as Jiang Ye’s thoughts shifted sharply, a hazy whisper sounded beside his ear—the voice neither male nor female, sourceless, as if someone had pressed their lips to his earlobe and murmured:

“Come... come here...”

Instantly, the scenery before him began to change.

In his mind surfaced a fox whose face was obscured, gesturing to him through a thin veil.

The fox’s clawtips glowed with an eerie pink radiance; each gesture made Jiang Ye’s blood and qi churn more violently, while his consciousness grew heavier, muffled beneath layer upon layer of gauze.

“Come...”

The hazy voice echoed again beside his ear.

The next instant,

his body moved against his will, slowly walking toward the fox’s beckoning.

“What kind of dark art is this...”

Jiang Ye’s heart tightened.

Though his consciousness was being dragged downward by that strange force, he remained largely alert.

It felt like being pinned by a ghost—he knew what he was doing, yet couldn’t control his body.

He had never encountered such an absurd phenomenon before.

Yet he felt no panic.

Skill makes one bold.

With the foundation of his Five Elements True True Qi and his newly perfected Golden Body, he could stand against even a Primordial martial artist.

And this hidden sorcerer, using such dark arts to ambush others, was surely no martial master.

He’d see who dared play this trick.

Jiang Ye let his body follow the fox’s beckoning in his mind.

After roughly half a stick of incense,

his body followed the lure into a dense forest at the foot of the sect’s mountain.

After walking further for a while,

beneath a crooked old tree in the forest, a figure in black clothing came into view.

The man was tall and gaunt, his face unnaturally soft, skin pale as death, lips curled in a sinister smile.

He was gesturing continuously toward Jiang Ye, muttering incantations—his posture identical to the beckoning fox in Jiang Ye’s mind.

“Is this the mastermind?!”

In Jiang Ye’s seemingly dazed, unfocused eyes, a cold flash of killing intent slipped through.

This man’s aura was roughly at the True Qi realm.

He lowered his eyelids, concealing the faint golden gleam in his eyes, allowing his body to be drawn step by step toward the smug, effeminate man beneath the tree.

Seeing Jiang Ye’s body slowly approach, the black-clad man’s pale face broke into an uncontrollable grin as he whispered:

“I didn’t plan to strike so soon...”

“After all, you’re an official of the main sect...”

“But your blood qi is simply too tempting!!!”

“From afar, I could already smell it...”

“And yet you foolishly left the mountain gate...”

“Then I have no choice but to take you, old man!”

As he spoke, he licked his lips and gestured again toward Jiang Ye: “Come, let me take you to your new home!”

Jiang Ye’s body followed him forward.

Another half stick of incense passed.

The black-clad man led him to a hidden cave, its entrance carved with the crooked mark: “No. 18.”

“From today, you are the Eighteenth Blood Slave.”

The black-clad man turned to gaze at Jiang Ye’s dazed expression, his soft face twisting into a sickly, satisfied smile:

“Come, let me taste your blood—I’ve waited too long!”

Saying this, he pulled out a dagger and lunged straight for Jiang Ye’s chest.

CLANG—

A piercing clang shattered the cave’s silence.

The iron dagger shattered at its tip.

The black-clad man’s pupils contracted, then he burst into laughter—not angry, but delighted: “So you’ve trained hardening arts! No wonder your blood qi is so potent—truly a divine gift!”

Green True Qi surged into his broken dagger, and he struck again, harder, at Jiang Ye’s chest.

CLANG—!!

Another even sharper clang rang out.

This time, the dagger, infused with True Qi, shattered completely into dozens of shards, clattering to the ground.

Jiang Ye’s chest bore only two tiny holes in his gray robe; his skin showed not even a white mark.

The black-clad man froze.

He stared at the empty hilt in his hand, then at Jiang Ye’s unblemished skin beneath the holes—his sinister eyes finally flickered with shock:

“What kind of hardening art is this...? My True Qi couldn’t even pierce it?!”

At that moment,

Jiang Ye, who had moments ago appeared dazed, suddenly lifted his head—his once-blurred old eyes now clear and cold: “You’re the Flower Plucker?”

The black-clad man’s heart jolted; he leapt backward like a cat stepped on, exclaiming in disbelief: “You regained your consciousness?!”

How is this possible...

He immediately checked the Guchong in his dantian.

The mark remained.

The Gushu was still intact.

He exhaled inwardly in relief, watching Jiang Ye still standing motionless, and his face twisted back into a sinister smile:

“I underestimated you—you’ve trained such powerful hardening arts; regaining a little awareness is understandable.”

“But you’re under my Gushu —there’s no way to break it...”

Before he finished speaking,

BOOM—

A chilling, absolute killing aura erupted from Jiang Ye like a gale from the deepest hell, instantly engulfing the entire cave.

The black-clad man’s sinister grin hadn’t even faded into shock.

A pair of merciless, ancient eyes had already reflected in his pupils.

“I’ve heard the Flower Plucker excels in disguise—let this old man see your true face!”