Chapter 38: Sumeru Bag! Squeezing Makes You Healthier! (2-in-1 Chapter)

Still warm?

Warm your sister!

Looking at Yu'er's cheeks, which were suffused with a dark, deathly aura, Chen Mo rubbed his brow.

He hadn't expected that the top star of the Qingya Pavilion would actually be a plant buried by the Prince.

It was understandable, though; his predecessor was a well-known romantic fool in Tian Du City who had torn up a marriage contract for a courtesan, disregarding his family's interests.

And Yu'er was stunningly beautiful, with a slender figure and mastery of the zither—she was essentially a lower-tier substitute for Gu Manzhi.

As for why she was a lower-tier one—

The bewitching, soul-stirring charm of the Extreme Yin Charmer Physique was something others could not imitate.

Even though Gu Manzhi’s physique had not yet fully matured and she deliberately restrained her aura in daily life, she still garnered countless admirers and became the head of the five top courtesans of the Music Bureau.

Yu'er’s temperament was not bad, but compared to that enchantress, she paled in comparison.

"Actually, I don't mind a honey trap; there's no need to be so secretive..."

"The problem is that Yu'er is dead now, and there's no telling what the Prince might do next..."

Just as Chen Mo was frowning in thought, "Yu'er's" cherry lips parted, and a paper person poked its head out from her mouth.

"My lord, it's still warm. Do you really not want to..."

"Shut up!"

Chen Mo snapped.

The paper person shrank its head and ducked back inside.

This scene made Chen Mo frown—going in and out of someone else's body was really quite rude!

However, this did spark an idea in his mind.

Chen Mo turned his head to look at Gu Manzhi and asked, "If you used a paper person to imitate Yu'er, how similar could you make it?"

"Why are you asking this... Oh~"

Gu Manzhi realized, smiling, "You want me to impersonate Yu'er, deceive the Prince, and act as a double agent?"

Chen Mo spread his hands and said frankly, "It's just mutual benefit. Since you have to stay at the Music Bureau, you need a decent identity. What kind of information could a little maid possibly dig up?"

Gu Manzhi blinked, "Then you aren't going to kill me?"

Chen Mo snorted coldly, "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it long ago. Would I have kept you until now?"

"But I'll say this first: if you dare to plot against the Chen family again, I will definitely execute you without mercy!"

Hearing his fierce tone, Gu Manzhi’s eyes grew slightly hazy, and the corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably.

Hmph, what a hypocrite; he clearly just can't bear to part with me...

Chen Mo had his own considerations.

When he was only a seventh-rank martial artist, he could injure Gu Manzhi as long as he struck first.

Now that his strength was far beyond what it used to be, he figured she wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble.

But if something were to happen to Gu Manzhi, and the Moon Radiance Sect sent over a Grandmaster, or even if that Holy Master came in person... the trouble would be quite significant!

No matter how he looked at it, keeping her for now was the best choice.

"And I can still farm favorability rewards while I'm at it."

"But then again, my predecessor licked her boots for so long to no avail, yet I gained so much after hitting her once. Could she have the same physique as Li Yuan..."

["Gu Manzhi" favorability increased.]

[Current progress: 47/100 (Regret not meeting sooner).]

Chen Mo: "..."

Paper Puppet Arts are divided into two types.

One is "creating from thin air," similar to the method Gu Manzhi used on Chen Mo before.

The prerequisite is that it must be nourished with the original owner's essence blood. The longer it is nourished, the more realistic the paper person becomes. To achieve both form and spirit, it takes at least a month.

Yu'er was already cold, so this method was naturally useless.

That left only the second method: the paper person enters the corpse, "reborn" by borrowing the shell to take its place.

"I followed Yu'er for a while, so I can imitate her words and actions to about seventy or eighty percent. If I drive a wandering soul to attach to it and practice for a while, it shouldn't be easily seen through."

"But the problem is that her soul is extinguished, and she is deathly still, with no vitality at all..."

Before Gu Manzhi could finish speaking, Chen Mo pressed his finger to the center of Yu'er's brow. With that as the center, a verdant green light spread out, and the originally dark, deathly face quickly became fair and delicate, the death aura swept away.

Lying there quietly, she looked as if she had merely fallen into a deep sleep.

"Is this okay now?"

Chen Mo asked.

Gu Manzhi’s lips parted, but she couldn't speak.

Just how many methods does this guy have?

I really feel more and more that he is unfathomable...

Chen Mo said, "I left a wisp of life essence in her body. It should last about seven days, and I will come to replenish it then."

A dead body cannot retain vitality, so it must be injected periodically.

Fortunately, it was only to maintain her appearance, so the consumption of essence was very small. With the reserves in his apertures, he could keep it up for a year or so without any problems.

"Yu'er" slowly sat up, constantly adjusting her expressions and movements.

At first, she was a bit stiff, but she gradually became natural.

A pair of watery eyes looked at Chen Mo, and her red lips parted slightly:

"My lord, how about..."

"Get lost."

"..."

Chen Mo couldn't be bothered with her and went to the faceless person's corpse to rummage through it.

He found a black pouch the size of a palm in the abdominal cavity.

It was embroidered with golden thread depicting mist-shrouded mountains. He didn't know what material it was, but it felt as smooth as silk and had the suppleness of animal hide.

He opened it to look, and it was empty inside.

"A ghost cultivator actually carrying such an exquisite pouch... By the way, where did that bronze lamp he was holding earlier go?"

Gu Manzhi caught a glimpse of this, a flash of surprise in her eyes, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be a Sumeru Bag... Why don't you try dripping a drop of fresh blood on it?"

"Sumeru Bag?"

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment.

Without hesitation, he used his true qi to force a drop of blood from his fingertip and let it fall onto the surface of the pouch.

As if a sponge absorbing water, the blood was quickly absorbed, and he seemed to develop a vague connection with the pouch.

He turned the pouch over and shook it.

Clatter, clatter—

A pile of miscellaneous items fell out and rolled all over the floor.

"Is this... a game inventory?!"

Chen Mo’s eyes lit up.

Gu Manzhi sighed, "I didn't expect this ghost cultivator to have such a treasure on him. You're quite lucky."

Chen Mo asked curiously, "Is this thing rare?"

"Of course."

Gu Manzhi said, "This is more precious than any magic treasure. A mustard seed holding Mount Sumeru, a speck of dust hiding the great thousand worlds—it involves the supreme principles of the Dao. Ordinary master craftsmen cannot forge it... I have only ever seen one on my Master."

Chen Mo thought that made sense.

This thing could be considered a "spatial magic treasure," so it naturally couldn't be common goods.

He tried to sink his consciousness into it, and his vision went black as if he had entered another space.

It was pitch black and deep, but he could perceive the boundaries—about seven feet square. It wasn't very large, but it was enough to store some personal belongings.

Chen Mo picked up the water cup on the table, moved his mind, and the cup suddenly disappeared.

With another flick, it appeared in his hand again.

After testing the cup, he started testing the table and chairs... for a while, he played with it happily.

After testing, he found that as long as items were within a foot of his body, excluding living things, they could be directly stored in the pouch.

Good treasure!

Looting corpses really is a good habit!

After getting bored, Chen Mo began to count the remaining belongings of the Ghost Daoist.

[Earth-grade high-rank magic treasure: Soul-Guiding Lamp.]

[Uses living souls as wicks and human fat as oil to attract wandering souls and strengthen ghost entities.]

Looking at the bronze lamp in his hand, Chen Mo was a bit surprised.

A spatial magic treasure Sumeru Bag, a Heaven-grade mid-rank soul-summoning banner, and now an Earth-grade high-rank magic treasure... This Ghost Daoist was truly filthy rich!

What kind of organization is the Ghost-Devouring Sect anyway?

"By the way, you said that the Ghost-Devouring Sect was wiped out. What happened?"

Chen Mo asked aloud.

Gu Manzhi said indifferently, "Just like the Moon Radiance Sect, their entire clan was slaughtered by Imperial Consort Yu."

Chen Mo: "..."

In the original plot, the Moon Radiance Sect was a major sect in Qingzhou, holding territory and relying on their martial prowess; they were unwilling to submit to Imperial Consort Yu and even publicly beheaded the envoy who came to negotiate.

As a result, they were tragically wiped out three days later!

Only the Sect Master, who was in seclusion at the time, and a few disciples who were out training managed to survive.

It would be no exaggeration to call it a blood feud.

That is why they are sparing no effort to deal with Yu Youhan, and the Chen family was the breakthrough point chosen from the very beginning...

Seeing that Gu Manzhi's expression was not quite right, Chen Mo tactfully did not continue this topic.

He continued to check the relics.

Besides that bronze lamp, there was also an ancient book with a primitive and worn cover, on which the words "Ghost Book" were written in a scrawl.

After flipping through it roughly, he saw it was all about refining living souls and ghost-driving techniques, which were very evil; Chen Mo was not interested in this and threw it directly into his Sumeru pouch.

The rest were just bones, human fat, blood beads... and other items used by ghost cultivators.

There wasn't even a single tael of silver...

Chen Mo stuffed these miscellaneous items and the corpse of the Ghost Daoist into the pouch all at once, put away the sound-insulation array, and cleaned up the scene.

Then he walked to the bed and lay down on the couch fully clothed.

Gu Manzhi was stunned for a moment, "What are you..."

"Sleeping."

Chen Mo said in a muffled voice with his eyes tightly shut.

Having absorbed too much soul power just now, he felt a sense of floating; although his consciousness was extremely sharp, his movements were half a beat slow, as if there were a delay.

But he did not understand soul-refining methods, so he could only try his best to relax his mind and let his body adapt to this "delay."

"It seems that improving too quickly is not a good thing."

"When I have time, I'll go to the Empress and squeeze a soul-refining technique out of her..."

Seeing that Chen Mo was motionless, it seemed as if he had really fallen asleep.

Gu Manzhi sat by the bed, resting her chin on her hand, gazing at that handsome and rugged face.

Her hazy eyes were slightly moist, and a faint blush appeared on her pretty face; no one knew what she was thinking.

The Hour of the Rat had already passed its midpoint.

The guests in the wine house had all dispersed, each taking a girl to sleep.

Only Li Yuan remained, drinking by herself, with empty wine jars scattered all over the table and floor.

Her originally heroic brows and eyes became blurred, like the misty rain of Jiangnan in March; her lips, lightly touched with rouge, appeared even more vivid, and a flushed red seeped out from her fair skin, like morning clouds reflecting on snow.

She was drunk.

As a sixth-rank martial artist, Li Yuan could have completely used her true essence to dispel the alcohol, but she did not do so; it seemed that by numbing herself this way, the frustration in her heart could be a little less.

But for some reason, the face of that lecher always flashed before her eyes, and it was becoming clearer and clearer.

Gulp, gulp, gulp~

Li Yuan held up the wine jar and drank deeply, the wine flowing from the corner of her mouth, down her neck, and into the mountain ravine.

"Out of wine again... someone, bring more wine!"

After a long while, no one answered.

Li Yuan frowned, stood up, and walked unsteadily toward the inner room.

She lifted the curtain, passed through the corridor, and walked into a tea room paved with soft carpets.

The air was filled with calming incense, and a full set of white jade tea sets was placed on the tea table.

Li Yuan had come to find wine, not to drink tea.

There was another door behind the tea room; she walked over, pushed it open, and entered a rather luxuriously decorated bedroom. The most eye-catching thing in the room was a large bed; judging by its size, it would be enough for four people to sleep on.

Although Li Yuan's head was a bit dizzy, she knew where she had broken into.

Subconsciously, she wanted to exit the room.

Suddenly, her feet stopped, and she turned her head to look at the bed, a trace of bitterness flashing in the depths of her eyes.

Biting her lip with her teeth, she hesitated for a long time before slowly walking over.

Lifting the canopy, she discovered that there were actually three people lying on the bed.

Li Yuan rubbed her eyes and muttered in a low voice: "Looks like I drank too much, I'm seeing double..."

She squinted her eyes, carefully distinguishing them, and saw Chen Mo lying on the outside; she reached out and grabbed Chen Mo's wrist, wanting to pull him up.

"Chen Mo, get up... I, I have something I want to tell you..."

"Mm..."

Under the numbness of alcohol, Li Yuan was weak all over and failed to pull Chen Mo up; instead, she fell onto the bed herself.

Just as she was struggling to get up, she was pulled into an embrace, with an arm draped over her body, pinning her down so she couldn't move.

Waves of heat came from the strong embrace, making Li Yuan's whole body burn even through her clothes; the drunkenness surged up, and her last bit of consciousness and strength dissipated together.

Chen Mo had a dream.

He dreamed that he was buying steamed buns on the street.

The vendor lifted the steamer, and the steaming buns had just come out of the pot; he began to choose carefully.

"This batch is steamed well, soft and fluffy, and the size is just right."

"This batch is a bit smaller, but it's light and delicate, full of airiness; it should also be quite delicious."

"Stop it... it tickles..."

The vendor looked at him shyly.

"?"

Chen Mo's consciousness returned to clarity, and he slowly opened his eyes.

The bright morning sun spilled into the room, passing through the light gauze canopy onto the bed; as his vision focused, Chen Mo's expression gradually stiffened.

He saw Li Yuan hugging his arm tightly, sleeping very soundly; the sunlight falling on her white-and-red face made her look somewhat like a naive girl next door.

Her lips were slightly pouted, and she mumbled in a low voice, "No, three people is not okay..."

Chen Mo: "..."

He turned his head to the right.

Gu Manzhi had shed her disguise at some point and was snuggled in his arms.

That face, which could topple kingdoms, was as flawless as jade; in her deep sleep, she lacked her usual seductive allure and instead appeared pure and lovely.

She was resting on Chen Mo's arm, and Chen Mo's palm happened to be resting on...

Chen Mo took a deep breath and carefully withdrew his hand from their necklines.

"Hmm?"

Li Yuan's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she woke up from her sleep.

Her confused eyes slowly became clear; she looked at the man beside her, then looked down at her own chest.

Her face flushed rapidly, as bright as a sunset cloud!

"You lecher, you actually, actually..."

It wasn't enough that he hit that place of hers last time, this time he actually changed locations!

Before Chen Mo could explain, Gu Manzhi, who was lying on the other side, rubbed her eyes and murmured:

"What time is it now... Hmm!?"

The three of them stared at each other with wide eyes, and the atmosphere instantly froze.

"Lecher, where did she come from?"

"Chen Mo, who is she?!"

Li Yuan and Gu Manzhi asked almost in unison.

Just then, "Yu'er," who was curled up in the corner, sat up straight, stretched her waist, and turned to look at Chen Mo:

"My dear, it's really warm this time, are you sure you don't want to try it?"

"..."