Chapter 196

That "invitation" took the form of a jade slip thin as a cicada's wing, its edges branded with dark-red flame patterns; it had appeared silently on the desk inside the quiet room of the small courtyard they rented. Beside the jade slip lay a single "Soul-Bewildering Orchid," already withered yet still faintly emitting a cloying, strange fragrance.

The three of them had not let their guard down; simple warning restrictions were laid both inside and outside the courtyard, even within the quiet room. Yet this jade slip and orchid seemed to have materialized out of thin air, triggering no alarm whatsoever. This utterly silent "gift-giving" method itself reeked of intimidation and eeriness.

Gu Yusheng condensed a wisp of sword qi at his fingertips and carefully touched the jade slip. The slip lit up faintly, showing no hostility; only a strand of divine-sense information flowed out — not as sound, but directly imprinting itself into the minds of the three:

"Long have I heard of Wanshan's outstanding disciple, the bearing of the Patrol Envoys. Today I have an important matter to discuss, concerning the true face of 'Earth Corrosion,' the secrets of the Nether Spirits, and even... the recent actions of your esteemed master, the Lingxiao Sword Venerable. I sincerely invite the three of you to meet tomorrow at the Hour of the Rooster, at 'Drunken Dream Pavilion,' Heaven-Character Room No. 3, in 'Red Lotus Market,' three hundred li south of Luoxia Creek. I especially request that Fairy Shi Ran attend in person; it concerns the anomaly of the Patrol Token in her hand. As a token of sincerity, I present one 'Soul-Bewildering Orchid'; this item shares the same source as the poison afflicting the shopkeeper of 'Rain-Preceding Abode' in Xiaqi Market, and may relieve her worry. I await your honored presence; if you are late, I will not wait."

The message cut off abruptly, and the jade slip instantly crumbled into fine powder.

The room fell into a brief silence. Mei Ruoxue's face turned slightly cold: "Red Lotus Market? That's a no-man's-land where rogue cultivators and unidentified forces mix, a chaotic den of dragons and snakes with a notorious reputation. 'Drunken Dream Pavilion' is even more famous as a pleasure house and intelligence black market. Inviting us there clearly harbors ill intent."

Gu Yusheng's brows knitted tightly: "The other party knows our whereabouts and identities like the back of their hand, even knows about Shi Ran's Patrol Token anomaly, and mentions our master... This is absolutely not something ordinary 'Earth Corrosion' peripheral members could know. I'm afraid it's a 'big fish,' possibly even one of the core figures orchestrating the layout in Luoxia Creek."

"And they named me specifically — I must go." Shi Ran gripped the Patrol Token in her sleeve; the token seemed to sense some potential threat or pull, growing faintly warm. "Using the 'Rain-Preceding Abode' shopkeeper's antidote as 'sincerity' is both a threat and bait. If we don't go, not only might we sever a crucial lead, the other party will likely grow alert and flee immediately, and might even move against the shopkeeper."

The Patrol Bureau's intelligence had just warned them to be vigilant or even withdraw, and this invitation arrived — the timing was so precise it only underscored the other side's fearlessness and the terrifying reach of their intelligence network.

"Go, or not go?" Mei Ruoxue looked at Gu Yusheng and Shi Ran. By protocol and their master's admonition, the safest choice right now was to report immediately and withdraw. But the information revealed in that invitation — the true face of 'Earth Corrosion,' the deeper secrets of Nether Spirit Ravine, the master's actions, even the Patrol Token's anomaly — every single item was like a hook, tightly catching their curiosity and sense of duty.

Gu Yusheng pondered for a long while, a sharp light flashing in his eyes: "We go! But we must make foolproof preparations. The other party chose Red Lotus Market precisely because its environment is complex, convenient for ambush or escape. Why don't we turn their plan against them? Though our master hasn't stated where he is, since he told us to crush the sword talisman if we encounter danger, he surely has arrangements. We go tomorrow to keep the appointment — first to probe the truth, second to try to lock down the other party's identity. At the same time, I will use special channels to secretly report this matter and the location to the Patrol Bureau's hidden stakes in the nearby area, requesting peripheral support."

He looked at Shi Ran, his tone solemn: "Shi Ran, since you are the one the other party named to see, you will inevitably become the focus, and the danger is greatest. Tomorrow, act according to circumstances; you must stay close to me and Ruoxue, no impulsiveness. The Patrol Token's anomaly — unless absolutely necessary, do not reveal it lightly or speak of it deeply."

Shi Ran took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her heart stirred by the secrets involving her master and the Patrol Token, her gaze firm: "I understand. Gu Yusheng, Senior Sister, we advance and retreat together."

Mei Ruoxue nodded, adding: "In a place like Red Lotus Market, concealing appearance and aura is the norm. We must also disguise ourselves, at least so no one can recognize at a glance that we are people of 'Floating Dream Sect' and the 'Patrol Bureau.'"

With the plan set, the three immediately split up to prepare. Gu Yusheng went to contact the Patrol Bureau's hidden stakes; Mei Ruoxue checked and replenished various talismans and pills, especially antidotes and those resisting divine-soul invasion; Shi Ran sat in meditation to regulate her breath, further nurturing the Patrol Token, trying through the mental connection to more clearly grasp that "ancient pure thought," hoping it might respond at the critical moment.

That "Soul-Bewildering Orchid" was carefully sealed away; though it might be a clue to the antidote, no one dared lightly trust something given by an enemy, only waiting to later hand it to someone skilled in the Dao of pills and poisons for analysis.

A night without words, only the tense feeling of an impending storm pervading the small courtyard.

The next day, before the Hour of the Rooster, three hundred li south of Luoxia Creek, Red Lotus Market.

True to its name, this market town carved and built upon a natural red sandstone landform, under the setting sun's reflection, indeed resembled a giant, demonic red lotus. Buildings were chaotic and disorderly, heights staggered, alleyways winding like a labyrinth. The air mixed the smells of inferior spices, blood, dust, and various unknown medicines. Cultivators of all shapes came and went, most with vigilant, cold eyes, their auras mixed, even revealing traces of demonic qi and ghostly qi. This was a gray zone of order; trading and killing were often separated by a single line.

The three of Gu Yusheng had already changed attire. Gu Yusheng became an ordinary-faced, steady-tempered middle-aged rogue cultivator, carrying an unremarkable iron sword on his back; Mei Ruoxue disguised herself as a female cultivator with a clear, cold face, dressed in plain-colored robes, an inconspicuous ice-jade hairpin in her hair; Shi Ran changed into a deep cyan tight-fitting outfit convenient for movement, used a face-changing pill to slightly adjust her brow and eye contours, making her charming face plain and gentle. The Patrol Token was carefully kept in a storage bag against her body, connected only by a wisp of divine sense.

The three restrained their distinct sword-cultivator auras, blending into the stream of people entering the market, utterly unremarkable.

"Drunken Dream Pavilion" lay deep in the market, a luxurious tower seven stories high, with flying eaves and dougong brackets, brightly lit, the sound of strings, pipes, and raucous laughter never ceasing. Those greeting guests at the door were not ordinary waiters, but several cultivators with condensed auras and sharp eyes, clearly doubling as guards.

Upon giving the name "Heaven-Character Room No. 3," a maid of lovely appearance and proper bearing immediately led them inside. The interior decor was extravagantly luxurious: spirit jade paved the floor, shark-silk gauze served as curtains. Along the way many cultivators could be seen drinking and making merry in elegant rooms or the main hall, beautiful companions at their sides, the auras of spiritual qi and desire intertwining and pervading.

Heaven-Character Room No. 3 was on the top floor, extremely secluded. The maid stopped outside the heavy carved wooden door, bowed, and gestured for them to enter on their own.

Gu Yusheng and Mei Ruoxue exchanged a glance, secretly raising their divine sense to the utmost, and gently pushed the door open.

The room was spacious, furnishings elegant, utterly different from the clamor and luxury outside. Calming sandalwood burned; through the window faced a steep red-rock cliff, the setting sun's afterglow plating it in a miserable, gorgeous blood-red.

Beside a zitan round table, a person was already seated.

That person wore a wide black brocade robe, cuffs and hem embroidered with complex dark-gold cloud patterns. On the face sat a bronze mask neither smiling nor crying, neither weeping nor laughing, revealing only a pair of eyes deep as ancient pools; age and features were indiscernible. He poured tea alone, movements unhurried, as if merely waiting quietly for a friend.

Most striking was the person's entire aura — obscure and unfathomable, seeming both present and absent, as if fused with the surroundings; were it not seen with one's own eyes, one could hardly detect their existence. This was no simple concealment technique, but an extremely high-level breath-restraint method, even carrying a hint of the same origin as the yin-sha of Nether Spirit Ravine, yet more pure and condensed.

"Honored guests arrive, pardon my failure to greet you afar. Please sit." The masked person's voice passed through the bronze mask, carrying a strange metallic resonance, neutral and calm, revealing no joy or anger.

Gu Yusheng and the other two did not sit immediately as bid, but stood at the door, quickly scanning the room's environment, confirming no other ambush auras.

"Are you the one who sent the invitation?" Gu Yusheng asked in a deep voice, maintaining the middle-aged rogue cultivator's tone.

"Precisely." The masked person nodded slightly, gaze sweeping over the three, pausing for an instant on Shi Ran — that gaze seemed able to pierce through the disguise, reaching straight to the source. "Daoist Gu, Daoist Mei, and Fairy Shi Ran, there's no need for such wariness. If I truly meant to act, why would I wait until now, in this place?"

He had actually seen through the three's disguised identities in a single breath!

Gu Yusheng's heart shook, but his face remained unchanged: "Your intelligence is impressive, Daoist. May I ask what matter you invited us for? And how do you know of my master and the Patrol Token?"

The masked person let out a light laugh, the laughter sounding especially hollow through the mask: "Lord Wanshan's talent is peerless; his every move tugs at how many hearts? As for the Patrol Token... heh, this token is an extraordinary thing to begin with; that it has some extraordinary reactions is hardly strange." His tone shifted: "The three of you might as well sit first, taste this 'Cloud Ridge Mist Tip'; it has a marvelous effect on calming the divine soul. We can talk slowly."

Seeing the other party seemingly bore no malice for the moment, Gu Yusheng signaled Mei Ruoxue and Shi Ran, and the three cautiously took seats opposite the masked person at the round table, forming a confrontational stance.

"First, this is the true antidote formula for the 'Soul-Bewildering Orchid,' and three finished pills." The masked person pushed over a jade slip and a small jade bottle. "The 'Rain-Preceding Abode' shopkeeper was merely an unimportant pawn, temporarily safekeeping some old items for us. The poison was laid by us, so the antidote naturally comes from us. This counts as one of our 'sincerities.'"

Mei Ruoxue carefully took the jade bottle and jade slip, briefly examined them, and with her knowledge of pills and poisons preliminarily judged the formula and pills genuine, but she did not immediately take them or fully believe, merely putting them away.

"The second sincerity," the masked person continued, fingers lightly tapping the table, "is to tell you that the 'Nine Nether Soul-Stealing Reverse Spirit Array' has five nodes in Luoxia Creek. Besides the Burial Dragon Valley and Nether Spirit Ravine you've already discovered, and the 'Black Water Pool' and 'Wind Howl Ridge' where we deliberately leaked clues to make you suspect, there is one more node — in a place you would absolutely never expect."

He paused, then spoke word by word: "It is right in Xiaqi Market, deep underground beneath the area where you daily reside and cultivate, using the daily emotional fluctuations of mortals and low-level cultivators, the faint 'human sha' generated by birth, aging, sickness, and death as a guide, slowly infiltrating and nurturing. This is the method of 'great concealment in the market'; were it not the orchestrator, it would be extremely difficult to detect."

At these words, all three were violently shaken in their hearts! The Xiaqi Market where they moved day and night was actually one of the array nodes? This was simply a massive mockery of their investigative ability, and also showed how deep and treacherous the other party's layout was.

"What purpose do you have in telling us this?" Shi Ran couldn't help asking, her voice clear and cold.

"Purpose?" The masked person looked at her, his gaze seeming to carry a trace of strange amusement. "Very simple — cooperation."

"Cooperation?" Gu Yusheng sneered. "Cooperate with 'Earth Corrosion'? Are you joking, Daoist?"

"Why not?" The masked person's tone was flat. "'Earth Corrosion' is not a monolith; what they seek is not necessarily all destruction and chaos. At least, my branch is not of the same path as those madmen who crave blood sacrifice of living beings and opening the Netherworld passage."

"Oh? Then what do you seek?"

"What we seek is the 'truth' forgotten in the 'Netherworld,' and... breaking certain inherent 'shackles.'" The masked person's voice lowered a few degrees. "And this may perhaps have a thousand threads of connection with the Patrol Token in Fairy Shi Ran's hand, and with certain ancient secrets Lord Wanshan is currently investigating."

He once again steered the topic toward the Patrol Token and Lingxiao.

Shi Ran's heart tightened, the fingers in her sleeve curling slightly.

"The secret letter Lord Wanshan obtained in Black Rock City was incomplete; the 'Eye of Guixu' and 'Ancient God's Residual Thought' mentioned within must have puzzled him." The masked person spoke slowly. "And I can provide more complete clues, even... tell you why the final core eye of the 'Nine Nether Soul-Stealing Reverse Spirit Array' requires an object possessing an 'ancient pure thought' as a catalyst to truly activate, rather than merely using a yin-sha crystal core as a crude energy source."

His gaze locked tightly onto Shi Ran: "Fairy Shi Ran, has your Patrol Token felt different since Nether Spirit Ravine? When you concentrate, can you 'see' some vague light-and-shadow fragments that do not belong to this world? Those are fragments of the 'Ancient God's Residual Thought'; by coincidence, they were absorbed by your Patrol Token. And our grand array needs it."

Shi Ran's complexion changed slightly. What the other party said actually matched her experience in several respects! Her master had also mentioned the "ancient pure thought." Could it be...

"No need for surprise." The masked person seemed quite satisfied with her reaction. "The Patrol Token is originally an ancient relic left behind as a monitoring instrument, with the foundation to gather and carry 'thoughts.' It's just that after the long years, this function mostly fell dormant. Yours happened to be activated. We can cooperate: we provide complete intelligence, help Lord Wanshan and even the Seven Sects uproot those truly dangerous 'Earth Corrosion' madmen, while you... at the appropriate time, allow us to borrow the power of that 'residual thought' within the Patrol Token to complete the 'gentle' portion of our ritual. Each takes what they need — how about it?"

The proposal sounded tempting, yet everywhere reeked of strangeness and distrust. Negotiating with a tiger for its skin — how could that be easy?

Gu Yusheng said coldly: "Empty words carry no proof. If Daoist truly has sincerity, why not show your true face and produce more concrete evidence? For instance, your branch's identity within 'Earth Corrosion,' and the specific content of your so-called 'gentle ritual.'"

The masked person fell silent for a moment; a complex glint flashed in those deep eyes. "Showing my true face is inconvenient. As for evidence..." He suddenly raised a hand, pointing toward the cliff outside the window, dyed red by the setting sun.

Only to see on that cliff face, the originally ordinary rock surface suddenly manifest countless dense, hair-thin dark-red lines; these lines rapidly spread and intertwined, forming a three-dimensional array projection of dizzying complexity covering half the cliff! At the array's core, a magnified, illusory crystal with flowing light and shadow inside could be faintly seen; its aura... actually bore a subtle resemblance to the "thought" Shi Ran sensed within the Patrol Token, yet was far more mixed and chaotic.

"This is a partial manifestation of the simplified 'Nine Nether Soul-Stealing Reverse Spirit Array' jointly formed by the five nodes of Luoxia Creek. The core's requirement, you have now seen." The masked person withdrew his hand, and the array projection swiftly faded. "Our branch, codename 'Seeking the Ancient.' Believe it or not — it's up to you."

He stood up, seemingly preparing to end the meeting: "Consider it. Three days from now, at the Hour of the Rat, if you intend to cooperate, come here again. Then I will bring more concrete intelligence, including the true core eye locations of those 'madmen.' If you don't come... then our paths differ; next time we meet, we may be enemies rather than friends."