NOVEL NEXT Chapter 176 - Map Acquired
They all turned slowly to look at the young man again, now vanishing into the forest path ahead.
"…He's not just strong," said Lanky, voice hushed. "He's what every man wants to be."
"Crimson and gold eyes… that's some divine bloodline shit."
"Cat in hand. Harem behind. Destroys undead by existing."
"…I need to cultivate harder."
"I need to stop cultivating. Clearly I'm doing it wrong."
"Let's follow him."
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
"I mean, respectfully."
"Even respectfully, that's how you get turned into a training dummy."
"…Do you think one of the redheads is single?"
"…Bro."
"…Right, sorry."
They turned back to each other, still dazed, still very much covered in dirt, blood, and emotional trauma.
And somehow, the undead had become the second scariest thing they'd seen that day.
---
The moment the divine individuals disappeared into the forest's folds, the three cultivators looked at each other—no words exchanged, just pure, frantic understanding.
"RUN!" Lanky screamed.
They sprinted.
Bushes flew past. Mud splattered. Their feet barely touched the ground. They moved like men possessed—not by ghosts, but by hope.
"There he is—there he is!" Crooked Nose pointed as they caught a glimpse of the young man's back, still casually walking with his cat, surrounded by an aura of indifference so profound it might as well have been a divine wall.
Then—
Screeeeeeech!
All three slid on their feet like wild boars trying to brake on ice, dirt flying, arms flailing—
THUD!
They slammed their foreheads to the ground in a bow so synchronized it looked rehearsed.
"PLEASE, SENIOR, MAKE US YOUR DISCIPLES!" they yelled in unison.
Kyle stopped.
Just like that.
A breeze passed. The forest grew still. Even the cat blinked once, lazily, like it too was waiting for a punchline.
He turned, gaze narrowed, voice calm.
"…Who are you three?"
The three cultivators blinked rapidly, panic rising like boiling soup. Lanky opened his mouth. Nothing came. Crooked Nose fumbled. Bucktooth slapped his own chest and spoke up first:
"W-We are disciples from… uh… the Cloud-Drowning Mist Sect!"
"Right!" Crooked Nose jumped in, nodding so hard his neck cracked. "Hidden sect, real lowkey. We cultivate mist techniques. Very… foggy."
Lanky raised a shaky hand. "I'm Wu Shushu, he's Feng Fong, that's Dao Bao. We're the… uh… core disciples of the Three Broken Pillars lineage."
There was a silence.
Kyle stared at them like they were three particularly loud mushrooms.
He turned slightly, speaking to the silver-haired swordswoman behind him.
"Olea. You ever heard of them?"
Olea, standing with her hands behind her back, expression unreadable, simply shook her head.
"No."
The black-haired woman in the white blouse and pencil skirt stepped forward—Aleriana.
Her sharp sapphire eyes swept over the trio as if dissecting them on the spot. She didn't speak at first, letting the silence linger before her voice cut in—elegant, but edged.
"Where is this… Cloud-Drowning Mist Sect located?"
The three looked at each other, telepathically agreeing on a lie in less than half a second.
"Uh—East side of the Whitebone Plateau!" Feng Fong yelped.
"Yeah! Just past the Withered Claw Forest!" Dao Bao added, trying to sound confident.
"Fine. Next question: those among you who answer first will be rewarded." Aleriana, already observing a peculiarity in these three, who had such a low layer of cultivation strength, had arrived here with suspicion. The glint in her sapphire eyes went unnoticed by the trio.
"Yes, anything! Ask us anything! I will reply first!"
"No, I will!"
"Shut up, bastards! The fairy clearly wants me to answer!"
"…"
Kyle was observing them but did not take any steps, given he did not feel threatened. Their stats weren't even worth considering as variables. So he remained silent and let Aleriana take the lead, curious whether she would find anything of value.
Of course, he felt their gazes lingering on his women, but what could he do? His women were just that beautiful. He couldn't go around poking out every eye that looked their way.
"Then tell me—who among you has the shortcut map?" Aleriana asked.
After observing the three, noting how they'd been cornered by the undead—far outnumbered—yet had managed to venture so deep into the forest, she suspected they'd avoided the first undead circle via a hidden route. She cut to the heart of it, asking a question they would be compelled to answer.
"I HAVE THIS!"
In unison, all three of them raised their hands, blurting the reply.
Aleriana narrowed her gaze, skeptical at first, but then realized they weren't that stupid. Apparently, all three of them had memorized the map.
The moment their hands shot up and the words left their mouths, time seemed to pause.
Then—
All three slapped their mouths shut at once.
PA!
Eyes widened. Hearts skipped. Reality hit like a flying spiritual frying pan.
"…Shit," muttered Wu Shushu behind his fingers.
They looked at each other, horror mirrored perfectly in their muddy, scratched-up faces.
What had they just done?
What… had they just said?
Their thoughts spun wildly, brain fog turning into panic mist.
'We just admitted it. We just admitted we have the shortcut. To her. To them.'
A slow realization crept up their spines like a ghost fingering their nerves:
'There's no trust here.'
'If one of us dies… the other two still have the map memorized.'
That's why they'd all remembered it—to prevent betrayal.
And now?
They'd volunteered the truth. Together. Like fools in a talent show.
The air felt heavier.
The woman in front of them—beautiful, yes—but now her sapphire eyes were sharp enough to cut spirit threads. That elegance? It wasn't soft anymore. It was lethal. Like a sword in a velvet glove.
The three cultivators visibly flinched.
Their bodies trembled, cold sweat blooming as they stared at Aleriana—who hadn't even moved yet, and still made their legs shake.
"W-We're dead," whispered Dao Bao.
"We're gonna become soul slaves," Wu Shushu whimpered.
"I just remembered I never told my mother I loved her," Feng Fong added, biting his sleeve.
And then—
A voice.
Smooth. Male. Calm. Dangerous.
Kyle, still watching from behind, arms crossed casually, said:
"Oh. So we can extract the information directly from their brains too."
That broke them.
FLINCH.
All three jerked back as if stabbed by invisible needles.
Then—
A movement.
A blur of red.
The air shifted. The trees rustled as if ducking for cover.
And there she was.
A woman with crimson hair stepped forward from the group, her eyes burning blood-red, calm lips curled just slightly into a smile that did not reach her murderous gaze.
A red aura rose around her like mist made of melted metal.
It smelled like rust.
It smelled like blood.
It tasted like danger.
And it sent them spiraling into instinct.
All three shrank back.
"Y-You…!"
Their voices overlapped, filled with dread, eyes wide as saucers.
"Aren't you the Blood Demoness?!"
The red-haired woman tilted her head slightly, as if hearing a question too stupid to warrant a reply.
And yet, she answered.
Her voice was soft. Dangerously soft. The kind that made you want to run without knowing why.
"I thought you already figured that out."
That smile widened—fractionally.
The three cultivators collapsed forward again, heads slamming to the ground harder this time. Not out of reverence. Out of sheer, animalistic fear.
"PLEASE SPARE US!"
"We're just ants! Dust! Bacteria!"
"We don't even want the shortcut anymore!"