NOVEL NEXT Chapter 289 Encounter
Under the wooden house.
In the first cavern.
Listening to the constant sound of water, feeling the moist air within the cavern, Chen Mu finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Are we out?" Wu Ruo supported Shi Xian with her left hand and carried Ai Ji around his waist with her right hand as if she was carrying a chick.
"For the time being," Chen Mu maintained the Seven Souls Return to Origin.
He took out two Mustard Seed Talismans and quickly gathered the dried fish and jerky stored within the cavern.
Ever since he penetrated the underground Yin River, he had been stockpiling food.
"Pack, pack as much as you can," Chen Mu instructed Wu Mountain's six siblings.
Peng Yue Mountain was no place to stay, and after leaving, they would certainly have to trek through the deep forests and mountains for some time.
These provisions would come in handy.
The six siblings exchanged glances and immediately sprang into action. Even the weakened foursome of Ai Ji mustered their strength to help.
"Mr. Gongsun, were you planning to leave all along?" Lu Ku asked doubtfully, looking at the large recesses carved into the walls of the cavern, each filled with bottles, jars, boxes, and bundles.
"Not at all," Chen Mu replied, as he pulled two neatly folded leather tents from one of the holes.
If it were not for this weird snowstorm, he wouldn't be leaving at all.
Hoping to survive a decade or more, to become an old disciple, one of their own, perhaps he might even have obtained the Condense Aperture Secret Method.
Now, once he fled, all the Trust Value he had accumulated on Jilong Road would be gone.
"Then what is this…" Lu Ku was at a loss for words as he looked at the small brown wooden box in his hands. With just a glance, he saw over ten kinds of ready-to-use emergency medicines, including insect and beast repellents, detoxifiers, and blood coolers.
If the preparations were so thorough, wasn't it meant for a long journey?
"The world is such a dangerous place; I was only storing some disaster supplies like everyone else," Chen Mu stated matter-of-factly, then strangely countered, "Don't you all store some, too?"
Store, yes, but the scale of yours...
Lu Ku glanced at the waist-high bags that were becoming increasingly full, and he exchanged looks with the others.
This Mr. Gongsun, perhaps his preparations were a bit too sufficient.
Chen Mu did not care what the others thought.
He filled the several blank Mustard Seed Talismans in his hand and continued to sneak items into the Five Ghosts Bag as they packed.
A quarter of an hour later.
In front of each of the seven people stood a waist-high leather bag.
Chen Mu looked regretfully at the remaining small amount of dried fish.
"Let's go."
...
In a dim, subterranean space, the sound of rushing water was constant.
A five-meter-high cave wall had an arched entrance, large enough for one person.
From this entrance poured a palm-deep stream of water, hitting the rock below and splashing snow-white droplets everywhere.
A fist-sized spherical crystal ball drifted out from the entrance.
Inside the sphere, glowing algae swayed, emitting a soft, glowing white light.
Chen Mu stood silently at the entrance.
After a good while, once the Five Ghosts Yin Spirit had made a round and confirmed there were no abnormalities, Chen Mu signaled those behind him to jump down the entrance.
...
A quarter of an hour later.
Above a vast underground lake.
A fist-sized Glowing Algae Orb Light floated in mid-air, illuminating the space.
Chen Mu sat cross-legged on a black cloud, drifting steadily forward.
The Wu Mountain siblings, in pairs, each sat on their own Ghost Qi black cloud, closely following Chen Mu.
"What is this thing?" Ai Ji curiously reached for the black smoke but grabbed nothing.
Slapping his seat, the solid black cloud under his bottom, he couldn't help but scratch towards the nearby smoke again.
"Hey! Look!" Ai Ji nudged Xu Rao with his shoulder, chuckling as he demonstrated to Xu Rao beside him.
"I finally know why it's always you getting your spirit sapped," Xu Rao said to Ai Ji with pity.
"It's because you can't keep your hands to yourself!"
Ai Ji suddenly stiffened.
At that moment, he realized that Mr. Gongsun in charge of their fates was just ahead, floating.
It was over!
...
Chen Mu quietly sat aloft the black cloud, ignoring the soft murmurs of the group behind him about him.
With unhindered use of the Seven Souls Return to Origin, the alias of Gongsun Sheng had already been exposed.
In the eyes of the six, Gongsun Sheng was equivalent to Chen Mu.
With a complex expression, Chen Mu touched his face thoughtfully.
Such a good disguise.
What a pity...
"Luckily, I have always had the habit of practicing the Shape-shifting Technique anytime, anywhere."
Gongsun Sheng was indeed Chen Mu, but Chen Mu was not necessarily always Chen Mu, huh!
Just switch to another place with a different face, and a new Chen Mu could reappear!
"The Shape-shifting Technique is a wonderful thing, I must keep training!"
Chen Mu thought cheerfully.
However, a figure suddenly flitted across his field of vision.
The Five Ghosts Yin Spirit that floated ahead to scout had found someone, a person floating above the surface of the underground lake.
A black cloak, a short and stout figure, a pale face with eyes closed.
Song Wujie?
Or rather, an injured Song Wujie?!
Chen Mu's first instinct was to run.
No matter why the other party was here. Anything that could injure Song Wujie was definitely capable of killing him with ease.
But before he could even move, he saw the seemingly dead Song Wujie suddenly open his eyes.
"Is it a disciple from Jilong Road?" A voice rang out next to Chen Mu's ear.
Feeling the sudden prickling of his hair standing on end, Chen Mu nodded respectfully, "Lower Courtyard disciple Shang Huan, at your service, Director Song."
"If the director is unable to walk, please get on the Black Cloud." Chen Mu said with utter respect.
"All that ghostly Qi, I'm not getting on that. What if it's a trick!" Song Wujie snorted coldly.
"Director, I'm a Lower Courtyard disciple, how could I harm you? You really don't need to be so guarded against me." Chen Mu sighed.
"This is just an ordinary side-door Magic Artifact. It can scout ahead, turn invisible, carry people and fly..."
"And also perform Five Ghosts Moving Mountain, devouring and eating people," Song Wujie interjected indifferently.
Chen Mu: "..."
Tsk, he's run into someone who knows his stuff.
"Enough talk, do you have any White Jade Coins? Lend me some," Song Wujie snorted.
"You, being a dignified Oversight Courtyard director, asking to borrow money from a mere Lower Courtyard disciple like me, is that really appropriate?" Chen Mu asked incredulously.
This person was the Oversight Courtyard director, a Condensing Aperture expert. If he borrowed money, could it ever be returned?
"You know I'm the director and you still dare not to lend? Do you think that's appropriate?" Song Wujie glared menacingly.
"Lend... how could I not lend," Chen Mu sighed, "But let's make it clear, nine lent for thirteen returned, not a coin less!"
"You little brat, hurry up and bring it to me!" Song Wujie was fuming.
"Right away!" Chen Mu chuckled and floated forward.
He began to draw out boxes of White Jade Coins.
Behind him, the six siblings of Wu Mountain watched with mouths agape at Chen Mu's actions.
Giving high-interest loans to their own Oversight Courtyard director?
Typical of Mr. Gongsun.
A hardcore man indeed!
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The box filled with White Jade Coins had just been taken out when it was pulled into the air by an invisible force.
Then with a bang, the wooden box burst open, and a shower of White Jade Coins rained down.
After several boxes were emptied, Song Wujie was covered with White Jade, his face buried among them.
Chen Mu clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Director, your hobby... quite unique!"
"Get lost!"
An invisible Exotic Force erupted.
The White Jade piled on Song Wujie immediately flickered with a glowing white light.
Chen Mu's spirit delved into the Primordial Talisman, activating a special vision, and he saw strands of Earth Spirit Vital Energy being forcibly extracted from the White Jade.
It was like kitchen smoke being sucked into an exhaust hood.
Whizzing as it was absorbed into Song Wujie's body.
The seven or eight thousand White Jade Coins that Chen Mu had scattered were soon drained.
And due to the violent manipulation,
The White Jade pieces cracked and exploded one after another.
Bang!
Song Wujie leaped up, scattering the White Jade shards from his body.
A mass of emerald insect cloud abruptly appeared beneath his feet, lifting him up into the air.
The Song Wujie who had looked like a dead man floating just before suddenly seemed... not so much like a dead man.
Though his face remained as pale as paper, it now had a touch of vitality.