When all three Divine Abilities had been pushed to their absolute limit, Jiang Chen finally spotted a clue in a cluster of overgrown vegetation. This particular clump of grass and shrubs was subtly different from the rest.
The blades leaned slightly in the same direction, as though something had passed through and left them bent. It was a faint difference, but unmistakable once noticed.
With the Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil working in careful tandem with his other senses, Jiang Chen eventually found traces around the patch of grass — footprints so faint they were nearly invisible.
The footprints were extremely well-concealed. Jiang Chen followed them onward, and they led him straight into a vast bamboo sea. He moved through the bamboo forest like an ape, bounding from stalk to stalk, never letting the trail out of his sight.
After two quarters of an hour, deep within the bamboo sea, Jiang Chen discovered the entrance to an underground chamber.
He drew a Heavy Feather Flying Blade and slipped inside after the narrow opening.
The entrance was small, but the deeper he went, the more the space opened up into something entirely unexpected. After passing through a long corridor, he emerged into a wide expanse.
What he found was something he had never anticipated — an underground palace. It was not large, but it was outfitted with every conceivable furnishing.
And at the far end of the palace sat a massive jade bed.
Upon the jade bed was an even more shocking sight.
Madam Yu lay there, completely naked, positioned in the center of the bed. She was stripped bare, every vital point on her body fully exposed.
The six female disciples from the Northern Sect were arranged on either side — three to the left and three to the right. The three on the left had been stripped just as thoroughly, without a single thread remaining.
The three on the right were partially undressed. Their robes hung open, and though they were not fully nude, their bodies were tantalizingly visible. Wen Ziqi among them — every one wore an expression of sheer terror, all eyes fixed on the figure standing at the head of the bed.
That figure was none other than the courier disciple who had delivered the message.
Jiang Chen did not rush to reveal himself. At this distance, the disciple had clearly not noticed him.
"Tsk, tsk — the greater the risk, the greater the reward! Ha ha! Every last woman from the Northern Sect of Star Phoenix Palace, old and young alike, caught in my net in one sweep. How delightful!"
The man's voice carried an eerie, almost inhuman quality. His sinister gaze swept across one exquisite body after another, and a low growl escaped his throat like that of a wild beast.
Every one of these Northern Sect women was a martial artist, each possessing a lithe and graceful figure. Among them all, Madam Yu's figure surpassed even the younger disciples.
If most of the disciples were tender buds on the verge of blooming, then Madam Yu was a fully opened flower — brimming with the allure of a woman in her prime.
"Should I taste the elder first, or sample the young ones?"
The man flashed a wicked smile, and his gaze settled on Wen Ziqi. "This little one looks so delicate and refined. She blushes the moment she speaks. She'd probably be quite a unique morsel to savor. She'll be the one."
With that, he bent down and reached for Wen Ziqi's clothing.
Wen Ziqi's eyes were wide with desperate terror, tears spilling down her cheeks like pearls.
Jiang Chen knew that if he watched any longer, it would be unconscionable.
He gave a light cough and stepped out from the shadows, a smile in his voice. "Brother, you certainly know how to enjoy yourself. How could you keep such pleasures all to yourself?"
The man flinched as if struck by lightning. His figure flickered to a corner of the room, and a short sword was already in his hand. His cold, venomous eyes locked onto Jiang Chen's position.
"Who are you?"
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. "Are you Shen Rong — or are you Shen Rong's courier disciple?"
The man threw back his head and laughed. "Shen Rong? Courier disciple? Ha ha ha! They were nothing more than skins I wore for my little hunting expeditions. If you're looking for them, you'll have to visit the underworld."
"So the Southern Sect's chief assistant of Star Phoenix Palace, Shen Rong, has been killed by you? You've been impersonating him from the very beginning?" Understanding clicked into place in Jiang Chen's mind in an instant.
Shen Rong and the courier disciple who had delivered the message were, in fact, the same person — the man standing before him now, who was almost certainly the one known as the Lotus Plucker.
"Ha ha! And who exactly are you? Don't you think you're asking a few too many questions?" The man's tone turned frigid, his eyes pinning Jiang Chen in place as though trying to seal off every possible route of escape with his gaze alone.
"L Lotus Plucker — your nerve is certainly something. You've gone so far as to hunt women right within a sect's territory." Jiang Chen let out a cold snort.
A flicker of surprise crossed the man's eyes. "You know of me? Hmph. Don't tell me you're one of those meddlesome Six Gates busybodies — looking to bring justice on behalf of the heavens?"
"You got that right," Jiang Chen said with a mild smile.
"Fool, utter fool." A strange grin crept across the Lotus Plucker's face. "People who want to bring justice on behalf of the heavens — if I haven't met a thousand, I've met eight hundred. Every last one of them is sleeping soundly in the underworld right now. You'll be next."
"You're quite confident," Jiang Chen replied, smiling in turn.
"Why shouldn't I be confident against a dead man walking? Tell me — do you know why these women are lying here, unable to move even half an inch? I didn't seal their acupoints." The Lotus Plucker smiled with an air of leisurely amusement.
"What? You mean the — the candle smoke in here is poisonous?" Jiang Chen's expression changed sharply.
"You're not quite as stupid as I thought. How dare you ruin my fun — you deserve to die, die, die! Offer up your head as compensation!"
The Lotus Plucker launched himself into motion without warning, his figure sweeping in like a specter.
They said the Lotus Plucker's lightness skill was extraordinary, and the burst of speed proved it was no idle boast. The short sword in his hand became a streak of cold light, slashing toward Jiang Chen's neck.
Jiang Chen's body swayed as though he might collapse at any moment.
In the Lotus Plucker's eyes, this looked exactly like the desperate thrashing of cornered prey, and it only stoked his feral instincts further.
"Die!" The Lotus Plucker brought his sword down in a casual, contemptuous stroke.
But what he expected to happen never did.
The blade did not connect with a neck — to be precise, it cut through empty air.
The swaying, about-to-collapse opponent had vanished from his spot in the blink of an eye.
"Hm — trouble!" The Lotus Plucker's reflexes were swift. He spun around and swept the short sword behind him in a vicious arc.