After successfully sneaking into the Dan Ding Pavilion, Lu Li held his breath, concentrating intently as he perfectly blended his figure with the surrounding shadows, quietly tailing behind the group of laborers carrying sacks.
Gu Qingying, meanwhile, had the system turned to its maximum, following behind Lu Li like a shadow.
In this way, the master and disciple followed a single laborer through the multiple gates of the backyard.
The deeper they went, the more complex the air became, thick with an unusually strong herbal scent mixed with a strange, indescribable aura.
Eventually, the laborers stopped before a seemingly ordinary stone wall.
One of them formed a specific seal, and the stone wall silently slid open, revealing a staircase leading downwards.
A cold, damp air surged out, carrying an even stronger bitter medicinal smell tinged faintly with rot.
There were even faint sounds of chains scraping and suppressed, low growls echoing intermittently.
Lu Li’s eyes flickered subtly; without hesitation, he decisively formed an invisibility talisman and smoothly slipped inside the secret passage after the laborers.
Gu Qingying’s situation was far less fortunate…
Seeing her master form an invisibility talisman and follow the Dan Ding Pavilion laborers into the secret passage, Gu Qingying felt a sudden surge of urgency and immediately tried to do the same, hoping to sneak in behind him.
However, just as she moved, still three feet away from the stone wall…
“Click… Boom!”
The heavy stone wall closed abruptly without warning, fitting together perfectly, instantly restoring itself as if it had never opened.
Gu Qingying froze mid-motion, nearly crashing headfirst into the cold, hard surface.
She hastily stopped, her nose nearly brushing the rough stone, a slight breeze stirring the strands of hair at her forehead.
“Ugh!”
She grunted softly in pain.
Though she hadn’t actually struck the wall, the sudden halt combined with her frustration nearly made her cry out.
She quickly covered her mouth, forcibly swallowing the sound back down, her heart pounding like a drum.
“Damn it!”
Gu Qingying cursed silently, her delicate brows knitting tightly.
Hissing… this is bad, I’ve lost him!
Master has gone alone into that sinister den, who knows how many dangers lurk inside!
Her heart tightened at the thought, overwhelming worry mixing with terrifying memories from her past life, making it almost impossible to stay calm.
She took several deep breaths, forcing herself to regain composure.
Huff… can’t panic!
There has to be a way in!
Gu Qingying’s eyes sharpened as she began carefully examining the stone wall before her.
She extended her slender, pale fingers, cautiously touching the surface.
Sensing the faint, nearly imperceptible flow of spiritual energy.
Since sneaking in was impossible, her only option now was to try to dismantle the mechanism and array controlling the stone door.
She focused her mind, letting her divine sense slowly penetrate the wall, starting to analyze the structure of the mechanism and the core array formation.
Although in her past life she wasn’t a master of arrays, most of her knowledge came from the library at Duanqing Peak and occasional guidance from senior sisters.
Her skill with formations wasn’t top-tier.
But having ventured through many secret realms in her past life to suppress her inner demons, she was at least well-versed in a variety of formations.
Taking out her array plate, Gu Qingying concentrated fully on deciphering the complex mechanism before her.
At first, the formation seemed incredibly intricate and peculiar, with many runes and structures unlike mainstream schools.
It emanated an ancient, esoteric aura, making it very difficult to unravel.
Yet as she immersed herself, her divine sense continuously tracing and analyzing the complicated patterns, a strange feeling gradually emerged in her heart.
“Hiss… this method of Ling Shu conversion…”
Gu Qingying paused slightly, a flicker of confusion passing through her dark purple eyes.
“Why… does this feel so familiar…”
At the same moment Gu Qingying’s doubt arose, Lu Li arrived at the end of the secret passage.
The underground secret passage of the Dan Ding Pavilion ended in a remarkably spacious subterranean chamber.
The space was brightly lit, with dozens of specially made compartments etched with runes arranged neatly in rows.
Each compartment contained a bizarre humanoid figure whose skin was unnaturally blue-black or grayish white, eyes wild and murky.
Their bodies twitched violently, repeatedly slamming against the luminous walls or pulling at the rune-engraved chains binding them, emitting beast-like roars.
“Hm? These are… the undead? Could it be… the Dan Ding Pavilion is attempting corpse refinement and failing?”
Lu Li’s gaze swept over the newly brought-in writhing things still confined within sacks.
The laborers carefully untied the ropes, revealing monsters bound with special material ropes, either unconscious or semi-conscious.
Their faces were pale and gaunt, limbs stiff — clearly newly turned corpses!
The laborers moved deftly but cautiously, placing them on vacant stone beds and securing them with leather cords soaked in black dog’s blood.
Several alchemists then approached, inspecting and recording the undead.
They collected hair and blood samples, placing them into secret medicinal liquids for analysis before sorting and imprisoning the freshly turned undead in cells.
Deeper within the prison, a group of alchemists in white medical robes, all at the Qi Refining stage, were feeding unknown dark-hued medicinal fluids with a sharp herbal scent into the mouths of infected patients bearing dark green claw marks — obvious wounds from the undead.
Looking at these strange scenes, Lu Li was genuinely baffled.
What exactly was the Dan Ding Pavilion doing here?
“Hm? What exactly are they up to?”
“Refining corpses? Or conducting some kind of experiment?”
“They can’t be… treating undead, right?”
Lu Li pondered silently, suddenly realizing there were no children in this prison.
Nearly all the undead and infected figures around were adults.
“Hiss… strange. Where are the children?”
Realizing this, Lu Li’s gaze rapidly swept the entire underground space, frowning.
“The disappearances in Yangzhou City were mostly children. Why are only adults imprisoned and experimented on here? If the Dan Ding Pavilion is truly behind this, where have they hidden the abducted children?”
The contradictions deepened Lu Li’s confusion; the current situation seemed to deviate subtly from the missing persons case he was investigating.
Moreover, the Pavilion’s actions here did not appear to be merely about creating or controlling undead.
His eyes passed over the busy alchemists and the snarling undead in the cages before settling on the massive formation at the chamber’s deepest point, one that could not be probed by divine sense, continuously radiating a faint blue glow.
Staring at this impenetrable, strange barrier, Lu Li had a strong premonition that all his questions—and even the true cause behind the missing children case—were hidden beyond that formation.
With this realization, he ceased hesitating, immediately suppressing his aura to the utmost and silently approaching the barrier deep inside the chamber.
Like a specter, Lu Li moved soundlessly through the vast, oppressive underground space, focusing all his attention on the formation ahead.
But the closer he got, the more he felt the formation’s immense power and uniqueness.
After a moment, Lu Li stealthily reached the barrier, hiding perfectly in the shadow cast by a large medicinal cabinet beside it.
He scrutinized the barrier, preparing to take out his array plate to unravel the formation.
Yet just as he was about to cast, he suddenly noticed a slender figure standing with her back to him in front of the vast cyan-blue barrier.
The figure wore moon-white robes, seeming draped in a layer of cold silk under the eerie blue light.
Due to the distance and her back facing him, Lu Li could only faintly make out that she was female.
At this moment, she was intently watching the enormous blue barrier, as if waiting for something.
Lu Li’s heart tightened.
This woman’s identity was undoubtedly extraordinary — likely a high-ranking Dan Ding Pavilion elder, perhaps even the Pavilion Master herself; otherwise, she wouldn’t be here.
Just as this thought crossed Lu Li’s mind, a fragrant, pleasant scent wafted to him.
Then the woman, still with her back turned, let out a soft, faint laugh tinged with laziness and playfulness.
“Hehe~ Worth all the waiting~”
“Four, three, two, one…”
“Well then~ Well then~”
As the soft “well then” fell, Lu Li was suddenly struck by a powerful dizziness without warning, as if a heavy hammer smashed into his soul!
The world blurred and spun; his limbs felt drained of strength, his body going limp and uncontrollable, and even gathering spiritual energy became an excruciating struggle!
Seeing this, Lu Li panicked, instantly realizing he’d been poisoned!
Huh?
How is this possible?
When did I—
He thought fearfully as his body went limp like a noodle and collapsed to the ground with a “plop,” his consciousness growing hazy.
Soon, his vision darkened completely as he fainted.
After Lu Li lost all awareness, Gong Shangyu, the woman facing away from him, slowly turned around and gracefully walked over.
The moon-white hem of her skirt blossomed like a rare udumbara flower, quietly brushing the cold floor.
She gently knelt down and extended her pale, slender fingers to lift the black cloth covering Lu Li’s face, revealing the face she had longed for day and night, etched deep in her heart.
Gazing at her beloved master, the girl trembled slightly, caressing Lu Li’s face with almost reverent hands.
Finally, with a touch of playful teasing mixed with affection, she pinched his nose.
“Hehe…”
She let out a series of low laughs, sweet as honey but laced with danger, her pink eyes swirling with near-obsessive light.
“Sigh~ Master…”
She leaned closer, whispering into Lu Li’s ear, warm breath brushing his sensitive earlobe,
“You don’t really think that every move you make in the Dan Ding Pavilion could escape Shangyu’s eyes, do you?”
Her voice now carried a clear pride and a twisted satisfaction.
“As expected… Master, you’re still as foolishly naive and adorably innocent as in your past life~”
Her fingertips slowly traced Lu Li’s lips, her gaze growing deep and possessive.
“But, that’s fine…”
“After all, you came knocking on my door yourself, saving me so much trouble~”
“Hehe, now it’s perfect…”
The smile on Gong Shangyu’s face grew ever brighter, yet the more radiant it became, the more unsettling and chilling it felt, her tone filled with an unyielding, terrifying possessiveness.
“You finally… belong to me completely.”
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