Infiltration

Stepping out from the shadows, the youth surnamed Fang summoned an extraordinary treasure, the Red Yuan Gauze. Upon activation, it draped over him like a gossamer garment, altering both his aura and appearance as he transformed into an unfamiliar young man. The arrogance on his face vanished swiftly, and his cultivation was suppressed to the early Core Formation stage. His temperament underwent an earth-shattering shift, rendering him completely unremarkable. "Senior Brother Hong, Senior Brother Gao, please lead the way," the youth surnamed Fang said softly, cupping his hands. Just then, the two vacant-eyed Douniu Peak outcasts shuddered violently and slowly opened their eyes. To one's dread, their eyeballs were blood-red, with the writhing shadow of a bug visible inside each one. The youth surnamed Fang stared into their eyes and silently chanted an incantation. The blood tint in their eyes immediately receded, the bug shadows vanished, their gazes steadily regained their luster, and their expressions became animated—indistinguishable from ordinary people. The pair shifted their gaze and looked in unison at the youth surnamed Fang. The youth surnamed Fang's lips parted slightly, soundlessly mouthing instructions. "Junior Brother Fang!" The two fell silent for a moment before murmuring in response. Then, they looked up toward Dongming Island. The cultivator surnamed Hong bowed slightly and gestured forward. "After you, Senior Brother Gao." The other nodded and said in a deep voice, "Junior brothers, follow me." With that, the two summoned their respective magic tools, turned into two streaks of white escaping light, and shot through the air. To any outsider, both were living, breathing immortal cultivators; no one would suspect they were corpse puppets controlled by blood corpse bugs, destined to turn into lifeless corpses the moment the blood corpse bugs left their bodies. A smirk played across the youth surnamed Fang's lips. In a flash, he dropped in behind the two corpse puppets, following along at an unhurried pace. *** Dongming Island. The incarnation led Fang Ting and Zhao Songqiao around the mountain, flying toward its rear. Apart from that man earlier, they encountered no one else barring their path, allowing Fang Ting and Zhao Songqiao to breathe a sigh of relief. "Why did Junior Sister Fang come along as well?" the incarnation turned his head and asked. Fang Ting giggled. "I wanted to see Senior Brother Zhao use his secret art to break through the barrier with my own eyes. Maybe I can draw inspiration from it when I attempt Foundation Establishment in the future! The senior brothers are currently exchanging experiences from this Dharma Assembly, but with my low cultivation, listening won't help me win a good ranking anyway, so I came along with Senior Brother Zhao. Besides, it's lucky I was there just now. Without my status, Senior Brother Zhang wouldn't have had an easy time fooling that martial uncle, right?" Speaking of their encounter earlier, a blush rose to the girl's face once more. "Indeed, many thanks to Junior Sister Fang!" Zhao Songqiao chimed in. The incarnation nodded slightly, but his tone grew somewhat solemn. "Even though we fooled that martial uncle, getting Senior Brother Zhao to the Dark Thunder Wood Forest won't be easy." "What's wrong?" "What happened?" The two were taken aback and asked one after another. As they spoke, the three had already flown into a patch of wilderness. Behind that peak stretched a chain of low hills rolling like mounds. The hills were lush with green, the vegetation exceedingly vibrant, and the vitality far denser than in the outside world. However, none of these were spiritual plants. Long ago, when Dongming Island was first discovered, the spiritual plants outside Longxing Mountain had been stripped clean, leaving behind only mundane flora. Amidst the dense mountain forests, areas sealed off by restrictions came into view from time to time. These were the places with the thickest spiritual energy, most suited for cultivating spiritual herbs. Inside were spiritual plants cultivated in earlier years. Familiar with the local terrain, the incarnation guided the two unobtrusively through the mountain woods, doing his best to avoid those areas to prevent running into Landou Sect cultivators out gathering herbs. The incarnation grasped a vine and swiftly descended the cliff face, speaking as he oriented himself: "In the area where the Dark Thunder Wood Forest is located, there are several herb gardens cultivating spiritual medicines that thrive on the Yin Thunder power nurtured by the forest. A senior from the Hundred Herbs Hall often goes there to harvest herbs and tend the gardens. With our cultivation, slipping past his eyes and into the forest won't be easy. The only plan I can think of is for the two of us to draw the senior's attention away, and then Senior Brother Zhao can seize the opportunity to sneak into the Dark Thunder Wood Forest. Fortunately, that secret art of yours doesn't cause much commotion..." Hearing this from the incarnation, Fang Ting looked disappointed and turned to Zhao Songqiao. "Senior Brother Zhao, sneaking in alone, you must be careful not to let that senior discover you." Zhao Songqiao pondered for a moment and asked, "Junior Brother Zhang, do you know that senior's cultivation?" "Mid Foundation Establishment stage." The incarnation glanced at Zhao Songqiao. Zhao Songqiao frowned slightly, then spoke: "If that's the case, let's proceed according to Junior Brother Zhang's plan. This concerns my future, so I will certainly be cautious." The incarnation's eyes flickered, and he chuckled. "It seems Senior Brother Zhao is quite confident in his escape art. In that case, this junior brother is relieved." Zhao Songqiao was briefly taken aback, but maintained a normal expression. "Having been an itinerant cultivator for so many years, I have indeed studied such matters meticulously to stay alive." The incarnation nodded, saying no more as he continued leading the way. Yet a wisp of suspicion rose within him. In truth, by borrowing the power of the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, deceiving that Landou Sect cultivator and sneaking two people inside would not be difficult. He had brought the matter up partly to observe Zhao Songqiao, and found that the man showed very little sign of worry. Earlier, when Zhao Songqiao had approached him, he was already suspicious of Zhao Songqiao's motives. Even the true body had never heard of an art that drew lightning to break through cultivation bottlenecks. He had secretly activated the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to investigate, and only let it go when no abnormalities were found. Since Zhao Songqiao responded this way, the incarnation naturally saw no need to meddle further. He prepared to have the Heavenly Eye Butterfly creep over when the time came to see what trick this fellow was up to. 'If what this person said is the truth, I gain a secret art and earn a favor from Fang Ting. If he truly harbors ill intent, concealed something, and implicates me, I can simply command the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to eliminate him. If there is a grand conspiracy behind him that throws Dongming Island and the Landou Sect into chaos, the true body might even fish in troubled waters—though that possibility is exceedingly slim.' Thinking this, the incarnation felt he had nothing to lose either way. The distance to the Dark Thunder Wood Forest was not far, but to avoid attracting unwanted attention, it took them twice as long to arrive. The incarnation and Fang Ting stopped before a low hill. The hill and a large expanse behind it were enveloped by restrictions. The incarnation took out a medallion given to him by Jin Yan and waved his hand, causing the glowing light of the restriction to open an entrance. After stepping inside, the incarnation scanned the area briefly and signaled. An illusory shadow swiftly darted in, melting into the shadows of the woods. "Senior Brother Zhao, I'll go draw him away first. Circle around the side of the hill when the time comes." The incarnation glanced at the shadow, offered a word of instruction, and led Fang Ting straight toward the mountaintop. As he left, he sent a command to the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. Concealing its form, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly flew out stealthily and settled soundlessly onto an adjacent tree, remaining completely motionless. Neither Fang Ting nor Zhao Songqiao noticed a thing. Nor would Zhao Songqiao ever suspect that a butterfly was lurking beside him, taking in every single move he made.