Mo Rubai wasn’t certain; he had actually never seen these flowers before.
He merely felt a sense of physical discomfort.
“A-ling, don’t get any closer for now.”
Mo Rubai made a hand gesture to stop them from coming forward. “Something isn’t right here.”
The distance was a bit too far, so A-ling and the others couldn’t clearly see Mo Rubai’s expression. Furthermore, the low growls of the two spiritual beasts could still be heard pressing in from not far behind, making them feel rather anxious. “Senior Brother Mo, we only have this direction left to go.”
After thinking it over, Mo Rubai resolutely retreated, returning to where A-ling and the others were, before saying, “Why do you think those Pole-Rats refused to follow us in? There must be something here that they fear.”
Hidden not far away, Shen Zhiwei wasn’t in any rush either. Anyone could tell this place was bizarre at a glance; if Mo Rubai had blindly and recklessly charged right in, he would have been far too stupid.
With women at his side and Pole-Rats at his back, as long as he moved forward, it would be paradise. The choice facing the male lead had an obvious answer.
Yet unexpectedly, Mo Rubai chose to retreat instead!
“A-ling, we have to fight our way out!”
“Senior Brother Mo!” A-ling looked at Mo Rubai in disbelief. “Those Pole-Rats are so persistent, not to mention hard to kill. If they draw even more of their companions over, we’ll get trapped here and find it extremely difficult to get out!”
There was a reason A-ling was in such a rush. She was willing to grit her teeth and enter this mystic realm in large part because of Mo Rubai.
Back then, when a man like that simply flashed a smile at her, her entire heart had fallen.
To achieve that, she had endured countless cold remarks and ridicule just to earn a chance to enter the realm—Senior Brother Mo didn’t know, and she would never tell him.
What A-ling also hadn’t told him was that she recognized these flowers.
As a female cultivator, A-ling had actually studied dual-cultivation arts for a period of time; she had seen this kind of Illusionary Passion Flower before!
With the right time, place, and people, all they needed to do was walk forward just a little further, and Senior Brother Mo would belong to her completely.
“Senior Brother Mo!” A-ling said through clenched teeth. “These flowers aren’t poisonous; please believe me.”
Mo Rubai cast a glance at A-ling and instructed the four women, “You all hide inside first; I’ll go chase those two Pole-Rats away.”
“Senior Brother Mo, remember to come back…”
A-ling only had time to anxiously throw out half a sentence before she could only watch a departing back.
Staring at that figure, A-ling gritted her teeth. With Senior Sister Ming around, Senior Brother Mo never even looked at her.
And what about these other women? Why did they have to tag along? Weren’t they supposed to be currying favor with Xiangxiang? Why weren’t they staying with Xiangxiang?
“Little Sister Ling, what’s wrong with you?” a female cultivator asked with concern. “Junior Brother Mo should be fine; he probably just wants to chase the Pole-Rats a bit further away.”
“I know,” A-ling smiled sweetly. “Senior Brother Mo will of course be fine, but the same can’t be said for you lot.”
When Shen Zhiwei saw Mo Rubai walk away, his face turned green. However, hearing Miss A-ling’s lingering, reluctant plea to stay, he figured things might still work out.
He had originally intended to secretly tail Mo Rubai to see if this guy would come back, because if the “protagonist quest” was triggered, those two elders would die!
However, he now felt that these four weak women were in much greater danger.
Soon enough, Shen Zhiwei was glad he had made that decision.
That seemingly innocent and naive A-ling actually wanted to commit murder!
“Senior Brother Mo is mine and mine alone!” A-ling’s eyes were bloodshot, and faint wisps of black Qi were radiating from her body. “It’s because you’re all here that Senior Brother Mo doesn’t dare get close to me!”
“Little Sister Ling, what’s happening to you?” A green-clothed female cultivator narrowly dodged a strike from A-ling. “Junior Brother Mo will be back soon; what are you doing!”
“Die! Die! Die!” A-ling cursed frantically. “You wretched sluts, all of you, go die!”
“She’s gone mad and entered a state of demonic deviation!”
Accompanied by a voice, a flash of sword energy swept over. Seeing the newcomer, the three female cultivators looked as though they had found their savior.
“Realizer Lingzhi!”
“Realizer Lingzhi, Little Sister Ling, she…”
“Keep calm,” Shen Zhiwei’s strike only batted A-ling back a bit further. “Hurry up and leave! The Pole-Rats were lured away by Rubai!”
“Understood, Realizer Lingzhi!”
Cupping their fists toward Shen Zhiwei, the three female cultivators turned and fled with absolute trust. The unexpected twist happened right at that moment.
A-ling, who had just been knocked flat to the ground, was no longer in her original spot.
“Ah!” The green-clothed female cultivator suddenly let out a miserable scream. Lowering her gaze, she watched in horror as a blood-stained hand burst straight out through her stomach.
“You actually dared to smile at Senior Brother Mo—despicable!”
A-ling’s voice sounded sinister and eerie, no longer resembling that of a living person.
“Run!” Watching the two female cultivators still standing there in a daze, Shen Zhiwei blasted A-ling flying with another wave of sword energy. “Are you waiting to die if you don’t run?”
This person was no longer their Little Sister Ling. Furthermore, because these girls had been getting in the way, even Realizer Lingzhi had been…
The two female cultivators turned deathly pale. Taking advantage of this opening, they turned and bolted.
“Re… al… i… zer… Ling… zhi…” A-ling’s entire eye sockets and pupils were completely red. Staring at him with a smile at the corners of her mouth, she spoke word by word, “You’ve made my Ah-Bai suffer so miserably.”
“He isn’t yours,” Shen Zhiwei replied calmly. “He barely knows you.”
“Ahhhhh!” A-ling was poked right where it hurt most. “He is mine! He smiled at me, which means he’s fallen in love with me. What would a dead cut-sleeve like you know!”
Shen Zhiwei: “…He’s going to have countless women, and you are not his woman.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” A-ling completely lost her mind now. “As long as the Illusionary Passion Flower is here, he will be mine!”
This woman was completely uncommunicative, and she also seemed incapable of accepting that the male lead had a harem. But that was fine; A-ling wasn’t meant to be the male lead’s person anyway.
She was just a girl suffering from unrequited love—barely over a decade old, yet she had already gone this crazy?
Perhaps this girl was possessed by something! She had been fine just moments before; why did her entire personality flip in such a short span of time?
Thinking as he fought A-ling, Shen Zhiwei grew increasingly convinced that his guess was right. Given A-ling’s status as an outer disciple, no matter how high her talent was, she shouldn’t have been a match for him!
Shen Zhiwei demanded sharply, “You’re not A-ling. Exactly who are you?!”
“I am Madam Mo!” Blood tears streamed from A-ling’s eyes, staining her entire face as she fought and cackled simultaneously. “Hee hee hee, I am Madam Mo~”
Shen Zhiwei inwardly cursed. Whatever had latched onto A-ling had not only assimilated with her but also magnified her desires!
“Die, die, die…”
Not only did Shen Zhiwei have to endure A-ling’s demonic screeching, but he also had to worry about how to subdue A-ling without killing her. Being so constrained and tied down, he finally slipped up…
Shen Zhiwei’s expression changed drastically. He and A-ling had tangled their way directly into the domain of the Illusionary Passion Flower, and right at that moment, Mo Rubai was sprinting over while shouting at the top of his lungs, “Little Master-Uncle!”