Just as He Manting finished purchasing her materials and returned, she received a reminder from Meng Luoluo and quickly slipped into a nearby alley to hide.
Intending to go out and tail Meng Luoluo, she looked back and saw three people trailing her target. He Manting had no choice but to stay at the very back, keeping a close eye on the trio while protecting Meng Luoluo.
Utilizing her diminutive stature, Meng Luoluo dodged and hid adeptly as she followed, but the three people behind her found themselves in a bind. Meng Luoluo hid so well that they lost track of her, yet they remained certain that the child must still be following the person at the very front. The three of them had no option but to keep a distant watch behind the man in black.
No matter how well Meng Luoluo hid, He Manting could always find her, thanks to the sensory connection of the red cord. Watching Meng Luoluo use her movement techniques to dodge and weave with effortless ease, He Manting couldn't help but sigh that being short had its advantages.
...
Meng Luoluo didn't know how long she had been walking when she suddenly felt her steps grow somewhat unsteady. Realizing inwardly that something was wrong, she wanted to turn back, but it was already too late.
Before fainting from the poison, she thought to herself: *Damn bell, it turns out to be completely useless against poison.*
Immortal Heart Bell: "Your cultivation is low, and you're blaming me?"
Seeing Meng Luoluo collapse, He Manting put on her anti-poison veil and prepared to step forward to rescue her, but she received Meng Luoluo's final message: *Continue following, I have an illusion field.*
That's right—upon sensing trouble and realizing she couldn't make it back on her own, Meng Luoluo had used her disciple jade token to send a message to He Manting.
He Manting had no choice but to conceal herself in mid-air and continue watching the scene below.
She saw the person at the front walk back over to Meng Luoluo's side. The three individuals in the rear hurried forward and bowed with cupped hands to the man.
"Milord, this child's cultivation isn't high. Why not hand her over to us for a few more days of nurturing, before sending her off to where she belongs?"
The man let out a cold snort. "Don't think I don't know what you are plotting. The decisions I make do not require your input."
He turned around, scooped Meng Luoluo into a hemp sack, and walked toward the edge of the city.
After he left, the three exchanged glances. One of them spoke up, "Hmph, he really thinks he's somebody special. He's just someone who can cast a few divinations."
The other two nodded in agreement, and the three of them walked together toward the city's edge.
He Manting continued to tail them from the back. She watched as these people reached the perimeter of the city, touched something, and chanted a series of incantations. A dharma array lit up along the edge of the city wall, and the three men vanished.
Seeing that there was no one around, He Manting set up a dharma array of her own right where those individuals had disappeared. Although she couldn't get inside, she could at least meddle a little.
...
Underground.
Meng Luoluo continuously circulated her soul force to make those people think she was securely bound, when in reality she had merely rested the iron chains loosely across her limbs. However, the poison was somewhat too potent, meaning she only succeeded in freeing her final arm at the very last moment.
Oh well, success was better than failure, and having even a single hand usable was barely enough to manage.
Meng Luoluo waited a bit longer to catch her breath, and seeing that truly no one came to inspect her, she finally began to move.
Meng Luoluo took in her surroundings clearly. Many men and women were imprisoned here, every single one of them a cultivator. Some were soaked in an unknown liquid, while others were bound to iron racks just like her, with the difference that the other person had taken a few whip-lashes and was still bleeding. Others had iron spikes driven straight through their shoulder blades; the spikes were caked with dried blood, though fresh blood still seeped near the wounds. Well, that particular person had struggled and then passed out from the pain.
First, she activated the illusion array on her person to temporarily control the people in the room, preventing them from waking up while also keeping anyone outside from coming in and discovering that she hadn't actually fainted.
Meng Luoluo first unlocked the iron chains binding herself. Presumably because her captors saw she was just a child incapable of resisting the poison, they hadn't sealed the chains with a dharma array. This certainly made her movements much easier.
Once she climbed down from the iron rack, Meng Luoluo began setting up illusion arrays all around. Continuously consuming her own soul power was definitely not a wise choice. Casually, she tucked a shotgun into her waistband and loaded it with ammunition just in case.
After some effort, Meng Luoluo used the cheapest materials to set up an array that covered the doorway and the fellow captives.
She couldn't open the stone door of the cell anyway, and since idleness breeds trouble, Meng Luoluo stood up and walked deeper inside to see if she could glean any other information—and ideally find some good loot, since they had dared to capture her and then leave her unguarded.
Meng Luoluo picked up a torch from the wall, drew an iron sword from her Storage Bag, and began moving deeper into the depths.
The path ahead remained walled in by stone, but it gradually widened, and the torches on the walls slowly gave way to night-shining pearls. Seeing this, Meng Luoluo discarded her torch and began collecting the pearls as she walked.
Along the way, she muttered to herself, "Yoink, yoink! So wealthy, I'm taking all of it. I'll definitely find a use for this later."
Not knowing how far she had walked, Meng Luoluo spotted a fork in the road. She shattered a few of the night-shining pearls on the wall, then found a corner to hide in and observe the situation.
At that moment, a squad of black-robed figures walked out from the left fork. The one leading them spoke, "The quality of this batch of night-shining pearls is worrisome. Why are they breaking every day? You, head over to the warehouse, grab a few more, and inspect all the night-shining pearls."
The person called upon acknowledged the order with a yes and headed toward the right-hand fork.
Meng Luoluo thought to herself: *Right when I didn't know which way to go—what a good guy.*
The squad continued down the middle path. Once she saw them walk far away, Meng Luoluo quietly followed the person who had gone to the warehouse.
Time to initiate the rob-the-rich-to-help-the-poor protocol.
Meng Luoluo followed the person for a stretch and saw him turn into yet another branch tunnel. Without a second thought, she followed right after him. As for the other branch tunnel? No rush, she'd go take a look there in a bit.
Meng Luoluo was still wondering if this place had any guards at all.
After watching the black-robed person's method of opening the door, Meng Luoluo quietly waited for him to leave.
Seeing that the person had walked far enough away, Meng Luoluo pushed open the warehouse door, slipped right inside, and casually pulled the door shut behind her.
Upon entering and seeing the contents inside, she couldn't help letting out a soft "Whoa!" There were countless night-shining pearls of all sizes, along with many unknown mineral ores—a pity they weren't spirit stone mines.
Without a second word, Meng Luoluo grabbed an empty Storage Bag and started packing. Never mind what they actually were, she was bagging the whole lot to take with her. As for whether they'd be useful, she could always ask Sister later.
After filling one Storage Bag to the brim, Meng Luoluo noticed there were still plenty of things left unpacked. It was then that she remembered the spatial dharma implement Old Man had given her at the very beginning, which was rumored to be capable of holding living people.
The outer shell of this dharma implement was a sphere; looking inside from the outside, the contents resembled the galaxies seen on smartphones from her past life—quite pretty indeed.
Ever since completing the dual ownership bindings of soul and blood, Meng Luoluo had only looked at it once. She had gone inside once, and there was nothing in there at all except for a vast, barren patch of land completely devoid of Spiritual Qi, though it was quite spacious and boundless as far as the eye could see.
This time, it would serve nicely for hauling cargo.
Before leaving, Meng Luoluo checked everything over once more, terrified of leaving anything behind. Even if a single stone were left behind, she would feel like she had taken a loss.
After heading back out, Meng Luoluo made her way toward the other warehouse.
You wouldn't know until you went, but going gave her quite a fright. This warehouse was packed entirely with "people"—though rather than people, they were more like the walking dead. With lowered heads and tightly shut eyes, these individuals were standing rigidly inside a room.