Chapter 138: Exploring a Haunted House for Treasures! The Peerless Secret Manual Left Behind by the Predecessor!

1. Exploring a Haunted House for Treasures! The "Peerless Secret Manual" Left Behind by the Predecessor

Inside the Hidden Sword Pavilion, the candlelight flickered.

Gu Lan spent half an hour using a few Dust-Clearing Spells to clean up this haunted house, which had three feet of accumulated dust.

Surprisingly, after wiping away the dust, this place was actually quite nice.

There was a complete set of black golden-thread nanmu furniture, famous calligraphy and paintings hung on the walls, and a soft animal-skin carpet covered the floor.

"It seems the previous Sword-Wielding Envoy was also someone who knew how to enjoy life."

Gu Lan lay down on that wide carved wooden bed and tested its elasticity.

"It's just a pity that he died a somewhat miserable death."

"Peeping at the Female Demon Lord taking a bath?"

Gu Lan recalled Ye Hongzhuang's terrifying strength and volatile personality, unable to help himself from shivering.

"This bro is both a warrior and a martyr."

Just as he turned over to change his posture,

"Click—"

A soft sound suddenly came from beneath the bedboard.

It was as if some mechanism had been triggered.

Gu Lan's gaze sharpened; he immediately rolled off the bed and lifted the bedboard.

He saw that in a secret compartment beneath the bed, an iron box with a seal pasted on it was quietly lying there.

On the box, a line of crooked, small characters was also written:

[My lifelong ultimate arts, left for those with a fated affinity.]

"Lifelong ultimate arts?"

Gu Lan became interested.

Someone capable of becoming a Sword-Wielding Envoy must be at least at the Golden Core Stage in cultivation; his ultimate arts definitely wouldn't be simple!

Could it be some earth-shattering Demonic Technique?

Gu Lan rubbed his hands together, carefully tore open the seal, and opened the box.

Inside, there were no glowing golden treasures, only a yellowed thread-bound book and a folded sheepskin map.

Gu Lan picked up the book first.

Four large characters were written on the cover: "Shadowless Demonic Trace".

"A movement technique?"

Gu Lan opened the first page.

[Shadowless Demonic Trace was created by this seat after observing geckos crawling on walls and chameleons hiding. Cultivating this technique allows one to restrain all Qi throughout the body, blending into the shadows; even the Divine Sense of a Nascent Soul Stage old monster would find it difficult to detect.]

[Truly a divine skill… essential for staying at home, traveling, murdering and looting, and investigating boudoirs!]

Gu Lan: "…"

The front part looked quite proper, so how come the style suddenly changed on the very last sentence?

He patiently continued flipping downward.

The more he read, the more alarmed he became.

Where was this any proper movement technique? This was clearly a "Peeping Guide"!

The book detailed how to use light and shadow blind spots to sneak into various Formations, how to shield breathing and heartbeats to avoid the perception of female cultivators, and even… techniques on how to hang upside down like a bat on a roof beam for three hours without one's legs going numb!

"What a talent!"

Gu Lan couldn't help sighing in admiration.

"If this bro had used this mindset on the Righteous Path, he would have achieved Ascension long ago, right?"

Although he was complaining verbally, Gu Lan's hands were very honest as he tucked the book into his bosom.

After all, as an undercover agent, having more life-saving skills like this never hurts!

Next, he picked up the sheepskin map.

Unfolding it to take a look, Gu Lan's eyes instantly widened.

This was a detailed map of the Heavenly Demon Palace!

And it wasn't an ordinary map; various "special locations" were densely marked on it with red ink.

For example:

[Third Elder's Residence: Every night of the full moon, the Formation will have a three-breath vulnerability.]

[Saintess Palace Back Garden: That crooked-necked tree at the corner of the wall is the best observation point with a wide field of view and no obstructions.]

[Empress's Bedchamber (Extremely Dangerous!): One of the glazed tiles on the top floor of Zhaixing Tower is loose, but remember, do not stare directly at the Sect Master, otherwise… demise.]

On this final mark, a large skull was also drawn.

Clearly, this was the "fall location" of that previous Sword-Wielding Envoy.

"Good stuff!"

Gu Lan treated it like a prized possession.

With this map, wouldn't it be much more convenient for him to move around in the Heavenly Demon Palace in the future?

"Former Big Brother, rest in peace; your unfulfilled wish… I will inherit it at my discretion."

Gu Lan solemnly put away the map.

Right at this moment.

That fierce heat within his body that had been forcibly suppressed suddenly staged a comeback.

"His… Why is the lingering potency of this Five Poisons Soup so strong?"

Gu Lan tugged at his collar, feeling as though his whole body was burning with fire.

He walked over to the window and pushed it open, wanting to catch some cold wind to cool down.

Outside the window was a blood moon, illuminating the high wall covered in vines behind the pavilion.

From the other side of the wall, faint, delicate shouts of "Hengheng Haxi" could be heard, along with the sound of sharp blades piercing through the air.

"That is… the Saintess Palace?"

Gu Lan thought of the markings on the map, and also remembered what Saintess Ji Wushuang had said before leaving.

[Climb over this wall, and it is this Palace's back garden.]

Driven by an inexplicable impulse,

Gu Lan vaulted out the window, landing lightly beneath that high wall.

"This is the Bone-Eating Vine?"

Gu Lan looked at those dark red vines on the wall covered in barbs, which were wriggling slightly at this moment as if they had come alive.

It was said that this demonic plant was extremely ferocious; if any living creature approached, it would instantly be entangled and sucked dry of flesh and blood.

"Just right, I'll use you guys to test my newly learned movement technique."

Gu Lan circulated "Shadowless Demonic Trace".

The Qi within his body instantly restrained itself to the extreme, and his entire person seemed to transform into a weightless shadow.

Tipping his toes lightly, his figure darted up onto the top of the wall like a civet cat.

Those Bone-Eating Vines, which were originally restless, actually failed to detect his existence at all, continuing to sway lazily in the night wind.

"A bit interesting."

Gu Lan squatted on the wall top, parting the dense branches and leaves to look downward.

He saw that down in the garden below,

Saintess Ji Wushuang was wearing a thin practice outfit, holding two short blades in her hands, and was fiercely unleashing attacks toward…

a dummy made of straw!

A slip of paper was pasted onto the dummy's head, with two large, crooked characters written on it: [Gu Lan].

"Dead Gu Lan! Stinky Gu Lan!"

"Let you touch! Let you look!"

"I'll stab you to death! Stab you to death!"

Saintess Ji Wushuang cursed as she brandished the short blades in her hands with fierce momentum, every single strike accurately stabbing into the… kidneys of the scarecrow.

"Hiss—"

Gu Lan on the wall top instantly felt a chill in his kidneys, subconsciously clutching his loins.

This woman, how deep is her grudge?

Targeting below the belt?

"Hoo… This Palace is exhausted."

After venting for a while, Saintess Ji Wushuang seemed tired.

She tossed her blades aside, sitting down on the grass without any decorum as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

At this moment, her face flushed red from exercise, her chest heaving violently, and her practice outfit, soaked with sweat, clung tightly to her body, outlining graceful and exquisite curves.

"Hmph, you big jerk."

Hugging her knees, she looked at the scarecrow that had been poked into a hedgehog, her eyes suddenly turning somewhat aggrieved.

"Clearly I met him first…"

"Why should that Old Hag get to snap him up first?"

"And what Sword-Wielding Envoy… I think she just wants to keep him as a kept man!"

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, casually pulling up a blade of grass from the ground and ruthlessly plucking at it.

"If you dare submit to her… I will… I will…"

"You will what?"

A smiling voice suddenly came from overhead.

"Who?!"

Saintess Ji Wushuang was startled, instantly springing up from the ground as her two short blades reappeared in her hands, looking vigilantly toward the wall top.

They saw that under the moonlight,

a youth dressed in clothes whiter than snow was squatting on the wall top, holding a spiritual fruit picked from who knows where, looking at her with a beaming smile.

"Blockhead?!"

Saintess Ji Wushuang's eyes widened, and then her pretty face instantly blushed bright red.

All those things she muttered to herself just now… weren't they all heard by him?!

"You… When did you arrive?!"

"Not very long."

Gu Lan took a bite of the spiritual fruit and pointed at that ghastly scarecrow.

"Right around when you stabbed my first kidney, I suppose."

"Ahhh! I'm going to kill you to silence you!"

Driven to absolute shame and fury, Saintess Ji Wushuang directly threw the short blades in her hands like hidden weapons.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Gu Lan's figure flickered, easily dodging them.

He leaped forward, jumping down from the wall top and landing steadily in front of Saintess Ji Wushuang.

"Trying to murder your own husband?"

Looking at the baring-fangs-and-claws little wildcat before him, he suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.

"You… What are you doing?"

Saintess Ji Wushuang was stunned by his sudden action. Looking at Gu Lan's eyes, which shone startlingly bright under the moonlight, her heartbeat suddenly skipped half a beat.

"I'm hungry."

Gu Lan said earnestly.

"That bowl of Five Poisons Soup digested too quickly."

"Right now… I want to eat something else."

"Eat… Eat what?"

Saintess Ji Wushuang stammered as she looked at his face drawing closer and closer, her body involuntarily softening.

The corners of Gu Lan's lips curled into a mischievous smile.

His gaze fell upon her rosy, alluring lips.

"What do you think?"