146: Chapter 146 The Traitor

"I've truly had a taste of Principal Gongsun's words today."

Zhang Wen rubbed the black patterns on the back of his hand. The coolness of the Heart-Clearing Jade couldn't stop that faint burning pain, which felt like tiny insects crawling under his skin.

Chen Mingda was squatting beside Su Xinyue, his fingertips glowing with pale green spiritual energy as he examined her wound, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

"This Heart-Eroding Curse has been infused with the 'Mother-Child Guide'. The Mother Curse is held by the caster, while the Child Curse is attached to you. It not only spreads through spiritual energy but also allows the other party to sense your location."

He withdrew his hand, and the spiritual energy at his fingertips condensed into a small green flower, which he gently pressed onto Su Xinyue's wound. "I've temporarily sealed the spread of the curse mark with a 'Spirit-Locking Flower', but it will only hold for six hours at most."

Su Xinyue bit her lower lip. The black floral patterns on her calf were temporarily suppressed by the green petals, yet they still burned her skin like a hot iron. "In other words, if we don't find the caster within six hours, this curse cannot be broken?"

"More than that."

Zhao Yingming adjusted the flame runes on his cuffs, his voice as cold as if it had been quenched in ice. "Once the Mother-Child Guide is activated, the Child Curse will slowly devour your spiritual energy Foundation. Even if the curse is broken, your cultivation will regress by at least half a year."

He looked up toward the depths of the canyon. "Those people don't just want to kill you; they want to completely ruin your potential. How ruthless."

Wang Wude shouldered his giant blade and spat on the ground. "I don't care who the hell they are. Anyone who dares to touch Azure Mist's people, I'll chop them up and feed them to the Ant Beasts!"

Li Feiyuan had already drawn her longsword, its blade flowing with a cold light. "Teacher Zhao, time is short. Let's set off as soon as possible."

Just as the four were about to move, Dean suddenly pulled two black bracelets from the tent. "Put these on."

The bracelets were tanned from the tendons of some Vicious Beast and were engraved with faint runes. "These are 'Stealth Rings'. They can mask eighty percent of your spiritual energy fluctuations, which should at least cause some trouble for the caster."

Zhang Wen took a bracelet and slid it onto his wrist. A cool sensation spread across his skin, and the black patterns on the back of his hand seemed to settle down a bit.

He glanced at Su Xinyue and found her also looking down to adjust her bracelet. Her moon-white combat uniform's cuffs were stained with a bit of mud, yet she didn't look the least bit disheveled; instead, she showed a kind of resilience that remained calm in the face of danger.

"Let's go."

Zhao Yingming took the lead, the flame runes trailing half-foot-long tails of light behind him, dispelling some of the shadows in the canyon.

The rock walls of the Red Iron Canyon were dark red, reflecting an eerie luster when the sunlight hit them, like congealed blood.

The further they went, the stronger the smell of rust in the air became, mingled with a faint stench of decay.

Zhang Wen's Domain Realm perception was fully deployed. He could "hear" the rustling of venomous insects crawling in the crevices of the rock walls and "smell" the rank odor left by a Vicious Beast a hundred meters away, yet he couldn't capture the aura of any human Cultivators—the enemy was clearly proficient in the art of concealment.

"Watch your step."

Li Feiyuan suddenly raised her hand to signal a stop, her sword tip pointing to an inconspicuous piece of red iron Ore on the ground. "This is the formation eye of a 'Trapdoor Array'. If you step on it, you'll fall into a poisoned spike pit below."

She flicked her finger, and a strand of Sword Qi grazed the Ore. Sure enough, a foot-wide crack opened in the ground, faintly revealing dense black spikes that shimmered with an eerie green luster.

Flames danced at Zhao Yingming's fingertips, burning the red iron Ore to ash. "It's the handiwork of the 'Black Fiend Sect'. They are most skilled at using poison arrays and curse techniques."

"Black Fiend Sect?"

Zhang Wen paused for a moment. He had seen this name in the "Records of Evil Sects". It was an evil Cultivator organization that had been suppressed by the military thirty years ago and was said to have long since vanished. "Weren't they wiped out?"

"They just didn't pull the weeds by the roots, that's all."

Wang Wude snorted, his giant blade striking sparks against the rock wall. "Old Mr. Gongsun was among those who led the suppression back then. They're probably holding a grudge and now want to take it out on you juniors."

As they spoke, the canyon ahead suddenly narrowed, the rock walls on both sides leaning inward to form a natural Bottleneck.

Just as Zhao Yingming was about to step forward, Zhang Wen suddenly grabbed his arm. "Teacher Zhao, wait."

He pointed to a protruding rock on the left wall. "The color of the red iron Ore there is wrong. It looks like it's been tampered with."

That rock was darker than the ones around it, and there was a faint circle of white marks around its edge, as if it had just been polished.

Zhao Yingming looked closely and suddenly sneered. "Good lad, your eyes are sharp enough."

He reached out toward the rock with a grasping motion, and flames instantly enveloped it. "This is an 'Explosion Talisman' hidden inside the red iron Ore. If we had touched it just now, we would have been buried alive here."

A soft explosion sounded from within the flames as the rock was blasted into powder, revealing a charred talisman paper inside.

Su Xinyue suddenly let out a sound of surprise and looked down at her calf. "The light of the Spirit-Locking Flower is flickering."

The small green flower was trembling slightly, its petal edges tinged with black energy. "The curse mark is struggling. It seems to be very close now."

Zhang Wen also felt the burning pain on the back of his hand intensify, almost neutralizing the coolness of the Heart-Clearing Jade. "The caster is just ahead."

Zhao Yingming made a gesture for silence, his spiritual energy spreading along the ground and quickly sending back a sensation. "There's a karst cave a hundred yards ahead. There are three spiritual energy fluctuations inside. One is very weak and should be someone being held prisoner... the other two are both in the Transformation Realm."

"Two in the Transformation Realm?"

Dean had stayed at the camp. Now, only Zhao Yingming and Li Feiyuan on their side were in the Transformation Realm. Wang Wude had intentionally made a commotion at the canyon entrance earlier to cover their departure and draw away some attention. "Are they trying to win with numbers?"

"More than that."

Li Feiyuan's sword tip pointed toward the karst cave. "Listen."

A very faint rustling sound came from the cave, like countless insects crawling.

Zhang Wen's expression changed instantly. "It's Bone-Eroding Ants! They've raised an ant colony in the cave!"

Zhao Yingming's eyes sharpened. "They want to use the ant colony to stall us, then personally deal with Zhang Wen and Xinyue."

He pulled three red talismans from his Storage Pouch. "These are 'Explosive Flame Talismans'. In a moment, Teacher Li and I will tie down those two in the Transformation Realm. You two take the opportunity to find the caster, obtain his essence blood to break the curse, then immediately use the Explosive Flame Talismans to blast the ant colony while we take the chance to retreat."

Zhang Wen took the talismans, a scorching sensation coming from his fingertips. "Understood."

Su Xinyue also gripped the short blade at her waist, ice-blue spiritual energy flowing through the blade. "Don't worry, we won't hold you back."

The three exchanged looks and simultaneously charged toward the karst cave ahead.

The cave entrance was covered by vines. Zhao Yingming waved his hand to release flames, instantly burning through the vines to reveal a pitch-black opening. The rustling sound inside became even clearer.

Just as they charged into the cave, two black shadows lunged out from behind the rock walls on either side!

The person on the left was gaunt and held a bone staff wrapped in black Talismanic Incantations; the person on the right was burly and struck at Zhao Yingming with palms carrying a dark green poison mist!

"Old Ghost Heisha! Poison Palm Yin Kui!"

Li Feiyuan recognized the arrivals. Her sword light surged as she met the gaunt old man. "Teacher Zhao, leave Yin Kui to you. I'll take on this old ghost!"

"Good timing!"

The flames at Zhao Yingming's fingertips turned into a fire dragon. The moment it collided with the poison palms, the dark green mist hissed as it was scorched. "Zhang Wen! Xinyue! Quick, go to the depths of the cave!"

Zhang Wen pulled Su Xinyue and took the opportunity to charge deeper into the cave. Behind them came the thumping of the bone staff hitting the ground and the roar of the fire dragon.

The depths of the cave were indeed crawling with Bone-Eroding Ants, but these Ant Beasts had dark red shells that were harder than those outside, clearly having been specially bred.

"This way!"

Su Xinyue suddenly pointed to a fork on the right. "The light of the Spirit-Locking Flower is leaning this way!"

Zhang Wen followed her into the fork. Just as they turned the corner, they saw a boy tied to the stone wall with vines. Based on his clothes, he looked like an Azure Mist student, with traces of blood at the corner of his mouth.

In front of the boy stood a middle-aged man in a black robe with his back to them. He held a black whip with a faint black energy coiling around the tip—it was the Mother Curse of the Mother-Child Guide!

"The caster!"

Zhang Wen gave a low shout, and the sky-splitting startling thunder spear pierced toward the Black-Robed Figure with a flash of lightning!

The Black-Robed Figure seemed prepared and spun around, his whip coiling around the spear shaft like a living snake!

Just then, Zhang Wen suddenly noticed a jade pendant on the Black-Robed Figure's neck flash in the darkness—the style of that pendant was exactly the same as the teacher's ornaments at Azure Mist University!

An insider?!

As soon as the thought flashed through his mind, the Black-Robed Figure's whip had already wrapped around the sky-splitting startling thunder spear. A wave of freezing spiritual energy traveled down the spear, and the black patterns on Zhang Wen's hand suddenly burned intensely, causing him so much pain he nearly lost his grip!

"Caught you, Azure Mist's fine talent."

The Black-Robed Figure threw back his hood, revealing a face seen on the school's bulletin board—it was Teacher Liu, who was in charge of logistics!

Seeing this, Su Xinyue's short blade pierced toward Teacher Liu's back with a freezing chill, but he sidestepped to avoid it.

Teacher Liu sneered, and his other hand suddenly struck out, his palm bearing a black floral pattern identical to the one on Su Xinyue's calf. "Don't be in such a hurry, little girl. It's time for your 'Child Curse' to recognize its master!"

The green of the Spirit-Locking Flower was instantly swallowed by black energy. Su Xinyue groaned and stumbled back a few steps as the black patterns on her calf completely erupted, the pain making her nearly unable to stand.

Zhang Wen was anxious and wanted to turn back to protect her, but he saw the boy tied to the stone wall suddenly open his eyes. There was no fear of being a prisoner in his eyes; instead, a sinister smile flashed through them—on his wrist, he was actually wearing a Black Fiend Sect Token!

A trap!

It was a trap from the very beginning!

They not only had a mole but had also intentionally left a "hostage" as a backup plan!

Teacher Liu's whip had already wrapped around Zhang Wen's arm, and freezing spiritual energy spread through his blood vessels, on the verge of invading his Dantian.

Zhang Wen grit his teeth and suddenly poured all his spiritual energy into the sky-splitting startling thunder spear—

"Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder: Break!"

Pale purple Lightning Radiance exploded, forcing Teacher Liu to temporarily let go.

Zhang Wen took the opportunity to pull Su Xinyue behind him, the Explosive Flame Talisman in his palm already glowing with a red light. "Xinyue, bear with it!"

Just as he was about to activate the talisman, he saw Teacher Liu suddenly pull a black clay jar from his robes and smash it onto the ground!

A large plume of black mist billowed from the mouth of the jar, filled with the screeching of countless Bone-Eroding Ants—they had actually lured the ant colony into the fork!

With Teacher Liu and the fake hostage in front and the ant colony blocking the path behind, Zhang Wen and Su Xinyue were completely trapped in the middle.

Teacher Liu licked his lips, his eyes staring greedily at Zhang Wen. "Your Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder is a top-quality supplement..."

Zhang Wen gripped the sky-splitting startling thunder spear, the Lightning Radiance dancing wildly at the spear tip.

He knew that this time, he would likely have to fight for his life.