200: Blood Spirit Demon Flower

Jiang Donghua's lips curved into a playful smile as his gaze swept over Hong Silk's beautiful face, deliberately drawing out his words.

"Oh, so Senior Sister's 'important business' is just to come and tease me, your junior brother?"

Hong Silk immediately rolled her eyes at his words, pouting her red lips and scoffing disdainfully.

"Stop being so conceited, I really do have important business!"

She crossed her arms over her chest and slightly raised her chin, her arrogant demeanor making Jiang Donghua want to laugh.

However, she quickly lowered her voice and said mysteriously,

"Recently, rumors have been flying around the Inner Academy, saying that a strange Red Light suddenly burst out from deep within the Black Mist Mountain Range to the northwest, even startling the Inner Academy Elders. Many powerful cultivators have already rushed there to investigate."

She paused, a hint of slyness flashing in her eyes.

"How about it? Interested in going with me, your Senior Sister, to try our luck?"

Jiang Donghua stared at her for half a second before suddenly bursting into laughter, his shoulders shaking.

"Hahahaha, I get it! So Senior Sister doesn't read much and is afraid she won't understand those medicinal herbs, so she specifically brought me, her walking encyclopedia!"

"You!"

Hong Silk's thoughts were exposed, and she immediately became angry and embarrassed. Her delicate face instantly flushed red, even the tips of her ears stained with a faint pink.

She glared at Jiang Donghua, gritting her teeth, wishing she could pounce on him and bite him.

"Jiang Donghua! Do you believe I'll show you the authority of a Senior Sister right now?!"

Seeing her look of shame and anger, Jiang Donghua laughed even more unrestrainedly.

The usually charming and effortlessly alluring Senior Sister Hong Silk actually had moments where a single sentence could make her blush?

This was much more interesting than any Red Light anomaly!

"Alright, alright, I was wrong, Senior Sister, don't be angry."

He managed to stop laughing, raising his hands in surrender with a feigned serious expression.

"However, since even the Inner Academy Elders were startled, that place must not be simple. Are you sure it's just the two of us going? What if we encounter danger?"

Hong Silk snorted softly, returning to her lazy and charming demeanor, gently coiling a strand of hair around her finger, and said with a half-smile,

"What, scared? Don't worry, Senior Sister will protect you."

Jiang Donghua raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Then don't make me have to save you instead."

"Less nonsense!"

Hong Silk grabbed his wrist and pulled him out.

"Hurry up and pack, we're leaving tonight!"

Jiang Donghua stumbled two steps as she pulled him, shaking his head and smiling helplessly.

However, a hint of deep thought flashed in his eyes. What exactly was that Red Light?

Something that could make the Inner Academy's powerful cultivators flock to it was probably not that simple.

The night was as dark as ink, and the Black Mist Mountain Range appeared especially eerie and treacherous under the moonlight.

Jiang Donghua and Hong Silk stood on a high slope on the outskirts of the mountain range. Looking out, the entire mountain range seemed to be enveloped in a thick black mist, so dense that even the moonlight struggled to penetrate it.

The undulating outlines of the mountains were faintly visible in the darkness, like dormant beasts, silent and dangerous.

The air was filled with a damp earthy smell, mixed with a faint scent of decay, like withered leaves and moss accumulated in a deep valley that had not seen sunlight for years.

Occasionally, the night wind blew, and the tree shadows swayed, making rustling sounds, which only made the surroundings seem even more deathly silent.

"This place truly lives up to its name."

Hong Silk said in a low voice, unconsciously rubbing her arm with her fingertips.

Even with her strength, standing before this mountain range, she could still feel an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Jiang Donghua narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping across the distant ground.

The moonlight scattered on the puddles at the foot of the mountain, reflecting tiny silver glints, like scattered shards of a mirror, occasionally rippling with the breeze.

Aside from that, the entire mountain range was terrifyingly silent; even the chirping of insects and birds seemed to be swallowed by some invisible force.

"Logically speaking, there are many natural treasures that can emit a Red Light, but ones that appear in a place like the Black Mist Mountain Range..."

Jiang Donghua murmured in a low voice.

"Either it's an extremely yang object, or it's just some natural mineral."

"Just what?"

Hong Silk turned her head to look at him.

"Minerals are generally useless except for refining puppets."

Jiang Donghua's tone was slightly solemn.

Hong Silk frowned, just about to ask again, when suddenly...

"Rustle."

Extremely faint footsteps came from the nearby woods, as if someone was deliberately treading lightly but failed to completely conceal their tracks.

The two instantly became alert, their gazes like lightning, simultaneously looking in the direction of the sound.

In the darkness, a blurry shadow seemed to flash past.

"It seems we're not the only ones interested in the Red Light."

Hong Silk sneered, a wisp of white battle qi quietly condensing at her fingertips.

Jiang Donghua did not respond, only silently mobilizing the battle qi within his body, ready to deal with any sudden situation.

The two exchanged glances, without the slightest hesitation, their figures flashed, and they directly soared into the depths of the Black Mist Mountain Range.

The night wind howled in their ears, and the surrounding mist grew thicker, like viscous ink, completely isolating the moonlight.

Jiang Donghua's steps did not stop, but at a certain moment, he suddenly wrinkled his nose and abruptly halted.

"Wait."

He raised his hand to stop Hong Silk, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Senior Sister, do you smell a strange odor?"

Hong Silk was startled, then took two deep sniffs, but detected nothing.

She turned her head to glance at Jiang Donghua, her red lips curving into a mocking smile, unceremoniously teasing him.

"Oh, our great genius Jiang wouldn't be afraid of the dark, would he? In this pitch black, what could you possibly smell? Could it be ghostly aura?"

Jiang Donghua's mouth twitched, and he glared at her, annoyed.

"I'm serious! This smell is a bit like a certain medicinal herb, but it also has a hint of a bloody scent."

Seeing that his expression was not feigned, Hong Silk slightly reined in her smile and sniffed carefully again, but still found nothing. She shrugged and said,

"I don't smell anything. Either your nose is too sensitive, or you're having hallucinations from this spooky place."

She deliberately drew out her words, a hint of mischief flashing in her eyes.

Jiang Donghua was too lazy to bicker with her, his gaze sweeping around with a serious expression.

In the black mist, visibility was obstructed, but that faint scent lingered at his nostrils, refusing to dissipate.

"Something's not right!"

He murmured in a low voice, subconsciously tensing his nerves.

Just then, the mist ahead suddenly surged violently, as if stirred by some invisible force.

Immediately after, a faint Red Light flashed in the mist, so fast that one might almost think it was an illusion.

Hong Silk's eyes narrowed, and she instantly dropped her playful demeanor.

"It seems we didn't come to the wrong place!"

Jiang Donghua, however, still stared in the direction from which the scent came, slowly saying,

"Perhaps that Red Light isn't what we're looking for at all."

"What do you mean?"

Hong Silk looked at him, puzzled.

Jiang Donghua did not answer, but instead suddenly stepped in another direction, his voice low and firm.

"Follow me."

Although Hong Silk didn't understand why, she quickly followed.

The two delved deeper, the mist gradually dispersing, while the sweet, bloody scent grew increasingly potent.

Finally, in a secluded mountain hollow, Jiang Donghua stopped.

The sight before them made Hong Silk's pupils suddenly contract: a completely blood-red exotic flower rooted in a rock crevice, its petals like blood, with a faint Red Light flowing within its stamen, and scattered around it were several already withered skeletons.

"Is this a Blood Spirit Demon Flower?!"

Hong Silk exclaimed in surprise.

Jiang Donghua's gaze was solemn as he slowly nodded.

"No wonder there's a Red Light; this thing grows by absorbing vital blood."

Hong Silk gasped, finally understanding what the bloody scent Jiang Donghua had smelled earlier was.

She turned to look at him, a complex look flashing in her eyes.

"Your nose is really more sensitive than a dog's."

Jiang Donghua's face was full of question marks. Was this the time to be thinking about that?!