142: Bai Xiaoshu

Mu Wanqing said in a heavy voice, "Alright, it's time for us to leave."

Ye Hao and the other three nodded and followed closely behind.

But just as the five were about to fly on their swords in the opposite direction of the cave, an unusual sound suddenly came from the black mist behind them.

"Rustle... Clack..." The sound was like dry wood rubbing together, yet also like shells colliding.

Ye Hao's footsteps suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he warned in a low voice, "Something is coming out."

As his voice fell, the other four instantly became alert, their spiritual power circulating around their bodies, ready to deal with any sudden situation at any time.

"Whoosh—!"

A dark shadow suddenly darted out from the soul-confusing miasma, carrying a pungent, fishy smell, and crashed onto the open ground in front of everyone like a broken kite, kicking up a shower of gravel.

Everyone looked closely and saw that it was actually a shell half the height of a person!

The outer shell shimmered with a dark purple luster and was covered in spiral patterns, with several small crystals embedded along the edges. Its shape was so peculiar it had never been seen before; if one had to say, it looked somewhat like a product of the Sea of Dead Silence.

The five looked at each other, and no one could say for sure what this thing was.

Then, the dark purple shell suddenly cracked with a "click," and a thin, small figure crawled out from within.

While brushing the dust off his body, he muttered to himself, "I wonder how many good things I can pick up this time... If I can scrape together 100,000 Spirit Stones, it'll be worth staying in this damn miasma for so long..."

As Li Hu finished speaking, he seemed to suddenly realize the presence of the five people before him, and his entire body instantly froze. His eyes quickly swept over Ye Hao and the others, and he soon reached a conclusion: these were characters he couldn't afford to provoke.

Without hesitation, Li Hu squeezed out a smile and said, "G-greetings, Fellow Daoists."

Mu Wanqing's brows furrowed slightly, and she stared at him with a sharp gaze, being the first to ask, "Who are you? What was that shell earlier? Why were you hiding inside it?"

She threw three questions at him in quick succession.

At this moment, Li Hu was like a frightened quail.

He answered as if pouring beans out of a bamboo tube, "This humble one is called Li Hu, just a Loose Cultivator scraping by in the Myriad Spirit Affinity Realm!" He pointed to the dark purple shell beside him, a thicker smile plastered on his face. "You mean this thing? It's called the 'Mystic Turtle Mist-Avoiding Shell'."

"It's a piece of junk this humble one picked up from an abandoned Immortal Cave. Although it's unremarkable, it can protect against this soul-confusing miasma and hide from some low-tier Yao Beasts. This humble one carries it just to find a way to survive in this Myriad Spirit Affinity Realm!"

As he spoke, he quietly took half a step back, his eyes full of wariness, and he hurriedly added:

"You Fellow Daoists are clearly Prodigies; you surely wouldn't look twice at this humble one's junk. I'm just passing through and would never dare to compete for anything with you. If I've disturbed you, I'll leave right now, right now!"

As he spoke, he reached out to move the Mystic Turtle Miasma-Avoiding Shell, but his movements were intentionally slow, his eyes fixed on Ye Hao and the others, fearing they might suddenly attack.

"Mystic Turtle Mist-Avoiding Shell!"

Mu Wanqing muttered to herself; she really hadn't expected someone would try to hide like this until the end of the Myriad Spirit Affinity Realm.

Ye Hao was also somewhat surprised; if that was the case, why bother participating in the Heavenly Selection Grand Ceremony?

"Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment!" Just as Li Hu was about to leave, Xie Xingchen suddenly called out.

Li Hu's movements instantly froze as if he had been hit with a Body-Fixing Spell. He slowly turned his head, a smile more painful than crying plastered on his face. "D-Daoist, what else do you require?"

Xie Xingchen stepped forward, politely cupped his fists, and spoke in a gentle tone like a scholar.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist. Might you be the 'All-Knowing Rat' who is active near Wanbao City?"

At these words, Li Hu's face went blank, and he hurriedly waved his hands, shaking his head like a rattle. "N-no! Fellow Daoist, you have the wrong person. This humble one is just an ordinary Loose Cultivator."

Beside them, Xiao Lingxian asked curiously, "All-Knowing Rat? Who is that?"

Xie Xingchen turned to Mu Wanqing and the other three, explaining patiently, "I've only heard of such a person. It's said that he values his life immensely and travels throughout the Central Region all year round. Whether it's the entrance to a Secret Realm, a treasure's hiding place, or secrets and anecdotes among Cultivators, there's nothing he doesn't know."

"His style of action is extremely cautious, and his way of thinking is different from ordinary people."

At this point, he looked at Li Hu again, his eyes filled with a bit more scrutiny. "I only suddenly thought of this person after seeing how this Fellow Daoist used the Mystic Turtle Miasma-Avoiding Shell, as well as his timid yet extremely quick-reacting manner."

Hearing Xie Xingchen's words, Li Hu's expression remained unchanged.

Mu Wanqing sighed softly and asked with some confusion, "If this All-Knowing Rat is so afraid of trouble and values his life so much, why would he frequent places like Secret Realm entrances and even participate in this Heavenly Selection Grand Ceremony?"

Xie Xingchen continued, "That, I do not know."

Mu Wanqing turned to size up Li Hu.

Li Hu pleaded, "Fellow Daoists, you've really got the wrong person. With my appearance, how could I be that All-Knowing Rat?" After saying this, he fished out a pouch and poured out three spirit fate crystals, saying tremulously:

"If you don't mind, please accept these as a small greeting gift from this humble one and spare my life. This is already all of my belongings."

Ye Hao frowned slightly, then his gaze sharpened. He stepped forward slowly and said, "Since you are willing to offer treasure, then..." Before his voice could fall, the Chaos Qi around Ye Hao's body suddenly surged. His right hand formed a claw, striking directly at Li Hu's throat!

This strike was fast and ruthless, clearly a feigned acceptance to test the other's background.

Li Hu's face changed drastically, but he did not panic. His body slid back several feet like a loach, while his right hand formed a sword finger. A streak of pale green spiritual power slashed directly at Ye Hao's claw wind, actually managing to force back the Chaos Qi!

"Golden Core Realm!" A flash of surprise crossed Ye Hao's eyes. Despite his disheveled appearance, Li Hu was actually hiding a Golden Core cultivation base.

Li Hu was also somewhat surprised by this man's cultivation base; although he knew the other was not simple, he hadn't expected him to be so unfathomable.

He immediately turned and tried to flee into the depths of the soul-confusing miasma, not daring to linger for a moment.

But he had only taken two steps when a gust of wind came from behind. Li Pingan had somehow quietly circled behind him, his hands gripping Li Hu's shoulders like iron pincers, firmly locking his Meridians.

Li Hu felt his spiritual power instantly stagnate, making even moving difficult. The arrogance on his face was instantly replaced by horror.

Ye Hao stepped forward slowly and said in a heavy voice, "Now, it's time to tell us your true identity, isn't it? A Golden Core Realm Cultivator has no need to pretend like this to survive."

Li Hu sighed, "Fellow Daoists, Seniors, every word this humble one said is true."

He took out four more spirit fate crystals from another pouch. "The only thing this humble one lied about was hiding these. Please take them all, just let me go like a puff of air."

Ye Hao ignored him and pressed, "As long as you tell me where the Ye family, to which Ye Jing of the Netherworld Holy Land belongs, is hiding, we will let you go."

"Fellow Daoist, you must be joking. How could a Loose Cultivator like me, who just scrapes by everywhere, know about the grand Netherworld Ho—"

Li Hu's words stopped abruptly mid-sentence!

Because he saw the gray mist condensing more and more in the palm of the man before him.

Li Hu sighed softly, "Does your word hold true, Fellow Daoist?"