Chapter 192

Chapter 192: An Unexpected Surprise from Robbing a Demonic Cultivator Stronghold

After Rong Shu found Wu Hua, the two of them went together to look for Xiao Zi An.

She had expected to see the same spring-breeze warmth from her Fourth Senior Brother, but instead she happened to walk in on Xiao Zi An scolding a subordinate: “Idiots, even this could be stolen? Get back out there and keep investigating.”

Seeing Rong Shu and Wu Hua arrive, Xiao Zi An dismissed the subordinate. Rong Shu, noticing that his expression was far from pleasant, asked: “Fourth Senior Brother, what happened?”

“There is a problem at Ice Lake,” said Xiao Zi An with a sigh.

“Ice Lake has a problem? What kind of problem?” asked Rong Shu with a slight frown.

Xiao Zi An explained: “All along, the concentration of ice-aspect spiritual energy at Ice Lake has been much higher than elsewhere, but these last two days it has plummeted and is now about the same as other places.”

Sensing something wrong, Rong Shu blurted out: “Is it man-made or a natural issue?”

“Man-made,” Xiao Zi An said, his expression turning cold. “There is an Eighth Grade Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus growing at the bottom of Ice Lake. Because of this medicinal herb, the lake has always held more ice qi than the outside world. But now, the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus has been stolen.”

Wu Hua spoke: “Do you need help?”

Xiao Zi An shook his head, and only then did a hint of a smile appear on his face as he said: “No need. It is only an Eighth Grade Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus. If the Alchemists’ Guild truly valued it, they would have transplanted it long ago instead of leaving it under the City Lord’s Manor to guard. If it is lost, then it is lost. It is no great matter. But since this happened inside the city, I do not know whether the thief has other designs. I am letting you two know so you can be on guard.”

Xiao Zi An had wanted to celebrate for Rong Shu, but he also had to investigate this matter, so he left in a hurry.

Since Xiao Zi An had left, Rong Shu and Wu Hua had no reason to stay. After leaving the competition grounds and walking along the street, Rong Shu suddenly remembered something, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Wu Hua: “Senior brother, the competition is over.”

With that, Rong Shu began to waggle her eyebrows meaningfully. Wu Hua smiled helplessly and said: “There are three strongholds. In two of them, the highest cultivation is at most the Foundation Establishment Stage.”

Without the least hesitation, Rong Shu decided cheerfully: “Then we will hit those two strongholds.”

They put thought into action. Rong Shu and Wu Hua immediately made for the first demonic cultivator stronghold.

As they neared the stronghold, Wu Hua said: “I will wait outside. If there is danger, use the Nine Palace Mirror to call me.”

Given the assortment of pills, arrays, and Talismans on Rong Shu’s person, cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage could neither hurt her nor easily discover her. Wu Hua therefore had no intention of following her inside.

“All right,” said Rong Shu, nodding as she hugged Little Hamster before turning and continuing forward.

Wu Hua’s gaze fell on Little Hamster and grew thoughtful. At a time like this, infiltrating a demonic cultivator stronghold, his little junior sister had neither put Little Hamster away in the Beast Taming Pouch nor asked him to look after it.

Inside the demonic cultivator stronghold, Rong Shu pressed an Invisibility Talisman to herself and activated both the concealment array and a defensive array. With both arrays operating, any cultivator below the Golden Core Stage could neither harm Rong Shu nor even perceive her.

“Yan Yan, teleport,” she said, and at her words a Spatial Rift opened and wrapped itself around her figure. In the next instant, Rong Shu entered the stronghold.

She had already scouted the general layout of the stronghold during her previous visit. Although some areas were heavily guarded, Little Hamster’s teleportation let Rong Shu pass silently through layer after layer of formations and go straight to the most important place in the stronghold, the treasure vault.

“Yan Yan, once more,” said Rong Shu. She had only arrived outside the vault, so she asked Little Hamster to perform another teleport. This time, they appeared directly inside.

“Whoa,” she breathed, momentarily stunned by the piles of Spirit Stones, medicinal herbs, and other treasures before her eyes. But having seen the stores inside her own Little Hamster’s spatial reserve, she was only surprised for a heartbeat before remembering the task at hand.

“Wind Sprite,” called Rong Shu as she summoned the sprite, then directed it to use wind to sweep all the treasures into Storage Pouches. When one Storage Pouch was full, she used the next.

After she had filled every Storage Pouch on her body, she was about to start packing the vault’s treasures into the Han Chuan Cosmos Pearl when Little Hamster wobbled over, hugging a wooden box. “Shu Shu, Storage Pouches, there are some here,” it said.

Rong Shu took the wooden box and opened it to find a dozen empty Storage Pouches inside. “Yan Yan, well done,” she said. “Wind Sprite, keep packing.”

Once she had bundled up every last treasure in this stronghold’s vault, Rong Shu did not linger. She had Little Hamster take her out at once. [Speed is of the essence.]

Before the demonic cultivators could react, Rong Shu immediately went to the next demonic cultivator stronghold and used the same method again.

A few hours later, inside one of the looted demonic cultivator strongholds, Yun Wu Ya returned and suddenly heard a piece of disastrous news: “The vault has been cleaned out.”

Face dark as iron, Yun Wu Ya demanded: “Who? Who did this?”

The stronghold’s steward was so terrified he fell straight to his knees: “R-reporting to the Young Valley Master, we do not know. We never saw the thief at all, and there is no sign that any of the formations were triggered.”

“Useless,” roared Yun Wu Ya, unable to listen further. “You do not even know who emptied out your ancestral home? What are you even here for?”

“Please calm your anger, Young Valley Master,” cried the men.

What infuriated Yun Wu Ya most was that the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus he had risked exposure to steal had also vanished. He had not dared to keep it on him for fear that if the City Lord’s guards searched him they would discover the lotus, so he had temporarily placed it in the stronghold. He had never expected that the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus would be stolen.

In other words, Yun Wu Ya’s trip to Wanderer’s City had gained him nothing; he had even lost two strongholds and drawn the attention of the local sub-guild of the Alchemists’ Guild and the City Lord’s Manor.

After his fury ebbed, Yun Wu Ya issued curt orders with a grim face: “Since the strongholds have been exposed, all personnel are to withdraw from Wanderer’s City at once. As for the other strongholds that are not exposed, break them up into smaller units and hide anew within Wanderer’s City. If anything seems off, pull out immediately.”

“Yes, Young Valley Master,” they answered.

By now, the culprit behind the looting of the demonic cultivator strongholds had already returned to the inn and was happily tallying the spoils in her room. Clicking her tongue, Rong Shu exclaimed: “Tsk tsk tsk, they are filthy rich. Yan Yan, we have more Spirit Stones again. We will upgrade your nest.”

After affectionately scratching Little Hamster, Rong Shu continued sorting the treasures from the demonic cultivator strongholds into neat categories. “Hiss, so cold,” she said when a chill bit her fingers as she handled a Storage Pouch filled with medicinal herbs. “What is this? Why is the cold so intense?”

Rong Shu reached into the Storage Pouch and took out a medicinal herb shaped like a snow lotus.