Chapter 136

Chapter 136: Little Bamboo Bear Ambushes the Man in Black

Shen Sang Ruo said to Old Shaman: “By the way, traces of a Heretic Cultivator have shown up in the Phantom Mirage Domain recently, please stay alert.”

Old Shaman’s eyes widened slightly beneath his mask as he repeated, “Heretic Cultivator?”

She answered with a nod, then took out the black Beast Core and handed it over for him to examine, while explaining how a Black Bear was infected and the Protean Wood had been ruined.

After hearing it, anger flooded Old Shaman’s eyes. He clenched his fist and slammed the table as he barked: “How bold!”

He growled again: “I only went into Closed-Door Cultivation, I didn’t die! And yet someone dared to reach a paw into my Phantom Mirage Domain!”

After a few curses, he calmed his temper and said: “Thank you for telling me. I will strengthen the defenses of the Phantom Mirage Domain.”

“This is my duty. If there is nothing else, this junior will take her leave,” said Shen Sang Ruo with a cupped-fist salute.

“Then I will trouble you with the matter I asked of you,” he replied.

Shen Sang Ruo nodded and left the room.

Fang Yu was waiting by the main doors of Floating Cloud Tower. As soon as they met, the little Bamboo Bear could not wait and dove into her arms with its familiar soft, squishy feel.

They walked out together.

Outside the Floating Cloud Tower, heads still stretched in a dense crowd, even more than before. When people saw them come out, they automatically opened a path and stared at them with envy.

A man in black stood among them. When he met Shen Sang Ruo’s eyes, he quickly lowered his gaze.

His gloomy eyes had a cold gleam that made people uneasy. Shen Sang Ruo’s brows moved a hair. [I don’t recognize this face. He must have arrived after we went in.]

She drew back her gaze. She had already swept the area with her Divine Sense and found nothing strange, only an ordinary cultivator at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

The man’s lowered head hid the slight curl of his lips.

But light flashed in the little Bamboo Bear’s eyes. In the next moment it leaped from her arms, shot through the crowd, and charged straight at the man in black.

“Little Bamboo Bear!” cried Fang Yu.

The little Bamboo Bear had never lost control like this and rushed someone before.

Shen Sang Ruo’s eyes chilled. She pushed off hard and sprinted toward that spot.

The man in black saw the little Bamboo Bear streaking toward him and gathered Spiritual Power in his hands to block. The small fellow stomped once and crushed it like a soap bubble.

Before he could react, the world spun. In an instant he was pinned under the little Bamboo Bear’s paws, unable to move at all.

The onlookers jumped back again and again, leaving a clear space so Shen Sang Ruo could approach smoothly.

The man’s gaze flickered. Doubt filled his face. [What does this thing eat? How can it be this heavy?]

Seeing he could not struggle free, he forced down his panic and began to wail: “Ow, ow! Whose Spirit Pet has gone mad and attacked me out of nowhere? Help, help! Old Shaman Lord, please make this right for me!”

All eyes swung toward the commotion. Everyone knew the little Bamboo Bear belonged with Shen Sang Ruo, and talk burst out at once.

Many tried to persuade her: “Fellow Daoist, call your Spirit Pet back. Even if you’re a Late Golden Core cultivator, you shouldn’t bully people like this.”

“Right, that Fellow Daoist is only at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. You’re going too far.”

“This is the Floating Cloud Tower. Old Shaman has forbidden fighting. You just earned Old Shaman’s favor; are you going to break the rules already?”

Hearing support, the man in black howled even louder. The little Bamboo Bear could not stand it and stomped him twice more. This time his screams sounded painfully real.

Shen Sang Ruo ignored the noise. She walked to the bear and the man and looked into the little Bamboo Bear’s inky pea eyes. The little one’s gaze was very serious.

“You think he’s a problem?” she asked, bending down.

The little Bamboo Bear nodded and fixed its gaze on the man in black as if searching for something.

Shen Sang Ruo’s eyes narrowed. [This bear never makes a scene for nothing. The last time it was this stubborn, it led us to the Ten Thousand Year Myriad Transforming Wood.] And she had already felt this man was wrong.

Could the little Bamboo Bear have found something?

She straightened and chose to trust it, then told the crowd: “I’m not bullying anyone. This man has a problem.”

The man in black grew agitated and snapped: “What problem? What problem do I have?”

He didn’t believe this furry lump could see through him.

“Ask anyone here if there’s anything odd about me. You’re being unfair to order your Spirit Pet to attack me without cause. Where is justice in that?” he shouted.

The crowd scolded again. Shen Sang Ruo’s words didn’t convince them.

People who had stood near the man swore he had no abnormalities.

Fang Yu squeezed his way in with great effort, his face squashed flat. He ignored his looks and declared: “Quit yelling, all of you! If my sis says there’s a problem, then there is a problem!”

It was pure, brainless faith.

“Everyone, please be patient. This Bamboo Bear is very spiritual. It wouldn’t attack someone for no reason,” Shen Sang Ruo said to calm them.

But the crowd still clamored to make the little Bamboo Bear let him go. Some even prepared to act, yet they didn’t dare move lightly in front of Shen Sang Ruo’s Late Golden Core strength.

The man in black shouted too: “You say I’m a problem, then show your proof. Hey, hey—”

He cut off mid-sentence when he felt the little Bamboo Bear shoving hard at his chest.

The bear had no gentleness for him like it did for Shen Sang Ruo. It felt like a bull was ramming him. He nearly coughed blood.

Very soon the little Bamboo Bear bit a storage pouch from his chest, dropped it by its paws, and stomped. The pouch shattered, and everything spilled out.

Besides common pills and Spirit Stones, one item caught Shen Sang Ruo’s eye.

“Heart Core of Myriad-Change Wood?” She had seen drawings in old books.

That heart core had been taken by the Heretic Cultivator.

“You’re…” Fang Yu blurted, but stopped at Shen Sang Ruo’s look.

There were too many people here. Any slip could stir trouble.

The little Bamboo Bear huffed and stomped again. It was this man who had cut off the life line of the Ten Thousand Year Myriad Transforming Wood. It could smell the heart core.

Shen Sang Ruo’s gaze turned sharp as a blade. The man, a Heretic Cultivator who had done evil for years, actually felt fear.

His instincts screamed that this woman had seen through him.

He wanted to run, but the little Bamboo Bear’s paw felt like an iron clamp. Even his soul could not slip free.

“This is the proof you want,” Shen Sang Ruo said as she picked up the heart core. “Now shut up and come with me to see Old Shaman.”

Old Shaman, hearing the uproar, came down from the second floor and saw the scene. He knew his Mountain God Little Ancestor would never target someone for no reason.

Under everyone’s shocked stares he said: “This man does have a problem. Bring him into the Floating Cloud Tower.”