Compared to the bustling lobby of the inn, the backyard was particularly quiet, with almost all the rooms empty.
The large Angry Demon Gathering Inn didn’t even have the simplest of magical arrays; with a sweep of her divine sense, everything in the rooms was laid bare.
Bao Gu followed the innkeeper’s instructions and walked to the innermost room on the second floor.
She gently pushed the slightly ajar door open, and a refreshing river breeze rushed in.
The window was wide open, revealing the surging waters of the Nu River outside.
As Bao Gu approached the window to close it, Yu Mi, who was standing behind her, suddenly rushed forward, grabbing her and pulling her back.
With a wave of her hand, she cast a spell, unleashing a blue fire dragon that spiraled out the window.
A dark shadow narrowly brushed past the blue flames and leaped into the river, creating a massive splash.
Was there a demon attacking?
Seeing Yu Mi’s icy expression and the stormy look in her eyes, Bao Gu sensed her fury.
She said, “Sister, don’t be angry.”
Yu Mi huffed, “You seem so calm!”
Bao Gu smiled lightly, “What’s there to be anxious about? We’re newcomers here, and we clearly stand out, so it’s natural to attract trouble.”
Yu Mi replied, “Bao Gu, do you know that many times your smile doesn’t reach your eyes, just like now.”
Bao Gu: “…”
Yu Mi said, “It’s night now, let’s rest!”
She closed the window, turned, and sat cross-legged on a chair, leaving the bed for Bao Gu.
Bao Gu walked to the bed and touched the bedding with her hand.
The quilt felt cool to the touch, and a faint scent lingered, indicating that it hadn’t been cleaned properly after previous guests, whether human or demon.
She turned and sat in the chair beside Yu Mi, closing her eyes to organize her thoughts.
Yu Mi’s words about her smile not reaching her eyes and her deep thoughts caused a dull ache to spread from her heart.
With the pain in her heart, a faint smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of her mouth, as if smiling would lessen the pain and discomfort.
As long as she could smile, everything could be faced with ease.
There was really nothing difficult in this world; it all depended on whether one was willing to put in the effort.
After calming her emotions, she took out the map drawn by Feng Yi and marked the villages she had found today clearly on it.
She reviewed her observations from today from start to finish.
Since she was new here, many situations were unclear, and it wasn’t wise to act rashly.
She planned to gather more information over the next few days before making her next move.
Seeing that Yu Mi was already in meditation, Bao Gu didn’t dare to slack off and sat cross-legged to meditate as well.
The situation in the Angry Demon Gathering was complex and fraught with hidden dangers.
Bao Gu awakened the Little Celestial Fox, which had been curled up in the Blood Oath Token, sleeping, and instructed it to stay alert and keep watch.
The Little Celestial Fox yawned, reluctantly nodded, and curled up in the Blood Oath Token, opening one eye and closing the other.
For Bao Gu, practicing was quite a tedious task.
Compared to breaking through realms, she preferred to sense and capture the faint trace of the Xuantian Sword Qi in her dantian, feeling the sword intent.
When the sword intent stirred, exquisite sword techniques would appear in her mind, and she would practice them one by one.
The “Battle Sutra” passed down from the Xuantian Sect seemed to pale in comparison.
Bao Gu emptied her mind and immersed herself in the comprehension of sword techniques and sword formulas.
She believed that the sword intent of the Xuantian Sword was its essence, and truly understanding the sword intent and learning the master’s sword techniques was the real inheritance from her master.
Suddenly, Bao Gu felt something unusual, as if someone was calling her.
She came back to her senses, opened her eyes, and found that the Little Celestial Fox had transformed into a girl of about eight or nine years old, standing beside her and tugging at her sleeve, looking anxious.
Yu Mi, who had been sitting next to her, had vanished.
She asked, “Where did my sister go?”
Reaching out to touch the chair where Yu Mi had been sitting, she found it still warm, clearly indicating that she had just gotten up and left.
The Little Celestial Fox said, “A demon cultivator used an illusion to lure Sister Yu Mi away. It seems she fell under the illusion. I just noticed, and she had already rushed out. I couldn’t stop her, so I could only call you…”
Bao Gu was alarmed and asked, “Sister fell under an illusion? How come I didn’t?”
Her strength was much lower than Yu Mi’s, and her resistance to illusions should have been weaker, so how had it turned around?
The Little Celestial Fox smirked and said, “You’ve consumed so many rare spiritual herbs, and you have powerful treasures protecting you. Moreover, your spiritual platform is safeguarded by the restrictions set by your sect’s elders. With so many layers of protection, even I couldn’t do anything to you.”
Worried for Yu Mi’s safety, Bao Gu hurriedly said, “Little Ling’er, quickly follow Sister and don’t let her get lost!”
She quickly added, “Make sure to keep her safe! Go!”
The Little Celestial Fox hesitated, saying, “If I leave, what will you do? The little monkey is under the pressure of the laws and can only protect itself, but it can’t protect you.”
Bao Gu replied, “I won’t be in any danger, don’t worry about me. Hurry and chase after Sister, bring her back! I’ll wait for you here at the inn! Go!”
Ling’er responded with an “Oh,” saying, “Then take care of yourself!”
She jumped out the window and dashed into the night sky.
Bao Gu was furious, her eyes cold as countless thoughts raced through her mind, all focused on how to deal with the demon cultivator who had taken her sister.
If anything happened to her sister, she would level the Angry Demon Gathering to the ground, drain the Nu River dry, and turn the Two Realms Mountain upside down to find that demon!
Bao Gu activated the concealment function of the bracelet on her wrist, hiding her aura, then opened the door and walked toward the inn’s lobby.
She felt that among the “people” who had used illusions to abduct her sister, there must be traces left in the inn’s lobby.
The night was deep, but the “people” were not quiet; the inn’s lobby was bustling with activity.
As she approached, she heard shouting as if something was being auctioned, with bids being called out.
With a cold expression, she stepped into the inn’s lobby and immediately saw a makeshift stage made of several tables in the center, where a strikingly beautiful woman was bound to a torture rack.
This woman was none other than Hua Sheng.
Her arms were stretched wide, her wrists bound and unable to move, her legs also tied, and her clothing was pulled open, exposing her fair chest.
Fear filled her eyes as she cried, tears streaming down her face.
Behind Hua Sheng were six cages; except for the one at the far end, which was empty, each cage held a decent-looking cultivator.
The cages were extremely small, forcing the people inside to curl up, leaving no room to move.
The atmosphere of the auction was extremely lively, and Hua Sheng was particularly sought after, with bids rising and falling.
Bao Gu paid special attention and noticed that both demons and humans were placing bids.
Bao Gu had seen human trafficking before; many sold themselves for various reasons, and she had witnessed people being abducted by human traffickers.
However, she had never seen anyone being captured and auctioned off like this.
Now she understood why the Angry Demon Inn was so lively at this late hour!
The Angry Demon Gathering was the largest black market in the Two Realms Mountain, and at this moment, they were auctioning female cultivators.
Clearly, her sister had been lured away by a demon cultivator using an illusion, and she feared that in the end, she would also be thrown into one of these cages to be auctioned off!
The person she cherished dearly, whom she couldn’t bear to see suffer even the slightest grievance, if it came to this—
A shadow of gloom covered Bao Gu’s face, and she could hardly restrain herself from rushing in to eliminate all the demon cultivators and villains present.
She clenched her fists tightly, taking several deep breaths to control her emotions.
Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught sight of two figures approaching from the direction of the inn, one of whom was her longed-for Yu Mi.
Yu Mi’s eyes were vacant, and she followed a half-human, half-snake woman into the inn with a dazed expression.
The woman had a human upper body, bare and adorned with two large breasts, her waist was so thin it was only half the size of a normal person, connected to a long snake tail.
The pattern clearly indicated that it was a non-venomous rat snake.
Bao Gu had often walked through the fields as a child and had seen many rat snakes; she had even eaten snake soup, but she had never seen a rat snake thicker than a python.
The Little Celestial Fox darted in like lightning to Bao Gu’s feet, saying, “I’ll break the illusion on Sister Yu Mi right now!”
Bao Gu asked softly, “Is my sister okay?”
The Little Celestial Fox replied, “It’s just a small illusion, very easy to break. She’s fine, don’t worry.”
Bao Gu felt much more at ease and responded with a “Mm,” saying, “You break the illusion on my sister, then seal off this inn for me. No one, human or demon, can leave this inn. Can you do that?”
The Little Celestial Fox thought for a moment and nodded, “I can!”
Bao Gu said, “Go!”
After she finished speaking, she saw the Little Celestial Fox transform into a shadow and darted out of the inn.
At the same time, she felt a gaze directed at her.
Following the direction of the gaze, she saw the half-human, half-snake rat snake demon staring at her in shock.
Although she had activated the concealment function on her wrist to hide her aura, she hadn’t made herself invisible.
While they couldn’t detect her aura, they could still see her with the naked eye.
With a cold smile, she fixed her gaze on the rat snake demon and said, “You dare to abduct my people in front of me, snake demon? Are you seeking death?”
As she spoke, she stepped out from the shadows of the back door, coldly glaring at the rat snake demon.
The crowd of people and demons participating in the auction were startled and turned to look.
Bao Gu naturally didn’t miss the reactions of these people and demons, seeing surprise on their faces.
She guessed they were probably shocked that she hadn’t been enchanted and captured!
She noticed her sister’s eyes gradually clearing up, and then she saw her sister squinting at her for a moment before looking around, her brows furrowing even deeper.
Bao Gu immediately broke into a radiant smile, saying, “Sister, you fell for it! Hurry up and thank your junior sister for saving you, or else you would have ended up like Sister Hua Sheng, bound up there for auction! By the way, Sister Hua Sheng is quite valuable; she has already been bid up to five hundred mid-grade spirit stones. I wonder what your starting bid is!”
Seeing Hua Sheng bound and auctioned, Yu Mi’s eyes burst with anger, and flames erupted from her body.
The rat snake demon sensed something was wrong and quickly retreated.
Hua Sheng, seeing Bao Gu and Yu Mi, struggled desperately, tears streaming down her face.
Yu Mi coldly snorted, “Would you be happy if I were bound up there?”
As she spoke, she rushed onto the stage, raising the Lihuo Sword to break the restrictions binding Hua Sheng’s hands, then turned back to glare coldly at Bao Gu, who was grinning.
Bao Gu seriously thought for a moment and said, “Sister, if you were bound up there, everyone here tonight would not live.”
A cold snort rang out from the crowd: “What a big mouth!”
Bao Gu perked up her ears to hear the Little Celestial Fox’s voice: “Alright, I’ve sealed the entire inn!”
She smiled and said, “Is that so? I don’t think my words are too big; you can try and see if you can still leave the inn!”
Her voice deepened as she coldly declared, “Anyone unrelated to the abduction, get out of the way! Those involved in the abduction, self-destruct your cultivation, and I will spare your lives! Sun Dilong, come out!”
“Hah, what a show of power. A mere Foundation Establishment early stage and a Golden Core late stage dare to be so arrogant here! I see you’re seeking death!”
A man in a golden robe with a golden-winged crown stepped out from the crowd, pointing his folding fan at Bao Gu: “Even if you have a great background, coming to my Angry Demon Gathering today, you won’t be able to leave!”
