Chapter 3
Liu Er crept along the wall, moving with extreme care. Thanks to his talent, “That Damn Presence,” his footsteps were nearly silent, and his aura was so faint it was difficult to detect.
The corridor outside the cell was deep and oppressive. The air was thick with the smells of mildew and sweat, mixed with a faint, cloying fragrance identical to the one in the hall.
Nearly identical cells lined both sides of the corridor. Behind the iron bars, shadowy figures revealed men in the same predicament as him.
Here and there along the corridor were solitary rooms that were clearly different.
The bars on these cells were thicker, and the gaps between them narrower, as if their occupants were being watched more closely. Yet their living conditions were far better than those in the shared cells. They had simple stone beds and wooden tables, and a basin in the corner filled with clean water.
The men living here were also prisoners, but their clothes were relatively neat, and they looked less sallow. At that moment, they were all sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed, seemingly practicing some sort of breathing technique.
It was obvious that they were treated much better than he was.
Still, every man Liu Er had seen was locked in a cell. Not one of them seemed free to move about.
Only “Miss Su” and the masked maids could walk freely through the corridors.
Fortunately, Liu Er hadn’t run into any of the maids. Avoiding everyone’s gaze, he crossed the entire corridor and finally entered a shorter but wider passageway.
The passage was decorated much like the corridor—or rather, neither had any decorations to speak of. But at last, there were no cells along this passage, only rooms with doors.
Liu Er advanced cautiously. After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped.
Faint voices came from behind a half-open door.
“Why hasn’t the new Junior Sister arrived yet? Miss Su has already asked about her once. She’s still waiting for her over there.”
Several maids wearing white masks stood inside, chatting among themselves.
“Who knows? Maybe some Senior Brother intercepted her along the way. No telling how much longer we’ll have to wait...”
“It’s not the first time. Those guys are like hungry wolves. They catch a whiff of a fresh face and pounce.”
“They can only fool naive Junior Sisters. Once she gets here, how could they trick her?”
“Since she isn’t coming, there’s no need to save it for her. Let’s divide it up ourselves before it goes to waste.”
A rustling, dragging sound came from inside the room, as if something heavy were being pulled across the floor.
Liu Er edged closer to the door and slowly peered inside through the narrow gap.
The room looked like a storeroom. Dusty tools and boxes were piled up inside, and it was darker than the corridor.
In the dim, yellowish light, several maids huddled together. One of them bent down and dragged a limp body up from the floor.
When Liu Er recognized the corpse, a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head!
It was Liu Yi, the clone the burly man had reported yesterday, whom the maid had killed with a single palm strike!
Why was Liu Yi here?
What were they going to do with Liu Yi’s corpse?
Liu Er felt a powerful wave of nausea, but he didn’t blink. He stared fixedly into the room.
“There’s still a little yang energy left in this corpse. Hurry up and take your share. Don’t waste it,” the maid in the black mask said coldly.
“Yes, Senior Sister.” The other maids nodded quickly and placed their hands on the corpse.
As for the maid in the black mask, the one they called Senior Sister, she walked straight over to the corpse and, without hesitation, pressed her hand just below its dantian!
A faint black glow appeared in her palm, like a tiny vortex, as if it were drawing in something invisible.
“What a pity. Only Miss Su can absorb the yang energy of the living. We’ve been placed under a restriction, so we can only absorb what’s left in corpses...”
“What can you expect when we’re so low in the hierarchy? We should be grateful to get even a little.”
“I wonder how this man managed to get out. He ended up doing us a favor.”
“It’d be great if another fool came along looking for death. Senior Sister might be able to break through to Qi Refining then, right?”
Senior Sister nodded and softly murmured, “Mm.”
As Liu Er listened to their conversation, he suddenly understood.
Only Su Meier could absorb the yang energy of the living. The maids had been placed under a restriction, so they could only absorb the yang energy left in corpses.
That was why they killed anyone who tried to escape without hesitation. They needed corpses!
To them, the dead were a resource!
Just then, the maid in the black mask suddenly raised her head. Her gaze was sharp as lightning as she stared straight toward Liu Er’s hiding place!
“Who’s there?!”
Liu Er was badly startled. Only then did he realize he’d been discovered.
His talent could conceal his aura, but it was simply too weak! It wasn’t surprising that they’d found him!
Liu Er tried to make a run for it, turning to flee, but—
“Eavesdropping on our conversation? You’re asking to die!”
“Pfft!”
A streak of black light shot through the air like lightning and pierced his chest!
The tremendous force sent him stumbling forward before smashing him hard against the cold stone wall. Pain and cold overwhelmed him, leaving him unable to move even a finger.
“Another rat.” The maid walked over with a cold laugh and crouched down. She studied Liu Er’s ordinary, scruffy, bearded face, then furrowed her brow in confusion. “Strange. How did someone this ugly get in here...?”
Liu Er couldn’t make out what she said next, because he had already lost consciousness.
Liu Ming was sitting against the wall with his eyes closed, pretending to cultivate the Profound Female Art, when he suddenly opened his eyes. Large beads of cold sweat had formed on his forehead.
Although it was only his clone that had died, sharing the same consciousness and sensations made it no different from experiencing death himself!
And this time, death had come much more slowly. It was even more agonizing than before.
[Your clone, Liu Er, has died]
[Liu Er successfully overheard the maids’ conversation and learned some of the Demonic Sect’s secrets. At least his death wasn’t entirely in vain.]
[Talent acquired: “Eavesdropping Little Rat”: Your hearing is sharper, and you’re more likely to overhear secrets.]
The system’s prompt came belatedly. Liu Ming finally recovered and let out a long breath.
“These maids... need corpses!” A flicker of understanding crossed his eyes. “She must have noticed me long ago and deliberately let me overhear them, just so she’d have an excuse to kill me!”
“Just as they can’t attack the living, they must have been placed under other restrictions that prevent them from attacking us directly.”
“Otherwise, they could simply kill all of us and use us as cultivation resources.”
“Liu Yi tried to escape, and Liu Er overheard their secrets. They were both killed without mercy because they violated the ‘taboos’ here!”
“In other words, as long as I don’t do anything out of line, I’m still safe!”