Chapter 256: Same same, but different

Gu Fan and Song Yan looked around the "Mirror Palace" for some time but found nothing in worth his time. He did grab the mirrors and put them in his inventory for "later" use.

After that the two of them made their way deeper into the ruins in search of Bai Bing and Song Tianyu.

And while he was somewhat confident in Bai Bing, the illusion that the mirror showed him and left a bit of worry in his heart.

So after what felt like a couple of days, they finally came across a cave.

Gu Fan looked around and saw that for as long as his eyes could see, he saw mountain ranges blocking the path.

’This is one weird-ass ruin," Gu Fan shook his head at the creativity of the one who made this, ’He stuffed fucking everything in one place. Villages, Manors, Mansions, Building, Beasts, and now Mountains. Does he not know too much makes your stomach go bad?’

Gu Fan did not want to enter the cave. This was like a blatant invitation to a mess that he wanted to avoid.

"Stay here," And Gu Fan jumped high up, wanting to scale the mountain to the other side.

Song Yan stayed below as she watched him swiftly climb the steep mountain. But in front of her eyes, she slowly, but noticeably watched his pace get slower.

And by the time he had climbed about a few kilometers, Gu Fan was sweating and panting. Every step felt like his body was being dragged behind by a thousand elephants.

And the mountain top, it was still not in sight.

’They must have placed a suppresion array,’ Gu Fan finally stopped as he looked at the top, with his eyes burning with sweat, ’There is no use wasting energy here.’

So Gu Fan just dropped in front of Song Yan.

"The sight up there was not worth looking," Gu Fan held her palm in his and without letting her say anything, dragged a giggling Song Yan with her inside the cave.

Inside the cave, the stone walls, floor, and even the ceiling were covered in thick, rotting, flesh-like red roots and massive, dark purple veins that throbbed like a beating heart.

The sweet-smelling mist was incredibly concentrated down here to the point that it was dripping like a thick, sticky sap from the fleshy ceiling.

As Gu Fan and Song Yan cautiously navigated the disgusting root-maze, Gu Fan pulled out a gourd and collected the sap as he went along.

And as they walked along, they both heard low sounds of whispering that echoed from a nearby fleshy tunnel.

Gu Fan recgnised the voice, so he didn’t bother hiding, casually stepping out of the shadows with a smirk as he leaned against a pulsing, fleshy wall.

"Having a little trouble navigating the meat-maze, ladies?" Gu Fan called out loud, casually flaring his Spiritual Qi to playfully remind them exactly who they were dealing with, "Your knight in shining armour is here to help."

As soon as they heard his voice, the girls in front of him flinched and instantly gripped their glowing daggers.

It was the Black Moon disciples that were in front of him.

And all of them remembered the brutal display that woman following behind this man had shown in the plaza.

They were already ready to attack before gu Fan or Song Yan made the first move.

But the veiled Peak Master raised her hand to halt her subordinates.

Instead of backing down or showing a single ounce of fear, the Black Moon leader stepped forward and completely unleashed her own terrifying aura, revealing a 7th Stage Origin Realm pressure that effortlessly pushed back against Gu Fan’s Qi, proving her emotionless facade was backed by absolute power.

"We are not lost; we are simply calculating our options," the Black Moon leader stated pragmatically, her voice incredibly calm, flat, and completely unaffected by his cheeky provocation or the horrifying environment.

She looked directly at Gu Fan’s masked face with dead, emotionless eyes.

"Though I do have to ask," Gu Fan ignored the look on the Peak Master’s face and tilting his head continued, "Are you ladies secretly obsessed with me? It really feels like you guys are following us around this dungeon just to catch another glimpse of my handsome face."

The Black Moon Peak Master didn’t even blink, her dark eyes remaining entirely flat and completely devoid of any irritation.

"We have been here before you... You are the ones who just followed us," she replied coldly.

"Same same, but different," Gu Fan chuckled lazily, casually waving his hand to brush off her boring logic before crossing his muscular arms again.

"Your strength is impressive. But from what I can see, you seem blind to the dark blood essence pulsating in these roots," the Peak Master pointed out without a shred of emotion.

"We on the other hand, have dark-arts tracking arrays that can perfectly bypass the shifting illusions, avoiding traps, and help us find the hidden treasures of this place.

"But we do lack manpower. Some of us are tired."

"So we guide you safely through the ruins and you can help us keep safe. In the end, we will split the inheritance evenly."

"If you are willing."

"We can form an alliance."

Gu Fan looked at the veiled face of the Peak Master and the veiled Black Moon disciples behind her. The situation was better than navigating through this place he had little to no idea about.

"Deal," Gu Fan agreed without much of a negotiation, "But if you have some other ideas in your mind and lead me into a trap, I might just have to burn you all alive before I die."

And his Purple Fire instantly burned in his palm, lighting up the dark cave in purple glow.

The Peak Master looked at the fire for some time as if she was thinking something, then she tore her gaze away and looked at Gu Fan before nodding.

Now that the two parties had shook hands, the alliance was formed, and the combined group moved rapidly through the disgusting, pulsating flesh-maze, relying on the Black Moon disciples’ glowing purple array compasses to easily avoid several traps.

After an hour of tense, and cautious navigation, the tunnels opened up into a massive central cavern that was illuminated by towering, violently glowing vats of boiling green liquid.

The Black Moon Peak Master immediately signaled the group to halt, as they stared directly into the cavern in absolute, unadulterated shock.

They had walked into a massive, organized, and still active industrial harvesting operation.

In front of them, dozens of people wearing pristine green and gold robes were standing with their backs towards them.

The all belonged to none other than the Murong Family.

And the Murong Family people were right now busy extracting the highly concentrated green poison directly from the pulsating flesh-roots.

They were funneling the "weeping souls" of the 300-year-old villagers and the trapped cultivators into massive sealed jade cylinders.

Standing on an elevated platform directing the operation was a Murong Family Core Elder, radiating a terrifying 6th Stage Origin Realm aura while he lazily inspected a freshly filled vial of pure, unadulterated toxin.

Just as Gu Fan and the others walked in to get a better look, the last of the perimeter array violently flashed red, and the Murong Core Elder’s head snapped directly toward their hiding spot.

"Intruders!" the Core Elder roared, his eyes narrowing as he instantly recognized the black leather uniforms of the assassins hiding in the shadows. "The Black Moon Palace actually managed to breach the inner ring!"

He didn’t panic, instead bursting into a loud, incredibly arrogant laugh because he actively possessed absolute, overwhelming confidence in his family’s supreme poison arts.

"You foolish girls actually thought you could steal the Murong Family’s 300-year-old secret harvest?!" the Core Elder sneered viciously, aggressively waving his hand to completely halt the harvesting operation as his elite poison masters instantly drew their glowing green weapons.

"Kill them all! Do not leave a single drop of blood behind."

"No one who knows the Murong Family’s secret should survive."

The Black Moon Palace disciples didn’t show a single ounce of fear, immediately gripping their glowing daggers as they shifted into a flawless, disciplined defensive formation directly in front of their Peak Master, Gu Fan, and Song Yan.

They were prepared for a desperate, bloody battle against their superior numbers.

But exactly as the assassins locked their defensive stances, Gu Fan casually stepped entirely out of the formation and walked directly to the absolute front of the group.

He didn’t even bother raising his defensive Qi shield.

Instead, a mocking smile spread across his face as he looked at the incoming wave of concentrated green toxin flying straight toward him.

"You arrogant idiots are actually trying to use poison against me?" Gu Fan laughed whole-heartedly.

"You guys never do your research before getting into a fight."

"And then you blame the heavens when you die."

"How pitiful."