Chapter 166: Secret Room

The masked True Master Martial Dao sensed the Demon Qi coming from Ah Ming. A flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes; he was clearly taken aback.

That unremarkable, dumb-looking rooster was actually a Tier Three Demon Beast!

No, that wasn’t right.

Heavy Pupils, a three-colored tail...

It was an Exotic Beast Chongming Bird!

The True Master Martial Dao relied on his Golden Core Realm Blood Qi and suppressive cultivation. He was fully confident he could kill Lu Bai and seize the Divine Weapon, even bare-handed.

But coming face-to-face with a Tier Three Exotic Beast, he hastily halted his advance.

"KREE KREE!"

Ah Ming leaped into the air and attacked. Its sharp claws descended relentlessly, leaving a series of afterimages in midair.

At first, the man could still rely on the Blood Qi surrounding his body to block for a short while.

But after just a few exchanges, his Blood Qi consumption was immense. The flames condensed from his Blood Qi had visibly shrunk.

If his Blood Qi thinned out and was suppressed back into his body, the True Master Martial Dao, being of flesh and blood, would be completely unable to withstand Ah Ming’s sharp claws and golden beak.

The two fought ferociously in midair while Lu Bai could only watch helplessly from below.

He was clutching a few Five Emperors Coins in his hand, but on second thought, he decided against it.

’This stuff is fine for dealing with Ghost Souls and other evil things.’

’But using it against a True Master Martial Dao? I’d just be embarrassing myself.’

Just then, the True Master Martial Dao, seeing the situation was turning against him, shook his arm. A dense swarm of cold glints suddenly shot out from his sleeve!

SWISH SWISH SWISH!

Points of cold light glittered through the air.

Ah Ming was completely unafraid. Its Demon Qi surged as it spread its wings to protect its body, simultaneously spinning rapidly in midair.

TING TING TANG!

The swarm of cold lights all fell to the ground.

Lu Bai’s eyes lit up as he watched.

Ah Ming was extremely clever, not just a reckless brute.

It not only used its own wings for defense but also added the force of its spin, managing to effortlessly deflect the Hidden Weapons and emerge completely unscathed!

There were often legends of people comprehending Martial Arts Techniques from watching birds and beasts of prey fight.

It seemed there was truth to those tales.

"Get down!"

Just then, Mo Tang suddenly shouted a warning.

A mechanical sound suddenly came from the swarm of cold lights that had just fallen.

Suddenly, several of the cold lights abruptly changed their downward trajectory and shot fiercely toward Lu Bai!

Lu Bai’s expression changed.

’These Hidden Weapons can fire a second time and change their trajectory?’

Thanks to Mo Tang’s warning, Lu Bai was already on guard. He dropped low at the first instant, and when he saw the cold lights coming, he threw himself flat on the ground.

The sound of SWISHING wind passed over his head.

At that moment, the True Master Martial Dao in the air let out a muffled groan.

Unable to dodge in time, his forehead was slashed open by Ah Ming’s claws.

Without a word, the man flicked his wrist and threw out a spinning round ball. It suddenly exploded in midair, erupting in a cloud of thick smoke.

Ah Ming quickly retreated to dodge. By the time it had flapped its wings to blow away the smoke, the True Master Martial Dao had already fled into the distance!

"KREE KREE!"

Ah Ming postured as if to give chase.

A thought struck Lu Bai, and he suddenly called out, "Ah Ming, come back!"

Ah Ming circled once before slowly descending. It shook its body, the divine light of its feathers retracting and its three-colored tail vanishing. It once again took on the appearance of a dumbstruck rooster.

The situation was still unclear.

Lu Bai was worried they had fallen for the tactic of luring the tiger away from the mountain.

If Ah Ming left and another True Master Martial Dao appeared, all three of them would meet their end here!

Mo Tang said nothing, merely giving Lu Bai an appreciative glance.

The same worry had just crossed her mind.

However, the Exotic Beast Chongming Bird had nothing to do with her, so it wasn’t her place to give it orders.

"Xiaolu, take the four bodies. Let’s head back to the Evil Extermination Bureau first!"

Despite just surviving a sudden assassination attempt, Mo Tang remained composed and calm. "Xiaohe," she said, "go pick up a few of those Hidden Weapons from the ground. Don’t use your bare hands; they might be poisoned."

He Liangzhi hadn’t suffered any internal injuries, after all, so he was in much better shape than Mo Tang.

He went forward, wrapped a few of the Hidden Weapons in a cloth, and gave them a quick look.

Lu Bai was tall with long arms and legs. He tucked one body under each arm and carried one in each hand, grabbing all four corpses at once.

"Let’s go!"

Mo Tang waved her hand, and the three of them headed toward the Evil Extermination Bureau.

Mo Tang endured the excruciating pain in her Internal Organs and unconsciously quickened her pace.

The three walked in silence, each weighed down by their own heavy thoughts.

But none of them spoke; they simply hurried on.

Before long, they finally saw the gates of the Evil Extermination Bureau.

Lu Bai went up and knocked. An Evil Exterminator Guard opened the gate, greeted Mo Tang and He Liangzhi upon seeing them, and let the three inside.

Mo Tang didn’t let out a sigh of relief until the moment the Evil Extermination Bureau’s gates closed behind them.

"Ma’am, what happened? Who injured you?"

The Evil Exterminator Guard frowned deeply, a look of shock on his face.

"We’ll talk about this tomorrow. Cheng Yu, wake the others. Guard the gates of the Evil Extermination Bureau well. The bureau will be on high alert for the foreseeable future!"

Mo Tang said in a low voice, "From this day on, no outsiders are to enter the Evil Extermination Bureau without my permission."

Hearing this, Cheng Yu’s heart sank. He realized something major had happened and quickly bowed in acknowledgment before turning to leave.

"Xiaolu, Xiaohe, come with me to my study."

Mo Tang called to them.

"What about these four bodies?"

Lu Bai asked tentatively.

Mo Tang said, "It’s fine. Bring them along. Just leave them in my place for now."

The three arrived at Mo Tang’s study, and Lu Bai glanced around.

The study wasn’t large and didn’t contain much.

There was only a single row of bookshelves, a desk, and a chair.

"Just put the bodies on the floor."

Mo Tang locked the door from the inside and said casually.

Lu Bai looked at the clean floor, hesitated for a moment, but still set the four bodies down.

Mo Tang walked to the bookshelf. As Lu Bai and He Liangzhi watched, she took out a book and fumbled behind the shelf for a moment.

There was a CLICK.

A mechanism seemed to have been triggered.

The bookshelf slowly slid to the sides, revealing a secret room.

"Come with me."

Mo Tang glanced back at Lu Bai and He Liangzhi before walking straight in.

Lu Bai glanced at He Liangzhi.

A trace of surprise also showed in He Liangzhi’s eyes; it was clearly his first time learning of this place.

The two of them followed Mo Tang into the secret room.

Just as they stepped inside, the bookshelf automatically closed behind them.

The surrounding light dimmed rapidly.

Without any visible action from Mo Tang, a sound came from the surrounding walls. Several bricks suddenly receded, revealing a few Luminous Pearls that instantly lit up the secret room!

It was the first time either Lu Bai or He Liangzhi had been to such a place. Feeling curious, they looked around.

The secret room was extremely spartan. Besides a stone bed in the far back, the most conspicuous things were the paintings that covered the walls.

There were mountains and great rivers, birds and beasts, and flowers and trees.

The only thing missing was people.

The lines in the paintings were neat and fine, the colors were layered, and the details were almost real, making them incredibly lifelike. They were completely different from freehand-style ink wash paintings and were more in the style of fine-brush painting.

He Liangzhi said, "So you like to collect paintings, Ma’am. I can keep an eye out for you when I’m out."

"There’s no need."

Mo Tang shook her head slightly. "I painted these myself in my spare time. It’s just a way for me to relax."

After a pause, Mo Tang sat down on the stone bed, took out a few Elixirs from the head of the bed and swallowed them. Only then did she look at Lu Bai and He Liangzhi and ask slowly, "What do you two have to say?"