Chapter 296 - 141: Accidentally Stained with Muddy Water

Chapter 296: Chapter 141: Accidentally Stained with Muddy Water

The scene before him was thus laid bare.

Ahead, the woman was crawling forward.

With each inch she moved, her hips dipped and swayed.

The motion rippled like a wave through a field of wheat.

Perhaps it was a sixth sense, but Shui Miaozheng suddenly stopped crawling and whipped her head around to look at Jiang Mu behind her.

But she saw Jiang Mu with his head lowered, seemingly engrossed in crawling forward, not looking at her in the slightest.

Since she had stopped so abruptly, Jiang Mu nearly crashed right into her.

His face came close enough to almost touch her.

"What’s wrong, Aunt Shui?"

Jiang Mu looked up and asked, his face a mask of confusion.

The heat of his breath permeated her clothes.

Shui Miaozheng’s hand on the ground instinctively clenched, and her body recoiled, creating a bit of distance between them.

She collected herself and shook her head. "It’s... it’s nothing. Let’s keep going."

With that, she turned back around and resumed crawling.

She moved much faster than before.

But after that exchange, the psychological effect was magnified tremendously.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that his gaze was still fixed on her, that his face was still very, very close.

In her dazed state, she could almost feel the heat of his breath.

In a daze, Shui Miaozheng’s mind inexplicably flashed back to the scene in the Demon encampment, right after she had inhaled the Dragon Demon’s toxic gas.

That time.

’That scene where I lost all control...’

At the thought, the woman felt all the blood in her body rush to her face.

She bit her lower lip and clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as she used the pain to keep her mind clear.

She was terrified that if she lost control, something unexpected would happen in this narrow, dark cave.

A repeat of that utterly mortifying scene from before.

’If that happens, I might as well just die!’

But the more she worried, the stronger the sensation became, haunting her like a curse.

Fortunately, the torment didn’t last long.

A sliver of light suddenly appeared up ahead.

The tunnel had come to an end.

One after the other, they crawled out of the narrow passage and into an underground cavern about twenty feet square.

The cavern was spartan and completely empty.

However, a peculiar type of vine grew on the surrounding rock walls.

The vines were long and slender, with translucent leaves. An emerald-green light, like that of fireflies, flowed through their veins.

Countless such vines intertwined, bathing the cavern in an emerald glow that made its interior clearly visible.

"Whew..."

Shui Miaozheng let out a long sigh of relief. She quickly got to her feet and straightened her slightly disheveled clothes, trying to mask her flustered state.

Jiang Mu suddenly made a sound of surprise. His gaze fell on the back of Shui Miaozheng’s dress as he asked quizzically,

"Aunt Shui, it looks like the back of your dress is wet. Did you brush against some muddy water while we were crawling?"

Shui Miaozheng’s expression was blank as she replied stiffly,

"I accidentally brushed against a puddle on the ground while crawling. It’s nothing."

Jiang Mu didn’t think much of it, simply assuming the cave was damp. He looked around and asked, "Aunt Shui, are there any Mine Demons here?"

Shui Miaozheng didn’t answer right away.

Her back to Jiang Mu, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if desperately trying to calm herself.

Then, she raised her hands, and her fingers began to rapidly weave together, forming seals.

Jiang Mu couldn’t understand the Dharma Seals she was forming, so not daring to disturb her, he just watched quietly from the side.

He did notice, however, that in the emerald glow of the vines, Shui Miaozheng’s profile and neck had a rosy flush.

Fine beads of sweat trickled from her smooth temples.

Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and her breathing seemed a little faster than usual. The rise and fall of her chest was also slightly more pronounced,

as if she were forcefully restraining something.

After a long moment, Shui Miaozheng finally let out a heavy breath, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

She lowered her hands—even she couldn’t recall what jumbled mess of Dharma Seals she had just formed—and looked around.

"I can sense the aura of Mine Demons."

She raised a slender hand and pointed to a seemingly unremarkable stone wall on the right.

"They’re in there. Break it open."

"Alright!"

Jiang Mu agreed, drew the blade from his waist, and with a full-strength swing, slashed at the stone wall.

BOOM—

With a tremendous crash, rock fragments flew everywhere.

A large hole was blasted through the stone wall, revealing the space within.

Inside was a pile of misshapen rocks.

Most were about the size of a fist.

They were dusty and gray, looking no different from ordinary rubble.

Thinking they were just ordinary rocks, Jiang Mu reached out to grab the nearest one.

However, the instant his fingers were about to touch the rock, something strange happened.

The pile of motionless rocks suddenly seemed to spring to life.

Like a flock of startled sparrows, they suddenly scattered, fleeing frantically in all directions while letting out high-pitched squeals that sounded like a baby’s cry.

Jiang Mu jumped, his hand freezing in mid-air.

"Come back!"

Seeing this, Shui Miaozheng’s brows shot up as she let out a sharp cry.

Her voice wasn’t particularly loud, yet it held a certain authority, as if her words were law that had to be obeyed.

The small rocks, which had been scattering in every direction, seemed to be yanked back by invisible strings.

They all stopped in their tracks.

Then, one by one, they sheepishly rolled backward.

They huddled fearfully around Shui Miaozheng’s feet, trembling and hopping about, jostling one another. Like a brood of chicks that had misbehaved and were waiting to be scolded, they looked both comical and cute.

"So these are the Mine Demons?"

Jiang Mu crouched down, studying the little rocks with curiosity. He clicked his tongue in amazement. "They’re actually kind of amusing."

Shui Miaozheng bent down, picked up a Mine Demon, and placed it in her palm.

The little creature trembled in her fair palm, too scared to move.

"They may be timid, but they have a natural, keen perception of earth veins and caverns."

Shui Miaozheng explained, "If we bring them to that mountain, use a tracking Secret Skill on them, and give them a command, they will automatically locate the caves where the Demons are hiding. And what’s more..."

She stopped mid-sentence, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"What is it?"

Seeing her strange expression, Jiang Mu asked, "Is something wrong?"