mtl008 Chapter 223 Ghost Faced Vine
Chapter 223 Ghost Faced Vine
As the four looked on expectantly, the moon slowly sank in the west, and the scattered silver flowers, like shy little girls, remained unopened.
"The moon tide is almost over."
Looking at the moonlight on the horizon, Liu Shaoyuan realized that the venue wouldn't be open today.
The silver pendant flower only blooms when the moonlight is at its brightest, and now that the moon has set, they have to wait another day.
"The conditions are so good tonight, why aren't they in full bloom? Could it be because there's not enough moisture?"
Wen Sishu sounded slightly annoyed, but it wasn't his fault.
The blooming of the silver-flowered tree speaks of perfect timing, favorable location, and harmonious relationships. Especially in this narrow valley, it is extremely rare to see the bright moon hanging high like tonight.
If it's not open tonight, I don't know if it will be open tomorrow night.
"What nonsense are you talking about! There's a waterfall right outside!"
Yingyue patted Wen Sishu's head, looked at the silver hibiscus flowers covering the ground and hesitated, "Could it be that it's not yet time for them to bloom?"
"It shouldn't be. Look, the red filaments have already grown out, so it should have entered the mature stage."
Wen Sishu shook his head, pointing to a faint red vein peeking through the green vines, and denied it.
"I feel like something's not right!" Cheng Jiu looked at the silver flowers covering the ground and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Something's not right.
The other three followed Cheng Jiu's gaze and looked at the silver flowers covering the ground. Could it be that there was something they had overlooked?
"We came here following the quest guide. That big fish outside should be the monster guarding this patch of Silver Hanging Flowers!"
Yingyue and the others nodded in agreement with Cheng Jiu's speculation.
"Judging from the appearance of that fish, it must have been guarding this place for quite some time!" Cheng Jiu continued to analyze.
"Junior Sister, what are you trying to say?!"
"I think if someone had really been here, they certainly wouldn't have left the monsters outside unattended."
I initially thought this was a hidden resource point discovered by the sect, but now that I think about it, something seems very wrong.
If no one has been here, how did the person who issued the task know there was a large patch of Silver Hanging Flowers here?
Yingyue also felt something was amiss, and after thinking for a moment, she guessed, "Could it have been issued by an elder of the sect?"
"Then we'll have to ask Senior Brother Wen how he accepted this mission!"
Meeting the gazes of the three, Wen Sishu chuckled twice.
Seeing his expression, a sense of foreboding rose in the hearts of the three of them.
"We had already agreed to come to Youlan City, so I was looking for quests along the way in the quest hall. This one just happened to be at the top, so I accepted it! As for who posted it, I didn't pay attention."
"At the very top?"
Yingyue patted Wen Sishu on the shoulder and said incredulously.
Everyone knows that the top spots are reserved for tasks that are consistently difficult to complete.
Now, what was already very wrong has become 100% wrong.
"Wen Sishu! Why didn't you pay more attention when you accepted the mission?!"
"This is the only mission we have along the way! Thirty pairs of silver butterfly wings. I think with the strength of the three of us, it'll be a piece of cake."
Wen Sishu cautiously observed Yingyue's expression, her tone tinged with guilt.
"Wen Sishu!" That unreliable guy!
"To!"
Seeing that things were not going well, Wen Sishu took three steps in two to hide behind Cheng Jiu, and gently tugged at Cheng Jiu's sleeve, "Help! Junior Sister!"
"Come out from behind your junior sister!"
"I can not!"
Wen Sishu refuted this with righteous indignation.
Cheng Jiu tried to break up the fight between the two: "Alright, Senior Sister, don't blame Senior Brother Wen. It was the person who posted the mission who tricked us. Let's talk about it outside. It's dangerous here, so be careful."
Looking at the harmless silver flowers scattered on the ground, Yingyue's vigilance rose sharply. She nodded and said, "Then let's discuss what to do, Junior Sister!"
"We need to figure out what's wrong here first!" Liu Shaoyuan reminded him.
Once the moonlight disappeared, the inky darkness once again enveloped the small space.
Cheng Jiu summoned the little green fire, and the blazing flames shone on the wall. Under the firelight, the silver hanging flower looked incredibly docile, but in the shadows, countless dark, ink-like vines crawled slowly like snakes.
"I read in a book before that there is a kind of monster that can parasitize the Silver Hanging Flower, called the Ghost Face Vine."
And in these parasitized silver lilies, the companion silver butterflies will also be parasitized and corrupted, turning into cursed ghost butterflies.
Unlike the Silver Butterfly, which has the light attribute, the Cursed Ghost Butterfly has the dark attribute of poison, and its wings can only be used to make poison.
However, the probability of this is very small, because demonic beasts like the Ghost Face Vine would not bother with delicate spiritual plants like the Silver Hanging Flower unless absolutely necessary.
It prefers to parasitize powerful, more potent elixirs.
"So, Junior Sister, you suspect that this whole patch of Silver Hanging Flowers has been parasitized by Ghost Face Vine?"
"It's not a doubt, it's certain! Senior brother, be careful! The Cursed Shadow Butterfly possesses powerful curse energy; once it gets close, you'll be tainted! Use fire!"
As Cheng Jiu finished speaking, the silvery flowers, like stars, slowly bloomed. What crawled out of them were not silver butterflies like moonlight, but thousands upon thousands of pitch-black ghost butterflies with open faces and entwined with the power of curses.
They swarmed toward the four living creatures that had emerged from the cave.
It's overwhelming! Anyone who gets touched by it will be corrupted by its cursed aura.
"what!"
Before the Youdie arrived, Wen Sishu pulled the three of them into his alchemy furnace.
The crackling sound, like the wind brushing against one's scalp, sent chills down one's spine.
"Thank goodness I was fast!"
Wen Sishu patted his chest, still shaken, his eyes filled with lingering fear.
"Senior brother, your alchemy furnace is even more defensively powerful!"
"This is all thanks to the Heavenly Thunder Stone you gave me, Junior Sister!"
"Heavenly Thunder Stone?" Liu Shaoyuan turned his head. Like Wen Sishu, he was focused on the defense of the alchemy furnace, so he naturally paid special attention to this treasure that could enhance individual defense.
"It was at the previous auction! They offered quite a few treasures to rip off our Guiyuan Sect, including the Heavenly Thunder Stone."
"what?"
Liu Shaoyuan knew that the person behind the scenes had set a trap for the Guiyuan Sect, and that their intentions were despicable. However, he did not know that the person behind the scenes had actually brought out so many treasures to set up this trap.
What started as sympathy for the Guiyuan Sect turned into envy: "Why don't they come to our Medicine King Valley?"
Even Medicine King Valley can fall for this bait!
That's a Thunderstone!
"Don't mention that! There are still cursed ghost butterflies outside. What should we do? Stay here forever?"
"With so many cursed butterflies, the ghost-faced vines that parasitize these silver hanging flowers must have a high cultivation level."
Listening to the sounds of impact outside, Cheng Jiu remarked, "I wonder if the other side will personally intervene if they discover these ghost butterflies are useless?"
"?!"
The three of them were startled and looked at Cheng Jiu.
"Junior Sister, don't tell such scary stories!"
"Junior Brother Wen, is your alchemy furnace sturdy enough?"
"The defense is excellent!"
A tooth-ache-inducing dragging sound came from outside, and the group felt the alchemy furnace swaying from side to side.
"What is the Ghost-Faced Vine trying to do?"
Yingyue tried her best to maintain her posture and sense the movements outside.
"They're probably trying to trap us!" Cheng Jiu guessed.
"Ah~!"
Wen Sishu covered his head in frustration and said, "I should have known better than to hide in the alchemy furnace!"
Should we call for help?
The group remained calm, understanding that there was no communication barrier here, and if it really came to a life-or-death situation, they could still call for help.
For example, Liu Shaoyuan's grandmaster was not far away and asked him for help. It would be a piece of cake for the immortal to deal with the ghost-faced vines outside.
"Let's think of a solution first!"
Wen Sishu said that Liu Shaoyuan no longer mentioned asking for help. He understood that they should save themselves first, and only ask for help if all else fails.
What's your idea?
Liu Shaoyuan looked up at Wen Sishu.
"Humph!"
Wen Sishu, hands on her hips, said, "Let me save you from this predicament! Fire, please?"
As Wen Sishu called out, the alchemy furnace, which had been dragged along by vines, suddenly heated up, and a raging orange-red flame rose violently from the furnace.
The little green flame that had been trying to block the ghostly butterfly from the outside suddenly brightened up, moved its chubby little body, and then slowly merged into the orange flame.
"?!"
"It's so hot! Are you trying to burn us alive?"
Liu Shaoyuan shifted his position slightly. This temperature was nothing to a Nascent Soul cultivator, but he still couldn't help but tease him.
"I don't know! Logically speaking, this temperature shouldn't cause the furnace to heat up!"
Wen Sishu was also somewhat confused.
"My Azure Flame Heart Flame is outside!" Cheng Jiu silently raised her hand and said. The other party was too fast, and she didn't have time to retract the little green flame.
"Blessed by a different kind of fire? That's right!"
Wen Sishu understood; he almost thought his fire control ability had weakened!
Just as they expected, neither the alchemy furnace butterflies nor the vines, empowered by the strange fire, dared to approach.
The unlucky Ghost-Faced Vine, who had unwittingly ended up in this godforsaken place, looked at the blazing alchemy furnace and angrily whipped the ground twice with its vines.
Damn it, it thought it could finally have a good meal!
But these humans were incredibly good at hiding and extremely cunning.
We can't open their turtle shells, and now we can't even get close to them; poor vines.
As dawn broke, Ghost Vine, holding the burning stove, had no choice but to slowly shrink back, as it hated the sunlight.
It will stay put; as long as these humans come out, it has plenty of ways to deal with them!
The ghostly butterflies it scattered slowly turned to ash and dissipated into the air under the sunlight.
"It should be dawn by now!"
As the sounds outside gradually subsided, the group looked up.
"I'll go out first!"
Cheng Jiudao considered himself the strongest of the four.
"We're with you!"
"No need. I'll just go out and scout ahead. With my strength, if I can't win, can't I at least run away? If I really can't win, I can always go find reinforcements!"
Cheng Jiu didn't think he was no match for the vines outside. The fact that no one had managed to break through the small green flames all night suggested that their cultivation level might be high, but not by much. Moreover, it was daytime, the time when the opponent was at their weakest.
After this analysis, Cheng Jiu felt even more confident that the advantage was in his favor!
"Then I'll go out with you!"
Liu Shaoyuan felt that he was the person with the highest cultivation level present. His junior sister had already gone out, so how could he feel at ease hiding here?
"Let's go out together! We won't hold you back."
Seeing that Cheng Jiu and Liu Shaoyuan were about to leave, Yingyue didn't argue and made the final decision.
This was Wen Sishu's alchemy furnace. Before Cheng Jiu could refuse, the scenery before them blurred and the group jumped out of the furnace.
The next moment! The black vines lashed out at them like lightning!
Snake-like vines rapidly coiled around the valley, like tens of thousands of hidden snake tongues, hinting at danger to the group.
Cheng Jiu swiftly swung her sword, severing the vines attacking her into four or five sections. These severed vines wriggled on the ground a few times before disappearing and becoming nourishment for the Ghost Face Vine.
The vines, having absorbed nutrients, were thicker and stronger than before, as if they had mutated within the tendrils.
"Fire is the only option!"
Cheng Jiu exclaimed as he watched the vines disappear, "This Ghost Face Vine has definitely mutated!"
Everyone present was an alchemist; there were no exotic flames, but there were flames specifically used for alchemy.
"Fire is useless!"
Yingyue conjured a fireball and threw it at the surrounding black vines. The fireball landed on the black vines, which quickly retreated in fear.
But the flames, once they landed on the vines, slid off as quickly as water into oil, and were extinguished with a "whoosh" when they hit the ground.
"It seems that only the flames of the Azure Heart Flame can cause damage!"
Not only Yingyue, but also Liu Shaoyuan and Wen Sishu's flames were like water mixed with oil, causing no damage to the vines whatsoever.
To make matters worse, realizing that the three people's flames couldn't break through his defenses, the Ghost-Faced Vine's tendrils didn't retreat at all, and attacked the group head-on despite the flames.
"The vines are poisonous, be careful!"
Cheng Jiu used her sword to cut the vines, and she noticed it too. However, even if she used all her strength to activate the little green flame, it was just a drop in the ocean.
A stack of fire talismans appeared in her hand: "Azure Flame!"
Following her instructions, the little green flame attached the fire talismans, and under its influence, the fierce flames landed on the severed vines below, quickly spreading and burning along the vines.
Some vines fell onto the Ghost Face Vine's body. Although there was no sound, the extent to which the vines twisted revealed the Ghost Face Vine's painful roar.
Kill it while it's sick!
Cheng Jiu quickly distributed the fire talismans in his hand, and the four of them threw out their fire talismans at the same time.
Green flames rose from the Ghost-Faced Vine!
The results were minimal!
The Ghost-Faced Vine quickly severed the tendrils that were burning with flames, and some of the more agile tendrils even rolled around on the ground.
The flames slowly dissipated as the Ghost-Faced Vine trembled violently!
The vines of the ghost face vine are not a good ignition agent!
Cheng Jiu keenly noticed this.
However, the cut vines, besides serving as nutrients for the ghost-face vine, are also excellent combustion aids for the ghost-face vine!
There will be an antidote within three steps!
The ancients were right!
"Cut the vines! They'll help the fire start!"
Cheng Jiu shouted and slashed at the Ghost Face Vine below. The Heavenly Wood Sword flashed with green light, and the vines fell like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden. Before the Ghost Face Vine could absorb them as nutrients...
The fire talisman arrived later, its green flames burning fiercely, and the vines fell right near their roots.
Amidst the flames, the ghost-faced vines twisted, struggled, and danced.
Cheng Jiu cut the vines of the Ghost Face Vine in front, while Wen Sishu and the other two threw fire talismans from behind. The four worked together seamlessly, and the Ghost Face Vine was forced to retreat under their attack.
The vines that had been trying to envelop the four people retreated like a tide, clearly indicating that the Ghost-Faced Vine couldn't hold on any longer and was showing weakness.
With the victory already in sight, Cheng Jiu was not one to hold back; he had to eliminate the threat completely and press his advantage!