But as they walked, Qiao Zhen'er gradually sensed that something was wrong.
They had run into far too many new anomalies today.
This forced the group to constantly change their route.
"Let's take a break."
Qiao Zhen'er spoke, leading the group into a half-collapsed house nearby.
"Lao Jiu, keep watch. I'm going to take Ah De out to have a look around."
Lu Jiu nodded and stood silently at the entrance of the ruined house.
The others sat on the scattered rubble to rest.
Two ordinary martial arts disciples sat quietly, eager to recover their stamina as quickly as possible.
Qiao Zhen'er knew the two spirit practitioners, Shen and Chen, weren't simple, but right now she was more concerned about the situation in the Nihility State.
"Ah De, why are there so many anomalies this time? Did you notice if those black shadows were all the same thing?"
Zhao De replied calmly, "I only caught a few glimpses from afar. They looked identical, but I can't be sure. Could they be mutated monsters?"
"If they're mutated monsters, there are way too many of them," Qiao Zhen'er said, looking troubled.
Still, her unease wasn't enough to make her turn back.
"If those black shadows are lingering near our destination, we won't detour anymore. We'll catch one and see what we're dealing with."
Zhao De nodded.
Qiao Zhen'er led Zhao De on a sweep around the ruined house, but there was no sign of the black shadows nearby.
In truth, Qiao Zhen'er couldn't shake the feeling that they were being herded. However, armed with her Flying Dart, she was confident she could escape any danger, so she hadn't ordered a retreat.
Besides, even if she wanted to turn back, the two new spirit practitioners might not agree.
They weren't disciples of the martial arts hall, so her orders held little weight with them.
On top of that, she wanted to earn a bit more silver. After mulling it over, she decided to press on.
Trailing behind her, Zhao De watched her troubled expression and smiled.
This Zhao De, of course, was Li Ban in disguise.
Worried that Xiao Suo had already realized a Priest was plotting against him, Li Ban had been extremely cautious on this trip. He had even asked Priest Hunyou to arrange a local identity for him.
By sheer coincidence, he had actually met this local once before.
It was one of the stowaway spirit practitioners they had run into during their first trip to the Mist Realm.
Through a Mind Spell, Li Ban had acquired this Level 3 Spirit Cultivator's background and memories of his recent activities.
Thanks to Priest Qian Que's disguise techniques, Li Ban perfectly assumed Zhao De's identity and followed Qiao Zhen'er's group into the Nihility State.
Even before entering, Li Ban noticed that the members of this group were only superficially united, each harboring their own hidden agendas. But that didn't matter to him.
He only needed a plausible excuse to approach his true destination.
Once he confirmed that Qiao Zhen'er's group was indeed heading toward the suspicious vines, Li Ban created some eerie shadows along their intended path.
True to her cautious nature, Qiao Zhen'er actively avoided all the unknown phenomena.
Since Li Ban was playing the role of their guide, he effortlessly steered the group straight toward his real target.
Conveniently, the area with the suspicious vines wasn't far from Qiao Zhen'er's original destination.
Thinking about it, that made the vine region even more suspicious.
The nearby resource site might simply serve as nourishment for the vines.
Finally, not long after the group set off again, Li Ban spotted the swamp teeming with vines.
"Don't get too close to that area," Qiao Zhen'er warned everyone. "It's extremely dangerous. If you step within three zhang of the swamp, vines might shoot out and drag you in."
"The vines are that aggressive?" Spirit Cultivator Shen asked. "Have they already elementalized?"
"It's possible." Qiao Zhen'er cast a wary look at the swamp. "If they've elementalized, they possess at least a fine-grade element. With our strength, we'd probably be wiped out before we even got close."
With neither timing, terrain, nor manpower on their side, Qiao Zhen'er wasn't about to do anything reckless.
Spirit Cultivator Shen gazed at the swamp, a burning desire in his eyes. However, remembering the true purpose of their trip, he merely committed the location to memory, intending to return for the treasure later.
"Let's go," Qiao Zhen'er called out to Li Ban, who was leading the way in his Zhao De disguise.
Li Ban withdrew his gaze.
The moment he laid eyes on those vines, Li Ban felt a sense of familiarity.
It confirmed his suspicion: the swamp vines before him were one of the mutated breeds cultivated by Xiao Suo.
However, there was no trace of Xiao Suo's aura nearby. He likely wasn't here.
Xiao Suo never stood guard over his traps; he only came to check on them occasionally when necessary.
'This place is so close to the Xuanji Vine in Mist Valley. It might have been managed by the clone stationed there,' he thought. 'But if the other clones discover that the Mist Valley clone is dead, they'll likely come to check on these vines.'
'I just don't know if they've already been here, or if they're staying away out of caution. Hopefully, it's the latter.'
Until he had concrete news about Xiao Suo's other clones, Li Ban decided to wait right here.
As for the real Zhao De, he was currently sweeping Priest Hunyou's courtyard at the top of the mountain.
In truth, even doing menial chores was an incredibly rare opportunity for him.
Priest Hunyou only needed to toss Zhao De a few minor rewards to completely change his life.
Knowing there were no Xiao Suo clones in the immediate vicinity, Li Ban wasn't in a hurry.
He turned and headed toward Qiao Zhen'er's destination.
With Li Ban no longer causing trouble, the group soon arrived at the resource site Qiao Zhen'er had mentioned.
Though she called it a resource site, it was actually just an abandoned merchant warehouse.
The warehouse's plaque had fallen to the ground, broken cleanly in two.
Covered in a thick layer of moss and dirt, its original characters were illegible.
Upon arriving, Qiao Zhen'er no longer let Li Ban take the lead. Instead, she entered the courtyard herself to check for enemies.
As she passed the fallen plaque, she unceremoniously stepped right on it.
The sole of her shoe scraped away the dirt, revealing a small sliver of the characters underneath.
Li Ban noticed one of the characters. It looked like the word 'Gu'.
He grabbed a handful of weeds and stepped forward to wipe away the dirt.
The decaying plaque was exposed, revealing the words 'Eternal Trading'.
The rest of the name was on the other half of the plaque, but Li Ban didn't need to check it. He knew this was a warehouse belonging to a branch of the Eternal Trading Association.
To the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, the association was just a minor subordinate organization, but to low-tier spirit practitioners, it was still an unreachable, towering entity.
Whatever was left inside would be a fortune to them.
Qiao Zhen'er quickly reemerged. "Everything seems normal on the surface. The marks I left are still untouched."
She looked at the restless group. "So, do we split up, or search for supplies together?"