Lihua continued.
“It’s getting exhausting having to look out for you when you're like this. When it comes to thinking logically and creating a plan to solve a solution I’m amazed at your ingenuity. But when it comes to us or those around you, you become a completely different person I can’t recognize. There’s no logic in your actions and you limit yourself and options beyond all comprehension. Just like when Jun was almost killed, why did you ignore us and went out alone? Even when I was poisoned by Xian, why did you give him back the rune? If you didn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to hold those citizens hostage and blackmail you.”
Saying all of this, Lihua stared at Li Shen. Her expression was serious as she scolded him while he remained silent.
What she said was right.
Any other time Li Shen would have thought out a calculative plan to go about anything he did.
That’s how he did things back in his past life, and now this life. He was good at it.
But it wasn’t natural, it had developed at a time when he had no emotions to guide his morals on what was right or wrong, so anything went. That's why he tried to use Yang Su as a comprehension cauldron. And that’s why he made Fei Yin indebted to him.
The requirement for his calculative actions was that he treated everyone and everything around him as pawns to move on a chessboard.
His ability was both a gift and a curse.
But after what happened in the Ancestral Grounds with the Seven Sin’s Goddess, how could he continue to view the people by his side as mere pawns?
That would make him no better than the Seven Sins Goddess, and he vehemently refused to become such a person.
Li Shen sighed and he slowly removed Lihua’s hands.
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”
“Really?”
Lihua asked with a face that said she didn’t believe him.
However, at this moment Mu Fan couldn’t take it anymore and cut in.
“Forget that, what about Fang Chen, and who were you talking to just now?”
Li Shen’s heart let out a painful thump and he told them about Fei Yin's possession.
“No, that’s impossible.”
Mu Fan shook his head as he said that.
“That bastard’s Will is second to none. I refuse to believe he would follow this idiot to have something from this Dimension take over his body.”
Mu Fan said seriously as he pushed his lips out to point at Fei Yin.
Everyone had solemn expressions on their faces, but Li Shen upon hearing Mu Fan's words froze.
'Fang Chen's Will Power...'
Li Shen's thought trailed off as he thought back on how Lihua described Fang Chen when she saw him, she said he was in pain. He also thought back on the one quality that he admired Fang Chen for and that's his abnormally strong soul.
He then thought back on his interaction with that entity and Li Shen realized it deliberately told him Fang Chen was dead to anger him.
“Mu Fan’s right, if this is like any other possession then I think there might be a possibility that Fang Chen is still alive. His consciousness might still be holding on.”
Everyone turn to Li Shen as he said that.
Li Shen was too preoccupied with finding out about Fang Chen’s death that he didn’t realize such a simple clue. But thinking back there were other things that seemed suspicious about that person, no, that beast called Mo Rong.
Mu Fan's eyes flashed, and he yelled.
“Then what are we standing around for?!”
He then stepped forward, his Soul Sense pushing this annoying fog out of his way so he could see better.
His overbearing Will was on full display as he was ready to enter the deeper regions and face the monsters in this place to find whoever possessed Fang Chen to hack his head off!
Well, that last part needed a bit more thought on how he would accomplish that. But that was besides the point!
However, after Mu Fan’s Soul Sense extended out to push away the blood-red fog, Fei Yin's body suddenly jolted and he quickly looked down at the ground before he rush to say.
“Mu Fan, wait!”
But it was too late.
As soon as the blood-red fog was pushed away to thirty meters, in that thirty meters of space, dark vines as thick as an adult's arm that looked to be from a tree lash out at Jun nearby.
Surprised by this sudden attack, Jun was unable to retrieve his spear in time so he could only form his hands in a cross and take the blow head-on.
With a loud bang, the dark vines slam into Jun. But true to his strong physique, despite being caught off guard by the sudden attack, Jun only skated back two meters with his feet leaving deep skid marks in the ground.
However, Jun’s face suddenly paled as he felt the slimy sensation of when the dark miasma was infiltrating his body. He felt the same sensation from these dark vines and his body shook in fear.
The dark vines took this opportunity to burst out beneath his feet to wrap around his waist, however, everyone was already alerted after the initial attack.
Without so much of a second being wasted, Yang Su who was closest to Jun moved.
A wooden sword appeared in his hand and with what looked like one slash, the vines that attacked Jun along with the ones about to wrap around his waist were sliced apart in numerous places.
Swift but silent was his Swift and Silent Willow Sword Arts. The others didn’t stand still as they each attacked the vines that shot from the ground to attack them individually.
Li Shen frowned as he slapped out with his palm.
With a loud bang, the void in front of him trembled and the strength of his physical body forcefully destroyed the dark vines.
But even as this happened, more took the place of the destroyed vines and attacked him once more.
Fei Yin who waved his hand and caused green vines to sprout from the ground to tangle with the dark vines, hurriedly said to Mu Fan.
“Mu Fan, hurry and retract your Soul Sense!”
Mu Fan instead of asking what was going immediately started retracting his Soul Sense.
As his Soul Sense shrunk from thirty meters to twenty meters, the vines that were unable to burrow back into the ground in time were enveloped by the blood-red fog. These vines waved around frantically as if they were in pain before they soon began to shrivel up into rotten roots.
Mu Fan seeing this was thankful. If this wasn't the case, then despite only having the strength of the late-stage Foundation Realm, they would have been overwhelmed by the endless amount of vines beginning to emerge from the ground.
But for whatever reason, this fog was containing these dark vines from leaving the ground.
Li Shen reached down and picked up one of these shriveled roots that were the size of a baby’s arm. With a quick scan of his Divine Will, he was slightly surprised.
“These are Qiang's roots.”
Fei Yin nodded his head with a solemn look as he approached Li Shen.
“Qiang roots have been able to reach here, but they’ve been corrupted by the Demon Grotto.”
Lihua who was looking down on the roots looked up and asked with a frown.
“If that’s the case, why did the fog kill the roots? Aren’t the two a product of this Demon Grotto? They instead seemed to come from two opposing sources.”
Li Shen was in deep thought about this issue as well. At the same time, Jun said.
“I don't think it's the Demon Grotto itself as I felt the dark miasma from those roots, so it might be from Fang Chen.”
Jun hesitated, but then added.
"Or from that thing that possessed him."
Hearing that, Li Shen’s eyes flickered.
He then suddenly looked around at the blood-red fog filled with killing intent and then back at Yang Su, having realized something else.
‘Tai, are you still sensing Yang Su’s strange aura?’
Tai who had been in the void all this while responded mentally.
“Yes, I am, but it’s significantly weaker than before.”
Tai sounded surprised and it seemed like he was just realizing this fact.
‘It’s the fog.’
Li Shen thought while the tree root in his hand shattered as he clenched his fists.
‘This is a long stretch, but I can’t help but feel this is the case from the divided state of this Demon Grotto.’
Turning to everyone, Li Shen said.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait Master, do we know where brother Chen is?”
Hearing Jun, Li Shen's footsteps pause.
‘Tai, where was the cave Fang Chen stayed in?’
‘It was inside the inner regions of the Grotto.’
Remembering what that person said about waiting for him in a cave, Li Shen’s eyes narrowed.
“Lead us there. But stay in the void and don't show yourself.”
'Yes Master.'
**
//Tseth: Hey guys, remember to show some love by voting with golden tickets and power stones!//
Visit freewe𝑏nove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience