Chapter 151: Caught Red-handed

"Oh, what a cute little girl."

When Di Nufeng saw Luo Yao, she immediately approached with an affectionate expression and reached out to touch Luo Yao's gray-white hair in a natural manner.

When Chu Liang saw this, he felt a sense of deja vu.

As for Luo Yao, she was clearly unaccustomed to such physical affection and subconsciously took a step back while staring at Di Nufeng with a strange look.

This lady was here to save them but this same lady had also just beaten up the elders of her sect. No matter how Luo Yao thought about this, it still felt strange...

Di Nufeng continued to ask in a carefree manner, "Is your hair naturally white? Or did you dye it?" Which immortal sect are you part of? What is the name of your teacher?"

Chu Liang quickly dragged his teacher to the side and said, "This hidden realm is extremely eerie and evil. It's better for us to leave first."

"

Eh?

" Di Nufeng asked, "Aren't we going to explore here..."

"Let's go out first. There's nothing good here. I will explain everything to you when we get back."

With some persuasion and deception, Chu Liang managed to convince Di Nufeng to leave this place.

According to that scholar, everyone would fall into a deep sleep in the next hour. Even if his teacher could resist the sleepiness, he couldn't allow her to wreak havoc in this hidden realm and disturb that scholar...

The scholar had asked to keep this place a secret because he didn't want to be disturbed.

Therefore, Chu Liang thought it would be better to leave with his teacher.

During their journey to this hidden realm, there were two Guiders of the diabolical sect that led a group of high-level cultivators. Despite this, the journey was extremely challenging, and they walked for a long time.

When they left this place, they were protected by Di Nufeng.

Di Nufeng arrived so quickly that the lingering spirits outside the hidden realm didn't even have a chance to show up. As the group exited the hidden realm, they saw the undulating fog.

In the void, the elderly lingering spirit holding the ancient scroll appeared again. He seemed rather unfriendly and was about to recite the lament of a doomed nation, "Nine provinces..."

"Where did this old ghost come from?" Di Nufeng glared at him.

With that said, she unleashed this killing intent.

The elderly lingering spirit that had previously intimidated the two guiders suddenly paused. Before it had gotten near, it turned around and floated further away. His recital changed to, "...How pleasant it is to have friends coming from afar."

Di Nufeng withdrew her gaze filled with killing intent and no longer paid him any attention.

The fog rolled below, and six ghostly dragons revealed themselves, accompanied by the resonating chants of dragons. Their intelligence was evidently not as complete as that of the elder, as they had yet to perceive the changing atmosphere in the surroundings.

As Di Nufeng stooped down, a stream of fire landed directly on the foremost ghostly dragon's head.

Boom!

The dragon, which had been swimming here for an unknown amount of time, met its instant demise. Its head exploded, and its entire massive dragon body was incinerated by the fierce flames.

The fog in the entire Deep Pool of Dreams seemed to churn and swirl as a tremendous surge of heat rose upwards.

In this very instant, the five ghostly dragons felt as though they were being boiled in a hotpot. However, none of them dared to fly upward. Instead, they all sank and hid in the deepest areas.

Not one of them dared to resurface or emerge again.

Di Nufeng quickly and easily killed one of the ghostly dragons. Upon regrouping, she didn't even seem out of breath.

"Let's go," she said casually to the three of them.

The three, including Chu Liang, were momentarily surprised but then simply followed her into the fog. They were like three obedient followers, or perhaps ducklings following their mother closely.

Chu Liang could hear Monk Pushan muttering nervously behind him, saying something like, "That was really scary, so frightening..."

They moved swiftly, like lightning bolts, the entire way, and before they knew it, they had already soared out of the Valley of Bewildering Fog, leaving South Bastion Mountain behind.

Luo Yao and Monk Pushan quickly expressed their gratitude and parted ways, promising to keep in touch with Chu Liang. Luo Yao, in particular, was worried for her sect's elders after she had witnessed how ruthlessly Di Nufeng crushed the dragon's head.

Naturally, Chu Liang and his teacher flew back to Mount Shu.

However, when the two landed on the Silver Sword Peak, they were greeted by Liu Xiaoyu'er rushing towards them anxiously while shouting, "Xiao Jin was taken away!"

"

Ah?

"

...

The Golden-Furred Hou was rather unlucky.

Previously, members of the Hall of Alchemy had noticed a significant increase in the Baize youngling's appetite. And so, they ramped up their feeding efforts and reported the situation.

The Alchemy Master had been in closed-door cultivation to refine this great pill and had no time to deal with this. However, his closed-door cultivation ended yesterday.

He was thrilled that his pill was successfully refined. When he heard that the Baize youngling was about to achieve a breakthrough, he felt even more elated.

He rushed to the Guardian Peak to check on the Baize youngling, only to find that there were no signs of the Baize youngling achieving a breakthrough!

There was no change whatsoever!

This situation became quite serious.

The fact that the guardian celestial beast hadn't experienced a breakthrough was not a concern.

However, the celestial beast couldn't possibly consume this much food, so where had the excess pills been going? It was worth noting that the Mount Shu Sect had provided the highest quality Spirit-Energy Raising Pills.

The Alchemy Master initially thought that a disciple guarding the pills had been stealing the excess Spirit-Energy Raising Pills. And so, he kept his suspicions quiet and went back to the Hall of Alchemy.

He secretly monitored the Guardian Peak with Heavenly Sight and Hearing, hoping to catch the culprit in the act.

Unfortunately, he didn't catch his disciple stealing the Spirit-Energy Raising Pills. Instead, he saw a Big Head plunged itself into the pool of pills and feasted.

The creature was caught in the act and arrested on the spot

The Alchemy Master immediately took the Golden-Furred Hou back to the Hall of Alchemy. When the Big Head realized it was about to be taken away, it didn't resist. Instead, it crazily stuffed itself with Spirit-Energy Raising Pills, bulging its cheeks.

When Liu Xiaoyu'er finished the story, Chu Liang fell deep in thoughts.

Oh no. We have been caught.

When he was leaving Mount Shu, this was one of his concerns. With the Big Head's frantic behavior for food, there was a risk of being caught if Chu Liang wasn't there to supervise. And now, his worry has become a reality.

Being caught by the Alchemy Master was a serious matter.

Bang!

While he was pondering on what to do, Di Nufeng slammed on the table and shouted angrily, "How dare that old geezer capture the spirit pet of the Silver Sword Peak! Doesn't he know that one should consider the owner before laying a hand on the Hou? I'll go give him trouble!"

"Esteemed Teacher..." Chu Liang quickly stopped her and said, "Regarding this matter, we are not in the right."

"If we're not in the right, then we'll just resort to violence. Fighting is all we need to do," Di Nufeng said in a confident manner, "Take advantage of our strengths and avoid showing our weaknesses."

Great.

Your understanding of "taking advantage of our strengths and avoid showing our weaknesses" is basically reasoning when we have a valid point and resorting to the use of force when the argument is not in our favor.

"We don't necessarily have to go that far..." Chu Liang needed to persuade his teacher, "Let's go check it out first. Maybe we can negotiate."

"Alright, let's talk to them first," Di Nufeng agreed.

"That's right, diplomacy before violence," Chu Liang said.

Soon, the teacher and disciple rushed towards the Hall of Alchemy with determination to free their friend... well, to free the Golden-Furred Hou.

In a vast open space behind the Hall of Alchemy, several large iron cages stood, resembling those seen in the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts. Within these cages, several large demonic beasts were confined and there was a sign on each cage.

One of the cages contained a beast resembling a mix between a horse and a sheep, with twin horns spiraling like a dragon. The beast was dozing off. The sign on the cage read, "This beast relieves itself anywhere and dirties Mount Shu."

In another cage, a massive serpent with azure scales occupied the space, and the sign wrote, "Stole precious spirit bird eggs."

Next to these cages was the one containing the Golden-Furred Hou. The Hou seemed entirely unrepentant as it busily gnawed on the iron bars.

The Hou appeared quite excited, as if it had found a long-lost chew toy, and perhaps even felt a sense of being back home.

The sign on its cage read, "Stole and plundered spirit beast rations."

This was a common practice at Mount Shu Sect. If the spirit pets from various peaks violated the sect's rules when they were left unattended, they would be detained here.

They would be locked up here until their owners were here to retrieve them.

For less severe offenses, paying a fine in the form of sword coins and undergoing a minor punishment would usually be enough for their release.

An attendant of the Hall of Alchemy stood guard nearby. When Chu Liang landed, he approached the attendant and asked, "Senior Brother, how much does it cost to redeem this Golden-Furred Hou?"

"Let me check..." The disciple lowered his head to check the records. Then, he looked up and answered, "Eight thousand."

"What?" Chu Liang exclaimed.

"What did you say?!" Di Nufeng, upon hearing this, also rushed forward. She exuded such a fierce aura that the attendant stumbled and nearly fell on the ground.

The attendant trembled as he said, "Y-yes... it's true. This beast was personally taken here by the Alchemy Master and that was the fine he set."

"The consumption of a few of your lousy pills cost this much in sword coins? Why not just rob someone!" Di Nufeng shouted.

"The Alchemy Master said that this Golden-Furred Hou had taken advantage of Mount Shu's guardian celestial beast and such behavior was extremely malicious..." The attendant stammered. As he explained, it felt like he was on the verge of tears.

"Get the Alchemy Master here!" Di Nufeng was not someone that would bully a youngster. She simply waved her hand and instructed the attendant to fetch the elder.

"Yes..." The attendant turned around hastily, behaving like he had just been reprieved.

At this moment, a light chuckle was heard.

"No need for that. I'm already here." A figure in pure white, seemingly untouched by worldly dust, floated over.

The person wore white garments, had hair as white as snow, a face with a serene appearance, and a posture like that of an ancient pine tree. He truly embodied an ethereal and cultivated demeanor.

It was none other than Alchemy Master, one of the four Guardian Elders of Mount Shu, a peer of the sect's head. He held considerable authority within Mount Shu. In the broader realm of cultivation, his status was exceptionally high.

As Chu Liang observed the elder, he started feeling a bit nervous. As a regular disciple, he normally wouldn't encounter such high-ranking seniors. To make the situation worse, they were caught taking advantage of the Mount Shu Sect.

He felt a bit guilty.

Then, he heard Di Nufeng facing the Alchemy Master and saying boldly, "Old man, you've got quite the nerve!"

Chu Liang felt his heart skip a beat.

Di Nufeng is so straightforward!