Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 613 Sorry, I am the enemy spy

"The eldest son actually inherited the throne? Wasn't there a rumor recently that he was imprisoned?" Shang Lu asked, his surprise evident in his voice.

"That's ancient history, from so many days ago. Senior Brother Fang, your information isn't very up-to-date."

Under the influence of Shang Lu's persuasive words, Ding Qiu's desire to show off was aroused, and he did not suspect at all that the person behind him was spying on him.

"The news coming from the capital that the eldest prince had been imprisoned is completely false. It was a rumor spread by spies from an enemy country, attempting to incite chaos caused by prophecy! Now that the throne has changed hands, the prophecy has long been proven false..."

Ding Qiu was so engrossed in her conversation that she didn't notice that Fang Zhuo behind her was frowning deeply.

The Grand Master and the Clerk would not lie. The eldest prince of Chu had long since turned into a meatball and could no longer inherit the throne!

Moreover, from Ding Qiu's words, Shang Lu keenly realized that Ding Qiu was unaware of the "Nine Ministers Rebellion" that had previously occurred in the Chu capital.

Such a big thing, how come not a single word of it has spread?
This is simply incredible!

Putting aside other matters, Xiong Ji, the third prince of Chu, and Li Zisi, the chief minister of Chu, were the ones who personally witnessed the King of Chu turning them into puppets and then tearing them apart by Wuzhiqi.

The disappearance of these two people didn't even cause a disturbance or spread like wildfire?

And the families of the high-ranking officials and ministers who escaped from the capital were also so honest that they did not spread the news of what happened that night.

Something's definitely not right!

Recalling how Xiong Ji and Li Zisi were turned into puppets by the King of Chu, Shang Lu couldn't help but wonder if the high-ranking officials in the Chu court had all become mere shells, and if the King of Chu had used them to summon their families back to his "pharmacy" as medicine.

With these doubts in mind, Shang Lu continued to use his persuasive tongue to ask what new rumors had been circulating recently.

Unfortunately, although Ding Qiu liked to show off, he didn't have any first-hand information. Once they went on a mission, the salvage team members would drift in the vast lake, and their communication devices might even be taken away.

Fearing that someone might leak the information, they hired some thieves to sneak into the secret realm and steal the treasures before they officially began development.

Therefore, the information that Ding Qiu and others received was also relatively delayed.

Ding Qiu knew about the change of the throne from what the Captain Mo Bao told him, but the Captain Mo Bao didn't tell him much more.

Shang Lu thought it was a pity. He could only guess that it was probably because the Chu King, who had transformed into a monster, had used some special means. After his transformation, the Chu King could even impersonate the aura of a god, so it was not surprising that he had some special means.

It's unclear whether the King of Chu's cunning actions are a good thing or a bad thing.

But for the people of Chu, this is certainly not a good thing—a mad and monstrous king could very well drag the country toward destruction!
However, even if Shang Lu wanted to, he couldn't control this kind of thing.

The most urgent task is to get away as soon as possible, to leave Yunmengze and the State of Chu.

So Shang Lu changed the subject, saying casually, "Senior Brother Ding, do you think the enemy might secretly escape to Yunmeng Marsh? If they take advantage of the mist to launch a sneak attack, wouldn't we be in danger?"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Ding Qiu couldn't stop laughing. "Senior Brother Fang, what nonsense are you talking about? We were able to travel across Yunmeng Marsh only because of the protective talismans! If the enemy really dared to come to Yunmeng Marsh to ambush us, we wouldn't even need to lift a finger. The marsh thunder, lake mist, waves, and fishy winds would tear them to shreds! Not to mention, there are all sorts of strange creatures lurking in this marsh. Even with our talismans, we have to be careful. They don't have talismans, so they can only stay on the ship. Once they leave the ship, they're doomed! Ambush us? What would they use to ambush us?"

"What if they can also get their hands on the amulet?" Shang Lu said.

Ding Qiu said, "Absolutely impossible! The people in the Imperial Observatory are not to be trifled with. How could they let the talisman fall into the hands of thieves? Even if there is a traitor in the Imperial Observatory and the enemy gets the talisman, we have nothing to fear."

"Why is that?" Shang Lu slowly raised his hand, his fingertips pointing at Ding Qiu's back, holding back his attack.

"During this period, the Black-Clad Guards and Disciplined Black Witches of the capital have all been mobilized to search for enemy spies throughout the country. They are also present in the Yunmeng Marsh. Although they may be hundreds or thousands of miles away from us at the moment, they can arrive quickly once we encounter danger and send out a signal! Not to mention, there is also Wei Island in the Yunmeng Marsh. Once we issue an alert, the nearest Wei Island will immediately send people to investigate."

"Is the nearest island, Wei Island, far from us?" Shang Lu then asked.

Ding Qiu said, "It's alright. It's several dozen miles away. I wouldn't say we can get there in an instant, but with our skills, even if we're ambushed, we can hold out until reinforcements arrive!"

At this point, Ding Qiu joked, "Senior Brother Fang, you're a veteran in the salvage team, how come you don't know where the nearest Wei Island is? Did you get seriously injured in the new secret realm, even damaging your consciousness and memories... Ah!"

Before Ding Qiu could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back.

His protective magical power was actually breached in a single blow! And his heart and dantian were also pulverized instantly by a sharp force that entered from his back!
Even at this moment, Ding Qiu had no doubts about Shang Lu.

He simply assumed that the pokeweed's jinx had come true.

They were indeed ambushed by enemy spies hiding here!

"Enemy forces are in sight! Senior Brother Fang... warn us!"

Ding Qiu wanted to warn him, but he couldn't move at all. A powerful, surging energy, like a mountain torrent, was pressing down on him.

At the same time, his magical energy and vitality were rapidly depleted because his dantian and heart were destroyed.

A surge of black energy appeared, and a spiraling, winding path to the underworld appeared, directly pulling Ding Qiu's soul out of his body and into the netherworld.

"terribly sorry."

Shang Lu only spoke after Ding Qiu's soul was taken away by Tu Bo, saying in a low voice, "I am that enemy spy!"

He moved swiftly, mimicking Ding Qiu's actions, pouring vital energy into the gourd beneath his buttocks to keep it afloat and prevent it from falling into the Yunmeng Marsh. At the same time, he quickly searched Ding Qiu's body, taking everything before pushing his corpse off the gourd.

Ding Qiu's body fell straight into the lake.

Before it even fell into the marsh, a cloud of black mist rose up.

Hidden within the black mist was a ferocious beast whose appearance was obscured.

The ferocious beast opened its foul-smelling maw and swallowed Ding Qiu's corpse whole before plunging heavily into the lake and disappearing from sight.

They even saved Pokeweed the trouble of disposing of the body.

Shang Lu did not linger there. He had previously inquired about the usage of Ding Qiuwu's gourd and Ze Tu.

At this moment, he directly stopped Ze Tu, no longer heading to the island to rest, but instead adjusted the route, sending the witch gourd flying towards the outside of Yunmeng Marsh.

Although the Yunmeng Marsh is now patrolled by the Black-Clad Guards and the Disciplined Black Witches, searching for traces of these enemy spies, he has San Niang, who can discover the enemy's whereabouts earlier and then use the mist of the marsh to cover them up.

Even if Zewu is occasionally absent, Shanglu is not afraid.

He knew how to summon wind and mist, and had a way to make the fog envelop him. Of course, Shang Lu was not careless.

His previous experiences had taught him that in the Yunmeng Marsh, danger never came from people.

Rather, it was a strange and unpredictable phenomenon in the heavens and earth!
Even with the Yunmengze talisman in hand, he still has to be extremely careful.

Especially after inviting the god Wuzhiqi, Shang Luzong felt that there was a pair of resentful eyes in the lake, secretly watching him.

He wasn't sure whether those eyes were friend or foe.

I'm even less sure what those eyes are up to.

Only by leaving this awful place as soon as possible can we be safe.

While flying in the gourd of witchcraft, Shang Lu took out the Impermanence Token, wanting to try to contact Zi Shu Xun Shou and Lü Yang. Although he was the first to be swept into the waves after Wu Zhi Qi stirred up the water and fell into a coma, San Niang was awake and knew that Zi Shu Xun Shou and the others had escaped danger. She also told Shang Lu about it afterward.

At that time, Shang Lu was in the Water Mansion Secret Realm, and the communication function of the Impermanence Decree was blocked, making it impossible for him to contact the outside world.

Now that they have left the Water Mansion Secret Realm and are temporarily out of danger, Shang Lu finally has the time and opportunity to try to make contact with Zi Shu and the others.

As soon as Shang Lu focused his divine sense on the Impermanence Command, several "ding-dong" notification sounds rang in his mind.

He received a message via telegram.

With a thought, Shang Lu opened these messages one after another.

They were all sent by the Rat on its hunting expedition.

The first message from Zishu Xunshou was filled with worry: "You're incredibly lucky, kid. You'll definitely be alright. Contact us immediately after you escape danger! Do you hear me? Contact us right away!"

Before Shang Lu could reply, a second message came from Zi Shu Xun Shou's anxious voice: "Don't reply! Don't reply! The Chu Kingdom's Black Shamans can lock onto your location through this message! Whatever you do, don't reply!"

Upon hearing this, Shang Lu raised an eyebrow and quickly retracted a message that had not yet been sent.

Immediately following, in the third message, Zishu Xunshou spoke rapidly: "After leaving Yunmengze, find an opportunity to return to the tribe! We'll be waiting for you in the Ten Thousand Mountains! May the Bamboo King bless you!"

After the three messages, silence returned, with only the whistling lake wind making a sound.

Shang Lu frowned. From Zi Shu's words, it was clear that the black sorcerers of Chu were indeed quite capable.

Since the Rat Patrol had already said not to reply, he certainly wouldn't do anything reckless.

At the same time, he also knew that Zishu's last words were meant to continue impersonating people from the southern barbarian tribes in order to lure the Xuanyi Guards and the Discipline Black Witches south, so that they would have a chance to escape back to Ba Kingdom.

Whether this tactic will work is hard to say.

It's hard to say how well the rats are doing these days.

But it certainly won't be very good.

"It seems they've been targeted by the Discipline Black Witches. They've just escaped one danger only to fall into another... Hopefully, they can shake off the Discipline Black Witches and return to Ba Kingdom safely."

Shang Lu sighed inwardly. He not only put away the Impermanence Token, but also wrapped several talismans around it to prevent the Discipline Black Witch from discovering its existence through other means and tracing it back to him.

Over the next few days, Shang Lu traveled day and night.

Ding Qiu was not lying. In Mengze, there were indeed guard witches and disciplined black witches patrolling back and forth. However, each time, Third Sister was able to give an early warning, and with the cover of Zewu, they managed to avoid being discovered without any danger.

On the evening of the third day, the pokeweed finally flew out of the Yunmeng Marsh.

Once he left Yunmeng Marsh, he lowered the witch gourd and did not continue flying—after leaving Yunmeng Marsh, there was no more marsh mist that could disrupt the witch's power detection, and if he continued flying and was seen by someone, it would inevitably cause trouble.

After landing, Shang Lu put the witch gourd into the Impermanence Token, changed into a Confucian robe, and transformed into the Confucian scholars he had seen before.

The Confucian scholars of this world liked to travel around and teach knowledge to ordinary people.

He disguised himself as a Confucian scholar and traveled around, which made it less likely to arouse suspicion. Moreover, in the public's stereotype, the barbarians in the mountains of the south knew witchcraft, sorcery, and mechanical arts, but they could not reason with the classics, let alone persuade people with virtue.

The events of the next two days proved that Shang Lu's actions were correct—ordinary constables, seeing that he was a Confucian scholar, often didn't question him much and simply waved him away. Some constables even asked him for help in choosing a good name for their newborn sons.

As for the Chu shamans who patrolled and checked Shang Lu's identity documents and verified his Confucian scholar's uprightness, they did not doubt his identity.

However, as Shang Lu traveled towards Ba Kingdom over the past two days, he discovered that the closer he got to Ba Kingdom, the more intense the checks and searches became.

"We can't go any further into Ba."

On this day, Shang Lu, hiding in the shadows, detected the situation ahead through the copper ants—not only were checkpoints set up on the official road, but also many witch beasts were running and patrolling in the sky and on the ground.

They really set up a trap, just waiting for people to walk right into it.

Shang Lu even saw that both the checkpoints and the beasts that were patrolling and monitoring were all under a special spell that made their eyes bulge outwards.

These protruding eyes can see things that are invisible to the naked eye.

Shang Lu couldn't guarantee that he could hide from these eyes and the increasingly intense surveillance and search by covering himself up, and return to Ba Kingdom.

We need to find another way!

Pokeweed made up its mind.

Going west is not an option, and going south is definitely a dead end.

The only options now are to head north or east.

They first left the State of Chu, then took a route through other states to circle back to the State of Ba.

Judging from the current situation, there are likely checkpoints set up in the north and east directions, with sorcerers, magical beasts, and even rampant ghosts patrolling.

However, compared to the west and south, it is definitely more relaxed and offers a better chance to slip out of this inescapable trap.

Without hesitation, Shang Lu turned around and headed north, intending to try to enter Yong State from the north first, and then find a way to return to Ba State.

(End of this chapter)