Chapter 212: Rootless

She was more beautiful than a flower, but her heart was more poisonous than a snake’s!

Li Niang looked delicate and lovely, but Mu Feng felt no fondness for her at all. He just never expected that she would also be captured and brought here. Although her face was pale and full of fear, her clothes were still tidy. It seemed she hadn’t yet fallen victim to those bald monks.

“Young Master Mu Feng, I was returning to my parents’ home in Jiangling Prefecture with a servant when these bald monks captured me and brought me up the mountain. If you hadn’t arrived in time, I wouldn’t have the face to see anyone…”

Li Niang wept bitterly. Seeing Mu Feng, a disciple of Mu Manor, felt like finding a pillar of support.

“Now is not the time to talk. Go, quickly!”

Mu Feng’s face was cold as he shouted.

Though he felt no fondness for the cruel-hearted Li Niang, for the sake of his poor cousin Mu Shu, who lay motionless in bed, he didn’t argue further with her and urged her to leave immediately. As soon as he finished speaking, three bald monks charged out from a secret room.

The leader was the one who had infiltrated the inn and captured the Black-clad Woman, his footsteps heavy. Behind him followed the one called First Senior Brother.

“Kill!”

“Where did this Devil Leader come from, daring to break into our sacred Buddhist Sect grounds?”

…

The three bald monks exchanged a glance and, with silent understanding, charged fiercely toward Mu Feng. The cold gleam of their blades and swords showed how sharp they were.

Sacred Buddhist Sect grounds?

Mu Feng gave a cold laugh. How could a filthy place like this dare call itself sacred Buddhist Sect grounds? What a joke!

Without a word, he wildly stirred the blood energy within his body. In the next moment, three ferocious Blood Spears shot out with a whoosh.

With a thud, the one charging in front had his chest pierced by a Blood Spear and was pinned dead to the ground. Unexpectedly, the two bald monks behind him were quite skilled; at the critical moment, they both dodged with a clumsy donkey roll. Pushing off hard with their toes, they fiercely rushed toward him from the left and right.

The one called First Senior Brother held a curved blade, while the other held a ruler. As soon as they attacked, they aimed straight for Mu Feng’s vital points, their strikes fierce and sharp—clearly experts among the bald monks!

“Well met! Mist-Locked Cold River!”

Mu Feng showed no fear, charging forward to meet them and thrusting out his sword. Instantly, wisps of water mist appeared in the air, crisscrossed with sword energy. The two fierce bald monks suddenly felt a wave of oppressive sword energy rushing at their faces. They exchanged a look, their expressions changing at once. Abandoning their attacks, they quickly changed stance and leaped back.

The one called First Senior Brother was even more impressive; with a smooth backflip, he retreated over ten meters away. He gave a cold laugh and reached out to press a slightly protruding stone slab on the wall.

“No, First Senior Brother, wait for me…”

The bald monk holding the ruler cried out in alarm, leaping swiftly backward. Unfortunately, it was too late.

As First Senior Brother pressed with his fingertip, the secret room echoed with cracking sounds. Dense rows of sharp Crossbow Arrows emerged from the walls on both sides, their arrowheads gleaming with an ominous black light, clearly coated with potent poison. In the next moment, countless Crossbow Arrows shot out with sharp whizzes.

The bald monk with the ruler, as he leaped back, suddenly halted his steps, his body riddled with sharp Crossbow Arrows. His mouth twitched, and he collapsed with a thud just half a step short of reaching First Senior Brother. To his dying moment, he never thought he would one day die by the trap he himself had laid, killed by one of his own.

The bald monk called First Senior Brother, the most skilled and ruthless of them all, remained unmoved as he watched his junior brother fall. He let out a grating laugh, waiting to collect the corpse of the astonishingly powerful Mu Feng.

Alas, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

After several rounds of dense arrow rain, broken Crossbow Arrows lay piled around Mu Feng, but he himself was completely unharmed. All the fiercely oncoming arrows had been knocked aside by the Black Inscription Heavy Sword in his hand.

The sudden appearance of Crossbow Arrows from the walls was unexpected. However, their power was far inferior to the traps set by Blind Master!

Having fought his way through countless ambushes over a long journey to retrieve the Yang Soul Pill from the Poison Sect, Mu Feng did not take this little trap seriously at all.

Once the dense arrow rain ceased, the bald monk called First Senior Brother watched as Mu Feng, completely unscathed, advanced step by step. He involuntarily stepped back, every hair on his body standing on end, finally feeling deep fear. “Don’t… don’t come closer. You… who are you? What do you want?”

“Who I am is something you no longer need to know.”

Mu Feng’s expression remained cold as he pressed forward step by step. “Speak. Where is the Black-clad Woman you captured from the inn downhill just now?”

After a quick glance earlier, Mu Feng had not seen the Black-clad Woman. As time dragged on, he felt increasingly uneasy. If he didn’t hurry, it might be too late.

“I don’t know! After we brought her back, I didn’t know anything else!”

The bald monk called First Senior Brother denied everything cleanly, retreating constantly as he spoke. As soon as he finished, he pressed lightly on a stone slab on the wall, and a dark secret passage appeared behind him. He turned and swiftly crawled inside. Unfortunately, just as his head and body slipped in and he prepared to escape, he found his right foot caught firmly in Mu Feng’s cold grip. He tugged hard, but it didn’t budge; Mu Feng’s hand clamped onto his leg like an iron bar.

Before he could think further, vine-like things sprouted behind him, crawling up his ankle like pythons. He tried to turn for a better look, but the narrow passage only allowed him to crawl forward—turning was impossible. Ankle, thigh, upper thigh… more and more python-like things climbed over him. They even tore through his pants, slithering near his urethra and anus, sliding back and forth slowly as if preparing to burrow inside.

“I’ll ask one more time. Where is that Black-clad Woman now?”

In the darkness, Mu Feng’s voice came from behind, cold and detached. To the ears of the bald monk called First Senior Brother, it was as terrifying as a demon’s death warrant.

“I’ll talk, sir! I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything!”

Feeling the python-like things paused at his upper thigh, stirring restlessly, the bald monk called First Senior Brother hastily replied. He regretted his actions deeply; had he known this would happen, he would have preferred to die in battle rather than end up like this. Fearing Mu Feng would act immediately, he added in panic, “From the underground passage, count seventy-five steps to the right. There’s a slightly protruding stone slab on the wall. Press it to open the real secret room. The Black-clad Woman and our master are inside.”

“Good. Very good. What’s your name?” Mu Feng’s voice came again.

The bald monk called First Senior Brother hurriedly answered without hesitation, “Wugen. This humble monk’s religious name is Wugen.”

“Wugen. Good, a fine name!”

Mu Feng gave a cold laugh. In the next moment, the lower body of the one called First Senior Brother, Wugen, was suddenly yanked outside. He let out a shrill cry as the tendons in his hands and feet were severed, and the things at his upper thigh were smashed into pulp by a heavy sword.

“I’ve changed your religious name for you. If you manage to crawl out alive, from now on, you shall be called Rootless.”

Mu Feng drifted away. Behind him, Wugen, whose upper body was stuck in the secret passage, convulsed all over, blood gushing from his lower body. Soon, he lost consciousness.