As the attention and thoughts of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus guard focused on Bailu, a red glow rippled within the ribbon of Moonscar's brown braid. If one observed carefully, they would discover a red feather with a gradient hue tied inside the ribbon.
The very first second she arrived at the secret Grotto-Heaven and saw the guard, she activated Fenghuang Down. To avoid encountering hidden experts within the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and having the anomaly detected, Moonscar was extremely careful when urging Fenghuang Down.
She didn't forcibly control the other party; instead, she used suggestion in a way that 'moistens things silently,' making the guard feel that everything was natural and that nothing was amiss. At this moment, the guard was like a frog being boiled in warm water—he was already 'familiar enough' with Moonscar.
"I see. Please, enter."
Two red feathers drifted through his eyes. The guard bowed respectfully and stepped aside to clear the path. In his consciousness, Moonscar was already some 'Lord' who had visited before, albeit not often.
"Mmhmm."
Putting on the nonchalant air of a big shot, Moonscar carried Bailu—who was scared into acting like a little chick by the sword intent locking onto her neck earlier—and strolled idly into the interior of the Grotto-Heaven.
However, hearing no footsteps behind her, she turned her head slightly to see her best friend still standing there in a daze. Moonscar frantically winked at Guinaifen. The clever Little Gui reacted quickly; as a professional acrobat who often performed rhythmic storytelling, she got into character thief-fast.
"Lord Ink Plum, wait for me!"
Once they left the guard's visual range and confirmed the situation, Moonscar stopped and put Bailu down.
"Alright, there's no one else around. You two don't need to act anymore."
"(#°)?"
Bailu's petite body remained tense and trembling.
"Was... was I acting? I was scared by you, okay?!"
A chill had spread from her neck to her whole body. Passing through her legs, her legs went soft; passing through her throat, her throat felt as if it were wrung tight, unable to leak a sound.
"Wasn't I just helping you improve your acting skills?"
Moonscar smiled gently. She, a Masked Fool capable of acting opposite Sparkle on stage, was personally teaching them acting—an opportunity not everyone could get!
"Phew, you scared Little Gui to death."
Panting heavily, Little Gui finally caught her breath. She patted her creamy chest, which was of the same scale as Little Pillow, looking terrified after the fact.
"I thought we were going to be discovered and it was 'GG' for us right here."
"By the way, Shangshang, your acting was way too realistic! No, I should say it didn't look like acting at all!"
Guinaifen actually wanted to say something else: Shangshang, your reaction speed was too fast! Simply textbook improvisation. But she felt that adjectives like 'quick reaction' and 'improvisation' were very strange when placed together with Shangshang—like putting 'cold' and 'the sun' in the same context.
Guinaifen increasingly felt that something was wrong with her best friend. But right now, they were executing a secret mission to infiltrate the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus headquarters; Shangshang's issues would have to be considered after they got back.
"Shangshang, so what do we do next?"
Guinaifen felt that the abnormal Shangshang was at least ten times more reliable than the normal Shangshang! Although she didn't know what had happened to her bestie, she sincerely prayed that she wouldn't drop the ball at a critical moment and turn back into the normal Shangshang. Otherwise, they were all going to be finished!
In response, Moonscar blinked her almond-colored eyes. Her subtle gaze made Guinaifen look down at herself suspiciously.
"Shangshang, is there something wrong with me?"
"I say, Little Gui, I remember Caelus telling you before to seize any opportunity to 'take off' to Wuhu. Why are you still empty-handed now?"
"Huh?"
Guinaifen was momentarily confused. "Master did say that, but what does it have to do with the current situation?"
Moonscar sighed in her heart, heartbroken by the wasted potential. This stupid disciple didn't understand the Great Dao of the Streamer at all.
"I think you should film our heroic posture and the process of executing the mission. Later, when we resolve the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, edit it into a video and post it online. That would be a torrential flood of traffic! It would be enough for you to step into the Great Perfection Realm of a Luofu-level streamer!"
"That's right!"
Moonscar's single sentence woke the dreamer. Little Gui's eyes widened as if waking from a dream.
"Wait, are you two serious?"
Bailu took two steps back upon hearing this. She somewhat regretted tagging along. Filming a video in this kind of situation? Are you crazy?
"Of course. We've made such a huge contribution to the Luofu; how can we remain nameless and silent?"
Moonscar squatted down, placing her pale hand on Bailu's shoulder with a serious face.
"Also... this is evidence. If we successfully overturn the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus headquarters, from now on, the three of us will be great heroes who have established illustrious war merits for the Xianzhou!"
"With such great merit on your person, those old geezers in your clan definitely won't find it easy to ground you anymore."
"After all, if they confine a hero who established great merit for the Xianzhou, the Seat of Divine Foresight and the General definitely won't sit idly by. Tell me, am I right?"
"Right!"
A single sentence woke the second dreamer. Bailu jumped up, her small fist hammering her palm.
Her relationship with General Jing Yuan was very good—or rather, General Jing Yuan looked after her very well and had tried to intercede for her. But those old geezers in the clan always blocked Jing Yuan by claiming it was an internal family matter of the Vidyadhara. If she established great merit for the Xianzhou, Jing Yuan might be able to get her a bit more freedom.
"Film! We must film!"
A seriousness not belonging to a child appeared on Bailu's tender face, her tone sounding like Paimon imitating Zhongli.
"These are all important pieces of evidence against the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. It is very necessary to preserve them."
By this time, Guinaifen was already holding up her phone, speaking in a torrent of words:
"Fam, double-tap and follow... Cough, I forgot this isn't a live stream. Doesn't matter, remember to exit and click follow first, then come back to watch the video. Today, I'm definitely taking your follows, likes, and saves!"
"Fam, today I'm doing a huge stunt for everyone. Do you know where Little Gui is? You know the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, right? Little Gui is at the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus headquarters!"
"In this episode, Little Gui will take everyone to explore the evil cult's headquarters!"
Seeing this, Bailu nimbly hopped up to a high spot and waved at Guinaifen, signaling 'film me, film me.'
Guinaifen understood instantly. "Let me introduce this episode's special guest to the fam."
Saying so, Little Gui turned the phone toward Bailu. Bailu stood on a low wall, hands on her hips, her small face solemn as she gazed into the distance, speaking in a deep voice:
"The Luofu is defiled again."
"As the Vidyadhara High Elder, defending the Xianzhou is a duty I cannot shirk! Today, this Lady will eliminate harm for the people!"
After finishing Bailu's cutscene introduction, Little Gui turned around again with the phone. "And our old friend, the genius rookie Cloud Knight—Li Sushang!"
"Hello, everyone~!"
Moonscar greeted the camera lens without any stage fright. Sushang, ah, Sis isn't using your bestie for free. Sis is leaving you a massive merit! Of course, whether Sushang could handle this wave of torrential war merit was not something Moonscar needed to consider.
While Guinaifen explained today's 'big stunt' and filmed Bailu's entrance, Moonscar didn't remain idle. She used the Persona Mask to summon hundreds of small Shadow-Eaters, searching everywhere within the secret Grotto-Heaven.
She discovered that this was the correct way to open the Shadow-Eating Soldiers. The mechanism of devouring shadows was certainly unique, but it could only be used to clear trash mobs. Faced with powerful Pathstriders, unless it was a growth-type that had absorbed a massive amount of shadows, their utility was limited.
But for reconnaissance, it was different. Because the shadow soldiers were extremely weak—ordinary people could stomp them to death with one foot, just like cockroaches—this greatly reduced the probability of them being discovered. Although Shadow-Eaters had no eyes and their IQ wasn't high, they could move in the shadows while holding pinhole cameras.
This was solidly the best mobile ward! The secret Grotto-Heaven's area wasn't small, but it wasn't a residential-type large Grotto-Heaven like the Exalting Sanctum; rather, it was a base-type small Grotto-Heaven.
After filming the video intro, the three began their next move. Guinaifen and Bailu used the footage transmitted back by the cameras held by the Shadow-Eaters to find special locations, guard deployments, and personnel distribution within the Grotto-Heaven.
Moonscar, on the other hand, was searching for the high-level members of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus within the Grotto-Heaven. She was looking for the kind of high-level member whose personal strength was weaker.
After a system-time selection process, Moonscar locked onto a woman with the organization codename 'Vermilion Hibiscus.'
"She's the one."
Holding Guinaifen and Bailu's soft, small hands, Moonscar traveled through the Shadow World to the vicinity of Vermilion Hibiscus.
"You two wait for me here a moment."
"Shangshang, can you handle it alone?" Guinaifen held her spear.
"No problem."
"Sister Sushang, be careful."
Smiling and nodding to Bailu, Moonscar sank into the Shadow World and initiated combat. After Li Sushang took over the body, she lowered her presence to the minimum in accordance with Moonscar's request.
Slowly approaching Vermilion Hibiscus's location, she arrived in the shadow of Vermilion Hibiscus's chair. The Jade Knight, having lurked for a long time, erupted violently; Li Sushang's palm chopped onto the back of Vermilion Hibiscus's neck.
Instantly switching control rights, Moonscar urged Fenghuang Down. The dual shock to body and spirit caused Vermilion Hibiscus to faint with almost no resistance.
"Very good."
Locking the room door from the inside, Moonscar returned to Vermilion Hibiscus's side. The red feather unfurled, transforming into a white-and-red lotus that rotated slowly. Moonscar began to use Fenghuang Down to invade Vermilion Hibiscus's consciousness and examine her memories.
The process was fairly smooth, but the same old saying applied: Xianzhou people had too many memories, and without a directory, searching was quite time-consuming. Fortunately, no one came to look for Vermilion Hibiscus during this time.
Moonscar found a lot of important intelligence in her memories. According to the details obtained from Caelus's detailed discussion with Dan Shu over there, the preparation work of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus was nearing completion, waiting only for the 'East Wind' to lift the great curtain—perhaps even within these next two days.
From Vermilion Hibiscus's memories, Caelus inspected the hand held by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
"Holy crap, Ape!"
[?]
Li Sushang in the background typed a question mark.
"Nothing, just found some things."
In the secret Grotto-Heaven, the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had replicated and cultivated many ancient war beasts to use against the running dogs of the Demon Bow. Among them was an Abundance Spirit Beast reproduced through the power of the Ambrosial Arbor's branches: the Ape God! Its name seemed to be something like 'Changyou.'
The Ape God possessed the power to match a thousand troops single-handedly; one punch could smash a Cloud Knight into Cloud Knight fragments. This wasn't even the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus's trump card. The true weapon of mass destruction was—
"Ascension Elixir Powder?"
Her brows raising slightly, Moonscar murmured the term from Vermilion Hibiscus's memories.
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