Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 88 Hidden Dragon in the Abyss
Located in the south of Kaixian County, it borders the neighboring county.

There are vast and endless mountains here, with wild animals roaming everywhere and few people going there.

In a mountain, two figures were dancing and weaving through the dense vegetation.

These two people were Su Mei and Zhu Sha, the two women who secretly left the county town and headed south.

The two women moved quickly into the mountains and soon arrived in front of a waterfall.

Su Mei stopped and whispered nervously, "Sister, if we leave Kaiyang County like this, will the Lord punish us?"

Zhu Sha's expression was calm as he said quietly, "We are all dead people, why should we be afraid of these things?"

Su Mei laughed dryly upon hearing this and said, "I haven't died yet, but I don't want to suffer the same fate as my sister."

Su Mei hesitated for a while, but still gritted her teeth and slipped into the waterfall.

Cinnabar followed closely behind and fell into the cave behind the waterfall.

The cave is not spacious, only the size of a room.

Su Mei raised her hand and took out a jade talisman, activated the spiritual power in it, and stuck the talisman on a place on the stone wall.

There was only a flash of light, and ripples appeared on the originally solid stone wall like the surface of water.

The two women then passed through the stone wall and disappeared into the cave.

The stone wall quickly returned to normal, without a trace of abnormality.

After passing through the stone wall and coming to a dark passage, the two women walked along the narrow and slippery path deep underground.

The further down you go, the more clearly you feel an invisible pressure filling the space.

Below, a pool of water is shimmering and full of spiritual energy.

There is a platform in the pool.

On the platform, a middle-aged woman sat in the center, surrounded by a majestic aura.

The woman was wearing a brocade robe with a golden dragon pattern. She looked majestic and had a noble temperament, but there was also a hint of hostility in her.

The two women came to the edge of the pool and knelt respectfully, "Master!"

Su Mei raised her hands above her head and presented a few Yang-Gathering Beads.

The woman raised her eyes slightly, her golden eyes flashing, breathtaking.

As soon as she thought of it, the Yang Juzhu in Su Mei's hand disappeared.

"Why did you two come back together?"

The woman's tone was calm, yet full of authority.

Su Mei said tremblingly, "My Lord, something happened in Kaiyang County. We are afraid that it will affect your important affairs, so we are not reporting back."

"What's the matter?" The woman remained calm.

Su Mei quickly said, "Not long ago, a talented scholar emerged from Kaiyang County. He competed with students from the academy at Mingyue Tower, then berated them harshly... Afterwards, the Kaiyang County magistrate began a campaign to rectify the situation. Mingyue Tower was raided by the government for human trafficking, and we had no choice but to move. As a result, all those gambling houses and brothels either closed down or went out of business..."

"Because of the incident at Mingyue Tower, the scholars in Kaiyang County have stopped visiting brothels. Some students, imitating the scholar Tiandi, have gone out to study and slay demons... I'm afraid Kaiyang County will not be able to absorb enough Yang energy for a while. Moreover, the county is under strict control now. We are afraid of exposing our identities and delaying the master's important affairs, so we have no choice but to return to consult the master."

After saying that, Su Mei lowered her head and knelt there, not daring to say another word. She felt uneasy, fearing that the woman would get angry and beat them both to ashes.

The woman was silent for a moment, her expression normal, unremarkable. After a moment, she spoke softly, "In that case, there's no need to return to Kaiyang County. Since they're still out there, you two should go to Kaiyang County and make the final deal, retrieving the Yang-Gathering Pearls from those demons."

"As you command!" Su Mei said respectfully, then turned to ask, "After that, where should we go to collect Yang Qi?"

The woman said calmly, "I'm about to break through. I won't have to do these things anymore. Go!"

Su Mei was delighted when she heard this and quickly said, "Congratulations, Master, on your success in cultivation. May you achieve the Dragon Transformation soon!"

The woman had no expression on her face and waved her hand gently to signal the two women to leave.

Su Mei and Zhu Sha slowly stood up and then quietly retreated.

The two women went to a secret room, took some elixirs and spirit stones, disguised themselves, put on black robes and cloaks, and then left the underground cave.

The two women returned to the ground through another passage and quickly moved away from the mountains.

"call……"

After they walked a little further away, Su Mei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When facing that person, she always felt suffocated and unable to breathe.

Su Mei said with both joy and worry, "The Master is about to break through. She said that after she breaks through, she will set us free. Do you think she will really let us go?"

"When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked." Zhu Sha said coldly, "We demons are all controlled by her. How many of us truly work for her? How could she not know this? Do you think she will let us go?"

Zhu Sha paused, then added, "Besides, how do you know she wouldn't kill to silence the witnesses? If word got out that she was gathering the Yang energy of the people of several counties to achieve self-improvement, even if she transformed into a dragon, she wouldn't tolerate it... She asked us to do this because she didn't want to be tainted by too much karma."

Su Mei's delicate body trembled, "Then we are dead!"

"Let's leave it to fate." Zhu Sha said lightly.

Su Mei had a sad face. "She can kill us or make us live a life worse than death with just a thought...Alas, why are we sisters so miserable!"

She was originally a fox demon in the mountains, free and easy, but she didn't want to be noticed by a woman and asked to do something for her.

Although Su Mei was unwilling, she was far inferior to the women in terms of Taoism. Under coercion and inducement, and with restrictions placed on her, she had no choice but to obey orders.

Cinnabar is a painted-skin ghost raised by the dragon girl herself. He is under her control and cannot escape.

The woman has many such demons under her command, and they are distributed in several surrounding counties. They act independently, do not interfere with each other, and even do not know each other.

Even though Su Mei and Zhu Sha had worked with the woman for many years, they were not aware of her detailed arrangements.

Su Mei's heart hardened, and she lowered her voice and said, "Why don't we report it to the police?"

Zhu Sha sneered, "We can't go beyond a hundred miles. Who in the local county government has the ability to deal with her? Besides, she has a lot of spies. If you can't report her to the authorities, you'll be in big trouble... Of course, I'm not afraid. If you want to suffer with me, I'll go to the county government and give it a try."

Su Mei shuddered and couldn't help but say, "Then don't..."

They work in pairs, and if one of them makes a mistake, the other will not escape punishment.

Su Mei had suffered some hardships in the past, and she still feels scared when she recalls them now.

Zhu Sha sighed, "You can only hope that she fails in her dragon transformation. Perhaps we can live long enough to find a way to escape."

Su Mei curled her lips upon hearing this and muttered, "If her years-long plan fails, I'm afraid she'll be so angry that she'll beat us all into pieces."

"Live well..." Zhu Sha said with a cold look in his eyes, "At least we're alive. We still have a chance."

(End of this chapter)