Fairy, don't be afraid, I'm about to begin my strategy.

The person who walked in was the strange Taoist priest that Shen Mo had encountered that night, also known as Deacon Zhao.

He glanced coldly at the two of them, said nothing, put down a large portion of food, and left.

Shen Mo forced himself to cheer up, fed Lin Zhixia the food, and then wolfed it down himself.

After a short while, the two men were finally able to recover from their near-death state and regain some strength. But before they could even rest properly, Deacon Zhao opened the cell door again and came in.

"Come with me!"

He coldly uttered those words, then opened the cell door, gesturing for the two men to leave.

Although they were confused about the situation, Shen Mo and the other person obediently did as they were told and followed Deacon Zhao out of the cave cell.

Stepping out of the cave, Shen Mo discovered that it was a rather large natural cavern, and he could hear the gurgling sound of flowing water, which must be an underground river.

Strange mushrooms grew on the walls of the cave, emitting a faint light that allowed people to barely see their surroundings.

Shen Mo followed Deacon Zhao through a maze of twists and turns to a much larger and more spacious cavern. Several torches were lit around the cavern, instantly brightening the environment.

Compared to the surrounding natural environment, Shen Mo was more concerned about the strange arrangement inside the cave.

In the very center of the cave is a shallow pool, and many magical artifacts are embedded around it. With Shen Mo's limited knowledge of cultivation, he can tell that this should be some kind of formation.

The pool of water was emerald green, and an eerie black mist that lingered on its surface never dissipated, giving off a chilling aura.

Above the pool, on the cave ceiling, there is a huge upside-down stalactite, and every now and then a drop of emerald green liquid falls into the pool.

Without saying a word, Deacon Zhao walked to the edge of the pool, took out a vessel from his storage magic item, opened it, and threw one of the contents into the pool.

"Gu worms!"

Lin Zhixia added, "It's a Gu worm in its nurturing stage!"

The Gu worm rushed out of the pool as soon as it entered, but there seemed to be a strange suction force in the water, and no matter how the Gu worm struggled, it was all in vain.

Suddenly, the calm pool water seemed to be awakened and began to boil and surge.

A short while later, a strange insect chirping sound rang out.

The cry was unusually peculiar, sometimes near, sometimes far, sometimes ethereal, sometimes heavy.

Upon hearing this voice, Shen Mo and the other person were completely hypnotized and unable to move an inch.

The Gu worm that fell into the pool also suffered the same fate; it gave up struggling and looked completely helpless.

The boiling of the pool water became more and more obvious, and suddenly a strange plant broke out of the water and grew taller and taller.

The peculiar plant was entirely purplish-black, with leaves as sharp as knives, yet at its very tip bloomed a flower as vibrant as blood.

Another strange insect chirping sound made Shen Mo's gradually calming nerves tense up again, and his head throbbed with pain.

A strange insect emerged from the flower, resembling a cicada but not quite. It was also entirely purplish-black, but had a huge, blood-red abdomen, making it extremely bizarre.

The insect lay motionless as if brewing something. After a short while, several small, strange insects emerged from its tail and shot towards the motionless Gu worm in the pool like bullets.

The Gu worm offered no resistance and was captured by several smaller insects and brought to its mother. The mother worm swallowed the Gu worm whole, and the offspring returned to her body once more.

"Nine-Turn Soul-Eating Grass!"

Shen Mo and his companion were unaware of the strange insect, but they were all too familiar with the plant with the black body and red flowers—it was the Nine-Turn Soul-Eating Grass that the two of them had been searching for.

I never imagined this plant actually existed!

When Lin Zhixia saw the Nine-Turn Soul-Eating Grass, she was stunned as if struck by lightning.

Even as she lay dying in the dungeon, she clung to a sliver of hope that Deacon Zhao might have some hidden reason. She couldn't believe that Deacon Zhao, who had once taught her everything he knew and was a righteous man who always hated evil, would do such a thing.

Although she had never called him "master" before, she had long regarded him as her master in her heart, and even like a father.

However, everything before her eyes not only shattered the image of Deacon Zhao in her heart, but also caused many of her life beliefs to collapse.

"Why? Why? Why do it this way?"

Lin Zhixia was pale and collapsed to the ground, muttering to herself blankly.

Deacon Zhao walked indifferently to Lin Zhixia, looking at her distraught state, and said, "Ask whatever you want to ask. If you're going to die, at least understand why."

His voice was unusually hoarse, as if his throat was rusted, which made people very uncomfortable.

Why do this?

"There is no reason why; many things in this world have no explanation."

Lin Zhixia looked at the person in front of her and felt so unfamiliar. She could hardly believe that this was the master she remembered...

Lin Zhixia stared at Deacon Zhao with teary eyes, "Do you...do you know? I've always considered you my master, and I've remembered every word you've ever said to me."

"oh."

Without saying much or showing much emotion, Deacon Zhao simply looked at Lin Zhixia quietly.

Lin Zhixia seemed to be using the last bit of strength in her life to say, "Do you still remember what you once said to me? We cultivators should uphold the righteousness of heaven and earth, display the wonders of creation, demonstrate the integrity of a gentleman, cherish lofty ambitions, and guard the pure heart of a child."

Silence, dead silence.

"In the cultivation world, strength reigns supreme. Fairness is what the strong tell the weak, and so are the rules. This applies to both the righteous path and the demonic path."

After uttering these nonsensical words, Deacon Zhao stopped looking at her. "With such a pure heart, you are not suited for this cultivation world. Rather than becoming someone else's sustenance sooner or later, you might as well die here today and be free from this burden."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhixia felt utterly hopeless. She slowly closed her eyes, already prepared to face her death.

At this moment, Shen Mo had no time to care about the two unfortunate master and disciple. He silently observed everything in the cave, whether it was the array around the pool or the hanging stalactites.

Even the surrounding environment and the details of the journey from the dungeon were all memorized by Shen Mo.

It now seems that a rollback is inevitable. Taking advantage of this time, Shen Mo quickly digests the information at hand. The problem now is that the location of this underground cave is unknown.

It is truly astonishing that such a large underground space was hidden deep within the medicinal garden and remained undiscovered.

Once we know the location, we can catch everyone red-handed and no one can escape. Shen Mo can at least get credit for the tip-off.

It would be even better if we could take over this place!

This place is great; it's not only secluded, but the pool of water looks like an incredible treasure.

I'm so excited just thinking about it!

Just as Shen Mo was still pondering how to find this place, he suddenly realized something absurd: Zhao the Deacon's character card was still not in the system interface.

What does this mean? Deacon Zhao never even glanced at Shen Mo from beginning to end, completely ignoring him.

This uncle can tolerate it, but the aunt can't either!

How dare they disregard me! They must pay the price!

But Shen Mo is now unable to fight or run away; he's just a lamb to the slaughter.

"Hehe, don't panic, watch my performance!"