After being poisoned by mushrooms, all the strange creatures became fascinated by me.

The guards registered them and led the gatekeeper and the girl into the cell.

The fighting prowess of these guards was worlds apart from that of the gatekeeper disciple. Tang Li dared not approach rashly, but fortunately, she was still a player with many advantages.

The eerie live-streaming shop came in handy for the first time in this instance, with Tang Li redeeming a concealment item for herself.

[A Leaf Before the Eyes: Placing the leaf near the left eye grants invisibility for half an hour to an hour, the exact duration and effect depending on the user's size. During the item's effect, the user's footsteps will also be quieter.]

Tang Li placed the small, emerald-green leaf against her left eye, as if it were submerging into water from her left eye, a cool sensation spreading through her body. After a short while, Tang Li transformed from head to toe into a hazy, translucent substance.

The prison was dimly lit to begin with. Tang Li moved like a fish swimming around a coral reef on the seabed. She nimbly bypassed the guards by the door and stealthily crept between the iron bars where light and shadow intersected.

In the middle is a straight passageway, with towering prison bars on both sides. Some of the prisons are filled with people, while others are empty.

Tang Li frowned uncomfortably, feeling somewhat nauseous.

The smell of rust was unclear, whether it came from the faintly rusted railings on both sides or from the blood of the prisoners accumulated over the years.

There was also a stench that couldn't be masked by the smell of rust; that was to be expected, firstly because one couldn't expect prisoners to maintain good personal hygiene, and secondly...

Tang Li stopped looking at the corpse in the cell, whose body was almost entirely gone.

It wasn't as deathly silent as Tang Li had imagined. The vast, empty space echoed with the hoarse coughs and groans of pain from prisoners, the rustling of chains scraping against the floor as they moved slowly, the clanking of shackles, and even the delirious murmurs of the mentally unstable…

I dared not listen closely, yet I was already terrified.

The gatekeeper and the young girl had entered earlier than her, and by the time Tang Li sneaked in, she could only vaguely see their figures at the very back. Despite being half-dead, the prisoners' senses remained sharp, so Tang Li dared not take a step and recklessly pursue them.

A dark shadow swept past Tang Li not far away, briefly drawing her attention.

That looks like an immature black cat...

What, they keep cats in prison?

The next second, Tang Li met the gaze of a slick, oily mouse, as big as a cat.

Tang Li: Aa ...

She was lucky she didn't make a sound, but the rat was more perceptive than a human, and seemed to have actually detected a huge, semi-transparent object slowly approaching. It was also startled, and its small, beady eyes glanced at Tang Li before it darted into the shadows like a black lightning bolt.

Tang Li's heart was still pounding. She felt cold sweat all over her body, and even her fingertips felt slightly sticky.

The prisoners in the jail were all emaciated, but the rats were plump.

She couldn't even imagine how she managed to grow such a greasy, smooth, and fat body.

However, in the brief moment of this unexpected turn of events, Tang Li completely lost track of the three figures ahead. Suspecting she had unknowingly turned the wrong way, she stubbornly followed the route she had deduced.

They got completely lost.

The cells on both sides used to be filled with prisoners every now and then, but the further Tang Li walked, the emptier the sides became. Tang Li tried to turn back, but instead went deeper and deeper, until finally, there was no one left in the cells.

There were only a few scattered, dried-up corpses, who had died inside at some unknown time, their empty eye sockets staring at the shadowless people passing by.

Tang Li silently wiped the sweat from her brow.

She wasn't some fearless heroine; she stumbled upon this place by accident, and she was indeed terrified.

but……

"Hahahahahahahaha!" "You should have turned left at that intersection, streamer! If you turned right, you'd just end up back where you started!" "The guy in front is already heartbroken, hahahaha!" "Can someone make a compilation of the streamer getting lost? I think he could become famous with that!"

—These comments are so noisy!

The joking and banter of the audience actually lessened the horror of the atmosphere, giving Tang Li the illusion that she was actually live-streaming a horror game.

Amidst the mocking comments in the chat, streamer Tang Li pursed her lips, about to buy another tracking compass from the eerie livestream shop, when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She seems to be...

I could hear faint conversations.

Here? In such a remote place, how come someone is talking?

Tang Li perked up: Then she had no choice but to listen to what they were talking about.

Since she was already here, she turned on her toes and silently followed the sound.

A candlelight flickering on and off.

The passage led to a dead end, and on the blocked end, a man and a woman stood against the wall. Their shadows were stretched extremely long, swaying like ghosts.

The deliberately hushed voices could be heard.

"What does the elder mean...?" the man asked tentatively.

"The elder said that this is a rare opportunity, and we cannot let that young sect leader go back alive." Every word the woman spoke was filled with malice.

Young Master?

Tang Li held her breath and suddenly opened her eyes wide.

Does this refer to the young master of the Iron Calculation Sect?!

She actually heard something incredible.

The fact that the Iron Calculation Sect has maintained a good relationship with "Jie Bailing" for so long, and that the young sect leader received such courtesy when he came to visit today, can only mean that the size and status of the Iron Calculation Sect are comparable to that of "Jie Bailing".

If the young sect leader is truly as Tang Li heard, despite being frail and sickly since childhood, he has still managed to hold the position of young leader, and now that his health has improved, he can represent the sect in the martial world...

That means this young sect leader must be highly valued by the sect leader of the Iron Calculation Sect.

Adding both sides together, if the young master of the Iron Calculation Sect dies a violent death in the "Jie Bailing" incident...

Tang Li clicked her tongue inwardly: it seemed inevitable that the two sects would become enemies. And once they did, a misstep could result in mutual destruction.

But who is this "elder"? His two subordinates are so furtive, hiding here to discuss this matter, actually scheming against two major sects at once.

Is there such a daring traitor infiltrated into "Jie Bailing"?

"I understand, Elder, and I will certainly follow your instructions..." The man who spoke first was clearly of lower status, and he said obsequiously, "Steward Ouyang, I have done my best to handle the matter you asked me to do properly. However..."

The man's voice trailed off, as if he were terrified, too afraid to even think about it or utter a word, "But, if the sect leader finds out..."

As he spoke, before he could finish his sentence, an involuntary shiver drowned out his words.

—Manager Ouyang?

Tang Li opened her eyes wide.

No wonder the voice behind her sounded familiar; it was Steward Ouyang!

Isn't that the female manager who instructed her and Xiao Si to come and get Nanxiang earlier?