Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Chapter 54 Ghostly Shadows in the Bamboo Forest, Using a Knife to Conceal One's Edge

As night deepened, the back of Qingzhu Peak was shrouded in a layer of damp, cold white mist.

The wind whistled through the bamboo forest, making a mournful, plaintive sound.

The purple-veined spirit bamboo growing in the dark corners cast distorted and strange shadows under the moonlight, resembling a group of menacing ghosts.

Gu Yan sat inside the thatched hut without lighting a lamp.

He was toying with a piece of black paper as thin as a cicada's wing in his hand. It was a shadow puppet specially made by mixing high-purity bamboo pulp refined in the past two days with a trace of the aura of the ghost bone.

Although it is only the size of a palm, it is sharp enough to cut through gold and jade.

"They're here."

Gu Yan's keen hearing caught the extremely faint sound of wind breaking outside.

It was the sound of feet stepping on withered leaves, a sound that could not be completely eliminated even when the voice was deliberately lowered.

Wang Meng was indeed unruly; he wanted not only money but also life.

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Gu Yan curled a cold smile at the corner of his lips. He did not get up, but simply flicked his finger, and the black paper figure in his hand slid out of the window crack like a falling leaf and disappeared into the vast night.

……

The thatched hut is a hundred feet away.

Wang Meng was stealthily advancing with two trusted men. He held a dagger coated with deadly poison in his hand, his eyes filled with greed and murderous intent.

"Senior brother, that kid is just a menial servant, is it really necessary to be so careful?" a follower asked in a low voice.

"Shut up! Better safe than sorry."

Wang Meng muttered a curse under his breath, but in reality, he wasn't sure himself.

Gu Changsheng's gaze during the day was too sinister, giving him the feeling of being stared at by a venomous snake.

Just in case, he decided to strike first.

Killing that brat would not only allow us to keep all the spirit stones for ourselves, but also give us access to his mysterious bamboo pulp recipe.

"You guys block the back window, I'll storm in through the front and finish this quickly."

Wang Meng made a hand gesture.

However, at that moment, a sudden change occurred.

"whee……"

A faint, almost imperceptible chuckle suddenly rang in the ears of the three.

"Who?!"

Wang Meng turned around abruptly, but only saw a dark bamboo forest behind him, nothing at all.

"Senior brother, look over there!"

Another follower pointed tremblingly to a purple-veined bamboo not far away.

Among the branches and leaves of the bamboo, a pale human face was hanging, grinning grotesquely at them.

The smile was stiff and eerie, and the features looked as if they had been painted on.

"Playing tricks!"

Wang Meng was startled and raised his hand to slash out with a wind blade.

"Click."

The bamboo stalk snapped in response, and the "human face" drifted down, landing lightly on the ground.

It turned out to be just a mask drawn on a blank sheet of paper.

"Damn it, you dare to mess with me!"

Enraged, Wang Meng was about to rush over when he suddenly heard a scream from behind him.

"ah!!"

He turned around abruptly, his pupils suddenly contracting.

The last follower lay in a pool of blood, a thin wound as fine as a hair on his throat from which blood gushed.

In the shadows beside the body, something seemed to flash by.

Fast, too fast!

Before they could even see the figure clearly, a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining died!

"Ghosts...there really are ghosts!"

The remaining henchman was so frightened that he turned and ran away.

Wang Meng was also terrified; he finally realized he had kicked a hornet's nest.

This is no pushover; this is a ruthless monster who will devour people without spitting out the bones!

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

Wang Meng ignored his companion's corpse and used a speed-traveling talisman to escape.

But after he had only run a few steps, the soil beneath his feet suddenly became incredibly soft, like a swamp that gripped his legs tightly.

"No... Spare me! Junior Brother Gu, spare me! I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness..."

Wang Meng struggled desperately and begged for mercy.

The only response he received was the rustling of the wind deep in the bamboo forest and a cold aura that drew ever closer.

Inside the thatched hut.

Gu Yan watched this scene indifferently through the paper figure's perspective.

He did not intend to do it himself.

"Run to the left, to that weeping blood bamboo forest."

With a thought, Gu Yan manipulated the shadow puppet that had been hiding in the shadows, deliberately revealing a slight flaw on Wang Meng's left side, and creating an even more terrifying killing intent behind him.

Driven by his survival instinct, Wang Meng broke free of his restraints and frantically ran towards the only "way out" on the left.

That place was the very same weeping bamboo forest that Wang Meng considered his private property.

This was also the burial place that Gu Yan had chosen for him.

Just as Wang Meng rushed into the Blood-Weeping Bamboo Forest, a cold sword light suddenly descended from the sky.

The sword light was as bright as moonlight, yet it carried a chilling killing intent, instantly blocking all of Wang Meng's escape routes.

"Who goes there?!"

Wang Meng looked up in alarm.

A woman in white descended under the moonlight, her robes fluttering, like a fairy from the moon palace.

It's Shen Youwei!

A true disciple of the Flowing Cloud Sect, a prodigy in the Foundation Establishment stage!

How did she end up here?

Before Wang Meng could even process what was happening, Shen Youwei's sword was already at his neck.

"You have audacity to cultivate the Blood-Weeping Bamboo and raise corpse puppets in secret."

Shen Youwei's voice was as cold as frost.

She was ordered by her master to investigate clues that someone in the sect was colluding with evil cultivators, and followed the faint corpse aura all the way to Green Bamboo Peak.

Unexpectedly, they ran into this suspicious outer disciple who had rushed into this forbidden area filled with evil bamboo.

"No...it wasn't me! I didn't plant this bamboo! I was being chased..."

Wang Meng wanted to explain, but his storage bag still contained several newly harvested blood-weeping bamboo seedlings, which he intended to sell as stolen goods on the black market.

The perpetrator was caught red-handed.

Shen Youwei didn't bother listening to his excuses. With a flick of her sword, she sealed Wang Meng's meridians with spiritual energy and tossed him aside like a dead dog.

Then, her gaze fell on the dark thatched hut not far away.

Just now, she clearly sensed an extremely subtle Yin energy fluctuation here, which seemed to be guiding this evil cultivator into a trap.

"Since you've helped, why not show yourself?"

Shen Youwei spoke calmly towards the direction of the thatched hut.

Inside the room, Gu Yan's heart raced.

This Shen Youwei is indeed very perceptive.

But he didn't go out.

He is too weak now; revealing his identity will only bring endless trouble.

Gu Yan took a deep breath and once again used his paper-crafting technique to control a paper crane that had been hidden beforehand, which flew out of the chimney of the thatched hut.

The paper crane flew crookedly to Shen Youwei and spat out a folded piece of paper from its beak.

Shen Youwei raised an eyebrow and reached out to catch the paper crane.

The note contained only one line of text, written in illegible handwriting, as if it were written with the left hand:

"Using someone else's flowers to present to Buddha, eliminating evil completely. There's a bigger fish behind this person, be careful."

The tone was neither humble nor arrogant, but rather conveyed a sense of detachment and nonchalance.

Shen Youwei looked at the note in her hand, then at the paper crane that had lost its spirit and turned back into an ordinary white paper, and her doubts deepened.

This method, this style of doing things, reminded her once again of the mysterious person who had secretly helped her in Yunmengze.

"Is it you again?"

She whispered.

Although she didn't know who the other party was or why they wanted to help the Liuyun Sect clean house, she didn't want to force them to show themselves, lest she make an enemy of them.

Thank you.

Shen Youwei nodded slightly towards the direction of the thatched hut, then picked up the unconscious Wang Meng, mounted her sword, and disappeared into the night sky as a streak of light.

Only after confirming that Shen Youwei had left did Gu Yan breathe a sigh of relief and collapse onto the bed.

"That was close, I almost got cornered in the house by this girl."

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Meng, this cancerous tumor, was removed by Shen Youwei, and the crime he committed was illegally planting evil bamboo. He can forget about ever turning his life around.

As for Gu Yan himself, he was just an innocent servant who was "terrified" from beginning to end.

This is the rhythm he wants.

When I went to the clothes, I learned the name and the name.

Moreover, after this incident, Shen Youwei will likely pay more attention to Qingzhufeng, indirectly becoming his protector.

Gu Yan turned over and closed his eyes in a pleasant mood.

As for that bleeding bamboo forest?

I need to find a chance to dig up the remaining roots tomorrow; they're great feed for the paper figures, so I can't waste them.