This Is What a Villain Is Like

Chapter 154: Chapter 90: Old Tricks Win Hearts, and the Heart-devouring Disease Is a Convenient Scapegoat

’Her aura is a bit chaotic. It seems she’s run into quite a bit of trouble.’

Jiang Lan stood atop a mountain, his robes fluttering. With a bearing as elegant as jade, he clasped his hands behind his back and gazed at Ling Zhuyun in the distance.

Upon sensing the disturbance in her aura, a warm and brilliant smile spread across his face.

Then, a finger on the hand behind his back made a light gesture. The once-quiet ground began to rumble and tremble faintly. The earth’s veins hummed, essence energy flared, and streaks of blood-red light swiftly vanished, fleeing deep within the ley lines.

Only after doing all this did his figure vanish from the spot.

Not far away, Ling Zhuyun was dressed in a white skirt as pure as snow, looking holy and otherworldly. Her jade-like face, veiled by a light gauze, held a cool and composed expression, her gaze as calm as still water.

Her jet-black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, reaching all the way to her waist.

The jade hairpin that had been tucked into her hair had unfortunately fallen out during her earlier battle with a powerful foe.

She had no time to look for it now. Deep within her seemingly calm eyes, a trace of fatigue was hard to conceal.

All in all, she had encountered two waves of powerful enemies.

Even she was finding it strenuous. But there was no safe place to rest here; she had to remain constantly vigilant.

In her delicate hand, she held a Bright Pearl as clear as jade. A soft light emanated from it, dispelling the dense purple mist and illuminating the path before her.

HISS... HISS... HISS...

Suddenly sensing something, Ling Zhuyun’s calm eyes sharpened, her expression turning severe.

She instantly put away the Bright Pearl in her hand. With a flick of her slender fingers, a stream of lake-green light shot out. It was a bracelet enveloped in a divine, rosy mist. It flared with brilliant light and smashed forward with a BANG.

A boulder several men tall instantly shattered with a BOOM. From within, several streaks of blood-red light, accompanied by a sinister wind and cold laughter, lunged toward her.

They were several Human-Faced Banners shrouded in a blood-colored mist, looking bizarre and grim. Wisps of black fog swirled and steamed around them, as if living creatures were wailing within.

The faces on them stared at her with malicious eyes, as if wanting to devour her flesh and suck her blood.

’It’s these things again...’

Ling Zhuyun’s face turned frosty. Her pristine, jade-like hand, wreathed in a rosy glow, struck forward. A tyrannical wave of Magical Power, like a great river, swept out. The mountains and rocks trembled, rumbling as if battered by colossal waves crashing against the shore.

Her slender, well-proportioned body moved forward. From beneath her skirt, a pair of straight, jade-like legs flashed with a pearly white luster, sweeping through the air to send the lunging Human-Faced Banners flying.

At this moment, she had shed her previous holy aura. Her expression was indifferent, like a jade-faced True Immortal—sharp and domineering.

PFFT...

In the Void, the blood-colored mist diffused, emitting a scorching aura.

One of the Human-Faced Banners let out a wretched scream as Ling Zhuyun’s palm struck it.

A rosy glow surged from her body. A bright, full moon rose in her palm—beautiful and holy, yet containing ultimate killing intent.

The Human-Faced Banners had attacked swiftly, but they disappeared just as quickly, turning back into streaks of blood-red light and fleeing into the mist.

Ling Zhuyun wanted to give chase and destroy them completely, but seeing the situation, she could only force herself to stop.

It was unwise to chase a cornered foe, especially at a time like this.

She suspected someone was controlling these Human-Faced Banners from behind the scenes. They always rushed out to devour her Essence Blood precisely when her guard was down.

She had already encountered several such ambushes along the way.

Moreover, these Human-Faced Banners could escape into the ground at any time, vanishing in the blink of an eye. If not for her powerful Spiritual Sense and astonishing perception, she would have had a hard time dealing with them.

She guessed that many cultivators and other living beings had likely already fallen victim to them.

The younger brother of Han Yiming, a True Disciple of the Ancient Inquiring Sect, had likely died a tragic death at the hands of these Human-Faced Banners.

Ling Zhuyun calmed her mind and took a slight breath, feeling her injuries flare up again.

’This won’t do. I have to find a safe place to recover. Otherwise, I won’t be able to handle it when these Human-Faced Banners attack again.’

’The person behind this is probably planning exactly that—to use this opportunity to drain my strength and then strike when I’m exhausted.’

Ling Zhuyun’s heart sank. She had left the main group from the Jasper Pool Sect to search for her few missing junior sisters on her own.

But unfortunately, she hadn’t found anyone. It had been so long. If they didn’t have other life-saving measures, they had likely already perished here.

’I’ve done all I can. I’m sorry, my sisters...’

She fell silent for a moment. Then, after sensing the direction where the Purple Mist True Monarch’s Cave Mansion had appeared, she chose to head in the opposite direction to avoid running into those fighting over the opportunity.

She had to find an undisturbed place where she could rest and recover in peace.

「A short while later.」

Ling Zhuyun arrived at a place where cliffs converged. From ahead, she heard the sound of a clear spring flowing, as if a mountain spring was passing through and gathering into a small stream.

’There should be a cave or a crevice around here...’

Ling Zhuyun was about to head over when she sensed a surge of essence energy and the roar of a mountain spirit not far away. She paused, taken aback. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to go take a look. If she could help, she would.

But when she walked over and got a clear view of the scene, Ling Zhuyun froze once more.

Her cool, calm eyes widened slightly in astonishment.

A figure she never would have expected to see was actually here.

’Jiang Lan...’

’How did he end up here? I thought he was with all his subordinates.’