Chapter 556: Painting the Ground as a Prison

Shichun, moving like a furtive thief, quietly maneuvered around. He found an opportunity, predicted the approaching person's route, and briefly hunkered down, finally catching a glimpse of the person's true appearance through a gap in a bookshelf.

He would have been fine if he hadn't seen it, but catching sight of those blood-red eyes, his nerves instantly tensed to their breaking point. He immediately guessed it was a demonic cultivator from Wu Shanshan's lineage, associated with the Valley of Oblivion. The last shred of hope in his heart was completely shattered.

Although he had been nervous before and thought he might be overthinking things, seeing the blood-red eyes completely confirmed that the person was indeed after him. He also understood why the person had suddenly appeared here; it must have been his previous battle and escape that drew them in pursuit.

After learning about Wu Shanshan's tracking methods, he had paid a considerable price to pursue and eliminate her. To that end, he hadn't hesitated to publicly expose his secret technique of the Fifth-Grade Immobilization Talisman, effectively severing Wu Shanshan's pursuit at any cost. Now, seeing this technique again, he realized this demonic visitor's cultivation was far beyond Wu Shanshan's, clearly surpassing even the Earth Immortal-level demonic essence he had previously encountered. The visitor's cultivation was clearly immense, and this problem could certainly not be resolved by simply killing them, as he had Wu Shanshan. Having experienced the terror of Wu Shanshan's tracking spell, he realized he might truly be inescapable this time.

His mind raced, already considering escape routes. He wondered how to negotiate cooperation if caught, and how to persuade the opponent, as saving his life was paramount. Of course, being caught would be a last resort. He couldn't simply surrender; he had to try every possible means to escape first.

He now understood why the opponent wasn't using spells to search; they didn't need to, as their demonic eyes could follow his traces and find him. Everything has its pros and cons. The opponent's decision not to use spells to search meant he had a chance to retaliate. In a flash, he devised another escape plan: as long as he could shake them off now, before they chased him out of the city, he could alert the city guards to activate the grand formation and seal off the area once he was outside. Perhaps this could temporarily restrict the opponent. Would the opponent reveal their identity and forcefully break out of the city?

If he could trap the opponent for long enough, he might escape. He knew the tracking spell had a time limit; once his traces dissipated, the demonic eyes would lose their lead. So the key was whether he could shake off the opponent right now. So, after circling around to lure the opponent away from the staircase, he quietly slipped towards the staircase himself.

As he passed a row of bookshelves, his gaze inadvertently fell upon the words "Han Guang" on a book. A sudden flash of inspiration struck him: if his Demonic Bathing Art's green qi could contain the smoke from Burning Death Incense and even the golden threads growing from corpses that could connect to the underworld, then could it also contain the aura he was leaking, which the demonic eyes could detect?

He immediately put the idea into action. Activating his green qi for protection, he quietly glided down the staircase, treading on air, slowly sinking below the level of the landing.

However, life is full of unpredictable turns. The gray-robed man, who relied on his demonic eyes for tracking, quickly noticed something was wrong. Shichun's winding aura traces had thoroughly confused him; there were intersections everywhere, circles overlapping circles, all fresh traces, making it impossible to know which route to follow. Even stranger, after circling for so long, he still didn't see anyone.

Sensing something was amiss, he immediately squatted down, pressed his face to the floor, and searched the gaps beneath the bookshelves for the target's feet. He saw nothing. He checked several spots, squatting down repeatedly, but found nothing. The target's traces showed he had come up but hadn't left. Crucially, he hadn't heard any footsteps leaving. *Wait*, he thought, *the target's traces showed so many circles; how could there be no footsteps?*

He was jolted awake, realizing something was wrong. He recalled the warning he had received before setting out: that the little thief was very cunning and slippery, and not to be careless. Was he about to be outsmarted, like an eagle whose eyes were pecked out by a hen? Jolted awake, he no longer dared to act cautiously. His magical power immediately spread, extending upstairs and downstairs to investigate.

Shichun, still moving like a furtive thief, was treading on air half a foot above the second floor. There was a shortcut downstairs, a sliding door, but he dared not make even the slightest sound opening it now. He would take the long way around; safety was paramount. The library also offered a shortcut out: the glistening, translucent windows tempted Shichun, their outside light seeming to beckon him. He could simply open a window and jump out to escape. But he didn't even dare to make a sound opening the sliding door, or let his feet touch the ground, so how could he dare to unlatch a window and push it open, creating a disturbance? Once he alarmed the person, did he think he could just jump out the window ahead of them and escape?

There was no other way; he had to go all the way to the end of the partition wall to get around. Reaching the end, he naturally saw the scholar in a green robe, sitting on the floor and leaning against a bookshelf, reading in the corridor beyond.

The green-robed scholar hadn't initially noticed anyone approaching. He only looked up because he felt something blocking the light from the window at the end of the narrow aisle. He hadn't known until he looked, and when he did, he was surprised and stunned to see a shadowy figure treading on air, moving silently, like a thief. He was surprised because he saw someone treading on air with no magical energy fluctuations, and had they not been so close, he wouldn't have even detected them.

"Shhh," Shichun put a forefinger to his lips. He then clasped his hands and bowed repeatedly in a pleading manner, then again put his finger to his mouth, with a strange, impish grin, clearly begging for a favor. Even a fool could understand his meaning: he was begging the scholar not to make a sound. The green-robed scholar slightly opened his mouth, intending to ask what he was doing, moving like a thief. Was he trying to steal books from the library, or was this some refined game? Shichun's actions, however, prevented him from speaking. Being observant, his gaze dropped, immediately focusing on the shoes on Shichun's feet, scrutinizing them carefully.

At the counter, the woman in red, feigning a doze with her head propped up, her fingertips tracing the ledger, a faint smile played on her lips.

Upstairs, Shichun reached a bookshelf corner. He clasped his hands, silently thanking the green-robed scholar repeatedly, and was about to turn and slip away when his wandering gaze was sharply pulled back. His dazed eyes fixed on the green-robed scholar's spiritual core in his dantian. He hadn't noticed earlier from a distance; when his left and right eyes displayed different scenes, it was hard to see clearly without focusing on one. But now that he was closer, he suddenly felt his eyes were dazzled by something abnormal. It would have been abnormal if it *had* been normal. That powerful and profound spiritual core was even more immense than the demonic cultivator's upstairs.

"What the hell?" Shichun was so startled his liver trembled. He thought his eyes were playing tricks, that he had seen wrong. Could he really encounter two such beings at once? Forgetting to run, he quickly rubbed his eyes, then closed his left eye and used only his right. He found he hadn't been mistaken, and his face instantly turned pale with fright.

Then, on second thought, he felt something was off. To deal with him, did they really need to send two experts of this caliber? Was it even necessary? Also, his right eye had scanned when he arrived, and this person had arrived before him, making it unlikely they had anticipated and waited for him here. The other person's eyes held an unhidden clarity and a sense of sudden surprise. Moreover, the way they were reading, a posture only frequent readers typically adopted, made him suspect it truly might be a coincidence. This sheer luck, it was truly astonishing.

The first thought that flashed through his mind was that this might be exploitable, but he also feared he might not be able to handle such a powerful ally. There was no time to lose; running was the best strategy. Politeness never hurt anyone. He clasped his hands again, silently thanking the other person, then immediately turned and continued to flee.

However, precisely because of this delay, his right eye's ability failed to notice the gray-robed man's unusual movements upstairs in time. By the time he looked up and noticed the anomaly, it was too late; a wave of magical power had already swept down from upstairs, washing over him.

"Damn it," Shichun's face fell. He knew that in front of such an expert, once discovered, he would absolutely not be able to escape. But as the saying goes, he was someone who would squeeze through any crack in a desperate situation; how could he easily surrender? He suddenly turned back to look at the bystander whom he had just felt he wouldn't be able to handle.

The green-robed scholar, holding his book, also felt the sweeping wave of magical power. He looked up at the ceiling, then his gaze dropped again, only to see the thief-like figure suddenly twist in mid-air and instantly dart to his side. Shichun plopped down, kneeling beside him, and with a dry, forced smile, said, "Excellent book, excellent book! Sir, you are clearly a man of vast learning. I felt instant reverence upon seeing you, a regret that we hadn't met sooner..." His words were overflowing with enthusiasm, but in reality, his eyes weren't on the book at all. He probably didn't even see a single word, his gaze constantly darting elsewhere.

The green-robed scholar saw the fellow practically trying to lean on him. He turned his head and stared at Shichun, saying, "'Young student'? Why do you look older than me? Do you know me?"

"..." Shichun turned back blankly, then remembered he had grown a beard and disguised his appearance. In his panic, he had indeed spoken without thinking. However, he no longer had a chance to explain. He suddenly looked up and saw a figure, swift as a breeze, instantly flash before them, staring down with terrifying, blood-red eyes.

The green-robed scholar, sitting cross-legged with one knee bent, leaning against the bookshelf with a book, also looked up and fixed his gaze on the person before him. Upon seeing the blood-red eyes, he calmly uttered, "Demonic Eyes."

Shichun, meanwhile, tried to get closer to the green-robed scholar in a way that wouldn't offend him. He knew this person was definitely an expert, and he wanted to make it seem as though he was very familiar with the scholar, for the demonic visitor to see. Hearing the scholar utter the words "Demonic Eyes" right away, he knew he was indeed a knowledgeable person. He also confirmed that the two were indeed not allies, and thus, he wanted to cling to the scholar even more.

Meanwhile, the blood-red color in the gray-robed man's condescending gaze quickly faded. As if he hadn't seen Shichun, he stared intently at the green-robed scholar, his eyes showing clear surprise and astonishment. Evidently, he hadn't expected to meet this particular individual here.

The green-robed scholar seemed to have understood something and asked again, "Do you know me? An old acquaintance?"

The gray-robed man's gaze finally fell upon Shichun. When Shichun met his eyes, he immediately adopted a playful, mocking expression.

"No," the gray-robed man replied, then turned and walked away, instantly flashing towards a window.

Behind the main hall counter, the woman in red, feigning a doze with her head propped up, a cold smile on her lips, her fingers seemingly idly drawing circles, suddenly pressed down hard on the ledger. *Thump!* The chattering sounds of argument in the main hall abruptly ceased. Everyone seemed to be held by an Immobilization Talisman. In the back courtyard, the flowers, grasses, and branches swaying in the wind instantly stopped moving. Miss Dong Liangyi, who was working, froze mid-turn. However, the bustling sounds of people coming and going on the street outside the courtyard remained.

Behind the desk on the second floor, Dong Liangyu, who had heard the conversation by the bookshelves and was about to get up to investigate, froze mid-rise, bent in a half-crouch. Shichun, leaning against the bookshelf, felt a powerful force instantly surge from the floor, firmly restraining him along his body. It was much faster than an Immobilization Talisman; he was unable to move in an instant. He was greatly startled, but his resistance was ineffective.

The gray-robed man, who had flashed to the window, pushed it with one hand but failed to open it smoothly. He landed, alert, and looked around. The green-robed scholar, leaning against the bookshelf, slowly stood up. With the scroll in his hand clasped behind his back, he said, "Since a demonic friend has arrived, letting you leave so easily would hardly be proper hospitality."

Seeing this, the gray-robed man swept his sleeve, aiming to strike first by sending a nearby bookshelf flying. However, the wind stirred but the objects remained still. He found that not only did the bookshelf not move, but not a single sheet of paper on it stirred. He couldn't help but exclaim in alarm, "A Grounded Prison!"