Chương 19: Hello, I am the person you made up.

The wind in the narrow passage has stopped.

The air froze into an invisible block of ice, trapping Chen Mo behind the giant rock.

His heartbeat, breathing, and even the flow of his blood were all erased under the max-level [Aura Concealment].

But he knew he had been exposed.

The drunken old Taoist priest's seemingly murky gaze pierced through the rock, like two red-hot iron spikes nailed to his soul.

[Ding! Warning! Unknown high-energy life form detected! Unable to analyze! Danger level: Extremely lethal!] An unprecedentedly sharp alarm blared in my mind.

Chen Mo's scalp tingled with pain.

run?

This thought existed for only a fraction of a second before he extinguished it with a vengeance.

Faced with such a being, turning around is tantamount to handing your neck to the blade.

The old Taoist priest stood still, without making a move.

He just grinned, his yellow teeth showing, and looked with great interest at the boulder where Chen Mo was hiding, as if he were watching a silent farce.

He is waiting.

Chen Mo walked out on his own.

This cat-and-mouse game is more oppressive than a thunderous strike.

Chen Mo slowly inhaled a breath of cold air, suppressing the trembling deep within his soul.

I gambled.

With a thought, the advanced characteristic of [Concealed Aura], [Beauty of Imperfection], quietly activated.

The ten layers of spiritual energy that surged within him like a river instantly became sluggish and weak, creating the illusion that he had just experienced a fierce battle and had lost seventy or eighty percent of his spiritual energy.

His face then turned completely bloodless.

Having done all this, Chen Mo no longer hesitated.

He carried the dark, grizzly wood-chopping knife and walked out step by step from behind the giant rock.

He kept his head down, avoiding the old Taoist's eyes, his entire posture tense, like a wounded lone wolf still wary of the world.

"senior."

His voice was hoarse, carrying just the right amount of wariness.

The old Taoist priest's gaze swept over him, finally settling on the woodcutter's knife, which still retained a trace of blood.

His smile widened.

"Young friend, your acting is quite good."

He took a swig of wine, and the strong smell of alcohol wafted over with his words.

"However, this corpse-dissolving powder doesn't smell very good."

Chen Mo's fingers tightened suddenly as he gripped the knife.

It can't be hidden anymore.

"You flatter me, senior."

He raised his head, his eyes filled with the bewilderment of someone who had never experienced the ways of the world.

"I am just a herb gatherer who was passing by when I saw... saw immortals fighting, and I was so frightened that I hid. I don't know what you mean by that, senior."

He adopted an extremely humble posture, playing the role of an ordinary mortal boy terrified by the power of the immortals.

"Oh? Gathering herbs?"

The old Taoist priest seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world.

He took two steps forward, his drunken eyes narrowed, and the light shining through the slits was frighteningly sharp.

"Did you kill two disciples of the Heavenly Profound Sect while gathering herbs?"

boom!

In short, it was like a thunderclap in a dry land.

Chen Mo maintained a blank expression, but his heart had sunk to the bottom.

How did he know?!

"And incidentally, you intercepted Zhao Wu's communication token?"

The old Taoist priest took another step closer and tilted his head to look at him.

Chen Mo's back was already covered in cold sweat, but he was still gambling, betting that the other party was just bluffing him.

"And incidentally, you even made up a story about an elder surnamed Wei achieving the Great Perfection of Qi Refining?"

It's over.

The last shred of hope in Chen Mo's heart was shattered by those words.

He overheard the message!

Is he Elder Wei's man? No, if he is, we should take action now to eliminate this "insider"!

Countless thoughts flashed through my mind like lightning.

"Senior... what are you saying? This junior... doesn't understand..."

He's still acting.

"Still pretending?"

The old Taoist priest's smile vanished abruptly.

An indescribable pressure suddenly descended!

That wasn't spiritual pressure.

Rather, it is a pure, life-origination crushing force.

It was as if ants were looking up at a dragon.

Foundation Establishment? Golden Core? Or something higher?

Chen Mo felt as if his soul was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, his bones groaning under the unbearable pressure, and he was about to be crushed into dust by this force in the next second.

The phantom of the Chaos Qian Yuan Bell trembled wildly in his sea of consciousness, its light flickering and actively protecting its master, which allowed him to barely stand up and not kneel down on the spot.

"what?"

A hint of surprise flashed in the old Taoist's eyes, as if he hadn't expected Chen Mo to be able to withstand it.

It was in that very moment.

Chen Mo made an almost insane decision.

Denial is death.

Begging for mercy will also lead to death.

The only way out is to turn the lie into reality!

He suddenly raised his head.

All the fear and confusion in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, piercing scrutiny and vigilance!

He was no longer that terrified "mortal".

Instead, he transformed back into what he himself described as the "Great Perfection of Qi Refining" who had just experienced a great battle and was recuperating from his injuries!

"Who are you?"

Chen Mo's voice turned cold and hard, carrying a hint of questioning from someone in a superior position.

"How do you know Wei Changfeng? Are you his lackey?!"

He took the initiative, slightly raising the machete in his hand, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground, revealing his murderous intent.

"Um?"

The old Taoist priest was taken aback by the sudden change in aura, and the terrifying pressure also subsided.

He looked at the boy in front of him, who was completely different from before, and for the first time, genuine surprise appeared in his cloudy eyes.

interesting.

"Hahaha!"

After a brief moment of surprise, the old Taoist priest burst into a deafening laugh, laughing so hard that he bent over backwards and spilled the wine from his gourd.

"Interesting, truly interesting! Kid, you're the most interesting person I've seen in nearly a century!"

After he finished laughing, he slowly took out a token from his pocket and casually tossed it over.

The token felt warm and smooth to the touch, with a deep emerald green color. The front was engraved with an ancient character "玄" (Xuan), while the back was surrounded by cloud patterns, exuding a pure and peaceful aura.

Chen Mo took the token, his pupils suddenly contracting.

This aura...

It shares the same origin as Xiuer's amulet!

"I am Gu Chen, and I have been ordered by my senior brother Xuanming to guard the descendants of my deceased friend in this place."

The old Taoist priest took a swig of wine and said lazily.

"What I should have done, you did for me, young friend. Now, I'd like to ask you something..."

His gaze became playful.

"And whose person are you?"

At this moment, Chen Mo's heart sank completely into the abyss.

He made the right bet.

It seems like... we bet on everything wrong.

His fabricated lies collided with reality.

His fictitious backer sent people over.

And his "fake" Perfected Qi Refining skill is standing right in front of the real thing.

The imposter met the real deal.

"I……"

Chen Mo's mind raced, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond.

Master Gu Chen looked at him, seemingly seeing through all his embarrassment, and his smile deepened.

"A little baby with ten levels of Qi cultivation."

He held up a finger and pointed at Chen Mo.

"With a top-notch concealment technique that even I almost misjudged."

He then extended a second finger.

"A common iron wood-chopping knife tempered with the energy of Gengjin sword."

The third finger.

"Add a defensive magic item of a decent quality."

"He cleanly and efficiently killed three disciples of the Heavenly Profound Sect, one at the seventh level of Qi Refining and two at the eighth level of Qi Refining."

"Afterwards, he was able to use the other party's communication device without batting an eye to put on a big show for that cunning old man Wei Changfeng, making him completely outmaneuvered."

He clicked his tongue in amazement, as if admiring a rare treasure that he had personally crafted.

"Kid, with your guts, your temperament, your methods... tsk tsk, it's a waste of your talent to be a village doctor stuck in this poor mountain village."

With each word he spoke, Chen Mo's heart grew colder.

All of his cards were clearly seen by the opponent.

Before this unfathomable old Taoist, he was like a baby stripped naked, with no secrets left to him.

"so……"

Master Gu Chen shook his wine gourd and walked up to Chen Mo.

He stared at Chen Mo with his frighteningly bright eyes and asked, word by word:

"Whom are you planning to use the [Shadow Revealing Talisman] that you went to so much trouble to obtain from those two dead men?"

"besides."

The old Taoist priest grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Who exactly are you, deity?"

"Tell me a story too?"