"Why are you smirking? As I said, if you want to enter Dragon Skull Forest, then you need to pay the fee."

"Alright, alright. I'm dead, not deaf. Here, catch it."

The man threw a black purse, and Mo Yan caught it. Mo Yan then opened the purse, only to see nothing inside.

"Don't mess with us!" Mo Yan shouted.

"Hehe." The skinny man let out a creepy laugh and then just dropped to the ground like he had a heart problem, making him look dead.

The three of them stood silently for several moments. Then, Han Zong approached the man lying on the ground. He nudged the man with his foot, flipping him like he was some kind of corpse.

"This man is really dead," Han Zong said.

Pu He wondered if this was another sign from heaven.

"Check if there's something valuable on him."

"Alright." Han Zong started to check his body but found nothing. This man was even more broke than the three of them.

Mo Yan sighed. "Just our luck. To think that we really tried to rob a dying beggar. Han Zong, throw--"

Mo Yan suddenly stopped talking. His eyes unfocused, and his body stiffened.

"Mo Yan, are you alright?" Pu He said.

Mo Yan blinked several times and then nodded. "I'm alright. My mind just went blank for a second. Anyway, Han Zong, throw that corpse into the water below."

Han Zong nodded and carried the corpse on his shoulder. Then he threw it off the cliff.

"Pu He, I know you said you want to retire, but can you do us a favor and not count that one?"

Pu He thought for a moment and then nodded. That man dropped dead before they even did anything.

"Alright."

"Okay, let's hide again then."

The three of them hid behind the tree. They waited, talking and chatting about nothing, when a girl walked over the bridge.

Seeing her, Pu He felt like he was struck by lightning. She wore a purple robe that accentuated her white and pure skin. Her hair was long and silky, and her eyes were so blue they looked like the finest jewels he'd ever seen in this life and the next. For a moment, his heart fluttered, but then he realized that her robe was similar to that of the young man who let them go, which meant she was probably from the same sect.

"Mo Yan, I think robbing her is a bad idea," Pu He said.

When he didn’t hear Mo Yan’s response, he glanced at Mo Yan beside him. Mo Yan's expression was starstruck, his eyes glinting, and disgusting drool ran down his chin. Then, like a rabid animal, he ran toward the girl like a dog in heat.

"Mo Yan!" Pu He shouted.

Mo Yan was usually calm, but Pu He realized something was different this time.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Han Zong, Mo Yan is in danger."

"I know! We need to stop him before that girl gets offended and kills us all."

Pu He nodded. After all, only a sliver of cultivators showed mercy. The rest wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone who dared to offend them. While this girl was really beautiful, Pu He also knew she was dangerous.

Both of them started to run toward Mo Yan. Han Zong leapt and hit Mo Yan in the back, making both of them roll on the ground.

The girl stared at him, and Pu He started to kneel. "I'm sorry, senior sister! My friend is not himself. Please have mercy and don’t be offended!"

After staring at him like he was some kind of maggot, the girl started to walk again. Her eyes didn’t register the two who wrestled on the ground. Soon, she disappeared among the trees, and Pu He began to help Han Zong, who was now battling Mo Yan.

While they tried to subdue Mo Yan, Pu He wondered what exactly was happening to Mo Yan. He fought sloppily, with no technique or style, like a wild animal. Mo Yan was usually a calm and collected man. Surely, he wouldn’t lose control just because of a woman.

"Calm yourself, brother Mo Yan," Pu He said.

Mo Yan growled like a dog.

As he and Han Zong tried to subdue Mo Yan, Pu He wondered if this was karma because he broke his vow to that man.

***

In the Dragon Skull Forest, near Skull Hill, there was a medium-sized waterfall. Inside this waterfall, crouching behind the falling water, was Liu Xing.

He was fully invisible, and his eyes were focused on a spirit beast that was feasting. The spirit beast had a lower body like a fish, wings like a wasp, an upper body like a human, and a head like an octopus, but with large eyes like a fly. This thing was now happily munching on the innards of a poor cultivator. Red and yellow liquid stained its two razor-sharp fangs.

If Liu Xing's feeling was right, this spirit beast was at Lock Opening sixth stage, higher than Liu Xing, but still beatable.

The only reason Liu Xing hadn’t shot this spirit beast was because it had a weird ability that affected him. Liu Xing felt like this spirit beast was his mother. He felt love toward it, respected it, and wanted to make it proud.

Logically, Liu Xing knew it wasn't his mother. It was only a spirit beast. Liu Xing also knew his mind was being affected by its strange ability. But his heart told another story. It felt like he knew the sky was blue but also believed the sky was black.

Even now, Liu Xing tried to hold his position with all his will. His body wanted to jump and greet and hug this thing. It was really, really hard to resist.

Realizing his mind was being altered, Liu Xing inhaled deeply and tried to focus. While this mind attack was terrifying, the fact that Liu Xing realized it was altering his mind made him believe the ability could be broken. This ability was probably a support-type ability to confuse the opponent during a fight.

Still, Liu Xing had an edge. This spirit beast had its back exposed to Liu Xing, and all Liu Xing needed to do was pull the trigger and explode this beast into a shower of blood.

Calming his mind, Liu Xing tried to drown his heart with logic.

"It's not your mother. It's just a spirit beast."

Liu Xing chanted in his heart, again and again, trying to break free from the influence of the spirit beast's ability.

After several moments, Liu Xing felt the ability start to loosen. His mind started to realize there was no way this spirit beast, happily munching on innards, was his mother.

When the creature was munching on an eyeball of the poor cultivator, Liu Xing had enough will to pull the trigger.

The bullet was infused with Exploding Fist. It flew through the water and headed toward the back of its head. When the bullet arrived, the head exploded into smithereens, and a rain of blood fell into the river, making some of the water red.

Liu Xing felt his heart ache, like he was doing the most vile act in the world. But then, the feeling vanished, and Liu Xing felt like a person who was drowning and successfully resurfaced.

Liu Xing inhaled greedily, feeling the control in his mind vanish like a puff of smoke.

"Such a terrifying ability," Liu Xing muttered.

Mind control techniques and abilities are supposedly rare, and this event made Liu Xing realize that even with his powerful gun, there's no guarantee of winning every time. Sometimes, people die not due to lack of power, but because of ignorance or lack of wisdom.

This battle posed a different challenge, yet Liu Xing smiled. Observing his gun, Liu Xing saw six green strips slightly glowing on its side.

Feeling that the waterfall was an ideal hiding place, Liu Xing began to absorb energy from his gun.

In his consciousness, a constant flow of qi filled the lock. By his estimation, once he absorbed all the six bullets, his sixth lock would be half full. This meant Liu Xing only needed to defeat five spirit beasts of at least the sixth stage to advance to sixth stage—a seemingly absurd thought, considering how hard it was for him to advance from fourth stage to fifth stage.

Once again, Liu Xing was reminded of how powerful his gun was.