Out of boredom, she grabbed another lit firewood and went to look at the murals again. This time, the black-robed person was there.

  When they were walking back earlier, she didn't seem to see any forks in the road. Didn't that mean that the black-robed person really had disappeared?

  As she stared at the murals, she started spacing out. This attracted Shen Moru's attention and he laughed as he said, "Little girl, are you interested in the murals?"

  Tang Doudou paid no attention to him. She had already gotten a good taste of Shen Moru's skill at manipulating people in Tree Valley. During conversations, he would skillfully diverge your attention until you revealed things without even knowing about it.

  Shen Moru didn't stop speaking even though she didn't respond and just continued talking on his own. "These murals illustrate the story of how our distant ancestors fought with vicious beasts for survival. These ancient stories are truly inspiring."

  As he spoke, he turned around to touch those murals with his withered fingers. However, he wasn't able to do so for long. A blue light flashed in the cave and Mu Ye's long chain struck the back of Shen Moru's hand as he looked over coldly. "Don't listen to him."

  Tang Doudou hastily nodded and silently rebuked herself for being stupid. Although she hadn't replied, she had been listening curiously. This was practically an act of seeking death! Once she got engrossed, she'd definitely end up asking questions and Shen Moru would have achieved his goal.

  Despite getting caught by Mu Ye, Shen Moru didn't seem embarrassed at all. He just lowered his head silently, probably to cook up another scheme.

  Tang Doudou moved over closer to Mu Ye.

  When Mu Ye sensed her movements, he glanced over at her and asked, "What's wrong?"

  Tang Doudou pointed at the murals on the wall, then moved closer to his ear to whisper, "Earlier, when I encountered you and was scared out of my wits, was there a fork in the road?"

  Mu Ye didn't understand why she was asking that, but when he saw how serious her expression was, he answered honestly, "There wasn't."

  "That's not right ah. I was walking following the murals earlier, then……" Mu Ye suddenly covered her mouth and stopped her from continuing.

  "En," said Mu Ye as he then took her hand.

  Tang Doudou was completely confused. What was he doing?

  Soon after, she understood, because Mu Ye had placed her hand in his palm. The meaning was clear. He was worried about Shen Moru listening in, so he wanted her to tell him through writing.

  It was a surprise that Mu Ye was still so wary of Shen Moru despite having already successfully sealed his martial arts. However, it was very fortunate that Mu Ye stopped her earlier, otherwise Shen Moru would have found out what she saw.

  She started writing in Mu Ye's palm with her finger. However, midway she paused. It occurred to her that she had been writing in Chinese characters, so would Mu Ye be able to understand?

  Just as she was thinking about this, Mu Ye suddenly reached out and traced something in her palm. When that slightly rough finger made contact with her palm, Tang Douodu's heart seemed to tighten and she reflexively closed her palm tightly around that finger.

  These things had happened very abruptly. The two froze for a moment before simultaneously lifting their heads to look at each other and then rapidly looking away again.

  Tang Doudou's face was a little red. She peeked at Mu Ye and saw that the tips of his ears also seemed slightly flushed. She didn't know if it was due to the heat of the fire or because of what happened earlier.

  Mu Ye didn't look back at her until a while later. Finally, he stood up and said, "Be careful of him."

  This was addressed to Tang Doudou and was a warning for her to be careful of Shen Moru.

  Tang Doudou stood up as well and asked, "Where are you going?"

  Mu Ye didn't reply and just handed her his iron chain along with a few needles. "If needed, seal off your five senses."

  Without waiting for Tang Doudou to ask, he reached out and pressed down on three spots near the back of her ear. "Here."

  Tang Doudou's heart had become all tickly due to that touch earlier, so now she couldn't even speak and just nodded nervously.

  Mu Ye quickly turned away and walked towards the depths of the cave.

  He was probably off to check those murals. However, she had only written about half of the incident earlier. Would he be able to understand?

  From how he looked though, it seemed that he understood.

  This was what Tang Doudou was thinking as she glanced over at Shen Moru. Shen Moru looked at her with a meaningful gaze as he remarked, "Not bad ah, little girl. You sure have good fortune to have both Baili Yu and Mu Ye's love and protection. Countless girls would die to be in your place. It would be such a waste if you just died trapped in here."

  Tang Doudou rolled her eyes at him. He just wanted to mock her for being fickle, didn't he? Then why waste so many words instead of getting to the point?

  Even as she inwardly criticized him, she kept in mind Mu Ye's warning and didn't react to Shen Moru.

  When Shen Moru saw that she wasn't responding, since Mu Ye wasn't here to stop him, he just continued speaking, "Did Mu Ye go to look at the murals? Heehee, it's useless. No matter how smart he is, he wouldn't be able to guess the secret that place contains. After all, it's a huge secret that pertains to the Seven Great Saint Tribes! How could it be figured out that easily?"

  "You must be curious, right?"

  "You must want to know who that black-robed person on the mural is, right?"

  "And you must be wondering about the cultivators depicted in the murals?"

  "Why did the cultivators suddenly disappear without a trace? It's only been a couple hundred years so there should still be traces of them, right?"

  "Say……"

  Suddenly, Shen Moru's voice fell silent.

  __________

  Credits: Translated by Chiyomira

  [Chiyomira's Corner]

  Enjoy~