'The poisons are ready.'
'Hmmm...I'll bind my energy with it. That will make the poison non-traceable.'
'But how am I supposed to make the poison enter his body without him finding it out? He is at a much higher level than me. He will know if I even try to go near him. And my spiritual consciousness will not be able to handle any material substance.'
'You need someone close to him. Someone he will never suspect, and who has permission to come close to him.'
'Who? Su Maihiya?.....Or Wen Haoli?.....There was also a man with a higher level of cultivation in the group who seemed quite close to Zenoba Taskunae. But even if I figure out who is closer to him, how will that help me with the poison?'
'There is an easier method for entering a person's mind.'
'You mean....through their dreams?'
'Hmmm....when their inhibition and alertness is down, you can easily enter their mind. And this method is not only used for reading the mind of the person. But also to persuade a person or brain wash the person.
You just need to wrap your thoughts with your spiritual essence and leave it within the mind of the person. It will keep working within his mind even when he is awake, gradually wearing down his resistance and making him comply with your wishes. Of course, this only works when the mental powers of the user is higher than the mental powers of the other person.'
'So.....I will need to check on the other people accompanying Zenoba to figure out who is the closest, and if he is weak enough to fall for my mental powers.'
'Tonight you can visit them in your spiritual form. I will bind a part of my power with your spiritual form to make your aura invisible to even those with higher cultivation powers. Once you have decided the target, you can leave your spiritual command within his mind.'
Rihanna exhaled a deep sigh, then nodded seriously.
'Oh....there is movement on the other side!'
'You mean....Zenoba's side?'
'No.....the thing that I wanted from the Mission Hall. Someone seems to have just bought it. It has moved outside the Mercenary grounds. Wait for me....'
Little Purple's voice suddenly disappeared from Rihanna's mind, leaving her perplexed. She had been unable to come up with a good enough plan as to how to get her hands on that 'thing' inside the Mission Hall. And it seemed, now the 'thing' was no longer inside the premises of the hall. Could she perhaps figure out a way to get this thing now?
Little Purple disappeared for quite a long time. Rihanna waited for some time, but sensing no movement from his side, she finally decided to go back to making her stocks of poisons and medicine. She was making a lot. Some she would be handing over to both Artreya and Ye Luo. Some she would keep for herself. And she also planned on keeping a stock separately for her three Uncle's.
Though she did not plan on giving it to them right now. They were already struggling to accept that she could cultivate. That she could also make medicines and poison.....well....she could always break these surprises slowly to them!
She only came out of her space when she sensed that Artreya had returned. Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath, then got up to do a set of stretching to relieve the tension in her body. Currently she could only enter the Seed Space with her consciousness. Though she could send and retrieve non-living things to and from her space. Which meant that, every time she wanted to make medicines, she had to enter the space in her Spiritual form, and work using the energy of the space and her spirit energy. She could only retrieve the things she made after she came back into her body.
All through the process, her body had to stay in one position, guarded by Little Purple or Apu or Fluffy or Phantasm! Every time she returned, she could feel the numbness in her joints and had to exercise to bring back sensations into her body!
Artreya knocked on the door, then popped in his head, and immediately moved back to dodge the pillow flying his way. Ummm....that was thrown by Fluffy. But Rihanna too turned to glance at him in disapproval as she continued with her stretching.
"Sorry.....I was feeling a bit strange....so I came to talk to you."
Rihanna raised an eyebrow as she stopped and gestured for him to enter. Sitting on the couch facing each other, Rihanna looked at him questioningly. Artreya seemed to be pondering about something, as he hesitated for a while before looking at her.
"I didn't want to interfere. But I think you should tell me about what is going on between you and that group of people."
Rihanna frowned, though she already had a feeling she knew which 'group of people' he was talking about.
"I saw them talking to you the other day when we had gone to the Mission Hall. I thought they might be old acquaintances, and did not want to ask too much. But...today I met them at the auction house. And they seemed too interested in me. I think they were trying to find out about you through me."
Rihanna's frown deepened. So they were trying to figure her out through the people around her? Or were they planning on threatening her through them? Uncle Yaoi was almost as powerful as Zanoba....so they had naturally selected Artreya as their target. A flash of extreme irritation and annoyance vibrated inside her.
"What else happened? What did they ask.....and did anything strange happen to you when you were with them?"
"They were asking me about you. How I know you. What I am doing with you. Where you have been for the past year or so. I didn't know your relation with them, so I avoided giving any meaningful answers. Also....when I was talking with them, I suddenly felt very dizzy and lightheaded. Also a bit of pain in my head. It was similar to what I feel when you try to enter my mind."
Rihanna's eyes flashed with anger. Zenoba was trying to sneak attack on his mind! He surely knew that forcefully entering a person's mind could not only cause pain to the person, but also damage the person's mind! As her anger climbed up, the laid-back aura around her started changing. Artreya was startled by the dangerous vibes swirling around Rihanna. He knew she was very angry. Angry enough to kill someone!
"Hang on.....no need to get so worked up. The pain and dizziness passed as soon as it came. I don't know what exactly happened. But I was certain something was wrong, so I felt you should know."
Rihanna took a deep breath, trying to curb her temper.
"There is a fellow with Mental Ability Power in that group. And he was probably trying to force his way into your mind. Thankfully I had sent in some of my spiritual energy to block such energy from entering your mind. As soon as he tried to enter, my energy must have sensed this foreign invasion, and blocked it. But you need to be careful from now on. Stay as far away from them as possible."
Artreya looked at her in surprise. It required a lot of mental power to enter a person's mind. And mental ability users were not very common. He was surprised that he had already met a second one this quickly! Moreover.....he wasn't really sure what to feel about Rihanna's energy being inside his mind! They had a master-servant contract, and she had saved him....but still it felt like an invasion of privacy!
Of course Rihanna did not say that the energy inside his mind was of Little Purple. He had predicted such a move from that fellow. He was sure that Zenoba would definitely try to target the ones around her in order to catch her in a trap. And he had not been wrong!
"Don't be scared. I am truly sorry for leaving my spirit energy within you without your permission. But I was scared that he would try to use you or Uncle Yaoi to threaten me. If I feel such a threat next time, I will ask you before letting my energy inside your mind."
The look Artreya gave Rihanna was rather complicated. He knew that she could read people's mind. Moreover, due to their contract, there was little that she did not know about him. In fact he was rather surprised that she did not use this contract to pry into all his past situations, nor did she try to control his actions or command him to do anything against his conscience. Sometimes he wondered if she truly understood the powers this kind of contract gave to her!
"So....what sort of a trouble are you in?"
Rihanna pursed her lips, wondering where to begin. There were still some things she was not comfortable in sharing with others. Like.....she was another soul from another world stuck in this body....
"My real name is Su Matsao. I am from the Su Clan of Moon-Grave City of The Tri-City of Dormia from Beyi Prefecture. Su Maihiya is my cousin. Also the heir to the Su Clan. Our Grandfather is the current head of the Su Clan. Su Caiwei, whom you met in Ye Luo's Sect is my sister. As you have seen, both of us are commoners. At least I am supposed to be one as well.
Since I have a special physique, Su Maihiya wanted to sell me off to the Leader of Moon-Grave Sect, where she is a disciple, in exchange for a lot of gains for herself and the Su Clan. I ran off, and during escape, fell from the cliff near the city, and ended up in Poison Swamp.
That's also where I met Ye Luo. Also where I suddenly realised that I can cultivate. I don't really have too many memories prior to waking up in Poison Swamp. Don't ask me how I survived the fall, or how come I can suddenly cultivate. I don't remember anything.
Anyway, you have already met Su Maihiya when we were in the Ye Main Family. That older man is Zenoba Taskunae, the Leader of Moon-Grave Sect. Guess Su Maihiya informed him about me, and he ran all the way here to catch me. She still wants to sell me for personal gains...Tsk! This is getting to be so boring!"
Artreya was staring at her in shock, his lips pursed, as complicated emotions flitted through his eyes. How could he not understand what she was talking about. This seemed like another version of his own life! The both of them had been contracted to each other for such a long time, and yet he knew nothing about her past! No wonder she was always working so hard, trying to understand the world around her, trying to grow stronger as quickly as she could!
Rihanna blinked, clearly seeing the thoughts on that conflicted face, and sighed inwardly. Yeah....she was trying to grow stronger, but it was not exactly like he thought. Did she look like someone who needed sympathy or a shoulder to cry on?! Why could she see pity in his eyes!
"Tsk! Don't keep running your mind in every direction. And don't think too much about what I just said. I myself don't remember much. This is all that I have found out from my interactions with Su Maihiya and that Wen Haoli.
Anyway.....just be aware and stay far away from them. They have also registered for this mission. They will surely be planning something during this trip, so stay alert. I am trying to figure out how to deal with them. Once I have a plan, I will tell you. Oh.....! Do you think we should inform Uncle Yaoi about this matter?"
Artreya blinked, then took a few deep breaths and shook his head to remove all unwanted thoughts.
"Perhaps we should alert him against that mental ability user. We should tell him about hose people. He is not a fool. If we alert him against those people, he will surely guess there is a deeper story behind it."
"Hmmm....good. Then that is your task. Figure out what needs to be told and how you are going to tell him. And then.....go tell him."
Artreya blinked in surprise, then frowned, feeling perplexed. He watched as his lazy master simply leaned into her couch, and blissfully fell asleep without a care.
How in the world did he get a master like this! She was so laid-back, that it was painful watching her laziness! And she always dumped all the work she didn't want to do onto him...how did he ever forget that! Why was he feeling empathetic towards this little devil....she definitely didn't deserve it!