Chapter – 77 - All-Sensing Eyes and Zarmogian Physique

Rihanna opened her eyes, her heart feeling extremely peaceful and happy. All the aches and pains and fatigue of the previous night had disappeared, and she could sense the thick energy coursing through her body.

For a while she lay in the same position, her mind wandering about in the visuals of the dream. Then she sighed gently and sat up. There was a lot she had to do in these two nights before the other groups came. She would have to put this dream on her inner shelf, and go through it when she had more time.

Waiting for the second sun to go down, she whiled away her time eating a meal of dried rations and roasted meat. Then she went over all that had happened inside the territory of the Dormions yesterday, trying to decide what she was going to do today.

The drugs used on Phantasm was definitely different from the drug used on Ye Luo. So there were at least two antidotes she needed to find. And after having a glimpse of the dominating leader of their group, she was pretty sure the antidotes must be on her. Question was....how was she going to take them from her?

According to Little Purple, this leader was already in the initial stages of the Sprouting Level! Waaaayy beyond her capabilities to handle!!

Seeing the second sun setting in the golden orange sky, Rihanna once again sat down and closed her eyes, then let her spirit self take the same path as yester-night, and soon reached the little room just below the flower field.

The surroundings were a lot more noisy today. Perhaps due to the difference in time today as compared to yesterday, the members of the group had yet to fall asleep and were currently going about their daily business. Most of them were in Qi-Gathering and Foundation Building stage, but she still kept a safe distance from them, letting out her sensory perceptions only when the coast was relatively clear.

She halted and hid in a corner of the passage from where the other passages spread out, and went through some of the minds of the low-level members. Interesting! While some of them were indeed born in this group, most seemed to be lone cultivators, who had joined this group as a deal. They worked for the group, whilst the group gave them some resources as payment for each mission.

Some of the members however, had unclear and fuzzy memories.....like someone had removed their memories before they came to the group!

Rihanna wondered if they were in a similar situation as Ye Luo. But why keep these people as members of their group, when they could be auctioned off in the underground auctions?.....what was the aim of this group?

'I cannot sense the Leader in any of the tunnels....why don't we take this chance to look around her room?'

Rihanna blinked, then nodded. She definitely needed to take this opportunity!

As she walked down the third passage once again, she couldn't help remembering the colorful and mind-corrupting scenes of yesterday. The door was still closed today, and she hesitated for a long time, unable to decide if she wanted to see R-rated scenes again!

'Tsk! You are already 27 years old.....what are you so scared about! As if you don't know about such pleasures!'

'Keep quiet! What pleasure!....it is shocking and disgusting! And so what if I know? It doesn't mean that I want to see it!'

Shaking her head to dislodge the scenes of yester-night, she passed through the heavy door to the other side. Aish!! She really should have stayed out of here!!

The room looked the same as the night before. Except for a few men, whose positions had been changed, and that the leader herself was missing-in-action.....everything was the same! She quickly glossed over all the half-naked bodies, trying not to see what shouldn't be seen, and made her way around the room.

She was going through every nook and cranny of the large room, peeping below the bed, looking through the pillows and beddings and curtains and floor tiles, looking under the tables and cabinets and behind the various tools kept on the stone shelves. In fact, she quickly forgot about all the tied up humans in the room, completely focused on finding out the secrets of the room.

"Huh! You look like a thief.....but I must be hallucinating. How could a little thief come inside this room!"

Rihanna was so shocked that she stumbled and fell down.....she went right through the bed, and would have probably gone through the tiles as well if she did not stop herself in time. Laying still under the bed, she turned her head and squinted, trying to see which one of these sleeping beauties had suddenly woken up!

"Is the drug starting to take effect on me?....and here I thought that I was invincible....but why am I seeing a small girl acting like a thief inside this room?...Tsk! I must be losing my mind...."

Rihanna turned and stared at the man, tied to a pole, at a shadowy corner beside a large cabinet. Hadn't she just crossed this fellow when she searched through the cabinet there?....But more importantly....how could he see her spirit body?!

'Little Purple....what is going on? How come he can see me? Does he have a special constitution or something? Or is it some kind of tool?'

'Hmmm....very surprising!.....I see.....this boy is truly double blessed. He not only has a pair of All-Sensing Eyes, through which he can see everything, no matter real, spiritual or soul body of another being. But he also has the Zarmogian Body.

Zarmogians were Ancient Beasts who had a special body. Neither poison nor illusions and mirages could affect the Zarmogians. No matter what kind of illusion or which type of poison.

Those born with the Zarmogian Body also have very high resistance to most types of poisons and illusions. Their mind and body almost always remains clear.'

Rihanna got out from beneath the bed and walked over to the tied up man. He looked to be around 25 years old, and, as all cultivators in this world, was exceedingly handsome and fair, to the point of being a bit feminine. He had closed his eyes once more, and a bitter smile hung on his lips, as if deprecating himself. There were hardly any clothes on his tied up body, and Rihanna could make out the red lash marks all over his fair skin.

'Little Purple.....is this some kind of cultivation technique?'

'Yes.....this is a style of dual cultivation. But in this, the one who has more power is the only one who gains more power. In this, one person will be tied, and whipped and tortured to the state of mindless excitement, and the other person mates with the tied person in that state. This allows the second person to suck in all the energy and cultivation of the first person.'

'But that means that these people, who have also worked hard to enhance their cultivation are losing it just like that....and will one day become people without any cultivation again?'

'In extreme cases even their spiritual roots can be broken. Then they will become worse than commoners, as a broken root will also damage their body and soul.'

'This is such a disgusting way of cultivation! Why doesn't the government and all these large clans and sects get together and stop such methods?! What is the difference between this and Devil Cultivation?'

Little Purple kept quiet. What she said was not wrong.....but then, this was the reality of this world. People would start caring if someone important or someone from a large clan or sect got caught in such a situation. Then in a matter of days this entire bandit group would get wiped out. But these people were definitely not someone important....so no one cared if a few low level cultivators disappeared.

"Hey.....you can see me. Don't need to think you are going mad. I am really here. Just open your eyes and you can see me."

His whole body jerked, then went silent, his eyes moving about underneath the eyelids. For a long while there was no other movement, and as Rihanna was about to speak up again, he abruptly opened his eyes and looked directly into her eyes. Rihanna was startled by the anger, hatred and disgust in his eyes.

So.....this is another one of her traps?.....And what are you supposed to find out?...If any one of us have a special kind of body? So after she has finished torturing and humiliating us, she can throw us into one of those underground auctions and earn some more money?....She really thinks of every method to wring out all the benefits she can get from every single prey she catches, huh?! Well.....you can go back and do your job, little girl! Just tell her that I could even see your spirit body, so my eyes can sell well in the next auction!"

Rihanna stared at the man in silence. Even as he closed his eyes and looked away in defiance, she could feel the chocking in his every word, and the tears filling his eyes, tears which he refused to shed. She gulped, feeling her heart crying out at this injustice.

For a very long time neither of them spoke. Finally the man opened his eyes and looked at her again, caution and suspicion and confusion flickering through his eyes.

"Why are you still here?"

"I.....am not a member of the Dormions. I am not asking you to believe me. But I have come here to search for something. I don't know if you can help me, or if you would want to help me. You have no obligation. And I cannot really help you in return. But my friend is also caught and is currently drugged and tied in another room. I am afraid he might become the next you. I have to save him, no matter what. So.....do you have any idea where the antidotes are?"

The man looked at her, shock and astonishment flashed through his eyes, soon replaced back by suspicion and wariness.

"Hmph! You are right.....I don't believe you. But there is no trap in these words of yours. Everyone here knows that she is extremely disbelieving of all others, and keeps everything important inside her space ring. It is the dark green jade ring which she never removes from her thumb, except when she goes to bathe. There, I have told you all I know. Have I passed this test of yours? Can you now get out of my face?!"

Rihanna stared deep into his eyes for a while, then quickly turned and walked out of the room. She was feeling extremely distressed and choked on her own surging emotions, but she couldn't continue to be here.

'Are you thinking of saving this guy as well??...Why in the world do you love carrying all the little and big burdens you see? What exactly is your heart made of?.....Mush?! Aish! We still have not figured out how to escape ourselves, and you already think you are Atlas, carrying the world on your shoulders! I think you are more like Sisyphus! And one day you are going to roll all the way down the mountain, trying to carry all these weights to the top!'

Rihanna kept moving. She knew and understood all the concerns of Little Purple. But she could not remove that tired out and bitter smile of the young man from her mind.....like a person who had lost all hope and will to live.