Hidden Moth

Is anyone worried about Zhao Ci? Of course, his fellow sect brothers and sisters have reminded him to be careful when going out. But these are just routine concerns, much like driving carefully and watching the weather forecast...

Is anyone in the Magic Sect secretly watching Zhao Ci? Apart from He Kao, previously there was no one!

The information gap between people is a huge chasm.

Apart from a few Sect Law Hall elders, no one knew that Jiang Daozhen had given Zhao Ci a secret order, nor did anyone know that He Kao, the Hidden Moth, was monitoring Zhao Ci’s activities.

Zhao Ci is merely a disciple punished for making mistakes with his cultivation sealed; nowadays, he spends his days indulging in pleasure.

Shortly after Zhao Ci was punished, his master Zheng Yisi took over as a steward of the Observing Body Sect and went to Phoenix Tail Town, further ensuring no one kept constant watch over him.

As for the fellow sect brothers and sisters, although they often meet to check on his situation, they’re not going to secretly follow him while he goes out with his partner on trips, right?

Zhao Ci runs a holiday resort, so he counts as someone in the tourism industry; hence, traveling for inspection can be considered a business necessity.

The real watchers of Zhao Ci are the Xiao Alliance; however, no matter how much they observe in secret, as long as they can’t discover He Kao, their conclusion will be that the Magic Sect hasn’t set up any backup plans around Zhao Ci.

He Kao isn’t following Zhao Ci 24 hours a day; he only keeps track of Zhao Ci’s whereabouts covertly, monitoring his activities at a specific pace.

Hu Weidong’s task finally came to a close, and the tasks of the two assistants were also considered complete. Zola and Totti have now become allies of Hu Weidong, soon to enter the Magic Sect Grotto Heaven for secondary inheritance.

When reporting to the Supreme Council, Hu Weidong thoughtfully reminded—

"Although we haven’t found any ambushes around Zhao Ci during this period, the Supreme Council should remain vigilant enough. There might be an ambush yet to be discovered, and Zhao Ci’s visit to Red Port could catch the attention of the Sect Law Hall."

Hu Weidong’s task is completed, Zhao Ci has quit smoking, but He Kao’s task has just entered a critical stage. He promptly notified Li Xiuyuan of Zhao Ci’s activities, then went to Floating Colors Grotto Heaven to find helpers.

The first phase of the Ancestral Hall project at Floating Colors Grotto Heaven may have concluded, but it merely completed the Central Hall and the living area in the northeast corner. Most are primary structures, meeting basic use requirements.

Many interior decoration and detail works remain, needing slow perfection according to the preferences and aesthetics of the disciples.

These days, Lan Jiwan is busy decorating, collecting materials within Floating Colors Grotto Heaven, processing various items and embellishing them with engravings, inevitably assisted by artifact refining techniques.

She is already a Tier Four Artisan of the Micro Realm Sect, naturally adept at these tasks, and seems particularly invested—her quiet room is the most exquisitely arranged among all the disciples.

He Kao, besides visiting Floating Colors Grotto Heaven regularly each week, comes occasionally when he has time. He naturally knows what Lan Jiwan is doing but does not interfere, mainly showing approval.

Girls naturally love beauty; these are life interests and further indicate her mindset change, which is a good thing!

Lan Jiwan not only decorates her residence but also finds time to decorate the Sect Leader Senior Brother’s place. He Kao naturally has dedicated daily cultivation and living quarters in the Ancestral Hall, though he doesn’t stay there often, even if he enters the grotto heaven, he sometimes heads to the Immortal Cauldron Palace cave mansion.

Lan Jiwan’s decoration style for He Kao’s abode differs from her own, with patterns leaning towards simplicity and boldness, and the lines of all engravings more smooth and prominent...

On this day, she was busy processing a standing screen when she suddenly heard what sounded like a call from the heavens; it turned out the Sect Leader Senior Brother had arrived, summoning her to the Immortal Cauldron Palace on an errand.

Lan Jiwan traversed mountains to reach the Immortal Cauldron Palace, glancing at the Celestial Palace Curtain vines at the cave mansion entrance, blinking as she thought of playing a joke on the Sect Leader Senior Brother.

Lan Jiwan paused in her tracks, allowing her Yin Spirit to travel, floating into the air towards the cave mansion entrance only to be blocked by the vines. The Celestial Palace Curtain can block divine senses and shield Yin Spirit’s scrutiny alike.

At this moment, she seemed to hear a voice or receive a message: "Junior Sister Lan, what are you looking at?"

Though in a non-material Yin Spirit state, she subconsciously retained bodily habits, making a hurried head-turning motion, discovering a "person" floating above in mid-air.

To be precise, that wasn’t a real person but another’s Yin Spirit, and upon observing, she subconsciously outlined its figure, reconstructing a person’s appearance.

Yin Spirits cannot speak unless, like He Kao, using their own divine thought to transmit information.

Lan Jiwan’s Yin Spirit suddenly vanished, but in truth, it had returned to her body, and she then ran from afar, saying, "Sect Leader Senior Brother, I wanted to bring you a surprise!"

He Kao’s original body cheerfully parted the vines and said, "I received it!"

Lan Jiwan’s so-called surprise was her Insect Concealment Skill cultivation had broken through to Tier Four Scholar level; according to ancient traditions, she could thus be called Lan Yin Niang... This moment depicted Lan Yin Niang rushing to meet He Kong’Er.

The divine technique acquired at Tier Four of the Insect Concealment Skill is Yin Spirit Travel; while Yin Spirits are invisible, they can naturally discover each other when they encounter.

Once both were settled in the Immortal Cauldron Palace, He Kao asked, "When did you cultivate to Tier Four Scholar level?"

Lan Jiwan: "It was just the day before yesterday, and the Sect Leader Senior Brother hasn’t come for the past two days."

He Kao: "I have a matter I want you to handle. Initially, I was somewhat uneasy about it, but now it seems more secure... Although you have become a Tier Four Scholar, you still need to be extraordinarily cautious on this task."

The task He Kao wanted to assign to Lan Jiwan was to track and monitor Zhao Ci. Lan Jiwan didn’t need to take action, just keep track of Zhao Ci’s movements and his surroundings, and notify He Kao immediately if there were any issues.

He Kao had already informed Li Xiuyuan about Zhao Ci’s activities, and there were other arrangements from the Ancestral Hall.

But the Ancestral Hall’s setup was targeted at potential Xiao Alliance experts, focusing on the Bone-Penetrating Treasure Mirror. As for surveillance and tracking, it was the disciples of the Hidden Moth Sect who were most adept, and He Kao’s requirement for Lan Jiwan was to avoid alerting anyone.

He provided Lan Jiwan with detailed information about Zhao Ci and his girlfriend, and also handed over the Celestial Net Umbrella and Observation Hall Ruler procured from Hailari, giving her meticulous instructions for half a day.

Finally, He Kao conveyed through Divine Thought: "Your mastery of techniques like Breath Concealment and Stealth is near perfection, and now you’ve also mastered Yin Spirit Travel, which is certainly more convenient for tracking and espionage.

But remember, Yin Spirit Travel is not omnipotent nor absolutely safe. For instance, the Observation Hall Ruler I gave you primarily serves to intimidate the Divine Soul, and it can also harm a Yin Spirit during out-of-the-body travel.

Moreover, as long as someone with the Qi Observation Skill reaches the cultivation of a Tier Four Government Official, they may detect traces of a Yin Spirit."

Lan Jiwan was surprised and said: "The sorcerers of the Qi Observation Sect can see traveling Yin Spirits?"

He Kao: "It’s not as though you and I just directly discovered each other; rather, they can detect traces of an abnormal presence. Although there aren’t many sorcerers in the Qi Observation Sect, you still need to be absolutely cautious as some mistakes cannot be made."

He Kao himself almost got his tracks discovered by Qian Guran just after mastering Yin Spirit Travel. It was not until he had achieved proficiency in the Qi Observation Skill that he realized it was too risky back then.

Even though He Kao has not yet reached a Tier Four in the Qi Observation Skill, he understands its profound principles, though the exact workings still require personal experience.

Lan Jiwan assured the Sect Leader Senior Brother to rest easy, promising to protect herself while also completing the mission.

He Kao directly sent Lan Jiwan to Red Port, and after he left, a gust of wind blew, bringing the Hidden Moth Gauze into Lan Jiwan’s hand along with it.

...

Zhao Ci seemed to be having a great time at Red Port, visiting sights and shopping, occasionally getting into arguments with shallow-minded individuals. Yesterday, he had spent a whole day at a famous amusement park.

His girlfriend Xiaolu was a bit tired but also very excited. Zhao, however, certainly met her standards for a high-quality man, though amidst her excitement, she felt something was still not quite right, as if he had room for improvement.

This is because Zhao Ci’s attention frequently seemed not to be on her; when out playing, he often seemed distracted, preferring to observe the people and environment around them rather than focusing on her.

After their outing on this particular day, they returned to the hotel, but chose not to take a taxi.

Because during this time in Red Port, it was very difficult to hail a taxi. Even if one managed to secure one after a long wait, the fare was far more expensive compared to large cities in the Eastern Country, and the service attitude was often quite poor.

These were secondary concerns though; the main issue was the severe traffic congestion, making it unpredictable how long it would take to reach the hotel. It was better to take the subway for a segment of the journey first.

They boarded the subway near a suburban attraction, so there were still two seats available, but as the train passed several stops, more people started boarding and the carriage became quite crowded.

He Kao was also in this subway car at that moment, and he knew Lan Jiwan was on this train too, yet he couldn’t find her.

He Kao had also boarded the train with Zhao Ci at the suburban attraction based on Lan Jiwan’s notification. Lan Jiwan had discovered that Zhao Ci, who had quit smoking, smoked a cigarette again near a trash bin at the attraction, so He Kao immediately rushed over.

He had seen Lan Jiwan before entering the subway station; though Lan Jiwan had changed her appearance, they had a secret way of communication... However, once they were in the subway, He Kao had no idea where Lan Jiwan went.

It didn’t matter if he lost track of her, as his primary focus was Zhao Ci, but he was also puzzled. With so many people in the carriage, which one could possibly be Lan Jiwan?

Even He Kao couldn’t distinguish her at the moment. The reason was simply that the Hidden Moth Gauze was exceptionally effective!

The Hidden Moth Gauze could alter one’s appearance at will. As long as you had seen the person and recorded their features in your Primordial Spirit, you could transform into that person.

To disguise convincingly, it’s best to imitate someone you are very familiar with, as you can even mimic their aura. But in these circumstances, disguising oneself as an unfamiliar stranger was fine too, as long as Zhao Ci didn’t know them.

Between the time of entering the station and boarding the train, Lan Jiwan had likely changed her appearance and attire again. Her Breath Concealment Technique was nearly perfected, and the aura she presented should resemble that of the person she was masquerading as.

In this bustling subway carriage, it was truly challenging for He Kao to identify unfamiliar strangers one by one. Moreover, to avoid arousing suspicion, he couldn’t extend his Divine Sense too freely to probe.

**