Chapter 278: Internal Strife

Su Mu did not expose Lin Nanxing. Instead, he continued leading the group through the village. If the First Red King had truly been here, he would inevitably have left traces behind.

An expert of his caliber, possessing the Supreme Heaven, would stir up storms wherever he went.

As they walked, Su Mu suddenly felt a gaze brimming with malice on his back. Thanks to his powerful mental strength, he was highly sensitive to emotions like malice and killing intent.

The problem was that the people behind him were all his own team members.

He casually glanced back, and the malicious gaze vanished in an instant. All he saw were the normal expressions on his team members' faces.

"Captain, what's wrong? Did you find something?" Lin Nanxing asked, scratching his head.

Su Mu slowly shook his head. "It's nothing."

The malice hadn't come from Lin Nanxing. Ever since Lin Nanxing had sneaked the bow and arrow, Su Mu had been paying close attention to him; if he were the source, Su Mu would have locked onto him immediately. The malice came from someone else.

Was it Lan He?

Lan He held a grudge against him, so a glare like that wouldn't be unusual. However, Su Mu knew Lan He wasn't that naive. Even if he wanted revenge, he wouldn't pick this moment.

It seemed that aside from Lin Nanxing, someone else in the team had been twisted.

Things were getting interesting. They had arrived in the territory of the Twisted Divine Cult, yet he hadn't expected the enemy to come from within. Crucially, this kind of ideological twisting was different from an Illusion Technique. It was a complete alteration of a person's inner thoughts, meaning he couldn't use his mental power to detect who the second twisted person was.

"Acting together wastes too much time. Let's split up to look for clues," Su Mu said calmly.

The group had no objections. Although the village looked eerie, there didn't seem to be any immediate danger, nor did the Twisted Ones show any intent to attack.

So, they scattered, each heading in a different direction to search for clues.

Su Mu watched their retreating backs, a flicker of light in his eyes. He activated Myriad Phenomena, seamlessly merging his figure with the surrounding environment until he appeared completely invisible. Immediately after, he used Phantom Stroll, weaving continuously through the distorted houses.

He followed Lin Nanxing, wanting to see just how twisted the other party's thoughts had become and what he planned to do.

Lin Nanxing's expression was normal at first, but once he was a good distance away, his face abruptly darkened. He restlessly rubbed the bow and arrow in his hands, seemingly yearning to kill.

He glanced around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he ducked into a winding alley. After taking several left and right turns, he finally stopped in an isolated corner and waited quietly.

A moment later, a figure approached from a distance, and the two met up.

Hidden in the shadows, Su Mu couldn't help but furrow his brow when he saw this person. He had considered who the second twisted person might be, but he hadn't expected it to be... Yan Wu!

Yan Wu and Lin Nanxing huddled together, conspiring in hushed voices.

"When do we make a move? He seems to be catching on," Lin Nanxing whispered.

"Wait a little longer. The captain is very strong. Just the two of us probably aren't enough; we need to pull in a few more people," Yan Wu said gravely.

After a brief exchange, the two quickly separated, pretending nothing had happened as they continued their search for clues.

Once they had left, Su Mu slowly emerged from the shadow beneath the eaves, lost in thought.

He had already brainwashed Yan Wu. Anyone else in the team might betray him, but Yan Wu should have been impossible. Yet, unexpectedly, the person least likely to betray him had done just that.

He was certain Yan Wu hadn't broken free from his hypnosis and brainwashing. It must have been the distorting power that had twisted Yan Wu's mind.

It was as if the ideology he had instilled into Yan Wu—to acknowledge him as master—had been distorted, turning the very concept of "master" into "enemy."

They said they want to pull in more people to deal with me. Are they hoping the distorting power will twist the rest of the team entirely?

Su Mu realized the trickiness of the situation. If all his team members were twisted into enemies, dealing with them would truly be difficult.

The others were manageable; the main issue was Su Qing!

As an avatar of King Chi, if her full strength were to erupt, she would be a force to be reckoned with.

A moment later, Su Mu found Su Qing.

"Who's there? Come out!" Su Qing suddenly stopped in her tracks and shouted.

Su Mu didn't hide his presence; he stepped out from a nearby shadow.

Seeing it was Su Mu, Su Qing's expression turned slightly odd. "Captain Su, why are you stalking me for no reason?"

"Lin Nanxing and Yan Wu have been affected by the distorting power."

Su Qing froze, her small face turning serious. "You can be affected even without looking at the Statue?"

Su Mu nodded. "The Statue's influence likely covers the entire mountain. Even if you don't look at it, staying on the mountain for an extended period will still affect you. They're already preparing to join forces and ambush me."

"What do we do now? Capture the two of them?"

"Yes. We'll capture them first, and then I'll use my mental power to forcibly twist their thoughts back to normal."

"Alright."

"You also need to constantly watch out in case your own thoughts are being twisted. The simplest method is to use your memory. Reflect on your past. What kind of person were you in your memories, and how is that different from now? If your current behavior no longer matches your memory of yourself, it means you've been affected."

After giving his instructions, Su Mu went to find the others and informed them of the plan.

Soon, the group finished exploring the village. Having found nothing, they regrouped.

"Captain, there aren't any useful clues in this village. Shall we continue up the mountain?" Lin Nanxing asked.

"Let's eat something first. We'll head up the mountain after a brief rest," Su Mu said, pulling a can of food from his Sheepskin Bag and handing it to Lin Nanxing.

Lin Nanxing reached for it with a normal expression, but at that exact moment, Su Mu loosened his grip, and the can dropped.

Lin Nanxing reflexively reached out to catch it.

"Do it."

At Su Mu's command, the group instantly sprang into action, pinning down Lin Nanxing and Yan Wu's limbs in a vice-like grip.

The two struggled fiercely, but it was completely useless. One was at Silver 1, and the other was an archer; facing a sudden ambush from the whole group, they had no chance to activate their Law.

"What are you doing?!" Lin Nanxing yelled in panic.

"Your thoughts have been twisted. I need to help correct them," Su Mu said calmly.

Lin Nanxing's expression changed drastically. "I'm not! You're the one with the problem! Don't be fooled by the captain—he's the twisted one! Now he wants to twist us, too!"

Hearing this, some of the group looked hesitant.

Lin Nanxing continued to shout, "We haven't done anything, but he used his authority as captain to lock us down. Who is the one with the actual problem!?

"Now he says the two of us have a problem, so you grab us. What if he says you have a problem later? Are you going to arrest yourselves!?"

"Captain, could you have made a mistake? The two of them really haven't shown anything unusual," Zhou Hui said, looking somewhat troubled.

Su Mu pushed up his Tinted Glasses and asked coolly, "Are you questioning me?"

Zhou Hui hurriedly lowered her head. "I wouldn't dare."

"Lock them up with the Mithril Chains."