Shi Chun responded loudly, "Generous, good!"
The two sang and harmonized, chatting and laughing, clearly trying to annoy the other party. Their tacit cooperation was also for self-preservation.
Prompted by their sarcastic remarks, Xiang Lan'er recalled the entire incident. The “benefactor” had obtained the deed of sale but hadn't immediately given it to her and Bian Weikang.
Instead, he had immediately brought them back to Wuyou Inn, during which the tall man indeed left on a pretext.
The person holding her captive had mentioned the contents of the deed of sale in front of her, and then immediately destroyed it.
At the time, she didn't think much of it, but now, upon reflection, everything seemed suspicious. The problem was, for something as important as a deed of sale, she hadn't thought to get it in her hands immediately.
Shouldn't she have checked its authenticity before it was destroyed? But after he took out the deed and looked at it, he didn't give her any time to react, destroying it directly.
To say he gave her no time to react seemed contradictory, though; wasn't the long journey from Liyun Tower to Wuyou Inn enough time?
She couldn't dwell on it; the more she thought, the more frustrated she became.
She realized she had been too careless, never expecting someone to use such a low-level, despicable trick. Weren't they afraid of the embarrassment if it was exposed?
People said those from the demonic path were evil and wicked, but this guy behind her was even more devious than them! Although she realized her carelessness, it was truly humiliating and infuriating to fall for such a low-level trick.
From her reaction, Feng Chi deduced that what Shi Chun said was likely true, and was immediately shocked. She had the same question: before your deed of sale was destroyed, didn't you even check its authenticity? She wanted to ask this Holy Maiden, you said it was of great importance, so you insisted on going to Wukang Mountain yourself, but how did it end up like this? What if someone takes the deed of sale to the Heavenly Court's Yamen and sues, and the Heavenly Court's Yamen orders Wukang Mountain to hand you over? How could Wukang Mountain dare to resist the Heavenly Court? They could only obediently hand her over, so what then? Seeing the two robbers mocking them, Feng Chi shook Cen Futong’s neck again, pressing him in a low voice, “How did you capture my young lady?”
Cen Futong, pale with fear and discomfort, said, “We just captured her.”
Feng Chi squeezed the back of his neck hard, making him howl in pain, and pressed again, “I’m asking for the detailed process of her capture.”
This question was very important to her.
Cen Futong quickly confessed honestly, “There was no process. We rushed out, she didn’t resist at all, so we captured her.”
Did she really not resist at all? Feng Chi stared at the Holy Maiden again, her eyes asking for confirmation.
Xiang Lan'er felt even more ashamed, as if she wouldn't be able to face anyone if she was questioned further.
She closed her eyes silently.
Disbelieving, Feng Chi understood.
So, she really surrendered without a fight, then. Perhaps the Holy Maiden was afraid of being exposed.
She asked again, “My young lady is in his hands. Did he capture her alone, or did all of you capture her together?”
Cen Futong nervously said, “I didn’t do anything.
If you don’t believe me, ask your young lady. It was the other three guys who captured her.”
Not only was he trying to distance himself, but what he said was also true; he hadn't made a move earlier.
Feng Chi gestured towards Shi Chun, “The two of them didn’t make a move either?”
This question struck Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang as odd.
Why keep asking this around and around? The person was captured, and there were only a few people in front of them; did it still matter who captured her?
Cen Futong: “No, they didn’t make a move. Only those three did.”
Feng Chi: “I followed you all here. As soon as you made your move, I came right after, and I saw my young lady being held by him.
You’re all a gang; he wouldn’t hold my young lady hostage for no reason, would he?”
Dare to be dishonest? She increased the pressure of her grip.
This was also her biggest doubt.
If the situation had been even slightly less tense, she could have easily rescued the person with her strength. Cen Futong immediately screamed in pain, “I don’t know! I’m also surprised! We just captured her, and he immediately snatched her, held a knife to her neck, and acted as if facing a formidable enemy.
I asked him what was going on, and he said your young lady had accomplices. Then you, Madam, arrived.
I really don’t know how he knew.”
Something like that happened? Feng Chi instinctively thought it was nonsense and looked at the Holy Maiden again.
However, Xiang Lan'er’s eyes showed nothing but shame, giving her a clear answer that it was indeed true.
Such an incredible thing actually happened? Feng Chi was astonished.
Was this precognition, or had he already seen through their plan? If it was the latter, that would be truly terrifying.
Regardless, at least her biggest worry was now dispelled: the two individuals currently holding the hostage had not used any special means to capture her.
This meant she had no further concerns and could act without hesitation.
She decided not to wait any longer.
The sharp blade had already drawn blood from the Holy Maiden’s neck, and the short blade had already pierced between her ribs beneath her armpit. Dragging this on had already caused the Holy Maiden suffering; she couldn’t delay any longer.
The Cen Futong in her hand was suddenly flung out, with a force like an avalanche.
Boom! The flying Cen Futong directly collided with Skinny Monkey, who couldn't dodge in time.
The latter was startled, and before he could react, he was sent flying, both spitting blood, and both smashing a large mountain rock into pieces. Before the splattered blood could land, the crumbling rubble buried them both with a rumble.
Skinny Monkey, in his final moments, didn't even have a chance to regret; his unfortunate end was indeed predicted.
Killing two more people in an instant, Shi Chun and the other were slightly shocked.
They heard that people outside were more civilized and reasonable than those in the Land of Exile. Is this it? Five people killed right away.
The two once again felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Just as the two thought a mutual destruction was imminent, Feng Chi's figure flickered, instantly disappearing into the mountain forest without a trace.
The unconscious Bian Weikang, however, remained on the ground.
“Chuntian, what the hell is this?” Wu Jinliang looked around in confusion, quite perplexed.
Shi Chun said in a deep voice, “How should I know?”
The person seemed to have left, but the two dared not relax in the slightest; instead, they became even more tense.
Xiang Lan'er’s face showed a hint of a cold smile.
“Chuntian, look, around us.” Wu Jinliang suddenly gave an urgent warning.
He didn’t need to warn him; Shi Chun also saw it. The visual light suddenly dimmed, and a black mist abruptly filled the surrounding mountain forest, quickly making the surrounding trees appear indistinct.
The black mist was visibly closing in on them.
This seemed to be an Illusion Spell.
The two immediately became highly tense, on high alert for any sudden attacks from any direction.
Just then, Xiang Lan'er suddenly felt that Shi Chun’s body seemed to be having problems.
His muscles were tense, and he seemed to be trembling.
She couldn't help but smile; was he trembling in fear? Did he know fear now?
Shi Chun’s body was indeed having problems.
As he tensed up, the familiar pain of countless insects gnawing at his spine and his brain feeling like it was splitting open reappeared.
Fortunately, accompanying it was the anomaly in his right eye; that almost hallucinatory visual image appeared again.
Enduring the pain, his right eye quickly scanned, then locked onto the right side. In the depths of the mist over there, a hazy white humanoid mist figure was present.
There was only that one around. Comparing its form, it should be Feng Chi.
However, what was strange was that this hazy white humanoid mist figure looked different from before. There was clearly a flame-like object inside it, seemingly a ball of burning black flames.
What’s going on? Shi Chun was puzzled, but he urgently reminded, “Jinliang, follow me.”
He shifted his steps, adjusting Xiang Lan'er to his right front, continuing to use her as a human shield, trying to avoid a direct sneak attack.
As his vision unintentionally adjusted, his right eye, which had just swept over Xiang Lan'er, quickly returned to her, and he was amazed to find that Xiang Lan'er also had a burning black flame-like object inside her. What the hell?
He quickly turned to look at Wu Jinliang.
Wu Jinliang, in his right eye’s vision, was a hazy white, with no abnormalities.
Only these two women have it? Wu Jinliang, back-to-back with Shi Chun, moved his steps in tacit cooperation, holding his knife like a bed board in front of him.
In the depths of the black mist, Feng Chi, standing on a small slope, showed a puzzled expression. It was because Shi Chun and the others adjusted their direction too accurately.
Could they see through her Illusion Spell, or were their ears exceptionally sharp? Perhaps it was just a coincidence.
Regardless, she couldn't afford to delay any longer.
The Holy Maiden was already injured. She intertwined her ten fingers to cast a spell, forming a Lotus Hand Seal over her chest.
A murmuring sound suddenly echoed in the mountain forest.
A very strange murmuring sound, when listened closely, “Om-nam om-nam om-nam…”
The cadence was dense and rapid, seemingly echoing throughout the entire mountain forest, and yet also whispering in one’s ear.
Xiang Lan'er calmly closed her eyes, clearly entering a state of serene focus.
This strange situation immediately made Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang feel uneasy.
For Shi Chun, continuing like this was not a solution. Moreover, the bizarre situation before him was beyond his comprehension.
Enduring the physical pain, he suddenly shouted loudly, “Madam, we have no grudge. There’s nothing we can’t talk about.
We can have a good talk.”
The buzzing sound didn’t stop, ignoring him.
Feng Chi also gave no response.
“Om-nam om-nam om-nam om-nam, ah…”
The rhythm of the sound, seemingly at one's ear and echoing in the forest, grew faster and faster.
Suddenly, a piercing, ear-splitting scream erupted violently, the “ah” sound bursting out, instantly piercing one’s eardrums and rushing straight into the brain.
This was Wu Jinliang's feeling; his mind instantly went blank, the knife in his hand clanged to the ground, his eyes rolled back, and he himself slumped down.
The scream, however, was different in Shi Chun’s ears; he only felt it was sharp and annoying, without much discomfort.
Wu Jinliang's collapse greatly alarmed him.
He quickly shouted, “Jinliang!”
Immediately after, without any hesitation, he roared back, “I’ll see who dies first!”
His eyes filled with fierce determination, he became ruthless.
The broken blade hooked into Xiang Lan'er’s ribs under her armpit fiercely stabbed in a section, and blood quickly stained Xiang Lan'er’s clothes.
Xiang Lan'er suddenly opened her eyes, her face showing pain.
The demonic scream abruptly stopped, and Feng Chi's voice quickly followed, shouting, “Stop!”
She also quickly flashed out of the black mist, making a halting gesture to Shi Chun, her face full of surprise and doubt, “You cultivate demonic arts, are you also from the demonic path? Lianshan, Guizang, which lineage do you belong to?”