Each with Their Own Schemes

Chapter 303: Each with Their Own Schemes

“What, could it be…?” The older man’s heart jolted as he exclaimed in a low voice.

“That’s right. I suffered a mana backlash. I urgently needed the refined blood of a cultivator to suppress the true yuan in my body. Aside from yourself, the only other cultivator nearby was Old Daoist Wu. I couldn’t very well come after you, could I? The situation was extremely dangerous. The backlash came two days earlier than expected. I nearly couldn’t suppress it.” The younger man spoke with a bitter smile, clearly still shaken by the event.

“I see… In that case, I suppose you can’t be blamed. But you’ll still need to explain this thoroughly to the higher-ups. However, from what I can deduce, you’ve been too eager in your recent cultivation of the Black Fiend Asura Art, which caused the backlash to strike early. For the time being, don’t go to the Blood Prison to train. Stay put and consolidate your foundation first.” The older man spoke slowly after a moment of thought.

“Rest assured! After absorbing that old Daoist’s refined blood, the backlash has completely subsided. As long as I remain cautious from now on, there won’t be another accident. I’ve also felt that my recent cultivation progress has been too fast, and was already thinking of not going there anymore.” The younger man said calmly.

“Good. It’s good that you understand. However, even though that old Daoist has been eliminated, the person he planted a Spiritual Qi Mark on is still a major problem. We can’t just leave this person unattended. We need to find a way to eliminate the loose end.”

“Mm, that’s true enough. But I originally assumed that Old Daoist Wu’s friends would be low-level rogue cultivators as well. So after setting the trap, I only called on the Mengshan Five to set the ambush. Who would have thought we’d hooked a big fish instead? Do you think it was a group of low-level cultivators, or a single Foundation Establishment cultivator who made the move?” The young man couldn’t help but ask the older one.

“Heh heh! Based on my speculation, it was most likely a Foundation Establishment cultivator. After all, no matter how many Qi Condensation cultivators there are, if those four were determined to flee, it wouldn’t have been easy to capture them all.” The older masked man spoke without hesitation.

“In that case, shouldn’t we lie low for a while? Let’s wait until the Sect Leader comes out of seclusion before continuing with the other plans. After all, a Foundation Establishment cultivator is not to be trifled with!” The younger man, swayed by the other’s certainty regarding the identity of the person who had captured the Mengshan Five, spoke with some hesitation.

“Lie low? Why should we lie low? You don’t know yet! The Sect Leader just sent word. Because of his cultivation needs, he currently requires some Foundation Establishment cultivators for a blood sacrifice. Since this person has delivered himself to our doorstep, we certainly can’t let the opportunity slip. Qi Condensation cultivators are easy to find anywhere, but a lone Foundation Establishment cultivator is a rare encounter!” The older man sneered, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

The younger masked man was taken aback, but then spoke with difficulty:

“However, with the Sect Leader stationed in the capital, apart from the four Blood Attendants by his side, there are no Foundation Establishment experts from our sect in this area. They are all overseeing branch halls in various regions. We can’t very well summon them back to the capital just for this, can we?”

“There’s no need to go through such trouble! The Sect Leader urgently needs Foundation Establishment cultivators for his cultivation. I only need to report this upward, and the Elder Sect Leader should place one or two of the Blood Attendants under our command. With them assisting us, capturing a single Foundation Establishment cultivator will be as easy as turning our hand.” A flash of greed appeared in the older masked man’s eyes.

Hearing this, the younger man’s spirits were lifted, and he seemed thoroughly enticed by the older man’s words.

“Very well, I’ll go back and make preparations! We will definitely capture this person alive.” He said viciously.

The two then muttered together in low voices for a good long while before silently leaving the hillock, their destination unknown.

But strangely enough, throughout their entire conversation, they never once mentioned the problem of how they would accurately locate Han Li within the vast capital city. It was as if this was not a problem for them at all.

…

At the same time, on a desolate patch of land over a hundred li from the hillock, Han Li landed the Divine Wind Boat and let the four people step off the flying artifact.

Although these four knew that nothing good awaited them, they were utterly incapable of mounting any resistance. They could only obediently follow orders and get off the small boat.

Han Li stood with his hands clasped behind his back, facing the silent group. His cold eyes swept over them as he finally spoke after a long moment:

“Take off your face veils. Hiding your faces is useless now.” Han Li’s voice was utterly devoid of emotion, causing the four to shudder and exchange hesitant glances.

“Cough! Take them off.” The eldest brother let out a long sigh and said helplessly.

Seeing this, the other three listlessly pulled off their black face veils, revealing their true appearances.

After Han Li had finished scrutinizing each of their faces, his outward expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he sighed. It was indeed the Mengshan Five.

When he had overhead their conversation from above, he had already found their voices somewhat familiar. Combined with their cultivation bases and techniques, his thoughts had naturally turned to the Mengshan Five and the other cultivators he had met two months prior. Apart from the woman in her forties, who was not present this time, everyone else was here.

However, although their identities matched his suspicions, Han Li was greatly troubled.

He didn’t need to think too hard now to know that the Young Prince of the Xin Estate and Chief Steward Wang were members of the dark hand behind the string of missing cultivators. Now that they knew he had spied on their secrets, they would most likely be locked in a fight to the death with him!

He had originally intended to do his utmost to avoid this trouble. Yet, unexpectedly, this big trouble had come to him on its own. Had he known this would happen, he would never have sent that old Daoist to monitor the two of them. This had nothing to do with demonic path cultivators at all! It was purely his own excessive caution that had brought this about.

But in hindsight, he never would have guessed that Old Daoist Wu would be so useless. He hadn’t even been monitoring them for a full night before he was discovered, and had very likely lost his life in the process.

This made Han Li even more frustrated and speechless.

If Old Daoist Wu’s spirit could know how Han Li was blaming him, he would probably feel even more wronged! He hadn’t even begun monitoring the Young Prince and the others when his assailants had burst into his room and, for no apparent reason, sucked him dry of his refined blood. His death was truly a tragic injustice.

Although Han Li’s assessment of Old Daoist Wu’s cause of death was somewhat off, and he was unaware that the Young Prince and Chief Steward Wang knew nothing about the impending surveillance—let alone that their identities had already been exposed to Han Li beforehand—this didn’t prevent both sides from sounding the alarm and falling into complete opposition with each other.

Han Li’s thoughts were very heavy.

After all, among the recently missing cultivators were several who had already established their foundation. The enemies he had provoked were truly terrifying. A single misstep might see him follow the same path as the others who had vanished.

Originally, according to Han Li’s usual way of thinking, since this place was so dangerous, the natural course of action was to flee far away. A wise man does not stand beneath a crumbling wall! There was no need to fight to the death with this group. It was better to put as much distance between himself and them as possible.

But what troubled him was that he still carried the responsibility of protecting the Qin family.

If, during his absence, something were to happen to the Qin family, he wouldn’t be able to explain it to Li Huayuan.

Could he say that the capital of Yue had suddenly become extremely dangerous, so he had made the first move and fled?

As Han Li thought this, his expression gradually darkened, fluctuating between uncertainty and resolve. This made the four captives in front of him increasingly uneasy.

They had originally thought that since they had been brought to this desolate place, the man would surely interrogate them harshly. But unexpectedly, after glancing at their faces, this young Foundation Establishment cultivator had fallen into deep contemplation, his expression gradually growing strange. Could he be thinking of some cruel method of interrogation?

With this wild speculation swirling in their minds, they felt a chill creeping up their spines, their unease deepening with every passing second.

“What exactly do you plan to do with us?” The young woman in her twenties suddenly spoke up, unable to bear the silence any longer.

Hearing this, Han Li snapped out of his reverie. He glanced at the woman and said coldly:

“Why would I need to bother with disposing of you? I could simply hand you over to the families of the missing cultivators and tell them that you are the ones behind the disappearances. I’m sure they would give you a very warm reception.”

Han Li’s expression was utterly flat as he said this, making the four completely believe that he would do just that. Their faces twisted in fear.

“We never kidnapped a single one of those cultivators! Not one! We only did a few…”

“Shut up, Fifth Sister! He’s tricking you into spilling information!”

The dark-faced old man suddenly shouted harshly, cutting the woman off in mid-sentence. Startled, the Fifth Sister shot Han Li a glare of resentment.

“Tricking you into giving information? You overestimate yourselves.” Han Li smiled faintly, the corners of his mouth curling with a hint of mockery.