Have I Seen You Before?

Qin Yang's face darkened like still water as he stood at the edge of the swamp, staring at the puddles within that constantly bubbled. A chill ran through his entire body.

Whatever was inside, taking even a single blow from it would mean death or grievous injury.

It was too fast, and its venom was far too vicious. Even the Blood Lama in his hand might not be able to block it—or rather, in his hands, the Blood Lama simply could not display that miraculous effect.

After probing again and again, he had only caught a glimpse of a black shadow flashing past. He could only confirm that the strange thing emerged from the puddles. Its upper body was huge, its claws enormous. It had a body and four limbs, crawled close to the ground, and its claws carried a ferocious, corrosive poison.

Yet as soon as it left the bounds of the swamp, the strange thing vanished without a trace, leaving behind not the slightest breath.

Still, after testing it several times in succession, Qin Yang had more or less figured things out. He knew how to charge through.

Just then, fluctuations of spiritual power came from behind him. Turning to look, he saw spiritual light gathering in the distance amid a clamor, like countless lamps answering one another, ripples interweaving as they rose.

Quite a few people had come, and none of them were weak. At the very least, there were many Magical Artifacts giving off powerful spiritual fluctuations.

Qin Yang's heart stirred. He circulated the Conceal Void Art, concealing the spiritual fluctuations around his body, then hid in the sparse woods behind him. Looking out, he saw a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators arriving together. There were disciples of Boundless Dao Academy, as well as clerks from Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce.

The most conspicuous among the Boundless Dao Academy group was Zhang Zhengyi.

"So this son of a bitch really didn't die. A scourge lasts a thousand years..." Qin Yang sighed deeply. He was also curious how Zhang Zhengyi had managed it. They had examined him inside and out countless times back then; he had truly been dead beyond doubt, and corpse stiffness had already set in.

Yet looking at him now, not even the slightest injury could be seen. He was perfectly whole.

Qin Yang's heart stirred. Rather than hiding himself, he took the initiative and walked over.

The moment he appeared before everyone, Zhang Zhengyi hurriedly shouted, "Senior brother Qin, are you all right? I thought you were dead!"

"I'm fine." Qin Yang walked over and quietly glanced at Zhang Zhengyi. "Junior Brother Zhang, what exactly is going on? Where is this place?"

"I don't know either. This seems to be some kind of secret realm. Oh, right, senior brother Qin, didn't you say you had always wanted to meet Senior Brother Bai? This is him." With a straight face and utter seriousness, Zhang Zhengyi pulled Qin Yang over to introduce Bai Yutang.

"Oh, so you are Senior Brother Bai Yutang. No wonder you looked so familiar when I saw you last time. We only met from afar before, so I didn't get a clear look. Later, I heard that Senior Brother Bai had made progress in his sword art and gone into seclusion. I never expected to meet you here..." Delight spread across Qin Yang's face as he stepped forward and immediately began cozying up to him...

"Oh, Junior Brother Qin, you are too polite..." Bai Yutang replied muddleheadedly, unable to remember Qin Yang at all...

Standing to one side, Zhang Zhengyi's eyes held a trace of admiration. As expected of senior brother Qin. Who knew how he had dealt with that Demon Tiger before? Not only was he completely unharmed, but now even the lies he made up sounded real. I almost believed him...

"Hmph!"

On the other side, Steward Qiu wore a grim expression as he stared at Qin Yang, murderous light flickering in his eyes. "So you are Qin Youde, Zhang Zhengyi's senior brother. If you had not provoked Dole Ghost King's daughter, why would Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce have had to go to such lengths, spending three High-Grade Spiritual Items just to make Dole Ghost King give way?"

"And this is?" Qin Yang looked puzzled, thoroughly confused.

"This is Steward Qiu of Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce. We used a small trick before, but senior brother Qin, you were captured, so it failed."

"Oh, so it was that matter. At a time like this, why does Steward Qiu still believe it was real?" Qin Yang did not know whether to laugh or cry, looking as though he wanted to laugh but did not dare.

Bai Yutang was confused by what he heard, so Zhang Zhengyi gave him a brief explanation. At the end, he added, "Weren't we doing this to share the sect's burdens? We heard they were about to attack their way in, so we thought we would first numb the Ghost King's guard, then stir up some trouble inside..."

"Junior Brother Zhang, you two had good intentions. Though it did not succeed, your hearts were in the right place." Bai Yutang looked gratified and patted Zhang Zhengyi on the shoulder...

Steward Qiu's face turned black with rage. From Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce's standpoint, he wanted nothing more than to skin Zhang Zhengyi and Qin Yang alive. But from Boundless Dao Academy's standpoint, these two were model disciples, fine disciples who dared to put the sect first.

Their strength might not amount to much, but such devotion was rare. After all, everyone knew exactly what the outer sect was like.

"Have I seen you before?" Steward Qiu stared at Qin Yang, his brows tightly furrowed and his gaze flickering. Even a trace of killing intent quietly arose. Qin Yang always reminded him of a Corpse Collector from before, but that young man had been blown to death by the Tricky Ring.

Qin Yang's heart skipped a beat. He thought that he had long since changed his appearance with the Shape Shifting Art, and had not used his original face at all during this period. Could this bastard still recognize him? "I've been in Green Forest City all this time. It would be perfectly normal if Steward Qiu had seen me before." Without changing expression, Qin Yang directly admitted it in vague terms.

Steward Qiu said nothing more. He also wondered whether he was overthinking it. There were many outer sect disciples from Boundless Dao Academy in Green Forest City, so it would be normal if they had met before. Besides, one was a ninth-level Qi Nourishing disciple of Boundless Dao Academy, while the other was a Corpse Collector so weak he was a complete mess. They might look alike, but the gap between them was absurdly vast...

That matter passed, but once he thought about how these two senior and junior brothers had toyed with him, the anger in Steward Qiu's heart surged higher and higher. His eyelids drooped slightly as a vicious gleam flashed in his eyes. Even if these two were not the people he had been seeking before, they surely had a great deal to do with them. Boundless Dao Academy's people had likely long harbored schemes of their own.

It made sense when he thought about it. Who would not want to swallow everything here alone? This time, the two sides had only cooperated out of necessity. But once they got inside and truly found something valuable, that might not remain the case.

The little episode passed just like that, and the two groups continued onward until they reached that deathly silent swamp.

Anyone with functioning eyes could tell that this swamp was far from simple. The group did not rashly enter. Instead, they spread out to investigate the surrounding area.

At some point, Zhang Zhengyi sidled over, tugging at Qin Yang and signaling with his eyes.

"Senior brother Qin, you've been here before, haven't you? What's the situation?"

"There's something strange inside. I don't know how strong it is, but taking one hit from it would be enough to kill you all over again."

"Hm? Senior brother Qin, tell me in detail."

"Go call Bai Yutang over."

Zhang Zhengyi pulled a long face and grumbled twice, then obediently brought Bai Yutang over.

"Junior Brother Qin, what is it?"

"I went around the swamp before, but instantly returned here. There's something strange in the swamp. I don't know what it is, but its claws are highly poisonous and extremely corrosive. The miasma inside is poisonous too. Once we go in, restrain your spiritual fluctuations and focus solely on charging forward." Qin Yang directly told Bai Yutang part of what he had discovered.

He had used Bai Yutang before. If Bai Yutang had not stopped that madwoman Imperial Concubine De, there was a ninety-percent chance Qin Yang would have fallen into her hands, been taken back, ravaged night after night until he became a dried-out husk...

He had to repay the favor, even if Bai Yutang himself was still muddleheaded about it...

"Ah?" Bai Yutang was genuinely a little dazed...

"All right, there's no time. Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce's people are back. Senior Brother Bai, remember this: that old bastard Steward Qiu is no good. Watch out for him."