Casually interrogating people, tying them up, and beating them—those were things only the authorities dared do. Yet the Huang Family now dared act so brazenly here, while the town chief, the official representative, didn't dare say a word. That showed just how powerful the Huang Family was. It also proved how arrogant they were.
At last, after a day of interrogation, the Huang Family finally learned the truth. Huang Nian had abducted a woman, forced her husband to drive, and taken them into the forest. After they went in, none of them had been seen again.
"That damned fool! I told him not to go there. How could he be so unafraid of death?" A burly middle-aged man slammed his palm onto the table in a fury, smashing the three-inch-thick wooden table to pieces. This man was none other than Huang Nian's uncle, Huang Xiang. His strength had already reached the peak of the Pi-Hai Realm; he only needed to compress the spiritual essence in his body into liquid force to advance to the Essence-Transforming Realm.
Every direct descendant of the Huang Family had a life tablet kept in the family that foretold whether they were alive or dead. When its owner died, the tablet shattered. Huang Nian's life tablet had broken several days ago, but he had gone out without anyone else knowing. They had gone to considerable trouble to find out where the fool had gone. Then Huang Xiang had brought ten Huang Family guards to investigate what happened. They couldn't possibly let the killer of a scion from such a powerful family go unpunished. Otherwise, they would lose face.
But now it seemed Huang Nian's death was entirely his own fault. It wasn't that they hated him for abducting women; in truth, they had known about such things for a long time and simply pretended not to. They considered his death deserved because everyone knew that boundless forest was a death trap. Even people of the Heaven-Reaching Realm couldn't make it through. If those fools went in and ran into monsters, then they had no one to blame for their deaths.
"Third Master, what should we do now?" Seeing Huang Xiang's furious expression, a guard beside him stepped forward and asked cautiously. Huang Xiang was famous for his foul temper. With something like this happening, if the guard wasn't careful, he'd be in for a scolding, or even a beating.
"What can we do? First, we'll go recover that fool's corpse, if there's anything left to recover. He brought this on himself. Who can he blame? Let these people go home." Huang Xiang snorted and glared at the guard. Then he pointed at the suspects tied up to one side, signaling that they could be released. Though he was furious, if Huang Nian had died in that forest, there was no one he could take revenge on. He didn't suspect anyone from this town; no one here had that kind of strength.
The Huang Family had loomed over everyone in Greenwood Town like a great mountain. Now that they were leaving, the whole town breathed a sigh of relief. Huang Xiang was at the peak of the Pi-Hai Realm, and the guards he'd brought were all in the Pi-Hai Realm as well, though they were only at the middle and early stages. He was the only one at the peak.
The eleven men marched toward the vast forest. Before long, they reached its edge, where they found a carriage. It was empty, with nothing but a pool of blood inside—the blood of the guard Chu Xiaotian had killed. But to Huang Xiang and his men, it looked as though Huang Nian and the others had left it there after disposing of the couple they'd abducted. The group didn't linger. Following the traces left by those who had gone before, they headed deeper into the mountains.
The mountains were silent. Not a single beast could be seen, and the place felt utterly empty. Two guards in the early stage of the Pi-Hai Realm went ahead to scout while Huang Xiang surveyed the area and grumbled under his breath.
"This worthless place has nothing at all. I really don't know what got into that fool, making him go deeper in." The Endless Forest stretched far beyond the horizon and teemed with all kinds of spirit herbs and other resources. It was a place coveted by countless people across the continent. No one dared venture too deep, but many still entered its outer reaches to search for treasures. Rare spirit herbs, monster cores, hides, and bones were all highly sought-after across the Moon-Refining Continent, and their prices remained sky-high.
But even fingers varied in length, and the Endless Forest was no different. Other areas were rich in resources, with high-rank spirit herbs everywhere, while the forest near Greenwood Town was said to be so barren that even birds wouldn't shit there. No one had ever seen a high-rank spirit herb, and the only monsters around were low-level trash—first- and second-rank creatures. Apart from their meat, killing them was of no use. So no one ever came to this region.
No one in the Huang Family had ever come here, yet Huang Nian had run off to die in this place. Huang Xiang couldn't understand it. There might not be any high-rank monsters here, but even first- and second-rank beasts would have had no trouble killing Huang Nian and the other four.
Following the faint traces left by others, they soon found the place where Huang Nian and his companions had died. It was a small valley. The trees all around were in disarray, strewn every which way across the ground. It was clear a fierce battle had taken place. In the center of the valley lay bloodstained scraps of clothing and bloody bones. Flies buzzed overhead, their sound stirring disgust from deep within.
Huang Xiang's expression darkened. He had known Huang Nian was dead, but seeing a scene where not even a corpse remained still pained him.
"You, gather up these bones. Then we'll make every monster within ten li of here join my nephew in death." Huang Xiang waved his hand, a murderous glint flashing across his face. His voice was so cold it seemed capable of freezing heaven and earth.
"Yes, Third Master." The ten guards answered and took out several bags, beginning to collect the scattered bones. Huang Xiang turned his attention to the rest of the valley and searched it carefully.
"Third Master, something's wrong. The young master's Qiankun Bag is missing, and so are their weapons." After a while, once they had gathered the bones, a guard came over. One of the guards at the middle stage of the Pi-Hai Realm frowned as he spoke. Monsters might have swallowed the Qiankun Bag and Qiankun Bracelet, but they certainly wouldn't have swallowed the weapons. Something about the scene didn't add up.
Huang Xiang's face darkened until it seemed ready to drip water. He walked over to some fallen trees and examined them closely. They had all been knocked down. Though there were sword marks on them, the marks were almost all the same depth, with little difference between them.
"Bastards, we've been tricked! My nephew and the others were killed by someone, then dumped here to hide the evidence. It must have been those bastards from the Mad Blade Martial Hall! Come on, we're going back. I'll make their entire martial hall join my nephew in death!" Huang Xiang flew into a rage and split a huge tree in two with one palm. Then he turned and strode toward Greenwood Town. The ten guards exchanged glances, each with a cold smile, and followed him.
Chu Xiaotian had naturally arranged the scene himself. At the time, he had considered every angle. But he still lacked experience, and he had underestimated the Huang Family's experience—or perhaps he had simply been too greedy. If he hadn't taken all the space items from Huang Nian and the others, Huang Xiang and his men wouldn't have grown suspicious.
Chu Xiaotian had no idea that his ruse had been seen through. He continued practicing the Electric Dragon Spear. Apart from training in the Heavenly Corpse Art and eating, he spent all his time practicing the spear. His progress had been astonishingly fast. After so many days of training, he had practically mastered the Electric Dragon Spear. He still couldn't reach its highest level, but he had at least learned to wield it convincingly.
Beside the pond in the valley, Chu Xiaotian held his spear and struck a stance. Then his figure flashed and blurred through the air. The spear in his hand truly seemed like a lightning dragon, surging and roaring as it swept through the air. His terrifying spear technique made the air whistle and crack again and again. Finally, Chu Xiaotian thrust his spear. A sharp shriek rang out, and a streak of purple light flashed past. A deafening boom erupted from the cliff before him. Rocks flew everywhere, and a huge hole, one meter wide and one meter deep, appeared in the rock face.
"The Electric Dragon Spear! Good, it really is incredible! How many people could withstand that thrust?" Seeing the huge hole his spear had made, Chu Xiaotian grew so excited that he shouted his praise aloud.
After putting away his spear, he looked at the sky. It was still mid-afternoon, with some time to go before dinner, so he decided to head out. For days, he had been so absorbed in training that he hadn't left the valley. He still hadn't gotten rid of the clothes from the five space items. The pile made him uncomfortable just looking at it. Now that he had mastered the Electric Dragon Spear, he decided to dispose of the clothes and, while he was at it, catch a monster in the forest for a change of taste. He was getting tired of eating roasted fish every day.
Xia Xue was refining pills, so Chu Xiaotian didn't disturb her. He haphazardly bundled the clothes together, speared the bundle with his long spear, and carried it over his shoulder as he strode out of the valley, humming a tune. He headed toward the place where Huang Nian and the others had met their end.
At the same time, Huang Xiang and his men were returning to Greenwood Town from that same place. Chu Xiaotian had too little experience, and on top of that, having mastered the Electric Dragon Spear had made him a little careless. He had forgotten to be cautious and pay attention to his surroundings.
Though Huang Xiang and his men had nearly been blinded by rage, they were still old foxes. Chu Xiaotian didn't notice them, but they spotted him. In particular, the bundle of clothes hanging from the spear on his shoulder stood out as clearly as if it had a sign reading "I'm the murderer" on it. Huang Xiang nearly rushed out on the spot to tear Chu Xiaotian limb from limb. But after thinking it over, he forced himself to hold back. He would wait until Chu Xiaotian reached the place where Huang Nian had died, then flay him alive there to comfort Huang Nian's spirit in heaven.
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