Liu Jinhu Arrives

Outside, roaring flames had risen there as well.

It seemed Zhang Meng did not merely want to burn him to death—he wanted to burn everyone in the entire Waste Hall to death!

That fellow usually kept himself well hidden, but who would have thought he could be so vicious when he acted?

Li Ping'an frowned. Just as he was about to shout and warn the Waste Hall disciples, he saw people already rushing out of their quarters, shouting loudly:

"Fire! Fire! Hurry and put it out!"

Li Ping'an casually shouted twice, then said nothing more. He turned and vanished at once.

Right now, he absolutely could not show himself.

If people learned that this blaze had failed to kill him, whoever was behind it would certainly have other means to deal with him.

He would hide first today and wait until the fire was put out tomorrow.

Just as he was about to find somewhere to hide, a figure suddenly lunged at him.

Li Ping'an instantly felt an intense sense of danger, and every pore on his body stood on end.

Instinctively, Li Ping'an pulled a talisman from his pocket.

This was the life-saving talisman Qingyue had given him, also known as the Golden Light Talisman!

Using this talisman could block the full-force strike of any cultivator below the Foundation Establishment Realm!

In the blink of an eye, the black shadow had rushed before Li Ping'an.

Li Ping'an looked toward the shadow and immediately saw that it was tall and powerfully built, emanating formidable spiritual energy fluctuations. With a longsword in hand, it thrust straight at Li Ping'an's face.

However, just as the sword light was about to strike Li Ping'an, he suddenly crushed the Golden Light Talisman!

In an instant, a golden shield appeared around Li Ping'an. It rapidly expanded outward, wrapping him tightly within it.

"Hm? A Golden Light Talisman? And a high-grade one?"

The black-clad man's pupils abruptly shrank. He had never expected a mere old servant to possess such an expensive Golden Light Talisman!

Before he could react, a vast force erupted from within the Golden Light Talisman, instantly blasting the black-clad man away.

The black-clad man rolled across the ground several times, clutching his chest as thin streams of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He stared at Li Ping'an with a face full of pain.

"Damn it, I was careless."

The black-clad man gritted his teeth. No one had told him Li Ping'an had such a treasure on him!

Li Ping'an, meanwhile, was still utterly bewildered! It was his first time using the Golden Light Talisman, and he had never expected it to erupt with such a powerful halo.

The intense light even stabbed at his eyes, making it impossible for him to open them.

Still, he could vaguely make out that the black-clad man seemed to have been blasted away?

The black-clad man shot Li Ping'an an unwilling glare and said coldly, "Hmph! Count yourself lucky this time. Next time, you definitely won't be so lucky!"

After leaving behind that threat, the black-clad man turned and sprinted wildly down the mountain.

Li Ping'an watched the other man gradually leave with an icy gaze.

His brows furrowed slightly, and a trace of confusion flashed across his face.

The other party was clearly at the Qi Refining Realm, but he did not seem to have provoked anyone of that sort. Who exactly was this person?

Who could this person be?

Li Ping'an stared at the disappearing figure as countless names flashed through his mind. He felt this person resembled someone—Steward Wang!

But this was not the time to dwell on that, because the flames had already spread over.

Li Ping'an hurriedly found a place to hide, regulating his breathing and circulating his qi until dawn.

Only when daylight fully broke was the raging fire finally extinguished.

A group of servant disciples from the Waste Hall, exhausted and gasping for breath, collapsed onto the ground.

Only then did Li Ping'an slowly emerge.

He swept his gaze around, yet did not see Zhang Meng anywhere.

Where had that brat Zhang Meng gone? Had he fled in fear of punishment?

This sudden fire was no small matter. Before long, a group of sect disciples dressed in black hurried over.

Every one of them wore a stern expression and carried a fierce air. Especially the leader—a burly man with a long scar across his face. His tiger eyes were wide open, and no one dared meet his gaze when he looked around.

This man was Liu Jinhu, a deacon of the Deacon Hall.

His methods were ruthless and cruel, swift and decisive. Since the Deacon Hall was responsible for overseeing sect disciples, his evil reputation had spread far and wide throughout the sect. Ordinary disciples did not even dare look him in the eye when they saw him.

With his hands behind his back, he walked into the Waste Hall, which had nearly been reduced to ruins.

"Where is Steward He?"

"I'm here!"

Steward He staggered to his feet from the ground, dusted off his backside, and walked over to Liu Jinhu.

"Deacon Liu, you've come!"

"Mm."

Deacon Liu stood there, glanced at him, and said:

"What happened? How did a fire suddenly break out here? Hm?"

With a face full of sorrow, Steward He said:

"I don't know either. Everything was fine last night, then a huge fire suddenly broke out in the middle of the night. The flames were fierce and enormous. Although we discovered it immediately, we still couldn't avoid the losses."

"Mm."

Liu Jinhu nodded and said:

"This is negligence on your part. We will report the situation truthfully."

"Fine, report it if you wish. I'm about to retire anyway."

Steward He wore a bitter smile.

Liu Jinhu did not make things too difficult for Steward He. After casually speaking with him for a few moments, he began inspecting the Waste Hall, now burned into ruins.

Before long, he noticed that beside many of the buildings were heaps of firewood burned into charcoal fragments.

Though they had been reduced to charcoal, one could tell at a glance that they had been piles of firewood.

"Why is there so much firewood stacked beside every room?"

Liu Jinhu turned and asked Steward He.

Steward He froze slightly before saying:

"No, our firewood is all kept in the woodshed. How could it have appeared here?"

"Mm."

Liu Jinhu gave a slight smile and said:

"Then that explains it. This fire appears to have been deliberate, not an accident! Heh heh, now this is interesting!"

The moment he found this clue, a look of excitement immediately appeared on Liu Jinhu's face.

Excellent! Since someone had deliberately set the fire, this was getting interesting!

Once he dragged that person out, he would have something to play with again!

The moment they heard Liu Jinhu say this, the disciples were all shocked.

Someone had done this deliberately—but who was it?

Liu Jinhu swept his gaze over everyone present and said:

"Isn't it obvious? It must have been one of you! Otherwise, why would an outsider come and set fire to your Waste Hall for no reason?"

"One of us?"

Hearing this, everyone looked at one another, their faces filled with panic and unease.

"Steward He, are all the disciples of your Waste Hall here?"

Liu Jinhu asked.

Steward He narrowed his eyes and counted, then said:

"It seems everyone is here, but it also seems one person is missing!"

"Is someone missing or not?"

Liu Jinhu was becoming impatient.

Steward He jolted in fright. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"Oh, I remember! It seems... it seems Zhang Meng isn't among them!"

"That's right!"

Only then did everyone realize.

"Why is Zhang Meng missing? Could he have burned to death?"

"Impossible, right?"

"Zhang Meng?"

Upon hearing this, Deacon Liu immediately became interested:

"Where exactly has this Zhang Meng gone?"