Shi Chun called back loudly, "Generous is good!"
The two played off each other, laughing and bantering with effortless ease, plainly trying to infuriate her. Their seamless coordination was also an attempt to save themselves.
Their sarcastic reminders brought the entire sequence of events back to Xiang Lan'er's mind. After that "benefactor" obtained the indenture contracts, he had not immediately handed them to her and Bian Weikang. Instead, he had taken them straight back to the Carefree Inn. Along the way, the big fellow had indeed found an excuse to leave briefly.
The man holding her hostage from behind had pointed out a few details in the contracts right in front of her, then immediately destroyed them completely.
She had thought nothing of it at the time, but looking back now, every step was suspicious. The problem was, with something as important as her indenture contract, she had not even thought to get it into her own hands at the first opportunity. Surely she should at least have checked whether it was genuine before it was destroyed?
Yet after taking out the contracts and reading them, he had given her no time to react before destroying them outright.
But saying he had given her no time at all to react did not hold water either. Had all that time on the journey from Liyun Tower to the Carefree Inn not counted?
She could not dwell on it. The more she thought, the more furious she became. She realized she had been far too careless, never imagining someone would resort to such crude, despicable tricks. Was he not afraid of the embarrassment if he was exposed?
Everyone said those of the Demonic Path were wicked heretics, yet the man behind her was even more sinister than they were!
Though she knew she had been careless, falling to such a crude trick left her almost unbearably ashamed and angry.
From her reaction, Feng Chi could tell that Shi Chun's claims were probably true. She was instantly shocked, with the same question in her mind: had she not even thought to check whether her contract was genuine before it was destroyed?
She badly wanted to ask this holy maiden: Fine, you insisted the matter was so important that you had to go to Mount Wukang yourself, but how did you end up making such a mess of it? What if someone takes your indenture contract to the Heavenly Court's offices and files a complaint, and they order Mount Wukang to hand you over?
How could Mount Wukang dare oppose the Heavenly Court? They could only obediently surrender her. What would they do then?
As she watched the two bandits sneering and mocking them,
Feng Chi shook Cen Futong by the neck again and demanded in a low voice, "How did you capture my young lady?"
Pale-faced, frightened, and miserable, Cen Futong replied, "We just grabbed her."
Feng Chi squeezed the back of his neck hard enough to make him howl in pain, then demanded again, "I'm asking exactly how you captured her."
This question was crucial to her.
Cen Futong hurriedly gave an honest account. "There wasn't much to it. We rushed out, she didn't resist at all, and we caught her."
She really had not resisted at all? Feng Chi looked at the holy maiden again, seeking confirmation.
Xiang Lan'er's shame deepened. She felt that if this questioning continued, she would never be able to show her face again. Wordlessly, she closed her eyes.
Incredulous, Feng Chi understood. So she really had let herself be captured without lifting a finger. Well, perhaps the holy maiden had been afraid of exposing herself.
She asked again, "The young lady is in his hands. Did he capture her alone, or did you all capture her together?"
Cen Futong said nervously, "I didn't lay a hand on her. Ask your young lady if you don't believe me. The other three fellows caught her."
He was not merely distancing himself; it was the truth. He really had not taken part earlier.
Feng Chi raised her chin toward Shi Chun. "Those two didn't lay a hand on her either?"
Even Shi Chun and his companion found that question strange. Why keep circling around this? The hostage had already been taken, and there were only these few men here. Did it matter who had caught her?
Cen Futong replied, "No, they didn't. Only those three did."
Feng Chi said, "I followed you here. As soon as you made your move, I came closer and saw him holding my young lady hostage. You're all together. Would he take my young lady hostage for no reason?"
He dared be dishonest? Her grip tightened.
This was also what puzzled her most. Had there been even the slightest opening, she could easily have rescued the hostage with her strength.
Cen Futong immediately screamed in pain. "I don't know! I was puzzled too! We'd only just caught her when he immediately snatched her away and put a blade to her neck, as if he were facing a formidable enemy. I asked him what was going on, and he said your young lady had an accomplice. Then you arrived, proprietress. I really don't know how he knew."
Something like that had happened? Feng Chi instinctively thought it was nonsense and looked at the holy maiden again.
But Xiang Lan'er's eyes held nothing beyond shame, giving her a clear answer: that was indeed what had happened.
Could something so inconceivable really have happened? Feng Chi was startled. Had he foreseen the future, or had he already seen through their plans? If it was the latter, that was far too frightening.
Whatever the case, she had at least ruled out her greatest concern: the two men holding hostages before her had not used any special means to secure them. With that, she no longer had anything holding her back and could act without worry.
She had no intention of waiting any longer. The sharp blade had already cut the holy maiden's neck, and the broken blade beneath her arm had pierced between her ribs. Delaying this long had already made the holy maiden suffer. How could she drag things out further?
She suddenly hurled Cen Futong out of her grip with the force of mountains toppling and seas overturning.
Boom! Cen Futong slammed straight into Skinny Monkey, who could not dodge in time. Horrified, the latter was sent flying before he could react. Both spat blood, then smashed a huge boulder to pieces together. Before the sprays of blood could hit the ground, the collapsing rubble buried them with a thunderous crash.
At the very end, Skinny Monkey had not even had a chance to regret anything. His unfortunate fate had indeed been foretold.
Two more killed in the blink of an eye. Shi Chun and his companion were somewhat alarmed. They had heard that people outside were more civilized and reasonable than those in the Land of Exile. This was civilized? She had killed five people as soon as she arrived.
The two braced themselves against a formidable enemy once more.
Just as they thought everyone was about to perish together, Feng Chi's figure flickered and vanished 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 alarm and bewilderment, utterly confused.
Shi Chun replied grimly, "How would I know?"
She seemed to have left, but neither man dared relax in the slightest. Instead, they grew even more tense.
A faint, cold smile appeared on Xiang Lan'er's face.
"Chuntian, look! Around us!" Wu Jinliang suddenly warned urgently.
Shi Chun saw it without needing the warning. The light suddenly dimmed, and black fog rose simultaneously throughout the surrounding forest. Soon, the trees became indistinct, and the black fog advanced toward them at a visible pace.
It seemed to be a visual deception. Both men instantly grew intensely nervous, watching their surroundings closely for a surprise attack from any direction.
Just then, Xiang Lan'er suddenly sensed that something seemed wrong with Shi Chun's body. His muscles were taut, and he appeared to be trembling.
She could not help finding it amusing. Is he shaking with fear? Now he knows to be afraid?
Something really had gone wrong with Shi Chun's body. As soon as he grew tense, the agony returned: countless insects gnawing at his spine, his brain feeling as though it would split apart.
Fortunately, the abnormality in his right eye returned with it. That seemingly hallucinatory view appeared again.
Enduring the pain, he quickly swept his right eye around and soon locked onto his right. Deep in the fog there stood a hazy white, human-shaped mass. It was the only one nearby, and judging by its outline, it should have been Feng Chi.
Strangely, however, this hazy white human shape looked different from those he had seen before. Inside it was a distinct flame-shaped mass, seemingly a burning black flame.
What's going on? Shi Chun did not understand, but urgently warned aloud, "Jinliang, follow me."
He shifted his footing, repositioning Xiang Lan'er ahead and to his right, continuing to use her as a shield in front of him to avoid facing a surprise attack directly as much as possible.
As his view shifted inadvertently, his right eye swept over Xiang Lan'er, then immediately returned to her. To his astonishment, he discovered a burning, black, flame-shaped mass inside her as well. What the hell?
He quickly turned to look at Wu Jinliang. Through his right eye, Wu Jinliang was entirely hazy white, with nothing unusual about him.
Only these two women had it?
Back-to-back with him, Wu Jinliang moved in perfect coordination, shifting his footing too and holding his bed-board-sized blade in front of himself.
Deep in the black fog, Feng Chi stood on a small slope with a puzzled expression. Shi Chun and his companion had adjusted their position far too precisely to counter her. Could they see through her visual deception, or was their hearing exceptionally keen?
Perhaps it was merely coincidence.
Whatever the reason, she could not afford to waste any more time. The holy maiden was already injured. She interlaced the fingers of both hands to cast her technique, forming a lotus hand seal before her chest.
A murmuring sound suddenly buzzed through the mountain forest.
It was a very strange murmur. Listening closely, it went, "Om nam, om nam, om nam..."
The syllables were dense and tightly packed, seeming to echo throughout the forest while also murmuring right beside their ears.
Xiang Lan'er calmly closed her eyes, clearly entering a state of stillness to guard her mind.
This strange development immediately made Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang feel that something was wrong.
To Shi Chun, dragging this out was no solution. Besides, the strangeness before him exceeded his understanding. Enduring his body's torment, he suddenly called out, "Proprietress, there's no grudge between us. Nothing is beyond discussion. We can talk this over properly."
The buzzing continued, paying him no heed. Feng Chi gave no response either.
"Om nam, om nam, om nam, om nam, ah..."
The sound, seeming both to whisper beside their ears and echo through the forest, quickened steadily. Suddenly, a piercing, ear-splitting scream erupted with savage intensity. That explosive "ah" seemed to puncture their eardrums and shoot straight into their brains.
That was how Wu Jinliang felt. His mind instantly went blank. His blade clanged to the ground, his eyes rolled back, and his whole body crumpled.
To Shi Chun's ears, however, the scream was another matter entirely. He only found it shrill and noisy, with little other discomfort.
Wu Jinliang's collapse shocked him, and he cried urgently, "Jinliang!"
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he roared back, "Let's see who dies first!"
His eyes turned vicious as he steeled himself to act ruthlessly.
He savagely drove the broken blade hooked against the ribs beneath Xiang Lan'er's arm farther into the gap between them. Blood quickly stained her clothes red.
Xiang Lan'er's eyes flew open, pain showing on her face.
The demonic scream stopped abruptly, immediately followed by Feng Chi's urgent shout. "Stop!"
She swiftly flashed out of the black fog as well, raising a hand to signal Shi Chun to pause. Shock and suspicion filled her face. "You practice demonic arts? You're of the Demonic Path too? Linked Mountains or Returning to the Storehouse-which lineage do you belong to?"