Headed east?
Ye Qingyun's brows knitted tightly.
He very much wanted to rescue the boy.
But the problem was that Ye Qingyun knew he was a weakling. If he went, he would probably only be throwing his life away.
The man was an evil cultivator, after all.
Since the word "evil" was involved, he was bound to be a cruel and ruthless sort.
Ye Qingyun dared not risk his own life.
His only option was to find someone to help.
Ye Qingyun did know quite a few experts.
But the problem was that he had no way of contacting them.
What should I do?
What should I do?
Ye Qingyun was deeply anxious.
Although Guo Xiaoyun was only someone he had met by chance, like duckweed drifting together on the water.
Ye Qingyun genuinely liked this little beggar with backbone.
If the boy died just like that.
Ye Qingyun would certainly find it hard to live with himself, and might even feel guilty for the rest of his life.
"Looks like I'll have to bring out the treasures at the bottom of my trunk."
Ye Qingyun took a deep breath.
He steeled himself.
He would take a gamble.
He turned and went inside.
Soon, he came back out, armed to the teeth.
On his back, he carried a long object wrapped in cloth.
At his waist hung two strange cases.
He also wore a gray vest that looked very thick.
He had even put a sturdy steel helmet on his head.
Armed to the teeth!
These were all things Ye Qingyun had cobbled together in the past under the system's torment.
At the time, Ye Qingyun had not believed he could make these things.
Yet he had actually succeeded.
Thus, these things had become the treasures he kept at the bottom of his trunk.
Unless he absolutely had no other choice, Ye Qingyun would never use them.
But now.
To save someone, Ye Qingyun could only steel himself and go.
"Damao, you're coming with me!"
Ye Qingyun glanced at the languid Damao and gave the order.
Damao immediately ambled after him.
Ye Qingyun left the gray rabbit behind.
Ye Qingyun went down the mountain and headed east.
"Damao, can you smell Guo Xiaoyun's scent?"
Ye Qingyun asked tentatively.
He had not held much hope, but to his surprise, Damao actually lowered his head and sniffed around, barked in one direction, then ran that way.
Ye Qingyun froze for a moment, then immediately followed.
"Are you sure you've got the right scent?"
Ye Qingyun was a little dubious.
Damao shook his head, as though telling Ye Qingyun to trust his lordship's nose.
There was no other choice.
Ye Qingyun did not know where the man in black had taken Guo Xiaoyun, either. He could only try treating a dead horse as though it were still alive.
"Let's hope we can find him!"
Heading east all the way, they soon entered the mountains.
Few people ventured here. Vegetation grew thick, and the cries of birds and beasts sounded from time to time.
Damao continued to lead the way.
Before long.
Ye Qingyun arrived outside a valley.
Any farther ahead, and he would enter it.
But Damao stopped and let out a low growl, seemingly wary of something.
Seeing this, Ye Qingyun immediately grew alert as well.
"Could they be in here?"
Ye Qingyun carefully edged closer.
He peered into the valley.
Ye Qingyun's pupils instantly contracted.
There were many people inside!
And the vast majority were children.
They were mostly under ten, only seven or eight years old.
These children lay sprawled every which way throughout the valley, all seemingly motionless.
There was no telling whether they were dead or alive.
A dozen or so black-clad figures were in the valley, each sitting cross-legged, faint gray light surging around them.
But what shocked Ye Qingyun most was in the deepest part of the valley.
A person who was nothing but skin and bones sat there.
He was skin and bones in the truest sense, with practically no flesh anywhere on his body, only a layer of withered, blackened skin wrapped around his skeleton.
This strange man's eyes were like two gray whirlpools.
The gray Qi surrounding the black-clad figures all flowed toward this strange man.
The scene was exceedingly eerie.
It involuntarily made Ye Qingyun's hair stand on end.
It was like an evil ritual.
Anxious, Ye Qingyun kept searching for Guo Xiaoyun.
At last.
He spotted Guo Xiaoyun.
The boy lay not far from the valley entrance, his eyes tightly shut, but he seemed to still be breathing.
Ye Qingyun felt a little relieved.
As long as he's still alive.
Ye Qingyun steadied himself and counted the black-clad figures in the valley.
"Twelve in total."
He took the object off his back and pulled away the cloth.
It was a sniper rifle!
Ye Qingyun looked at the sniper rifle. He had made it with his own hands, but had never fired a single shot.
Today.
He would have to use it.
Ye Qingyun took a suppressor from his pocket and fitted it onto the muzzle.
"Damao, go hide."
Damao immediately ran off into the distance.
Ye Qingyun brought his eye to the scope.
His hands trembled slightly around the gun.
But soon, he became extremely calm.
His hands were exceptionally steady.
Aim!
Pull the trigger!
Pfft!
With almost no sound at all, a hole was punched straight through the forehead of one of the black-clad men.
The man twitched, then his head lolled to one side, and he died sitting right there.
Ye Qingyun's heart churned.
This was his first time killing someone.
But he was killing to save someone.
Besides, he was killing evil cultivators, whom anyone had the right to slay, so Ye Qingyun would not feel too much psychological pressure.
Ye Qingyun kept firing.
Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft!!!
One, two, three...
Ye Qingyun silently shot and killed all twelve black-clad men.
All twelve remained sitting cross-legged. Not one had fallen over.
But the gray light around them naturally vanished.
"Hm?"
The strange man in the valley seemed to notice something as well.
He abruptly raised his head and looked at the twelve black-clad men.
"Why have you stopped? Keep converting these children's essence and transferring it to me!"
The strange man spoke in a hoarse voice, like two pieces of old tree bark scraping against each other, exceedingly grating.
Naturally, the black-clad men could no longer answer him.
The strange man frowned.
But the next moment.
His expression changed.
For he had already sensed that these twelve black-clad men had stopped breathing.
Dead!
Someone had silently killed twelve of his subordinates?
What sort of terrifying being could do that?
An expert had arrived!
The strange man immediately rose to his feet and looked around.
"What expert has slain my disciples? Please show yourself at once!"
Ye Qingyun's heart tightened.
I've been discovered?
Then to hell with it.
He aimed straight at the strange man.
He fired!
The bullet tore through the air.
But the next moment, Ye Qingyun was stunned.
The strange man actually reached out.
And caught the bullet.
"Holy moly!"
Ye Qingyun's jaw nearly dropped.
Today, he had witnessed with his own eyes a scene that only appeared in absurd television dramas.
Having caught the bullet, the strange man opened his palm and examined it.
"What is this thing? How can it be so hard?"
The strange man was secretly startled as well.
He had only managed to catch the bullet by relying on his profound cultivation.
Seeing that the sniper rifle could do nothing to this strange man, Ye Qingyun stopped hiding.
He stood straight up, drew two pistols, and steeled himself as he stepped into the valley.
"You practice evil arts here and harm the lives of so many children. Don't you think this offends the harmony of Heaven?"
Ye Qingyun raised the guns in both hands and demanded coldly.