Free Web NovelChapter 191: Chapter 188: Killing Intent and the Yellow Oriole
Shen Changchuan was in a terrible mood.
He had not expected this.
It hadn’t been long at all.
Yet members of the Shen Family had already arrived, their eyes set on Dawan Village.
He was just an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.
It seemed those Shen Family members had stumbled upon this place by accident while hunting Shen Chong. They saw Dawan Village’s prosperity and got ideas...
A complete accident.
But regardless of the reason,
the threat they posed was very real!
’If Si Houqing hadn’t secretly notified me, I would’ve never known you were here... It seems I need to plant some spies in the village. I can’t be this passive again...’
’But that’s for later. First, I’ll deal with you!’
A cold glint flashed in Shen Changchuan’s eyes.
He stepped forward.
His figure flickered like a phantom, disappearing into the vast curtain of rain in the blink of an eye.
Faced with the schemes of these people—who seemed to be the Great Madam’s subordinates—
Shen Changchuan didn’t actually have any clever solutions.
Fortunately, however,
reality wasn’t some palace intrigue drama,
and he didn’t need to engage in cutthroat schemes against them and the Great Madam behind them to protect his foundation.
He just needed to eliminate the people causing the problem.
Clean and simple.
In the desolate wilderness,
it was perfectly reasonable for someone to die.
And it would be even more reasonable if they were killed by Shen Chong—who, in a way, was his brother...
...
Heavy, mountain-like dark clouds covered the sky.
A torrential downpour shrouded the land.
Within the dense forest of towering, ancient trees,
several figures rose and fell, weaving through the rain-battered woods like gray arrows.
The dense rain and the mountain leeches flicking off the surrounding trees were all torn to shreds by the sharp gale of their Magical Power.
During the rainy season, the seemingly endless mountain leeches were a lethal threat to ordinary Cultivators of the Qi Introduction Realm.
But for Cultivators like them, at the Eighth and Ninth Layer Realm,
they were nothing more than a nuisance.
Several minutes later,
the group had covered several miles and crossed a valley. The one in the lead paused on a tree trunk.
Gazing at the slimy mountain leeches swarming madly toward his feet,
the man’s face twisted in disgust.
With a jolt of Magical Power,
he blasted the surrounding leeches into a fine paste.
However, the fluctuation of Magical Power in the area undoubtedly attracted even more leeches, which began to fall with a SPLATTER, almost like rain.
This sight
made the leader’s expression darken further.
With a light push of his feet,
his figure leaped up,
a Magical Power Shield protecting his body as he shot skyward. He ascended several dozen feet before landing on the crown of a massive ancient tree.
The leader stood firm atop the canopy,
surrounded only by the howling wind and fierce rain.
At least he no longer had to watch those disgusting, writhing mountain leeches fall from all directions.
At the same time,
Shen Zeyu and the others below all rushed up to join him.
They stood atop the canopy, panting slightly and taking a brief rest.
"Zeyu, what’s the situation?"
"The Blood-Tracking Talisman is still reacting. He’s dozens of miles away..."
"Damn it! That little brat is too good at running! If we catch him this time, I’ll break both his legs first!"
"Do you think he’s spotted us and is trying to lure us into a trap?"
"It’s possible. He must be baiting us, dangling just ahead. Otherwise, how could there still be a gap of dozens of miles after we’ve chased him for nearly sixty miles?"
"That makes sense. It was a similar situation last time. I went after him and fell right into his trap. Almost didn’t make it out..."
"So what do we do? Stop chasing him?"
"We can’t. We barely managed to get a lock on the little bastard this time. If we don’t finish the job now, who knows how long it’ll take to find a trace of him again... Besides, I’m afraid we’re out of time..."
Sprinting at full speed for over sixty miles in a torrential downpour,
while constantly maintaining a Magical Power Shield to repel the swarms of mountain leeches covering the forest—
even for them, having reached the Eighth and Ninth Layer Realm, it was starting to take a toll.
But given the current situation,
they had no choice but to keep going.
"We have to keep chasing, but we can’t let that kid keep stringing us along."
"Does anyone know where this path leads? What’s his destination?"
"This direction... I think it leads to Wu Family Collection!"
"Wu Family Collection? Hasn’t that place been sealed off for over half a year? What’s he going there for?"
"I don’t know, but if his destination really is Wu Family Collection, we’re in trouble... The Wu Family is a local power. Rumor has it they now have two True Cultivators of the Soul Emergence Realm in their family, and one of their clan’s young prodigies joined the Yuqing Upper Sect... If he gets their protection, there’s not much we can do..."
"This... Damn it! Hurry! Regardless of whether that brat has any connection to the Wu Family, we have to prevent that possibility!"
"We have to intercept him before he gets there!"
The Wu Family was nothing compared to the Tian Nan Shen Clan,
but the problem was,
they were merely at the Eighth and Ninth Layer, not the Soul Emergence Realm!
If the Wu Family truly decided to protect that brat,
they would be virtually powerless.
It wasn’t that the Tian Nan Shen Clan’s reputation was insufficient;
it was that their own cultivation was too low. They couldn’t represent the Shen Clan!
Left with no other choice,
forgetting all about resting,
the group leaped from the treetops.
They shot through the curtain of rain like cannonballs, accelerating in the direction Shen Chong had disappeared.
A long moment later,
after their figures had completely vanished into the vast curtain of rain,
Shen Changchuan’s figure seemed to step out from the shadows, silently appearing on the crown of the massive ancient tree where they had just been standing.
He gazed in the direction they had left,
his brow furrowing slightly.
’Wu Family Collection?’
’What’s Shen Chong doing there?’
A flicker of doubt crossed his mind.
But he quickly shook his head.
’Forget it. No point worrying about it. I just need to follow... I hope these guys manage to catch up to Shen Chong... That way, I can be the oriole, waiting patiently behind them...’
A cold light flashed in Shen Changchuan’s eyes,
a frigid killing intent flickering and then vanishing.
No matter what,
those men had to die!
He had decreed it!
In the next instant,
Shen Changchuan’s figure became a phantom, silently fading from the treetop.
...
「The Underground Cavern World.」
The labyrinthine underground caverns, a vast and boundless maze, crisscrossed the earth for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles.
It was because of the existence of this massive network of caverns
that during the rainy season, the rainfall—which should have been enough to theoretically submerge the entire mountain forest—did not actually turn the Border Desolate Forest into a flooded world.
Within the vast, deep cavern,
Shen Tingchu walked slowly forward, his gaze fixed straight ahead.
The ROAR of a rushing torrent echoed from all around.
He did not look around.
It was as if something ahead had captured his undivided attention.
Ever since learning the cavern’s entrance from Shen Changchuan,
he had been walking inside for five days.
He didn’t know where he was in the underground cavern system, or what part of the surface was above him.
But he knew.
His destination
was close!
"Stop, Shen Tingchu. Perhaps we can cooperate..."
