Chapter 981: Made a Scapegoat
Chapter 981: Made a Scapegoat
The black-robed man laughed sinisterly and said, “Since you know who I am, you should quickly leave behind your belongings. I can still spare your lives.”
Zu An was curious. This person seemed to be pretty famous. He wondered who the man was. The amount of time he had spent in this world was still way too short, and he had been affiliated with the royal court for so long. He didn’t know much about the world of wandering warriors.
Sun Ji just happened to ask the question Zu An had been wondering about. “Elder Yang, who is he?”
Yang Long didn’t reply. His eyes didn’t leave the black robed man’s body even for a second as he said, “I might have actually believed the lie if I didn’t know who you were. However, when has the evil way’s infamous Thick-Browed Daoist ever spared anyone?”
“Thick-Browed Daoist?” Zu An frowned. He had never heard of such a person. Is this person really formidable? However, he saw the two eyebrows inside of his cloak. They were indeed thick and black after all, just like his nickname.
Sun Ji said angrily, “What ‘thick brows’ or ‘thin brows’? In a place like Yi Commandery, if we put King Yan aside, our Sun clan has the final say! I advise you to know your place; perhaps then, our Sun clan might still take you in as a follower and present you with a bright future. Otherwise, you’ll die without even knowing how it happened.”
Yang Long frowned. He wanted to tell Sun Ji to stop, but he decided not to. The other party’s vicious reputation was well known; it didn’t make a difference whether Sun Ji provoked him further or not. That was why Yang Long didn’t bother stopping him.
Thick-Browed Daoist roared with laughter when he heard that. “Hahaha, what a cultivator trains is their own body; their own insight is everything. What they pursue is a heart of freedom and transcendence. I, Thick-Brows, have no interest in living as a dog for your clan.”
Yang Long’s face heated up in embarrassment. The other party clearly treated him like the Sun clan’s dog, even though he was also a cultivator and had his own clan. He immediately retorted, “What’s wrong with requesting the help of a ruling clan in acquiring skill? The path of cultivation needs endless resources; how can one handle this need just by relying on yourself? The so-called freedom you speak of has left your hands covered in blood. You’ve killed other cultivators to steal their resources and cultivation, so how is that any more noble?”
Zu An was stunned. He hadn’t expected Thick-Browed Daoist to also rely on stealing the cultivation of others! Tsk tsk tsk, as expected, such a skill is definitely an evil one in a world of cultivators! I definitely can’t expose my Heaven Devouring Art to others, or else I’ll have everyone after my ass…
Thick-Browed Daoist harrumphed. “Stop trying to stall for time. Die!” His black robes fluttered, and a black mist swept towards the carriage.
“Young master, be careful!” Yang Long quickly moved to protect Sun Ji.
The other guards all faced the great enemy, bringing out their most powerful skills to fend off the black mist. Unfortunately, their skills vanished into the black mist without accomplishing anything. Miserable screams emerged one after another. The guards with lower cultivations were already being pulled toward Thick-Browed Daoist by the black mist.
“Hahaha…” Thick-Browed Daoist reached out his hands and pressed down on those people’s heads. As his laughter echoed through the air, their vitality was quickly sucked away, turning them into dried-up corpses.
“I feel absolutely fantastic…” Thick-Browed Daoist tossed the dried corpses aside and licked his lips in reminiscence of the flavor. When his eyes swept over the survivors, those from the Sun clan gulped with difficulty.
Zu An frowned. This guy’s killing intent was way too strong! Furthermore, he could tell that even though there were some similarities between his cultivation technique and the Heaven Devouring Art, the two techniques were actually fundamentally different.
The efficiency of this man’s technique was too low, and he absorbed all kinds of impurities into his body. If this continued for a long time, there would be problems with his body. At the same time, his own temperament would become molded by the victims’ negative emotions. If left unresolved, it would lead to madness or mental disorders. This man was probably already close to such a result. It was no wonder that he seemed a bit neurotic and so bloodthirsty.
While Zu An was thinking to himself, Thick-Browed Daoist rushed out toward Sun Ji.
Sun Ji himself had five ranks of cultivation, which was normally enough for him to strut around confidently. But just then, when he was faced with the incoming killing intent, he only felt his entire body tremble and go weak. He couldn’t produce a single thought of resistance.
Yang Long roared out. After all, he was a seventh ranked cultivator. Countless icicles flew at the other party.
“An ice element cultivator…” Zu An couldn’t help but think of Chu Chuyan. He wondered if she was already back at that sect of hers.
Thick-Browed Daoist swept his spacious sleeves outward, and the pitch-black mist appeared in the center of his palm. The icicles instantly melted and disappeared.
Yang Long hadn’t expected his attack to be able to stop the other party. A cold glint flickered in the air, and a long spear appeared from behind him and thrust at his opponent. The spear was completely silver, and its entire body emanated an icy chill.
Zu An’s eyes widened. Where did this guy get such a long spear from? Wait, I think he got it from behind his butt, right? Hold up…
The spear produced a mirage of afterimages, and Thick-Browed Daoist was quickly trapped within. He soon appeared to have been sealed in a silkworm cocoon-like block of ice.
Those from the Sun clan cheered. Only Yang Long’s brow remained tightly furrowed.
A malicious voice suddenly spoke from within the ice. “In terms of spear arts, you’ve already attained quite some mastery. Unfortunately, the difference between seven and eight ranks of cultivation isn’t something skill alone can overcome. You don’t understand what it means to borrow the force of the world at all.”
The massive chunk of ice around Thick-Browed Daoist cracked like an eggshell as soon as he said that. Then, shards of ice were sent flying everywhere as a dark figure rushed out from within.
Yang Long was horrified and screamed out, “Run, young master!” He charged with his spear, but the other party didn’t even bother dodging. Thick-Browed Daoist struck Yang Long’s spear with his palm, and the imposing weapon split in half on the spot. Then, another palm slammed into Yang Long’s chest.
Blood sprayed out from Yang Long’s mouth as he flew in reverse. For better or for worse, he had cultivated for many years, so he was thankfully able to free himself from the other party’s control at a critical moment, avoiding the fate of being sucked dry into a withered corpse. However, that already used up all of his remaining strength. He collapsed onto the ground, no longer possessing even a shred of strength.
Meanwhile, Sun Ji was absolutely horrified. He pushed a subordinate off his horse and got on, urging the animal to run as fast as it could. The other guards took the chance to flee in several different directions.
Thick-Browed Daoist harrumphed. With a wave of his sleeves, the weapons scattered on the ground fired outward. They accurately pierced through the backs of the guards like guided missiles. Not a single one survived. He gave the direction Sun Ji had escaped toward a look. He kicked off, and a split second later, he instantly appeared in front of Sun Ji.
“Neigh~!” The horse’s front hooves rose in alarm. Thick-Browed Daoist harrumphed, smacking the horse in the head. The horse shriveled up at a visible rate, and quickly lost its life.
Sun Ji was flung right off. He wanted to run, but he discovered that his legs weren’t listening to him today for some reason. He continued to nudge his body backward, running his mouth in a desperate plea. “Great senior, you only want the goods, right? I’ll give it all to you; we don’t have to go as far as killing, right? After all, this is the Yi Commandery, so it’ll still be quite troublesome if you end up carrying a grudge with the Sun clan!”
Thick-Browed Daoist nodded and said, “You’re correct. Offending your Sun clan in Yi Commandery is an extremely troublesome thing.”
Sun Ji was overjoyed when he heard that. He continued “As long as senior lets me go, I won’t pursue today’s matter at all! Those guards have already died; our Sun clan won’t treat it as a big deal! The items are here, senior; please be magnanimous!” As he handed over the pouch carrying the auction’s goods, he had a fawning smile on his face.
Zu An sneered. Those guards had died while trying to protect Sun Ji, and yet all their deaths had managed to do was produce such a scene.
Thick-Browed Daoist examined the contents. After confirming that there was no mistake, he put the pouch away. There was an amused smile on his face as his palm struck Sun Ji’s head.
“You…” Sun Ji only had the time to utter one word before he died. Then, his body fell limply to the ground.
Thick-Browed Daoist said with a sneer, “Offending your Sun clan is annoying, but who will know I was the one who did it if I kill all of you?”
When he heard that, Yang Long released a long sigh and said, “There are no walls that don’t leak wind in this world. The Sun clan will definitely find you.”
After saying that, he struck his own forehead and ended his life. He knew he wasn’t going to survive. Rather than letting the other party suck away his cultivation, he decided that it was better for him to just end his own life.
Thick-Browed Daoist walked over. When he confirmed that Yang Long was indeed dead, he said mockingly, “There’s already a scapegoat ready to take the blame, so how could the Sun clan ever realize that it was me?”
He cleaned up the scene while saying that. He took out a bottle and scattered the contents on the bodies he had sucked dry. The corpses disappeared at a visible rate, and the ashes were blown away by the cool evening breeze.
Zu An nodded inwardly. This person was quite cautious. He had gotten rid of the corpses to prevent people from suspecting him.
Then, Thick-Browed Daoist walked over to Yang Long’s body. He wrote down the number ‘333’ on the ground next to him. In order to make it look as convincing as possible, he only wrote half of the last 3, then placed Yang Long’s hand over that number.
After completing all of his preparations, he nodded in satisfaction. He was just about to leave when someone sighed nearby, saying, “Someone like you who dares to commit the deed but won’t take responsibility, instead making an innocent person take the blame… Do you have no conscience at all?”