Chương 13: Chapter 13 Never Been Here Before

Qi Ziru heard and saw it, the panicked figure of his nephew fleeing aimlessly, sighed in his heart, knowing it was nearly impossible for him to escape from the Demon Claw of the tall figure, and now that things had come to this point, he couldn't even take care of himself, let alone his nephew.

His gaze returned to Shi Chun's face, he nodded slightly, genuinely admiring, "With your cultivation and theirs, to cripple them with just a palm strike, such domineering palm power! No wonder Shen Youkun always said you could fight; the two of them together couldn't even withstand a single encounter with you. Truly worthy of being the Master of East Nine Plain. I was indeed arrogant and shortsighted to end up like this. No injustice at all!"

It was the first time Shi Chun had scrutinized him up close, his eyes fixated on the two talisman and the tightly held black cloth pouch in his hand. Upon hearing Qi Ziru's words, he stared at his face, "Who are you?"

Qi Ziru responded calmly, "Does it matter anymore?"

Unsatisfied with the answer, Shi Chun's eyebrows raised slightly, "It looks like you are new here. Not everyone can enter this place under any charge. I heard Shen Youkun was brought here because of something called a 'Hundred Children Banquet'. What about you? What did you do to end up here?"

The so-called "Hundred Children Banquet" was nothing good, also something Shen Youkun confessed during his captivity.

Perhaps having indulged in too many delicacies, he developed a taste for something special and got hooked on "brain tofu," later, to pursue freshness, he blatantly harmed children. During a feast with a bunch of cronies, he outrageously used a hundred boys and girls to prepare the banquet, which resulted in his exposure and incarceration.

Shen Youkun had quite a few complaints about this, considering whatever was on his territory should be upto him, and he hadn't acted alone either.

He had no complaints about the punishment, but resented those who exposed him, causing the issue to escalate.

Qi Ziru repeated his earlier words, "Does it matter anymore?"

Seeing such a perfunctory response, Shi Chun's tone deepened, "Do you think I dare not kill you?"

Qi Ziru faced him calmly, "Aren't you here to kill me after returning?"

This left Shi Chun with nothing to say; indeed, he had come to silence him.

Soon, the sound of Shen Youkun wailing 'Ah, ah' reached them, and the man himself appeared, dragged by Wu Jinliang by the hair.

Under the bright moonlight, Wu Jinliang, with one hand wielding a knife and the other dragging a person, ran swiftly, treating the man inhumanely. Before long, he was thrown down at Shi Chun's feet.

Shen Youkun immediately straightened up under Shi Chun's looming gaze, knelt right away, his forehead touching the ground, shivering, truly frightened to the point of trembling.

Seeing this, Qi Ziru could hardly bear to watch, regretfully closing his eyes – it wasn't worth involving himself in this matter of the Land of Exile for his nephew's sake.

Wu Jinliang stepped forward, placing a foot on Shen Youkun's back, he hissed, "Shen, you're really fearless, huh? Didn't anyone tell you we won't let you off if you provoke us again?"

Shen Youkun instantaneously whimpered in defense, his head bowed to the ground, "I didn't provoke you; you came here on your own accord."

"Uh...", Wu Jinliang, still stepping on Shen while leaning on his sword, couldn't help scratching his head and gave Shi Chun a sheepish laugh, "Chun Tian, it seems we indeed approached them proactively this time, wait, no..." He suddenly kicked Shen Youkun in the back a couple of times, forcing him down, "Clearly you lured us first with a pile of supplies, and dared say you didn't provoke us, blatantly disregarding our words, secretly sending us those things, clearly unwilling to put us in your eyes, and you still dare to argue..."

Shi Chun waved his hand to signal Wu Jinliang to stop and stay aside, and then went straight to the point, "Who will tell me why you dug up that skeleton underground?"

Shen Youkun immediately quieted down, sneakily glancing at his uncle.

Qi Ziru also scorned him with a glance, and calmly stated, "Shen Youkun, they've taken the risk to come back just to silence us; whether we speak or not, we'll die either way. Understand?"

He was reminding Shen Youkun to keep silent.

Shen Youkun trembled, understanding the implications.

"Damned creature!" Wu Jinliang, unsatisfied, glared at Qi Ziru with hostility, "Chun Tian, I'll take one and interrogate separately; they can't hold their tongues then."

But Shi Chun was staring at the Shen Youkun on the ground, making an unrelated reply, "So, you also know the truth."

With this statement, Qi Ziru's forehead twitched, suddenly realizing something; as expected, the moment that statement was made, the Master abruptly pulled out the knife from the ground, a streak of cold light flashing before Qi Ziru's eyes, "whoosh", his vision were abruptly filled with flying colors.

Thud - a head dropped in front of Shen Youkun, who suddenly widened his eyes, facing his uncle in such a manner was something he never anticipated, followed by splattered hot blood on his face.

"Ah!" Shen Youkun screamed like a woman, suddenly flipping backwards, sitting on the ground and scuttling away, witnessing his uncle's twitching body collapsing.

Still in shock, the bloody edge of the knife was brought before his eyes again, Shi Chun, knowing him better and more confident, threatened, "Will you talk or not?"

Shen Youkun's Adam's apple bobbed repeatedly, he swallowed hard, his voice trembling, "Even if I speak, you will still kill me to silence me."

Shi Chun held the blade to his head, "You were able to tempt me with a generous amount of supplies, so your family must already know of my existence. I truly do not wish to be troubled by your family once I leave, and Brother Shen, being no fool, would surely understand my concerns."

Upon hearing this, a glint of hope flashed in Shen Youkun's eyes.

Shi Chun continued, "I do not want to stay here forever, especially since it's not safe. Your family's reach has already extended here. I hope Brother Shen can skillfully negotiate on our behalf. If Brother Shen cooperates well, can't we all have a way to live? I believe my meaning is clear. If Brother Shen does not trust, then I am helpless, but you might as well take a gamble."

Even Wu Jinliang, upon hearing these reasonable and logical words, nodded in agreement and his gaze toward Shen Youkun softened significantly, with a hint of expectation.

Eventually, Shen Youkun decided to take the gamble.

Regardless of how his uncle warned and cautioned him, or whether his family would forgive him after speaking out, he chose to seize the immediate chance to survive. His thinking was not without reason—for if he lost the present, what future could he speak of?

Thus, he confessed his relation with Qi Ziru, as well as the purpose of this excavation. He answered every question, disclosing everything he knew.

The result surprised Shi Chun; the nephew and uncle duo did not know what the sparkling purple nebula was, which was the very mystery Shi Chun eagerly wanted to solve.

It also explained why such significant excavation was not closely guarded by the nephew and uncle—it was likely due to their ignorance.

"Chaos, chaos…" This answer made Shi Chun mutter repeatedly to himself.

He thought of the strange scenes he had seen in his right eye, which were visible just a moment ago and had now vanished. He wanted to see it again, but no matter how hard he tried to think or cast spells, it was useless; he could not retrigger that bizarre, illusion-like scene.

Shen Youkun, who had already stood up to respond, gazed eagerly at him, waiting for some reassuring words.

Coming back to his senses, Shi Chun met his gaze, feeling a bit regretful. Not knowing whether this man had concealed something or not, it was puzzling that he didn't know who to turn over the excavated Dragon Bone to, or with whom or where to rendezvous. Qi Ziru really hadn't told him anything crucial, otherwise, it might have been worth trying to dig a bit more to see if he could secure something to protect himself.

Amid Shen Youkun's expectant look, Shi Chun slowly gave his reply, "From now on, our grudges are settled!"

Shen Youkun was initially stunned, then suddenly terrified. He flustered all over, waving his hands repeatedly, but he couldn't match the speed at which Shi Chun drew his blade from the ground.

Swish! A flash of cold light passed, and blood shot up high as another head tumbled into the air, its eyes filled with disbelief.

Shi Chun flicked the blood off the blade and sheathed it behind his back.

As he watched the head roll on the ground, Wu Jinliang asked in astonishment, "Not keeping him to deal with the Qi family?"

Shi Chun said, "You're overthinking it. Given what he told us, the Qi family discarded even his uncle so easily, let alone him. Our grudges, in the eyes of the influential figures who can influence the Qi family, are merely personal and unlikely to be taken too seriously. If our involvement with this place is revealed, the Qi family will definitely not give us a way out."

"Sigh." Wu Jinliang scratched his head, resigned. To him, it made sense no matter how Shi Chun justified it, as the man was already dead. He turned and rushed excitedly toward Qi Ziru to pick up the black cloth bag tightly held in Qi's hand along with two talismans.

Shi Chun glanced and immediately shouted, "Don't touch!"

Wu Jinliang, bending to reach for it, froze and looked up in confusion, "What do you mean? Shen Youkun said, this 'Qiankun Bag' is no ordinary Magical Treasure if put in the outside world. Such a treasure, how could we miss? Taking it could secure our food and drink worries."

"Don't touch!" Shi Chun warned again, then strode toward the corpses killed on the slope, "No matter how tempting, we can't touch it. We need to keep our hands off their possessions if we want to live. Remember, we were never here; we have nothing to do with whatever happened here!"

Wu Jinliang, itching to take it but not foolish, forcibly retracted his hand and quickly followed Shi Chun, surprised when Shi Chun lifted the masked man's veil, "Him? Isn't this Brother Tian from Youle River? Don't you remember? You've met before and even exchanged courtesies."

Shi Chun frowned slightly but said little. He uncovered two more sedan bearers' heads to check their faces, giving up upon not recognizing them, looking around for a while before taking a deep breath and saying, "We cannot stay here long," then swiftly disappeared into the night.

Wu Jinliang took a quick look around and, carrying a large saber, hurried after him. Soon, both vanished into the night.

Not long after they left, a figure leisurely appeared in the high sky.

It was a peculiar middle-aged man, flying through the night without rain, holding a large black umbrella.

Tall and slender, with shoulder-length black hair blowing in the wind, his face was handsome with a slight stubble, exuding a mature and attractive masculine charm. He wore a black garment with golden patterns and an overcoat of loose violet tulle, appearing unstrained and aloof, his presence radiating a solitary defiance of the world.

Suddenly, hovering mid-air, he stopped his flight and focused intensely on a valley below, where the extensive digging and soil displacement was unmistakably conspicuous, an unnatural sight clearly resulting from organized excavation.

He was drawn here by the noise of the collapse, which did not seem like something that people of normal cultivation in the Land of Exile could cause, hence he had come to inspect this area.

His gaze then briefly shifted again as the weapons scattered outside the valley reflected moonlight and caught his attention.

In the next moment, he vanished into thin air, reappearing beside the scattered weapons, walking slowly with his umbrella held aloft.

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