The dozens of cultivators looked down at them from midair. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Murong Hai took a step back. His eyes grew as wide as that of a cow and he stammered, "Ol-old Mis-mis-mister, the-they are all eight-meridians Brahma Sea experts. This... this..."
'I've told you this is a trap! Look what you have brought me into now!'
"I know." Lu Zhou nodded.
'Ugh?' Murong Hai felt like crying. 'We are about to die, and that's all you can say? You know?'
Murong Hai's family ran businesses of the common people. Although he was a fish in water in the business world, he was just an ant in the face of these cultivators. They were from two completely different worlds. What else could he do but be afraid? Yes, he had opened five apertures of the Mystic Enlightening realm, but with such a cultivation base, he did not even have the qualification to stand in front of Brahma Sea experts.
"Old Mister, I think we should run away now!" he suggested. He knew Little Yuan'er was an eight-meridians Brahma Sea expert, so if she could hold back these cultivators for a while, they might have a chance to escape.
However, Lu Zhou's expression was calm, as if he had not heard Murong Hai's words and was focusing all his attention on the field.
'Crazy...he must be crazy!'
Meanwhile, Little Yuan'er showed no fear at all either. Instead, she looked up at the cultivators and rested one hand on her hip while pointing at them with the other and counting, "One, two, three, four, five..."
"What is she counting?" The group of cultivators frowned at her.
The leader of the group said in an angry voice, "We never kill nameless people. Tell us your name!"
"Twelve Brahma Sea cultivators," Little Yuan'er said smilingly after she had finished counting.
The leader paused for a moment, as if he could not believe that he was ignored by a little girl. Right then, a cultivator beside him whispered to him, "That senior asks us to kill whoever comes to rescue the hostages...'
While nodding, the leader said, "We are paid to solve problems. It's rare for you to achieve such a strong cultivation base at this young age, but too bad you got yourself involved with the Ci Family."
The eleven cultivators behind him moved forward, surrounding Little Yuan'er in the blink of an eye.
"Who paid you to do this?" Lu Zhou's husky voice rang out.
"Who are you, old man?" The leader glanced at Lu Zhou and Murong Hai. When he saw that one of them was in the Sense Condensing realm, while the other was in the Mystic Enlightening realm, he shook his head.
Lu Zhou shook his head as well. He realized that reasons and rules in this world were determined by those who had a bigger fist in the end.
"Yuan'er." He gestured at Little Yuan'er.
The girl gave him a knowing smile as she spread her arms and lightly kicked the ground, leaving a pit behind as she leaped into the air.
"Ah?" Murong Hai was completely struck dumb, and he perfectly demonstrated the look of someone who had never seen the world. Meanwhile, the twelve Brahma Sea cultivators were taken aback by Little Yuan'er's aura.
"Kill her!"
As soon as the leader gave the order, Little Yuan'er's laughter rang through the mountain. Then, she disappeared from where she stood.
"The Seven Stars Cloud Treading Steps." It was the most essential part of the movement technique given to her by Ji Tiandao, which allowed her to tread in the air, moving as stealthily as a shadow and as fast as a bolt of lightning.
For a moment, she was everywhere in the sky, dazzling the eyes of all the cultivators.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
One Brahma Sea cultivator after another was kicked down from the air, and instead of falling, they were forcefully thrown to the ground.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Murong Hai was dumbfounded, and he thought, 'Is an eight-meridians Brahma Sea cultivator really so strong?'
"Ding! An evil man is killed. You are rewarded with 10 merit points."
"Ding! An evil man is killed. You are rewarded with 10 merit points."
...
In just the span of a few breaths, Little Yuan'er had kicked eleven cultivators to the ground. Each of them was thrown into the earth with his head cracked, his face covered in blood, and his life lost. By now, the last cultivator stared at her with a blank face, as if he were so scared that he had lost his ability to think.
Little Yuan'er appeared in front of him. She looked so calm that it seemed those dead men beneath had nothing to do with her. Waving her hand, she said, "Do you need my help?"
"No...No, no! I can go down by myself."
Plop.
The leader retracted his energy and allowed himself to fall freely to the ground. It could at least save his life, or so he thought.
As soon as he landed, the pungent smell of blood stung his nostrils and nerves like a sharp blade. 'Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here?' For a moment, he forgot everything, but then he remembered that he had accepted a lucrative task, which was to kidnap the whole Ci Family and kill whoever came to rescue them.
...
Murong Hai finally came to his senses. He swallowed and felt as if he were dreaming.
Lu Zhou walked up slowly and said, "You've done a good job."
"Hehe! Grandpa finally praised me!" Little Yuan'er had purposely spared one man and killed the rest, which surprised Lu Zhou.
He rested his eyes on the survivor and said coldly, "Who is the mastermind?"
The man looked up with difficulty at the old man in front of him and said, "I don't know."
"Where are the hostages?"
"Someone had taken them away."
"Who?"
"I...I don't know."
"Have you seen his face?"
"No..."
It seemed that no answers could be dug out of his mouth. Little Yuan'er was furious at his replies while Lu Zhou also slightly furrowed his brow, staring at the leader, who lay on his hands and knees, holding his breath and clutching the ground with his shaking fingers.
"Kill him," said Lu Zhou in a faint voice.
"What! Aren't you going to ask me a few more questions? Hold on! I'll tell you everything! Don't kill me!"
Lu Zhou no longer looked at him but clasped his hands and walked toward the mountain.
Little Yuan'er chuckled and said, "Why didn't you tell us just now?"
It was not that the leader did not want to tell them. He was a Brahma Sea expert after all, and he was unhurt, so he felt ashamed to disclose everything after just being casually questioned.
"The whole Ci Family is on Bluesun Mountain, but their family head has been taken away by my employer...I…I really don't know the identity of my employer!"
The leader hurriedly told them the key important information. But, Lu Zhou did not turn back. He was thinking about how he could find the group of cunning disciples. He had only two peak-form experience cards left, so he could not use them to search for his disciples.
Little Yuan'er said, "You are amazing, Grandpa! He told me everything after you scared him!"
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I didn't scare him."
"Grandpa?"
"This place is indeed a trap. The mastermind had purposely left behind a message. If he didn't tell us, others would. So, what's the point of sparing his life?"
If there were any value to the man, that would be providing Lu Zhou some merit points.
"..."
Upon hearing that, the leader slumped to the ground and his face turned deathly pale.
...
At the Derived Moon Palace...
Dozens of female cultivators skimmed over the mountains and landed one after another.
It was a cultivating ground that looked like a wonderland, and the female cultivators were akin to fairies living in here. Who would have thought that this was the Derived Moon Palace, the dwelling place of Ye Tianxin, who killed people without batting an eye and bore the title of Jadeface Shura?
"Master, we've received a letter. An old man and a young girl are approaching the Ci Family's residence."
Ye Tianxin and Zhao Yue stood up at the same time when they heard that.
"Have their identities been confirmed?"
"They look somewhat similar to the portraits, but our people did not dare to confirm their identities."
Similar?
Ye Tianxin laughed and said, "With that old man's temper, he would never disguise himself. As far as I know, Third Senior Brother has been injured, and the Righteous Sect has sent experts to Golden Court Mountain. Also, after the death of Luo Changfeng, the sect leader of the Heavenly Sword Sect, there has been no one to succeed him. Their former sect leader, Luo Xingkong, is constantly looking for an opportunity to avenge his son. Fourth Senior Brother alone can never stop a Nascent Divinity Tribulation expert."
Zhao Yue knew what she was trying to tell her. This was the best timing to exhaust Ji Tiandao's trump cards.
"What if these two aren't impersonators?"
Ye Tianxin chuckled. "Then the old thing would fall right into our trap!"
"Master, we've received another letter. The cultivators of the Lakeside Gang on Bluesun Mountain are all dead, and the whole Ci Family, except their family head, have escaped."
Ye Tianxin's eyes lit up, and she did not seem surprised. "The person who can kill all the cultivators of the Lakeside Gang is most likely to be...Little Junior Sister."
After all, there were not many Divine Court experts. Those from the top ten orthodox sects had no reason to rescue an insignificant family. Only Little Yuan'er had the motive.
"Send a letter to Evil King. Inform him that the plan remains unchanged and to get ready for action."
"I understand!"