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墨書 Inktalez
“Old Man Death, what are you looking at? This method is becoming less effective. I've tortured them for so long, and people have died, yet no one has come. Who would be foolish enough to show up now?”
Seeing the reaction of the Middle-aged Man, the Beautiful Woman said discontentedly.
“Is that so? There are still some fools in this world with an excess of justice,” the Middle-aged Man replied, still staring at the large rock, deep in thought, a faint smile appearing on his face.
The Beautiful Woman noticed his smile and suddenly looked up with joy, saying, “Are you saying someone is here? Great! I'll go bring people to capture them right now!”
“No need for that. The ones who came this time are not ordinary people, and besides, they’ve already left. You should stay here; I can handle it alone,” the Middle-aged Man stopped her recklessness. He could sense that the visitors were different from those before.
“And your hostility is growing stronger. At this rate, it will be impossible for you to break through to the Bone Refinement Realm. I know that what happened Back Then has changed your temperament, but you’ve been stuck in the Blood Refinement Realm for so many years. If you continue like this, don’t expect to break through in this lifetime or hope for a day of revenge.”
Hearing the Middle-aged Man mention Back Then, the Beautiful Woman's face twisted with resentment: “Back Then, if it weren't for your incompetence, I wouldn’t have been captured by those people. I’ve become what I am now because of you; it’s all your fault for being useless!”
The Beautiful Woman's hysterical hatred did not change the Middle-aged Man's expression; he had long grown accustomed to her behavior over the years. To him, his Daughter had long since died; this was merely a madwoman filled with twisted hatred. If it weren't for his promise to his wife, he would have long since abandoned her to her own fate.
“Keep an eye on her; don’t let her run around.”
The Middle-aged Man instructed before suddenly leaping into the air. He pushed off from the mountain wall and flipped onto the giant rock where Lufan and the others had been hiding. After determining the direction, he headed northwest in pursuit.
The remaining woman’s face was twisted with rage as she watched the Middle-aged Man disappear. She turned to the others and said, “Tie up the one who’s still alive; I haven’t finished torturing him yet!”
Meanwhile, as the Middle-aged Man was chasing after them, Lufan and his group had retreated five miles before stopping, their faces somewhat unnatural as they were clearly shocked by what the Beautiful Woman had said.
“I didn’t expect that woman to look decent but be so vicious; she’s truly heartless!” Miko patted her chest, still feeling shaken.
“Those people are clearly ruthless; those two won’t survive. We are powerless against them,” Zhao Xingjian said.
"Not only that, but these people are mostly Martial Cultivators at the Flesh Refinement and Blood Refinement stages. That middle-aged man with the knife is even more dangerous; he is at least a Fourth Rank Bone Refinement Martial Cultivator. That's why I told you to leave. If we stay too long, he will likely discover us," Duanmu Xue said with a serious expression.
The group was taken aback. A Fourth Rank expert was not something they could handle. With their current strength, even dealing with a Shadow Leopard was difficult enough; facing an opponent of the same level as a Fourth Rank expert would leave them with almost no chance of winning.
Unlike primal beasts, whose strength lies in their physical prowess, humans can barely fight back using their intelligence. However, when facing other human experts, it’s different. In terms of combat experience and skill, high-level Martial Cultivators completely overpower lower-level ones, creating a gap that feels utterly hopeless.
"What should we do now? They are blocking our way back. If we take a detour, it will take at least two more days. By then, if the Shadow Leopard's scent dissipates, it will be troublesome as well," Zhao Xingjian raised a question.
Thinking about this made several of them frown. Duanmu Xue looked at the sky and gritted her teeth, saying, "Taking a detour is too far. We can wait until nightfall. It's getting dark now; let's find a place to rest first. Then we can sneak past them under the cover of darkness; they won't notice."
There was actually another option: to discard the Shadow Leopard's Primordial Meat. This way, they wouldn't be constrained by time limits anymore. However, a Fourth Rank primal beast was too precious for them to consider that.
Thus, everyone agreed with this decision. They found a secluded cave to stay in, recovering their strength while waiting for nightfall.
As it approached dusk, the temperature in the mountains began to drop. They lit a small fire to keep warm.
During this time, Lufan had been silent, lost in thought, and his strange behavior finally caught everyone's attention.
"Lufan, what are you thinking? You've looked off since we saw those people earlier," Duanmu Xue asked.
"You all don't seem very surprised; is this kind of thing common?" Lufan suddenly looked up and asked.
The others were taken aback and confused. Duanmu Xue asked, "What do you mean?"
"I mean those people from earlier who could kill without hesitation over a few medicinal herbs."
Duanmu Xue looked at him strangely: "That's quite normal—it's almost too normal. For these bandits, there's nothing they wouldn't do. Don't even mention killing for a few herbs; sometimes they might torture someone to death just for their own amusement. Didn't you see that earlier? They are nothing but scum."
"This is not all," Zhao Xingjian said. "I once heard about a Herbalist who found a Primordial Medicine and was captured by Robbers. He managed to escape from their hands, but later those Robbers infiltrated the city, kidnapped his wife and children, and threatened him to hand over the Primordial Medicine. In the end, right in front of him, they strangled his wife and children to death. The Herbalist went mad on the spot."
Lufan's heart sank as he recalled what the Beautiful Woman had said earlier, swallowing hard. "Isn't there anyone to manage this? After all, there's still the Lord's Mansion and the City Guard, right?"
"City Guard? Hmph, the City Guard is just a bunch of useless people. They only care about extorting ordinary Herbalists; they won't manage anything else. Every Herbalist has to give them forty percent of their harvest; that's all they care about.
There are even rumors that the family of that Herbalist was taken away with the tacit approval of the City Guard, with a reward of seventy percent of that Primordial Medicine. Otherwise, do you think they could easily take people out of the city?
Some even say that the Robbers in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains are allowed to exist by the Lord's Mansion itself, serving the purpose of having one play the good cop and another play the bad cop, both squeezing every Herbalist's harvest."
Lufan felt a chill in his heart, not expecting the truth to be like this. "So does that mean we also have to give them forty percent of our harvest this time?"
"Not at all. We are from Qingyang Academy, which directly cultivates and supplies talent for Silver Moon Sect. The Lord's Mansion doesn't dare to reach out here."
Duanmu Xue suddenly said, "But the premise is that our harvest this time cannot be exposed. Otherwise, if they find out we obtained nearly a hundred Herbs and even a White Jade Mushroom, a Primordial Medicine, they would go crazy. Who knows what they might do then?"
Everyone felt a shiver; they all knew this harvest was too great. Wealth can stir people's hearts, and when riches reach a certain level, it can drive people mad and lead them to take risks or commit crazy acts.
"Is that so? It seems my luck is really good to encounter such a big harvest and even have a treasure like the White Jade Mushroom. It looks like heaven must have seen me suffer too much and specially came to compensate me."
At that moment, a voice suddenly echoed from outside the cave entrance, causing everyone's faces to change dramatically!
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