Chapter 281: Seeing Wealth Provokes Evil Designs
A group of six martial practitioners appeared from the dense aquatic greenery in front of them. The six conversed openly, having no idea that Qin Lie and Song Tingyu were closing in on them.
“This area is pretty far from the center of combat. The evil races would not send their men to this place, would they? What’s there to check?” a frank voice exclaimed.
“Yeah, it’s a complete waste of time to come here and investigate,” a woman agreed.
“My master said that the lower level’s tornado passed through this place, and he’s worried that the evil race clansmen might have been sent here. That’s why he asked us to come over and have a look. Hmm, we’ll just circle the area randomly, that’s all. There’s no need to worry too much.”
“…”
The six spoke amongst themselves and roamed everywhere within the gloom. From time to time, they would talk about the surroundings, appearing rather relaxed.
Qin Lie glanced at Song Tingyu beside him with a questioning gaze.
Both of them were hidden within a bush of aquatic plants, carefully obscuring their bodies while observing the group from afar. She lowered her voice and said, “Some of them are from Blue Feather Association and the rest seem to be from Purple Mist Sea. Their Realms can’t be considered high. Four of them are in the early stage of the Manifestation Realm, one is in the middle stage of the Manifestation Realm, and there’s even one in the Natal Opening Realm…”
Qin Lie watched attentively and quickly identified the realms of the six with her guidance.
“Blue Feather Association and Purple Mist Sea are both subordinate Black Iron forces of Eight Extreme Temple. After the evil nether passageway opened, Dark Asura Hall, Seven Fiends Valley, Dark Shadow Tower, and other forces who are subordinate to us evacuated the Nether Battlefield to fight around the evil nether passageway,” Song Tingyu explained softly. “Therefore, the martial practitioners who currently operate in the Nether Battlefield are all from Eight Extreme Temple and their subordinate forces. Eight Extreme Temple isn’t too friendly with Profound Heaven Alliance, so the both of us will have to be a little more careful.”
Qin Lie nodded quietly, indicating that he understood.
“Let me deal with this.” Song Tingyu took out a thin, flesh-colored mask and carefully pressed it onto her beautiful face. The moment she put on the delicate mask, her extraordinarily beautiful face was covered.
Qin Lie turned around and realized that the jade white skin color on her face had become lightless and dim. Her nose, her red lips, her cheeks, and the rest of her face were transformed, each the to a specific degree… into a normal looking face.
She took out a copper mirror and, after carefully checking and seeing no obvious flaws, smiled at Qin Lie . She said, “There’s no other way. I am too famous in the Scarlet Tide Continent. Many people will recognize me on the spot. If I walked out without a disguise, anyone would know who I am.”
“Mn, I can see that,” Qin Lie said indifferently.
Song Tingyu’s exquisite beauty was unique. Almost no one would forget her if they saw her even once.
She also frequented Eight Extreme Temple and participated in many grand meetings between Profound Heaven Alliance and Eight Extreme Temple. Therefore, there were many people who could recognize her. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, it was a good idea to disguise herself for a while.
“Cough cough…”
After confirming that she had not missed anything else, Song Tingyu then coughed softly and willingly exposed her position to the other party.
“Who is it?”
“Who goes there?”
“Who’s hiding here?”
All six men and women were around thirty years old. After hearing her cough, they all grew wary.
“We are from Seven Fiends Valley,” Song Tingyu exclaimed.
After hearing that it was the voice of a human, the six let out a clear sigh of relief. The leader Ren Nan waved his hands for everyone else to follow while he raised his voice and yelled, “You people from Seven Fiends Valley, why have you not evacuated? Weren’t you, Dark Asura Hall, and Dark Shadow Tower supposed to leave for the evil nether passageway not long ago?”
Ren Nan was tall and broad. He was thirty five years old with a thick mustache, at the middle stage of the Manifestation Realm, and was a Purple Mist Sea martial practitioner.
There were also three other martial practitioners at the early stage of the Manifestation Realm. They hailed from Purple Mist Sea as well and were Ren Nan’s junior brothers.
The remaining Blue Feather Association martial practitioners were all women. One was at the early stage of the Manifestation Realm while the other was at the late stage of the Natal Opening Realm. They appeared to be around twenty years old, looking beautiful and rather attractive.
The six of them formed a small team that was responsible for inspecting this region and confirming that there were no evil races who snuck in from this direction.
Since there were two women from Blue Feather Association, Ren Nan and the others flattered them both greatly along the way and didn’t really feel bored. He didn’t treat this mission seriously either.
Unlike Blue Feather Association and Purple Mist Sea, Seven Fiends Valley was the subordinate force of Profound Heaven Alliance. In the Nether Battlefield, the subordinate forces of Eight Extreme Temple and Profound Heaven Alliance more or less rubbed each other the wrong way.
Ren Nan had come across people of Seven Fiends Valley quite a few times. There were even a few times where they fought privately against each other, so when he heard that the other party hailed from Seven Fiends Valley, he didn’t look too happy. His hand wave was also an indicator that his group should not be too welcoming of the other party.
The group of six, four men and two women, came across the puddle in a circular formation.
Song Tingyu’s expression was calm as she and Qin Lie automatically walked forward and appeared before the six. She did not wait for the six to surround them in a half circle.
Ren Nan’s ferocious eyes swept across Song Tingyu’s and Qin Lie’s bodies before finally falling upon Song Tingyu’s attractive, soaking wet body…
She might have covered up her face, but she had not managed to cover up her perfect body. Her figure alone was still infinitely attractive.
The rest of the three Purple Mist Sea martial practitioners were just like Ren Nan, sweeping their glances wantonly across Song Tingyu’s body. Finally Ren Nan asked, “Why are you here?”
“We had previously been sent back to spy on the movements of the evil races. We were trapped by a chaotic magnetic field and were not able to escape until now.” Song Tingyu was prepared as she opened her mouth and said, “Only now did we realize that all of our people from Seven Fiends Valley had disappeared. We are not sure what happened either.”
There were plenty of chaotic magnetic fields on this level. Not a single one of them listening to her explanation actually doubted her words.
“So you didn’t know about the evil nether passageway being opened, then?” Dan Yue from Blue Feather Association asked.
“We do. When we returned to investigate, we already knew that the evil nether passageway had been opened. We also knew that we were to leave in a few days. If we hadn’t gotten trapped, we would’ve returned in time to leave with the people from Seven Fiends Valley,” Song Tingyu explained.
“I don’t think I’ve seen the two of you in the Nether Battlefield before. What are you called? Which valley in Seven Fiends Valley are you from?” Ren Nan frowned.
“I come from Water Fiend Valley, my name is Song Yu. He is from Earth Fiend Valley, he is called…” Song Tingyu looked at Qin Lie once before saying, “He is called Zhang Jiao.”
“Song Yu, Zhang Jiao… I’ve never heard of these two names before.” Ren Nan lowered his head and thought for a while before looking at the others. “Have you heard of these people?”
“I’ve heard of Song Yu. There is such a person in Water Fiend Valley,” his junior brother said.
“I think I’ve also heard of Zhang Jiao from Earth Fiend Valley before. It seems that he’s pretty powerful.” Blue Feather Association’s Dan Yue paid attention to Qin Lie and reevaluated him. “Zhang Jiao seems to be the nephew of the valley master of Earth Fiend Valley. It is said that he cultivates a spirit art of earth and is very powerful.”
Qin Lie was inwardly surprised, subconsciously looking to Song Tingyu. He didn’t think that Song Tingyu would actually be telling the truth. There actually was a Song Yu and a Zhang Jiao in Seven Fiends Valley. It appeared that this woman had deep knowledge of the martial practitioners of her subordinate forces or she wouldn’t be able give out these two names so easily.
“Song Yu. Zhang Jiao. Your people from Seven Fiends Valley have evacuated from the Nether Battlefield. Right now, we of the holy temple have been assigned to prevent the evil race from entering. Therefore, you must listen to us now,” Ren Nan exclaimed.
“Oh.” Song Tingyu nodded slightly. “We just want to leave the Nether Battlefield as soon as possible…”
“We will arrange it.” Ren Nan said evasively, “Let’s get out of this puddle first.”
“Mn, let’s leave first. I feel uncomfortable after being submerged in water for such a long time,” Dan Yue also said.
Qin Lie and Song Tingyu followed behind these six. After they walked for a distance, they finally arrived on shore.
On the shore, there were a few simple tents. These tents were obviously made by these six. After arriving, they left Qin Lie and Song Tingyu outside while whispering to themselves in the tents, seemingly discussing something.
Qin Lie’s realm was insufficient and the tent was a little too far from them. He couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Yet he saw that Song Tingyu’s eyes were growing icy cold. Even the corner of her lips were marred with a hint of iciness…
“What are they saying?” Qin Lie lowered his voice and asked.
Song Tingyu extended her long hands and opened them in front of Qin Lie, asking softly, “What did you see?”
“A pair of hands,” Qin Lie answered.
“That’s it?” Song Tingyu looked at his eyes and shook her hands once more.
Her hands were clean and white, with a soft luster similar to that of gems. Her fingers were all thin and delicate. They were incredibly nice to look at.
Qin Lie watched carefully and, after a moment of hesitation, said, “Your hands look pretty nice…”
The trace of a smile leaked out of Song Tingyu’s eyes as she coyly rolled her eyes at him with a playful pout. “Idiot, that’s not what I meant!”
“Then what are you talking about?” Qin Lie’s face was a complete blank.
“Never mind, never mind.” Song Tingyu looked helplessly at Qin Lie’s reaction. Then, she withdrew the smile in her eyes and said, “They saw the rings on our hands. Spatial rings… are as valuable as a city. They are something most Manifestation Realm martial practitioners could not have. They were discussing what kind of methods they could use to acquire our spatial rings…”
Qin Lie’s expression darkened.
“It was my mistake. Although I’ve been here before, the experts around me were as plenty as clouds at the time, and due to my status and identity, I have never really come in contact with the lower class before. Although I know that Profound Heaven Alliance and Eight Extreme Temple martial practitioners often clashed against each other in both the open and the shadows, I did not think that the grievances would be so deep…” Song Tingyu sighed softly.
“How goes their discussion?” Qin Lie said coldly.
“The two women from Blue Feather Association aren’t too agreeable with an overly ruthless method and wish to use a gentler way. They want to put drugs in our wine, make us lose consciousness, take our spatial rings, and be done with it. However, the four people from Purple Mist Sea think that this will leave them open to future trouble, since they think that ‘Zhang Jiao’ enjoys a little fame at Earth Fiend Valley. They are afraid that trouble will find them in the future, so they think that they should just kill us immediately after drugging us.” Song Tingyu frowned slightly.
“If they really are going to act later, will you be able to kill them?” Qin Lie thought for a moment before asking.
“I can, but my injuries will deepen, and later on it will be very troublesome to recover from.” Song Tingyu smiled bitterly.
“How about this?” Qin Lie took out a Terminator Profound Bomb.
“This is simple and effective.” Song Tingyu laughed softly before shaking her head. “But it may disturb even more people in our surroundings. It will also be troublesome if they find out that we are the ones who killed them.”
“Then what do you think we should do?” Qin Lie hmphed.
Song Tingyu pursed her lips into a smile and did not answer immediately. She continued to listen attentively before nodding a while later and saying with a cold voice, “They have finally come to a consensus.”
“What is it?” Qin Lie asked.
“The two women have been convinced.”