novelraw Chapter 866: Found the Two Old Men, Ready to Ambush — What Are You Doing, Seriously?
Chapter 866: Found the Two Old Men, Ready to Ambush — What Are You Doing, Seriously?
.....
While one story branch blooms, let's follow another. At the same time, on the other side.
Lu Ding pushed his speed to the absolute limit, streaking across the sky without a single turn, heading straight for the Thousand Islands Marsh.
He arrived at the location, but before he even reached the center.
His eyes were met with the sight of the resentment and baleful aura from the deaths of countless thousands rising into the air, blotting out the sun.
A transparent, intangible array wall enveloped the entire Thousand Islands Marsh.
Outside the array wall, many Qi Refiners from the Great Jing realm were gathered, watching and discussing.
"The water bandits of the Thousand Islands Marsh have truly met with a great calamity. With such heavy resentment and baleful aura, they're probably all dead."
"What do you think? Did they offend someone, or were they holding onto a heavy treasure? The common man is innocent until he possesses the jade?"
"Looking at this situation, it's most likely they were holding a heavy treasure. Otherwise, why would they seal it off?""I say these powerful experts are too much. They get to eat the meat, but they should at least leave some soup for us. So inconsiderate. Sealing it off and taking the whole pot, what's the point?"
"I think you're wrong. If they didn't seal it off, by the time we got here, there'd probably be nothing left. This way is best. We can wait slowly. It'll open eventually. When it does, I'll charge right in."
"An expert capable of wiping out the Thousand Islands Marsh water bandits definitely wouldn't care about those worthless scraps. I can just pick up some leftover spoils the expert doesn't want, and it'll be enough for me to use for a long time."
Lu Ding listened as he flew over, politely asking, "Brother, may I ask, has this place been sealed for a long time?"
The man who heard this turned his head to look. Seeing Lu Ding's youthful appearance, he thought to himself, another one who wants to come pick up scraps.
We haven't even seen much of the goods yet, but the people are getting more and more numerous.
The man speaking felt somewhat annoyed.
"Some half-grown kid, what are you asking nonsense for? Get lost."
Lu Ding's expression changed slightly. He was being polite; that was his quality. Since others weren't being polite...
He raised his hand.
With one motion, he tore the man's arm right off.
Blood sprayed out.
The man looked at Lu Ding with a terrified expression, yet his face showed not a hint of pain. In other words, in that instant, he went numb!
He just wanted to retreat.
Lu Ding grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back.
Spiritual Energy surged in the hand holding the severed arm.
He violently stabbed the severed arm back into the gruesome, bloody wound on the man's shoulder.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
The man's wound was restored as if nothing happened. Only the torn clothing and the blood on his clothes proved that what just happened was real, not a dream.
Lu Ding held the man up. "If I have to ask a second time, I'll twist your head off, but I won't put it back."
The man swallowed in terror. "A... almost three days..."
Lu Ding listened.
Three days...
Spent one day eating last night, lost one day at Clear Bright Lake, Shuntian Manor and Clear Bright Lake were the same day, and before that was the border...
Calculating it this way.
If these two old men really are the two from the Dong and Su families who fled with the dragons...
Then, because the timing doesn't match up, they might not know that I would be sent as an envoy to Great Jing.
He glanced again at the sealed barrier.
Lu Ding speculated in his heart. The sealing level of this array wall was probably such that even ordinary Spirit Refinement realm cultivators couldn't enter. To be so cautious...
Either they were doing some unspeakable shady business, or... there was a heavy treasure inside. Whatever it was, it couldn't be disturbed by outsiders, hence the array wall...
Thinking of this.
Lu Ding casually kicked away the man he was holding and headed straight forward, as if the array wall before him was nothing.
Many gazes turned, waiting to see his sorry state.
Others who didn't believe in the wall's power had tried before.
Some with decent cultivation managed to survive, but their prospects for the rest of their lives were uncertain. Some died miserably on the spot.
They thought this ruthless young man would end up like those others.
But.
With the [White Snake Shakes Scales] buff applied, Lu Ding passed directly through the array wall, not even triggering its warning fluctuations.
This scene stunned everyone.
It also instantly ignited the greed in their hearts.
Discussions erupted one after another.
"That kid has a heavy treasure on him, absolutely a heavy treasure!!!"
"This old man has been deeply versed in the art of arrays for many years. I didn't even blink when he entered just now. From start to finish, he didn't make any move to break or invade the array. No matter how powerful a master is, when facing an array, they always have to mobilize Spiritual Energy. But his state clearly indicates he has a heavy treasure that ignores arrays!!!"
"This is a heavy treasure that can ignore Spirit Refinement level arrays..."
"This object has a connection with me!!!"
His youthful appearance guaranteed that unless Lu Ding displayed overwhelming power, he would inevitably be looked down upon.
Even though he had just shown his ruthless methods and indifferent nature, it wasn't overwhelming enough.
This led to the situation where, as long as the benefits were sufficient, wealth moves hearts, and there would always be people holding onto a sliver of hope.
What if he's not strong? What if he's not *that* strong?
It's like a student bringing a phone to school to play with, knowing they might get caught, but still bringing it.
Ahead.
After flying into the array wall, Lu Ding, sensing the unusually fervent gazes from behind, stopped, turned around, and spoke. His lip movements were simple and easy to understand.
"Look at your mother."
The people outside the array wall were stunned for a moment.
"You little brat!!! You'd better never come out! Grandpa will be right here waiting for you!!!"
"Hehehe, little boy, when you come out, this old man will make you understand what true cruelty is."
"Brat with no upbringing, when you come out, I'll teach you some manners on behalf of your parents."
"Young master looks quite handsome, but that mouth of yours is so filthy..."
Lu Ding paid them no mind. Since they wanted to seek death, then just wait. It's not your turn yet.
When he finishes his main business, he'll come out and slaughter you all!
Thinking about killing people and seizing treasures?
Take a look at yourselves first, see how much you weigh.
He increased his speed, heading towards the center of the Thousand Islands Marsh to search.
At the same time.
In the underground space at the center of the Thousand Islands Marsh.
Su Changhe lay limp by the edge of the marsh water essence pool, looking weakly at the person in the pool. "Old brother, you still have the strength. I can't do it anymore, I'm not up to it... I need to rest a bit."
Although what the two of them were doing was indeed a bit bizarre.
But for men, surpassing other men in this aspect always brings a sense of pride.
Dong Xun's face showed pride. "Younger Brother Su, you still need to train. With your condition, how are you going to help the Su family branch out and flourish?"
That's what he said, but Dong Xun wasn't much better off than Su Changhe.
Su Changhe gave an awkward smile, waving his hand to change the subject. "Old brother, when are we going back? We've been out long enough."
Dong Xun was still continuing, broad daylight, not caring at all that Su Changhe was still watching, talking to himself. "No hurry. Your condition isn't good right now, you're quite depleted. After we finish, rest, rest. Wait until you've recovered enough before going back."
"Although Great Jing is just so-so, for safety's sake, in case we run into a powerful expert, with your current state, you can't exert your full strength."
After speaking, Dong Xun added, "Of course, I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm still good. My condition is great. I'm mainly concerned about you. We're brothers, we have to advance and retreat together."
Su Changhe couldn't stand this kind of insult.
He rolled over. "I'm still okay too. I was just resting a moment ago."
As he spoke, he rallied his forces and headed towards the pool again.
At the same time.
Outside.
With Heaven-Man Unity active, the moment Lu Ding arrived at the center of the Thousand Islands Marsh, he sensed something abnormal about the flow of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy in this place.
He immediately landed.
In just an instant, using the Twelve Zodiac Sheep Methods, his feet planted on the earth, [Refine Essence into Energy], he locked onto the source beneath the Thousand Islands Marsh that was causing the abnormal flow of spiritual energy.
"Could they be here..."
Lu Ding didn't act rashly. He slowly crouched down. [Mountain-Shaking Earth-Quaking] and the upgraded [Sin Dragon Bone Seal] provided a tremendous amplification to Lu Ding's physical body.
Usually, to avoid being too noisy, he would shield his super hearing, only leaving some key trigger words, like 'Lu Ding', 'Corpse-Shattering Taishui', etc.
Now.
Lu Ding fully activated his super hearing. In an instant, the world became cacophonous. But amidst the noise, Lu Ding heard some... very... bizarre sounds from underground.
"Younger Brother Su, if you can't do it, don't force yourself."
"Older Brother Dong, I can do it. Don't worry about me."
"Younger Brother Su, this is getting pointless. It's bad for your health."
"Older Brother Dong, do you want to rest?"
The words were accompanied by some strange noises from the two old men.
Lu Ding: ??????
His expression gradually turned strange.
The people... it's definitely them, no doubt.
But... what the hell are they doing? Damn it, do your sounds sound right?
If you know, this is the Thousand Islands Marsh. If you don't know, you'd think this damn place is Brokeback Mountain.
Lu Ding forced down his disgust, mentally preparing himself for the eye-searing scene he might witness later. He scanned left and right. When he discovered the cave dwelling leading downwards, he steeled himself and flew into it. One hand tightly gripped the Blood Frost blade, which had been charging for a while.
The other hand formed the hand seal to summon [Golden Ao Island].
Since there was a chance for a sneak attack, Lu Ding would absolutely not do something stupid like announcing himself openly.
You two perverted old men, you're both going to die later!
.
While tidying up the house, I smashed my finger. It's swollen like a carrot. Didn't finish the extra chapter, so I wrote a bit more for this chapter's word count.