Chapter 1492: Can't Afford to Provoke Them—Can't Afford It!

Li Wuhua had no idea who the man truly was.

He had never imagined Shang Chaozong still had such an expert under him, someone capable of defeating Xiao Tianzhen so easily.

The man had guaranteed that Xiao Tianzhen would not come make trouble again.

That finally removed the great stone weighing on Li Wuhua’s heart.

For someone like that to say such a thing, combined with the threat Li Wuhua had personally heard him make against Xiao Tianzhen, there should be no mistake.

So Shang Chaozong had sent him.

“Ah...”

Li Wuhua sighed.

This favor had now been incurred.

How should it be repaid?

Or rather, what repayment would Shang Chaozong want?

Li Wuhua more or less knew the answer in his heart.

If Shang Chaozong could stop Xiao Tianzhen from coming after them, then he could also choose to stand aside and let him come.

Li Wuhua had no choice but to remember this favor.

In the future, if he ever had to weigh Shang Chaozong against Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion, he should know which side mattered more.

Turning around, he saw Hai Ruyue still sobbing as though her heart had been torn apart, still murmuring “Zhen’er... Zhen’er...” again and again.

Clearly, Xiao Tianzhen had wounded her terribly this time.

He might not have killed Li Wuhua and their son to avenge himself, but those ruthless words had still been a vicious retaliation against Hai Ruyue.

Li Wuhua could do nothing about it.

He simply did not possess the ability to stop Xiao Tianzhen.

The moment Xiao Tianzhen attacked, Li Wuhua had been injured.

That alone made it clear that before Xiao Tianzhen he had no power to fight back.

For a man to stand helplessly by while his wife and child were threatened was an awful feeling.

He went forward and tried to help Hai Ruyue up, only to discover that even after he raised her, she could not stand.

Her emotions had completely collapsed.

Leaving her sitting on the ground was no solution.

Li Wuhua therefore dragged his badly injured body forward, lifted Hai Ruyue in both arms, and carried her into the room to settle her.

Then he came back out and carried their son inside as well.

When he appeared in the doorway again, he finally realized the sun had already risen.

He looked over the deathly quiet surroundings, lingering fear still gripping his heart.

Xiao Tianzhen’s methods were simply too terrifying.

He had somehow silently brought down so many people, and no one even knew how they had been hit.

If a method like that were used against cultivators in battle—or on an ordinary battlefield—what would happen?

Even stranger, everyone else had been affected, yet the three members of Li Wuhua’s family had remained conscious.

It had to have been some kind of medicine.

Today, Li Wuhua had finally experienced the reputation of the Ghost Doctor firsthand.

They truly could not afford to provoke him.

Just as Li Wuhua took out a healing spirit pill and swallowed it, he noticed the people lying on the ground begin waking one after another.

...

Inside a guest room at a small-town inn, the Ghost Doctor stood quietly with his hands behind his back, sighing from time to time.

Wuxin poured tea beside him and offered over a cup. “Master, nothing should happen. Junior Brother should be back soon.”

The Ghost Doctor sighed. “I only hope he can vent the resentment in his heart and let it go.”

“I told him not to harm Hai Ruyue. Otherwise, Heaven itself would find it intolerable, and he would carry the burden for the rest of his life.”

“I only hope he doesn’t do anything foolish.”

“I was careless. I should have sent someone to watch him.”

The turmoil beneath Heaven, combined with the trouble his own reputation had brought him, had already frightened the Ghost Doctor badly enough.

With the present situation changing from day to day, he wanted to retreat back to Medicine Valley.

His disciple Wuxin had learned his lesson and finally settled down, willing to return obediently.

Only Wuxiang still could not let go of the hatred in his heart.

And so the Ghost Doctor had decided to help Wuxiang settle this grievance once and for all, then take both disciples back with him and hide as far as possible from the coming storm of blood and violence.

He also did not want Wuxiang to kill too many people.

If too many died, it would be difficult for the Ghost Doctor to explain matters to those in power.

More importantly, he did not want anything to happen to Wuxiang.

That was why he had acted personally, spending a great deal of effort to prepare several medicines for Wuxiang to use as assistance.

Whoosh!

A white streak shot through the window.

Thunk!

It embedded itself into the wall.

To be precise, it had cut into the wall.

It was nothing more than a sheet of white paper, yet half of it was buried in the wall while the exposed half trembled.

Bang!

The door flew open.

Yan Baoru, who had sensed the disturbance, flashed inside.

She too immediately saw the sheet of paper.

Finding master and disciple unharmed, she flashed to the window and pushed it open.

People came and went along the streets of the small town.

How could she possibly tell who had thrown it?

“A sheet of paper pierced the window and entered the wall. The person who threw it has no low cultivation. I wonder what great figure has taken an interest in this old man.”

The Ghost Doctor gave a dry laugh.

He reached through empty space with one hand.

The white paper tore itself free from the wall and floated into his palm.

Seeing writing on it, he adjusted the sheet and began to read.

Wuxin leaned over as well.

The message said:

Keep your disciple under control. If he dares act recklessly in Jinzhou again, his life will be taken. Do not say you were not warned!

The Ghost Doctor turned his head toward Wuxin. “What did you do?”

Wuxin froze, then hurriedly denied it. “I didn’t do anything in Jinzhou.”

The Ghost Doctor frowned.

Then his expression abruptly changed. “Not good. Something may have happened to your junior brother.”

Yan Baoru immediately stepped closer. “What happened?”

Her words had barely fallen when all three turned toward the doorway together.

Wuxiang had appeared there wearing his broad hat.

After entering, he did not say a word.

He even forgot to salute his master.

He simply sat down to one side in silence.

The three stared at him, then exchanged looks.

Wuxin hurried over. “Junior Brother, are you all right?”

Wuxiang shook his head.

The Ghost Doctor stepped forward, took his wrist, and circulated his art to examine him.

He found nothing wrong with Wuxiang’s body.

Then he tried asking, “Did you take revenge?”

Wuxiang shook his head again.

The Ghost Doctor became angry. “You little bastard. Speak! What happened?”

Wuxiang’s voice had gone somewhat hoarse. “Someone intervened and stopped me...”

He then recounted what had happened.

Yan Baoru was deeply shocked. “Even your cultivation couldn’t stop him? Who was it?”

Wuxiang replied sullenly, “I don’t know. He was extremely strong. I suspect he was a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

A Nascent Soul cultivator?

The Ghost Doctor trusted that his disciple would have some basis for making such a judgment.

His expression turned uncertain.

Yan Baoru asked suspiciously, “Could one of the Four Sacred Venerables have acted?”

“That seems impossible. Why would one of the Four Sacred Venerables personally intervene to protect people so insignificant?”

These days, even the way everyone referred to the Sacred Venerables kept changing.

Nine Saints.

Seven Saints.

Six Saints.

Five Saints.

Now Four Saints.

No one knew what kind of mess was unfolding.

The titles changed so fast that people’s tongues could barely keep up, leaving everyone unaccustomed to what they were supposed to call them from one day to the next.

What did she mean, impossible?

The Ghost Doctor looked at the message in his hand, suspicion flickering across his face.

If it had been one of the Four Sacred Venerables, that might actually have been better.

As long as they still found the Ghost Doctor useful enough to keep around for odd jobs, perhaps they would still give him a little face.

If it had not been one of the Four Sacred Venerables, that was what was truly terrifying.

The more he thought about it, the more frightening it became.

Gouging out Consort Yuan’s eye.

Stealing the Wuliang Fruit.

Making a move against Yuan Se.

Killing Granny Xue.

Five of the Nine Saints had already fallen.

What was there left those people did not dare do?

And yet, to this day, the cultivation world still had no idea who they even were.

Sometimes the people standing openly beneath the sun were not frightening.

The truly terrifying ones were desperate men hiding in the shadows.

These people dared oppose the Nine Saints directly.

Which of them was not carrying his own head in his hands and gambling with his life?

Who would dare involve himself in their affairs unless he had grown tired of living?

Now the entire cultivation world was silent as winter cicadas.

No one dared choose a side.

There was certainly no place for the Ghost Doctor and his two disciples to play heroes.

Before ordinary people, they could still swagger around under the Ghost Doctor’s name.

But in the eyes of people like these, what did the few of them from Medicine Valley amount to?

Not a damn thing.

Had he forgotten what kinds of things he himself had already been forced to do?

The other side dared act against Wuxiang and still dared let him come back alive.

That confidence alone already made the message clear.

They could crush him whenever they pleased.

Go ahead and refuse to understand the warning and see what happened.

The Ghost Doctor finally understood part of the situation.

He raised his head and let out a long sigh.

“They already showed you courtesy by allowing you to injure Li Wuhua.”

“Our master and disciples’ movements are all within their grasp. Dealing with us would be effortless.”

“Enough. Enough.”

“We cannot afford to provoke people stirring storms like these.”

“Can’t afford it—truly can’t afford it!”

“Pack your things. We’re leaving.”

“This world is no longer peaceful.”

“We don’t have the ability to play this game. We’ll hide from it.”

...

Above the boundless sea, the people riding two flying mounts could already see Sacred Island ahead.

“We’re here. Don’t reveal anything suspicious. Wake them.”

Luo Qiu looked back as he gave the order.

Behind him, Du Wuxu was supporting Luo Fangfei.

On the flying mount beside them, Lan Daolin was supporting Sha Rulai.

The two Sacred Venerables exchanged a glance.

Even now, neither knew where Luo Qiu had hidden Luo Fangfei.

All they knew was that Luo Qiu had left alone for a while and returned with her.

At present, the two dignified Sacred Venerables had already changed their appearances completely, carefully disguising themselves as Luo Qiu’s subordinates.

There was no helping it.

Luo Qiu insisted on doing things this way, and his reasoning had some merit.

The two could only lower themselves and cooperate.

Sha Rulai woke first.

Seeing that he was in the sky and that Luo Qiu was present, he remained calm.

Luo Fangfei awakened shortly afterward.

The moment she saw Luo Qiu, she called out to him.

Then she spotted Sha Rulai on the other flying mount and immediately waved in excitement. “Senior Brother!”

She turned back toward Du Wuxu and snapped, “Let go!”

She showed no courtesy whatsoever.

Du Wuxu was speechless.

Given the present situation, however, he could only obey and release her.

Lan Daolin glanced over and nearly laughed.

Then Luo Fangfei suddenly flashed across and landed on his mount instead.

She glared at him and barked, “Get over there!”

This time it was Du Wuxu’s turn to suppress a laugh.

Lan Daolin said nothing.

He simply flashed over to the other mount.

The moment Luo Fangfei obtained her little world for two, she hooked her arm through Sha Rulai’s and began chattering nonstop.

Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin both felt the urge to roll their eyes.

They had always heard that this woman turned into a complete lovestruck fool whenever she saw Luo Qiu’s disciple.

Today, at last, they had witnessed it themselves.

Sha Rulai responded to Luo Fangfei as needed while secretly sizing up the two strangers.

He had no idea when Luo Qiu had acquired these two people around him.

As he observed quietly, he gradually realized they were both wearing exquisitely crafted disguises.

Luo Fangfei, on the other hand, paid no attention whatsoever to the two strangers.

The group reached Sacred Island.

Someone naturally came to take charge of the two flying mounts.

With Luo Qiu personally leading the party, no one dared inspect them.

Just like that, the two disguised strangers entered the Sacred Realm together with the others.

At Shouque Villa, they requisitioned two more flying mounts and set off in the direction of Daluo Sacred Land.

But not long after leaving Shouque Villa, at a signal from Luo Qiu, Sha Rulai and Luo Fangfei were once again knocked unconscious by sudden attacks from the two strangers.

The two flying mounts were forced down as well.

Afterward, the group abruptly changed direction.

Carrying the unconscious pair, they streaked away through the sky at extreme speed...

In the Desolate Marsh Deadlands, Luo Qiu descended toward a small “island.”

Sha Rulai and Luo Fangfei were now in his hands.

Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin were nowhere to be seen.

This was the place Yin Ji had once specified in a letter when arranging to meet Luo Fangfei.

Luo Qiu had come here once before.

He threw the two people down.

Then his figure abruptly flashed away, skimming rapidly across the surface of the swamp.

When he returned, a furtive demon fox was struggling in his grasp.

Luo Qiu picked up a stone from the ground.

As spiritual power moved across its surface, several lines of writing rapidly appeared.

He stuffed the stone into the demon fox’s mouth.

“I know you can understand me.”

“Your Clan Chief’s daughter is here.”

“Take this message to your Clan Chief, Yin Ji.”

With that, he threw the demon fox away.

The fox landed in obvious panic, but it still clenched the stone between its teeth and fled at once.

Before long, it rushed out of the rocky ground and disappeared into the swamp.

[End of Chapter 1492]