Chapter 91

Chapter 91: Aren’t You the One Playing Favorites, Lan Zi Yu
This was not the first time Yu Zhao had killed someone.

In her last life, she had been driven out of the Five Elements Dao Sect and turned into a stray dog. She had even become the public enemy of the entire Cultivation World.

Countless people wanted to take her life to win favor with Ye Cong Xin.

Yu Zhao did not want to die, so her hands were covered in the blood of those who had tried to kill her.

They had never even met before, but between them, there had only ever been one ending: either you die, or I die.

It was the same in this life.

She did not want to kill, but others still wanted her life.

Between killing and being killed, she had no other choice.

Watching four lives fade away right in front of her eyes, she could not help feeling something stir inside her. At the same time, it only strengthened her resolve to grow stronger.

If she did not want to be the fish on the chopping block, she could only become the sharpest knife.

Yu Zhao let out a long breath to smooth out the waves in her heart, then began to clean up the battlefield.

The Four Gentlemen of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum were famous assassins in the Cultivation World. They killed people and stole treasures. Over the years, they had gathered a huge amount of wealth, which now all fell into Yu Zhao’s hands.

After emptying everything in their storage spaces, Yu Zhao used her spiritual power to dig a pit in the barren hillside and buried all four of their bodies.

Then she left without looking back, leaving behind nothing but a mess.

Once a mission was posted by the Shadow Pavilion, it stayed on the mission board until it was done or the client canceled it. Only then would it disappear.

That meant now that the Four Gentlemen of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum had failed, others could still take over the mission.

The traces Yu Zhao left behind from the fight were her way of sending a message to the Shadow Pavilion.

She was saying: I’m not afraid of you. Come at me if you dare.

It was wildly arrogant.

The Shadow Pavilion’s managers had very mixed feelings when they figured out the meaning behind Yu Zhao’s message.

They could only say that Yu Zhao’s style matched the information they had collected on her very well.

If she was not an arrogant and fearless person, how would she have dared to defy her Master and end up being cast out of her sect?

Even at the auction gathering, she could not stay quiet. She had publicly embarrassed the disciples of the Greenwood Sect.

What shocked them even more was that Yu Zhao’s fighting power was so terrifying. She had wiped out the strongest assassins in their Dark Pavilion using only her own strength.

And the key point was that Yu Zhao was still less than half a year away from breaking through to the Golden Core Stage.

How had she done it?

Were all the disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect monsters like her?

The person in charge of the Shadow Pavilion started to feel a bit of regret.

If he had known things would turn out like this, he would never have gotten greedy over a few high-grade spirit stones and taken on this hot potato.

“Pavilion Master, the Four Gentlemen of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum are dead. Should we keep the mission to hunt down Yu Zhao on the board?”

One of the black-clothed men serving under the Pavilion Master of the Dark Pavilion asked carefully.

The Pavilion Master of the Dark Pavilion thought for a while, then said coolly: “Send word to the people of the Greenwood Sect. Ask what they plan to do. If they decide to continue, tell them they need to pay more.”

The mission was already out.

Everyone who should know, and even those who should not know, already knew about it.

It was too late to pull back now.

He might as well throw the problem back at the people of the Greenwood Sect and let them worry about it.

“Oh, and tell them this too. Because the Shadow Pavilion suffered heavy losses on this mission, even if they cancel it now, we will not return the bounty they have already paid.”

The black-clothed man frowned: “Pavilion Master, this goes against the rules…”

They did not dare offend the disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect, and they could not afford to offend the people of the Greenwood Sect either.

“They will not dare to talk about this. Even if they have to swallow broken teeth, it will all go down into their stomachs.” The Pavilion Master sounded completely fearless.

From the moment the people of the Greenwood Sect walked into the Shadow Pavilion, they had handed him a huge handle.

If others learned that disciples of the Greenwood Sect had hired killers to murder disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect, the entire Greenwood Sect would lose face. And the one who had put out the hit would not have a good end either.

So the Pavilion Master of the Dark Pavilion was not afraid at all that Wang Qian and the others would come knocking on his door to cause trouble.

Hearing this, the black-clothed man felt the Pavilion Master’s words made perfect sense. He stopped hesitating, accepted the order, and left.

…

Pa!

Su Ming opened his hand and stared at the mosquito beast in his palm, which was almost as big as his hand. His face went dark.

He suddenly jumped to his feet, his expression full of anger: “First Senior Brother! How much longer do we have to stay in this cursed place!”

Three months.

They had been in this Marsh Forest full of snakes, bugs, rats, and ants for a full three months.

They had not seen Yu Zhao at all. They had hardly even seen any other cultivators passing through.

Every day they had to fight off insect beasts that could slip in from anywhere. Su Ming had long since had enough of this kind of life.

Today, thanks to the mosquito beasts attacking him again, all the frustration he had been holding in finally exploded.

Fang Cheng Lang did not even look his way. Sitting cross-legged on a thick tree branch, he said in a flat voice: “I told you not to come in the first place. You insisted on following us. Now that you do not want to stay here, you can leave on your own.”

“First Senior Brother!”

Su Ming knew very well that staying in the Marsh Forest to suffer was his own choice. He could not really blame First Senior Brother for it.

But First Senior Brother had always been the most gentle and generous of their senior brothers, and he was also the one they all relied on most.

When Su Ming complained to him, it was actually a kind of acting spoiled. He wanted First Senior Brother to comfort him and say a few nice words.

He never expected First Senior Brother to say something completely opposite to what he had hoped for. Su Ming was shocked and angry, and he also felt a nameless fear.

First Senior Brother did not seem like he used to be.

Would he turn cold to them, just like Yu Xiao Zhao had?

Lan Zi Yu and Cui Jue exchanged a look. Both of their faces were very serious.

They had also noticed that Fang Cheng Lang’s state was getting stranger and stranger. He had been tormented by nightmares for a long time, and his attitude toward them was growing colder. It felt like some invisible wall had risen between them without anyone noticing when it began.

“First Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother did not mean to blame you. Please do not be angry with him.”

Ye Cong Xin stepped forward timidly.

Lan Zi Yu and the others had protected her very well. She wore defensive spirit talismans and a pouch of bug-repelling herbs at her waist. Even in the dirty Marsh Forest, her body and clothes stayed spotless.

When Fang Cheng Lang heard her voice, his expression did not soften. Instead, it grew even colder.

Ye Cong Xin bit her lip, looking as if she was deeply wronged.

In truth, endless resentment was raging in her heart.

During this time, she had bowed her head and acted small, doing her best to please everyone. Lan Zi Yu, Su Ming, and Cui Jue all liked her more and more. Their favorability toward her had all gone up by different amounts.

Especially Cui Jue. His favorability toward her had already reached 85 points. She only needed 5 more points before she could draw on Cui Jue’s fortune.

Only Fang Cheng Lang remained unmoved. His favorability toward her was even dropping.

When she checked Fang Cheng Lang’s favorability yesterday, she was shocked to see it had fallen to 20 points.

Twenty points?!

Ye Cong Xin was so mad she could explode.

She was not stepping in now to ease the conflict between Fang Cheng Lang and Su Ming. She was doing it to raise Cui Jue and the others’ favorability even more.

Sure enough, when Cui Jue and Lan Zi Yu saw Fang Cheng Lang ignoring Ye Cong Xin, both of them felt a faint displeasure.

Their junior sister was delicate and weak, but she had still chosen to stay with them in the dangerous Marsh Forest to wait for Yu Zhao. That showed she was kind, thoughtful, and understanding. It was one thing for First Senior Brother not to show her any extra care, but why did he also have to give her the cold shoulder?

Lan Zi Yu spoke with a serious face: “First Senior Brother, yes, Yu Zhao is our junior sister. But Junior Sister Ye is also our junior sister. Why are you playing favorites?”

“Playing favorites?” Fang Cheng Lang let out a low laugh: “Aren’t you the one playing favorites, Lan Zi Yu? Yu Zhao and Ye Cong Xin are both our junior sisters. So why do you call Yu Zhao by her full name, but call Ye Cong Xin ‘Junior Sister’?”