Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Lin Dao, where did you go?

Elsewhere, Qin Yuan, riding the momentum of the heavenly thunder, used a Lightning Attracting Talisman to wipe out most of the troublesome puppets; the small remainder posed no threat, and after some effort he and his companions finally cleared them all.

Just as they breathed a sigh of relief, a lone figure appeared and immediately put them on guard: “Lin Dao?”

When they saw it really was Lin Dao, they relaxed, though they could not help wondering where he had gone. Seeing that Lin Dao showed no sign of injury, Dai Zhou’s expression eased as he asked with concern: “Lin Dao, where did you go? We were worried about your safety.”

Lin Dao swept his gaze over the group and tossed out a casual excuse: “I just spotted a demonic cultivator and gave chase.”

He added without a hint of guilt: “I left you a signal. Didn’t you receive it?” [The so?called signal was nonsense.]

Lin Dao had only wanted to finish off the demonic cultivator as quickly as possible; as for Qin Yuan and the others, they had some ability and were not likely to die, at worst they would be forced into a bitter fight.

Qin Yuan, without suspicion, followed Lin Dao’s lead and supplied the cover: “Perhaps the signal was intercepted by demonic cultivators lurking in the dark.”

Then, with a brief explanation and a resolute glance around, he said: “In any case, when the heavens changed just now I drew down lightning with a Lightning Attracting Talisman and cleaned out the puppets; now it’s our turn to hunt the demonic cultivator hiding in the shadows.”

Flicking the shredded gore from his longsword and itching for a fight, Wan Li Xuan chimed in: “Exactly! Without their puppets, those demonic cultivators are much weaker; we can annihilate them in one stroke.”

Lin Dao considered the group, then said evenly: “I just tracked their hideout. Thinking I couldn’t handle it alone, I came back to get you.”

His companions were delighted as Qin Yuan urged him: “Good, lead the way.”

On the road to the demonic cultivators’ lair, Qin Yuan and the others were already picturing a hot?blooded melee. Yet when they followed Lin Dao’s directions and, with unusual ease, located the hideout and exchanged blows with the two demonic cultivators within, they immediately sensed something was off.

They wondered aloud after a few exchanges: “Why do these two look seriously injured?”

Wan Li Xuan was the first to raise his voice: “It must be backlash—after all the puppets were destroyed, these demonic cultivators suffered the rebound.”

Others seized on the theory with quick agreement: “Right! That has to be it!”

Though Qin Yuan’s group had heard of the Soul Severing Sect by name, they only half understood demonic methods. The demonic path spurned steady cultivation and sought shortcuts to power, but gains came with losses; get something and you must lose something. Perhaps, they thought, because the puppets were destroyed, the backlash grievously wounded these demonic cultivators’ vitality.

Listening to Wan Li Xuan’s self?assured guessing at his side, Lin Dao lifted his brows without a ripple: [This idiot is not entirely useless.]

The two demonic cultivators, however, were fuming. They should have been able to crush these righteous juniors with a squeeze of the hand, yet a mysterious figure had appeared from nowhere. They had not even seen the face before being struck unconscious. When they came to, they found another companion reduced to ash by lightning, their own Golden Cores shattered, spiritual energy leaking away, and their cultivation plummeting. Now they were tigers fallen to the plain, bullied by dogs.

As expected, Qin Yuan’s group subdued the pair. When Wan Li Xuan moved to finish them with a single stroke, Qin Yuan stopped him: “I’ve already notified an elder from the sect. When the elder arrives, we’ll hand them over. I trust the sect can extract more useful information from their mouths.”

Hearing this, Wan Li Xuan sheathed his sword. To prevent any chance of suicide, Qin Yuan fed both captives Soft Bone Powder, ensuring they could not so much as twitch a finger, much less circulate spiritual energy.

When the others asked what to do next, they looked to Qin Yuan. After two consecutive battles, the horizon was already paling; in another half hour, dawn would break. Qin Yuan pondered for two seconds and decided: “By rights the sect’s people should be here soon; let’s wait outside the town.”

No one objected. Dai Zhou and Wan Li Xuan each dragged one demonic cultivator and went ahead. Qin Yuan walked beside Yu Ruan Ruan and murmured a few reassuring words until a smile returned to her face.

At the very rear, only Lin Dao and Rong Shu walked in silence, each keeping to themselves. Rong Shu could not help wondering why a single bolt of lightning had happened to strike one of the demonic cultivators so precisely, and why it had happened to kill him; she forced down her curiosity and did not glance toward Lin Dao as she thought: [What exactly did Senior Brother Lin Dao do while he was gone?] It was a question fated to have no answer—for now.

Outside Tranquil Harmony Town, Elder Xie rode his sword through the air. Reaching the sky above the town, he spotted Qin Yuan’s group waiting beyond the walls. When he saw the two demonic cultivators trussed up like rice dumplings, a flicker crossed his eyes. He tapped a toe, leaped lightly from the flying sword, and at the same time the blade drew into a streak of light and slipped into his storage pouch.

Qin Yuan and the others noticed Elder Xie at once, and Qin Yuan was a little surprised the sect had sent him. Elder Xie of Spirit Nurturing Peak’s Enforcement Hall usually handled internal affairs; Qin Yuan had assumed it would be Elder Zhu Qin, who oversaw external matters. He kept the thought to himself, bowed with composed respect, and said: “Disciple greets Elder Xie.”

The others also saluted. Elder Xie scanned the group and finally fixed his gaze on Qin Yuan: “You are Immortal Venerable Ze Yu’s third disciple, Qin Yuan?”

“Yes, Elder,” Qin Yuan replied with a nod. “I didn’t expect you to come in person.”

“This old fellow happened to be idle in the sect, and upon learning that demonic cultivators were preying on innocents, I naturally could not sit by and came at once,” Elder Xie said with open loathing for the demonic path, then asked curtly: “Well? Where are the demonic cultivators?”