Chapter 298

Chapter 298: Jiang Liu Bin Marked by the King of Hell

Yu Zhi Yi suddenly stiffened and snapped her gaze forward. A faint ripple spread across the ground. Her face changed as she raised her voice, steady and clear: “Everyone stop. Do not go forward.”

Her tone was loud but not sharp, and it carried so every person could hear.

The Jiang clan brothers and Li Chang Huai were at her side and, on instinct, pulled their horses to a halt. Many supporters from the Martial World followed their lead and stopped as well.

But the Martial World never has only one power. Most people there are proud and combative. The third looks down on the second, and the second looks down on the first, each wanting to drag the others down. So even though the first and second largest factions were present, someone still sneered: “Jiang Liu Bin, where did you pick up this woman who likes to show off and fool the crowd?”

The speaker belonged to the third largest force, the Mystic Heaven Sect. The sect had many experts, and its disciples were skilled in a wide range of arts. They were famous far and wide. Ten years ago, at the Martial Alliance Leader tournament, the Mystic Heaven Sect’s Sect Master defeated ninety-nine percent of the top fighters, yet lost in the final match to the manor lord of Tianyu Manor and the current Alliance Leader, Jiang Yu Wei. The dream of becoming Alliance Leader never died, and the Sect Master kept that grudge. Because of him, the whole sect treated Tianyu Manor and the Martial Alliance poorly.

The man mocking them was Pang Yi Qi, the Sect Master’s grandson. Among the younger generation of his sect, he had the best talent and the strongest skills. He had disliked Tianyu Manor and the Martial Alliance since childhood. Every time they met, he would find a reason to argue, even if there wasn’t one. Now that he had a ready excuse, he made full use of it.

Jiang Liu Bin looked at him with open disdain and said: “Pang Yi Qi, my sister told us not to move for a reason. You had better listen. If something happens later, don’t say we failed to warn you.”

Pang Yi Qi laughed like he had heard the funniest joke, clutching his belly as he bent over: “Jiang Liu Bin, we have known each other for years, and I never knew you were such a good little brother who obeys his sister.” He let his eyes sweep over Yu Zhi Yi, picky and rude, and added: “She looks decent, I’ll give her that, but that is all she has. She can’t hold a candle to Sister Jiang or Sister Xin Yue. I wonder how sad they’ll be when they see you taking orders from some unknown woman.”

He cracked his whip and spurred his horse: “You can keep playing your fortune-teller tricks. This young master isn’t staying.” He shot forward, and the Mystic Heaven Sect’s supporters raced after him.

Jiang Liu Yun’s eyes went round with anger as he growled: “He doesn’t know what’s good for him.” He turned to Yu Zhi Yi and said: “Sister, I’ll stop them now,” then gathered himself to use Lightness Skill.

Yu Zhi Yi stopped him with a calm reply: “No need.”

[Good words cannot persuade someone fated to die.]

She saved people by choice, and only those with clean souls who had not actively harmed others. Pang Yi Qi carried many unjust debts on his back. More than a hundred innocents had died by his hand. A person like that did not deserve to live. The people riding at his heels were stained with blood too, more or less. She could not be bothered to interfere.

In the blink of an eye, Pang Yi Qi and his group had surged dozens of meters ahead.

The Martial World people standing near Yu Zhi Yi had not stopped for her sake, but because of Li Chang Huai and the Jiang brothers. Hearing Pang Yi Qi’s taunts made them bristle. They were Jiang Liu Bin’s vassals, and when someone mocked their lord, it felt like being cursed to their faces.

Li Chang Huai’s followers grew especially restless and asked: “Young Lord Li, are we really going to wait here?”

With a crisp snap, Li Chang Huai opened his folding fan and, smiling at Yu Zhi Yi, said: “You should ask Second Miss.” He was careful not to call her Official Yu in front of this crowd.

Men behind the Jiang brothers called out: “Fourth Young Master, Fifth Young Master, how long are we waiting?”

Jiang Liu Yun looked at Yu Zhi Yi with honest curiosity and asked: “Sister, what exactly are we waiting for?”

Yu Zhi Yi tipped her chin at the road ahead and said: “Here it comes.”

Her last word had barely fallen when the earth began to roar like thunder. Rumble, rumble. A cloud of dust billowed up. Pang Yi Qi and the handful of riders close around him dropped all at once as a sinkhole opened like a mouth under them.

Those a few lengths behind sensed something wrong, but the force of their gallop carried them on. They could only watch, helpless, as their own horses dragged them into the pit. Only the riders furthest back had enough distance to react. They yanked their reins and stopped in time, so they did not go over the edge.

Falling stones kept crashing into the hole with a deep, rolling sound, while the entire race field went silent. For a long moment, nothing could be heard but the rumble of rocks.

At last someone swallowed hard. The loud gulp echoed as people stared, shaking, at that sudden devil’s mouth in the earth.

“Sis… sister…” Jiang Liu Yun’s voice trembled. He was only fifteen or sixteen. He had seen much and had witnessed killing, but this was his first time facing the raw power of nature. Danger that could swallow dozens of lives in a blink. For most of the people here, it was also a first. And if not for Yu Zhi Yi, they would have fallen just like Pang Yi Qi’s group.

Yu Zhi Yi glanced at Jiang Liu Bin’s face to read his fate. The black qi on him had thinned, but it had not fully dispersed. She raised a brow and then looked at the others. The black qi on their faces had already cleared.

“It’s fine now,” she said, calm again: “Start the rescue.”

When everyone reached the finish earlier, she had seen that all the riders’ faces were dark with death qi. She knew then that something major would happen on the way back. That was why she chose to gather everyone and return together instead of going back alone. Now, everyone’s deadly trial had passed, including Jiang Liu Yun’s, everyone except Jiang Liu Bin. His death qi still hung thick.

She sighed inside. [Who did this child offend, or did he commit too many sins in a past life, to meet so many brushes with death in only a few days? This looks like a fate that refuses to let him live.]

Jiang Liu Bin moved to join the rescue, but Yu Zhi Yi stopped him and said: “Come with me later. I need your help for something else.” He wanted to save people, but his sister rarely asked him for help, and he did not want to refuse. Seeing that many others had already rushed into the rescue work, he nodded and asked: “Sister, what do you need?”

She handed him a defensive bracelet. When the death qi finally faded from his face, she said: “Go bring back a physician.”