Chapter 263

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Qin Shiyue lifted his head and took a look around. It was a secluded courtyard, seemingly uninhabited and unkempt. A trail of damp footprints led toward an old well in the corner.

He strode over, glanced at the well, and said: “Ying Fei, with your injuries, you’d best stay put. I’ll go take a look.”

With that, he was about to jump in, but suddenly turned back to Zhang Xiaohua and said: “Kid, come with me.”

Zhang Xiaohua had no choice but to follow. Stepping up to the well and peering down, he saw that it was actually dry.

Qin Shiyue gave him a warning. “Ren Xiaoyao, don’t get any funny ideas. With your level of martial arts, you’re nothing in my eyes. I could take your head at any moment.”

Zhang Xiaohua nodded.

Qin Shiyue drew his flexible sword and leaped into the dry well. Once he was inside, Zhang Xiaohua followed suit. At the bottom, a passageway extended forward. Unlike the previous tunnel they had passed through, this one was noticeably wider and well-maintained. Qin Shiyue led the way, holding a firestarter in one hand and his flexible sword in the other, while Zhang Xiaohua trailed behind, his divine sense already spread out, scanning the surroundings. Strangely, just like the earlier tunnel, this one had no traps at all.

After walking for some time, Zhang Xiaohua started growing impatient. The tunnel seemed endless. Just as he was about to complain, his divine sense suddenly detected an exit. Looking up, he saw a faint light ahead.

The exit was not blocked by a door. Zhang Xiaohua swept his divine sense over it but found nothing unusual. Qin Shiyue, however, cautiously examined the surroundings for a long while before finally stepping out. The passage opened up beneath a small mountain, concealed by waist-high grass. Without careful inspection, one would never notice it. Beyond the exit lay a dense forest, and further in the distance stood another mountain. Qin Shiyue carefully surveyed the area, then closed his eyes and furrowed his brow, as if sensing something. Suddenly, his expression relaxed, and he said to Zhang Xiaohua: “Keep up. If you can follow me, I won’t seal your acupoints at night anymore.”

Zhang Xiaohua’s face lit up with joy, and he quickly nodded. The torment of being restrained and interrogated was truly unbearable.

Seeing his reaction, Qin Shiyue said no more. With a light tap of his foot, he executed his qinggong, leaping onto a large tree before swiftly darting toward the distant mountain. Zhang Xiaohua immediately followed, discreetly retrieving a small Yuan Stone from his robe and absorbing its energy to replenish his True Qi as he ran.

Qin Shiyue’s qinggong was truly extraordinary—within moments, he had already traveled a great distance. Zhang Xiaohua dared not be careless and pushed himself to the limit, recklessly channeling his True Qi just to keep up. If not for the fact that he could feel Qin Shiyue constantly locking onto him with his perception, he would have long since considered changing direction and escaping.

After chasing for a while, they were nearing the foot of the mountain when a small, dark figure appeared in the distance, swiftly leaping forward—it was none other than the fleeing Ma Rulong. His speed was significantly slower than Zhang Xiaohua’s, let alone Qin Shiyue’s. Despite fleeing for so long, he had yet to reach his destination.

The dark figure seemed to sense something and turned back. Upon spotting the silver-haired Qin Shiyue, his pace immediately quickened. However, it wasn’t long before he began slowing down again. Ma Rulong was, after all, nearly seventy years old. No matter how profound his inner strength was, after running for so long, his internal energy was bound to be exhausted.

By the time Qin Shiyue and Zhang Xiaohua caught up with him, Ma Rulong had already arrived at the foot of the mountain. The area was a barren wilderness, far from the edge of the dense forest, with no traces of human activity. Ma Rulong stood within a patch of thin white mist, appearing somewhat at ease. Facing Qin Shiyue, he said: “Lord Qin, you’ve already killed Qiu Xidao and the Three Auspicious Treasures of the Heaven’s Way Alliance. Why must you still concern yourself with this old man’s life? If one can show mercy, one should.”

Qin Shiyue glanced around, then looked at the mist behind Ma Rulong. A thoughtful expression crossed his face before he chuckled. “Old Ma, if you hadn’t colluded with Qiu Xidao to set up an ambush in the inner hall, I might have spared your life out of consideration for your past merits. I would have crippled your martial arts and allowed you to live out your days in peace. But when you orchestrated that scheme, did you ever consider what fate awaited you now?”

Zhang Xiaohua observed from a distance without stepping forward. He had noticed the white mist behind Ma Rulong long ago. When he swept it with his divine sense, he detected fluctuations of Yuan Qi. Normally, the mist should have been dispersed by the mountain winds, drifting away into the air. Yet, this faint white mist remained condensed and unmoving—there was certainly something strange about it. Suddenly, a thought flashed through Zhang Xiaohua’s mind. Back at the Piaomiao Sect, he had once overheard whispers about a forbidden area where white mist could devour disciples. Could this unmoving mist be the same as that of the Piaomiao Sect?

At this realization, Zhang Xiaohua, who was already standing some distance away from the mist, instinctively retreated a few more steps.

Ma Rulong looked at Qin Shiyue and let out a long sigh. “Man proposes, but heaven disposes. Qiu Xidao and I had everything planned out perfectly, but because you arrived earlier than expected, we couldn’t set everything up properly. On top of that, Qiu Xidao was young and reckless—he clashed with you on the way, making you suspicious. If I had just a few more days, even ten of you, Lord Qin, wouldn’t have been able to walk out of my Ma Manor alive.”

Qin Shiyue laughed. “Old Ma, you’re overestimating yourself.”

“Overestimating? Where is Envoy Ying? Why hasn’t he caught up yet? I suppose he must be dead by now. Hahaha! That poisoned arrow was meant for you, but instead, Envoy Ying was the one to enjoy it.”

“It’s just a poisoned arrow. That’s nothing to trouble me.”

“Victory makes a king, defeat makes a bandit. There’s no point in saying more. If it weren’t for the problem with the Auspicious Three Treasures’ Divine Stone, Lord Qin, you would still be trapped in the inner hall, wouldn’t you? Once your inner strength was exhausted, if I had stabbed you with a single sword strike, could you have dodged it?”

Qin Shiyue simply smiled at Ma Rulong without responding.

“You know you couldn’t have dodged it, right? Maybe that’s exactly why you keep chasing me—to take my life.”

Qin Shiyue shook his head and asked: “The Divine Cult treated you well. Why did you betray it and defect to the Heaven’s Way Alliance?”

“Sigh…” Ma Rulong let out a bitter laugh. “Treated me well? Not just well—too well. Do you know what kind of family the Ma family is? Even though we’ve declined, we are not to be bullied by your Demon Cult. Even someone like Ying Fei strutted around my Ma family with arrogance. And he was one of the better ones! Every previous envoy treated my Ma family like lambs to the slaughter. I, Ma Rulong, am old—if I must toil for the Demon Cult, so be it. But why should my descendants also be trampled upon by you people? My descendants deserve to make a name for themselves in the martial world, to uphold justice openly and honorably.”

For once, Qin Shiyue frowned slightly. “Upholding justice and walking the martial world do not necessarily conflict with serving the Divine Cult.”

“You don’t understand, Lord Qin. People like you will never understand the thoughts of us small folks. To uphold justice on one hand while doing things that betray the righteous path on the other—the conflict, the burden of that secrecy—you will never comprehend it. And your Demon Cult never recognized my Ma family’s worth, never respected us. If we could not attain the status and honor we deserved in the Demon Cult, of course, we had to seek another path.”

“Worth?” Qin Shiyue suddenly recalled how the Cult Leader had specifically ordered him to come to the Ma family and the Evil Tiger Gang. There must have been a deeper meaning behind it.

“You see? Even someone of your stature is unaware of it. So how could anyone else respect my Ma family?”

“The Cult Leader specifically instructed me to visit the Ma family,” Qin Shiyue explained briefly.

“The Cult Leader naturally knows, but as the saying goes, ‘The King of Hell is easy to meet, but the little devils are troublesome. ‘ The Cult Leader cannot watch over us at all times, nor does he always trust us. So when have Ma family members ever been given the chance to stand out?”

Qin Shiyue became intrigued. “What secret does your Ma family hold? Qiu Xidao said he was going to tell me a great secret—was it about your Ma family?”

“He told you?” Ma Rulong looked slightly nervous.

“No. Before he could say anything, I cut him down.”

“Good. Well done! If not for his meddling, would my Ma family have ended up like this?”

“But wasn’t he your grandson-in-law?”

“Sigh, don’t bring that up. Grandson-in-law? It was nothing more than my eldest granddaughter’s wishful thinking. Even after marrying into the family, did he ever give her a proper look? But she sought what she desired, and she got what she deserved. That was her fate—there’s no one else to blame.”

“Oh? Why is that?” Qin Shiyue’s gossip-loving nature suddenly awakened, and he pressed on with more questions.

Even Zhang Xiaohua, who had been listening quietly, was surprised.

“Why should I tell you why?”

Qin Shiyue was taken aback. After all that talk, now he refused to say more? What was this, waiting for the next episode? How annoying.

Ma Rulong glanced at Qin Shiyue and chuckled. “Lord Qin, how about we make a deal?”

“Qiu Xidao tried to make a deal with me, and I cut him down with a single strike. What do you have that’s worth sparing my blade?”

“What secrets could he possibly have? It was just the batch of goods I gave him. He thought he hid them well, but not only did I know, even the Heaven’s Way Alliance was aware of it.”

Qin Shiyue pondered for a moment and then said: “Tell me your conditions first.”

Ma Rulong was overjoyed and quickly replied: “I don’t ask you to spare my life—just promise not to hunt down the disciples of the Ma family.”

“That simple? If I go back on my word and slaughter them all later, wouldn’t you have made a bad bargain?”

“Who in the martial world doesn’t know that Lord Qin’s word is as good as gold? I trust you on this.”

Qin Shiyue thought for a moment and said: “Fine, I agree. Speak.”

Ma Rulong nodded and said: “From the very beginning, it was my granddaughter who was drawn to Qiu Xidao and wanted to marry him. But Qiu Xidao had no intention of marrying her—he even refused the proposal outright. If not for the generous dowry I provided, which tempted Zhang San of the Heaven’s Way Alliance, making it hard for him to refuse, how could their Alliance Leader have stepped in to force Qiu Xidao into compliance?”

“What? A dowry? Even Zhang San was tempted? The Heaven’s Way Alliance is one of the most powerful factions in the martial world, with immense resources. What could the Ma family possibly possess that even Zhang San couldn’t refuse?”

Qin Shiyue couldn’t help but be astonished.