Chapter 301: Each Harboring Their Own Thoughts

“What? Is it possible...?” The elder was startled and gasped in a low voice.

“Exactly! I suffered a backlash from my spiritual power and desperately needed a cultivator's essence blood to suppress the true essence within my body. Besides you, Old Daoist Wu was the only other nearby cultivator. I couldn't exactly go to you, could I? The situation at the time was extremely perilous; the backlash occurred two days earlier than usual, and I almost couldn't suppress it.” The younger man said with a bitter smile, clearly still terrified by the memory.

“I see. In that case, I can't blame you. However, you still need to properly explain this matter to those above. But I estimate that you've been too hasty in cultivating the Black Fiend Asura Art recently, which led to the backlash occurring prematurely. For now, don't practice in the blood prison. You should honestly consolidate your foundation first!” The elder said slowly after some thought.

“Don't worry! After absorbing that old Daoist's essence blood, my backlash completely subsided. As long as I'm more careful in the future, such an accident won't happen again. I've also felt my cultivation progress was too fast recently, and I was just thinking of not going there anymore!” The younger man said calmly.

“Good, as long as you know. However, although that old Daoist has been eliminated, the person who planted a spiritual energy mark within him is still a big problem! We can't just leave this person be; we must find a way to eliminate future troubles!”

“Hmm, that's true! But I originally thought Old Daoist Wu's friends would also be low-level rogue cultivators. So after setting the trap, I only called the Five Friends of Meng to ambush them, but who knew we'd lure in a big fish instead? Do you think it was done by a group of low-level cultivators, or by a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator?” The younger man couldn't help but ask the elder.

“Heh heh! My guess is it was most likely a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator! After all, no matter how many Qi Condensation stage cultivators there were, if those four truly wanted to escape, it wouldn't be easy to capture them all.” The elder masked man said without hesitation.

“In that case, should we temporarily lie low and avoid conflict? We can resume our other plans after the Grand Master emerges from his seclusion, because Foundation Establishment stage cultivators are not to be trifled with!” The younger man, hearing the other person so confidently identify the abductor of the Five Friends of Meng, said with some hesitation.

“Lie low? Why should we lie low? You don't know yet, do you? News just came from the Grand Master. Due to the needs of his cultivation, he currently requires some Foundation Establishment stage cultivators for a blood sacrifice. Since this person walked right into our trap, we certainly can't let them go easily. After all, Qi Condensation cultivators are easy to catch anywhere, but a lone Foundation Establishment stage cultivator is extremely rare to encounter!” The elder sneered, a murderous glint in his eyes.

The younger masked man paused for a moment upon hearing this, but then still said with difficulty:

“But currently, in the capital city, because the Grand Master is here, apart from the Four Blood Attendants by his side, our sect has no other Foundation Establishment stage experts here. They are all overseeing various branch affairs elsewhere; we can't possibly notify them to return to the capital specifically for this, can we!”

“There's no need for such trouble! The Grand Master urgently needs Foundation Establishment stage cultivators for his practice now. As long as I report this upwards, the Grand Master should assign one or two Blood Attendants for us to command. With us assisting, dealing with one Foundation Establishment stage cultivator will be a piece of cake. This way, both of us will have performed a great service, and perhaps we can also be like the Four Blood Attendants—we might even get the chance to enter the Foundation Establishment stage ourselves?” The elder masked man's eyes gleamed with greed.

The younger man's spirits lifted upon hearing this. He seemed completely swayed by the elder's words.

“Alright, I'll go back and prepare! We must capture this person alive,” he said fiercely.

Then, the two of them whispered to each other for a good while, before silently departing from the hills. It was unknown where they went.

Strangely, the two never discussed how they would accurately find Han Li within the vast capital city. It was as if this wasn't an issue for them at all.

Meanwhile, in a desolate wilderness over a hundred li away from the hills, Han Li landed the Divine Wind Boat and had the four individuals disembark from the magical artifact.

Although these four knew nothing good awaited them, they couldn't muster any will to resist. They simply obeyed and disembarked from the small boat.

Han Li stood with his hands clasped behind his back, facing the silent individuals. He observed them with a cold gaze, and only after a long moment did he speak:

“Take off your masks! Concealing your faces is useless now.” Han Li's voice was devoid of emotion, causing the four to tremble and exchange glances.

“Take them off.” The eldest brother sighed deeply and said helplessly.

Seeing this, the other three dejectedly took off their black masks, revealing their true faces.

After Han Li had looked at each of their faces, his expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he sighed. Indeed, it was the Five Friends of Meng.

When he had secretly listened to their conversation from above, he had already found their voices somewhat familiar. Combined with their cultivation levels and techniques, he naturally thought of the Five Friends of Meng and the other cultivators he had just met two months prior. Except for the woman in her forties, everyone else was here.

However, although the identities of these individuals matched his conjecture, Han Li felt an immense headache.

He knew without even thinking now that the young prince of Xinwang Manor and Steward Wang were likely the shadowy figures behind the disappearances of numerous cultivators. Now that they knew he had probed their secrets, they would most likely pursue him relentlessly!

His original intention was to strenuously avoid this trouble, but unexpectedly, this huge problem found him automatically. If he had known this, he would never have allowed Old Daoist Wu to monitor these two. This had nothing to do with demonic cultivators at all; it was purely his own excessive caution.

But then again, he never imagined Old Daoist Wu would be so useless. After just one night of surveillance, he was discovered by them, and his life was likely forfeit.

This left Han Li even more frustrated and speechless!

If Old Daoist Wu had a spirit in the afterlife and knew how much Han Li was blaming him, he would probably feel even more wronged! He hadn't even begun monitoring the young prince and others when someone broke into his house and drained his essence blood for no reason. His death was truly unjust!

Although Han Li had somewhat misunderstood the cause of Old Daoist Wu's death, he didn't know that the young prince and Steward Wang were completely unaware of Old Daoist Wu's impending surveillance of them, nor did they know their identities had been prematurely revealed to Han Li.

However, this didn't prevent both sides from simultaneously sounding the alarm, placing them in a state of outright hostility!

Han Li's mood was heavy.

After all, the recently missing cultivators included several who had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. The opponents he had now provoked were truly formidable; he feared he might inadvertently follow in the footsteps of the other missing individuals.

Originally, according to Han Li's usual thinking, since it was so dangerous here, he should naturally flee far away. A wise man does not stand beneath a crumbling wall! There was truly no need to fight these people to the death; it would be best to get as far away as possible.

However, what troubled him was that he was still burdened with the task of protecting the Qin family.

If, during his absence, something truly unfortunate happened to the Qin family, he would have no way to explain it to Li Huayuan!

He couldn't exactly say that he felt Yuejing had suddenly become extremely dangerous, so he simply fled first, could he?

As Han Li thought this, his expression gradually became unpredictable, causing the four captives before him great unease.

They had originally thought that since they were in such a desolate place, this person would surely subject them to intense interrogation. But unexpectedly, after looking at their faces, this young Foundation Establishment stage cultivator fell into deep thought, and his expression slowly turned strange. Could he be devising some cruel method of torture?

With this wild guess, the individuals felt a chill run straight down their spines, and became increasingly restless.

“How exactly do you intend to deal with us?” The young woman in her twenties, unable to contain her impatience, suddenly asked loudly.

Upon hearing this, Han Li snapped out of his contemplation. After glancing at the woman, he said coldly:

“Do I even need to deal with you? I just need to hand you over to the families of the missing cultivators and tell them you were one of the shadowy figures behind their relatives' disappearances. I'm sure they'll give you a very 'warm' welcome.”

Han Li's face remained expressionless as he spoke, making the four absolutely believe he would do exactly that. Their faces paled, revealing looks of terror.

“We've never kidnapped those cultivators, not once! We only did it a few times...?”

“Silence, Fifth Sister! He's trying to trick you into talking!”

The black-faced elder suddenly roared sharply, forcibly cutting off the woman's words. This startled Fifth Sister, who couldn't help but glare fiercely at Han Li.

“Trick you into talking? You overestimate yourselves too much!” Han Li smiled faintly, a hint of mockery playing on his lips.