Chapter 371: Going to Propose Marriage

The group from Yambao Sect naturally knew their martial uncle was speaking falsely. The reason was not hard to guess: to face adversity together, or rather, that companions should die together rather than their own people. In any case, there was strength in numbers, and they couldn't scare anyone away.

Besides, the previous lightning had damaged so many magical artifacts from various sects. Could they talk about it? They couldn't afford compensation.

Their martial uncle's good intentions were for everyone's benefit, so they naturally remained silent, quietly observing the various sect members.

However, Li Hongjiu’s disheveled state was undeniable; they weren't blind. Zuo Zisheng pointed and asked, “Mr. Li, what happened to you?”

“Sigh,” Li Hongjiu sighed uncharacteristically, a lie readily forming. “I ran into a fierce monster, couldn’t tell what it was. We fought, but thankfully, I managed to drive it away.”

The Yambao Sect group became even quieter.

Gu Lianni asked, “Where is he, the masked man?”

“You’ll have to find him yourselves,” Li Hongjiu said, shaking his head. “I don’t know where he ran off to.”

If he could easily find the person, he wouldn’t have bothered collaborating with these people earlier; he would have acted alone.

Yin Tianlu’s voice carried a hint of sarcasm: “Didn’t Brother Li say earlier that no one would get away? Now it seems no one is left.”

That single address immediately lowered the seniority of Guang Haoyou and others, and the Yambao Sect group’s eyes instantly showed displeasure.

Yin Tianlu was indeed quite frustrated. Black Tiger, a key figure in their mission, was dead, and his magical artifact was destroyed by lightning. He truly didn't know how he would report back; returning now would surely make Extreme Fire Sect a laughingstock in the artifact-refining world.

Li Hongjiu, however, had a good temper. He smiled faintly and said, “I’ve made you all laugh.” Then he cupped his hands towards everyone, “This time, I’ll have to rely on all of you.”

Zuo Zisheng said, “Shi Chun’s strength far exceeds our imagination. Let’s first find a way to locate him.”

Li Hongjiu was surprised by this, realizing they had confirmed the masked man was Shi Chun. He immediately asked, “Are you certain that was Shi Chun?”

Wu Shanshan, standing nearby, spoke with a resentful tone: “There’s no mistake, it couldn’t be anyone else. It’s Shi Chun. I’ll stake my life on it! Be careful if you encounter him. The last sect he was involved with specialized in refining immobilization talismans. He must have learned immobilization techniques like those talismans there.”

Gu Lianni pondered, “Wu Kang Mountain. An immobilization talisman that can immobilize a fifth-grade magical artifact is no small matter. Sects capable of refining such talismans are extremely rare. If a small place like Wu Kang Mountain possessed such ability, it shouldn’t be so obscure.”

Yin Tianlu snorted, “After today, won’t it be famous throughout the land?”

“Alright, since there’s nothing else going on here, let’s get down to business,” Zuo Zisheng interrupted, not wanting to hear their chatter. He was more eager now to retrieve the treasure that had been taken by the ‘Boundless Banner,’ as most of the other treasures they brought in had been destroyed by lightning, which made his entire group feel insecure.

The reason was simple: without reliance, the more people there were, the potentially greater the casualties.

Major sects had their own difficulties; they couldn't retreat unless absolutely necessary.

He turned back to Wu Shanshan and asked, “Can your tracking art still find Shi Chun?”

Gong Shixi, hiding behind the crowd, also craned her neck to look at Wu Shanshan.

Wu Shanshan gritted her teeth and said, “It should be fine, let me try!”

With that, she left the group again. Although she was terrified by Shi Chun’s sneak attack, she had no choice; her demonic eyes couldn’t be displayed publicly, so she had to be alone.

However, the group’s protection for her had also intensified, with even Li Hongjiu personally following behind to guard her.

In the sky, You Mu, riding the Wind Scale, carried Shi Chun and Xu Anchuan, fleeing at high speed.

Their cultivation advantage still mattered in the strong winds. Xu and You caught up with Shi Chun when they escaped the wind vortex, and Shi Chun, thinking of them, naturally took them along.

“Stop!” Shi Chun suddenly shouted for unknown reasons, slamming his hand heavily on his forehead.

You Mu immediately complied, landing and retracting the Wind Scale on a mountaintop.

Shi Chun had long since removed his mask. He faced the direction they had fled from, his expression volatile, clearly in an extremely bad mood.

The two beside him noticed. Xu Anchuan asked in confusion, “Brother Chun, what’s wrong?”

Shi Chun gritted his teeth and said, “We actually escaped.”

The two beside him exchanged glances. You Mu asked, puzzled, “Yes, we escaped. Isn’t that good?”

Shi Chun looked utterly aggrieved again. “That smiling tiger is incredibly devious. He can control wind and even lightning. We couldn’t escape before, and it should have been even more impossible for him to let us escape afterward, yet we escaped so smoothly.”

Some things are fine until you realize them. Once he did, he could only regret it bitterly.

The two beside him didn't know what he wanted to say. Besides, hadn't he been the one who wanted to run? He seemed to have the upper hand, then suddenly he ran off, leaving them utterly bewildered. They had been wanting to ask him what was going on.

Xu Anchuan tentatively asked, “Is something wrong?”

Shi Chun’s face twitched. “Damn it, I might have been fooled by that smiling tiger. He might have been injured by me. If I had pressed on, I might have sent him to his next life. He probably bluffed me.”

So that’s it. The two beside him exchanged glances again.

You Mu spoke, testing him, “Brother Chun, what did he say that made you immediately withdraw?”

Calling “fleeing” a “withdrawal” was already quite euphemistic.

Shi Chun hesitated, ashamed, truly unable to speak.

But he was also very confused. The feeling at the time couldn’t have been wrong; that palm strike was definitely ‘Demon Dissolution Hand.’ It couldn’t be mistaken. He had also used the same cultivation method to neutralize it, feeling absolutely no discord in absorbing and dissolving it.

If not for that, how could he have been scared away by a casual remark from the other party?

Regardless of whether he would have lost to the opponent at that moment, he knew he couldn’t win and had to run. Was he supposed to stall until the various sect members arrived?

To some extent, his decision at the time was quite decisive, clean, and without hesitation. If he said he’d fight desperately, he did; if he said he’d run, he ran immediately.

At the time, he was even worried that the other party, having exposed their demonic cultivation, would try to silence him.

Only now, gradually replaying the events, did he realize it wasn’t like that at all. Silencing him? No way, the other party clearly intended to let him go.

Was it because they were from the same lineage, or because they were both from the demonic path, that he intentionally went easy?

The problem was, in the Land of Exile, there was no such thing as being from the same lineage. If it truly was the demonic path intentionally going easy, there would have been no need for overt and covert obstructions before.

Was the purpose of the obstruction to make him realize the opponent was one of them, to hint at something? But judging by the various details during their struggle, it didn't seem so.

In short, the whole matter was peculiar. He thought it over and over, realizing the crux of the problem lay in Li Hongjiu’s ability to use the ‘Demon Dissolution Hand.’

What exactly was going on? A big question mark remained in his mind.

Seeing that he didn’t want to speak, the two beside him, given their current mindset towards him, didn’t press further. Xu Anchuan tentatively asked again, “Then, perhaps, we should go back and take a look?”

Shi Chun immediately rolled his eyes and said, “What’s the point of going back now? Do you think they’d still be waiting there for you? Those sects are probably worried about not being able to find us. You’ve been with them for so long, don’t tell me you don’t know Wu Shanshan can track us?”

Speaking of Wu Shanshan, he regretted it bitterly again, hating himself for acting that way. How much more at ease would he have been if he had just killed her earlier? Now, that woman was still the key to him having no escape.

He knew well that such an assassination method could only be used once; replicating it would be impossible, as their defenses would surely be strengthened.

Xu Anchuan let out a dry laugh and asked for his opinion, “So what do we do now?”

The tone, truly, was not what it used to be. Previously, his words and manner always implied his side was dominant. Strength, indeed, was the most important thing.

“Wu Shanshan might already be leading people this way. Let’s go, let’s meet up with Sect Master Tong and the others first.”

Shi Chun’s word was law. As soon as he spoke, the two immediately complied.

The three rode the Wind Scale at high speed, essentially circling the incident site and returning along the original path, simply at a short distance from it.

When they landed again, it was at the entrance of the sinkhole that had earlier been attacked by fire bats.

After landing, the three discovered that the sinkhole had already been filled in.

“Clap, clap, clap…” Shi Chun, looking around, clapped rhythmically.

A figure immediately shot out from a nearby mountain hollow, soaring towards them. It was none other than Wu Jinliang.

“Oh, what brings you guys here?” Wu Jinliang chuckled at Xu and You, then asked Shi Chun, “How did things go?”

Shi Chun looked at the other figures emerging one after another. “Not great. I failed. We need to keep running.”

Wu Jinliang shrugged. He was indifferent; he had already felt that a solo assassination attempt was unlikely to succeed.

Soon, Tong Mingshan and his group also came over to greet them. Zhen’er even looped her arm through Shi Chun’s, showing affection.

Shi Chun didn’t stand on ceremony either. With a beauty present, who cared about others? He took Zhen’er’s hand and went aside.

Wu Jinliang’s eyes widened. He yelled at them, “Hey, hey, hey, what time is it? Are you two still going to get all mushy?”

Seeing that Shi Chun couldn’t be bothered to respond, he turned to Xu and You to ask about the situation.

However, the two were very tight-lipped. They glanced at the others, not mentioning a single word about what had happened, smiling mysteriously and modestly. In short, seeing that Tong Mingshan was fine, they were greatly relieved.

After leading Zhen’er away to the foot of a hillside, Shi Chun met her curious, searching gaze and spoke frankly, “If we get close to the Earth Core Pagoda but don’t enter, will anything happen?”

Zhen’er asked, “What kind of thing?”

Alright, Shi Chun couldn't compliment the woman's comprehension. He had to be more direct. “Will the elders in the pagoda attack us?”

Zhen’er: “Not if they don’t discover us.”

Shi Chun felt that saying this was no different from saying nothing. He asked again, “Can we prevent them from discovering us?”

Zhen’er shook her head, “I don’t know.”

“...” Shi Chun was speechless.

Zhen’er asked in return, with a hint of hope, “Are you going to propose marriage?”

Shi Chun thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled brightly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, then casually stroked her butt, taking advantage of the situation. He said, “Yes, exactly, I’m going to propose marriage.”

Zhen’er immediately revealed a smile more radiant than the starry sky. She wrapped her arms around his neck and directly sought a kiss.