Chapter 123: Xu Ziyan’s Fury

Xu Qi was filled with regret at that moment. He wished he could slap himself hard across the face. Why hadn’t he listened to Xu Ziyan back then? It was all because he was soft-hearted and had trusted these people. But Xu Qi still held onto a sliver of hope. Because Xu Ziyan had been very wary of Wang Laoshi and the others from the start. Perhaps Xu Ziyan had already seen through Wang Laoshi’s trick and would lead them out of this dangerous situation.

He strained to turn his gaze toward Xu Ziyan, only to be disappointed. He found her lying weakly on the deck, seemingly struggling to open her eyes. But her eyelids seemed incredibly heavy, as if weighed down by a thousand jun, managing only to open a narrow slit. At this, Xu Qi’s heart sank into despair. All hope vanished. He hated himself for passing the Team Leader position to Xu Ziyan, yet not obeying her commands and instead raising opposing opinions.

“Hahaha…!”

Wang Laoshi suddenly slammed the wine jar in his hand onto the deck. He threw his head back and laughed heartily. There wasn’t a trace of drunkenness left on his face. His eyes gleamed with cunning, a stark contrast to his honest-looking face. He waved his hand at the sailors and shouted,

“Hurry up, move faster! Tie them up tightly right here on the spot.”

After watching the sailors tie up Xu Ziyan and the others thoroughly, he walked over to Xu Qi. He reached out and patted Xu Qi’s face twice, lightly and insultingly. He chuckled and said,

“So you are Xu Qi? The eldest son of Xu Haoran, the Family Head of the Xu Clan in Zhongdu City, one of the Four Great Clans of the Northland? The Team Leader for this escape? Did you think that by pretending a young girl was your leader, I wouldn’t figure out you were from the Zhongdu City Xu Clan? When I first saw you, I thought you looked familiar, like I’d seen you somewhere before. Later, I finally remembered. I had seen your wanted images in Xiangyang Town, and I had also heard rumors about you. So, what do you say?”

As he said this, Wang Laoshi raised his hand again and patted Xu Qi’s face. His gaze turned fierce, and his tone suddenly became icy cold,

“Well? Team Leader Xu, tell us about your clan’s treasure? Huh? Don’t even think about being lucky. Do you know what I gave you to drink? Hah, your luck is something else. This time, I was delivering a batch of elixirs to the Hai Family in Wolf Fang City. Among them was a special concoction for dealing with Cultivators like you – the Immortal-Numbing Powder. Heh, ever heard of Immortal-Numbing Powder? Even an Immortal at the Foundation Building Stage would be numbed by it, completely unable to move for a full day and night. Don’t worry, I brought a lot of this Immortal-Numbing Powder. I’ll feed it to you once a day. There’s enough for a whole month!

If you’re smart, hurry up and tell me the treasure location. I’ll give you a quick death. Otherwise, heh, I’ll make you regret ever being born! Oh! And there are four pretty Female Immortals here. I’ve never had the pleasure of playing with a Female Immortal in my life. Never thought I’d get four delivered to me all at once. Men!”

Wang Laoshi turned his head and yelled at the sailors, “Take these four Female Immortals to my bed. After I’ve had my fun with each of them, I’ll let you all have a go too. Let these Female Immortals have some fun as well, hahaha…!”

“Boss, we’ll work hard to make the Female Immortals feel good, hahaha…!”

All the sailors laughed brazenly and heartily. They began reaching out with their rude hands towards Xu Ziyan, Xu Lan, Xu Mei, and Xu Meiruo. Xu Qi closed his eyes in pain. Regret twisted in his heart like a sharp sword. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

Everyone closed their eyes in remorse. At that moment, they wished time could flow backwards. If it could, they would follow Xu Ziyan’s orders without hesitation and kill the people in front of them. No! Death by a thousand cuts!

By now, the sailors had reached Xu Ziyan, Xu Mei, Xu Lan, and Xu Meiruo, their faces wearing lecherous smiles. They eagerly reached out their big hands towards the four girls. Suddenly, a dazzling light erupted from two people. One was red like fire, the other white like frost.

The red light came from Xu Lin. A layer of flame burst out from his body, instantly burning through the ropes binding him. Xu Lin had always been wary of Wang Laoshi. How could he have drunk Wang Laoshi’s wine? Each time, he had just used a small trick to deceive Wang Laoshi. The other Xu Clan disciples were all drinking merrily; who would have paid attention to Xu Lin?

The same was true for Xu Ziyan. The dazed look in their eyes was just an act. Just as Xu Lin released the flame to burn his ropes, countless ice blades shot out from Xu Ziyan’s body, instantly severing the ropes on her. With a flip of her hands, the ice blades swirling around her flew towards the sailors. At the same time, Xu Lin also flipped his hands. The flames hovering around him suddenly transformed into countless fire arrows, whistling as they shot towards Wang Laoshi, who was standing there stunned.

In an instant, the fight was over. The two people with the highest Cultivation Level in the team acted simultaneously. Dealing with a group of ordinary people, it took just one move. The sailors were cut to pieces by Xu Ziyan’s ice blades. As for Wang Laoshi, he had long been reduced to ashes within Xu Lin’s flames.

Xu Ziyan and Xu Lin used their swords to cut the ropes on everyone. Everyone averted their gaze from Xu Ziyan, their hearts filled with self-blame, regret, and the anger of being deceived.

Only Xu Qi looked at Xu Ziyan and Xu Lin. The expression on his face shifted uncertainly. His heart felt like a bottle of mixed flavors had been knocked over, with regret and shame twisting together. Seeing Xu Ziyan and Xu Lin standing together, he said bitterly,

“Little Sister Ziyan, Second Brother, did you both see through that Wang Laoshi’s scheme from the start?”

Xu Ziyan and Xu Lin both shook their heads. Seeing how remorseful and full of self-blame Xu Qi was, Xu Ziyan felt it wasn’t the right time to say anything more. So she turned her gaze to Xu Lin. After all, Xu Lin was Xu Qi’s own younger brother; some things could be said by him. Understanding her intention from her look, Xu Lin walked over, put an arm around Xu Qi’s shoulder, and said softly,

“We just had our suspicions. We felt that Wang Laoshi was being overly friendly today. So we didn’t drink the wine, and we didn’t eat the food either!”

Xu Qi shook his head. He looked up at Xu Ziyan and said sincerely, “Little Sister Ziyan, this whole incident is my fault. If it weren’t for me…”

Xu Ziyan cut him off plainly, “What’s done is done. Luckily, no real harm was caused. If something had actually happened, even if just one or two people died, would arguing about whose fault it was have any meaning now?”

Xu Qi lowered his head in shame. Xu Ziyan’s eyes swept over the others still lying on the deck. She said calmly,

“Can you all stand up?”

Everyone struggled weakly for a moment, then fell back powerlessly onto the deck. Xu Ziyan glanced at Xu Lin. Xu Lin immediately understood her meaning and shook his head gently, indicating that he didn’t have the antidote for the Immortal-Numbing Powder in his Storage Ring. Xu Ziyan knew that the Scarred One-Armed Man hadn’t given her any antidote for Immortal-Numbing Powder among the elixirs he provided; they were all Cultivation elixirs. She had originally hoped the Scarred One-Armed Man might have given Xu Lin some antidotes, but it turned out Xu Lin didn’t have any either.

Suddenly, everyone realized the crisis. If enemies attacked now, wouldn’t they be completely wiped out? Nervousness and unease filled every face. Xu Ziyan looked up at the sky. Dawn was approaching. If they waited until full daylight, the danger would increase. After thinking for a moment, she took out the Detoxification Pills she had refined before going to Tongyou Valley from her Storage Pouch. She didn’t know if they would work, but she knew taking them wouldn’t harm the body. It was worth a try.

Xu Ziyan poured out one Detoxification Pill from the bottle. She crouched down and offered it to Xu Qi. This time, Xu Qi did not doubt anything Xu Ziyan did and followed her instructions resolutely. He immediately tried hard to open his mouth and swallowed the Detoxification Pill Xu Ziyan placed inside with difficulty. Xu Ziyan and Xu Lin both crouched beside Xu Qi, watching him intently for any reaction.

After a quarter of an hour, Xu Qi’s face flashed with joy. He abruptly sat up from the deck, clasped his hands, and bowed to Xu Ziyan,

“Thank you!”

“Give it to me! Little Sister Ziyan, you rest for a while.”

Xu Lin reached out his hand to Xu Ziyan. Xu Ziyan nodded lightly and handed the Detoxification Pill in her hand to Xu Lin. She stood up from the deck and began vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

“Second Brother, I’ll help you.”

The recovered Xu Qi and Xu Lin worked together. Soon, they had given each person a Detoxification Pill. Then they returned to stand before Xu Ziyan and handed the bottle of elixir back to her. Xu Ziyan gently shook her head and said,

“You keep it. I have more here.”

Xu Lin was slightly taken aback for just a moment, then silently held the bottle of elixir in his hand without putting it away. He stood there with Xu Ziyan and Xu Qi, waiting for the others to recover.

A quarter of an hour later, all the Xu Clan disciples stood up from the deck. Everyone’s expression was extremely complicated. They had never imagined that a group of ordinary people would, and even dare to, harbor malicious intentions towards them, Immortal Cultivators. Even more ironic was that they had fallen for the trick. If it weren’t for Xu Ziyan and Xu Lin, they would probably be dead by now, or at the very least, tortured beyond recognition by Wang Laoshi.

“Ziyan, next time you suspect something, please tell us beforehand. Save us from being made such a mess by a bunch of ordinary people!” Xu Tianlang felt extremely frustrated and angry inside. To be brought to this state by a group of ordinary people – if this news got back to the clan, how could he ever show his face again?

“Tell you beforehand? Would telling you have been useful?” Xu Ziyan suddenly became furious. “Why should I have to tell you? Among everyone here, is any one of you younger than me? Why should I be the one to remind you? Why couldn’t you realize it yourselves? I saved you, and this is the thanks I get? Your complaints?”

“Three days ago, didn’t I warn you? You yourselves chose to believe a stranger you just met, a stranger who was actually your prisoner. You had killed his men. Maybe among those you killed were his relatives. But you still chose to trust him instead of trusting me. And now you’re saying I should have reminded you? Did you not think before you spoke? Or do you just not have a brain?”