The Blood Pool was cavernous, and footsteps echoed as two figures in black entered from the entrance, one after the other.
"Where are those two?"
"Who knows."
"One, two, three... seven, eight. They’re all here. Those two probably left early."
"Ridiculous. No discipline at all. Don’t they see what time it is? The outside is in total chaos. I’m definitely going to report them to the Venerable when I get back."
"Forget it, forget it. As long as nothing went wrong. Don’t go looking for trouble; it’s a thankless task."
"Looking for trouble? I’m a demonic cultivator, you think I’m afraid of offending people?"
"Suit yourself. I’m going to take a look over there."
Beneath the Blood Pool.
Ruan Zhong asked in a low voice, "What’s the situation?"
Song Qingshu replied softly, "Likely a shift change."
The little book spirit squatted arrogantly on a protruding rock on the cliffside.
With its chin resting in its hands and its short legs swinging, it provided the visual sharing of the entire Blood Pool to Xu Xian.
Xu Xian whispered, "Just like the previous two, both are in the foundation establishment stage."
Ruan Zhong’s sword edge quietly unsheathed a few inches, his eyes filled with killing intent.
"Do we take them?"
"Don’t be in such a hurry. Keep your cool so we don't alert them. It’s not worth killing two foundation establishment cultivators yet. Let them stay so the enemy lets their guard down. We keep waiting..." Xu Xian said.
Ruan Zhong sheathed his blade, sounding a bit restless. "How long do we have to wait? It'll be dark soon. What if those two don't show up?"
Clearly, as their injuries healed, the group was becoming restless.
After all, this Blood Pool was truly no place for a human to stay.
Xu Xian frowned slightly. It was currently the Hour of the Dog; to be precise, it was already dark.
For most of the day, no one had appeared in this Blood Pool except for these two guards.
Seeing that the concealment power of his Pupil of Insight had less than three hours remaining, he couldn't help but feel anxious as well.
Xu Xian knew very well that the people outside were frantically searching for him.
Once the Pupil of Insight expired, his aura would quickly be locked onto. At that point, let alone a sneak attack, he’d be lucky not to be suddenly assassinated himself.
Nangong Ning consoled, "Have some patience. I believe they will show up."
Once Nangong Ning spoke, Ruan Zhong didn't say anything else, swallowing his complaints.
Xu Xian looked at Nangong Ning and asked, "Xiao Ning, how is your recovery?"
Nangong Ning lowered her eyes. "If I push myself, I can use seventy percent of my strength. That’s the limit."
Ruan Zhong chimed in, "I’m about the same."
Song Qingshu said calmly, "Even missing an arm, I’d have no problem fighting those in the core formation stage."
Xu Xian pondered for a moment, calculating in his mind, then said, "Fine. We wait for another two hours. If they haven’t appeared by the Hour of the Rat, we won’t wait any longer. You two will use your full strength to split this place open. In the chaos, we’ll stick together and fight our way out."
Nangong Ning hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.
Though she didn't know why it had to be the Hour of the Rat, she knew Xu Xian well enough to know there must be an unavoidable reason.
Since Xu Xian didn't explain, she didn't ask.
The others naturally agreed. Ruan Zhong was even starting to rub his palms together in anticipation.
During this mission, they had been ambushed and thrown into a Blood Pool. He had never fought such a stifling battle in his life; he was fuming and had nowhere to vent his anger.
Before, his cultivation was suppressed and he was heavily injured, leaving him powerless. Now that he had the strength to fight, there was no reason to hold back.
Waiting... more boring waiting.
The boiling Blood Pool. The pungent air. The beast cores flashing with red light from time to time. And the endless chatter between the two cultivators.
"...I wonder if that kid has been caught yet?"
"Where would they catch him? He’s as slippery as a rat. They’ve searched for a whole day and haven’t even found a shadow."
"Damn, he’s ruthless. He killed over twenty of our brothers in a single night. They say he’s only in the foundation establishment stage like us, but who’d believe that?"
"He’s a disciple of the Wendao Sword Sect; they have plenty of tricks."
"Bullshit. Could a Wendao Sword Sect disciple be that insidious and cruel? You didn’t see the brothers who were killed; they were stripped so clean they looked like they’d been hit by bandits."
"You say that, but while Wendao Sword Sect disciples are righteous, they aren't stupid. Why wouldn't they take the loot?"
Everyone’s eyes simultaneously landed on Xu Xian.
Xu Xian looked bewildered. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Nangong Ning swallowed and asked weakly, "Little Grand-Uncle... is what they’re saying true?"
"What’s true or false?"
"Did you really kill over twenty people?"
Xu Xian whispered, "What’s the big deal? If they hadn't grouped up, I would have wiped them out."
The group looked at him with a mix of horror and admiration.
Feng Shisan asked softly, "Is it also true about stripping them bare?"
Xu Xian denied it without a second thought. "False. That’s slander. Could I, the Little Grand-Uncle of the Wendao Sword Sect, be that kind of person? Besides, with my background, would I care about those scraps?"
Nangong Ning and the other two exchanged looks, clicking their tongues and twitching their noses with meaningful expressions.
The five from the Supervision Hall might have missed it while unconscious, but the three of them had seen it clearly.
Xu Xian had stripped those two bare right in front of them before throwing them into the Blood Pool.
One could only say he truly lived up to being the Little Grand-Uncle; his face didn’t even turn red when he lied.
"What’s with those expressions? You don't believe me?"
The three shook their heads frantically.
Xu Xian pursed his lips and said nothing more...
A moment later, as the Hour of the Pig was ending, more movement came from outside the Blood Pool. This time, it was loud and chaotic. The two guarding cultivators became exceptionally solemn.
Ruan Zhong’s expression turned grave.
"Someone’s coming."
"A lot of people..."
From Xu Xian’s perspective, several core formation stage cultivators emerged at the entrance of the Blood Pool, followed by a line of armored soldiers marching in unison.
In their arms, each soldier held two swaddled bundles.
"Are those... female infants?"
The soldiers entered one after another, placing the female infants in swaddling clothes on the empty ground beside the Blood Pool according to the instructions of the core formation cultivators.
There was a dense crowd of them.
One of the cultivators in the late core formation stage seemed to be the leader. He walked to the edge of the Blood Pool, looked across toward where Xu Xian and the others were hiding, and waved to the two guards.
"You two, come here."
The two ran forward and bowed hurriedly.
"Greetings, Elder!"
"Greetings, Elder!"
The man stood with his hands behind his back, his body hidden under a black robe. He asked coldly, "Have you noticed any abnormalities?"
One of them said flatteringly, "Don’t worry, Elder. With the two of us here, not even a fly could get in. Nothing will go wrong."
"Mm, good. Once the matter is settled, I will report your merits to the Venerable."
The two immediately beamed and thanked him repeatedly. One of them, looking at the floor covered in infants and the soldiers coming in and out, asked curiously:
"Elder, what’s happening today? Why were so many children suddenly sent here? There must be thousands of them."
The corners of the Elder's mouth beneath his veiled hat curled up slightly in excitement. "Great things are about to be accomplished. Just wait to rise to greatness with the Venerable."
"That’s wonderful."
"Really?"
The two, caught up in the excitement, moved closer to curry favor. "Elder, has that kid from the Wendao Sword Sect been caught yet?"
Hearing this, the black-robed Elder glanced at them coldly, his expression shifting instantly.
"The two of you... aren't you talking a bit too much?"
The two were startled and hurriedly apologized.
The black-robed Elder said grimly, "Get out and guard the door."
"Understood!"
"As you command!"
The two lowered their heads and fled in a hurry.
"If you want to die, don't take me with you! Why bring up the one thing you shouldn't? Don't you know four of his disciples were killed?"
"I... I didn't do it on purpose."
The black-robed Elder subconsciously clenched his fists and swung them angrily at the air. At the thought of that boy, he was consumed by uncontrollable rage.
His disciples had died tragically.
His junior sister had died tragically.
All because of that person.
And a blood debt could only be paid in blood.
"If I catch you, I will definitely skin you alive..."
Rate on N.U.
