Inside the mass grave.
The moment Gu Ningyun placed the withered flower in front of that hand, the person behind it didn't have time to react and swept it straight into his storage bag.
This scene naturally fell into the eyes of both the skeleton and Zuo Hu.
Instantly, Zuo Hu and the skeleton accelerated.
The moment Zhou Fei tucked the withered flower away and sensed the situation around him, he realized something was terribly wrong.
He slapped a new earth-tunneling talisman and a Swift-Walk Talisman onto himself. "It wasn't me!"
“Still trying to talk your way out of it!”
Zuo Hu’s teeth ground together so hard his gums nearly bled. “I thought you were a law-abiding sort back in Border City, but I never expected such a scheme. I cannot let you leave today!”
“I am a member of the Ten Directions Sect! If you dare kill me, are you not afraid they will come for you?”
“In a place like Border City where spirit energy is thin, anyone with even a shred of talent or strength is unwilling to come. You were sent here to be City Lord; how much could your sect possibly value you?”
Zuo Hu’s attacks grew increasingly dense. “In this mass grave, everyone besides you and this skeleton is one of my men. If I kill you, who will ever know who did it?”
“I really didn't take it! Someone else snatched it!” Zhou Fei was so frustrated he felt like spitting blood.
“Who else is here besides you? Whether you took the Soul-Nourishing Flower or not, I’ll know once I’ve killed you!”
The speed of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was too great. Even with a Swift-Walk Talisman, Zhou Fei couldn't outrun him.
He was forced to pull out talismans and treasures he had obtained from the Ten Directions Sect, throwing them out to stall for time.
“I truly only took that withered flower! If you want it, I’ll give it to you right now!”
Before he could even throw the withered flower out, Zuo Hu’s next attack arrived, forcing Zhou Fei to toss out several more talismans.
Gu Ningyun thought: Stop wailing. Of course I know it wasn't you.
Only the person framing you knows exactly how wronged you are.
Gu Ningyun grinned silently, leading her companions back several hundred zhang toward Little Stone Village until her divine sense could barely reach the mass grave.
The five of them simultaneously deactivated their Stealth Talismans and ran toward the mass grave.
Wen Xuan shouted, “Look! The yin energy at that mass grave ahead is so heavy!”
“There’s a skeleton there! It must be the one that killed the villagers of Little Stone Village!” Mu Chenze’s roar was even louder.
“Punish evil and eliminate harm for the people!”
Jiang Yao raised his spear and shouted, “Companions, we shall slay this skeleton today!”
With a whistle of wind, the five of them charged into the mass grave.
Zhou Fei had already been beaten to the point of coughing up blood, clearly suffering from severe injuries.
“Senior Axe, we’re here to help you!”
As Gu Ningyun spoke, her sword had already struck the skeleton’s arm. The skeleton’s arm jerked to the side, directly colliding with Zuo Hu’s attack.
Zhou Fei finally found an opening and slapped another Swift-Walk Talisman onto himself, escaping the mass grave in the blink of an eye.
His escape speed was arguably several notches faster than Wu Chao, the leader of the Spirit Snake Gang.
Gu Ningyun and the others had naturally let Zhou Fei go on purpose.
If he died and Zuo Hu checked his storage bag, the truth would be out. To make the scapegoat’s blame stick, Gu Ningyun naturally had to act for the sake of justice and help fight the skeleton.
The other four companions also moved in to join the battle against the skeleton.
Seeing Zhou Fei flee, Zuo Hu prepared to give chase.
Gu Ningyun quickly called out to him, her tone incredibly sincere, “Senior, that man is as cowardly as a mouse for fleeing the battle. You can punish him later. You have a Foundation Establishment cultivation; why not stay and help us eliminate this skeleton first!”
Seeing that Zuo Hu intended to ignore her and continue the chase, she added, “Judging by your expression, Senior, did that man steal some treasure from you?”
“What treasure? Should we go take a look too?” Wen Xuan chimed in at the perfect moment.
Zuo Hu’s body stiffened. “This place is so desolate, how could there be any treasure? You children are overthinking it. I just couldn't stand a spineless fellow like him and wanted to teach him a lesson.”
As he spoke, he turned back, raised his axe, and joined them in hacking at the skeleton.
However, Gu Ningyun saw a flash of killing intent in the depths of his eyes.
He was planning to discard them after they’d served their purpose and the skeleton was dead.
As expected of a local thug leader who would abandon his own men just to kill Wu Chao, he was ruthless enough.
But soon, that trace of killing intent faded.
Simply put, the strength of Gu Ningyun’s group was nothing to scoff at.
While the other four kept the skeleton occupied, Gu Ningyun directly brought out her zither.
《The Mountain Has the Thorny Elm》—an attack on the primordial spirit level. She would see just how effective it was.
The strings vibrated silently.
There was no sound of music, no visible ripple.
Yet everyone present could clearly see the skeleton’s soul fire being whittled away, layer by layer.
Until finally, not even a single ember remained.
The skeleton, which had already been torn apart by Wen Xuan and the others, completely collapsed.
Gu Ningyun used the Yin-Gathering Pearl to sense the skeleton’s state.
The yin energy was calm, and combined with the feedback from 《The Mountain Has the Thorny Elm》, she had double confirmation—the skeleton was dead for good.
Watching this, Zuo Hu and his few remaining lackeys were stunned.
Zuo Hu forced a wide, stiff smile. “Little fellow Daoists, what impressive methods.”
With the remaining time on his Explosive Flame Pill—no, even if the pill lasted longer, he couldn't take down these five brats!
At this thought, Zuo Hu’s expression became even more sincere. “Thank you all for taking action to rid my Border City of this scourge. There are still matters to attend to in the city, so I shall take my leave first.”
“Go ahead, Senior. Don’t mind us.”
Gu Ningyun pulled out a bottle in front of Zuo Hu. “If this yin energy is left here, I’m afraid it might breed another skeleton and harm the nearby villages. I’ll collect it. You don’t mind, Senior?”
“Naturally not. In fact, I must thank you for resolving this hidden danger for Border City.”
The Soul-Nourishing Flower was gone; what use was yin energy? Letting her take it even saved him a headache.
Without further delay, Zuo Hu led his lackeys and ran back toward Border City.
If he didn't leave now, the Explosive Flame Pill would wear off. He didn't dare show a moment of weakness before these children whose depths he couldn't fathom.
Gu Ningyun collected every last scrap of yin energy and tossed it into her space.
When the Yin-Gathering Pearl ran low on yin energy, this could serve as a supplement.
Once she was finished, Mu Chenze instinctively transmitted, “Ningyun, are we leaving directly, or heading to Border City to see what happens with those local thugs and the City Lord?”
“Let’s head to Border City. This fight was a bit tiring; we should go rest.”
Gu Ningyun maintained a righteous expression while secretly transmitting, “We’ll check the situation first and give Zhou Fei some time to ‘transfer’ the Soul-Nourishing Flower. That’s the only way to make the blame stick securely.”
After transmitting, she thought of something else, her brow furrowing slightly. “But before we go to Border City...”
“Let’s bury the people of Little Stone Village,” Jiang Yao said, his tone heavy.
“Yes, that’s what I was thinking,” Gu Ningyun nodded and looked at the other three.
Mu Chenze draped an arm over Jun Luo’s shoulder. “Let’s go. Looking at how Border City is run, they might not bother to handle it.”
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