The scorching sun hung high in the sky, over a secret forest.
“The sun winks at me, the birds sing to me, I’m a hardworking, not clingy little fairy…”
“Senior Brother Fang, can you please stop repeating that line? You should sing the rest.” A female disciple protested.
“Because he only remembers those two lines,” Huo Sichun mercilessly exposed him.
As the group walked along the secret forest path, Fang Yuan held a branch, waving it while retorting, “Nonsense, there are clearly four lines.”
As he spoke, over two hundred people suddenly rushed out of the secret forest ahead, surrounding the group.
In front, a man with a full beard and dressed in sackcloth held a machete and stammered loudly at them:
“Th-th-this tr-tree is m-mine!”
“Th-th-this…”
Fang Yuan couldn't help but finish, “This road is mine.”
“Eh, yes, yes, yes!”
“If, if, if…”
Fang Yuan grew a bit impatient, immediately waved his hand to interrupt, pulled out a large machete from behind his back, and yelled at the big man:
“This road is mine, this tree is mine.
If you want to pass, leave your toll.
Dare to say no, I’ll pull your head off.
Die in the wilderness, I’ll kill you but won’t bury you.
Sent to the Platform of Gazing at Home, never to return.”
The big man was slightly stunned, then involuntarily clapped his hands and cheered, “Good! You, you, you said it well!”
Fang Yuan snorted twice, a smirk forming on his lips, then flashed in front of the big man and grabbed his head, “You dare to rob your Grandpa Fang? You’ve got some nerve.”
Seeing this, the surrounding bandits immediately charged forward with their weapons.
“Let go of Big Strong Brother!”
Whoosh—
Sun Yiyi flicked her fingers a few times, and all the bandits immediately fell to the ground, wailing continuously.
At this point, the big man finally realized he had messed with the wrong people, and a smile uglier than crying appeared on his face, “G-g-grandpa, I, I, we, kn-know…”
“Shut up! Listening to you talk gives me a headache!” Fang Yuan snapped, slapping the big man on the head.
The big man rubbed his head aggrievedly and obediently shut his mouth.
“Go, hand over your valuables!”
Fang Yuan kicked the big man’s backside, making him stumble. He fumbled around on his person and found a few pieces of broken silver, which he handed to Fang Yuan, “G-g-grandpa, th-th-that’s all…”
“What about the others?”
Fang Yuan didn't know how much the silver was worth, so he casually tucked it into his pocket.
“N-n-no more, the, the, the market has been bad recently.”
With every word the big man spoke, a drop of sweat trickled down his forehead.
If he guessed correctly, this group of people should be the legendary cultivators.
This time, they were truly doomed!
The big man wiped the cold sweat from his face, cautiously looking at Fang Yuan.
“It’s getting dark, let’s kill them and then hurry on our way,” Qin Hao’s voice came from behind.
Upon hearing this, all the bandits immediately shivered in fear and quickly knelt on the ground, wailing and howling.
“Great heroes, please spare us! We were forced into banditry!”
“We haven’t harmed anyone, nor have we killed anyone. Please, great heroes, spare us…”
“We won’t dare again, never again, please, please…”
The group of bandits grew increasingly sorrowful as they spoke, tears streaming down their faces, as if they held countless grievances in their hearts.
The group exchanged glances. Fang Yuan held his long saber and patted the big man’s shoulder, “I’ll give you two minutes to explain…”
Halfway through, he retracted his saber, “Forget it, it’s too much effort to listen to you.”
“You speak,” Fang Yuan casually pointed at a thin young man.
The thin young man trembled slightly and nodded vigorously, “Half a month ago, three men came to our village, claiming to be Hua Xia Sect disciples. They said we had cultivation potential and then took all the children from the village.”
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances, their hearts sinking instantly.
They had never heard of this, and no disciples had left the sect during that time.
“Continue,” Fang Yuan said expressionlessly.
The young man secretly glanced at the group and said with a trembling voice, “Later, we heard that similar things had happened in other villages, and we felt something was wrong.”
“Then, two days later, they came again, and we questioned them. But not only did they refuse to listen to us, they even started killing people and tied us all up, taking us to a mine to work as laborers.”
“We worked in the mine every day, and if we were even slightly careless, they would whip us, sometimes even beating people to death.”
“The mine is very large, and people die every day. Some are even mysteriously taken away in the middle of the night.”
“A few days ago, our group took advantage of a heavy rain to secretly escape, and then we fled all the way here. That’s how it happened…”
After speaking, the young man felt extremely anxious, fearing that the large saber above his head would fall onto his own head.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan put away his saber and walked in front of Li Taibai and the others, spreading his hands and saying, “Someone is impersonating our Hua Xia Sect. What do you say?”
“What else can we say? Let’s get them!” Sun Yiyi shouted loudly.
“Agreed,” Qin Hao raised both hands.
“Let’s deal with this first, and then go to the capital of Yan,” Huo Sichun also said.
Li Taibai didn't speak, but silently raised his right hand.
Having received their replies, Fang Yuan walked back to the big man, patted his head, and said, “Let’s go, take us to the mine to have a look.”
“But, but…”
The big man’s face showed anxiety. They had barely managed to escape; if they went back, it would probably be a dead end.
“What are you afraid of? We’re helping you rescue people.”
As Fang Yuan spoke, he made a grabbing motion in the void, and a large tree in front instantly exploded, breaking into two halves.
The big man’s pupils dilated. After he reacted, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face. He led the others in continuous kowtows, “G-g-grandpa, s-s-save…”
“Alright, alright, from now on, when you talk to me, just say one word,” Fang Yuan waved his hand impatiently.
“Okay!” The big man nodded vigorously.
…
On the other side, in an abandoned spirit stone mine a hundred miles away.
Thousands of people were scattered in every corner of the mine, vigorously swinging their hoes.
Around these people, there were hundreds of others holding whips, occasionally lashing out at the crowd.
In a cave not far from the mine, a middle-aged man sat cross-legged on the ground. In front of him, a cauldron was placed.
At this moment, a man walked in, carrying two children, and said to the middle-aged man, “Elder, the people have been brought.”
“Throw them in,” the middle-aged man said without even raising his head, continuing to stare at the flames beneath the cauldron.
Clang! The two children were thrown into the furnace, immediately letting out shrill screams.
The middle-aged man remained unmoved. With a wave of his hand, the cauldron lid flew above the furnace, making a dull thud.
The screams from inside the furnace abruptly stopped, and wisps of blood mist floated out from the cracks.
The man hesitated to speak, but finally couldn't help but ask, “Elder, is what we’re doing truly useful?”
Hearing this, the middle-aged man raised his eyes and said coldly, “Are you questioning this Elder?”
“This disciple wouldn’t dare,” the man lowered his head, not daring to say anything more.
The middle-aged man sighed slightly and gritted his teeth, saying, “The Hua Xia Sect destroyed our sect. Such deep hatred, whenever I think of it, this Elder wishes I could eat their flesh and drink their blood.”
“Do you think this Elder enjoys killing people and refining pills? It’s all because those devils from the Hua Xia Sect forced us!”
Upon hearing the words “Hua Xia Sect,” the disciple’s eyes immediately turned red, and a monstrous hatred filled his heart.
“This disciple understands, and will never bring this up again.”
The middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction, his tone becoming calmer, “Have the group that escaped a few days ago been caught?”
“Reporting to Elder, some clues have been found. Their whereabouts should be traced within the next two days.”
“Recently, villagers have been disappearing frequently, which might attract attention from others. Recently, instruct other disciples not to go out…”
The middle-aged man hadn’t finished speaking when he saw a disciple rush in, shouting with a trembling voice, “Elder, this is bad! People from the Hua Xia Sect have come to kill us!”
“What?!!!”
The middle-aged man sprang up in horror, grabbing the newcomer by the collar and roaring, “Where are they?”
“Just, just outside!”
As soon as his voice fell, screams could be heard from outside.
The middle-aged man quickly rushed out of the cave, and the scene before him made his eyes bulge.
Hundreds of disciples lay headless, their bodies sprawled in pools of blood.
“Hua Xia Sect!!!”
The middle-aged man let out a sorrowful roar towards the sky, the anger in his heart burning fiercely.
“Pfft…”
Overwhelmed by anger, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of old blood.
“This person actually spat blood from anger…”
Fang Yuan floated down from the void, landing in front of the middle-aged man.
“Originally, the Hua Xia Sect had no intention of seeking out you remnants, but I didn’t expect you to be quite lively, even committing crimes under the name of the Hua Xia Sect. Tell me, do you have any other accomplices?”
The middle-aged man glared at Fang Yuan with hatred, his eyes wishing he could swallow Fang Yuan whole.
“You devils from the Hua Xia Sect won’t be laughing for long. Sooner or later, you too will face the fate of having your sect destroyed. I hate, I hate that I won’t live to see that day!”
The middle-aged man gritted his teeth, filled with resentment and hatred, then let out a long howl towards the sky, intending to self-detonate his Golden Core.
Fang Yuan cursed, and his body swiftly retreated.
Boom—
An explosion rang out, and the entire mine instantly collapsed, becoming a complete ruin.
This was merely a spirit stone mine left behind after being fully exploited. These people, having no other recourse, could only resort to this method, hoping to dig out some more spirit stones for their cultivation.
In their minds, their current miserable state was entirely caused by the Hua Xia Sect.
But they never reflected on it: if the various sects hadn't been greedy and united to attack the Hua Xia Sect in the first place, they wouldn't have ended up in such a predicament.
The victors become kings, the defeated are destroyed. There’s nothing more to say.
