Chapter 83: Bury Them
The four of them instantly realized that they were in a trap and fled as quickly as they could. However, a powerful aura suddenly bore down on them, causing even the ground to tremble.
Ye Guan’s eyes narrowed. He turned around to look and saw a figure clad in black.
Big Sister was also staring at the figure.
“An Earth Law Realm cultivator!” she shouted.
An Earth Law Realm cultivator? Xu Qin and Li Qian frowned. Why would someone like that be here?
The figure clad in black stared at Ye Guan and said, “You would have had a peaceful death if you had let him finish—”
Shwik!
The figure clad in black couldn’t finish their sentence because a sword suddenly pierced their forehead.
Big Sister, Li Qian, and Xu Qin were shocked. They didn’t even notice that Ye Guan had made a move.
Ye Guan suddenly appeared in front of the figure clad in black.
Ye Guan frowned. “You’re an Earth Law Realm cultivator? Why are you so weak?”
Big Sister, Li Qian, and Xu Qin were speechless.
The figure clad in black stared at Ye Guan in disbelief. “What a fast sword…”
Ye Guan was somber. “I only used thirty percent of my strength. I had no idea that Earth Law Realm cultivators were so weak.”
The figure clad in black’s expression froze. They wanted to say something, but…
Slice!
Their head flew into the air.
Ye Guan snatched a storage ring out of mid-air and said, “Let’s go.”
“Wait!” Big Sister rushed up to Ye Guan. She took a command token off the figure’s corpse, and her expression instantly soured upon seeing the words written on it.
Ye Guan also froze upon seeing a certain word emblazoned on the command token—Guanxuan!
The man was from the Guanxuan Academy.
Xu Qin and Li Qian’s expressions turned ugly.
Li Qian made a sidelong glance at the corpse and said, “I recognize him now. He’s the grandson of the academy’s Sixth Elder.”
Ye Guan looked at Li Qian. “Sixth Elder?”
Li Qian nodded. “The sixth elder of the academy’s Elder Circle. He’s influential.”
Ye Guan sounded solemn as he said, “We have to bury him!”
Big Sister, Xu Qin, and Li Qian stared at Ye Guan in shock.
“What do you suggest we do, then?” Ye Guan questioned.
Big Sister, Xu Qin, and Li Qian exchanged glances before nodding.
However, a peal of boisterous laughter interrupted them before they could even make a mood. “Great! You people are great! How dare you murder someone and bury them to hide the evidence?!”
The four turned around and saw a scholarly-looking young man wearing a robe, but the young man’s sinister smile betrayed his scholarly looks.
Big Sister, Xu Qin, and Li Qian glared murderously at the young man.
Xu Qin even growled and spat coldly, “Zhang Jin!”
Ye Guan looked at Xu Qin, “Does he have a strong background as well?”
Xu Qin nodded and said, “He’s the grandson of Grand Elder Zhang Lu. Grand Elder Zhang Lu is the most powerful elder of the Elder Circle. He’s as influential as the Academy Chief of the Zhongtu Divine Continent’s Guanxuan Academy.”
Ye Guan silently pondered over something.
Big Sister smiled at Zhang Jin and said, “I couldn’t have expected that the grandson of Grand Elder Zhang would do something like this.”
Even a child could deduce that Zhang Jin had orchestrated all this.
After all, the easiest way to earn money was to kill someone and rob them clean.
Zhang Jin smiled at Big Sister as well and said, “Watch your words. I only saw you people kill the Sixth Elder’s grandson. I even overheard all of you agreeing to bury him.”
He pointed at the corpse and added, “Look, the evidence is there.”
Big Sister’s expression turned incomparably cold.
Zhang Jin smiled at that. “Who do you think the academy will believe? Will it be you or me? I think—”
Swoosh!
Zhang Jin’s expression abruptly changed.
Shwik!
However, it was too late for Zhang Jin to run away because his fate was sealed the moment he saw the dazzling flash of Ye Guan’s sword.
Ye Guan pierced Zhang Jin’s forehead with his sword. Afterward, he took Zhang Jin’s storage ring and snatched the voice transmission talisman in Zhang Jin’s hand before turning to look at Big Sister.
“Let’s bury them,” he said.
Big Sister, Xu Qin, and Li Qian were dumbstruck.
Zhang Jin was still alive, and he glared resentfully at Ye Guan. “Do you have any idea what you have done?! How dare you stab me! My grandfather is the Grand Elder of the Guanxuan Academy!”
“Yes, I know.” Ye Guan nodded and said, “Brother Li told me.”
“Then, why did you stab me?!” Zhang Jin bellowed.
Ye Guan remained calm as he explained, “I was afraid that you’d ask your grandfather to come after me.”
Zhang Jin couldn’t speak anymore, and his eyes glazed over as he took his last breath.
Big Sister, Xu Qin, and Li Qian walked over to Ye Guan.
Li Qian looked at Zhang Jin’s corpse and said, “You’re in trouble, Brother Yang!”
Big Sister glared at Li Qian.
“What do you mean he’s in trouble? Aren’t we all in trouble?” she said.
“Ah, yes, yes, yes. We’re in trouble,” Li Qian hurriedly said, “It was a slip of the tongue. An honest mistake!”
Ye Guan smiled and said, “What do you think could have happened if I hadn’t killed him?”
The three fell silent.
Ye Guan continued. “He would have reported us to his grandfather, and we will be royally screwed by then. I’m sure his grandfather is the type of person who doesn’t care about who was right or who was wrong. You guys could have been in immediate trouble if I hadn’t killed him, and I’m sure your families would have been implicated as well.”
“I didn’t kill them because I like to kill people. It was for the sake of damage control.”
Damage control… Big Sister, Xu Qin, and Li Qian smiled and shook their heads.
Ye Guan was right.
If they had allowed Zhang Jin to leave unscathed, they would have been in immediate trouble.
“Brother Yang,” Xu Qin said, “I think we should use Ji Xuan as our scapegoat.”
Li Qian nodded. “I agree. Ji Xuan and the academy are already on bad terms. I think the academy won’t suspect anything if we use her as our scapegoat.”
However, Ye Guan shook his head and said, “I don’t think we should do that.”
Xu Qin and Li Qian made a sidelong glance at Ye Guan.
Ye Guan explained, “There’s no enmity between us and Ji Xuan. What you’ve suggested isn’t right...”
Xu Qin and Li Qian fell silent. Eventually, they composed themselves and turned to look at Ye Guan once more. They looked like they wanted to say something, but something strange happened.
Swoosh!
Two dazzling rays of light made a beeline for them.
Ye Guan was shocked. How fast!
He swung his sword without any hesitation.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed, and the outcome of the collision was Ye Guan’s defeat. He was sent flying a few meters away. Upon recovering, he looked down at his hand and saw that his sword had vanished.
It had shattered upon impact, and his right arm had also gone numb.
“Aaaaargh!” A miserable cry echoed next to him. Ye Guan looked over and saw that Li Qian had failed to defend himself, and he ended up losing an arm. Li Qian looked beyond pallid and was crouched while holding his bleeding stump.
He was beyond terrified.
Ye Guan turned and saw a woman sitting on a tree branch.
The woman was wearing a sleeveless, snow-white padded jacket. Under the moonlight, her skin was as dazzling as pearls, and she was mesmerizing overall. Her long legs were covered by snow velvet pants as she sat on the tree branch.
However, the woman’s most eye-catching trait was her long hair. Her hair was silver-colored, and it gave off a beautiful sheen beneath the moonlight.
A dagger was between her fingers, and she was playing with it as if it were a pen.
Big Sister was dumbstruck as she called out, “Silver hair, a pair of daggers… Ji Xuan?!”
Ye Guan froze. Ji Xuan? Student Representative Ji Xuan?
Ye Guan was surprised. He didn’t expect to meet such a legendary figure here. She was extremely strong, and she was one of the most powerful cultivators Ye Guan had seen so far.
Xu Qin turned ashen. He could have died if Ye Guan hadn’t helped him deflect the incoming attack earlier.
Meanwhile, Ji Xuan examined Ye Guan with a smile. “I didn’t expect that the academy would give birth to such a powerful swordsman. Indeed, you’re quite strong.”
“You’re quite strong as well,” said Ye Guan.
Ji Xuan stared deeply at Ye Guan before saying, “Your looks are decent. I don’t want to kill you, but you’ll have to die here today because you’re from the academy. Really, it’s a shame.”
Once her words fell, Ye Guan sensed a mysterious aura locking him down. The aura didn’t belong to Ji Xuan, but Ye Guan couldn’t quite track it down. It felt like it was coming from all cardinal directions.
“Lady Ji Xuan!” Big Sister hurriedly shouted, “He’s not from the academy.”
Ji Xuan hesitated before turning to look at Ye Guan.
“He’s not from the academy?” she asked.
Big Sister nodded and explained, “Yes! He’s like you. He used to be a student of the academy, and he even won the martial contest of the Upper Realm below us, but the An Clan and the True Dragon Clan intervened and hunted him down.
“The academy turning a blind eye to the incident made him lose all trust in the academy.”
Ye Guan stared at Big Sister in surprise. “You knew who I was all this while?”
Big Sister rolled her eyes at Ye Guan and said, “Please… do you really think that we’re idiots? You’re an extremely powerful swordsman, and there have only been a handful of swordsmen in recent years, you know?
”The recent rising star among the swordsmen is named Ye Guan, and you introduced yourself to us as Yang Guan. You were basically not even trying to hide your identity by using such a name.”
Ye Guan grimaced. He felt awkward.
Ji Xuan smiled at Ye Guan and said, “Interesting. I didn’t expect the academy to overlook such a talent.”
Ye Guan sounded somber as he said, “Lady Ji Xuan, there’s no enmity between us. If my friends offended you…”
Ji Xuan jumped down and chuckled. “I know what you’re trying to say. Fight me, and I’ll let your friends go.”
Ye Guan nodded. “Okay.”
Xu Qin’s voice trembled as he shouted, “Brother Ye!”
Li Qian also shouted, “Brother Ye, don’t do it!”
“No.” Ye Guan stared deeply at Li Qian and said, “I have to go.”
Li Qian’s expression froze.
Ye Guan smiled at him and reassured him. “Don’t worry.”
Li Qian’s face turned ugly. “Brother Ye…”
Ye Guan turned to look at Ji Xuan. “Miss, please make your move.”
The corners of Ji Xuan’s mouth twitched.
“You better be careful!” she warned.
Moments later, a dagger appeared in front of Ye Guan. Indeed, she was extremely fast.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed as Ji Xuan’s dagger was sent flying before burying itself into a tree trunk. The dagger still contained enough power to split the tree in half.
Boom!
The tree collapsed with a loud noise.
Big Sister was dumbstruck. She turned to look at Ye Guan and saw that he was still alive.
Ye Guan was still standing, but a bloody line had appeared on his forehead.
Big Sister breathed a sigh of relief.
Ye Guan wordlessly pondered over what had happened just now. He had no intention of facing her dagger head-on. Ji Xuan’s dagger was powerful enough to shatter Ye Guan’s sword energy, so he decisively decided to avoid Ji Xuan’s attack.
Unfortunately, he underestimated Ji Xuan’s speed. Ye Guan had caught a whiff of the smell of death just now. Of course, he was more than delighted to be in danger. After all, he had to fight stronger cultivators if he wanted to improve.
Ji Xuan wordlessly stared at Ye Guan. After a while, she gave him a thumbs up. “If we were in the same realm, I would have lost. You’re really strong!”
Ye Guan nodded at Ji Xuan and said, “Your dagger was super impressive as well.”
Ji Xuan smiled. “I’m overjoyed to hear that the academy has suffered a great loss of talent. Anyway, I’m off.”
She turned around to leave.
“Miss, wait!” Ye Guan called out.
Ji Xuan turned to look at him. “Hmm?”
Ye Guan hesitated before asking, “Can I ask you a question?”
Ji Xuan smiled. “Of course, you can. But I cannot promise you an answer.”
Ye Guan nodded and said, “You don’t feel like an evil person.”
Ji Xuan smiled. “What do you mean?”
Ye Guan gazed deeply at her and explained, “I was just curious. Just what did the academy do to you?”
Big Sister, Li Qian, and Xu Qin looked at Ji Xuan. They were curious as well.
Ji Xuan smiled and asked. “Why do you want to know? Is it just out of curiosity?”
Ye Guan sounded solemn as he said, “You held back earlier, and I couldn’t feel any murderous intent from you as well. Anyway, I’m acquainted with Representative Ye. She’s a kind person, and she’s from the Main Academy.
”Tell me that injustice that you suffered at the academy’s hands, and I’ll tell Representative Ye about it once I meet her again.”
Ji Xuan stared at Ye Guan for quite a while before asking. “Do you know why I’m here?”
Ye Guan shook his head.
Ji Xuan opened her palm, revealing a command token.
Two were emblazoned on the command token—Ye Guan!
“A kill order!” Big Sister was shocked and appalled. She turned to look at Ye Guan and said, “Someone placed a kill order on you!”
Ye Guan wordlessly clenched his fists and asked inwardly, “Master Pagoda, is it my father’s clan?”
After a few moments, Little Pagoda answered, “I don’t think so.”
Ye Guan hesitated. “Why?”
Little Pagoda went silent. Damn it! How do I keep fooling you? It’s getting harder as time goes on…
Meanwhile, Ji Xuan asked, “Young Master Ye, do you have any idea about who wants to kill you?”
Ye Guan shook his head.
Ji Xuan added, “The reward is thirty million gold spiritual crystals.”
Ye Guan went silent in shock. It seemed that his head was a bit expensive.
Ji Xuan smiled before continuing. “I was tempted, but I changed my mind after seeing you. You’re ruthless, but you’re not a monster. You still have a moral compass. I appreciate what you said earlier, so I won’t kill you.”
Ye Guan looked at Ji Xuan and asked, “Do you happen to know who placed the kill order on me?”
Ji Xuan shook her head and said, “I don’t know. The employer made sure to hide their identity, but that’s not important to you right now. Right now, your priority is leaving Sin Abyss. It’s only a matter of time until the murderers and powerhouses of Sin City chase after you—no, they should be on their way here as we speak.”
Ye Guan hesitated before asking, “How powerful are they compared to you?”
“They’re not as strong as me. Don’t be ridiculous. I was once the strongest member of the Zhongtu Divine Continent’s younger generation,” said Ji Xuan.
Ye Guan nodded. “I should be fine as long as they’re not as strong as you.”
“I think this is my chance to fish, Master Pagoda,” he said inwardly.
Little Pagoda was speechless.
Ye Guan asked, “Lady Ji, are you short of money?”
Ji Xuan nodded and admitted. “I’m a bit short.”
Ye Guan sounded serious as he said, “I’m sure the people who are coming after me have some money in their storage rings. They’re chasing after me for money, so they’re all evil bastards who only care about money. Anyway, what do you think of a collaboration? I’ll be the bait, and we’ll kill them. We’ll split everything fifty-fifty.”
Ji Xuan stared at Ye Guan for quite a while before saying, “That sounds great.”
Big Sister, Li Qian, and Xu Qin had no idea what to say.
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