Chapter 2408: Chapter 2408
Just as Ye Liuyun had anticipated, the three powerful experts sent by Xiao Muyu quickly discovered the flying vessel tailing them.
But when they dragged out the person inside, Ye Liuyun was stunned.
It was Leng Jian.
"Leng Jian? What’s he doing here?" You Ming was equally shocked upon learning his identity.
Yet, as the three experts seized Leng Jian, Ye Liuyun’s golden pupils caught a fleeting glance—directed straight toward their hiding spot.
"Does Leng Jian have the same clairvoyant ability as my eyes?" Ye Liuyun immediately turned to You Ming.
"Impossible! If he had that kind of power, he’d be insufferably arrogant by now," You Ming dismissed without hesitation.
After a moment of contemplation, Ye Liuyun reasoned, "He must have some way of tracking you. Think about it—there’s no way he could know about our mission. He shouldn’t even be here. And the distance he kept was enough for us to lose him, yet he still caught up. Doesn’t that prove he has a way to follow you?"
"I’ve never interacted with him, so tracking me is unlikely. But you—you’ve had the most contact with him."
You Ming immediately countered, "I was always wary of him. How could he—"
Then, as if struck by realization, she pulled out a defensive orb Leng Jian had once gifted her.
"Could it be this? He gave it to me." She probed it with her spiritual sense but found nothing unusual.
"Let me have someone examine it." Ye Liuyun stored the orb in his spatial realm and handed it to Tong Xin and the other weapon-refining master for inspection.
In the end, it was a captured artificer from the Holy Land Dynasty who confirmed the truth—the defensive orb had a tracking function embedded within.
Ye Liuyun relayed the artifact refiner’s words to Youming: "This defensive orb doesn’t have any tracking function itself, so no matter how thoroughly you inspect it, you won’t find anything suspicious. But it’s actually one of a pair—the other orb can sense this one’s location. Go ahead and try sensing Leng Jian’s position if you don’t believe me!"
Youming immediately channeled her spiritual consciousness to detect the other orb’s location. Sure enough, she discovered Leng Jian was lurking nearby. Furious, she was about to smash the orb to pieces.
"Wait, don’t destroy it!" Ye Liuyun quickly stopped her. "That cunning bastard planned this in advance. Let’s not waste his ’thoughtful gift.’ We’ll turn the tables and set a trap of our own!"
"I always knew that guy had something shady about him!" Kuangsha chimed in, his voice dripping with disdain.
"To think he’d prepared this far ahead... Good thing we’re no longer teamed up with him," Tianyan and Yidao added, shaking their heads in disbelief.
"Alright, everyone, calm down. The problem’s solved, so let’s move on. Xiao Muyu definitely won’t send a large force after us here. You all should leave—I’ll stay behind to deal with whatever fighters he sends."
Ye Liuyun urged the group to compose themselves while making arrangements for their next steps. He insisted they depart first so he could handle Xiao Muyu’s men without hindrance.
"Alone? What if you run into trouble?" Youming and the others protested, concerned he might be overwhelmed.
"Don’t worry. Even if things go south, I have ways to escape. If you all stay, not only will we risk exposure, but I’d also have to worry about protecting you during a retreat."
Ye Liuyun stood firm. Recognizing his confidence—and knowing he could assess the enemy’s numbers beforehand—they finally relented. Following his directions, they set off to rendezvous with the three Black Kill operatives he’d dispatched earlier.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun’s clone, anticipating Xiao Muyu’s move, was already en route to assist.
Clutching the defensive orb, Ye Liuyun ventured deeper into the dense forest. After instructing the Demon Vine to conceal itself, he summoned Qiong Qi to help set up an array.
"Just an illusion array will do. Once it’s ready, help me subdue a few fighters so I can search their memories for intel about the treasure site," Ye Liuyun instructed Qiong Qi.
Upon hearing about the search for the treasure site, Qiong Qi immediately perked up. Though initially reluctant to get involved, he now eagerly assisted in setting up the formation.
Meanwhile, Xiao Muyu’s subordinates captured Leng Jian and brought him back.
Leng Jian offered no resistance. His Black Kill emblem was discovered, so he openly admitted his affiliation with the organization and even recounted his feud with You Ming and the others.
Holding the defensive light sphere in his hand, he boasted to Xiao Muyu, "Their target is undoubtedly you, Your Highness. You mustn’t underestimate them. With this, I can track them down and help you wipe them all out in one sweep. Just leave the woman to me—the rest can be executed on the spot."
Xiao Muyu realized then that the ones who had attacked them earlier with beasts and poison were likely the same group.
Now that someone was offering assistance, he saw no reason not to take advantage of it.
"Fine, I’ll agree to hand the woman over to you," Xiao Muyu said coldly. "But if you dare deceive me, I won’t show you any mercy!"
He promptly agreed to the arrangement and dispatched eight of his elite warriors to escort Leng Jian in capturing You Ming and the others.
"Once you find them, leave no survivors—including this Leng Jian," he secretly ordered his men.
Unbeknownst to Leng Jian, Xiao Muyu had no intention of keeping him alive.
To Xiao Muyu, Leng Jian was nothing more than a petty, low-tier assassin. With multiple second-tier Heavenly Realm martial artists guarding him, why would he bother with such a narrow-minded killer?
Keeping someone like that around was a risk—who knew when he might turn traitor?
Guided by the defensive light sphere, Leng Jian led the elite warriors toward the dense forest where Ye Liuyun was hiding.
He gloated inwardly, "Serves you right for ostracizing me! And you, Youming—you refused the easy way, now you’ll get the hard way. Just wait till I catch you!"
Two martial experts followed closely behind Leng Jian, while the other six fanned out in the direction he had indicated, moving to encircle their target.
Suddenly, through the defensive energy sphere, Leng Jian sensed Ye Liuyun swiftly retreating deeper into the dense forest.
"They’ve spotted us—they’re fleeing into the woods!" Leng Jian immediately alerted the martial experts.
"After them!"
The two experts flanking Leng Jian tightened their grip, while the other six accelerated in pursuit, plunging into the shadowy depths of the forest.
But as they charged forward, unease crept over them.
The two experts behind Leng Jian abruptly seized him, each clamping a hand on his shoulder to restrain him.
"Something’s wrong—we’ve walked into an illusion array!" one expert warned sharply, his voice edged with tension.
Leng Jian froze, sensing it too. The feedback from his energy sphere told him their quarry had stopped just ahead, unnervingly close.
The other six martial experts, now scattered, also realized they were trapped in the illusion. They halted instantly, wary of taking another step.
