139 On Furnace Peak
Seeing the smile on Lin Ran’s face, Hong Liquan couldn’t help but be stunned. He didn’t understand why Lin Ran could still smile under such circumstances.
“Do you think I’m joking?”
Hong Liquan shouted coldly and pulled out his sword to press it against Lin Ran’s chest. “Tell me! What happened to my brother and the others?”
Lin Ran lay on the ground and didn’t even look at the sword that was pointing at his chest. He only stared at Hong Liquan and asked with a faint smile, “Are you in such a hurry because you’re worried about your brother and the others, or are you worried that they’ll expose you after they’re caught?”
“I—”
Hong Liquan did not answer, but this moment of hesitation explained everything.
The smile on Lin Ran’s face deepened. “Let me guess. You worked so hard to become the winner of the martial arts examination, but you ended up working in a remote place like this. You must be very indignant, right?”
“Perhaps it’s because your salary is too low or something else, but in short, you leaked the secrets of Mount Sword to your brother. You wanted him to steal a few divine swords. After he sold them for a high price, you would quit your job and return to your hometown to enjoy a glamorous life.”
“But you didn’t expect it to be such a coincidence that someone would act on the same day as your brother and steal the extremely important Sacred Abyss Sword!”
At this point, Lin Ran suddenly sat up from the ground and continued with a seemingly anxious expression, “What should you do? If your brother is caught on the spot, he will definitely be handed over to the Water Guards for interrogation.”
“I know their methods too well. My brother definitely won’t be able to withstand the torture. If he tells on me, not only will my career end, but I won’t even be able to keep my head!”
Plop!
Hong Liquan’s legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground. His originally fierce expression was replaced by panic.
Looking at his soulless expression, Lin Ran knew that he was right.
“Sigh… One misstep will make you regret it for the rest of your life!”
Lin Ran let out a long sigh and stood up from the ground. Then, he poured himself a cup of tea and asked faintly, “If I tell people what you said just now, what do you think will happen?”
“No!”
Hong Liquan shouted and hurriedly got up from the ground. “Lord Lin… No! Brother Lin! I beg you, don’t tell anyone about this!”
Lin Ran smiled faintly and asked, “You just said that I’m no longer His Majesty’s personal guard. What’s going on?”
Now that Lin Ran had the upper hand, Hong Liquan naturally did not dare to hide anything. He quickly repeated the “Emperor’s decree” that Zhang Yueheng had relayed.
After hearing that, Lin Ran nodded. He didn’t think Zhang Yueheng was deliberately targeting him. After all, he was already warned by the empress that once he was caught, she wouldn’t be able to help him out.
However, the investigation was so intense that it was beyond Lin Ran’s expectations.
After a pause, Lin Ran asked, “Did you find any clues on Mount Sword?”
“I really don’t know about this.”
Hong Liquan replied with a bitter expression, “I’m just an errand boy. If not for the fact that the situation was serious and most of the people were transferred to Mount Sword, it wouldn’t be my place to interrogate you. However…”
At this point, Hong Liquan suddenly lowered his voice and said carefully, “I heard that the Sacred Abyss Sword was stolen and the mountain guardian was also kidnapped. Otherwise, His Majesty wouldn’t be so angry.”
Lin Ran subconsciously picked up the teacup. However, just as he was about to put it to his lips, Hong Liquan snatched it away.
“Brother Lin! You can’t drink this tea!”
Hong Liquan snatched the teacup away and said anxiously, “This tea is poisonous. Martial artists below the Grandmaster Realm won’t be able to use their internal energy after drinking it. I’ll go get you another pot now!”
“Don’t bother. This is good.”
Lin Ran smiled and took back the teacup. “What does it have to do with me? I’m not below Grandmaster Realm”
“But aren’t you…”
Before Hong Liquan could finish speaking, he realized that Lin Ran was emitting the aura of a grandmaster. His words were instantly replaced by exclamations. “You’re already a grandmaster?”
Lin Ran smiled ambiguously and didn’t say anything else on this topic. After thinking for a moment, he instructed, “If you don’t want to lose your job and our head, do something for me.”
There was a hint of hesitation on Hong Liquan’s face. Lin Ran continued, “Don’t worry, it’s not something against the law. If it’s done well, you might even be rewarded.”
Hearing this, Hong Liquan’s eyes lit up. “What do you want me to do?”
…
300 miles to the west of Mount Sword in Furnace Peak.
The top of the peak was flattened by the wind and rain. It was about a hundred steps wide. At this moment, three figures were facing each other.
Huo Qiyun was dressed in white and had a long bag tied to his back. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and stared at Liu Hongshan, who was not far away.
Compared to him, Liu Hongshan looked relaxed. He played with the Dragon Roar Dagger with a smile and looked up at Huo Qiyun from time to time, as if he was very interested in this young man.
Xiao Huai stood between the two of them and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Huo Qiyun, what exactly do you want? At this point, even if you go back on your word, can you still return the Sacred Abyss Sword?”
“I’m not going back on my word. I just don’t trust him.”
Huo Qiyun narrowed his eyes and said coldly, “You said that he could give me great power, but I haven’t seen any proof yet.”
“Isn’t that simple?”
Xiao Huai sneered and turned to Liu Hongshan. “Did you hear that? If you want the Sacred Abyss Sword, let him see what you’re capable of!”
“Sigh… Kids nowadays!”
Liu Hongshan sighed with a faint smile. He released his grip and the Dragon Roar Dagger fell to the ground. Like a red-hot knife falling into butter, it easily and smoothly entered the hard rock.
Then, Liu Hongshan stretched his muscles and curled his finger at Huo Qiyun. “Come, hit me.”
Huo Qiyun revealed a strange expression. “Did you misunderstand me? I want you to prove how you can help me become stronger, not how strong you are.”
“I know.”
Liu Hongshan nodded with the same faint smile on his face. “You’ll know after you hit you.”
Huo Qiyun hesitated for a moment before finally placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. The sword at his waist was unsheathed half an inch, and instantly, sword energy swept out!
In an instant, sand and stones flew up. Wherever the sword energy went, it plowed a deep ravine in the solid ground!
On the other hand, Liu Hongshan did not dodge when he saw the sword energy coming at him. There was a faint smile on his face. He placed one hand behind his back and raised the other hand in front of him. He actually wanted to use one hand to catch the sword energy head-on!
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