161 Scheming
Lin Ran looked at the wound on Liu Hongshan’s arm and couldn’t help but hesitate. It wasn’t that he was hesitating about whether to cooperate or not, but if what Liu Hongshan said was true.
Lin Ran didn’t doubt it when Liu Hongshan said that they had been here for nearly 20 hours.
The last time Lin Ran entered the secret place, it was during night, but this secret place was still daytime. That was why he said that it wouldn’t get dark here.
After that, he was chased by the guy in armor. He almost toured the entire secret place. Not to mention wild beasts, he did not even see the third living creature.
Therefore, Lin Ran didn’t believe it when Liu Hongshan said there were beasts outside.
!!
However, the sky outside was indeed dark. From time to time, a few howls could be heard from afar. This made Lin Ran have no choice but believe it.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Ran decided to test him first. Then, he asked calmly, “How do you want me to cooperate?”
“You provide the information, and I’ll find a way out.”
Liu Hongshan looked at the fire and replied softly, “Back then, when I was captured, I was at the seventh level of Senior Martial Master Realm, but I was able to escape from the custody of the Five Elements Imperial Guards, so you can trust me when it comes to finding the way out.”
Lin Ran narrowed his eyes and asked in an emotionless tone, “You should know that I won’t let you leave here alive. Why are you still willing to cooperate with me?”
“Do I have any other choice?”
Liu Hongshan shrugged and swept his gaze across the empty old palace hall. “I’m too unfamiliar with the situation here. Although I can find a way out myself, that will definitely take up a lot of my time.”
“I originally planned to flatten the palace and ascend the throne in a day, but now that it’s been dragging on for too long, I have to leave this place as soon as possible. Otherwise, if something happens to my plan, the price will be something you can’t afford.”
Lin Ran subconsciously asked, “What price?”
“That’s not something you should know.”
Liu Hongshan replied in an indifferent tone, “I’ll start treating my wound now. It’ll take about half an hour. You can consider whether to work with me or not.”
With that, Liu Hongshan picked up a small piece of wood and began to scrape off the scabs on the wound. Then, he applied the ashes of the vegetation on it.
Lin Ran felt pain just looking at the bloody mess, but Liu Hongshan didn’t seem to feel anything. He didn’t even bat an eye.
Lin Ran watched from the side and hesitated for a moment. In the end, he couldn’t help but ask, “Are you really not in pain?”
“I’m used to it.”
Liu Hongshan replied calmly, as if he was talking about an insignificant matter.
Lin Ran’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly remembered that Liu Hongshan had once said that the first time he fought Xiao Huai, he accidentally lost an arm. It was also because of that time that he realized that Xiao Huai could absorb flesh and blood to increase her strength.
However, what contradicted the story was that the current Liu Hongshan clearly had two complete arms with flesh and blood.
Lin Ran was suspicious. “Could it be that he has three arms?”
As if knowing what Lin Ran was thinking, Liu Hongshan shook his injured arm and explained, “This is the arm of my deputy general. Back then, he framed me for colluding with foreign enemies. I took his arm as compensation… It’s not too much, right?”
“Ah… It’s not too much.”
Lin Ran was stunned for a moment before shaking his head. Although he felt that the deputy general was innocent, it was already 60 years ago. He didn’t even know if the deputy general was still alive.
However, Lin Ran still subconsciously observed and realized that Liu Hongshan’s arms were indeed slightly different.
Compared to Liu Hongshan’s right arm, the left arm, which was the arm of the deputy general, had a greenish-gray skin. Moreover, the fingers were shorter and the joints were larger. It was probably the arm of a martial artist who was good at using heavy swords.
Then, Lin Ran recalled another detail. When Liu Hongshan attacked, he usually held the sword in his right hand and placed his left hand behind his back. At that time, he thought that Liu Hongshan was just pretending to be cool. Now that he thought about it, he probably couldn’t use left hand flexibly.
“When I attack, I can focus on his left arm.”
Lin Ran made a mental note and nodded at Liu Hongshan. “I can agree to cooperate with you, but I have a condition.”
“What condition?”
“I want to challenge you to a death duel.”
As Lin Ran spoke, he stretched out his right palm. A wisp of sword intent instantly condensed and flew between his fingers like a small dragon.
“Back then, you ambushed Sword God. Now, you’ve joined forces with the Great Yong Dynasty to attack the Heavenly Saint Dynasty. No matter what, I can’t spare your life.”
Lin Ran said coldly without any expression, “I can cooperate with you to find a way out, but before I leave this place, I’ll try my best to kill you. If that doesn’t work, I’ll fight you alone after we get out… in a place where no one will be affected.”
Liu Hongshan looked up at Lin Ran, then his gaze landed on the wisp of sword intent in Lin Ran’s hand. After a moment, he suddenly reached out his right hand and shook Lin Ran’s.
“I accept your challenge.”
As he spoke, a wisp of sword intent was released from Liu Hongshan’s palm and instantly entered Lin Ran’s hand.
At the same time, Lin Ran’s sword intent entered Liu Hongshan’s body. Their eyes lit up. This meant that the death duel between the two of them had already been formed.
After quickly exchanging sword intent, Liu Hongshan let go and picked up a burning firewood from the fire. “We should go. The sword intent might lure that thing over.”
Lin Ran knew that Liu Hongshan was talking about the guy in armor, but he was not worried, because he knew that sword intent alone wouldn’t attract him over.
The reason was very simple. Lin Ran had been using sword intent to keep the remnant black insects attached to his clothes. If the sword intent could attract that person over, he would definitely not be able to sleep peacefully for more than twenty hours.
However, Lin Ran did not intend to tell Liu Hongshan about this.
Although the two of them were now in a cooperative relationship, the fact that they were mortal enemies had not changed. Therefore, the less Liu Hongshan knew, the more advantageous it was for Lin Ran.
After confirming the cooperation, Liu Hongshan handed over a torch and instructed, “I want to leave a spark here. Go outside and stand guard. Let me know when that thing comes.”
Lin Ran took the torch and left.
After he left, Liu Hongshan quickly wiped the ash off his arm, revealing a few smooth wounds. They were not very deep and were just some scratches.
Looking at Lin Ran’s back outside the door, Liu Hongshan sneered, but soon his face returned to normal. Then, he put down his sleeve to cover his arm and walked out as if nothing had happened.
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