Chapter 2: A List of Names
Ten Origin Stones for a wildebeest was very cheap.
Yet when Su Chen bought it, the maiden still thanked him before leaving in a hurry.
Su Chen looked around and saw that a few of the nearby Sand Race individuals had turned their attention towards him.
Their gazes were vicious and carried traces of killing intent.
No matter how you looked at it, the evaluation of the Sand Race as being overbearing and tyrannical wasn't incorrect.
After he bought the wildebeest, the other people also bought a few Camel Wolves.
Su Chen couldn't help but think that if he were the only one following the "rules", then what would the Sand Race pirates do if they attacked while Su Chen and the others were traveling?
Would they let him off because he was the only one abiding by the rules? Would they implicate everyone else? Or would they only target him?
"You really know how to stir up trouble."
As he was deep in thought, a disdainful voice interrupted his thoughts.
He turned around and saw that it was one of Shi Mingfeng's subordinates. Su Chen remembered that his name was Kong Cheng, a Yang Opening Realm cultivator.
Su Chen didn't expect that Kong Cheng would provoke him of his own accord. He responded, "I thought that we came here looking for trouble in the first place."
"Not in the manner you're going about it. We already have a very specific plan laid out. If you keep randomly messing around, it'll ruin our plan," Kong Cheng harrumphed.
"Kong Cheng, shut your mouth!" Shi Mingfeng admonished him.
Unexpectedly, Kong Cheng ignored him and continued to complain, saying, "I just hope that he doesn't hold us back."
Su Chen was a bit shocked. He stared at Shi Mingfeng and said, "What's going on?"
Shi Mingfeng sighed, "You should know that the Immortal Temple is a large organization……"
Su Chen was enlightened. "Ah, I see now. I was originally under the impression that this mission was planned by you."
"It was indeed planned by my branch, but because this matter involved Kapius a lot of people wanted to get involved." When he got to this point, Shi Mingfeng leaned in and said in a low voice, "Kong Cheng was related to Ma Renze. If you're interested…… kill him."
Su Chen laughed. "You want to kill someone while having someone else bear the consequences?"
Shi Mingfeng indifferently replied, "This Kong Cheng is very annoying. He has no skills to speak of, but his older sister's husband is one of the Immortal Temple's elders. Killing him would be very troublesome. He was sent here to watch over me and I've wanted to kill him since a long time ago, but no one was willing to bear the responsibility on my behalf. As such, I could only endure. Now that you're here, things will be much easier to handle."
"Why do I have to be the one to help you with this?" Su Chen replied expressionlessly.
"First of all, you killed Ma Renze, so you won't get along with him in the first place; otherwise, Kong Cheng wouldn't treat you like this. Secondly, they are part of the extremist branch of the Immortal Temple. Anything that involves attacking someone is usually carried out by them. I know that you're wary of the Immortal Temple, and for good reason. It's precisely these kinds of people that you need to be wary of. Actually, you could say that you would never get along with them ever since you were born. If you don't kill Kong Cheng now, you'll inevitably kill him later. Thirdly, if you kill him, you'll be able to take the first pick of the treasures within the castle. Finally, you're the only person who doesn't fear him. With the potential you've demonstrated and the contributions you've made to the Immortal Temple, they view you as an immensely valuable ally. Even if you kill Kong Cheng, they can only endure."
Su Chen sighed, "It seems like I don't have any good reasons to refuse."
Shi Mingfeng said with a slight smile, "Why else would I try so hard to invite you onto this mission? Oh, right — I also secretly recorded his provocation of you earlier. It'll be the best evidence of him provoking you of his own initiative, and I will try and create more opportunities like this in the future."
"So you've already considered everything," Su Chen sighed in praise.
Shi Mingfeng replied, "In this day and age, finding a scapegoat isn't easy, especially a willing one!"
"That's right!" Su Chen sighed. Yue Longsha appeared in his mind.
That year, just like Shi Mingfeng, he had used Yue Longsha as a scapegoat to deal with Ma Renze. The wheel of fortune had turned, and now he was carrying the burdensome pot for someone else.
All paths led to the same location, and all schemes under the heavens were alike.
As they spoke, the rest of the group finished purchasing their camel beasts.
Su Chen was still chatting with Shi Mingfeng, but now they were talking about how to deal with Kong Cheng. Kong Cheng hadn't come alone; a few subordinates had come along with him, and one of them was even a Light Shaking Realm cultivator.
Yes, there were two Light Shaking Realm cultivators on this expedition. One of them was Shi Mingfeng while the other one, Qi Shenyuan, was responsible for protecting Kong Cheng
Wanting to kill someone being protected by a Light Shaking Realm cultivator wasn't an easy thing to do, but that made it all the more interesting.
As Su Chen and Shi Mingfeng were joking around, Su Chen suddenly saw a person's figure fly by him.
He abruptly stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" Shi Mingfeng saw that Su Chen's expression was a bit strange.
"I saw an old friend," Su Chen said straightforwardly after a moment of thought.
"An old friend?"
"Yes. I'm going to go chat with him for a bit."
When he heard this, Shi Mingfeng frowned. "If it's not necessary, it'd be best not to complicate things more than they need to be."
"Don't worry. I know my limits."
Shi Mingfeng nodded. "Alright. Just say that you need to go to the bathroom. We'll meet up again at the inn. After a night's rest, we'll be on our way."
Su Chen left Shi Mingfeng and walked towards an alley.
At the end of the alley, a white-clothed woman was standing there. It was Yue Longsha.
"It really was you." Su Chen walked over. "Why are you in Mountain Overlook City?"
After graduating from the Hidden Dragon Institute, Su Chen and Yue Longsha had only seen each other twice. Both times were when she had come to Clear River City on official business. But because she was very busy, they could only meet for a brief period of time.
When he saw Yue Longsha, he felt that she was as elegant as ever. Her gracefulness was more moving than ever before.
"I came looking for you," Yue Longsha said directly.
"Looking for me?" Su Chen was surprised for a moment before he realized what this was about. "Cloud Leopard."
Cloud Leopard was actually Yue Longsha's subordinate, and his relationship with Yue Longsha was the closest. It wasn't hard for Yue Longsha to figure out what Su Chen was up to.
"What do you need?" Su Chen asked.
Yue Longsha directly asked, "Is there a person called Kong Cheng accompanying you guys?"
Su Chen laughed. "What? You're interested in him?"
Yue Longsha replied, "Have you heard of the name Ainsley before?"
Su Chen thought for a moment before finally realizing something. He blurted out, "Scarlet Hand Ainsley!?"
People might not know the name Ainsley, but the title Scarlet Hand was one that everyone knew.
His greatest battle achievement was wiping out an entire city single-handedly, resulting in a massacre. The number of lives taken by his hands was incalculable.
One could say that, because of the existence of a person like Ainsley, the Immortal Temple's reputation as a terrorist organization had become reality.
"You're not trying to say……"
"That Kong Cheng is Ainsley's wife's younger brother, or Ma Renze's boss," Yue Longsha said.
Indeed, even ten thousand random items would be related in some way.
"What do you want me to do?" Su Chen asked. "Kill Kong Cheng?"
"No. I need you to find something on his body. What it is exactly, I don't know, but I know that it has a detailed list of people like Ainsley and how to contact them."
Yue Longsha said, "Once you get the list of names, we can begin to get rid of the Immortal Temple's radical influences. You should know how many innocent lives this will save."
She paused for a moment, and then added, "This is not a personal grudge."