Su Jinnan covered his mouth and coughed up some blood, but he continued regardless of the blood, “But those angry practitioners from other great regions will not care whether you have nothing to do with this or not. If you still stay here, your life will be in danger. So… go now!”
“Head of the Sixth Branch, you…”
Mo Liang was moved. He suddenly thought of something and said in a hurry, “Many disciples of the Sixth Branch can verify that the demonic pneuma inside the demon crystals was drained away by something! Unless something unexpected happened, all demon crystals in the minefield have become stones as well. You can explain this to them…”
“It is useless. You are still too naive, Fellow Practitioner Mo.”
Su Jinnan shook his head, “Unless I can find what drained the demonic pneuma. I must face the mistake I made alone. Keep you out of the mess. You are just a helping boxer invited by me.”
Mo Liang stared at Su Jinnan blankly. After quite a while, he stood up, held the fist in the other hand, and said,
“Funnily enough, I have heard rumors that people of the Su Family are bad-asses. Until I met you, Head of the Sixth Branch, I know it is wrong! Your righteousness is exemplary for practitioners like us.
Although I have struck only once, that is incomparable to the enlightenment you give to me. I’ll give up the pay. Head of the Sixth Branch, take care of yourself, and bye!”
With his last sentence, Mo Liang saluted with his fists and left without any more words. His steps were getting faster and faster, and he vanished soon.
There were few righteous but lots of selfish practitioners in the cultivation circle.
Su Jinnan struggled to get up and continued to refine the healing medicine, ignoring the dirt on his clothes. It seemed that he was really considerate and let Mo Liang leave.
Although there were many casualties in the camp, there were more unharmed disciples. They rebuilt the ruined camp quickly.
Su Jinnan moved to the main tent and took out all his elixirs to get him recovered.
At dawn, most of his injuries had been healed.
He didn’t have time to grieve over the elixirs he used. He just immediately summoned his trusted henchmen and instructed them with a gloomy face, “We need to make alternate plans. If we couldn’t satisfy the old ancestor, we will let Mo Liang be responsible for this. He absconded with all the demon crystals two days ago, and everyone was fooled by him. Understand?”
“Yes!”
Then, Su Jinnan staggered to his feet and walked to the mine cave.
“Those casual practitioners are really too simple-minded, compared to those from sects.”
Su Jinnan laughed with a low voice. It could not tell if he was mocking Mo Liang or himself…
Meanwhile, Su Dieyin and the hawk-nosed elder just arrived at the main gate of the Second Branch.
Seeing that Su Li’s courtyard became a ruin, Su Dieyin slightly changed her look and immediately flew over.
The hawk-nosed elder narrowed his eyes and followed her calmly.
“What happened? Why was Su Jiuzhou’s residence destroyed? Where is Su Jiuzhou?”
Su Dieyin stopped over the ruins. After smelling a hint of blood, she suddenly became gloomy and immediately flew to the peak where she lived.
Before she approached, Su Dieyin saw a gray light flying out of her peak. And it stopped in front of her.
“Is this a practitioner of Huashen Realm?!”
The hawk-nosed elder, who was absent-minded, changed his face instantly, when he saw the gray light. After the death of Su Dieyin’s grandmother, was there someone of Huashen Realm in the Second Branch?
As he was surprised, the gray light dissipated and a middle-aged man in linen with an ordinary face appeared.
The hawk-nosed elder was even more shocked.
“He is still very young but has the potential to pass nature’s test…”
“Uncle Guang, did you intervene?”
When Su Dieyin noticed the middle-aged man in linen flying out openly, she immediately understood what happened. Her nervousness was eased slightly.
The middle-aged man in linen nodded and glanced at the hawk-nosed elder behind Su Dieyin. He greeted the elder with a glance and said, “It’s a bit complicated. You and this… fellow practitioner of the Su Family come with me, please.”
“Fine!”
The hawk-nosed elder vaguely figured out the relationship between Su Dieyin and the middle-aged man based on their previous conversation and the way the middle-aged man addressed him. He nodded with a smile, and signaled the middle-aged man to lead the way.
Seeing that, the middle-aged man in linen turned around with no expression and jumped down into the courtyard on the peak.
Su Dieyin’s mother was worried about her daughter, and her face was full of joy as she saw Su Dieyin. And then, she was shocked after she saw the hawk-nosed elder behind Su Dieyin. She hastened to salute, but the hawk-nosed elder stopped her before she moved and said,
“No courtesies are needed. As a matter of fact, you are the wife of my adopted son. I would appreciate if you don’t blame me in so many years.”
The hawk-nosed elder smiled. Hearing that, Su Dieyin’s mother forced a smile as well and answered, “…You didn’t have to say that, Old Ancestor. As a junior, I will never blame you.”
“Great. He-he…”
The middle-aged man in linen stood aside and did not speak a single word. However, he noticed that the hawk-nosed elder was so kind because of his power and misunderstood something.
However, he was not going to explain it. He pushed open the room door and let Su Xianyun and Su Zheng come out.
“Master!”
Seeing Su Dieyin, the both, who was in a low mood, perked up and gathered around their master before they saw the hawk-nosed elder. They saluted in shock, “Old Ancestor!”
The hawk-nosed elder nodded and asked, “What happened? Tell me in detail. Since I am here, I will manage that.”
Hearing that, Su Xianyun immediately described what happened before in detail. Thanks to his excellent eloquence, he depicted Su Dingchuan’s arrogance lively. Su Zheng, who had personally experienced the scene, could not help but admire Su Xianyun secretly. If he had had to say, he would never have done so vividly as his eldest senior fellow apprentice.
The hawk-nosed elder frowned after hearing the story, “According to what you said, Su Dingchuan was really unjust. Su Dingxian wantonly mutilated the genius in our Su Family, which should not be tolerated!”
“Where is Su Jiuzhou now? And where did Wenbing go?”
Su Dieyin listened to the whole story but did not hear that Su Xianyun mentioned these two. She could not help but ask.
As Su Xianyun heard the questions, he got a terrible look immediately and could not speak one more word. Su Zheng, on the contrary, stepped forward and said with hate, “Master! Wenbing… pooh, Su Wenbing is an ingrate. He not only lied through his teeth and slandered Su Jiuzhou, but also betrayed you. He directly joined Su Dingxian’s side!”
“What?”
Su Dieyin’s body shook slightly as if she dared not to believe what Su Zheng said, “What… are you talking about?”
“Master…”
Su Xianyun said in a bitter tone, “What Junior Fellow Apprentice said is true, and the Third Junior Fellow Apprentice… has defected. Because he told faked information, it became unauthentic that Su Jiuzhou has saved our three lives. Su Dingxian took the chance to make trouble for Su Jiuzhou. As for Su Jiuzhou… she disappeared.”
Su Dieyin listened in a daze and could not speak a single word in a while.
She had only been away for a few days. How could such a big mess happen at home?
The hawk-nosed elder was listening to that with great interest. He didn’t speak a word until everyone became silent, “In this case, only by finding Su Jiuzhou first can we know whether Su Dingxian lied or not. If Su Jiuzhou is not as bad as they said and her foundation is not too damaged to be restored, I will certainly handle this matter! Dieyin, you can rest assured!”
As he said so, he turned to look at the middle-aged man in linen. Finally, he showed his true colors. He asked in a warm voice, “Fellow Practitioner, may I have your name?”
The middle-aged man in linen, however, did not answer him right away but looked at Su Dieyin’s mother, who seemed to be in an inner struggle.
Quite a while later, he turned over and said expressionlessly, “My last name is Ling.”
“So, it’s Fellow Practitioner Ling…”
The hawk-nosed elder echoed, as if he was telling whether the middle-aged man told the truth. And then he introduced himself.
“I am Su Chenke, the Grand Elder of the Su Family. Since your face looks unfamiliar to me, you are not from Jiuzhou Region, are you?”
The middle-aged man shook his head, “I am just a casual practitioner.”
Su Chenke’s eyes suddenly brightened as he heard the words, “Are you interested in a position as a guest grand elder in the Su Family? You can rest assured that we…”
“I’ll go to find Su Jiuzhou.”
The middle-aged man in linen did not wait Su Chenke to finish his words. He turned around and left the courtyard.
The smile on Su Chenke’s face froze for a moment, but he quickly regained his smile. He walked over to Su Dieyin’s mother and asked, “Ru, how did you know Fellow Practitioner Ling? Could you talk with me? …”
Su Dieyin’s mother felt awkward, but she had to answer because of Su Chenke’s status in the family, “There’s nothing to hide. I did him some small favors. But I’m not clear why he stays.”
“What kind of favors?”
Su Chenke got serious and there was a trace of aggressiveness he tried to hide in his tone.
Su Dieyin stood aside anxiously, but she didn’t know how to help her mother get through this hurdle.
She did not expect that Su Chenke would show such an ugly mug once he saw Uncle Guang. He not only poached people in front of her, but also forcibly asked Uncle Guang’s origin…
At this moment, Su Dieyin had a strong hunch that Su Chenke’s visit to the Second Branch would not only fail to help her but also bring her big troubles!
The middle-aged man in linen came to a city for mortals after leaving the mountain.
Both Su Dieyin and Su Xianyun had very confidence in Su Jiuzhou, and the middle-aged man was confident of Su Dieyin and her capability. Since Su Jiuzhou was not like the statement of Su Dingxian’s side, he should think in a reverse way.
That young girl must have felt the imminent threat and left the Second Branch of the Su Family in advance.
“Since she was seriously injured and lost her cultivation, she could not flee far. A city for mortals will be the perfect place to hide.”
A light flashed in the eyes of the middle-aged man, and he looked up at the city plaque.
“Dasu City.”
The city name differed slightly from “Dasu Town”, a place in his memory.
The eyes of the middle-aged man lost focus in an instant, but he put away that immediately.
“It’s a ridiculous dream that I should have forgotten.”
Thinking of this, the middle-aged man walked into the city. The two guards at the city gate didn’t look for trouble based on his extraordinary charisma, despite his common look.
“Check out the best sword for a little price!”
“A freshly made stick of sugar-coated haws. Sweet and delicious…”
Peace and joy were filled in this city for mortals, while deceit and lies were filled in the cultivation circle. The two worlds differed from each other and operated in their own ways.
Maybe the middle-aged man had controlled his emotions in advance, and there was no fluctuation on his face anymore. He walked through the crowd expressionlessly and spread his divine awareness through the buildings.
Suddenly, he froze.