At the icy voice of Fairy Violet Spirit, the gazes of the other cultivators snapped toward a certain spot in the crowd.
Elder Zhao and another middle-aged scholar were standing there expressionless. That scholar was none other than the other Miaoyin Sect elder who often followed at Zhuo Ruting's side.
Seeing this scene, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting both realized something, and their complexions turned extremely ugly.
Madam Fan looked the worst of all, appearing rather flustered and exasperated.
"Who is lurking over there?" An angry roar from Old Monster Chihuo suddenly came from the dark clouds, followed by a string of thunder-fire that shot out of the clouds and struck toward a nearby spot like a nimble serpent.
The light dimmed where there had been no one at all, and a large patch of black qi burst out of thin air, devouring the thunder-fire completely. Then a short young man appeared on the spot.
"Wu Chou!"
Han Li, who had quietly retreated to the very back of the group, was startled at the sight of the young man and silently called out his name.
At this moment, many of the other cultivators also recognized the young man and cried out in alarm as well.
The people of the Yinsha Sect changed countenance even more drastically, glaring viciously at Wu Chou.
But the middle-aged man leading them wore an odd expression; while staring at Wu Chou, he faintly revealed a trace of terror.
"Hehe! Truly worthy of the renowned Old Monster Chihuo—you could actually see through this young lord's concealment art." Wu Chou looked indifferently over everyone present, his gaze coming to rest on the dark clouds.
"Hmph!" A cold snort came from the clouds, and there was no other sound after that, making Wu Chou's face darken.
"Was this affair here the work of your Jiyin Island?" Zhuo Ruting, who had not said a word since realizing something was wrong, finally spoke up.
"Correct! Everything here was arranged by this young lord. Your Miaoyin Sect's goods were stolen by people of this island, and it was also on this young lord's orders that the two elders were framed, pinning it on the Yinsha Sect!"
Quite unexpectedly, Wu Chou showed no intention of hiding anything at all; after a cold sneer, he admitted everything. Moreover, a lewd glint shot from his eyes as they roamed ceaselessly over the woman in violet.
The violet-robed woman's eyes remained as clear and cold as ever. She merely looked at Wu Chou coldly without saying a single word.
At this moment, Elder Zhao, the scholar, and the cultivators who had made a move earlier suddenly shot over to Wu Chou's side without a sound, forming a three-way standoff with Fairy Violet Spirit, the Yinsha Sect cultivators, and the others.
Seeing this scene, although Fairy Violet Spirit Zhuo Ruting had long since guessed it, her expression still changed and her face grew somewhat grave.
"Elders Zhao and Meng, our sect has always treated you well. How could you do such a thing?" Madam Fan's face had long since turned deathly pale, and when Elder Zhao and the others flew to Wu Chou's side, she finally could not help shouting the question.
You should know that in order to contend with Zhuo Ruting within the Miaoyin Sect, she had poured great effort into Elder Zhao, even sacrificing her beauty to win him over. Now that he had abandoned her without a word, she was both shocked and furious.
"Left Envoy Fan, this old man did not wish to do such a thing either. But Elder Meng and I have long had our lives hanging in another's hands—we truly had no choice!" Elder Zhao's face twitched as he said this woodenly.
Hearing this, Madam Fan was taken aback. But just as her willow brows arched and she was about to say more, she was cut off by Fairy Violet Spirit's cold words.
"Senior Sister Fan, there is no use saying anything now. Since they dared to lay such a trap, they surely have another move in reserve. Let us first see if we can escape today's calamity!"
Madam Fan fell silent.
"Tsk tsk! Truly worthy of the Fairy Violet Spirit, peerless in both talent and beauty. This young lord has admired you for a long time. I wonder if the Fairy would be interested in marrying this young lord? You should know that although this young master has many concubines, the position of principal wife has always remained vacant." Wu Chou stared at the spell-veiled face of the violet-robed woman and spoke with a lecherous air.
"Very well. Agreed!" Fairy Violet Spirit said expressionlessly.
These words startled all the other cultivators, Han Li included.
Wu Chou himself froze for a moment, then asked again with suspicion on his face:
"Miss Wang, do you mean what you say?"
"Execute every cultivator who killed my mother that day, and I will marry you as your wife!" Fairy Violet Spirit said, her voice turning frosty.
At these words, the joy on Wu Chou's face receded, and he shook his head with knitted brows.
"That condition will not do! Many of those who made a move that day are trusted men of my grandfather. I have no authority to execute them. How about choosing a different condition, Miss Violet Spirit?"
Fairy Violet Spirit gave a few cold laughs, murmured a few words to Madam Fan at her side, and ignored Wu Chou.
Seeing this, a flash of savagery crossed Wu Chou's hideously ugly face, but as if he thought of something, he forcibly suppressed his anger, turned his gaze, and looked toward the group of Yinsha Sect cultivators.
"Martial Uncle Sun, I never expected that after so many years apart, you really have trained so many disciples. How gratifying!" Wu Chou said coldly.
"Martial Uncle?"
This form of address from Wu Chou greatly astonished the others.
Han Li's heart sank, and the unease in his mind grew. Yet his spiritual sense had already swept the surroundings once and discovered no further ambush.
This left him hesitating for a moment, unsure whether he should flee at once or stay and watch how things developed.
After all, he still had not figured out whether the matter of the "Tianlei Bamboo" was true or false.
But at this moment the middle-aged man gave a cold snort and replied, his face shifting between dark and pale:
"I am living quite well! What I did not expect was that just as I led some of my disciples out to move about, your people discovered us. It seems coming out this time was truly a mistake."
"Hehe! Martial Uncle Sun jokes too much. Anyone who stays in the Tongtian Mist Sea for decades would want to come out and move about. Besides, Martial Uncle has most likely come out this time for the matter of the Xutian Temple! That remnant Xutian map taken away by several martial uncles back then—I wonder if you carry it with you. By my reckoning, the three-hundred-year time for the Xutian Temple to emerge is drawing near. If Martial Uncle willingly hands this map over to this junior nephew, I can plead with my grandfather on your behalf and spare Martial Uncle's life. How does that sound?" As Wu Chou looked at the middle-aged man, a trace of greedy ardor appeared in his eyes, and he spoke these enticing words.
After hearing this, the middle-aged man fell silent, but a moment later he coldly replied:
"Do you think we few, who were disciples back then, did not know Old Devil Jiyin's ways? I'm afraid the moment I handed the map to you, he would torture me to death on the other side. Moreover..."
"Moreover, what?" Wu Chou asked, frowning.
"Moreover, do you really believe you are the one in charge? Old monster, you need not hide any longer. Come out and show yourself!" the middle-aged man said darkly and sternly.
Hearing this, Han Li and the other cultivators were greatly startled and hurriedly looked around in all directions. Could Ancestor Jiyin be here?
Yet the surroundings remained as calm as ever, with nothing unusual appearing.
Now the cultivators were rather at a loss, and they looked again toward the middle-aged man and Wu Chou.
"What trick are you playing? How could I not be the one in..."
At first Wu Chou was also somewhat taken aback, but when his words were only half spoken, his expression froze, and a peculiar look began to appear on his face.
After staring fixedly at the middle-aged man with this expression for a moment, he smiled eerily. "Not bad, not bad! Truly worthy of being one of the disciples I valued most in those years—you saw through this old man's identity at a glance."
As he spoke, Wu Chou's face began to blur and distort, and before long, under the astonished gazes of the crowd, he transformed into an ugly old man, equally small and thin, with slightly narrowed eyes.
At this, a chill ran down the backs of Han Li and the others.
"The Possession Art! I knew it. How could you entrust such an important matter to a junior? You came in person after all, even if this is not your true body." The middle-aged man looked at the old man tensely, though his voice was low and slow.
"My dear disciple, would you really dare raise a hand against your master?"
The lips of the newly appeared old man did not move in the slightest, yet an extremely shrill voice issued from his abdomen, making everyone's eardrums ache faintly. All of them involuntarily retreated several steps.
"Hmph! Disciple? Back then, whether we lived or died rested on a single thought of yours. Those who disobeyed even slightly had their spirits extracted and souls refined. When did you ever treat us as disciples? We were nothing but your slaves! Besides, what you are using now is merely the possession art—at most you can exert one third of your cultivation. What is there for me to fear!" the middle-aged man said grimly. Then, with a wave of both hands, the ghost head before him swelled enormously out of thin air, instantly becoming even more ferocious and terrifying.
Fairy Violet Spirit, Han Li, and the other cultivators were stunned by this eerie situation, their expressions varying for a time!
Hearing the middle-aged man's words, the old man did not grow angry. Instead, he said mildly:
"Quite right. If it were more than a hundred years ago, those words would indeed be true! With only one third of my cultivation, capturing you alive would truly be somewhat difficult. But now..."
At this point, a trace of caustic mockery appeared on his face.