Chapter 230: The Trap

The other two cultivators fled far away, disappearing into the sky in the blink of an eye. The burly man, riding on his giant tiger, did not move a muscle. He watched them leave with cold eyes, showing no intention of pursuing them at all!

Hiding in the clouds, Han Li felt something was strange. Given the ruthless and cold-blooded style the man had just displayed, he shouldn't have let them go so easily. Could there be some other trick up his sleeve?

Just as Han Li was guessing wildly, the burly man's cold voice suddenly drifted up from below:

"My friend, you've been watching the show for quite a while. Isn't it time to make your move, now that the perfect moment for the fisherman to reap the rewards has arrived?"

Han Li was shocked upon hearing this.

"Could it be that even hiding at such a height, I was still discovered by this person?"

Thinking of this, Han Li couldn't help but swallow hard, his heart instantly leaping into his throat.

Having witnessed the power of these mechanical puppets, Han Li had no desire to end up like those other cultivators, serving as target practice for the giant tiger in mid-air.

The speed of that super beam was too fast, and its power was too astonishing! Han Li estimated that if he faced it directly, he would have no way to safely dodge the giant beam's attack unless he pushed his Spirit Wind Boat to its limit and kept on evading.

After a moment of consideration, Han Li wanted to flee the area immediately to avoid inviting a fatal disaster! But after glancing once more at the burly man's actions, this thought vanished instantly.

Because the puppets around the burly man had shifted their weapons, not toward the high altitude where he was hiding, but diagonally toward a small earthen mound not far away.

This made Han Li so startled he nearly bit his own tongue!

There was actually a third person here, and he hadn't noticed at all.

With a "clatter" of shifting soil, a person indeed crawled out from the small earthen mound. It was none other than the strange man wearing a gray cloth bag who had previously stood toe-to-toe with the burly man.

"It really is you!"

"Who exactly are you? You seem to know quite a bit about the secrets of these mechanical puppet beasts!"

The burly man's gaze was icy and bone-chilling as he stared fiercely at the strange man.

"Huang Long, it's been so many years, yet your temper is still as explosive as ever!" After a moment of silence, the cloth-bagged strange man suddenly said something that left both his opponent and the eavesdropping Han Li feeling greatly astonished.

"How do you know who I am? Which of my acquaintances are you?"

Seeing the other party call out his name in one breath, the burly man couldn't help but show a look of surprise, his face full of unexpected shock. However, since his identity had been exposed, there was no point in hiding it anymore. He simply tore the cloak off his head and threw it to the ground.

This revealed the face of a big man with a fierce appearance and short, scorched-yellow hair.

"You don't act like the Protector King of your Thousand Bamboo Sect, coming all this way from ten thousand miles away just for this. Could it be because of the half of the Great Expansion Sword Art hidden within the puppet beasts?" The strange man ignored the big man's actions, still speaking in a slow, leisurely tone.

"If you don't reveal your identity, don't blame me for being impolite!" Seeing the other party strike directly at his most secret point, Huang Long's expression changed, and he hurriedly shouted sternly.

"Have you forgotten who secretly taught you the first layer of the Great Expansion Sword Art back then?"

After hesitating for a moment, the strange man said a sentence that made the other man's expression change drastically, causing him to retreat several steps.

"You are Senior Brother Lin?... No, Senior Brother Lin passed away many years ago. How dare you toy with me! I'll have your life!" After his initial shock, the big man flew into a rage. With a fierce look on his face, he waved his hand, and the hundred or so puppets immediately stepped forward, surrounding the strange man from a distance.

"It seems Junior Brother Huang hasn't forgotten our old friendship yet. This senior brother is very gratified!" The strange man suddenly said with a soft look in his eyes. He then pulled off the cloth bag on his head, revealing his true face.

"Senior Brother Lin!"

"Uncle-Master Lin!"

The big man and Han Li, who had been watching the situation, exclaimed almost simultaneously. The only difference was that the big man said it aloud, while Han Li only gasped in secret.

This strange man was none other than the Lin-surnamed elder who loved carving so much, whom Han Li had seen in a stone room when he first entered the Yellow Maple Valley. Because the little monkeys the man carved were so lifelike and adorable, Han Li had a deep impression of him, which was why he recognized him at a glance.

"It really is Senior Brother Lin! How did you become so aged, and weren't you already..." Even though the big man had shouted it out, he still couldn't believe it. After looking him over again, he grabbed the hands of this "Senior Brother Lin" in wild joy, his expression extremely agitated.

"Hehe! Junior Brother Huang, back then I was only faking my death. What died was only... what are you doing!"

Han Li's Uncle-Master Lin had been speaking with a smile, but his expression suddenly changed drastically. With a look of shock and anger, he violently shook off his Junior Brother Huang's hands. However, two deep, chopstick-thick bloody holes had appeared on his wrists, and pitch-black blood was flowing out continuously, clearly containing a strange poison.

"Brother Lin, did your brain not get damaged during these years of fleeing? But how could you still be so careless as to let a junior brother like me injure your wrist? Tsk tsk! That is the Black Silk Gu that this junior brother painstakingly begged for from the Gu Poison Sect; I'm afraid it's not so easy to clear! This is all Brother's fault. Since you faked your death, you should have just hidden your name properly. Why did you have to contact old subordinates and vainly attempt to steal the second half of the Great Expansion Art? This has made the current Sect Master Jin very unhappy, and he had to let this junior brother perform a trick of cutting weeds and eliminating roots!" Huang Long chuckled and said with cold mockery.

"Good! Good! Truly a good junior brother who is so incredibly 'enthusiastic' toward me!"

In his fury, Senior Brother Lin instead calmed down immediately. He hurriedly circulated his energy with both hands, forcing out some of the poisonous blood. Then, he took out a green jade bottle and poured the entire bottle of yellow medicinal powder into his mouth. Only then did he stare fixedly at the yellow-haired big man, his expression icy as he said:

"I suppose the news my 'good' subordinate sent me was all fake! There was no second half of the Great Expansion Sword Art in the puppet beasts at all. This was all just a trap to lure me out! What I find strange is, how could the people from the Secret Shop cooperate with you like this?"

"Wealth moves the heart. This proverb from the mortal world holds just as true in the cultivation world! As long as our sect pays enough profit, there is nothing that cannot be done!" Huang Long said with a curl of his lip.

Then, he turned his head and shouted toward the woods on the side:

"Come out. Everyone, come and meet the handsome and dashing only son of the former Sect Master Lin, Senior Brother Lin!"

"Heehee! This little sister has long heard of Senior Brother Lin's great name. It's a pity I entered the sect too late and haven't had the honor of meeting you until now!"

"Hmph! What Senior Brother Lin? Right now, he's just a stray dog!"

A delicate woman's voice and the words of a man with a coarse voice full of jealousy drifted out from the woods. Then, the two of them walked out side by side.

"Let me introduce you, Senior Brother. These two are the newly appointed Protector Kings of our sect, they are..."

Huang Long was just about to wantonly mock this Senior Brother Lin who had always been pressing down on his head back then. But before he could finish his sentence, Senior Brother Lin, knowing he had fallen into a trap, suddenly spun his body rapidly. His hands waved incessantly, and a large patch of black dots flashing with various colors shot out from his body, landing all around him.

Then, countless rays of light immediately flickered on the ground, and one after another, fully armed puppet soldiers appeared around him, growing from small to large. There were as many as two hundred of them, a truly spectacular sight.

"Be careful! This person has actually cultivated the Great Expansion Sword Art to the third layer, enabling him to control so many puppets! Everyone, you must entangle him; don't let him run away. Once the poison in his body takes effect, even if he has heaven-reaching abilities, he will only be able to surrender." After Huang Long finished speaking, he commanded the puppets under his control to attack.

The man and woman looked at each other, then also scattered over two hundred puppet beasts, attacking together.

Instantly, a unique battle of puppets broke out. Light arrows and light beams shot back and forth incessantly, while in the front, large groups of puppet soldiers holding weapons and mechanical beasts were locked in close-quarters combat! This left Han Li, who had been watching from the air, stunned and dumbfounded.

Although he hadn't fully understood what had happened, Han Li had a vague understanding of about seventy or eighty percent of it.

That Senior Brother Lin must have been from the Thousand Bamboo Sect before he entered the Yellow Maple Valley, and was even the son of a Sect Master! But clearly, he had lost his power, which was why he had been hiding in the Yellow Maple Valley until now! But now, because he was still plotting for the Great Expansion Sword Art, the new Sect Master had sent his former fellow disciples to wipe him out.

Once Han Li understood the relationship between these events, he couldn't help but sigh.

Then, seeing the scene of intense fighting below, he knew this was definitely not a battle that a Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator like himself could intervene in to seek profit. It was better to leave as soon as possible to avoid being accidentally caught in the crossfire.

Having understood the stakes, Han Li immediately retracted his Green Fire Mist. Then, he pushed his Spirit Wind Boat to its limit, instantly transforming into a long white rainbow that tore through the sky and left.

Han Li's movement was too large, so naturally, it didn't escape the notice of the four people fighting below. This gave them a great shock, and they couldn't help but slow down their fighting.

They hadn't expected that someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation all along. It seemed their secrets had been heard by this person. But seeing Han Li sensibly fleeing and realizing he wasn't an accomplice, the four looked at each other and then plunged back into the battle.

【End of Chapter】 ***