Chapter 275: Sun Bufan, Awaiting Slaughter

The old residence was a place resembling an academy, its plaque rotted, the main gate collapsed sideways, inside spiderwebs covered everything, weeds grew wildly.

This was completely different from the fresh appearance of other places.

However, the stench emanating from those humanoid monsters was very strong.

Lin Wu lowered his voice and said: "It seems there are three white‑clad people here; we personally saw Yuantong and them being seized and taken inside."

As he spoke, a blue‑clad youth leading five gray‑clad men walked out from the weeds in the courtyard.

Heng Xian immediately brought the two and hid to one side.

After the five humanoid monsters had walked far away, Heng Xian then asked: "How long have Yuantong and them been seized and taken inside?"

Wu Lian hurriedly said: "They were seized at noon; it should have been about two hours."

"Don't move here."

Heng Xian called out, tapped his foot, and ghost‑like slipped along the wall into the main courtyard of the "academy".

Watching his back, Wu Lian frowned: "His cultivation is unfathomable, even his lightness skill is this good—just which sect and school does this senior brother belong to?"

Lin Wu pondered: "Hard to say! But he deliberately concealed his identity; perhaps he wants to seize the Spiritual Mushroom without tearing his face."

"That doesn't matter." Wu Lian covered her face: "In the house, that thing—did he see it?"

Lin Wu sighed to the heavens: "Anyway, the person was dumped at Grandma's house; he couldn't possibly spread rumors everywhere, and we're not celebrities!"

In the "academy" there are many buildings, the vegetation is deep, as if it has been deserted for a long time, yet among the houses and thickets there are many gray‑clad men and occasionally appearing blue‑clad youths.

These humanoid monsters all bear a mark on their foreheads—not only plum blossoms and a small sword, but also a small cauldron, a small bell, and so on.

The further inside, the more people there are, and the blue‑clad individuals have extremely keen perception.

Heng Xian reckoned that sneaking in silently was unlikely, and charging straight in would mean he didn't know the enemy's strength or layout.

He simply picked a lone gray‑clad man, sliced off his head with one sword strike, then stripped off his gray clothing.

The clothing was of unknown material, but it was wearable.

Then he removed the mask, imitated the gray‑clad people by letting his hair hang loose, and with a brush drew a similar small‑sword mark on his forehead.

Immediately he walked out of the thicket and went inside along the steps.

After passing three corridors, the gray‑clad men coming and going numbered no less than several hundred, and even the blue‑clad youths riding in sedan chairs numbered dozens.

Heng Xian quietly observed and saw that these people basically all emerged from the rear courtyard.

He simply swaggered toward the rear courtyard.

Just as he entered the rear‑courtyard gate, he heard several piercing shouts: "Damn your grandma, if you've got the guts give me a quick death!"

"You senseless monsters are so pitiful, bastards born with a father but no father to raise them!"

"If you have the guts, release us and fight again!"

One of those shouts was exactly Sun Bufan's cracked‑gong voice, unchanged after all these years.

Heng Xian looked toward the direction of the sound and saw it came from a spacious hall.

There, not a single gray‑clad person was present; everyone coming and going was blue‑clad.

As he pondered how to sneak in, a blue‑clad youth suddenly stood beside him, holding a basin with several sharp knives inside, staring at him expressionlessly.

Heng Xian glanced at the basin, pointed at himself in surprise, and said: "For me?"

The blue‑clad youth remained expressionless.

Heng Xian glanced at the hall, understood—this was to have him carry the basin in; truly, arriving early was no match for arriving just in time. He reached out, took it, and stepped toward the hall.

Upon reaching the hall's door, the wailing and cursing inside grew louder.

Heng Xian composed himself, strode inside, entered the hall, and lifted his head to scan the room.

He saw that in the innermost part sat three men and women wearing specially made white brocade robes; more than twenty blue‑clad individuals stood at the sides; in the center lay a long slab, upon which three men and two women lay naked, bound with ropes.

One of them was the now‑plump, grown‑up bald Sun Bufan, who at that moment cursed nonstop: "Damn your grandma, you lot are neither dead nor alive, neither living nor dead—alive you waste air, dead you waste grain,

hiding in this godforsaken place, dark and sunless—have you been tired for tens of thousands of years? Have you failed or not? Hahaha, how miserable……

His rant was satisfying, but it was like playing music to a cow—whether white‑clad or blue‑clad, they paid no heed, showing not the slightest flicker of expression.

Heng Xian pondered a moment, then, basin in hand, walked to stand beside the slab; this spot surely was fitting.

On the slab, a man in his thirties lifted his head and exclaimed: "Finished! Utterly finished! The blade is coming!"

Beside him, a woman with bloodless face and tightly shut eyes said coldly: "If you willingly came down seeking opportunity, why fear death?"

The man in his thirties shouted angrily: "I'm not afraid of death; I'm afraid of being eaten!"

"What difference does it make?" the woman said.

"The difference is huge—I don't want to die, nor do I want to be eaten. Damn it, if I'd known I shouldn't have followed that old monk out; if I were still back home in Donglan City, I'd still be a good‑for‑nothing glutton waiting to die, where would these dangers come from…" Sun Bufan cursed, then lifted his head and glanced at Heng Xian—this look left him stunned.

The man beside him exclaimed in surprise: "Why stop cursing? Did you chicken out?"

Sun Bufan blinked and said: "You say, among these monsters, could there be someone who looks exactly like an outsider?"

The man asked: "What do you mean?"

Sun Bufan said: "I mean I saw one of my childhood playmates—do you believe me?"

"Childhood playmate?" the two men and two women nearby all lifted their heads to look at Heng Xian, then glanced around, saying: "What's so special about a childhood playmate? A small‑town commoner—could he possibly come save our lives?"

Sun Bufan swallowed and said: "You should have heard of my childhood playmate—he used to be a disciple of the Tianyuan Sect, named Heng Mingxian!"

"Heng Xian?"

"The one who colluded with ancient demons and is wanted?"

Several people were startled, and quickly lifted their heads again to look around.

"It's this End Knife Basin fellow—yes, this very person, truly a striking resemblance!" Sun Bufan exclaimed.

However, not everyone has the qualifications to pursue Heng Xian; previously, no one had deliberately paid attention to his portrait.

Heng Xian ignored their talk, his gaze first lightly fell on the three white‑clad figures, then slowly shifted to look behind them; he saw a platform resembling a deity altar, upon which grew a mushroom the size of a child, seven‑colored glazed, exuding potent spiritual energy.

He couldn't help but stare—such a huge mushroom?

The divination signs show these things, but the signs do not deliberately describe them, because in this place one can stay at most six days.

Since Bu Fan's groups have already been here for three days, we only have three days left; we need to collect the Token, there's simply no time to look for this mushroom.

But now one has been delivered right to our door—really, don't let it go to waste!

At that moment, the three White-clothed Men and Women suddenly stood up, expressionlessly bowed three times to the mushroom, then looked over.

A blue-clothed youth nearby immediately walked up to Heng Xian, made a motion to draw a knife, apparently intending to start killing.

Heng Xian pondered a bit, not really understanding what kind of ritual this was—whether to kill and eat oneself, or to feed the mushroom—so he simply grabbed a knife, made a gesture, indicating he would do it himself.

That blue-clothed person stared at him blankly for a full three breaths, then stepped aside.

Heng Xian let out a breath, good, these humanoid monsters aren't completely mindless machines.

"Haha, look!" Bu Fan laughed loudly, "These monsters actually know modesty; the blue-clothed one wants to act, the grey-clothed tall one resembling Heng Xian also volunteers to act, as if he's quite skilled."

The few people nearby couldn't laugh anymore, desperately struggling.

Bu Fan continued laughing loudly: "Let's kill you first, I'll enjoy watching, then die later—no rush!"

Heng Xian walked over expressionlessly, then suddenly picked up the knife and placed it on his mouth.

Bu Fan's pupils contracted, he hastily shifted his butt to the side, and let out a pig-slaughtering wail: "Don't! If you're going to kill, cut the throat first—I can't lose that first, ah ah ah..."

(End of chapter)