Chapter 344

Ao Yulie was rather pleased with himself; a minor scheme sufficed to achieve a crushing intellectual victory.

"Don't be nervous, we're not bad people." Having successfully deceived them, Ao Yulie said to Fei Yuan Thirteen, "We just want to inquire about the Scripture-Fetcher's whereabouts."

"Heh." Fei Yuan Thirteen let out a cold laugh, the dagger in his hand flipped, reversing his grip and lifting it before him.

He severed the ropes binding his body, and the child dropped to the ground.

"Young Master, you go first." Fei Yuan Thirteen stared at Ao Yulie and said.

The child didn't speak, merely nodding silently, without the slightest hesitation, and ran off in the other direction.

Ao Yulie and Tang Luo didn't give chase either.

Ao Yulie stood in place and said, "Believe me, we truly harbor no ill intent."

Fei Yuan Thirteen didn't answer; his body lowered, and in a single diving lunge he instantly closed the distance to Ao Yulie, the dagger shifting from reverse grip to standard grip, thrusting straight at Ao Yulie's chest.

Ao Yulie tilted his body, narrowly evading Fei Yuan Thirteen's thrust, and simultaneously reached out to pinch.

Three fingers clamped onto the dagger's blade, looking at Fei Yuan Thirteen.

Fei Yuan Thirteen tried to wrench the dagger free, but felt an immense force locking it fast, utterly immobile.

Those three fingers were like stone pillars.

Fei Yuan Thirteen decided instantly, kicking out with a tricky angle and a vicious target — aimed squarely at Ao Yulie's groin.

"You're asking to die." Ao Yulie still had breath to speak; the hand pinching the dagger shoved forward.

Fei Yuan Thirteen lost his grip on the dagger, immediately lost his balance, and stumbled back two steps; before he could reset his stance, Ao Yulie was already before him, seizing Fei Yuan Thirteen by the throat and hoisting him up.

This person was originally quite short of stature; with Ao Yulie's arm extended diagonally upward, Fei Yuan Thirteen's feet couldn't even reach him.

"We truly have no ill intent." Ao Yulie said, "Tell us everything related to the Scripture-Fetcher, and we'll let you go. Not only that, we'll help you hold off the pursuers — how about that? The whistle just now meant they'd found you, right? Reinforcements will likely arrive very soon."

Fei Yuan Thirteen clutched Ao Yulie's arm with one hand, his gaze growing somewhat slack.

"Hahaha! Lord, I caught this brat — ow! Rotten brat, you dare bite this grandpa!"

A-Ping's smug voice came from that direction, quickly turning into furious cries of pain.

The "Young Master" hadn't chosen a good escape route — it happened to be right where A-Ping was hiding.

That fellow lay on the ground; anyone unaware would've taken him for a corpse.

When the Young Master passed by, A-Ping had a flash of inspiration and moved to seize the Young Master for Tang Luo and the others, only to be viciously bitten.

He threw the Young Master to the ground and was about to kick him.

The child reacted quickly, rolling on the spot, grabbing a handful of mud and flinging it at A-Ping's face.

With a yelp of pain, A-Ping took it in the eyes and stumbled back blindly.

The Young Master scrambled up and kept running; a few steps later, a white-clothed, white-haired man blocked the way.

Without a word, he pulled another "Universe Single Throw" — he'd grabbed two handfuls earlier and held one back; it could be called quite resourceful.

Too bad the one blocking the path was Tang Luo.

A hand extended; Tang Luo actually employed a Parry skill just to block the mud — it could be called quite extravagant.

The Young Master stared at the faintly visible arcing light screen before Tang Luo, froze for a moment, then ran sideways.

Tang Luo reached out, grabbed the back of her collar, lifted her before him and said, "Wrong direction — are you running off to die? Little lass."

This Young Master wasn't a little boy, but a little girl; long hair concealed a cute little face still carrying a touch of baby fat.

The still-struggling little girl started, looked that way — at the far end a cavalryman seemed to be steadily approaching.

"I mean it." Ao Yulie tossed Fei Yuan Thirteen to the ground, "Tell us all the Scripture-Fetcher's information, and we'll help you drive off the pursuers."

Tang Luo also walked over from that side.

"Scripture-Fetcher." The little girl spoke, her voice clear and crisp yet soft, "Is a legendary tale."

Once, in cities, villages, wherever people gathered, the legendary tale of the Scripture-Fetcher circulated.

Legend held this person was a savior sent by heaven, who would journey to the Pure Land, obtain the True Scripture of Transcendence, exterminate all ghosts in the world, and let people thenceforth live happy, carefree days.

Such a big mouth — hope your strength matches your talk.

"Let go of me!" The little girl strained to turn her head toward Tang Luo, her face flushed red, her clothes binding her uncomfortably.

"Fine." Tang Luo chuckled, released her, and the little girl landed on her bottom with a thud.

The little girl didn't even cry out in pain; her face flushed crimson, she bit her lower lip, looking like she wanted to rub the sore spot but couldn't.

Over there, A Ping strode over with eyes bloodshot, intending to teach this little brat a lesson so she'd behave and listen.

Tang Luo glanced at him and said, "You can go now."

A Ping froze; seeing Tang Luo ignore him further, he scrambled to turn and run without hesitation.

Tang Luo crouched down, looked at the little girl, and asked, "You're people of Lake City; that one is a Flying Ape cultivated by the Yu Kong clan — are you the Young Master of the Yu Kong clan?"

The little girl didn't answer, turning her head away.

"I ask this because, as a retainer, he clearly has no authority to decide in place of his master," Tang Luo said. "I need to hear your answer."

"If you can protect us, I'll tell you everything about the Scripture Seeker," the little girl said. "Ordinary people wouldn't know about the Scripture Seeker's affairs."

"Good." Tang Luo stood up.

The little girl thought for a moment, turned, and ran over to Flying Ape Thirteen's side, crouching down to look at his misshapen right arm, as if wanting to do something.

Flying Ape Thirteen shook his head, stopping the little girl's movement, fished out a pill from his robe and swallowed it; his complexion improved somewhat.

As for this arm, once out of danger, it'd just be a matter of finding time to cut it off.

"Hey, tell us about the Scripture Seeker," Ao Yulie spoke up.

Over there, Tang Luo also walked over.

"The Scripture Seeker," the little girl began, her voice clear yet soft, "is a legendary tale."

Once, in cities, villages, and every gathering place of people, the legendary tale of the Scripture Seeker circulated.

Legend held that this person was a savior sent by the heavens, who would journey to the Pure Land, obtain the True Scripture of Transcendence, eradicate all ghosts in the world, and let people live happy, carefree lives from then on.

It sounds like a beautiful wish born of people in a harsh survival environment, hoping for a savior to appear and save the world.

When this story began to circulate can no longer be verified.

The story isn't that simple either.

Because legend has it that the Exorcists were originally the Scripture Fetchers, who learned secret arts and techniques from the partial Du Shi True Scripture they retrieved, passed down through generations, possessing the power to oppose ghosts.

But because the Du Shi True Scripture obtained that time was incomplete, there was no way to thoroughly save the world.

The Scripture Fetcher will appear again, go to the Pure Land, and obtain the complete Du Shi True Scripture.

"A story like that." Ao Yulie said, "Why would ordinary people not know it?"

"Because it's real." The little girl said, "The Scripture Fetcher truly exists."

"Oh, afraid it would shake their rule, so they made the story disappear?" Ao Yulie said.

The Exorcist class, without a doubt, are the current "saviors," so naturally they don't want another savior's legend circulating.

Moreover, in the story, their power also comes from the Scripture Fetcher, which makes them even more displeased.

Just like the struggle between royal authority and divine authority.

"Royal authority granted by heaven," and "heaven" is a living, breathing person — then the story of heaven gradually disappearing in the long river of history, at least not being so widely spread, being forgotten by most people, is also a normal phenomenon.

"Probably." The little girl said.

"Just that?" Ao Yulie continued asking, "How to find the Scripture Fetcher? What characteristics does he have, things like that."

"Those I'll tell you after you save us." The little girl was very calm, knowing to pay a deposit first, not the full amount.

"Really." Ao Yulie said, "Do you think I look like someone who doesn't keep their word?"

The little girl really wanted to say "You do," but thought better of it.

"Fine, fine." Ao Yulie stood up, looking at the cavalry gradually approaching and stopping in the distance.

"Master, shall I go handle it?" Ao Yulie asked.

"Go."

Ao Yulie's body flickered, directly vanishing from the spot.

A moment later, a loud roar came from that side: "I am Iron Spear—"

The self-introduction wasn't even finished before it cut off abruptly.

The little girl and Fei Yuan Thirteen looked over and saw a startled horse running about.

That Ao Yulie held an iron spear in one hand, and in the other carried an armored man, quickly returning to this side.

He tossed the pursuer who hadn't even finished speaking and the iron spear before the little girl: "Final payment."

The two didn't understand what "final payment" meant, but they knew what Ao Yulie was saying.

Fei Yuan Thirteen looked at the unconscious man lying on the ground, somewhat shaken.

He recognized this person; like the Fei Yuan Crowd, they were all warriors, loyal to the Exorcist families.

The Iron Spear Crowd, warriors of Iron City; unlike the Fei Yuan Crowd who walk the Spirit Movement path, the Iron Spear Crowd are each tall and powerfully built, wielding two or three iron spears.

On the battlefield they are extremely fierce vanguards.

The Fei Yuan Crowd have many methods to kill the Iron Spear Crowd by stealth.

But in a head-on confrontation, even with only one-third the numbers, the Iron Spear Crowd can wipe out the Fei Yuan Crowd — if the terrain is favorable and the Fei Yuan Crowd have nowhere to flee.

The pursuer was one of the Iron Spear Crowd; Fei Yuan Thirteen was not surprised.

What surprised him was this Iron Spear Crowd member's identity — this person is the leader of the Iron Spear Crowd, the strongest Iron Spear.

Fei Yuan Thirteen personally saw five Fei Yuan Crowd members besiege this person, and in the turn of a hand they were strung together by the opponent.

Never expected that now he couldn't even finish a proper introduction, tossed here like a rabbit.

Fei Yuan Thirteen was completely certain: these two people are Exorcists!

Besides Exorcists, no one can be this powerful.

"Are you Executioner Warriors?" The little girl suddenly asked.

Mysterious, powerful, and come seeking the Scripture Fetcher — that's right!

Absolutely Executioner Warriors, and ones who were once glorious, now declined, the Exorcist descendants whose past glory has been thoroughly abandoned, already fallen.

"No. Forget it, you believe what you want." Ao Yulie said, "Continue telling the Scripture Fetcher's story."

"We need to leave first, it's too dangerous here." The little girl said, "The Heart Eye Clan could attack at any moment—"

Before her words fell, a loud sound reverberated.

It sounded, surprisingly, rather like a firearm's report.

The little girl's body trembled, she looked to the left.

That white-haired man's hand was placed near her left cheek, two fingers pinching a blackish, not-very-round small ball; red light still glimmered on the ball, and a wisp of white smoke rose, slowly dissipating.

"You mean this kind of attack?" Tang Luo didn't even look, casually flicked, and the glass-marble-sized iron bullet vanished.

In the distant grass, there seemed to be a bit of movement, then it quieted down.

"No need to worry, there isn't any now."