Chapter 216: What Must Come, Will Come

Before long, Mengchen and Qingyi arrived at their residence.

This was a place surrounded by mountains, with clear waters and lush hills all around, and the spiritual energy was abundant.

In the center of the mountains stood a shimmering golden palace; though not large, it was enough for the six of them to live in.

"Ah! Little thief monk, what happened to you? Who hurt you?"

Jinchanzi was the first to discover the two who had arrived. Upon seeing Mengchen covered in blood, his face turned pale with fright in an instant, and he rushed over to tend to him.

"Master, what happened to you?"

"Brother Mengchen, how did you get hurt? Does it hurt?"

"Big Brother! Tell me quickly who hurt you, I will definitely rush over and tear them to shreds."

Xiaohuang, Xiyao, and Heizi arrived upon hearing the commotion, all of them wearing expressions of pain and worry.

Seeing the few who had rushed over, Qingyi let go and stepped back a few paces, blushing as she lowered her head.

"I'm fine! That's not important. You all come with me quickly; I have something to tell you."

Mengchen directly changed the subject, then looked at Qingyi, who had retreated to the side, and said, "Qingyi, come, let's go in together and talk."

Qingyi raised her eyes, her expression turning astonished for a moment, "Is he defending me in front of them?"

Following that, she gazed at the back being supported into the hall by Xiyao and Xiaohuang, and followed after him with a deep look.

Mengchen was thorough in his thoughts. After arriving in the great hall, he did not speak his intentions aloud, but instead used telepathic transmission to have them all channel their Dharma power to help him heal, thereby deceiving onlookers.

After all, there were many powerful figures in this Western Sect, and no one knew if there were experts lurking in the shadows.

Subsequently, Mengchen sent a telepathic message to them: "Lao Tuzi, Xiaohuang, Heizi, Xiyao, Qingyi, we might have been placed under house arrest by the Western Sect Leader without even realizing it."

Jinchanzi was somewhat skeptical: "Little thief monk, how is this possible? Isn't the Sect Leader quite good to us?"

"Lao Tuzi, do you not trust me?" Mengchen said.

Jinchanzi replied: "No... I naturally trust you, it's just that you suddenly saying the Sect Leader has placed us under house arrest makes it hard for me to believe for a moment."

Then Xiaohuang said: "Grandmaster, I believe what Master says. When we first came to the Western Sect, I felt something was wrong, but considering our low strength, we truly couldn't resist, so I kept it suppressed in my heart and didn't say anything."

Xiyao then responded: "I am the same as Xiaohuang, I had that feeling back then too. Brother Mengchen, you... have you made a discovery? Was this injury of yours caused by the Western Sect Leader?"

"That's not it!" Mengchen replied.

"I... was the same back then! I had a bad premonition." Then Qingyi also spoke up, because Xiyao's mention of Mengchen's injury just now made her hesitate and struggle for words.

But soon, her words revealed her intelligent and clear-headed grasp of the overall situation.

"A woman's intuition is very accurate. Now we should think of a way to leave safely. Before we think of a plan, it is best to act as if nothing is wrong, so as not to let the Western Sect Leader notice the slightest abnormality!"

"Qingyi is right! In a situation where we cannot ensure our own safety, we must absolutely not let the Western Sect Leader notice anything unusual." Mengchen affirmed Qingyi's consideration with a firm tone.

Hearing Mengchen's words, Qingyi's willow-leaf eyebrows arched slightly, and a sense of joy and pride arose deep within her heart.

"Little thief monk, how did you notice?" Jinchanzi asked, wanting to know the ins and outs of the matter.

Mengchen also held nothing back, laying out the story of Shi Hao's death and his own encounter with the Western Sect Leader in the Lower Realm, telling everything exactly as it happened.

Because of this, Jinchanzi also became grave. If this involved multiple complete Ten Fiends techniques, even an expert like the Sect Leader would surely be covetous, and might even do unimaginable things.

"Xiaohuang, is there really no way for you to contact Feng Lao? Now that Gangzi is gone, we ultimately cannot resist them on our own!" Mengchen looked at Xiaohuang and said.

Xiaohuang's brow furrowed for a moment, then she said faintly: "Not for the moment, but..."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and they all looked at Xiaohuang with hope.

Mengchen noticed a trace of gravity between Xiaohuang's brows and asked: "But what...?"

Xiaohuang smiled and said: "But when the critical moment comes, I will naturally be able to summon Feng Lao."

Mengchen asked with a solemn face: "What do you mean by this critical moment?"

He felt that this critical moment Xiaohuang spoke of was somewhat obscure.

"Oh! It's nothing, Master." Xiaohuang said in a spoiled tone; this was the first time she had spoken to Mengchen like this.

The look in Mengchen's eyes as he gazed at Xiaohuang became increasingly grave. He always felt that things were not that simple, fearing that this so-called critical moment would come with an unbearable price.

"Xiaohuang! Tell Master honestly, what exactly are you hiding? What do you mean by saying you can summon Feng Lao at the critical moment?" Mengchen still couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, it's really nothing, Master." Xiaohuang replied. She wouldn't say, and Mengchen couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he racked his brain. For a time, they each fell silent, lost in worry.

On the massive Lotus Platform in the center of the grand teaching stage outside the Western Sect, the Western Sect Leader sat cross-legged, with the sect's experts surrounding him below, listening to his insights on Dharma.

This place was once sacred and peaceful, filled with an air of transcendence.

Yet suddenly, this air of transcendence was broken as two disciples rushed out from the Teleportation Array and shouted loudly: "Sect Leader! We disciples have something to report!"

These two were the very disciples Mengchen had encountered in the valley.

"The Sect Leader is preaching; what kind of decorum is it for you to shout and scream!" someone scolded.

"It is fine! Let them speak." said the Western Sect Leader.

"Reporting to the Sect Leader, that Mengchen has had his chest pierced by someone." a disciple immediately reported.

After seeing the blood-covered Mengchen leave, these two had thought that since Mengchen was so favored, if they were the first to report that someone else had hurt him to the Sect Leader, they might receive some rewards.

"What did you say! Within my sect, there is actually someone who dares to use such methods." the Western Sect Leader roared.

Those Western Sect experts who had been calmly listening to the sermon also became terrified in an instant. The fate of the Heavenly God Hongyi from a few months ago was still fresh in their memories; could there really be someone unafraid of death who dared to strike?! "Speak quickly! What exactly happened." the Western Sect Leader urged in a deep voice.

Subsequently, the two told everything, reporting what they had seen and heard regarding Mengchen without leaving out a single detail.

However, after hearing what the two had to say, the Western Sect Leader's focus shifted, leaving everyone present deeply puzzled.

"What did you say? The matter of our sect and the other six sects joining hands to kill that Human Emperor of the Lower Realm was found out by him?"

"Yes, Sect Leader!" the two disciples replied in unison.

Then the Western Sect Leader suddenly flew into a rage: "Hmph! You truly deserve to die! You have ruined my grand plan!"

In his heart, he now hated these two disciples before him to the extreme.

He had arranged for Mengchen and the others to cultivate well in his Western Sect, with the goal of establishing his own image in Mengchen's heart through long-term care and fostering deep gratitude, so that he could then smoothly obtain the true techniques of the Ten Fiends.

But now, with the exposure of the news that he had sent people to the Lower Realm to exterminate the Human Emperor, everything he had done before would come to nothing.

"Ah..."

Buddha light shone from the Western Sect Leader's massive Golden Body, causing those two disciples to instantly turn into dust and dissipate.

The crowd of Western Sect experts nearby, seeing this, could not help but feel terrified.

Although they were all filled with confusion regarding the Western Sect Leader's actions, not a single person dared to speak up to ask for the reason.

"Sss..."

Following that, under the astonished gazes of many, the massive Golden Body of the Western Sect Leader transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished from this place.

"Boom—"

A sudden roar erupted between Heaven Domain and Earth Domain! It shook the world until it trembled.

At this moment, the worried Mengchen, Heizi, Xiyao, Qingyi, Xiaohuang, and Jinchanzi were all struck with horror.

"Little friend Mengchen! Please come out and meet me!"

Suddenly, a magnificent, booming voice descended, as if it were about to pierce through everyone's primordial spirit.

"It's the Western Sect Leader!" Jinchanzi said in alarm; they were already very familiar with this voice.

"Could it be that he has discovered what we are thinking right now?"

Xiyao looked worried, her heart filled with panic.

"The problem must lie with those two Western Sect disciples from earlier," Qingyi said, looking at Mengchen with a grave expression.

"Perhaps!" Mengchen smiled indifferently; he knew that what was meant to come would come, and since he could not hide from it now, there was only one path to take: to face it.

"Why don't we go out and take a look first! Perhaps we are just overthinking things right now."

Mengchen looked at each of them; although he appeared calm, he understood very clearly in his heart that it was not difficult to hear from the Western Sect Leader's tone just now that the time for a showdown had likely arrived.

Just as Qingyi said, the problem must inevitably lie with those two Western Sect disciples.

Now that he knew what he should not have known, the Western Sect Leader no longer had any need to be polite to him.

(End of this chapter)