Chapter 268: Urgent Killing Intent

Various whispers and rumors rose and fell from the mouths of the crowd, continuing throughout the night.

Because everyone possessed different information, the things they discussed also varied.

Was the killer really Ji You?

Why was a wild, private cultivator from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan able to become this strong?

Every speculation had its believers, and naturally, its skeptics; in places where arguments were heated, one could often see faces flushed red.

However, despite the differences in details and conflicting opinions, there was one question that everyone had discussed.

That was why that person had to kill all the Bu family disciples.

One must know, the number of corpses they had found over these past few days was increasing; it looked as if the twenty-some members of the Bu family were all going to be neatly accounted for.

Yet, as of now, not a single person knew the other party's motive or purpose.

Amidst the voices filled with confusion, everyone suddenly felt a warmth at their waists. Looking down, the sect jade tokens at their waists began to light up one after another...

Meanwhile, Jiang Chenfeng, lying inside a tent, slowly opened his eyes.

He had already regained consciousness two hours ago, but due to his injuries, he could not speak, and his spiritual sense could not gather.

It was only at this moment that a spark of life finally appeared in his eyes.

And once his consciousness recovered, he asked Jiang Yan, who was beside him, for a drink of water.

At the same time, a rustling sound came from the valley outside, followed by the wind and waves of those taking flight, which gradually drilled into Jiang Chenfeng's ears.

"What happened outside?"

"Someone found clues to the Bu family head's hiding place."

Jiang Yan handed him the water, then turned to look outside the tent.

The immortal sect disciples who had been resting had already left the valley entirely, and various Elders had also taken to the air, whistling away under the gloomy sky toward the southwest side of the Dongping Mountain Range.

The previous search had been disrupted when evil seeds surged out of the mountain forest, and all the major immortal sects had suffered heavy losses.

But only those big figures at the Elder level knew that they had not come away completely empty-handed.

The location of the ruins could not move, and they had previously locked onto that area.

The other party must have used a secret technique to hide all their aura, but based on the analysis of the ruins' location, some disciples in the search party had still locked onto them with the naked eye.

At this moment, the group from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan was also speeding westward.

Among them, Elder Fang flew at the very front, his eyes gazing at the vast and chaotic mountain range, filled with an urgent longing.

Whether the injuries of those immortal sect members were real, and whether the killer was truly the Ji You they knew—in his view, these were all trivial, nonsensical matters.

In his heart, what mattered most was catching the target before anyone else.

Thinking of this, Elder Fang narrowed his eyes and looked at the nearby Elder Shang Yang of the Dao Seeking Sect, Elder Yan Rong of the Heavenly Sword Peak, and Elder Huo Ku of the Mountain Sea Pavilion...

He knew that these old fellows, as aged as himself, all wanted the same thing: the Bu family's branch head, Bu Qirong.

"Go and flee for your life..."

"If you can escape, hide deep; if you are caught, you can only leave it to fate."

In the deepest part of the Dongping Mountain Range, at the entrance of a dark cave.

A thin, middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back, watching the few remaining young disciples of his family flee in two different directions. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, his goatee twitching slightly.

From the moment they fled into the mountains until hiding here, the disciples sent out had all gone silent.

His two sons had also died not long ago, which made him realize that the Bu family's path had reached a dead end.

Letting them flee in chaos was already the best option when there were no other options.

In his view, if they could luckily escape one or two and leave behind descendants, it would mean they hadn't spent their time hiding like stray dogs in vain.

In reality, Bu Qirong still had doubts in his heart—doubts about Dou Yuankong, who had exposed them to the light of day.

Although the Bu family had declined, and their branch had been forced to live by running a winery,

when all was said and done, they were still an immortal family with a name in the immortal registry, and in the small, isolated city of Anyuan, they were considered a power that could cover the sky with one hand.

After obtaining the immortal fate, they had always been extremely cautious, and the roads leading to the winery were all strictly blockaded.

If it were truly as the outside world rumored, that Dou Yuankong was just traveling the world with an old servant, then even if he had twice the ability, it would be impossible for him to appear on that road.

Even if they had appeared, it would be impossible for them not to know at all, to the point where they couldn't even make a timely reaction.

However, things had reached this point, and dwelling on these matters was useless.

"Damn immortal sects..."

"What Qingyun Immortal Rules—they are nothing but a facade!"

"Why should this world only be decided by you!"

A sinister sound issued from Bu Qirong's throat, and he then looked at his younger brother behind him, his eyes half-fear and half-excitement.

It was said that the immortal sects were high above, sacred and inviolable.

And they were merely a bottom-tier branch of a bottom-tier family; now that they were being hunted by the major immortal sects, they were naturally anxious and panicked.

But having hidden for so long, they also wanted to know just how strong they had become, bearing the immortal fate.

Especially when thinking that he might be able to tear apart those high-and-mighty Elders, the excitement could suppress half of his fear.

Thinking of this, Bu Qirong looked back at the mountain forest, and a rustling sound began to approach from afar.

Then the sound became increasingly dense, turning into a flurry of footsteps...

At the same time, on the northwest side of the Dongping Mountain Range, Ji You's group, having left the valley on the east side of Falling Eagle Gorge, was resting near a fault-block mountain.

The deeper they went into the Dongping Mountain Range, the thicker the dense vegetation became, and coupled with the constantly gloomy weather, the boundary between night and day was not clear.

After staying in such a place for a long time, it was very difficult for a person to clearly perceive what day it was.

Especially since none of the three had slept, this feeling was even more pronounced.

Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu didn't sleep because they were afraid that if they fell asleep, they would dream of something good and be overheard by the other party.

Ji You's reason for not sleeping was much purer: first, he was maintaining vigilance against the immortal sect's search, and second, he was afraid of missing the Bu family's trail...

The fact that he had come to the Dongping Mountain Range to kill had been exposed; the major immortal sects should all know by now, and the risk of being targeted was extremely high.

He wasn't afraid of being hunted, but once he was latched onto, it would be quite troublesome to make a move later.

Therefore, he didn't want to wake up to find some annoying tails following him.

After finishing this job, he would go back and have a big sleep...

Ji You put the money bag he had harvested over the past few days back into his storage gourd, then held his breath and calmed his heart. Golden spiritual sense began to surge in his eyes, spreading toward the surrounding mountain forest with him as the center.

At the same time, Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu were roasting fish not far from where he was meditating, yawning from sleepiness while their hearts beat like drums.

Whenever they rested, they liked to empty their minds and recall the scenes of drawing their swords. It had always been like this before, but until today, they suddenly realized that they seemed to have called him "Master-in-law" in a moment of desperation.

This term was no big deal, but the problem was that they were the personal maids of the Little Inspection Master of Lingjian Mountain.

Most importantly, there were many people present at the time.

"Do you think they heard it?"

"It seems so..."

Zhuo Wanqiu frowned with some solemnity: "This is troublesome."

Ding Yao glanced at her: "The Inspection Master didn't say anything before because she was afraid something would happen to the Young Master. Now, the Young Master shouldn't easily encounter danger. Besides, even if they heard it, they might not necessarily dare to speak of it outside."

"I'm afraid the Inspection Master will blame me if she finds out."

"That's not true. The Inspector herself clearly wanted to speak out, and speaking out might not necessarily be a bad thing."

Zhuo Wanqiu couldn't help but look up upon hearing Ding Yao's words: "What does Ding Shijie mean?"

Ding Yao raised her pretty face: "Haven't you noticed that Junior Sister Yan and that Jiang Yan of the Dao Seeking Sect look at the Young Master with strange expressions?"

Zhuo Wanqiu looked at Ding Yao after hearing this, thinking to herself that no matter how strange Yan Qiubai's and Jiang Yan's expressions were, they probably weren't as strange as Ding Shijie's dreams.

Of course, she might also be strange, but she didn't dare to try sleeping to find out.

Just at this moment, Ji You came out of the mountain forest, his footsteps on the soft fallen leaves instantly waking the two of them.

"Master-in-law, the food is roasted."

Ji You came before the two: "There probably won't be time to eat this time."

Zhuo Wanqiu and Ding Yao immediately stood up: "Master-in-law, did you find the remaining Bu family members again?"

Ji You nodded and looked up at Ding Yao: "Tell me again about the Bu family's usual deeds."

He had no burden when killing evil seeds, but these evil seeds of the Bu family were, after all, transformed from humans and were different from pure evil seeds.

Having not seen them commit evil with his own eyes, it was inevitable that he would hesitate for a while when killing them.

Therefore, he often used Ding Yao to increase his killing intent.

According to the reports Ding Yao gathered from the disciples in the mountains, there was nothing good about the Bu family. Although their family had declined, they still had an immortal family background.

Bullying men and women, preying on the common people—such things were already considered ordinary in their eyes.

Adultery, looting, and extortion were also not rare.

So, not to mention whether they had any inevitable connection with the infants used as vessels, just the evil deeds they had committed in Anyuan City were enough for them to die.

Ji You listened to Ding Yao's description and couldn't help but take out the sheet of paper he had written on earlier from his bosom.

With the long journey over the past few days, the "Zheng" characters on the paper had been crossed out one after another; now, only the last two remained.

A family of twenty-some people was about to be reunited.

Thinking of the scene where the Bu family would welcome their happy reunion, a touch of emotion welled up in Ji You's heart.

Afterwards, Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu packed up the roasted food, put it into the storage gourd, and followed Ji You away.

However, they hadn't gone far when they felt countless auras surging into the sky, speeding in the opposite direction to where they were headed.

Seeing this scene, the two immediately stopped and looked at Ji You with some confusion.

Having personally felt the sensation of being about to be torn apart by the Master-in-law, they never doubted the precision of Ji You's spiritual sense again, but they didn't know why those immortal sects would chase in the opposite direction at this time.

Ji You looked at them at this time: "There are three locations this time."

"Why are there three?"

"The Bu family members probably also know this is their last chance and have given up on so-called hiding, intending to flee in batches. There is no plan, no cover; they are probably gambling on luck."

Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu looked at each other after hearing this: "In that case, those immortal sects chased the wrong way? The one we are going to is the location of Bu Qirong?"

Ji You shook his head: "Quite the opposite."

"?"

"The location where Bu Qirong's aura was previously discovered is behind us, and there are immortal sects searching in all four directions, so the place the immortal sects went to should be Bu Qirong's hiding place."

Ding Yao opened her mouth slightly after hearing this: "Then why don't we go directly to catch Bu Qirong?"

Ji You looked up in the direction of the immortal sect's pursuit: "Bu Qirong should have used some magic tool or secret technique, making his aura difficult to lock onto, but even if locked onto, he won't be caught immediately. Killing those others should still be in time."

Whether what was hidden behind the Bu family members was opportunity or disaster—because everyone's perspective and position were different, what they thought was naturally different.

For Ji You, leaving no survivors was the best way to handle it.

But now there were auras in three directions, and he was only one person, unable to divide himself.

So his only chance was to find a time difference.

The place where the immortal sects swarmed must be where Bu Qirong was, but he might not necessarily be caught immediately.

Especially since Bu Qirong was already at the Responding to Heaven Realm according to the intelligence, and coupled with evil transformation, he might not be so easy to catch, but the Bu family members who left in batches really had a possibility of luckily escaping.

The Qingyun world was vast; it was extremely easy to hide a person. If one really let one go, it wouldn't be so easy to find them again.

So he felt he should kill those who were fleeing, and then chasing back would still be in time, as long as his speed was fast enough...

In the whistling night wind, Ji You stepped across the mountains, his figure skimming through the dense tree shade.

His brilliant gaze was like a nether lamp, flowing with gold wantonly as he sped...

Before long, amidst the sound of wind and cranes, Ji You's golden pupils locked onto a fleeing group.

Suspended high in the sky, he reached out to draw his sword, suddenly condensing sword Qi that shot straight into the heavens, and then slashed down fiercely toward the ground.

Boom!

Amidst the wild sword roar, the mountain cliff in front was cut to pieces, and those figures fleeing below were instantly submerged by the surging air waves.

Then, a series of terrified roars shook the four directions, and figures surging with baleful Qi shot up from the air waves.

Ji You stepped on the wind and descended, the iron sword in his hand roaring wildly.

Amidst the humming sound, the sword Qi was like overlapping waves, pressing fiercely toward the figures surging with baleful Qi.

The evil seed that shot up first had not-weak combat power, but still couldn't withstand the intense sword Qi; with a thud, it was slashed down fiercely, the scorching blade directly cutting open its heart.

At this time, a sharp claw whistled over. Ji You stepped on the ground and turned, his toes creating a sonic boom, and with a whip kick, he sent the evil seed attacking from behind flying out.

"Master-in-law, behind you!"

"?"

Ji You stepped on the ground with a "bang" and lunged forward, simultaneously twisting his waist and turning, changing from a lunging charge to an upward retreat.

Before his eyes, a mass of evil baleful Qi approached rapidly, and a ferocious figure appeared in the black mist.

Ji You gripped his long sword with a "peng" sound, his whole body's blood and Qi boiling, and a streak of sword Qi slashed horizontally forward.

Bu He was Bu Qirong's own nephew, and a cousin of Bu Yao, Bu Sheng, and Bu Hui.

In fact, he had never understood why, when the immortal sects wanted news of their immortal fate, his family members were dying one after another.

What made him even more unable to understand was that those immortal sect Elders were all visible in the open, so who could have killed Bu Yao and Bu Sheng?

Until this moment, Bu He looked at the sword Qi slashing horizontally toward him.

He recognized this person; his name was Ji You.

There had been quite a few rumors about him in the Qingyun world.

Later, he followed Bu Yao and Bu Sheng to watch the Heavenly Dao Assembly and saw the match where he took the top spot.

Clang!

The sharp sword Qi slashed down fiercely; before the blade arrived, the hard skin and flesh on his chest had already burst open, and a large spray of blood gushed out.

Bu He's reaction was quite swift; two sharp claws surrounded by baleful Qi fiercely clamped onto the descending sharp sword, blocking the sword Qi at the cost of his hand bones shattering, but he saw the scorching body follow the sword, pressing down like a mountain cliff.

With a "bang," an iron fist followed the sword.

Bu He felt a moment of suffocation, instantly feeling as if his internal organs had been gouged out.

At this time, Ji You held the sword in his right hand, and taking advantage of the distance from the punch, the sword sound rose again.

Clang!

The iron sword cut into his neck, and as it severed the hard bone, a harsh, metallic ringing sound issued...

On the west side of the Dongping Mountain Range, Bu Qirong's clan uncle Bu Yingxiong's group was also fleeing. Arriving at a river beach under an isolated peak, they suddenly heard a chaotic screeching sound and turned to look.

Right at the location they had just run from, countless scarlet eyes appeared from the forest.

At the same time, sword Qi and magic arts began to whistle under the gloomy sky.

Seeing this scene, a trace of cunning appeared in Bu Yingxiong's eyes.

He knew that the mountains were already in chaos, his two nephews had already appeared, and the gazes of countless cultivators were gathering toward the depths; the probability of his group escaping had become even greater.

The Bu family was almost wiped out; they had to leave a descendant for the family.

Although he was already nearly a hundred years old, he was willing to take on this responsibility.

In fact, this old clan uncle had no great ambitions from the start; he didn't even understand why the immortal sects wanted to hunt them down.

Finding a way to make himself strong—in his view, this was his family's ability.

Those immortal sects all claimed to have clear Dao hearts, yet they killed them for this; it was simply shameless.

At this moment, his mind was filled with fleeing quickly, finding a quiet place, continuing to act with authority, and personally rebuilding and expanding the family.

However, just as his beautiful dream was in full swing, he discovered that his son Bu Zun's eyes suddenly froze.

Bu Yingxiong was very fond of women and had harmed many good women in Anyuan City.

It was precisely because his Dao heart was mottled that his cultivation was not as high as his son's.

If it weren't for the immortal fate that allowed him to recover to a strong and healthy state, he might have already died of old age.

So what his son could sense, he, as a father, could not feel at all.

"What happened?"

"Bu He's aura is gone..."

"?"

Bu Yingxiong looked in the direction his son was looking and saw the sound in the mountain forest in front of him was constant.

Because spiritual energy was surging in the Dongping Mountain Range, wild winds were whistling from all directions, bursting out one after another from the west side, causing the ancient trees in the forest to rustle.

And as the wind stopped, a trace of heat suddenly emerged in the wind in front of him.

Before Bu Yingxiong could react, he saw a figure coming at high speed, and at the same time, a heavy radiance shot into the sky.

In an instant, his son Bu Zun faced a formidable enemy; the baleful aura across his entire body spread out, his skin and flesh stretched while trembling, and with a sharp shriek, he swung his claws.

That was sword Qi; although Bu Yingxiong had little knowledge, he had seen it on the road of flight.

And at this moment, in his eyes, the figure of his son being slashed away by a sword as heavy as a mountain was reflected.

Bu Yingxiong looked stunned, and he saw that person beckon to him without even turning his head.

He confirmed that he hadn't moved, but for some reason, his vision changed wildly, until the moment he stood still, he saw a lonely body standing on the ground.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 269 =====