Chapter 205

Ximen Yu nodded: "I know, of course I know."

"Where?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

Ximen Yu smiled faintly: "As long as Miss Ren agrees to cooperate with us, once the matter is done, I will naturally tell you the truth about your father's whereabouts."

"Cooperate? You mean becoming a puppet for you to control the Sun Moon Holy Cult with?" A cold note crept into Ren Yingying's voice.

Ximen Yu shook his head: "Don't put it so unpleasantly."

"If this matter succeeds, it will count as a merit. When the time comes, Miss Ren can well use this merit to apply to join the Qinglong Society, and might even become the master of a branch altar."

"At that point, contributing to the Society—how could that possibly be called being a puppet?"

Ximen Yu's unhurried tone carried a thick current of temptation.

Joining the Qinglong Society!

To many outsiders, such an opportunity was the stuff of dreams.

Yet Ren Yingying was unmoved.

She had grown up in the Sun Moon Holy Cult and knew all too well that the more rigorous and mysterious an organization, the tighter its grip on its own members.

And how did it enforce that grip?

The methods were nothing more than a handful of familiar ones.

She had no desire to end up like those cultists in the Sun Moon Holy Cult who took the "Three Corpse Brain Divine Pill"—controlled by others, unable to act of her own will....

Thinking of this, Ren Yingying was about to refuse outright, when a sudden idea struck her. She asked, "Does Altar Master Ximen know what martial arts Dongfang Bubai practices?"

Ximen Yu's eyelids lifted slightly. "The Sunflower Manual."

He knew!

A chill ran through Ren Yingying's heart.

Worthy of the Qinglong Society—even such a closely guarded secret was known to them.

One had to remember that she, as the Holy Cult's Sacred Aunt, had spent over a decade on Heimu Cliff, and had only learned of this matter recently through a diary.

The strength of the Qinglong Society's intelligence network was truly fearsome and terrifying.

"Then does Altar Master Ximen know where Dongfang Bubai's Sunflower Manual came from?" Ren Yingying asked again, hoping to seize this chance to unravel the doubt in her heart.

Ximen Yu shook his head: "That is not today's focus. Well? What does Miss Ren think of my proposal?"

Ren Yingying did not answer, but looked around.

Ximen Yu gave a light cough: "Come on out, all of you. Let Miss Ren have a look."

As his words fell, bamboo leaves rustled, and seven men of wildly different appearances stepped into view, each radiating a fierce, murderous aura.

Killers!

Professional killers!

Counting Ximen Yu and the half-long-haired man beside him who seemed to be blind, that made nine.

The nine formed a ring around the two women. Several of them openly sneered and mocked, looking at the two women the way one looks at two lambs awaiting slaughter.

Ren Yingying's gaze swept across the ferocious band before her. She said coolly, "So this is Altar Master Ximen's sincerity?"

Ximen Yu frowned.

Even at this point, Ren Yingying remained so calm and composed—this was not what he had expected.

Because according to the intelligence, this woman was only at the Early Grandmaster Stage.

Yet with their lineup like this, even an ordinary Grandmaster would have no way out alive.

Could it be that she was planning to give in?

As these thoughts turned in his mind, Ximen Yu said, "The Qinglong Society's blade will never turn against its own people."

Ren Yingying gave a light laugh. With a flick of her wrist, she drew two swords—one long, one short.

"How unfortunate. I was just about to test how sharp the Qinglong Society's blade really is!"

227 Divine Sword Sword Boy, Things Remain but People Change

On the mountain path, two figures were fleeing for their lives.

One of them, a man in a tall hat, wore a livid face and cursed as he ran: "Damn it! What kind of monsters are those two women?"

"Blindy, Goldy, Horse Whip, Tangye, Maozhan, Dinggan—each one stronger than them, yet every one of them died at their hands."

"If I hadn't seen the signs and run fast, I'd be a ghost under their blades by now too!"

The other swordsman listened to his grumbling, was silent for a moment, then said: "The main thing was that layer of light barrier—almost impossible to shake. Blindy and the rest were caught completely off guard."

The tall-hatted man nodded, then glanced at his companion and said: "Didn't expect it, Gao Li—your eye for when to cut and run is pretty sharp too."

Gao Li said nothing, ignoring him.

The tall-hatted man gave a dry laugh and said meaningfully: "You're afraid of dying, aren't you? Because you're afraid you'll never see that girl called... what was her name again?"

After a pause, a name slipped from his lips: "Shuangshuang."

Gao Li, who had been sprinting forward, suddenly stopped short, whirled around, his right hand tightening on the sword hilt, and a fierce murderous intent rising in his eyes as he stared at the tall-hatted man.

The tall-hatted man smiled: "Three years under the same roof, your sleep-talking at midnight—I heard you call that name twice."

"I bet she must be as beautiful as a heavenly fairy, right?"

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have joined 'July Fifteenth', working yourself to the bone to earn money, pinching every penny, cherishing your life for her sake."

"Am I right?"

Gao Li stared hard at the tall-hatted man and said coldly: "Ma Feng, you saying all this—don't tell me you're trying to force me to kill you?"

Ma Feng shook his head: "Of course not."

Gao Li looked at him, waiting for what came next.

Ma Feng said frankly, "I don't mean anything else, I just thought of hiding at your place for a bit."

"Hide? Hide from whom?"

"Ximen Yu."

"Ximen Yu?"

"That's right. Do you think Ximen Yu can come back alive?"

Gao Li was stunned. After thinking it through carefully, his heart suddenly sank.

Right. Earlier, he had been scared out of his wits by Ren Yingying and Lan Fenghuang's fierce counterattack, and only thought about fleeing for his life, forgetting to think.

The reason those two women were so formidable was not that their attacks were all that sharp, but that they attacked without defending, using preparation against the unprepared, which earned them rich results.

Setting aside that extremely disgusting light barrier, their actual combat power wasn't all that high. Handling it carefully, there still wouldn't be a problem.

At that level, could they kill Ximen Yu?

Probably not!

Unless they had other hidden methods.

And if Ximen Yu didn't die, would he let the two of them deserters off?

The knuckles of Gao Li's fingers gripping the sword hilt began to turn white.

Ma Feng patted his shoulder and said, "So, from now on, it's necessary for us to watch out for each other and defend against the enemy together."

Gao Li was silent for a moment, then nodded.

A smile appeared on Ma Feng's face.

But the next sentence from Gao Li made him unable to smile anymore—

"Besides Ximen Yu, you're hiding from something else, aren't you? You want to borrow my strength to resist together."

Ma Feng's smile froze, and he was about to argue.

"Rain."

"..."

"That blue rain scared you badly. I could tell, at the time if Ximen Yu hadn't been there, you would have already run off."

"..."

"Can you tell me, what is that? What exactly are you afraid of?"

Faced with Gao Li's pressing questions, Ma Feng looked troubled.

Suddenly, a voice said, "Did I scare you?"

The two turned their heads and saw a delicate girl in a snow-white coat standing gracefully ahead.

Their eyes met, and Hou Jian smiled and said, "Don't you recognize me anymore? Big Brother."