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"Is this really where you saw them?"
Two men walked together. Both of them having dark hair with the same hairstyle and from behind, due to their similar body structure, the duo could even pass as twins, however, their facial features were extremely different. One of them actually looked like a fair youth with soft features while the other one had sharp and shapely facial features— a sharp nose and slightly bulging eyes. The both of them wore dark blue tunics with brown trousers and large metallic rods belted on their backs. The tunics torn from the sleeves, revealing muscular and slightly scarred arms.
Ahead of them, further into the dark alley filled with trash bins and layered with murky and sticky liquid that gave deep stink. Meanwhile, a little girl with shabby clothes and slightly disheveled dark hair scrunched her brows and squeaked, "I'm saying the truth! Everyone is asking for a blue-haired girl and a green-eyed boy. I saw both of them here... they were doing something strange and that beautiful sister kept on shouting something."
The two men behind her frowned. The one with fair features finally sighed, "There's no use. The Spirit Hall's group is just too good at hiding."
"Seniors... my coin?" The girl inquired nervously when the one who just spoke snorted coldly and an overbearing pressure instantly landed on the girl and he scoffed coldly, "Run along before I bury you right here you shit."
The girl trembled uncontrollably, tears forming in her eyes when suddenly, a cool and refreshing hand covered the little girl's eyes and she heard two blood-curdling sounds as if something was spraying violently.
The two hunters in front of her with domineering presence already looking down with their limbs feeling helpless and their weak gasps echoing with bloody coughs. Both of them looked down, no, they didn't have to look too down as the crimson blood curved up, its thin and sharp edge extending to the cold tip already close enough to the tips of their noses. What the girl was fortunate enough to not see wasn't the sight of blood. It is a common one. But the sight of the two men's life leaving through their eyes. The light in their pupils gradually fading... it happened to be a particularly chilling sight.
Suddenly, the bodies of the two hunters vanished, and behind them stood a slightly rattled dark-haired man with his hair swept to his right and his countenance slightly pale at the moment. He held two crimson blades and his grip so tight that veins popped through the back of his hands and knuckles that extended to his wrists and forearms. Around the girl, the blue-haired beautiful woman, and the shaken youth, four more individuals appeared. Three women and one man.
Strangely, these four individuals were none other than the indistinct garbage tossed in the corner of the alley and 'emerged' with a strange shift of space as if they were always standing as cold spectators.
"Do you want me to take the position of the attacker?" Ja Sun inquired. It was already evening with the sky tinted in amber and even glazing a bit reddish as if resonating with the bloodshed occurring within the Dragon Rising City. A day still hadn't passed but this was their third ambush already. The city was filled with the spirit masters to begin with but with Ja Sun's efforts, he made the bounty public by openly using his disguise to go to taverns and spread the word. His thoughts being simple.
The mission depended on the quality and quantity of pursuers. He cannot do anything about quality but can't he turn the surrounding spirit masters as pursuers? Yes, with his eloquent tongue, he recited the tale of legendary Ka-ul and also spread the word regarding him being sighted in the Dragon Rising City. The private bounty was turned public and with the lure of spirit bones as rewards from Star Luo Palace and the spirit bones he owns himself, the entire city was shaken. Meanwhile, the true powers that have yet to arrive will appear in the city in the coming 4 days, too, since the time period of this mission is 5 days itself.
Even at war, Ja Sun never bared his fangs but now, he didn't mind overeating just a bit.
But, Xie Xan volunteered to be the main striking force due to his martial spirit that leaves no room for mistakes. Still, the act of assassinating came with a mental price that now seemed to be turning into Xie Xan's burden for he was truly attacking men from their backs without even their weapons readied.
Hearing Ja Sun speak up, Xie Xan exhaled deeply and grew calm once again.
"I will be fine... you're the scout. I'm the attacker."
Xie Xan didn't speak much and glanced at Hu Lana who nodded with a reassuring smile yet he did find the hint of worry slowly sneaking from the corner of her eyes.
The bodies were already taken by Bibi Dong and Ah Yin finally removed her hands from the little girl's eyes.
"Sister, I wasn't being greedy, I swear. It's just—" The girl was pale with fright now. The two men were dead, she knew it. Ah Yin coolly glanced at the little girl before taking out five silver coins and nodding, "Go."
Ah Yin stated while placing the five silver coins in the small hand of the little girl as the girl ran away quickly, not daring to look at others.
"Did you have to make that kid recite that stupid story?" Liu Erlong frowned, a hint of blush on her cheeks, clearly the most unaffected by the bloodshed but the scandalous tale itself.
"It doesn't matter. We'll search the corpses later. Let's leave now," Ja Sun whispered. The more he thought about that sweating fat man that interrupted his chat with Ah Yin in the restaurant, the colder he felt. That individual was strange. A bit too much.
"Ka-ul is right. We have ruffled enough feathers for the day. Let's be quick about it and rest. Aside from us, Ka-ul and Xie Xan require rest."
Bibi Dong spoke up. Ja Sun's spirit bone's ability was simply too good. The disguise was nothing short of bringing illusions to life and its applications wide and potent. Even though they themselves still hadn't found any weakness about this ability that didn't mean that the stronger opponents wouldn't. The simple truth of spirit abilities: Might makes right. Who knows that there might be a Spirit Douluo with skills restricting Ja Sun happened to be looking for them. Then what?
Their group would be the one who will be caught in a surprise.
Fully aware of their thinking, Ja Sun nodded. There was only one limitation to the ability provided by his spirit bone: Mental Energy. Ordinarily, Ja Sun's mental energy would have been at the level of a Spirit Sage but after the consumption of Life Gold and turning and mutating it into a life-death core and even fusing the second sea of consciousness with his original one and making it a true metaphysical world, Ja Sun's mental energy already reached the ranks of Spirit Douluo. So, no spirit douluo would be able to see through his illusions if they did not have a technique like Fiery Golden Pupils, and speaking of this technique, the intensity of Ja Sun's mental techniques, at the cost of more mental energy, could be forcefully raised by two levels.
What's above Titled Douluo, Ja Sun didn't know but his mental energy could barely touch that level which consumed all his mental energy at once. However, right now, Ja Sun wasn't augmenting the Yin-Yang True Illusion with the pupils' technique. In fact, as long as he had the mental energy, the individuals under disguise could move anywhere and not just within the five-meter range. But, the longer the distance, the greater the consumption of mental energy, and there is a chance that someone might intercept the mental connection, breaking the illusion while hurting Ja Sun with a backlash of the technique itself.
The group left quickly. Ja Sun gave one spot a lasting glance and his deep golden pupils suddenly revealed a faint shimmer. Ja Sun had activated the Golden Pupils Technique and his mental energy began getting consumed at a fast pace while the Life-Death Spirit Cauldron in his world of consciousness constantly supplied mental energy by consuming his spirit energy. A green token was already tied to his neck that fed Ja Sun's body with spirit energy: Sigh of Immortal.
Meanwhile, in the alley, the only evidence of the death of two Spirit Kings was a few drops of blood that was almost dried by this point.
Their destination was not the inn, but yet another private courtyard closer to the one that Bibi Dong booked the first time.
As they left, almost half an hour later, a round man slowly walked into the alley. His nostrils twitching as if he has arrived in this location following the trail of scent and as he gazed at the indistinct drops of blood in the dirty alley, he couldn't help but frown. The man didn't walk into the filthy alley given that his feet were bare. Yet, his gaze observed everything. From crawling insects to bins of garbage and the soft marks with the vague shape of a boot imprinted against a few spots.
'Strange... strange. I can smell three spots with deathly energy on the ground... but how can this much of a rotten yin qi be covered so quietly. As if it didn't exist. The ground doesn't lie. They were here. Strangely, they also hold one of the tokens but they aren't part of us. Hmm... the traces disappear here. Oh, there is a fresh scent...' the round man suddenly inhaled and a purple spirit ring appeared around him.
Strange forms of energy seemed to emanate from the ground as they took humanoid shapes. Silently moving... stabbing, appearing, and one little shape of energy represented by faint white outlines disappeared into distance before others disappeared from this very spot itself.
"Fresh scent... others covered. A little girl, no more than eight. Not useful... but sounds delicious," the man's expression brightened. This spot was already quite secluded due to the smell and none were present to witness the man's teeth turning sharper as if the jaws of a beast. Still, he frowned and shook his head, "Can't make mistakes before completing the task."
His gaze then turned a bit dazed while the outlines of energy returned to the ground. His stomach growled a bit and his expression turned unsightly.
The man spread out his mental energy and finding no distraction, he unceremoniously settled on the ground. His legs barely crossed as his heavy body made it quite hard for his calves to settle on one another and soon, the man pulled out a pale human body. A young boy and given its condition, the corpse had been preserved recently... until...
*Kcchk*
The fat spirit master began devouring it.
Two particular 'insects' shivered at this sight.
---
"Hahaha! We succeeded! Good work!" Tang Hao laughed loudly. He didn't look back but faced the city in the distance while walking with large strides. Next to him walked Tang Xiao and his expression was equally pleased. Aside from the exhausted Tang Yuehua and the vigorous Dai Mu walking behind the pair of brothers, there were a total of eighteen men and women following. Strangely, these eighteen seemed to be wearing robes in pairs. Nine pairs of spirit masters wearing similar clothing. Four of the men wore deep brown tunics that stuck to their muscular bodies. Another four wore pale green robes with equally muscular bodies. Next, there were yet another four men in black robes but unlike the previous set of burly men, these were with sharper features.
At the last, four men and two women wearing white robes and moving as if easily gliding over the ground.
Clearly, these two women and the pair of Dai Mu and Tang Yuehua stood out amongst this group of men and despite their beauties, none of the men dared leered at any one of the women around them.
Although the clothes all of them wore seemed untouched, if looked closer, many unhealed injuries could be concluded by observing the breathing of this group and the unnatural way of walking not to mention the slightest hint of blood smudged across their hairline as if the group bathed in blood not too long ago.
Once this group entered the city, Tang Yuehua instantly noted the shift in mood from three days ago when they all left to back up one line of defending spirit masters against a small tide of Snaketakens.
Right now, she could sense unrest within the city. Glancing around, Tang Yuehua realized that their group didn't attract as much attention as she expected them to. She wasn't being narcissistic, but with the way her brothers presented themselves, it was hard not to attract attention, and yet, even many common men and women seemed wholly uninterested. They gossiped amongst themselves.
Aside from Tang Yuehua, this change was noted by the young men and women wearing white robes. One of the eldest-looking men shifted and reappeared by Tang Hao's side, "Young Masters, please allow me to find out what has changed in the city."
"Something has changed in the city?" Tang Hao looked confused and glanced at Tang Xiao who returned with a shrug.
Seeing the uncaring expression of their two leaders, the eight burly men instantly felt appeased but the men and women behind them looked a little bleak.
"Yes, the vibe of the city has changed. Something phenomenal likely occurred in the city while we were gone."
"Fine, fine—"
"Ah, are you here to hunt those exiled scums from the Spirit Hall, too? That dark-skinned man said that Ka-ul, Bibi Dong, and their group committed heinous crimes by stealing many spirit bones. Let's form a team. Your group looks formidable enough. We will share the benefits by catching them! The exit points of the city are already under the watch of the few spirit masters of Spirit Hall itself!"
Excited shouts instantly echoed as the group gazed at a small part of three spirit ancestors.
"Oh, fuck off! Three of you are capable to team up with others? Screw off! Shoo! I just found information on this Bibi Dong. Apparently, not much is known about her except the fact that she is a Spirit Emperor. Even Spirt Temple isn't willing to give out any information. You three can hardly fight against that group!"
Another party of five intercepted. The entrance of the city instantly boiled with excitement as shouts upon shouts echoed everywhere.
Meanwhile, Tang Xiao and Tang Hao glanced at each other. Their lips parted in shock. But deep in their eyes hid excitement. Expectations flickered in Tang Yuehua's set of own clear blue pupils. Others looked strange while Dai Mu's expression fell instantly at the name of Ka-ul and Bibi Dong.
"Speed Clan, disperse. All of you know how Ka-ul and others look already. Keep an eye out and notify us immediately," Tang Xiao instantly spoke up, "Strength, Defense, Attack, you all will rest and reach your peak condition by tomorrow. No more causing troubles. Tang Hao will lead you the moment we hear anything about Ka-ul and his group. Bai Kang," the eldest of Tang then looked at the white-robed individual next to him and narrowed his eyes, "It is unfair to your clan that two of your members will be shortly replaced by the main sect. However, I need you to still help me understand the entire situation. No clan is better than the Speed Clan when it comes to scouting."
The last bit was directly spoken to Bai Kang with Tang Xiao's voice compressed.
Bai Kang instantly bowed and then glanced at the other white-robed individuals. Seeing this gesture, the six of them disappeared instantly, revealing extremely shocking speed. Even Tang Hao's gaze brightened because he couldn't match this group of spirit ancestors and kings that moved so quickly in speed.
"Hao'er," Tang Xiao's voice entered Tang Hao's senses only, "Dai Mu is your responsibility. Her and Ka-ul's grudge is a deep one but if there is a possibility that Yuehua can cultivate, I don't want anything to destroy that hope... so, if you act like a stupid fuck like you did when consoling Dai Mu back then... then I really won't forgive you even if Father and Yuehua might."
Tang Hao and Tang Xiao glanced but unexpectedly, Tang Hao nodded slightly, his own compressed voice entering Tang Xiao's senses, "You got it... but did you forget who purchased those techniques for 9000 gold coins and fucked our budget and then got us into a beating by father? If anyone's a stupid fuck, that's you."
Both of them smiled coldly before laughing out loud.
"Let's go rest!"
---
Within the very alley where Ja Sun and his group concluded their hunt for the day, killing seven individuals divided into three groups, and where the strange individual who devoured a young corpse finally left from, two strange cockroaches suddenly flew up before smacking into each other and then crawling onto the ground. These two cockroaches kept a low profile. Flying up the roofs or crawling on the walls until...
"Hyaaaa!"
Liu Erlong let out an extremely strange but sharp squeal. Ja Sun and others present within the courtyard were alerted and they rushed towards her room. With a derisive smirk, Ja Sun finally revoked his illusion and the moment the group barged into Liu Erlong's room, they found her standing on the bed with a slipper in her hand and Caihong and Olivia cowering in the corner.
"She's finally gone crazy," Xie Xan exhaled. Mentally tired by strange shenanigans occurring around him daily.
Liu Erlong instantly glared at Ja Sun and threw the slipper she held at his face: which he dodged timely. So did Ah Yin behind him and it struck the wall behind them.
"One of these days, I will fill you with cockroaches and set you on fire!" Liu Erlong growled while Ja Sun shook his head and crouched to pick up the two scared Human-tongue Owls who were scarred enough for the day.
"As long as you don't go 'hyaaah'," He snickered while letting out a sharp squeak.
"To think Erlong could sound so... cute..." Hu Lana narrowed her eyes.
"Fuck you! Your time's up!" Erlong shrieked like a mad beast, finally exploding with rage, and jumped on Ja Sun. Ah Yin sighed softly and spoke up, "I will not waste my spirit energy to heal the injuries you cause while messing around."
But the duo was already way past that. Caihong and Olivia flapped their wings while letting out sharp whistles: "Screw! Screw! Them! *Hoot*" Both of them flew into Ah Yin's embrace and the group walked out.
Shortly afterward, Liu Erlong and Ja Sun walked out.
His clothes were ripped from place to place while his temple of a body and face marred with scratches, both shallow and deep that bled a bit. Meanwhile, Liu Erlong was no better. Given that he was ruthless enough to not remove the Vajra Gauntlets, Liu Erlong had blue spots on many locations. One striking spot was closer to her chin.
"Are the two of you done?" Bibi Dong glanced at them. The group already sitting around the table.
"Yes," Erlong spat with a cold expression.
Ja Sun silently shrugged.
Given their wretched conditions, no matter how witty of a reply he stated now, he would just come off as pathetic. After all, he caused this trouble and that squeal was worth the price. Sitting next to Ah Yin, he found a cool and refreshing energy entering his body that began healing his injuries at a greater pace than his own recovery ability.
"Alright, Olivia, Caihong... were we being followed?"
"Yes," Olivia, the more eloquent of the two, spoke up.
"Go on then... describe everything to the best of your capabilities... wait, this is better."
Ja Sun suddenly used True Fantasy as a small purple dome covered the group. Connecting everyone telepathically, Olivia's 'experience' and memory that she recalled instantly sent a chill down their spines.
"That's... Ground Devil Douluo. No doubt, he's one of the four douluo level elders of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan but... what is he?" Bibi Dong finally uttered after a few moments of silence.
"Well, the term 'monster' comes to my mind," Xie Xan stated with a gloomy expression.
This was a trouble they cannot endure easily.
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