Stranger Danger

Chapter 688: Northern Spear King

“Sigh...”

Zhang Lingyang let out a sigh, but he didn’t say anything.

Blood Rakshasa shot him another smile before turning around and asking, “So? Did you find anything, Soul Seeker?”

The silhouette of a man abruptly manifested into existence. It was quite difficult to identify his features as he was almost fully transparent. In fact, one could see light penetrating through his body a little. It was almost like he was a soul or a Yin God.

“No. He swore an Oath of Burden, so I couldn’t find anything even after I scoured his soul.”

The man’s voice was as wispy as his existence, apparently. “This indirectly proves that they know what lies within the Death Sea though.”

“The Oath of Burden? This is getting interesting.” Blood Rakshasa glanced at the rest of the group and asked, “So, you’ve all sworn the Oath of Burden before? Is that why you couldn’t reveal the secret to anyone?”

Everyone exchanged a glance with each other before nodding. They had no choice.

“No wonder,” Blood Rakshasa exclaimed in realization, “but why didn’t you tell me sooner? If you did, then there would be no need for all this bloodshed, is there?”

Everyone: “...” Are you kidding me right now, girl? You killed them before they got a chance to say anything! Anything!

“Anyway, does that mean we won’t be able to get anything from them?” Blood Rakshasa frowned slightly.

“That is correct,” Soul Seeker answered.

“What should we do then?” Blood Rakshasa glanced at the crowd.

You should let us go, duh! Everyone shouted inside their heads in unison.

“If you can’t be of use to us...” Blood Rakshasa spoke up after thinking for a moment, “... then why should I let you live? You might as well all die here.”

Everyone turned as pale as a sheet when they heard this. Heavens above! Do you even hear yourself? Who the hell crafted this woman’s moral compass?!

Also, why are you so single-minded? There is more than one way to find out the truth. For example, you can search our belongings! If you find the Dark Overlord Token, then you’ll discover the truth, don’t you?

Are all Grandmasters this stupid? Is stupidity a prerequisite to become a Grandmaster??

Unfortunately, they couldn’t say anything to Blood Rakshasa. They couldn’t even think of giving Blood Rakshasa a hint, or the Oath of Burden would immediately steal their soul, bind them to the Oathbearer’s shell, and expose them to the astrals wind for eternity. It would be a life worse than death itself.

For a time, despair clung to everyone like the plague.

Did the thought of resisting not cross their minds? Of course it had. There was simply no point in doing so.

If Blood Rakshasa was alone, they might have thrown all caution to the wind and fought for that ray of hope.

Unfortunately, the Little Heavenly Master was present, and now this Soul Seeker guy had shown up as well. They could tell that Soul Seeker was a Grandmaster and an expert at scouring souls as well. His name wasn’t in the Earth Champions Ranking, but what did that matter? Best case scenario, they had to go up against two Grandmasters if they chose to fight. Worst case scenario, the Little Heavenly Master would become their enemy as well.

Long story short, fighting back would only make their deaths a million times more painful.

“Ahem...”

It was at this moment Zhang Lingyang coughed and spoke up again, “Seniors, I don’t think killing them would change anything, so...”

“Are you pleading on their behalf, Little Heavenly Master?” Blood Rakshasa shot him a ridiculing smile.

“I guess so. I’m a soft-hearted man after all!” Zhang Lingyang replied. “Also, I have a better idea.”

“Really now? Tell us.” The first half of Zhang Lingyang’s sentence tickled her funny bone, but the second half genuinely piqued her interest. Was Zhang Lingyang saying that he knew a way to break the Oath of Burden? It wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility. Dragon Tiger Mountain was one of the Three Temples of Dao and a sect with a long, long history. They must have all sorts of trump cards up their sleeves.

Zhang Lingyang sipped his wine again before answering lazily, “We just need to search them. Who knows, maybe one of them carries a clue in their belongings. That wouldn’t trigger the Oath of Burden, and it would reveal the truth, wouldn’t it?”

Everyone broke into tears of joy when they heard this. Thank the heavens! There’s someone with a brain among this trio after all! Thank the heavens!

Blood Rakshasa: “...”

Soul Seeker: “...”

Both Grandmasters were speechless for a moment. Heavens above, why didn’t I think of this sooner?

The look on the crowd’s faces only confirmed this. Oh my heavens, this is so embarrassing!

That said, Blood Rakshasa and Soul Seeker were Grandmasters. With great power comes a very thick face, so both Grandmasters remained perfectly calm as they grabbed a Nature’s Shell off the dead people’s bodies and began their search.

Embarrassment could only infect you if you let it.

“Hmm? This token...”

It wasn’t long before Zhang Lingyang, Blood Rakshasa and Soul Seeker all found a strange token in the Nature’s Shell. They did not know what material it was, but it was tough enough that they instinctively knew they couldn’t break it. It was obvious it was an extraordinary item.

“Dark Overlord... Dark Overlord...”

Blood Rakshasa examined the words engraved to the token for a few breaths before exclaiming in shock, “Could it be referring to the Dark Overlord Li Hentian?”

Zhang Lingyang and Soul Seeker had arrived at the same conclusion as well.

“The secret of the Death Sea is related to the Dark Overlord Li Hentian?”

All three warriors exchanged stunned and excited glances with each other.

Who was Li Hentian?

He was the unparalleled, indomitable world champion eight hundred years ago!

If the secret really was related to the Dark Overlord, then this was easily one of, if not the biggest opportunity they had encountered in their lives!

Forget Blood Rakshasa and Soul Seeker, even Zhang Lingyang, someone who was carefully nurtured by the ancient and powerful Dragon Tiger Mountain, was brimming with excitement.

He quickly calmed himself down and looked at the excited Blood Rakshasa and Soul Seeker with a sorrowful expression, “Sigh. Assuming that this secret really has something to do with the Dark Overlord, then a bloody storm is sure to befall the jianghu once more!”

“Hahaha... the secret of the Death Sea is tied to the Dark Overlord?”

Suddenly, a sinister laugh broke out in the sky. Then, a hand wrapped in thick smoke descended from the sky and made a grab for the warriors carrying the Dark Overlord Token.

“I, Haze, shall be claiming all these tokens for myself!”

“And who do you think you are?”

Before Haze’s hand could get anywhere close to the warriors, a furious, maddened roar deafened everyone’s eardrums. At the same time, a streak of silver light cut through the sky and slammed into his hand.

There was a loud explosion as Haze’s hand was blasted aside. Not only that, the silver beam continued to shoot forward and cut through the ground like a hot knife through butter, throwing up a curtain of sand that stretched hundreds of meters tall.

When the sand settled, the crowd finally noticed that the silver light standing diagonally on the ground was really a silver spear.

“Cough... cough...”

It was at this moment the space around the silver spear distorted, and a sage-like old man wearing a tall hat and a large belt appeared out of seemingly nowhere. His face was pale, and his energies were thrown into disorder. He stared warily at the direction where the spear had come from.

Two men on horseback appeared from the horizon. They were both clad in silver armor, and they were both riding white horses. Their sabers were hanging beside the horses’ stomach.

One man looked to be in his twenties. His face was handsome, and his expression was stern. He looked like stone carved into a man, hard and unyielding.

The other person looked to be in his forties. Tall and slender, his looks were far softer compared to his compatriot. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was wearing a set of silver armor, they might have mistaken him for a gentle scholar.

The man’s words instantly shattered that impression though. “You think a piece of garbage like you deserves to lay your hands on the Dark Overlord Token?!”

“Xu Xiu...! Are you going to stand in the way of my fortune?” Haze’s eyes were filled with hatred, but also a hint of fear.

“So what if I am?” the man sneered from horseback. “I can crush a piece of garbage like you with one hand. Whatcha gonna do about it?”

“You...!” Haze choked, but he couldn’t say a thing in retort. He could only glare at Xu Xiu hatefully yet impotently.

“Your demeanor fits your stature, Northern Spear King Xu Xiu. Unfortunately, we are no longer in Northern Xinjiang.”

A cold chuckle broke out from somewhere, and the shadows on the ground began stirring unnaturally.