Chapter 52
A vicious glint shed in the eyes of the ck-clothed man, and he took a step forward in fury. The young <i>gongzi </i>frowned and signs of impatience could be seen from his gaze. He was about to speak when a smallmotion broke out outside.
The young man''s face darkened as he bellowed, "What''s wrong?"
Another ck-clothed man from outside the cottage hurried in and, in panic, announced, "The mountain is on fire!"
Everyone in the tavern was taken aback. They rushed to the entrance and saw that under the dark night sky, there were six to seven spots on the tea mountain that were alight. The mes had yet to grow too big, but they were clearly gaining in intensity. Given the strong mountainous winds, it was likely that it wouldn''t take long before the entire mountain would be burning in mes.
The group of ck-clothed men fell silent. Then, someone cursed, and there were even a few who wanted to rush up the mountains. However, they were stopped by the young <i>gongzi</i>. Scanning his surroundings, his face turned cold for the first time. With a frigid tone, he said, "This ce is just 30 <i>li</i> away from Nansong Mountain. The moment the mountainous mes expand, the Thousand Autumn Doors would definitely send someone to check the matter out. By then, the matter would have blown out of proportions. Right now, it isn''t the time for you all to be messing around."
The group of ck-clothed men remainedpletely speechless. After a brief moment, the young man sneered coldly. He pped the fan in his palms andmanded, "Set the houses alight! Kill the fatty in the house! Let''s go!"
Soon, in the silence of the night, mes were swiftly lit. In just moments, mes were lit around the tavern. Based on their effectiveness at setting the mes, it seemed that this group of ck-clothed men were experts who hadmitted such acts countless times. What was even more bizarre was that even though there was quite somemotion this night, other than this small tavern, the entire vige was plunged into silence. It didn''t seem like there were any vigers who were rmed by it.
At the same time, while the mes slowly swallowed the small tavern, two ck-clothed men charged in and dragged the withered Old Ma out and threw him onto the empty grounds before the tavern.
The young <i>gongzi</i> walked over with a stern expression. It seemed that due to the various unexpected events that had urred tonight, he was finally no longer able to sustain that tranquil expression of his. Authoritatively, he spoke, "Fatty, I respect you for your tough will, but you have seen the situation for yourself. I will give you onest chance. Tell me the background of that Shadow and where he is now. Otherwise, you shall..."
He nced at the two ck-clothed men who dragged Old Ma out, and each of them whipped out a gleaming dagger. The man on the right was slightly faster and immediately, he ced his sharp dagger against the fatty''s thick neck. The other man who was slightly slower hesitated for a moment before retracting his dagger and stepping back into the crowd.
The cold edge of the dagger was pushed right against Old Ma''s neck, causing Old Ma''s body to cower backward before it. His face was ghastly pale and it could be seen that he was actually somewhat nervous. In fact, he couldn''t resist the urge to lift his head to nce at the ck-clothed man.
Perhaps it was an instinctive reaction when one was at the border between life and death, his body convulsed intensely. Then, he stared fixedly at the ck-clothed man who was about to kill him, as though he was trying to mark the features of his murderer and exact vengeance on him as a specter. But it was a pity that the ck-clothed man had concealed all personal traits beneath his ck robe, such that even his face was hidden from in view. All that could be seen was a pair of eyes.
Old Ma red furiously at the ck-clothed man.
The ck-clothed man was unmoved by Old Ma''s actions.
The young <i>gongzi</i>''s patience seemed to have worn thin. He coldly spouted, "Have you thought it through yet?" After which, he paused for a moment before he harrumphed coldly. With a wave of his hands, he said, "Do it..."
"Don''t!" A shout of agony suddenly reverberated. It was from the fatty, Old Ma. At this moment, his steeled and pertinacious face had disappeared without a trace, and in its ce were depression and submission. He quickly shouted, "I''ll speak! I''ll speak!"
"Hu..."
A ruckus broke out among the ck-clothed men. Even the young <i>gongzi</i> seemed to have been caught off-guard by the sudden change in Old Ma and nked out for a moment. His mind couldn''t adapt to the abrupt twist in the situation.
On the other hand, the ck-clothed man standing behind Old Ma seemed to be in greater shock, staggering and nearly falling backward. Seemingly infuriated for his embarrassment, he lifted his leg and kicked the fatty!
"Aiya..." Old Ma was immediately sent rolling on the floor, and his figure looked strangely reminiscent of a blob of meat. He grimaced in pain.
On the other end, the young <i>gongzi</i> had also recovered and he quickly bellowed for the ck-clothed man who was about to thrash the fatty to stop. He walked over to Old Ma in hurried steps and said dignifiedly, "Ma Xiao Yun!"
Although he was the one who mentioned his name, he couldn''t help but frown. The disparity between the fatty before him and the name was simply too great, making it difficult for him to form connections between the two. However, based on the news he had received from the Immortal Alliance''s Fleeting Cloud Division, this was definitely this man''s name... However, it wasn''t the time for him to be bothered over this. The young man took a deep breath and said, "Ma Xiao Yun, hear my words. My name is Shang Fei Yi, a vice-head of the Three Realm Divine Cult''s ''West Altar''. As long as you speak the truth, I would make sure that you live a worry-free life from now on, and you need not fear the pursuit of the Fleeting Cloud Division."
Ma Xiao Yun... The fat Old Ma quickly nodded his head. "Thank you, thank you. You must save me!"
Expectation and nervousness appeared in Shang Fei Yi''s eyes as he asked, "Then speak, what is the identity and background of the Shadow hidden here?"
The grounds turned silent. Subconsciously, all of the ck-clothed men in the surroundings were listening intently for Old Ma''s reply.
The night wind blew, and only the crackling of the mes on the tavern could be heard. In the further distance, in the depths of the darkness, a faint sound could be heard. It seemed as though someone''s buffalo had been rmed by themotion and a ''moo'' sound could be heard.
Old Ma gritted his teeth. Seemingly getting past the final shackles in his heart, he nced at the ck-clothed man equipped with the knife fearfully and spoke, "I don''t know the original name of the Shadow, but when I received him, he was already known as Lu Chen. He is 28 this year and is of average figure..."
Shang Fei Yi eyebrows shot upward as he nodded his head faintly. Clearly, he was also aware of these basic pieces of information on the Shadow, and this verified that the fatty had truly given in and wasn''t lying. "Well said. What else?"
The fatty hesitated for a moment. The ck-clothed man beside him seemed to hold extreme disdain against the despicable man who kept changing his words and ced his knife on Old Ma''s neck once more as he bellowed, "Speak!"
...