Now, all their insides felt as if they were in agony, and these grown men were sweating in pain, unable to utter a word.
After waiting half a minute and only hearing painful groans, Hua Jian regretfully sighed, “I’ll take that as your consent. Let’s go, we still have a journey ahead.”
“Oh right, I’ll be taking your Storage Pouches as her fee for handling things.”
The four Hei Long Gang cultivators could only watch helplessly as Hua Jian took their Storage Pouches and left. Other than roaring in rage, they could do nothing.
It wasn’t until other patrolling Hei Long Gang members came by and fed them healing pills that they were barely able to speak.
After recounting their ordeal to the other patrol cultivators, these men tearfully warned their companions to be on guard against those three outsiders—those people really did strike!
And not only that, they even robbed them!
“My Storage Pouch, they took my Storage Pouch!” the man who’d been punched away first by Linglong shouted in fury.
Getting beaten was one thing, but taking the Storage Pouch? That was his whole fortune!
He would get his Storage Pouch back, he swore it!
.
“Why did you even take their Storage Pouches?!”
Hua Jian having Linglong teach the road-blockers a lesson made sense to Shiqi, but robbing them of their Storage Pouches afterwards seemed very wrong.
For most cultivators, everything they owned was in their Storage Pouch. Losing it was the same as being bankrupt.
And yet Hua Jian had just taken theirs. Was it really for the money?
“It’s just a little lesson. If they get beaten and don’t pay any price, why would anyone let them go? Life’s not that easy.” Hua Jian lightly twirled the Storage Pouch in her hand.
Although it was sealed by spiritual sense and she couldn’t get to what was inside, that didn’t stop her from annoying those cultivators.
Judging from their behavior, it was obvious how arrogant they were in their daily dealings. They’d bullied countless cultivators.
For justice, for revenge for those poor cultivators, Hua Jian felt there was absolutely nothing wrong with taking the Hei Long Gang’s Storage Pouches!
Don’t ask what profit there was—making the Hei Long Gang cultivators unhappy was profit!
“I want to be a punisher, to punish those who deserve it.” Catching the black Storage Pouch, Hua Jian clenched her fist, crushing the pouch into a wrinkled ball.
Right now, she looked so earnest and serious that even Shiqi started to believe her.
She still didn’t understand Hua Jian well enough—look at Linglong beside her, already wearing a “keep acting” expression.
Punisher? She just wanted to make some extra money with those Storage Pouches.
Abandoned, ownerless Storage Pouches were recycled everywhere—not only Linglong Pavilion, but countless shops and merchants offered similar services.
Taking these four Storage Pouches was at least like harvesting a nice stalk of Tian Grass.
If she was willing to spend some spirit stones to break the spiritual seal, she could profit even more.
Shiqi’s first instinct was right—Hua Jian was really doing this for money.
Because Hua Jian was a fake young lady—the real Hua Jian might be even more destitute.
“This Hei Long Gang is different from the Gang Wolf Legion. They keep a tight watch over their territory. Should we act more secretly now?” Hua Jian accepted Linglong’s doubtful look without guilt and turned to another topic.
If the Gang Wolf Legion only occupied the most fertile part of a resource area and left the rest open to others, Hei Long Gang was much bolder—they’d seized the entire area for themselves.
This was their territory, no outsiders allowed.
Why? Simply put, they were weaker and only had this one area, so they had to guard it tightly.
The Gang Wolf Legion had three Ling Kings as commanders, numerous elite warriors, and deep roots.
They could spread their power over three resource areas.
But that meant less control over each area—they could only dominate the richest part.
Hei Long Gang wasn’t as strong as the Gang Wolf Legion, at least not on the surface, and only controlled this one area, so they could focus all their strength on it.
Supporting so many cultivators in one force meant they were even more exclusive.
For cultivators scraping by in the Northern Mountains, there was no such thing as loyalty. If you didn’t give enough benefits, they’d sell you out without a second thought.
“If they’re determined to find us, hiding will be very hard.” Shiqi said anxiously.
The whole area was full of Hei Long Gang members. If they were set on finding them, it would be hard to escape.
No Nightwalking Spirit Garment would solve this.
No matter how useful it was, in daylight it lost its effect—they couldn’t just fight their way through, could they?
“Right, hiding is pointless. We should strike first!” Hua Jian agreed. They weren’t at a disadvantage in strength; why should they hide?
Just punch through Hei Long Gang’s territory and be done with it.
“Huh?”
“While Hei Long Gang is still unprepared, let’s rush the core area, take down their strongest members at once, and the rest will scatter without us needing to do anything.”
Hua Jian swung her fist energetically. The current situation was three against a half-crippled Hei Long Gang—victory was on their side!
With General Linglong, they could slay the Black Dragon!
“Isn’t that too reckless…”
“I agree. If we wait for them to get alert, it’ll be even harder.” Before Shiqi could finish, Linglong immediately took Hua Jian’s side.
She was curious about Hei Long Gang and wanted to chat about what was behind them. But first, they had to flatten these guys.
Since they’d have to fight sooner or later, why not seize the initiative?
Why let themselves be chased into a corner, forced to fight with their backs to the wall? No need.
Even if Hei Long Gang’s Ling King was still here, Linglong felt that with her and Hua Jian working together, there was still a chance to win—besides, their Ling King probably wasn’t here.
The more she thought, the more she felt Hua Jian was right. They should go straight for the heart and catch Hei Long Gang off guard.
“If we travel through the night, we should reach the core before dawn and find the experts Hei Long Gang left to guard the place.” Hua Jian drew a rough map on the ground, laying out her well-prepared plan.
Step one, get to the core. Step two, release Linglong. Step three, victory banquet!
Shiqi was stunned—this was a plan? Wasn’t this a little too careless?
How much faith did you have in your white-haired bodyguard? Wasn’t she human too?
“Shiqi, you take your time. We’re going ahead!” After sharing her plan, Hua Jian stood and addressed Shiqi.
“What do you mean? I can fight too…” Shiqi thought Hua Jian wanted to leave her behind because she’d objected.
She quickly expressed that she might not be as good as Linglong, but she could still handle some opponents.
But that wasn’t what Hua Jian meant at all. She told Shiqi to take her time for a very simple and practical reason—Shiqi just couldn’t keep up with her and Linglong.
“Both of us know fast movement techniques. Do you?”
Fast movement? Shiqi looked confused. She didn’t even know what that was.
“It’s a spell that lets you fly quickly. Linglong, go show her.”
“All right.”
Linglong nodded, bent her knees slightly, and with a light push launched herself into the sky, flying off into the distance.
Within a resource area already claimed by cultivators, it was safe to fly—no need to worry about hidden Spirit Beasts shooting you down.
Linglong’s Thunder Escape was so fast it shocked Shiqi. Watching her disappear in a blink, it was the first time Shiqi truly felt the gap between herself and real geniuses.
So fast, so powerful!
“So you really can’t keep up. Just take your time—by the time you arrive, we might already have finished things.”
Hua Jian was actually being conservative—between her and Linglong, there was also a gulf in speed. If it was a straight dash, Hua Jian’s Feihua Dun was much slower than Linglong’s Thunder Escape.
It was possible that by the time she arrived, Linglong would have already wrapped things up.
“So that’s how it is. I thought…”
“Thought what? That we’d leave you behind because you objected?” Hua Jian looked at Shiqi for a moment, guessing her thoughts.
To this, she only said, “Don’t think of us as bad people. We promised to go to Ascension City together, and I won’t go back on my word.”
Hua Jian was ruthless to enemies, but she had a good heart toward her own.
Su Xiaoxiao, Cai Die, so many girls who’d teamed up with her could vouch for that!
“That’s enough talking—I need to catch up. See you in the morning or at noon!”
After comforting Shiqi, Hua Jian gathered her qi and disappeared into the forest like a fragrant breeze.
Shiqi was left standing alone, staring blankly in the direction Hua Jian had gone.
You won’t go back on your word? Somehow, she felt a warmth inside.
Her early experiences made it hard to trust others, and after trusting, she’d always fear being abandoned.
But this time, she felt something different.
With Hua Jian and Linglong—maybe they really were different.
Clutching the black sword at her waist, Shiqi thought of her father’s last words to her. After saying those words, her father left alone and never returned.
He didn’t bring his sword when he left—maybe he’d never planned to come back alive.
“Shiqi, your future must be decided by yourself…”
The future…? Father, I think I’ve found my future.
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