"How did Old Feng's precious boots end up on your feet? What is your relationship with him? That fellow treasures his Treading Cloud Boots dearly and never loans them out to anyone!"
With these words, a garishly colored figure appeared out of nowhere, materializing beneath a massive flowering tree just over twenty meters from Han Li. The man was of medium height, with mismatched eyes, a face covered in dark pockmarks, and appeared to be around forty years old. Seven or eight pouches of varying sizes hung from his body.
However, his hideous face was currently frozen in a look of shock! His eyes were fixed intently on the spirit boots on Han Li's feet, seemingly still unable to believe that the "Treading Cloud Boots" were actually on this young man.
"Who are you? Why did you ambush me?" Han Li did not answer the other's question, instead firing back with a cold challenge. He had no intention of being led by the nose or letting the other gain the upper hand in momentum.
The ugly man was momentarily stunned, but quickly flew into a rage, his monstrous face contorting with ferocity. He raised his hand, intending to immediately teach this ungrateful brat a lesson, but then seemed to remember something and forcibly suppressed his violent urges, lowering his hand. Yet his mouth still spat venomous words:
"Kid, don't think you're untouchable just because you're wearing Old Feng's spirit boots! Didn't Feng Yue mention Zhong Wu of Spirit Beast Mountain when he gave you the boots? Though, come to think of it, it is rather strange. You're clearly someone from Yellow Maple Valley. Why would he give you the boots? Could you be Old Feng's illegitimate son? But looking at you, you don't seem much alike!"
As the ugly man spoke, he began to scrutinize Han Li with peculiar, speculative eyes.
This time, it was Han Li's turn to be angered. His expression soured, and he let out a cold snort before speaking in a frigid tone:
"Sir, stop making baseless connections! That scoundrel Feng Yue is long dead. These boots were pried right off his corpse!"
"Dead? The Madman Feng Yue?"
The ugly man had still been wearing an aggressive, overbearing look, but upon hearing this, he jumped three feet in the air, his expression turning to one of shocked disbelief! He then involuntarily took several steps back, reassessing Han Li from head to toe.
"Did you kill him?" The villain took a deep breath, his eyes darting around rapidly. His voice had lost all its earlier violence and aggression, becoming somewhat shaky.
"That's right. Do you intend to avenge him?" Han Li clasped his hands behind his back, his expression unchanged as he watched the other steadily.
But from within his storage pouch, he had secretly drawn out a thin thread, which was now coiled invisibly around his ring finger.
The reason he had so calmly admitted to the killing was largely a deliberate show of force, hoping to make the other back down. He did not want to immediately be forced into a bitter fight with someone the moment he entered this area, as it would only delay his herb-gathering mission.
Although the man's words suggested some past friendship with Feng Yue, Han Li believed the chances of him actually seeking revenge were extremely slim. Cultivators were, for the most part, detached and lacking in sentiment—and this was particularly true of a villain like the one standing before him.
Of course, if the other insisted on fighting to avenge Feng Yue, Han Li would have no choice but to strike first. He was prepared to exhaust his physical stamina to the limit, activating his movement technique to its maximum, and then launch a surprise attack using the thread on his finger to silently wrap around the other's skull, dispatching him without a sound.
But Han Li knew full well that the chances of such a hasty ambush succeeding were not high—perhaps only thirty to forty percent at best.
The ugly man was simply too far away. At a distance of twenty meters, no matter how fast Han Li's movement technique was, he couldn't guarantee a single lethal blow. And if the other merely cast a casual defensive spell, the thread would be utterly useless.
"Avenge him? What a joke—do I look like that kind of boring person?" Sure enough, just as Han Li had predicted, the ugly man let out a laugh after hearing Han Li's words, dismissing the idea with contempt.
"I did have some dealings with that fellow in the past, but nothing deep. Now that he's dead, any friendship naturally dies with him!" the ugly man shamelessly declared. His words clearly revealed his stance, and he showed not a trace of embarrassment.
Han Li remained silent. Though he hadn't relaxed his vigilance, he felt somewhat reassured. It seemed he wouldn't have to plunge into a massive battle the moment he entered the central area.
"But, little brother! You're actually quite impressive! That Feng Yue fellow wasn't easy to deal with. Especially those top-tier magical artifacts he had—tch, tch! Each one was a rare masterpiece!"
The ugly man rubbed his nose, suddenly becoming warm and friendly toward Han Li, even changing how he addressed him. However, seemingly casually, he had inched a few more steps back, widening the distance between them.
This scene, which Han Li had witnessed, left him smiling bitterly to himself!
Han Li estimated that even if he launched a surprise attack right now, the chances of success had already dropped to less than ten percent. These "experts" were indeed old, cunning, and experienced—not a single one among them was an easy opponent.
Moreover, he guessed that the other man most likely assumed he had obtained all of Feng Yue's magical artifacts, which was why he was subtly probing with such wariness.
Having seen through all of this, Han Li simply smiled without speaking. He neither confirmed nor denied having acquired the artifacts, leaving the villain frustrated while growing ever more cautious.
"The masterpiece on the wall by the gate—was that your doing?" Han Li suddenly recalled the scene by the entrance and asked calmly.
"Hell no! That was done by that freak Han Tianya from Blade Transformation Dock. I wouldn't do something so pointless. What a waste—all that flesh and blood just thrown away like that! It would've been much better fed to my little darlings. I've heard that cultivators' flesh and blood are great tonics."
---
Han Li had initially been able to listen with a faint smile, but as the ugly man continued and reached into a large cloth bag behind him, pulling out a chunk of bloody flesh and tossing it in, Han Li's smile became strained, his face even taking on a slightly greenish tinge.
The villain stole a glance at Han Li's expression, unable to hide his smug satisfaction.
This fellow from Yellow Maple Valley was, after all, too young and green!
Just a few casual words from him had been enough to unsettle the other. In an actual fight, that would be a significant vulnerability.
However, the fact that the other had managed to kill Feng Yue was still quite surprising! But no matter how Zhong Wu looked at it, the young man seemed utterly ordinary, hardly fitting the profile of someone capable of such a feat.
Logically speaking, given the fellow's young age and shallow cultivation, even with a few decent magical artifacts, they couldn't compare to Feng Yue's Yellow Gauze Umbrella, Treading Cloud Boots, and his collection of top-tier artifacts. For Feng Yue to have actually fallen at this brat's hands—it was truly bizarre. But the Treading Cloud Boots were undeniably on the other's feet. That much was certain.
Could it be that he hadn't killed Feng Yue at all, but had simply stumbled upon the corpse, or some other circumstance?
The more Zhong Wu thought, the more confused he became, unable to form a clear judgment of Han Li's strength. But asking him to test the other's power personally—that was something he would never do, no matter what. Such reckless risks were simply not in the nature of a clever man like himself.
After wracking his brains without conclusion, the ugly man put away his cloth bag, blinked his mismatched eyes, and plastered a broad grin across his face as he said to Han Li:
"Oh, I forgot to ask—what is little brother's esteemed name? Might I ask for your surname?"
"Han Li of Yellow Maple Valley."
There was no need to hide this. Han Li's complexion had improved somewhat as he answered calmly.
"So it's Brother Han! I've never heard little brother's great name before—you must be a newly risen disciple of Yellow Maple Valley. I wonder, how much do you know about this central area?" Zhong Wu spoke with the warmth of someone greeting a long-lost friend.
"Not much. But Brother Zhong is much older, so I imagine you know far more than I do." Han Li was unsure of the other's intentions and his guard rose immediately.
"Heh heh! Brother Han, if you trust me, why don't we exchange our information about the central area? It would benefit us both!" Zhong Wu hesitated for a moment before finally lowering his voice and revealing his true intention.
Han Li was taken aback and fell into silent contemplation. Although secretly exchanging information with members of other sects was explicitly forbidden by all the major factions, in practice, countless disciples did it anyway. So after a moment, a smile spread across his face:
"We can do that. After exchanging information, we'll both benefit greatly."
"Ha ha! Wonderful! I knew Brother Han wasn't the indecisive type. Come! Let's each record our information onto jade slips, then exchange!" Every pockmark on Zhong Wu's face seemed to shine with oily excitement as he rubbed his hands together eagerly, clearly full of anticipation for Han Li's data.
Han Li watched this and chuckled coldly to himself. But outwardly, he naturally agreed readily enough.
Creating the information records was effortless! After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, both men had finished their work and tossed their jade slips to each other.
When the jade slip reached his hand, both Zhong Wu and Han Li scanned its general contents to confirm that it indeed contained central area information, and then exchanged knowing glances.
Forging fake data in such a short time was naturally impossible! But intentionally omitting certain key details during the copying process was an unspoken understanding between them.
After this exchange, Zhong Wu and Han Li seemed to have grown considerably closer! Zhong Wu even began chatting with Han Li about various oddities and wonders of the cultivation world. Seeing the two of them talking and laughing together, it would be impossible to believe they had been on the verge of a fight to the death just moments before. It was clear that both men were masters who understood perfectly the art of knowing when to advance and when to retreat.
Although Han Li wore a smile and appeared enthusiastically engaged in the conversation, inwardly, he was anything but.
If you want to talk, then talk! But why maintain such a distance the entire time! Whenever Han Li took even half a step forward, the other would instantly retreat two small steps with a beaming smile. Although Han Li currently harbored no killing intent toward this man, the degree of the other's wariness left him with a wry, helpless feeling.