"Where are you gentlemen headed? Would you like me to escort you?"
Before the group had even begun to draw out their flight artifacts to flee, a cold voice suddenly drifted down from above.
The voice was bone-chillingly frigid, and all four masked figures turned pale with shock in an instant. Almost simultaneously, they activated their defensive techniques and scattered in different directions, only then daring to glance upward.
There, high above at a distance of several dozen zhang, Han Li stood upon his Divine Wind Shuttle, his robes billowing in the wind, his expression blank as he gazed down at them with eyes full of cold malice.
Their hearts sank in unison. The same thought crossed each of their minds: when had this man returned? How had they not noticed a thing?
"Scatter!" the eldest among them, the leader, shouted without a moment's hesitation.
He was the first to shoot backward, and at the same time a disc-shaped artifact flew from inside his robe. He stepped onto it and soared into the sky.
The other three each chose a different direction and scattered at full speed.
These people understood full well that with their meager abilities, there was no way they could contend with a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Fleeing immediately gave them a far better chance of survival.
The young woman among them had the weakest cultivation of the group, so even as she flew on her artifact, she couldn't help but glance back at Han Li in the sky.
What she saw next shocked her. Han Li stood on his little shuttle without moving an inch, showing no intention whatsoever of rising to pursue them. The woman was stunned for a moment, and secret joy flooded her heart—perhaps they could really escape unscathed after all.
But just at that moment, an ear-piercing shriek suddenly erupted from directly in front of her.
Startled, the woman whipped her head around just in time to see a blinding red arrow-shaped beam of light tearing through the sky straight at her with murderous intent.
In her panic, she hastily raised her hand and managed to toss out an Ice Spear Talisman.
The crystalline ice spear met the red light head-on, erupting into a cloud of white mist, but it failed to slow the red beam in the slightest. The arrow's light still pierced through and struck her water-attribute protective barrier.
Immediately, red and blue light exploded across her field of vision.
Her body shuddered as she was forcibly knocked back several zhang, but her barrier held without shattering. The woman let out a long sigh of relief.
It was only then that she looked forward with mingled terror and fury, her heart still pounding. Could it be that this Foundation Establishment cultivator had companions lying in ambush all around?
When she finally made out the "figure" that had attacked her, her eyes went wide with disbelief beneath her mask.
Before her were two soldier-dressed puppets, clad in iron armor and floating in midair. One of them held a large bow, and another red arrow-shaped beam of light was being slowly drawn back on the string. The other wielded a thick-backed long blade that radiated yellow light, and it was drifting toward her at a leisurely pace.
Though she was horrified that these two lifeless objects could attack her as if they were living beings, she knew that if she didn't destroy the puppets immediately, there was no way she could escape.
With that thought, she gritted her pearly teeth and pulled out a gleaming blue flying knife from her storage pouch.
This was a high-grade artifact she had spent every last coin she possessed to acquire from someone else. Normally she would never dream of using it, but escape was paramount now, and she could no longer afford to be thrifty.
"Go!"
The woman whispered the command, and the flying knife transformed into a streak of blue light, shooting straight at the puppet closing in on her.
The blue flying knife reached the puppet in the blink of an eye and swung mercilessly at its head without hesitation.
But just as the masked woman held her breath in anticipation, a soft clang rang out. The puppet moved with uncanny speed, raising its long blade and swatting the blue flying knife aside in a single motion. Then it continued drifting toward her, calm and unhurried.
The masked woman's face drained of color. She flicked her finger, commanding the artifact that had been sent flying several zhang away to loop around and slash back at the puppet from behind.
But what happened next left her speechless. As if it had eyes on the back of its head, the puppet simply swung its blade again and knocked her artifact away once more.
Now the woman was truly panicking!
Before she could devise another plan, the ear-splitting shriek sounded again—the archer puppet's arrow had been loosed.
Desperate, the masked woman veered sharply to one side, trying to dodge the incoming projectile.
But the red beam seemed as if it were being guided by a human mind. It followed her movements precisely, tracking her as she shifted. Caught off guard, she had no choice but to take the hit head-on once more. Her body was thrown back several steps, her form shuddering under the impact.
By then, the blade-wielding puppet had finally closed the distance and arrived before her. Without a shred of mercy, it raised its long blade and hammered down upon her protective barrier.
The masked woman didn't dare let it land a solid blow and hastily retreated backward.
And so, under the combined assault of two puppets—one striking from close range, one attacking from afar—the masked woman, despite her impressive cultivation, was forced to keep retreating again and again, much less think about escape.
When the woman, directing her flying knife in a desperate bid to fend off the puppets' attacks, was drenched in perspiration from the exertion, the close-combat puppet suddenly leaped backward, retreating from her. At the same time, the archer puppet lowered its bow and ceased its assault.
The woman stared, momentarily stunned. Then a weary sigh came from behind her:
"Sigh! Fifth Sister, you've been forced back too!"
The masked woman's body stiffened at the words. Slowly, she turned around.
There, standing behind her, were the other three masked men, all hanging their heads in dejection. Behind each of them stood three or four puppets identical to the ones in front of her—except among them were not only soldier-dressed figures but also several beast-shaped puppets resembling tigers and leopards.
The woman swept her gaze around in despair. Sure enough, without even realizing it, she had been herded back to the spot where it had all begun.
Her three "brothers" all had glazed, vacant eyes—they had clearly already been placed under restriction.
The masked woman looked up at Han Li hovering in the sky above. With a look of utter defeat, she dropped her flying knife artifact to the ground and ceased all resistance.
Han Li saw this and, without the slightest courtesy, raised his hand. Several streaks of green light shot into the masked woman's body. She felt foreign objects enter her form as her true essence grew sluggish, unable to circulate freely.
Having dealt with this, Han Li didn't bother questioning any of the four. Instead, he waved his hand, drawing all of them from the ground and into the Divine Wind Shuttle beneath his feet.
This was no place to linger. If the other side sent any powerful reinforcements, things would become troublesome.
Han Li chose a direction far from the capital of Yue, and with the four captives in tow, he transformed into a white streak of light and truly departed the area.
No sooner had Han Li departed than two more figures appeared atop the same small hill, dressed identically to the four he had just taken away—except their robes were a deep, bloody crimson that made for an unsettling sight.
The two scanned their surroundings and came to stand before the large crater Han Li had blasted into the earth.
After a long, silent pause, one of them finally sighed and spoke:
"It seems the Five Friends of Meng have failed."
This person's voice sounded aged—he was clearly no young man.
"Hmph, useless trash. Not only did they fail—they were probably captured alive! There isn't a drop of blood left here. It seems whoever dealt with them did so with ease." The other spoke with undisguised contempt. This one was young, appearing to be only around twenty years of age.
"This complicates things. The Five Friends of Mengshan are not entirely incompetent. If they were, we would simply have used them for a blood sacrifice and been done with it, rather than keeping them alive. They either ran into too many Qi Refinement stage cultivators and were outnumbered, or a Foundation Establishment cultivator got involved." The first one sounded somewhat apprehensive, a note of worry threading through his voice.
"What, are you afraid those fools might leak our secrets? They're nothing but peripheral cultivators recently recruited by our cult—they've never touched any of our true secrets. Besides, before I gave them their orders, I already planted a little something inside them. They have half a day to live at most." The young man chuckled lightly, completely unconcerned.
"Oh! That's a relief. With only half a day, they won't be able to reveal a thing. After all, they still have to worry about the Blood Curse restriction in their bodies. By the time they realize something is wrong, they'll be far beyond the ability to speak." The old man exhaled slowly, his tone easing.
But then his voice took on a colder, more sinister edge:
"Still—what exactly happened? Wasn't everything agreed upon? The plan was to have old Daoist Wu serve as your puppet master, so that you could gradually appear in the cultivation world. That way, our cult could carry out the Golden Cicada Shedding its Shell plan—having our core disciples all assume new, public identities in the cultivation world. So why did you suddenly burst into the old Daoist's quarters and drain him dry of his essence blood? It's not as though you needed that little bit of cultivation power to supplement your own!"
At the old man's words, the younger masked figure let out several bitter laughs and replied helplessly, "You think I wanted to do that? I was left with no choice!"