Chapter 32: Trap
Qin Wu stood quietly in the yard, completely motionless.
As a puppet under the Zhu Clan’s control, he did not need to move unless his master gave him a clan.
In some sense, a person who had lost control over their own body was not really a person anymore.
However, in this moment, he suddenly sprang into action.
He walked towards Zhu Xianling’s room, picked up a few items, then left.
Because he was a puppet controlled by Zhu Xianling, no one paid him any attention, believing his movements to be of Zhu Xianling’s command. After all, there was a consciousness connection between the master and the servant, so as long as the distance between them wasn’t too far, the person in control could make direct orders for the person being controlled to carry out. This was exactly what it looked like to any bystanders.
Qin Wu walked out of the Zhu Clan just like that.
No one tried to stop him.
A brief moment later, Zhu Yunyan and the others arrived in Zhu Xianling’s yard. When they saw that it was totally empty, Zhu Xianling’s expression turned a bit ugly. “Without my command, he will not move on his own.”
Su Chen glanced at the open side door. “I’m afraid that the situation isn’t as simple as just him leaving without your command.”
Zhu Xianling was stunned. She hurried into her room, then plopped down onto the ground when she saw it. “He even stole my Opportunity Leading Stone and my Slaughter Spirit Dagger. How…… how could this be?”
Zhu Xianling was quite shaken by the fact that her servant had somehow managed to turn the tables on her.
Su Chen said, “You should be happy. At the very least, this proves your innocence.”
As Su Chen spoke, he turned to face Zhu Yunyan. “Does Matriarch know of any techniques that can break the control the Zhu Clan’s consciousness control over certain targets?”
Zhu Yunyan’s expression was ugly. “The Zhu Clan’s consciousness control technique is not invincible, but it’s not easy to do so. Most importantly, there is no way that someone’s control can be broken without them knowing. Xianling, how could you not know that your control over your puppet was broken?”
Zhu Xianling replied, dumbfounded, “I really don’t know. I can still sense my connection with him, which hasn’t been broken yet. I have no clue why I cannot control him.”
“Can you try to call him over now?”
Zhu Xianling gave it a shot, then replied with a pale expression, “I can sense his existence, but he is ignoring me.”
“So you can still sense him?” Su Chen asked quickly.
The Zhu Clan’s members all understood what he was getting at.
Qin Wu’s control had obviously been broken by some expert, who had even preserved the connection between the original master and Qin Wu so that the original master wouldn’t be able to detect that there was something wrong with their servant. Now, however, this advantage turned into a deathblow for the opponent. As long as she pursued this sense, she would be able to find the culprit.
Zhu Yunyan said agitatedly, “Where is he right now?”
Zhu Xianling replied, “He left the city.”
“After him!” Zhu Yunyan yelled loudly.
The Zhu Clan’s elders all simultaneously flew into the air, bringing Zhu Xianling with them as they departed.
Su Chen remained in the courtyard completely motionless, as if he was thinking about something.
Zhu Xianyao tried to snap him out of it. “Su Chen!”
“Don’t be in such a hurry,” Su Chen said. “There’s still one item of business to take care of.”
“What is it?” Zhu Xianyao didn’t understand.
Su Chen pulled out the altar and the scepter.
He said, “You made your report too hastily earlier. Did you forget that I was planning on making two predictions?”
Zhu Xianyao finally remembered that Su Chen was planning on predicting one more item, which was why the Rong Clan was so eager to deal with the Zhu Clan even if they had to give up all the potential profits they could obtain.
But why was he trying to make the sacrifice now?
Zhu Xianyao watched closely as Su Chen began to place items upon the altar.
Unlike before, the sacrifice Su Chen had placed on the altar was much more expensive, indicating how much more important this prediction was.
At the same time, Su Chen said, “The fact that Zhu Xianling’s servant was controlled by someone else and using a method that prevented her from discovering this fact definitely indicates that our opponent is not someone simple. This should have eliminated yet another set of variables from the equation. Hopefully, this decrease in cost will help us find the answer. Well then…… let’s get started. I want to know about the secret that the Rong Clan is hiding.”
As Su Chen spoke, the sacrifices began to disappear into thin air, as if they had never existed.
However, the prediction that Su Chen was waiting for never appeared.
The sky was completely empty, as if there was nothing at all.
Zhu Xianyao was stunned. “This is……”
“It failed,” Su Chen replied.
Failed?
Zhu Xianyao felt dizzy.
A Demonic Lord Origin Crystal and a large quantity of supplementary resources had disappeared for seemingly no rhyme or reason, all just for Su Chen to say that it had failed?
Zhu Xianyao stared at Su Chen in shock.
Su Chen chuckled. “That’s the Origin Bone Scepter for you. It’s just that temperamental. You’ll get used to it when you use it more.”
It seemed like he didn’t care in the slightest.
“Then…… Do you want to try again?” Zhu Xianyao asked with some hesitation.
“Try again?” Su Chen tilted his head in thought for a moment before shaking his head. “There’s no need. Did you know? Failure is also a kind of answer. Even though it doesn’t tell you the truth, it at least tells you what kind of opponent you are facing off against. It seems that you guys are in for some trouble this time.”
Zhu Xianyao’s expression shifted drastically. “Not good. Mother!”
She finally understood why Su Chen had chosen to make a prediction at this specific point in time.
Many figures shot through the air at high speed, leaving behind long white streaks of air in their wake. They stopped and descended once they were thirty kilometers outside of the city.
From there, they were able to observe the surroundings from on high, and they happened to see a person running quickly across the ground.
“It’s Qin Wu!” Zhu Yunfeng said.
“Then what are we waiting for?” Zhu Yunfan, who was standing to the side, reached out and clawed at the person running below.
As a Spirit Burning Realm cultivator, his attacks were exceptionally powerful. This claw seemed to blot out the sun, enveloping an area many square kilometers in side. No matter how his target tried to dodge, it was impossible for him to escape.
Qin Wu, however, seemed to have no intention of trying to escape. He glanced up at the sky before stopping in place, allowing the claw to descend on him.
Just as the claw was about to slam into Qin Wu, Zhu Yunyan finally discovered that something wasn’t right. The color drained from her face as she said, “Yunfan, be careful!”
An instant later, a pitch-black light began to shine.
This light really was completely without color. It surged through the air like a shadow, but it carried the powerful aura of death.
This sensation came from the power of darkness, but extremely concentrated and intensified.
Zhu Yunfan hurriedly withdrew his hand as he cried out in pain. A deep gash had opened up on his hand at an unknown time, the blood in the wound stained black as his arm began to corrode away. It quickly traveled up his palm into his arm.
Zhu Yunfan hurriedly lifted up his blade and decisively chopped his left arm off. The severed limb very quickly began to regenerate.
However, it was of no use. The wound was still there, and it continued to expand.
This kind of darkness poison was capable of penetrating deep into the bone, making it nearly impossible to force out.
Zhu Yunfan’s body began to emit a strange hum as one Divine Palace after another began to appear. As the hum began to grow stronger, it seemed that the Heavens and the earth were resonating at the same frequency, and the black corrosive poison stopped its advance.
“Oh my! A mere shadow puppet is enough to force three elders to activate their Divine Palaces? Isn’t creating such a commotion a bit overkill?”
A figure appeared following this coquettish mocking. It was a woman dressed in royal attire.
She was standing right in Qin Wu’s shadow, but no one had noticed her until she attacked. Even a Spirit Burning Realm cultivator had been unable to sense her presence.
This was the Rong Clan’s Darkness Concealment. As long as a small amount of darkness was present, they were able to use it to disappear completely.
As such, not everyone who possessed the same ability was equal – there were also differences in depth of mastery.
In comparison, Su Chen’s depth of mastery over Darkness Concealment was obviously a level inferior, and there was lots of room for him to improve.
“Rong Xiangcai, you slut! It’s you?” Zhu Yunfan cursed angrily.
The woman didn’t seem to be angry at being cursed at. She giggled, “Oh, it’s not just me!”
“Careful!” Zhu Yunfan yelled loudly as he unleashed a palm strike right behind Zhu Yunfan. Originally, there was no one behind him, but a contorted figure twisted out of the shadows, assuming human shape and withstanding the blow.
Since they were in the air, there was no shadow to be seen, so they had no idea how this person had managed to conceal themselves.
At the same time, countless figures suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere, sending a massive, overwhelming wave of Origin Energy in all directions.
When the wind had finally subsided, even more people had appeared in the air.
“Rong Xiangsheng, Rong Xiangyue, Rong Xiangli, Rong Xiangzhan, and Rong Xianghua? So you guys are the gophers hiding in the tunnels underground!” Zhu Yunyan yelled.
The Rong Clan possessed a bloodline that controlled the power of darkness, and they loved to launch ambushes, which was why the Zhu Clan referred to them as gophers.
Rong Xiangsheng chuckled. “A mere puppet is enough to get all of you to mobilize? Isn’t the Zhu Clan making a mountain out of a molehill?”
Zhu Yunyue, who was standing off to the side, said, “Did you really think you could pull the wool over our eyes?”
A small Qin Wu was not worth the Zhu Clan’s five elders time, but if that puppet was being used as bait, then the matter was entirely different.
The Zhu Clan wasn’t stupid, so they had chosen to embark at the same time. Unsurprisingly, the Rong Clan’s six elders were also on the scene.
Zhu Yunyan said, “It seems as if the battle between our two clans must be shifted ahead of schedule somewhat.”
As she spoke, eight figures appeared in the air.
Four of them were at the Spirit Burning Realm and four of them were at the peak of the Light Shaking Realm. However, their expressions were extremely dull and wooden. One of them in particular looked quite like Rong Xiangsheng and the others.
“Xiangqian!” Rong Xiangsheng stared at Zhu Xianyao with fury when he saw the person standing behind Zhu Yunyan.
The hatred between the Zhu and Rong Clans was not merely related to profits but also because of their many conflicts in the past.
Yes, this person had become one of the captives that Zhu Yunyan was able to control.
There were originally seven elders in the Rong Clan, but because one of them had fallen under the control of Zhu Yunyan in a freak accident, their combat power had greatly declined, and Zhu Yunyan was promoted to the position of Clan Matriarch.
At this point, Zhu Yunyan had grown even more powerful. Rong Xiangqian, who was stuck at the Light Shaking Realm, had long since grown outdated.
The reason Zhu Yunyan had kept him around as a puppet was because he could be used to discipline and provoke the Rong Clan.
To the Rong Clan, this was an eternal suffering that they were forced to bear.
Unfortunately, because Rong Xiangqian was in Zhu Yunyan’s hand, the same technique that had been used to break Qin Wu free could not be used against Rong Xiangqian.
However, that didn’t matter too much. As long as they were able to kill their opponents, then the six brothers’ suffering would be ended.
Rong Xiangsheng glared savagely at Zhu Yunyan as he said, “This is the punishment for your sins! You must pay the price of death! Brothers, attack!”
An instant later, the Rong Clan’s six elders charged at the Zhu Clan’s five main pillars.
