Chapter 350 - 214: Sword and Qin

Chapter 350: Chapter 214: Sword and Qin

He executed his Cloud Dragon Step and quickly swept through the first floor.

However, many innocent guests had already become charred corpses.

Xie Yuan’s expression was grim. As he passed the kitchen, he suddenly heard a faint sound.

He immediately turned, found a small storage room nearby, and ripped the burning door open. His eyes widened instantly.

The room was already ablaze. Several guests had choked on the thick smoke and collapsed to the floor; it was unclear if they were alive or dead.

The Shopkeeper was slumped in a corner, already dead.

Beneath his body was a wooden plank, apparently covering a cellar. His face was bruised and swollen, and his body was covered in injuries. He had clearly fought someone before his death. It seemed his opponents were the very guests around him, as two of them still had their hands clenched tightly on the Shopkeeper’s collar. Yet, he had died protecting the cellar entrance, seemingly unmoving to his last breath.

Xie Yuan stood silently for a moment, unable to imagine how brutal the final struggle for survival had been. But the faint sounds from the cellar brought him back to reality. He carefully propped up the Shopkeeper, pried the other men’s hands from his clothes, and moved the body to a patch of floor untouched by the flames. Then, he opened the cellar door. Inside, more than ten people were crammed into the tiny space.

But with the massive fire raging outside, the air in the confined space had run out. Everyone inside was on the verge of suffocating, gasping for breath.

They barely reacted when he opened the door. Xie Yuan had no choice but to grab them two at a time and push his Cloud Dragon Step to its limit, ferrying them all outside the inn.

In just a few trips, Xie Yuan had carried everyone out of the inn, dead or alive, including the guests from the storage room who had struggled with the Shopkeeper.

Xie Yuan didn’t know the whole story and could only sigh. ’Perhaps they can’t be blamed. They just wanted to live.’

’You can’t blame any of them. The only ones to blame are these people outside.’

Xie Yuan stared at the sweating vice-leader of the gang and pointed to the innocent guests lying on the ground.

"These were all ordinary travelers. They knew nothing. I want you to give the dead a proper burial and see to it that the living are treated. Do you hear me?"

The vice-leader gaped, a bizarre expression on his face.

"Save them? Me?"

Xie Yuan said coldly,

"You’d be saving yourself. If they don’t make it, you’ll end up just like him."

He kicked the armless middle-aged man on the ground, deliberately aiming for the bloody, mangled new wound on his leg. The man’s face went pale, but he gritted his teeth and made no sound.

’This leg wound,’ Xie Yuan realized, ’was from Situ Qin’s sword.’

’A Martial Artist at the Qi and Blood Second Transformation Realm has a tough physique. He could still run even with both arms severed. But with Situ Qin keeping an eye on him, there was no way he could have escaped.’

Watching this, the vice-leader felt a phantom pain in his own leg and nodded vigorously.

"Great hero, I understand! I’ll make sure these innocent bystanders are treated. My boat gang will provide free transport to get them home, and we’ll compensate every single one for their losses! I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!"

He knew he was no match for this man. Worse, the man had a partner who was at least his equal. And so, he was utterly compliant.

Xie Yuan glanced at the vice-leader, then dismissed him. He looked down at the middle-aged man and asked coldly,

"You’re Mr. Qian?"

"Mr. Qian..."

The middle-aged man paused for a second, then smiled faintly.

"What do you think?"

SMACK—

Xie Yuan slapped him squarely across the face and said hatefully,

"There’s nothing I hate more than people who talk in riddles!"

The middle-aged man’s head jerked to the side. He spat out a mouthful of bloody foam and teeth, his expression grim and unsteady.

"I’m not."

’He’s not?’

Xie Yuan frowned. ’This man’s strength is formidable; he’s no ordinary practitioner of the Qi and Blood Second Transformation Realm.’

’If I hadn’t seized the initiative, and if not for the wondrous power of my Sword Heart, taking him down within a few moves would have been difficult.’

’Of course, even if I hadn’t taken him down instantly, Situ Qin was right behind me. Working together, it would have only taken a few more moves.’

’But if an expert like this isn’t even Mr. Qian, then what is Mr. Qian’s status? And what level of power does he possess?’

Xie Yuan’s brow furrowed as he asked,

"Who are you? Who is Mr. Qian? And what is his cultivation realm?"

The middle-aged man smiled faintly. Even with both arms severed and completely at his mercy, in such a desperate plight, he remained unruffled.

"You don’t want to know who I am. You want to know who I work for even less."

Xie Yuan’s eyebrow twitched. "It seems you weren’t listening," he said in a low voice. "I told you, there’s nothing I hate more than people who talk in riddles."

With another backhand, he slapped several more teeth out of the man’s mouth.

Both of the man’s cheeks swelled up. Unable to maintain his composure any longer, he said grimly,

"You’re looking for Mr. Qian? If you have the guts, I’ll lead you to him."

Xie Yuan’s eyes narrowed. He replied nonchalantly,

"Good."

He hauled the man to his feet, his gaze sweeping over the terrified boat gang members. Then, with a sudden leap, he landed on a roof and vanished from sight.

After regrouping with Situ Qin, Xie Yuan activated his Celestial Concealment Skill and began conferring with her in a low voice.

"We’re going,"

Situ Qin said decisively.

"Even if we’re up against someone in the Qi Blood Third Transformation Realm, we can still retreat unscathed. They want to set a trap for us? I’m afraid they’ve bitten off more than they can chew!"

It was unlikely a Grandmaster would be stationed in a place like this. A Third Transformation Realm expert was the most they would face.

Xie Yuan nodded, sharing Situ Qin’s assessment.

Neither of them were the type to take a blow without striking back. Besides, the group’s ruthlessness in silencing witnesses and their cruel slaughter of innocent travelers had filled both Xie Yuan and Situ Qin with righteous fury.

Besides, with methods like these, their scheme was likely more than just simple human trafficking. This was happening right on the edge of Yunzhou, and if they didn’t investigate, neither of them would feel at ease.

Xie Yuan had the middle-aged man point the way. The man pointed listlessly, and the two of them followed, leaping from roof to roof in Wu River County as if they had wings. Soon, they were outside the town.

Witnessing their Body Techniques, the middle-aged man was secretly astounded. He slowly asked,

"Who in the world are you people? I thought you were just some lowlifes skilled in disguise. I underestimated you. Otherwise, you would have been no match for me."