Chapter 268: Death Before Submission

Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Death Before Submission

"A map of the Main Pillar? The Netherworld Cave?"

Leng Yan’s expression shifted slightly at his words, but she didn’t press for details. She just said, "I’ve never been to the Netherworld Cave either. I’ve only heard that the Alliance Leader once punished a traitor by throwing them into it. As for its exact location within the Main Pillar, I don’t know."

Seeing Yi Xiaoyao’s brow furrow, Leng Yan thought for a moment before adding, "How about this? In a few days, my father will be leaving the Primordial Evil Alliance for a while. On the day of his departure, he’s bound to go to the Main Pillar to report to the Alliance Leader. I’ll go with him and ask him to show me the Netherworld Cave then. That should work."

"Then I must thank you, Miss Leng!" A look of delight crossed Yi Xiaoyao’s face as he hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

And so, with their plan settled, the two led their respective followers back.

Leng Yan returned to the Primordial Evil Alliance, while Yi Xiaoyao headed for the Cold Blood Alliance’s territory.

It was precisely because of the Primordial Evil Alliance Leader’s decree—"Do not return unless summoned"—that Yi Xiaoyao had asked Leng Yan to draw him a map.

’Once I get the map, I’ll find a chance to sneak into the Main Pillar, grab the Secret Collection, and get out of here. Who’d want to stay and stand guard over the Cold Blood Alliance’s territory?’

He and Leng Yan had agreed on a time frame of three days. After that, she was supposed to deliver the map to him.

During those three days, Yi Xiaoyao enjoyed a brief period of peace. In between his Cultivation, he sent his men to buy up large quantities of Demon Cores, hoping to help Little Hei advance to a fifth-rank Great Demon sooner.

However, when the third day arrived, Yi Xiaoyao waited for a long, long time, but Leng Yan never came.

「Within a residence at one of the Primordial Evil Alliance’s Sub-Pillars.」

A stunningly beautiful woman sat upright before a desk, her gorgeous eyes fixed with immense concentration on the scroll laid out before her.

However, this was no painting, but an incredibly detailed map.

At that moment, Leng Yan’s slender, jade-like hand was carefully tracing its lines and patterns, one stroke at a time.

"Miss, have you found yourself a sweetheart?" Leng Yan’s maidservant giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

The brush in Leng Yan’s hand trembled. She chided, "Nonsense!"

"It looks that way to me. Who else could possibly convince you to draw a map for them personally?"

The maidservant had always been close with Leng Yan, so there was nothing she wouldn’t dare to say.

She then added with a laugh, "And the way you’re looking at this map, Miss... it’s like you’re gazing at a loved one. I bet this is for that Captain Yi, the one who’s been making the biggest waves in our Primordial Evil Alliance lately, isn’t it?"

Recently, Yi Xiaoyao’s reputation within the Primordial Evil Alliance had soared after he easily wiped out the seventeen allied remnants of the Cold Blood Alliance. He was even being hailed as the First Leader for slaying Di Village, a third-stage Nascent Soul Transformation expert.

Furthermore, people had been secretly gossiping that there was something going on between Yi Xiaoyao and Leng Yan, which was why the maidservant had made such a comment.

The maidservant earned a harsh glare from Leng Yan for that, and she scurried away, stifling a giggle.

Leng Yan looked away from her and back at the map. A faint smile touched her lips as her gaze softened, for it was nearly finished.

But the next moment, the maidservant hurried back in, her expression nervous.

"Miss, Squad Leader Yuan Lie is here to see you," the maidservant said cautiously.

"I’m not seeing him." Leng Yan’s voice turned frigid as she refused without a second thought.

The mere thought of how Yuan Lie had tricked both her and Yi Xiaoyao into going to the Earth Return Alliance filled her with uncontrollable disgust.

"But..." The maidservant started to say, but a voice cut in from behind her.

"But I’ve already let myself in."

Yuan Lie casually shoved the maidservant aside and walked in with a smile. "Yan, are you still mad at me? I was just joking with you that day..."

Before he could finish.

"Out!" Leng Yan spat the single, ice-cold word, her eyes filled with disgust as she looked at Yuan Lie.

Yuan Lie stopped in his tracks, the smile vanishing from his face. It was the first time Leng Yan had ever spoken to him like that.

Then, his gaze fell upon the map on the desk.

"A map of the Main Pillar?"

Yuan Lie recognized it at a glance. Few people knew the Main Pillar better than he did.

"Why are you drawing a map of the Main Pillar? I just heard your maid say you’re giving it to someone?"

At his accusatory tone, Leng Yan tensed slightly. Although she didn’t know what Yi Xiaoyao wanted the map for, she was fairly certain it wasn’t for anything that would benefit the Primordial Evil Alliance.

Seeing her reaction, the rage that Yuan Lie had been suppressing in his heart instantly erupted.

"You’re giving it to Yi Xiaoyao? So the rumors were true! You really are having an affair with that beast!"

Yuan Lie trembled with rage. He had, of course, heard the recent rumors about Yi Xiaoyao and Leng Yan.

He had pursued Leng Yan for so many years, only to have her stolen away by some upstart who had been in the Primordial Evil Alliance for just a few days. How could he not be furious?

Most importantly, Yi Xiaoyao was the man Yuan Lie hated to the very bone!

"Beast? An affair?"

Hearing this, Leng Yan flew into a rage as well. "Even if I did love him, it would be my own choice! And even if I were to fall in love with an actual beast, I would never fall for you! What’s more, Yi Xiaoyao is countless times better than you! You are the real beast here!"

Her words made Yuan Lie so angry he almost spat blood. Veins bulged on his crimson face, and his furious, glaring eyes were completely bloodshot.

"Fine! Fine! Fine!"

Yuan Lie pointed at Leng Yan, repeating the word through gritted teeth. Then, his lips twisted into a hideous, sinister sneer.

He hadn’t come here intending to have a civil conversation in the first place, and this exchange only strengthened his resolve.

"In that case, I’ll make you my woman right now!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Yuan Lie advanced on Leng Yan.

A frosty aura erupted from Leng Yan as she sneered, "You alone? You’re not strong enough to lay a hand on me!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Yuan Lie sneered coldly.

The next instant, a shadow appeared from nowhere, materializing behind Leng Yan. Several dark needles simultaneously pierced her acupressure points, sealing her Spiritual Power, as a pitch-black chain shot out and bound her tightly.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Leng Yan’s face went deathly pale. She looked at the person who stepped out from behind her—it was a thin, sinister-looking old man.

"Right Protector, as expected of the Primordial Evil Alliance’s number one assassin!" Yuan Lie said to the thin old man with a laugh, clapping his hands.

The Right Protector gave a faint smile. "Well then, I won’t disturb the Young Alliance Leader’s fun."

With that, the Right Protector prepared to withdraw.

But just then.

PTHOO!

Leng Yan violently spat out a mouthful of blood, her aura instantly weakening.

"What are you doing?!"

Yuan Lie’s expression changed drastically at the sight.

He never would have imagined that Leng Yan, even with her Spiritual Power sealed, would recklessly sever her own meridians in a desperate attempt to make her Dantian self-destruct from the resulting backlash and die.

"Even if I die, I won’t let you lay a single finger on me!"

Leng Yan stared venomously at Yuan Lie, preparing to sever her other meridians.

"Don’t! Stop!" Yuan Lie retreated in a panic. He couldn’t let Leng Yan die. Otherwise, when the Left Protector returned and found out, he would go berserk and kill him for sure.

The Right Protector, who hadn’t yet left, felt his face twitch at the scene. ’This woman,’ he thought, ’is just as crazy as her father!’

Leng Yan, now limp on the floor, looked at Yuan Lie’s panicked face and gave a contemptuous smile.

Yuan Lie’s heart lurched under her gaze. He could see in her eyes a genuine, heartfelt contempt and mockery.

To be looked down on by the woman he adored—this was the greatest tragedy a man could suffer.

But as furious as Yuan Lie was, he didn’t dare do anything more to Leng Yan. He barked at Black Crow, who was waiting outside the door, "On the charge of privately providing a map of the Main Pillar to a traitor, lock Leng Yan up!"

As he watched Black Crow lead Leng Yan away, Yuan Lie growled through gritted teeth, "The day you agree to be my woman is the day I’ll let you out!"

Soon, Leng Yan was taken away.

"Young Alliance Leader, if you want a woman, aren’t there plenty who would throw themselves at you? Why be so fixated on just one?" the Right Protector advised from Yuan Lie’s side.

Yuan Lie shot him a cold glance. "It’s precisely because it’s too easy for me to get women. The more I can’t have something, the more I want it!"

The Right Protector’s face twitched. He gave a dry laugh and quickly changed the subject, turning his gaze to the map on the desk.

"So, what does the Young Alliance Leader intend to do with this map of the Main Pillar?"

Yuan Lie looked at the map, and the rumors about Yi Xiaoyao and Leng Yan came to mind, causing rage to flare in his heart once more.

"Whoever wants this map will naturally come for it. All we have to do is lie in wait."

Yuan Lie’s voice was bone-chillingly grim. "When he does, we’ll have all the evidence we need. Right Protector, you will then execute him on the spot for colluding with a traitor!"

...