Chapter 350 - 345: Mysterious Foundation Establishment Cultivator

Du Youqian’s return to the Oasis caused no stir, as several other Zouma Gang members who had fled during the battle were also trickling back in.

He blended in with them, drawing no attention.

When people asked where he had been, Du Youqian answered "truthfully." He said he’d been hunted down, forced to flee, and sustained injuries. His pursuers eventually gave up on him to chase another, wealthier gang member, allowing him to escape with his life. He had returned after healing his wounds.

It was a flawless story that held up to scrutiny.

After deliberately speaking with a few people to spread his "story," Du Youqian returned to the small, dilapidated hut where Zong Li had once lived.

「Meanwhile, at the Zouma Gang’s Treasure Vault.」

Gang Leader Zou Zhiyong’s face was ashen. Staring at the completely plundered Treasure Vault, he roared, "Who the hell did this?"

Ma Cong, the veteran Vice Gang Leader, shot a stern look at the nearby Senior Steward, Liu Jinlong, who stood with his head bowed uneasily. "You’re the one who found this. Tell us what you saw."

Liu Jinlong swallowed hard. He glanced at the furious Gang Leader, then at the several mysterious, expressionless Cultivators radiating the pressure of the Foundation Establishment realm, and quickly lowered his head. "When I arrived, I found that the sand had been dug up. The marks were fresh—made less than three hours ago, I’d say. I was alarmed and immediately used a Warrior Talisman to excavate the sand and enter the Treasure Vault, only to find it like this."

If Du Youqian were here, he would probably be reminded of a little story from Earth.

A group of robbers held up a bank, successfully making off with one million, and then fled.

That evening, they turned on the news, hoping to see if the police had found any clues. Instead, they saw the bank’s president holding a press conference.

The president gravely announced that the bank had been robbed of ten million...

Liu Jinlong continued, "Knowing the situation was critical, I immediately notified the Gang Leader. I’ve stood guard here the entire time, allowing no one to enter or leave."

Just then, a Foundation Establishment Kun Cultivator with sensual, full lips, purple eyeshadow, and all ten fingernails painted a brilliant crimson with balsam juice, said nonchalantly, "So, the person who entered before you was the thief."

Her voice was slightly husky and incredibly magnetic.

Heard anywhere else, a voice like that would surely send one’s mind wandering.

Liu Jinlong felt a strange nervousness, but he nodded anyway.

"The thief entered three hours before you. And before them, no one had been here for over ten days."

Liu Jinlong nodded again. "Yes."

The Kun Cultivator smiled. "It seems this little fellow is rather unfamiliar with the methods of Foundation Establishment Cultivators."

As she spoke, she took a handful of dusky sand from a specially made, small Storage Treasure Pouch. She brought it to her lips and blew, scattering the grains evenly into every corner of the little Treasure Vault.

The full-lipped Foundation Establishment Kun Cultivator then formed a hand seal for a Technique. Her lips moved slightly, and a chaotic jumble of footprints appeared on the floor.

But upon closer inspection, one could see that the footprints actually followed distinct patterns.

"These are my footprints," the Kun Cultivator said after a moment of examination, pointing to some of the smallest ones. "These are Uncle Da’s, those are Kui’s, these belong to the Gang Leader, the Vice Gang Leader, and these... these belong to our little liar..."

She smiled bewitchingly and playfully tapped the air in front of Liu Jinlong’s nose, making him break out in a cold sweat.

He wanted to protest, but looking at the footprints, he found he had no defense.

The Kun Cultivator concluded, "The thief stood in this spot for a while, which is why these footprints are the darkest. They must have been admiring our treasure. After taking what they came for, they paused here, here, and here, probably grabbing a few more things. But the rest of the resources were taken by our little liar here."

THUD. Liu Jinlong fell to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably. "Gang Leader, I... I just wasn’t thinking straight! Please, for all the years I’ve risked life and limb for the gang, I beg you, spare me this one time!"

The mysterious Foundation Establishment Cultivators remained silent. Their eyes showed complete indifference; only the Kun Cultivator watched the scene with keen interest.

Gang Leader Zou Zhiyong glanced at the Foundation Establishment Cultivators and gave a subservient smile. "My apologies for this embarrassing display, Seniors."

Then he turned to Liu Jinlong, his voice sharp and severe. "Where are the goods? Where did you hide them?"

Liu Jinlong didn’t answer. Instead, he shuffled forward on his knees and clung to Zou Zhiyong’s leg, crying his eyes out. "Gang Leader, please, let me go this time! I’ll never do it again! If you just spare me, I’ll return everything, I swear!"

Zou Zhiyong hesitated.

After all, it was a significant amount of resources.

If Liu Jinlong realized he couldn’t escape his fate and decided to take those resources to his grave, it would be a tremendous loss for the Zouma Gang.

But the Kun Cultivator spoke up then, her magnetic voice cutting through the tension. "It doesn’t matter if he won’t talk. Uncle Da is about to perform a Divination to find the thief’s whereabouts anyway. He can just find where this little liar hid the resources at the same time."

A Foundation Establishment Cultivator who didn’t look old—appearing to be in his early thirties with a meticulously groomed beard—nodded and took out a piece of old, specially-prepared bone.

From its shape, it appeared to be a piece of a human skull.

He gripped the bone, muttering an incantation.

Heat radiated from his palm, causing the air above it to distort. The bone heated up, gradually turning yellow, then black. It then let out a sharp CRACKLE as patterns appeared on its surface.

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator known as "Uncle Da" examined the patterns closely and said, "The things this fellow hid are fifty li to the east."

An expression of utter despair washed over Liu Jinlong’s face.

The Kun Cultivator giggled.

Zou Zhiyong hadn’t actually wanted to kill Liu Jinlong, but the atmosphere had been stoked to such a point that it seemed he had no other choice.

As he hesitated, Liu Jinlong suddenly launched a sneak attack.

He was at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer, while Liu Jinlong was at the Seventh Layer. The gap wasn’t insurmountable, and he was caught completely off guard, sustaining an injury on the spot.

After his successful ambush, Liu Jinlong didn’t pause for a second, immediately bolting for the exit.

Even before Liu Jinlong made his move, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators had used their Divine Sense to observe the Magical Power gathering within his body. They knew he was about to attack—such was the crushing superiority of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s Divine Sense over that of a Qi Cultivation Cultivator.

But not a single one of them stopped him or warned Zou Zhiyong. They were all waiting for the show to begin. When Liu Jinlong fled, they made no move to pursue him, content to simply watch.

Even though the target of their mission had been stolen, none of them were worried.

There were no formidable figures in any of the small Oases nearby. They were confident they could easily track down and retrieve the treasure.

Therefore, watching a good show of a subordinate betraying and overthrowing his superior might add a bit of fresh excitement to their otherwise boring mission.

Ma Cong, the veteran Vice Gang Leader, reacted quickly. He immediately supported the Gang Leader, asking urgently, "Gang Leader, are you alright?"

"I’m fine, you have to go after him..." Before he could finish, Zou Zhiyong suddenly felt Magical Power gathering violently behind his back.

"You!"

BOOM! Magic exploded against Zou Zhiyong’s back. At the same instant, Ma Cong leaped back gracefully, dodging Zou Zhiyong’s death-throe counterattack, and commanded a Flying Sword to stab toward him.

Zou Zhiyong was not one to be taken down without a fight. He was about to risk aggravating his injuries to activate a Burning Essence Blood Secret Technique and resist, when suddenly, a figure darted back inside—it was Liu Jinlong.

Liu Jinlong threw himself at Zou Zhiyong and held on tight, not letting go even as Zou Zhiyong’s Magical Artifact slammed into his body.

He only had to endure a single blow, because a moment later, Ma Cong’s Flying Sword sliced off Zou Zhiyong’s head.

The headless corpse crashed to the ground, blood gushing from the neck.

The Kun Cultivator with the purple eyeshadow immediately pounced like a child who’d spotted a new toy. She glanced back at Ma Cong. "You don’t mind, do you?"

Ma Cong bowed respectfully. "Please, Senior, be my guest."

The Kun Cultivator took out a Ten Thousand Souls Banner and, with a casual gesture, collected Zou Zhiyong’s soul. Then she produced an awl-shaped Magical Artifact and dipped it into the pool of Zou Zhiyong’s blood.

The blood on the ground visibly receded, and soon Zou Zhiyong’s corpse itself was drained dry, leaving behind nothing but a shriveled husk of skin.

Next, the Kun Cultivator used a sharp, curved knife to remove all of Zou Zhiyong’s internal organs, sorting them into different containers. Then she stripped all the bones from his body. Her technique was so practiced it was like an art form; the curved blade danced nimbly between her fingers. Ignoring the gruesome subject matter, the movements themselves were almost breathtaking to watch.

She finished quickly, leaving only a useless pile of shredded flesh where the body had been.

She stood up, smiled, and looked at Ma Cong and Liu Jinlong. "You two... aren’t you going to run?"

Ma Cong said respectfully, "Seniors, anything Zou Zhiyong could do for you, I can do as well. Please give me an opportunity to serve you."

The Kun Cultivator nodded in satisfaction. "Having you locals help us find the treasure would certainly save us a lot of effort. Uncle Da, it’s time to get to work!"

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Uncle Da expressionlessly took out another piece of prepared bone and, with practiced ease, repeated the same procedure as before.

When the CRACKLE sounded and the heat seared new patterns onto the bone, he leaned in for a look. An expression of confusion immediately appeared on his face. "Huh?"

Those who knew him recognized this as a sign that he had encountered a problem with his Divination. They heard him mutter to himself, "That’s not right..."

As he spoke, he carefully took out a wooden tube filled with thin bamboo sticks.

Muttering another incantation, he shook the tube and tipped out several of the bamboo sticks.

Though the sticks were thin, they were covered in densely packed, elegant script.

Uncle Da picked up the sticks and brought them close to his eyes to read.

His pupils suddenly dilated. "This..."

Before he could finish the word, blood streamed from his eyes. His head lolled to one side, and his breathing stopped.

As his body slumped to the floor, his companions could only stare, dumbfounded. No one moved.

The scene was so unexpected it felt unreal, like something from a dream.

They looked at each other, so stunned that none of them could utter a single word.