Chapter 3471

“So they’re planning to move against those people from the Thousand Spirits Sect this time?” Ye Liuyun asked directly via voice transmission.

The youth did not reply. Instead, he glanced at the crystal stone in Ye Liuyun’s hand.

“This little fellow isn’t easy to fool!” Ye Liuyun chuckled inwardly as he tossed the superior-grade crystal stone to him. Then, in front of everyone, he said, “We’ll hire you as our guide!”

The youth thanked Ye Liuyun while transmitting his reply to him. “Your guess should be right! But I advise you not to meddle in other people’s business. Otherwise, I won’t be able to save you when the time comes!”

“Mm, I have nothing to do with those Thousand Spirits Sect disciples either, so I won’t meddle in their affairs!” Ye Liuyun replied via voice transmission, then began discussing with Peng Lie when they should set out.

Ye Liuyun’s view was that, since they already had a guide, they could set out immediately.

Peng Lie, however, reminded Ye Liuyun, “Master, that group of bandits has joined forces with the natives to deal with the Thousand Spirits Sect disciples. If we leave too early, we may run straight into their encirclement and encounter the native martial cultivators first.

“So I suggest that we don’t rush. Let’s eat here first and get some rest. After the Thousand Spirits Sect disciples and those bandits have left, we can set out.”

“Besides, we can’t follow them too obviously. Otherwise, this little fellow might even sell our whereabouts to those bandits! This little fellow is no simple character!”

Peng Lie had extensive experience as a mercenary and often dealt with martial cultivators from the lowest levels of society. He understood how they thought, so Ye Liuyun immediately followed his advice and had everyone eat their fill before doing anything else.

The young guide also kept chatting with Chen Yueying. It looked as though he was explaining the situation to her, but he was actually taking the opportunity to learn quite a bit about them from her, including information about their strength.

He also quickly figured out the relationship between Chen Yueying and Ye Liuyun and learned of Chen Yueying’s position among the group.

The others were all somewhat wary and held back when they spoke. Only Chen Yueying was foolishly unguarded. She thought the young guide was still young and therefore had no defenses against him whatsoever.

Ye Liuyun and Peng Lie merely exchanged a glance. They both felt that this youth was truly no simple character, so they kept a closer eye on him inwardly. Neither of them said anything to warn Chen Yueying.

Just as Ye Liuyun had said, unless one experienced certain losses personally, the lesson would not leave a deep impression.

Before long, Li Jingxuan’s group of Thousand Spirits Sect disciples and the group of mercenaries left the inn one after another. Ye Liuyun and the others had also eaten and drunk their fill, so it was time for them to leave as well.

However, as soon as they left the inn, Ye Liuyun and Peng Lie both noticed that their pace was actually being controlled by the youth.

The youth appeared to be chatting casually with Chen Yueying as they walked, but in fact, he kept delaying them at every turn, making their progress extremely slow.

Along the way, Ye Liuyun deliberately called Chen Yueying over to his side once, but she soon returned to the youth’s side. The youth was very smooth-tongued, flattering her as he chatted and making her extremely happy.

Seeing this, Ye Liuyun stopped calling for her and instead discussed a countermeasure with Peng Lie. “At this pace, I’m afraid we won’t make it in time after those bandits finish their attack.”

In the end, the two decided that Ye Liuyun would merge into the void and leave the group ahead of time, while Peng Lie would hold down the fort within the group.

As they walked, the young guide suddenly noticed that Ye Liuyun was gone. However, he did not go looking for Ye Liuyun himself and merely asked Chen Yueying about it.

“He’s probably cultivating! That guy has always been a cultivation fanatic. He even cultivates while walking. I guess he found us moving too slowly and got bored!” Chen Yueying was not worried when she noticed that Ye Liuyun was gone.

She felt that if Ye Liuyun were leaving, he would definitely tell her in advance. Since he had disappeared without a word, he certainly could not have gone far.

Seeing how certain she was, the youth did not grow suspicious and continued leading the group onward.

In reality, Ye Liuyun had already caught up with the group of mercenaries and was watching them from thirty li away.

The group of mercenaries was indeed following Li Jingxuan’s group. However, they were doing so quite discreetly, always maintaining a certain distance from Li Jingxuan’s group, as if they could occasionally detect the other group with their divine sense.

Since both groups were heading toward the native tribes, Li Jingxuan’s people did not pay any attention to them. They had never imagined that mercenaries whose strength was inferior to theirs would dare to target them.

They certainly never expected those mercenaries to ambush them together with the native martial cultivators. Thus, as they continued on their way, they suddenly discovered native martial cultivators surrounding them on all sides. They immediately grew wary and prepared to find a gap in the encirclement and break through.

The encirclement set up by the native martial cultivators was also extremely large. By the time they realized they had been surrounded, they had no way to retreat and could only fight.

At this moment, the group of mercenaries also stopped. They even moved a little closer, as if they were merely watching the spectacle.

This actually put Li Jingxuan and the others somewhat at ease. They thought that if they were no match for the native martial cultivators, they could still join forces with the mercenaries. After all, they had all been surrounded by the natives and thus shared a common enemy.

Thus, they charged toward a group of approaching natives. But they discovered that not only were there three or four times as many opponents, their realms were also not much lower than theirs. They could only barely hold their own against them.

Only then did they experience firsthand how powerful the bodies of these local martial cultivators were. Among martial cultivators of the same realm, they could hardly break through their opponents’ defenses at all and were completely outmatched.

“Retreat!”

Li Jingxuan immediately led his people back toward the mercenaries, reluctantly abandoning two companions who had been trapped. However, they were ambushed by the natives twice along the way. By the time they reached the mercenaries, only seven of them remained—less than half the mercenaries’ number.

The mercenaries agreed readily enough. But just as the two groups charged together against the encircling native martial cultivators, the mercenaries suddenly attacked them. Catching them off guard, they killed four more disciples.

Li Jingxuan only barely survived because he was wearing a high-grade protective garment. Otherwise, he would have been killed by that sneak attack.

But now only three of them remained, and they were surrounded layer upon layer by the mercenaries and native martial cultivators. Their chances of breaking out were extremely slim.

Only now did Li Jingxuan understand that the mercenaries had allied themselves with the natives. Unfortunately, it was too late for him to regret it. He could only fight to the death.

Ye Liuyun watched as their entire group was wiped out and all their resources were collected by the leader of the group of mercenaries. The leader did not dare tamper with anything, presumably intending to hand all those resources over,

Ye Liuyun also saw him take out a voice transmission talisman and send a message. He then arranged for the natives to set up an ambush first. His own group, meanwhile, would go and keep watch over Ye Liuyun’s group.

Ye Liuyun heard very clearly that the voice coming from the voice transmission talisman belonged to the young guide, the “Know-It-All.”