Chapter 292 - 291: The Flames of War Are Ignited

Chapter 292: Chapter 291: The Flames of War Are Ignited

Only after the police had left did Miao Yan and Liu Ergou come over. They took the body parts, preparing to locate the murderer.

The murderer had naturally concealed their aura, but with powerhouses on their side, even the faintest trace was enough for them to find their target.

Gu Qingyin and Huo Yunjing didn’t lift a finger. After more than ten minutes of effort, Miao Yan and Liu Ergou finally found a trace of the person.

"To the west!" Liu Ergou’s eyes lit up, and he immediately gave chase, following the sensation.

"Not so fast!" Gu Qingyin quickly interjected. "Let’s go back and get the car. How long would it take to run there on foot?"

Preparation saves time. The group first exited the hunting grounds, took off their gear, and went straight for the car. Gu Qingyin and Huo Yunjing didn’t even have time to change.

Miao Yan drove while Liu Ergou sat in the passenger seat, navigating. Gu Qingyin and Huo Yunjing were in the back. The four of them followed the trace westward in the car, driving for nearly seven hours before finally stopping.

By then, they had already left the province.

Having been in the car for so long, Gu Qingyin felt dizzy and sick. She got out and took a deep breath, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "He sure ran far."

"It’s just ahead." Liu Ergou got out of the car and resumed leading the way, plunging straight into the woods by the side of the road.

Gu Qingyin paused, glancing at the nearby village. ’This killer is a sneaky one,’ she thought. ’Too scared to stay in a perfectly good house, he has to go burrow in the woods. Just how many sins does he have on his conscience?’

They walked less than a hundred meters deeper into the woods, and a simple wooden cabin appeared before their eyes.

"He’s in there," Liu Ergou whispered, hiding behind a tree.

Gu Qingyin gave him a strange look. "Then let’s rush him! What are we doing hiding here? Waiting for him to just walk out and surrender?"

Liu Ergou shook his head. "Shouldn’t we make a plan? We don’t even know how many people are in there."

Gu Qingyin scoffed. "Who cares how many there are? The ghosts Huo Yunjing can summon will definitely outnumber them. If it’s a numbers game, they’ve already lost!"

Huo Yunjing: "...That’s right."

Liu Ergou gave Huo Yunjing a complicated look. ’There’s no need to be so blindly devoted,’ he thought.

An Array had been set up outside the wooden cabin. Even though they had located their target, standing in front of the cabin, they couldn’t perceive anything about the situation inside.

Since they were here to capture someone, Gu Qingyin had no intention of being polite. She shot a questioning glance at Huo Yunjing.

Huo Yunjing nodded. "Go ahead. He won’t get away."

With his assurance, Gu Qingyin’s lips curled into a smile. Her hands immediately flew through a series of seals, directly conjuring a thundercloud above the wooden cabin.

A low RUMBLE of thunder echoed, gradually swelling into a deafening roar.

The person inside the cabin could finally sit still no longer. The instant before the lightning struck, the wooden door swung open with a CREAK.

Gu Qingyin’s gaze went cold. Miao Yan and Liu Ergou each drew their Magic Artifacts. Huo Yunjing stood at the very back, his posture the most casual of them all. As expected, it was unlikely he would need to intervene.

A figure strode out from the doorway, revealed in the light of the thunderclouds.

Gu Qingyin raised an eyebrow with a look of mild, unsurprised recognition. "I was just wondering... the Heavenly Master World has been cleaned up for so many years, so where are all these evil Heavenly Masters coming from? Turns out it was you all along." She spoke with the casual air of an old friend. "When did you get back in the country?"

Her tone left Xian Yu Fei, who was standing in the doorway, momentarily stunned. It was as if he hadn’t been forced abroad with no other choice, but had simply gone on vacation and returned when he’d had his fun.

After a few seconds, Xian Yu Fei smiled and shook his head. "I’m starting to envy my Senior Brother, for him to have taken on such an interesting disciple." His expression grew complex. "I never expected you to be so tenacious. To be thrown into another dimension and still return so quickly."

Gu Qingyin said proudly, "What can I say? I’m well-liked. When I get into trouble, everyone wants to lend a hand."

’The Ice Coffin was borrowed from the Association, the Array techniques were learned from a reclusive Array master, Liu Ergou and Miao Yan helped with a few other things, and everyone pitched in to gather the materials for the Array.’

She had returned fully intending to settle things with Xian Yu Fei and the Candle Dragon once and for all, but they had never appeared. Now, she had stumbled upon them by a stroke of luck.

Gu Qingyin peeked inside the cabin. ’Considering the Candle Dragon’s size, it couldn’t possibly be hiding in there.’ She subtly scanned the surroundings before exchanging a meaningful glance with Huo Yunjing.

Huo Yunjing gave a slight nod, reassuring her.

Gu Qingyin then turned and drew out the Fire Burning Stick. Her voice was grave. "Xian Yu Fei, it’s time to put an end to the conflict between you and our sect."

Anger flared in Xian Yu Fei at her words. "You’re just a junior! What right do you have to say such a thing to me?!"

"People have mouths for a reason—to speak," Gu Qingyin retorted, twirling the stick in her hand. Lightning crackled along its length, faintly connecting with the thundercloud overhead. Her expression was cold as she continued, her words grating on Xian Yu Fei’s ears.

"Since you’ve already been defeated by my Master, you’re certainly not worthy of him taking action a second time." She raised her stick toward the thundercloud, and the lightning within it swirled violently, as if about to strike at any moment. "I’ll be more than enough."

Before her voice had even faded, bolts of lightning shot straight down from the pitch-black thundercloud. They fell in a dense-packed formation, like a cage of thunder descending from the heavens to entrap a wicked mortal.

Xian Yu Fei had suffered a foundational injury during his previous battle with Gu Ziqian, and even after more than a year of recuperation, he had not fully recovered.

And while Gu Qingyin hadn’t been cultivating over the past year, her Soul Power was already absurdly potent. Her journey through a parallel world seemed to have awakened it further, making it even stronger than before.

Furthermore, ever since the incident, she had been constantly preparing for this final showdown.

Her power had grown by leaps and bounds since the last time she had fought Xian Yu Fei.

With his power diminished and hers amplified, the gap between them was naturally more pronounced.

The lightning fell too quickly; Xian Yu Fei had no time to dodge. If he simply tried to defend, injury would be inevitable.

Xian Yu Fei sighed and closed his eyes. The person he had once dismissed so easily had now grown to such an extent.

The next second, Xian Yu Fei abruptly vanished. The incredibly powerful bolts of lightning struck nothing but empty air.

Seeing this, Gu Qingyin actually smiled. "This makes things easier. It saves me the trouble of hunting you down one by one." As she spoke, she released her grip on the stick, and her hands began to fly through a new series of seals.

As she performed the hand seals, the spatial fluctuations in the area gradually weakened until they vanished completely.

Consequently, the Candle Dragon and Xian Yu Fei, who had vanished into a pocket of space, were forced to reveal themselves.

A massive, serpentine behemoth was coiled beside Xian Yu Fei, protectively encircling him. Upon closer inspection, the creature appeared to have no tail.

"So that’s the Candle Dragon?!"

It was the first time Miao Yan and Liu Ergou had seen the Candle Dragon’s true form, and their shock was palpable. It was, after all, a legendary Fierce Beast. After the initial shock, an unprecedented wariness set in, and their expressions grew grim.

"The surrounding space is sealed. A Candle Dragon that can’t travel through the void is severely weakened," Gu Qingyin said, her tone light. "If we work together, we can definitely slay them both today!"

After a pause, Gu Qingyin’s tone became impassioned as she encouraged them. "These are the Association’s most wanted fugitives! We take them down today, and we go collect the bounty tomorrow!"

Miao Yan and Liu Ergou paused for a beat, and then the flames of battle ignited in their eyes!