Chapter 603 - 610: Coincidence?

Seeing the grim look on Song Wanning’s face, the group didn’t dare to waste words and immediately told her where they had found the monsters.

Apparently, one of them had discovered a monster and, seeing its incredible speed, wanted to capture it as a Spirit Pet. But just as they had managed to catch one with great difficulty, several more suddenly appeared.

At the time, they hadn’t yet realized the danger. When the monsters attacked, they killed them outright.

That was like poking a hornet’s nest. Countless monsters swarmed out, and it was impossible to kill them all.

Soon, one of their companions had his heart torn out, dying a sudden and miserable death.

The group began to flee, and that was when they encountered Song Wanning.

The group expressed their gratitude to Song Wanning once more. Having witnessed her display of power, they were filled with nothing but reverence and admiration.

This was a master of the Body Integration Realm—an existence they could look up to but never hope to reach.

Song Wanning’s expression was unreadable after she heard their story. She looked at them again. "Why did you come here?"

The moment she asked, the expressions on their faces subtly changed.

None of this escaped Song Wanning’s Divine Sense. Seeing that they still intended to hide something, she let out a cold snort.

Instantly, a wave of crushing pressure washed over them.

With a collective THUD, they were all forced to their knees, trembling uncontrollably.

It was only when they sensed Song Wanning’s killing intent that they became truly terrified.

They had thought they’d met an approachable master, but who knew she would unleash her power at the slightest provocation.

"I... We came for a map..."

One of them, trembling, took out a map with several locations marked on it.

"We won this map at an auction. It’s supposed to lead to treasure..."

"We’re just Cultivators from small Sects with very limited resources, so we pooled our money to buy the map and came to hunt for treasure together."

"The plan was to split whatever we found."

The man honestly recounted the entire course of events.

Treasure was nothing compared to their lives.

Song Wanning took the map and glanced at it. There were indeed several points marked in red, all within the Demon Clan Territory.

"Where was this map auctioned? And how many of these locations have you visited?"

She had no intention of stealing their treasure; she just felt that something was amiss.

The man gave a bitter smile. "We’ve only been to one place, and we ran into those monsters."

"We didn’t find a single treasure, and we’ve already lost several of our brothers!"

He looked up and answered fawningly, "As for the map, we won it at the Lan Garden auction. There was a massive auction there a few months ago. You’ll know with a quick investigation, Senior. We’re really not lying!"

"Please, Senior, spare us!!"

The entire group kowtowed to Song Wanning, hoping she wouldn’t harm them.

"Lan Garden?"

Song Wanning murmured to herself. She had never heard of this auction house.

She looked down at them, assessing the truthfulness of their words.

After a moment, she put the map away.

"There’s a high probability of something being wrong with this map. I’ve decided to go investigate. As for you, if you want to live, leave at once. Do not go to any of the other locations marked on it."

With that, Song Wanning withdrew her oppressive aura, boarded her Flying Artifact, and departed without a backward glance.

Now, suspecting that there was something wrong with the locations on the map, she decided to investigate them herself.

However, she didn’t forget to send a message to Luo Hantian, telling him to have someone investigate this Lan Garden auction house.

She had an outrageous theory, one she hoped wouldn’t prove true.

But the avatar still had its mission, and Song Wanning’s main body...

...

"Eldest Senior Brother, are we really going home?"

The men had just struggled back to their feet when one of them anxiously approached the Eldest Senior Brother.

"That map... we spent every Spirit Stone we had to get it. If we give up just like that, then we..."

"Eldest Senior Brother, we don’t have any Spirit Stones left!!"

The whole group stared at their Eldest Senior Brother, their expressions conflicted. Buying that map had cost them practically their entire fortune.

They couldn’t bear the thought of leaving now with nothing to show for it.

Stared at so expectantly by everyone, the Eldest Senior Brother felt incredibly conflicted as well.

"But... several of our brothers have already died. It would be best to listen to the Senior..."

he replied, his voice lacking conviction. In truth, he was still holding onto a sliver of hope.

"That was just an accident! The map has several locations marked on it. It’s impossible that none of them have treasure, right?"

"Exactly! We’ve only been to one place. It was just bad luck!"

The disciples chimed in, one after another. They all followed the Eldest Senior Brother’s lead, so they had to convince him first.

The Eldest Senior Brother was swayed. A conflicted look flashed in his eyes. "But the Senior took the map. She’ll definitely be going... If we run into her, it’ll be hard to explain ourselves..."

"What’s there to be afraid of? We’ll just go to a different spot. By the time the Senior gets there, we’ll be long gone. We won’t run into her!"

"Right! If we hurry, there’s no way we’ll cross paths!"

The group pressed on, none of them willing to return empty-handed. Their hearts burned with unwillingness.

Seeing the Eldest Senior Brother still hesitating, one of them suddenly said, "The only reason that Senior told us not to go is so she can claim the treasure for herself. Eldest Senior Brother, that map was bought with the Spirit Stones of all our brothers..."

Those last words completely shattered the Eldest Senior Brother’s resolve.

’The Senior saved us, yes,’ he thought, ’but maybe she only took the map for the treasure.’

The thought of how they had spent their entire fortune and sacrificed several brothers made a grim courage rise within him.

"Let’s go! We have to hurry! We absolutely cannot run into the Senior!"

His reaction was a tacit admission that he agreed with the man’s suspicion.

The other disciples exchanged excited glances and hurried off in another direction.

In that moment, they had completely forgotten the terror of being hunted by the monsters.

...

Meanwhile, Song Wanning was also speeding toward another location on the map.

"Sister, do you think those people will listen to you?"

the Golden Small Sword asked curiously, casually stroking the chubby little belly of the Dragon Spirit next to it.

Song Wanning’s expression didn’t change. She simply lowered her head and also began to stroke the Dragon Spirit’s warm belly.

She said nonchalantly, "What does it matter if they listen or not?"

"If they’re determined to court death, no one can save them."

’One shouldn’t interfere in the karma of others.’

’If I hadn’t seen the monsters, I wouldn’t have helped in the first place.’

Therefore, she couldn’t care less what those people did next.

’Right now, I just want to verify my theory and systematically investigate the monsters’ presence.’

’After all, numerous factions have been searching everywhere without finding a single trace, yet this group just happened to run into them. It’s hard not to be suspicious.’

"Fine. I just hope that group is smart enough to stay away. Otherwise, they won’t even know what hit them!"

The Golden Small Sword made a thoughtful sound and put the matter out of its mind.