296: Chapter 296 Collecting Interest

The old man's hand paused as he was counting the Spirit Stones. He glanced at Ye Tian and lowered his voice as well. "Young man, curiosity killed the cat."

I don't know if that Ye Tian is truly formidable, but he is certainly a trouble magnet.

As for his Junior Brother and the monkey..."

He looked left and right, his voice dropping even lower. "I heard that on that day, a youth was indeed seen carrying a small injured monkey, fleeing from the east side of Lijian Villa. Later, it seems they were intercepted by a group from the 'Grey Clothing Society' operating near Luoxia Slope. As for whether they are dead or alive, no one knows.

That lot from the Grey Clothing Society specializes in the business of 'black eating black'; they are incredibly ruthless."

Luoxia Slope!

Grey Clothing Society!

Ye Tian's heart jolted. He took the Spirit Stones, offered his thanks, and left the general store without showing any emotion.

The information was limited, but crucial!

Hou Xiaojie and the Dragon Ape were likely still alive, but they had fallen into the hands of another underworld power, the 'Grey Clothing Society'!

He had to get to Luoxia Slope immediately!

He hadn't walked far from the general store when three loitering men, whose cultivation levels hovered between the Ningyuan Realm and the True Martial First Stage, approached and blocked his path.

The leader looked at Ye Tian with a squint, grinning. "Kid, you look like a fresh face. New here?

Do you know the rules?

To set up a stall and sell things at Wild Fox Market, you have to pay a 'stall fee'!"

Clearly, having seen Ye Tian sell medicinal herbs and noticing he was a new face, they wanted to extort some money from him.

Ye Tian didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble, especially now that he had an important lead.

He fished out ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones and handed them over. "Brothers, please make it easy for me. This little brother has just arrived and doesn't know the rules."

The man took the Spirit Stones, weighed them in his hand, and sneered. "Ten?

Are you trying to brush off a beggar?

I see you still have goods in your herb basket, right?

Take them all out to honor us brothers, and from now on, we'll look after you in Wild Fox Market!"

Seeing this, the surrounding pedestrians avoided them one after another; no one dared to interfere.

In a place like Wild Fox Market, the law of the jungle was the norm.

Ye Tian's gaze turned slightly cold.

He didn't have time to tangle with these thugs, nor did he want to expose his strength and attract unnecessary attention.

"Gentlemen, this is truly all I have. Please, make it easy."

Ye Tian pulled out another twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

The man snatched the Spirit Stones but remained unsatisfied. His greedy gaze fell upon the cloth bundle on Ye Tian's back which contained the jingji sword. "Kid, what's that on your back?

Open it and let us see!

Don't tell me you're hiding something good!"

As he spoke, he reached out to grab the sword on Ye Tian's back!

Just as his hand was about to touch the bundle, Ye Tian's feet shifted, and he reached out to tap the man lightly under his ribs!

"Ugh!"

The man felt a sharp surge of Qi penetrate his body. Half of his body went numb, his reaching hand froze in mid-air, and a look of horror appeared on his face.

Ye Tian didn't stop. Before the other two could react, he similarly tapped their vital points with his fingers.

The two also stood frozen on the spot, their faces filled with terror, unable to move a muscle.

The entire process took only a few breaths. To outsiders, it merely looked like Ye Tian had been forced back a step, brushed past the three, and then the three men suddenly froze.

Ye Tian didn't even give them a second glance. Keeping his head down, he walked away quickly and soon vanished into the market.

It wasn't until Ye Tian was far away that the three men collapsed to the ground with a thud. Their bodies were limp and weak, and they couldn't crawl up for a long time, their eyes full of lingering fear.

They knew they had kicked a steel plate!

The opponent was definitely a True Martial Realm expert!

They didn't dare make a scene and slunk away miserably.

After leaving Wild Fox Market and confirming no one was following him, Ye Tian immediately deployed his movement technique and hurried toward Luoxia Slope to the northeast at full speed.

Luoxia Slope was about eighty li from Wild Fox Market. At his current speed, he could arrive in just over an hour.

Night gradually fell, and the mountain forest was silent as Ye Tian sped through it.

He was anxious. With Hou Xiaojie and Long Lan in the hands of an underworld force like the Grey Clothing Society, every moment of delay meant a moment of extra danger.

However, just as he was passing through a cedar forest, the sound of intense fighting suddenly came from ahead.

Ye Tian frowned. He didn't want to meddle in others' business, but the direction of the fight was right on the path he had to take to reach Luoxia Slope.

He suppressed his aura and quietly approached, lurking behind a large cedar tree to look ahead.

In a clearing within the forest, five men in black, with cultivations between the True Martial Fourth and Sixth Stages, were besieging three men dressed in grey martial attire.

The three men in grey were not weak, all around the True Martial Fifth Stage, but they were outnumbered and already wounded. They were being forced back step by step against a giant rock, fighting like trapped beasts.

Two bodies of men in grey already lay on the ground.

They were people from the Grey Clothing Society!

Ye Tian's eyes narrowed.

Looking at the situation, were the assassins from Shadow Calamity Tower intercepting the Grey Clothing Society?

Could it be for Hou Xiaojie and the Dragon Ape?

Or was it some other conflict?

A leader of the Shadow Calamity Tower assassins sneered, "Grey rats, if you know what's good for you, hand the items over!

We only want that 'Yin Fiend Thunder Pearl' and the kid and monkey you took from near Lijian Villa!

Otherwise, we'll wipe the Grey Clothing Society off the map here at Luoxia Slope today!"

One of the more seriously injured men in grey cursed, "Bullshit!

What Yin Fiend Thunder Pearl? Never heard of it!

We found that kid and the monkey first. Why should we hand them over to your Shadow Calamity Tower?"

"Stubborn fools! Kill them, and the items will naturally be ours!"

A cold light flashed in the assassin leader's eyes, and he waved his hand to signal an all-out attack.

The five assassins' offensive immediately became even more fierce.

Ye Tian's gaze was icy.

They really were after Hou Xiaojie and the Dragon Ape!

Shadow Calamity Tower moved so fast!

The Grey Clothing Society didn't seem to have handed them over yet, but they likely wouldn't hold out much longer.

"Since I've run into them, I'll collect some interest first."

Killing intent rose in Ye Tian's heart.

These scum from Shadow Calamity Tower had hands covered in blood; their deaths were well-deserved!

Moreover, saving these few men from the Grey Clothing Society might help him find Hou Xiaojie and the Dragon Ape's whereabouts faster.

He waited for the right moment and darted out from behind the tree, moving so fast he left only an afterimage!

He didn't draw his sword. To deal with these Middle Stage True Martial assassins, he didn't need sword.

He simply infused his fingers and palms with the 'Gu Hong' Sword Intent and instantly cut into the fray!

"Puchi! Puchi!"

Two assassins with their backs to him, who were fully focused on attacking the men in grey, only felt a chill in their hearts as Sword Qi pierced through their bodies, instantly shattering their heart vessels!

The two couldn't even let out a scream before they collapsed and breathed their last.

"Who is it?!"

The assassin leader and the other two assassins were shocked and hurriedly turned around.

However, they were met with Ye Tian's even faster attack!

Golden light flickered at his fingertips as he closed in on another True Martial Fifth Stage assassin, piercing his throat with a single finger!

"You're looking for death!"

The assassin leader was both shocked and enraged. He was, after all, at the True Martial Sixth Stage and had extremely fast reactions. A pair of poison stingers in his hands turned into two streaks of cold light, aiming for Ye Tian's throat and abdomen.

Ye Tian reached out with his left hand, grabbed the assassin leader's wrist, and twisted hard!

"Crack!"

The assassin leader's scream rang out.

At the same time, Ye Tian's right hand already pointed toward the leader's brow!

The assassin leader desperately tilted his head while surging his entire body's True Yuan to protect himself.

"Squelch!"

The Sword Qi broke through the protective True Yuan. Although it didn't hit the center of his brow, it opened a bloody hole in his temple, and blood flowed profusely.

The assassin leader retreated screaming, his Battle Intent gone, thinking only of escaping with his life.

Seeing this, the last True Martial Fifth Stage assassin was so terrified that he turned and tried to run.

Ye Tian snorted coldly. He casually grabbed a short blade from the ground, infused it with True Yuan, and threw it with a flick of his hand!

"Thud!"

The short blade instantly pierced through the back of the fleeing assassin's heart!

The assassin fell face-down on the ground, twitched a couple of times, and went silent.

In the blink of an eye, of the five Shadow Calamity Tower assassins, four were dead and one was heavily wounded!

The entire process had taken only a few breaths!

The three surviving men in grey were left dumbfounded.

They hadn't seen clearly how Ye Tian had moved at all. They only felt a blur before their eyes as a green shadow flashed past, and the assassins who had just forced them into a corner were all lying on the ground!

Ye Tian walked up to the terrified assassin leader, crouched down, and said coldly, "Where are the people the Grey Clothing Society took from Lijian Villa?"

Looking into Ye Tian's icy eyes, the assassin leader's psychological defenses instantly collapsed. "In... in the 'Abandoned Mine' north of Luoxia Slope. That's the Grey Clothing Society's lair. Don't kill me..."

"Abandoned Mine..." Ye Tian memorized the location.

He stood up, asked no more questions, and didn't give the assassin leader another look as he turned toward the three men in grey.

A trace of relief had just appeared in the assassin leader's eyes when Ye Tian, with his back turned, flicked his finger. A streak of Sword Qi entered the man's brow.

The assassin leader's body froze, his eyes bulging wide before he collapsed to the ground.

Ye Tian would show no mercy to the assassins of Shadow Calamity Tower.

Seeing Ye Tian approach, the three men in grey felt both awe and nervousness. They hurriedly bowed and saluted. "Th-thank you, Senior, for saving our lives!"

"Take me to the Abandoned Mine to find the two you captured."

The three men in grey exchanged glances. Having witnessed Ye Tian's terrifying methods, how could they dare say no?

Moreover, the other party was clearly after the youth and the monkey, and his strength was unfathomable; the Grey Clothing Society likely couldn't afford to offend him.

"Yes, yes! Senior, please follow us!" the leader of the grey-clothed men, who was less severely injured, said quickly.

Ye Tian said no more and followed the three men toward the Abandoned Mine north of Luoxia Slope.