287: Revenge, leaving the city

The night was like ink, concealing all unknown tracks.

Lu Chen and Li Wuya had disguised themselves, their auras restrained to that of mortals, and they appeared quietly outside a seemingly ordinary residential house in the west of the city.

This was a contact point for the Xuan Yin Sect.

Without a word, Li Wuya did not move his body, but the vast Spiritual Pressure belonging to a Core Formation Cultivator descended like an invisible mountain.

Inside the house, several Xuan Yin Sect Disciples at the Qi Refinement Stage and one at the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage were instantly trapped as if in a quagmire, unable to move, not even able to let out a cry of alarm.

They were then sealed at their vital points by precise finger winds that followed immediately after, collapsing completely to the ground, their eyes filled only with boundless fear and shock.

In front of a true Core Formation Cultivator, their resistance was insignificant.

Lu Chen walked in slowly, his gaze sweeping coldly over the people on the ground, finally resting on the only Foundation Establishment Initial Stage Cultivator.

Li Wuya understood and slightly loosened the restraint, leaving only enough for him to make a faint sound.

The interrogation began.

The question was straightforward.

Why kill Zhong Jian?

Under the Spiritual Pressure of the Core Formation Cultivator and Lu Chen's cold gaze, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator's psychological defenses collapsed instantly, and he confessed hoarsely.

Zhong Jian had, within the City Lord's Mansion, unintentionally or intentionally disrupted the secret arrangements and plans of the Xuan Yin Sect against the City Lord's Mansion or other forces in the city several times.

He had long been listed as a target that required key attention and could even be eliminated if necessary.

Two days ago, their people accidentally discovered that Zhong Jian seemed to have signs of leaving the city alone or conducting secret activities.

Thinking the opportunity was rare, after reporting it, they received orders to set an ambush and kill him...

The reason was simple, even with a cold, routine-like quality.

Just because he hindered their plans, a loyal, meticulous subordinate who should have had a bright future was crushed like an ant.

Lu Chen listened in silence, his face expressionless, only the chill deep in his eyes almost condensing into solid frost.

Confirming the reason, and confirming that it was indeed the Xuan Yin Sect that did it, was enough.

He didn't need more information, nor did he need to listen to the begging or excuses of these ants.

He did not kill this Cultivator with his own hands.

He just asked Li Wuya to help, and in the basement of this residence, using the flesh and remnant Souls of those few Xuan Yin Sect Disciples as a catalyst, set up a crude yet evil small-scale Blood Sacrifice Disturbance Formation.

This Formation was not a true ancient Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation and had no power to change heaven and earth.

However, before being triggered or naturally dissipating, it could continuously emit chaotic, filthy, and resentful Spiritual Qi fluctuations.

Like a pustule constantly emitting a foul stench and poisonous gas, it polluted the Spiritual Qi of the earth veins in this small area.

It would even faintly point to the yin malice characteristic of Xuan Yin Sect Cultivation Technique.

Setting up this Formation was still quite costly in terms of Materials and mental effort for Lu Chen and Li Wuya, who was already at the Core Formation Stage, but it was worth it.

After the Formation was set up, Lu Chen buried several Yin Fire Soul-Splitting Talismans he had carefully prepared at the core of the Formation and in several hidden corners.

Once someone tried to investigate or destroy this place, or simply when the Formation naturally ran to a certain node.

These Talismans would automatically activate, taking all the traces left here, along with the Formation and the corpses.

And turning them all into more violent Yin Fire and Soul impacts, causing greater chaos and marking.

This was just the beginning.

That night, Lu Chen and Li Wuya, like Soul-reaping ghosts, shuttled through the shadows of Ruins Abyss City.

Relying on the information they had mastered in advance, they accurately found another six Xuan Yin Sect hidden posts.

Li Wuya's Core Formation Stage cultivation and the sharp methods unique to a Sword Cultivator made clearing these hidden posts, which were at most at the Foundation Establishment Stage, like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

Interrogation, setting up simplified versions of the Blood Sacrifice Disturbance Formation, burying Yin Fire Soul-Splitting Talismans.

Not all strongholds were suitable or had enough time to be fully set up.

But every place left behind a mark unique to the Xuan Yin Sect, full of resentment and warning.

At the same time, those guys who were already on Lu Chen's list, belonging to the Ouyang Family and certain suspicious or hostile faction eyes within the City Lord's Mansion.

Also met their doom in this night.

Dealing with these people, the methods were much cleaner.

Li Wuya took action, imitating several vicious methods common in the Xuan Yin Sect's Cultivation Technique that were easier to mimic, and assassinated them one by one.

Beside the corpses, he intentionally or unintentionally left a tiny bit of residual Spiritual Qi belonging to the Xuan Yin Sect's Cultivation Technique that was difficult to completely eliminate.

Not seeking perfection, only needing to bury the seeds of suspicion deep in the hearts of certain people in the Ouyang Family and the City Lord's Mansion.

When the first touch of dawn appeared on the horizon, and the morning light had not yet dispelled the last chill of the night.

Lu Chen and Li Wuya had once again changed their appearances, blending into the first sparse crowd of people leaving the city to make a living or travel.

Their expressions were calm, their steps ordinary, just like two very ordinary Loose Cultivators.

They quietly left this Ruins Abyss City where they had operated, lurked, and fought for a long time.

The city gate closed slowly behind them, locking the night's bloodshed, chaos, and the impending suspicion inside the city.

As for Wusi?

When Lu Chen left, he didn't even cast a glance at his possible hiding place.

This person had many suspicious points, but compared to the blood feud of Zhong Jian and the greater storm that was about to come, it seemed irrelevant.

Whether he lived or died, man or ghost, let him fend for himself in the center of that vortex.

At this point, all the overt and covert personnel under Lu Chen, as well as him and Li Wuya, had safely withdrawn.

The network just spread out in Ruins Abyss City, the points operated, and the connections accumulated might be washed away.

Lu Chen looked back at the towering city wall outline that was gradually becoming clear in the morning light, his face without sorrow or joy.

Foundations can be rebuilt, manpower can be recruited again, and intelligence can be probed again.

Only the living are the most important assets.

He would remember Zhong Jian's life.

He had already delivered the gift to the Xuan Yin Sect.

And the road ahead was still long.

He turned around, walked side by side with Li Wuya, and stepped into the brightening daylight and the wilderness towards the direction of the stronghold outside the city.

Behind them, Ruins Abyss City still stood, but inside, more seeds of restlessness had been buried.

The storm was brewing in a place that could not be seen.

"Elder Li, follow me."

After getting a distance away from Ruins Abyss City, Lu Chen suddenly transmitted his voice to Li Wuya beside him.

At the same time, he changed direction and swept towards an inconspicuous small hill in the wilderness.

Li Wuya didn't ask a single word, his body followed like a shadow, following closely behind.

About half an hour later, the two stopped on a low dirt hill.

The hill was overgrown with weeds and scattered with loose stones, no different from the desolate scenery around it.

Even if a traveler passed by, it would be hard to take another look.

However, Lu Chen knew clearly that beneath this seemingly ordinary dirt hill was a secret stronghold set up by the Ouyang Family outside the city, used as a retreat or a surprise force at critical moments.

This was obtained by Zhou Mo's previous investigation, which had been hidden and not used, and now, it was time to use it.

Lu Chen raised his hand and pointed to a small hole on the shady side of the hill, half-covered by withered grass and only large enough for a fist to pass through.

That was one of the hidden ventilation openings, and he transmitted his voice to Li Wuya: "Below is the hidden manpower of the Ouyang Family, the highest cultivation is no more than the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, about a dozen people. After you sneak in, make it quick, eliminate all of them, and be sure to leave traces unique to the Xuan Yin Sect's Cultivation Technique. After you are done, meet me under that old locust tree with lightning strike marks four hundred miles away."

Hearing this, a cold light flashed in Li Wuya's eyes, and he nodded slightly.

He didn't even look at the hole, just pointed his fingers like a sword and slashed into the void in that direction.

A condensed to the extreme, almost invisible small Sword Qi swept past silently.

The soil and stone around the hole were cut into a neat opening like tofu, just the right size for one person to pass through, the cut was smooth, and it didn't even stir up much dust.

His figure flickered, and like a wisp of blue smoke, he drilled into the opening.

Instantly plunging into the darkness underground, his aura also completely restrained, as if he had never appeared.

Lu Chen didn't even look at the entrance, and the moment Li Wuya entered, he turned around and galloped towards the southeast, his figure quickly disappearing into the rising sun and the mist of the wilderness.

While they were dealing with those Xuan Yin Sect hidden posts in the city, they both deliberately collected small objects and residual auras that could represent the Xuan Yin Sect's identity or Cultivation Technique.

At this moment, it was time to deliver this evidence to the doorstep of the Ouyang Family.

To divert the disaster, if it is to be thorough, it is necessary to light fires in multiple places, making this pool of water as muddy as possible.