Spiritual Shackles

Liu Tan's tone was icy. Knowing exactly what kind of person Liu Tan was, Sun Yuanjie did not doubt for a second that Liu Tan could kill him.

Sun Yuanjie knew that Liu Tan did not like others making excuses in front of him.

Sun Yuanjie could only admit, half-truthfully, that he had indeed delayed his time, but he insisted that he had absolutely not been consorting with the people of the Ming Cult.

Sun Yuanjie told Liu Tan everything: Xiao Feng's desire to obtain the qingzhu relic, their group's trip to the Small Buddhist Temple, and everything that happened afterward.

Sun Yuanjie spoke with fear and trepidation: "This Disciple is useless and was actually played by Xiao Feng. It was only to avoid arousing his suspicion that I hid my identity and lurked by his side, all to find the Young Sect Leader."

"This Disciple did not expect him to be so despicable and shameless. I know I was wrong. I beg Elder to spare this Disciple's life; I will certainly make up for my mistakes."

Liu Tan did not answer immediately but stared at Sun Yuanjie for a long time.

He spoke again, his tone tinged with anger: "You were the one who informed the Sect Master that the Young Sect Leader had been captured by the Ming Cult. Yet, I searched the Ming Cult for a long time and found no trace of the Young Sect Leader at all. Tell me, do you not know where the Young Sect Leader is at all!"

As the last word fell, a powerful pressure erupted from Liu Tan's body, bearing down directly on Sun Yuanjie.

Sun Yuanjie let out a muffled groan, and a metallic, fishy taste of blood surged into his throat.

Sun Yuanjie gritted his teeth, desperately suppressing the urge to vomit blood, and said: "This Disciple is not lying. I truly saw the Young Sect Leader's figure within the Ming Cult."

"Xiao Feng himself admitted it; he truly did capture the Young Sect Leader. How would this Disciple dare to deceive you about such a matter!"

The pressure weighing on Sun Yuanjie eased slightly.

Sun Yuanjie cursed Xiao Feng wildly in his heart. Striking while the iron was hot, he spoke to Liu Tan again: "He is definitely still in the Ming Cult. This Disciple is willing to hide his identity and return to investigate. I beg Elder to give this Disciple another chance to redeem himself!"

This was Sun Yuanjie's second request.

Unfortunately, as the Elder who had watched Xuanyuan Jian grow up from childhood, Liu Tan had a natural dislike for Sun Yuanjie.

Although Sun Yuanjie was the Sect's Head Disciple, he was too narrow-minded and had always coveted the position of Young Sect Leader.

Even though Sun Yuanjie kept claiming that he had absolutely no improper delusions about the position of Young Sect Leader.

However, Liu Tan had seen him deliberately currying favor more than once.

This time, it just so happened that Sun Yuanjie was accompanying Xuanyuan Jian down the mountain for training, yet Xuanyuan Jian went missing, and Sun Yuanjie instead became a mere bandit following by Xiao Feng's side.

How could this not make Liu Tan suspect that it was Sun Yuanjie who had deliberately colluded with the Ming Cult to take action against Xuanyuan Jian.

"If that is truly the case, this Elder will give you one more chance."

As he finished speaking, Liu Tan suddenly raised his hand, and a strand of spiritual power with a marking effect was struck into Sun Yuanjie's body.

Sun Yuanjie was shocked and hurriedly rolled up his sleeve, only to see a pattern appear on his wrist.

Sun Yuanjie recognized the meaning of this pattern; it was the most vicious type of spiritual shackle in the Sect.

If the task given by the person who applied the spiritual shackle was not completed within the allotted time, the person marked would directly explode and die!

Sun Yuanjie was filled with grief and indignation.

He was, after all, the Head Disciple of the Tianyi Sect; he had not expected to be treated like this!

Sun Yuanjie gritted his teeth but dared not let the Liu Tan in front of him see the slightest issue.

Liu Tan did not care at all about what Sun Yuanjie was thinking and said coldly: "Within one month, if you cannot rescue the Young Sect Leader, you will undoubtedly die!"

Liu Tan did not tell Sun Yuanjie that when he went to investigate the situation in the Ming Cult, he had been discovered and severely injured, and now he was merely holding on by a thread.

He needed this month to stabilize his own condition, so he could only leave the matter of investigating the Young Sect Leader's whereabouts to Sun Yuanjie.

After applying the spiritual shackle to Sun Yuanjie, Liu Tan turned and left.

Sun Yuanjie knelt on the ground and only slowly stood up after Liu Tan's figure had completely disappeared.

He gnashed his teeth in hatred, wishing he could hack Liu Tan into pieces.

He knew that Liu Tan had always looked down on him, but he had not expected the other party to actually abuse his authority!

This kind of spiritual shackle was only used on some low-status Outer Sect Disciples.

Yet he was not only an Inner Sect Disciple but also the Sect Master's personal Disciple; how dared he treat him like this.

It was just that Sun Yuanjie could not defeat Liu Tan; otherwise, if he dared to kill other confidants sent by the Tianyi Sect Master, what would it matter to kill one more Liu Tan?

"Liu Tan, you just wait. Sooner or later, I will avenge the humiliation of today!"

After cursing Liu Tan a thousand times in his heart, Sun Yuanjie finally suppressed the anger in his heart a little.

He did not continue to waste time and quickly returned to the Ming Cult to see if he could find Xuanyuan Jian's figure within the Ming Cult.

Because of Liu Tan's appearance, the worry in Sun Yuanjie's heart regarding whether Xiao Feng had already returned to the Ming Cult was disrupted.

It was not until the moment Sun Yuanjie saw a Ming Cult Disciple greeting him that he suddenly realized.

He had actually forgotten to ask whether Xiao Feng had already returned to the Ming Cult?

The moment he realized this, cold sweat instantly broke out on Sun Yuanjie's back, soaking his clothes.

The person greeting him in front of him was named Shi Wenjie.

He was a good friend he had made after assuming the identity of Zhao Shan.

It was precisely because he still knew this good friend, Shi Wenjie, that he could occasionally use Shi Wenjie as an excuse to leave Xiao Feng's courtyard and inquire about news of Xuanyuan Jian within the Ming Cult.

Now that Sun Yuanjie saw that Shi Wenjie's attitude toward him remained the same, he slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wenjie, why are you here? Did you just return from completing a mission?" Sun Yuanjie walked to Shi Wenjie's side, patted his shoulder, and then looked at the things in his hands.

"Isn't that so? Let me tell you, during the time you left with the son-in-law, a lot of things happened within the Ming Cult..."

Shi Wenjie was usually someone who loved gossip and often shared some gossip events within the Sect with Sun Yuanjie.

Sun Yuanjie would always discuss them with him with great interest, but in reality, he was using these gossip tidbits to collect information.

But now, with his life hanging by a thread, Sun Yuanjie had absolutely no heart to listen to these things and wanted to beat around the bush to inquire about matters regarding Xuanyuan Jian.

"I heard that there is a rumor outside that the Young Sect Leader of the Tianyi Sect was captured by our son-in-law and brought back to the Ming Cult. Is this true or false?"

Sun Yuanjie spoke cautiously, also inquiring in the manner of sharing gossip.

But Sun Yuanjie did not notice that there was always a trace of mockery in the eyes with which Shi Wenjie looked at him.

Hearing Sun Yuanjie inquire about news of Xuanyuan Jian, Shi Wenjie's eyes became even more sarcastic.

But the moment Sun Yuanjie looked over, Shi Wenjie returned to normal and said mysteriously: "Guess who gave me the task of picking these herbs?"

Sun Yuanjie did not know what kind of mystery Shi Wenjie was playing at, so he could only suppress the irritability in his heart and ask: "Could it be the Cult Leader?"

Shi Wenjie shook his head, looked at Sun Yuanjie meaningfully, and then said: "Have you ever heard of our Vice Leader, the Poison Emperor?"

Sun Yuanjie had only heard of him before, but he had never actually seen the Poison Emperor himself.