31: Chapter 31 The Ruthless and Unscrupulous Heretic

Lu Xuan rushed forward in a rage, swinging his fist, which carried the little remaining Jinwu power he had left.

At the critical moment, Li Tan exerted all his strength to mobilize the power within his body, activating the Magical Artifact hidden in his pocket.

"Thud!"

A blue protective shield rose, its power at the Divine Sea Realm level completely blocking Lu Xuan outside.

If it were before, it would have been fine, but now Lu Xuan was heavily injured and his power was nearly depleted; how could he have enough strength to use the jinwu sun wheel again?

Without the jinwu sun wheel, his current strength made it impossible to unleash his innate Divine Ability, let alone break through the protective shield.

Lu Xuan was furious. Looking at this beast who had killed the woman he loved, his hatred was sky-high, yet he was powerless.

"Bang!"

Chen Xing's expression was cold as he crushed the protective shield with a kick, then stepped on Li Tan's head, causing a large amount of blood to spray out.

"Speak," he said.

"Speak about what?" Li Tan gritted his teeth.

"Tell me everything. Why did you target us? Was it a mission issued by your organization, or was it personal?" Chen Xing asked.

If it were just a private discussion between Li Tan and Zhou Chen, it would be fine; at least the threat would only be the two of them, and killing them would be the end of it.

But if the Evil Path organization behind them was giving the orders, that would be truly terrifying.

If they encountered other Evil Path Ability Users intercepting them nearby or on the way back, wouldn't it be dangerous?

"It was personal," Li Tan sighed slightly.

"Why?" Chen Xing did not fully believe this explanation.

"Generally speaking, we cannot act directly within the Wenling Domain, as we would surely be eliminated. Therefore, the only possible place is the Hunting Zone; there are no strict laws here," Li Tan said.

"Specifically, how do you do it?" Chen Xing asked.

Li Tan said, "For example, we use Magical Artifacts to disguise our cultivation, then pretend to be outsiders coming to hunt. Finally, we pick a target, lead them deep into the Hunting Zone, and we can start the slaughter."

The three were shocked. The Evil Path actually used such a method? Didn't that mean any stranger you teamed up with outside could very likely be from the Evil Path?

At that point, everyone would likely be in a state of constant fear.

Lu Wu struggled to crawl up, but with his bones already shattered, he couldn't do it and could only shout hysterically.

"Why? Why did it have to be us? Why did it have to be Qinger!" His bloodshot eyes went wide, nearly swallowed by hatred.

"It wasn't Little Xia, it was you," Li Tan sighed.

"I don't know who Xia Qinger is, but I've investigated many famous people, especially scions of great families."

He explained, "Old Zhou and I were staking out the station when we saw you. After investigating thoroughly, we pretended to run into you by chance and then sent a team invitation."

"Evil Path methods... you know them. It's about absorbing a person's essence and Origin power. You have a B-grade ability; by absorbing you, our power would naturally increase greatly, haha!"

"But the bigger surprise was in the background; I actually encountered your younger brother, which was very unexpected for us," Li Tan smacked his lips.

This was also their usual tactic: after tricking a group of people into coming in, they would use their cultivation advantage to scout the terrain.

As long as they saw another team, they would find ways to make the two sides meet, and finally, they would draw their butcher knives to harvest them.

"You..." Lu Wu's pupils shook, and he was speechless.

All of this was actually caused by him!

"Hahahaha!"

At this moment, Li Tan let out a crazed laugh.

"Yes, that's the look! What I love most is seeing people walk step by step into despair. How wonderful! You're just like my younger brother back then—helpless and pathetic!"

"Your younger brother?" Chen Xing suddenly remembered that not long ago, when they were chatting about sibling relationships, this guy had mentioned a younger brother named Li Xi.

"Hehehehe hahahaha... You don't know yet, do you? Joining the Evil Path requires a price to show them your determination. So, I killed my brother, ate his flesh, and gave the rest to those people!" Li Tan laughed wildly.

"What?" Lu Xuan's pupils shook.

Although the brothers didn't get along, they hadn't reached such an insane level.

On the surface, Li Tan was quiet and cautious, a gentle man, but in reality, he was a complete pervert who simply couldn't be judged by common sense.

"Lu Wu, oh Lu Wu, do you know? I wasn't actually the one who killed this girl, because even if I hadn't acted, she would have died anyway!" Li Tan stared straight at the young man lying on the ground.

"What did you say?!" Lu Wu was furious.

"You beast! You were the one who did it, and you still dare to make excuses! As expected, all of you from the Evil Path are such damnable people!" Lu Xuan cursed loudly.

"Hehe... How ridiculous. You might not know, but could Brother Chen not know?" Li Tan grinned, but the smile was eerie, his mouth split open and stained with blood.

Hearing this, Lu Wu looked at Chen Xing, his grief-stricken face carrying a sincere longing for the truth, as if asking: Is it true?

Chen Xing looked at the orange-haired girl on the ground, who had already turned into a withered corpse, yet still retained a faint scent of oranges.

He spoke slowly, "In a certain sense, that's true."

"Boom!"

At this moment, Lu Wu felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

"What are you saying? Are you trying to protect someone from the Evil Path!" Lu Xuan stepped forward in anger.

"Don't you know? Little Xia was too weak. She was just as you said—she had no combat power. I am in the Divine Sea Realm; although I didn't use my full strength when I ambushed you, how could someone of her strength possibly keep up with my speed and push you away?" Li Tan continued.

"Could it be..." Lu Wu's pupils shook as he looked at the withered corpse lying quietly on the ground, his heart feeling like it was being pierced by knives.

"Hahahaha! You've only just realized? Why was she able to keep up with the speed? It wasn't just because she was of the Light System, but because... she sacrificed her Origin power!" Li Tan laughed.

"I've killed many people and performed human experiments with those lunatics. If I'm not mistaken, Little Xia discovered it through her special sensing ability."

"But the reason she did it was entirely out of instinct. In that moment, she didn't think of anything else; she didn't think about why I wanted to kill you. Instead, she subconsciously burned her Origin to protect you!"

"Why? Why?" Lu Wu's eyes were dull, and his body couldn't stop trembling.

"What else could it be? For the person she loved," Li Tan said faintly.

"Boom!"

These words were like a bolt from the blue, striking hard into Lu Wu's heart.

"Hahaha! How ironic! The ability you looked down on the most actually saved your life at the final moment. Lu Wu, is this what you wanted?" Li Tan directed a Soul-piercing question at him.

"You once told that girl that she was too slow, so even if she sensed danger, she wouldn't be able to keep up. So, she took it to heart."

"In that moment, she disregarded her own safety and burned herself just to save a man who didn't love her."

The final sentence felt like a thousand cuts; Lu Wu fell into a stupor amidst the agonizing pain.