Martial Peak

Chapter 2545 – You Recognize Me

“Speak! Why did you try to attack Sir?” One of the cultivators shouted, glaring at the wrinkly-faced man.

The wrinkly-faced man clenched his teeth and said nothing despite the pain.

“Heh, heh, it looks like you’re pretty tough. I guess we’ll have to give you a taste of having your Soul pulled out and refined for you to speak!” Another one approached with a sinister smile.

“Hahaha!” The wrinkly-faced man suddenly burst out laughing. His laughter contained so much madness that it immediately stunned everyone.

A moment later, he sneered and said coldly, “You want to refine my Soul? You’ll need to have the courage first! Do you know where I come from? If you dare to hurt a single hair on my head, my Sect will not let you off!”

Everyone’s faces changed as soon as they heard these words. The intimidation from the possibility that the wrinkly-faced man came from a great background was quite effective.

When they stopped to think about it, it did make sense. The wrinkly-faced man wouldn’t dare to attack an Emperor Realm Master if he didn’t have something like a top Sect backing him.

Perhaps Yang Kai had offended the Sect somehow, so the wrinkly-faced man was sent to assassinate him.

Just minutes ago, the other cultivators were only focused on repaying Yang Kai for saving their lives and didn’t think much about the situation; however, now that they had stopped and looked back on it, they found the matter to be quite strange.

“Hahaha, scared now?” Seeing the looks on the cultivators’ faces, the wrinkly-faced man sneered, “I advise you all to mind your own business. Don’t get in my way…”

*Pa...*

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly flashed in front of him, and a sound slap landed on his face.

The wrinkly-faced man was slapped silly. It wasn’t until several moments later that he recovered from the shock. Over ten teeth had been knocked out of his mouth, and blood was now dripping from its corners.

Although Yang Kai was unharmed by the wrinkly-faced man’s sneak attack, Zhang Ruo Xi was enraged nonetheless. She never imagined there could be someone so ungrateful in this world. Right after Yang Kai saved his life, he tried to kill him!

The death of a person like him wasn’t worth pitying!

If she hadn’t tried her best to suppress her anger, the wrinkly-faced man would’ve likely died from her slap.

The other cultivators were afraid of him, but she wasn’t.

It seemed that she was truly enraged this time, because an overwhelmingly violent aura surrounded her body, making her appear like a wild beast.

Everyone was stunned and looked at her, dumbfounded. They never thought a beautiful girl like her could have such a terrifying side.

“The wind has stopped howling, and the Yin Souls have dispersed. I won’t be seeing everyone out,” Yang Kai said indifferently, his expression unchanged.

The other cultivators quickly understood his meaning. No matter what grudge he shared with the wrinkly-faced man, and no matter what the wrinkly-faced man’s background was, he didn’t want nor need anyone else to interfere.

It was pointless to insist on staying when they were too afraid to do anything. What the eyes do not see, the heart does not grieve, why draw unnecessary fire to themselves?

After thinking about it, someone immediately cupped his fists and said, “Sir, this one will engrave today’s gratitude in his heart. I wish Sir great fortune and a safe return. Farewell!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the man ran out of the cave and quickly disappeared into the strange fog.

After one person left, the rest quickly understood the situation and followed.

A moment later, Yang Kai turned to look at Qi He Feng with great interest and asked, “You’re not going?”

Everyone else had left except him, which made Yang Kai speculate. And indeed, Qi He Feng shook his head, “This Qi has something to say to Sir.”

Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “So, you recognize me!”

It was not a question, but a statement. When Qi He Feng first introduced himself, he’d subconsciously glanced at Yang Kai, which made the latter somewhat suspicious. Now, he was certain.

When Qi He Feng heard his words, he couldn’t help but smile, “You noticed, Sir.”

“Was it Qi Hai?”

“Indeed, it was the Young Fort Lord,” Qi He Feng responded, “After his return from the Shattered Star Sea a few days ago, the Young Fort Lord gathered some confidants and described your likeness to us. He instructed us to keep our eyes open since you told him you would be coming to the Eastern Territory, Sir.”

Yang Kai snorted, “I only said that I was going to the Eastern Territory, but not that I would go to the Ancient Lands. Seeing you here… What a coincidence.”

“I believe you have heard of the restaurant in the city outside. That is actually owned by my Qi Family,” Qi He Feng explained awkwardly.

Upon hearing that, Yang Kai finally realized why the owner of the restaurant had wanted to give him ten bottles of Wild Wine for no reason. At that time, he’d already been recognized by the people of Qi Family Fort.

“We heard that Sir would be entering the Ancient Lands, so we came in early and waited inside the passageway!” Qi He Feng carefully picked out his words while constantly observing Yang Kai’s expression in fear that he would be displeased.

Yang Kai, of course, was not very happy, and said coldly, “I see your Qi Family Fort’s influence spreads quite far.”

“Please calm your anger, Sir!” Qi He Feng said hastily, “We only dared to inquire into Sir’s whereabouts because the Young Fort Lord…”

“I know!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “The Heavenly Frost Earth Rain. You can go back and tell Qi Hai that I can’t cure the poison! I no longer have ‘it’.”

“Ah?” Qi He Feng exclaimed in shock, “Then… Where is it?”

“What? Do I need to tell you that?” A cold light flashed through Yang Kai’s eyes. The existence of the Phoenix True Fire was not something that should be easily disclosed to others. Although Yang Kai believed that Qi Hai wouldn’t expose the news broadly, with enough clues one would only need to make a few assumptions to conclude that the Phoenix True Fire was with Yang Kai.

At that time, trouble would find him on its own.

Therefore, Yang Kai was dissatisfied with Qi Hai’s conduct this time. He hadn’t promised Qi Hai anything and only told him that he would go to the Eastern Territory in the future. He’d never agreed to get involved.

“Of course not, Sir!” Qi He Feng was shocked and quickly cupped his fists.

“Good, then leave and tell Qi Hai that if he dares to do this again, I will go to Qi Family Fort personally to give him my ‘regards’.” Yang Kai waved his hand impatiently.

Qi He Feng’s face changed. Qi Family Fort was formidable in its own right, but nothing good would come out of offending an Emperor Realm Master like Yang Kai; however, he couldn’t just go back without doing what his Young Fort Lord had instructed him to do either!

After thinking about it, he cupped his fists and said, “Sir, this Qi has one more thing to say.”

Yang Kai looked at him coldly, “If you say one more word about the detoxifying, I will throw you out.”

“No, no. It’s not about the detoxifying. It’s about… this person!”

As he spoke, he pointed to the wrinkly-faced man.

“You know where he’s from?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.

He was also curious. He was not familiar with the Eastern Territory and had barely entered the Ancient Lands Passageway when he encountered an assassin. It was truly quite strange.

Qi He Feng replied, “Sir, this Qi believes that this man is from Netherworld Sect!”

“Netherworld Sect!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and turned to stare at the wrinkly-faced man, whose expression was still twisted in pain, and then turned back, “Do you have proof?”

“Yes. In the past month, several disciples of Netherworld Sect were seen entering the Ancient Lands Passageway. According to the information I received from one of the Qi Family Fort’s disciples, these Netherworld Sect disciples stayed inside the passageway as though waiting for someone. The leader of the group is an Elder from Netherworld Sect, Hua Fei Chen. He is a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master.”

“Hua Fei Chen...” Yang Kai murmured to himself. The name was unfamiliar.

“You may not know Hua Fei Chen, Sir; however, there is someone in his group that Sir should be familiar with!” Qi He Feng said.

“Who?”

“Yin Le Sheng!”

Yang Kai raised an eyebrow and grinned, “Is he here too? Great! Enemies really do meet on a narrow road.”

Qi He Feng was stunned by Yang Kai’s evident anticipation. There were many disciples from the Netherworld Sect waiting for him, not to mention that this group was headed by a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, yet Yang Kai wasn’t afraid; as a matter of fact, he appeared to be very pleased!

According to his Young Fort Lord, Yang Kai was only a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Master when they met in the Shattered Star Sea. Therefore, he should only be a First-Order Emperor Realm Master now. No matter what kind of fortuitous encounter he had in the Shattered Star Sea, it should still be impossible for him to rival an old and experienced Master like Hua Fei Chen.

“We were confused as to what the people from the Netherworld Sect were up to in the passageway, but since Qi Family Fort is the great force controlling this area, we kept an eye on them. It wasn’t until Sir arrived at the desolate city that the Young Fort Lord realized it must be related to you, Sir. We’d heard that Sir and Yin Le Sheng had a very unpleasant argument in the Shattered Star Sea and deduced that the other side was holding a grudge. However, we do not know how they knew Sir would be coming to the Ancient Lands,” Qi He Feng said with a confused look on his face.

“Of course they’d know,” Yang Kai snorted.

The news that Xiao Xiao was in the Ancient Lands was revealed by Yin Le Sheng himself.

After seeing Yang Kai’s reaction back then, Yin Le Sheng must’ve guessed that he would come to the Ancient Lands to search for Xiao Xiao. Thus, he gathered people and laid in ambush, knowing that Yang Kai would appear sooner or later.

It seemed that the loss Yin Le Sheng suffered in the Shattered Star Sea was too much to swallow, and he held a great grudge because of it. It hadn’t been long since the Shattered Star Sea closed, and he was already prepared to set up a trap to kill him.

As for the wrinkly-faced man, he was likely sent out as a scout to track Yang Kai’s whereabouts. Little did they know the wrinkly-faced man would try to act on his own and launch a sneak attack on Yang Kai, which ultimately resulted in their plan falling one step short of success.

“Yin Le Sheng… you’re dead this time!” Yang Kai sneered as he muttered to himself.

Last time, he let Yin Le Sheng go because he wanted to find out Xiao Xiao’s whereabouts. They had signed a Soul Contract, and were bound by its terms, so Yang Kai couldn’t kill him even though he wanted to.

Now that Yin Le Sheng had sent himself to his doorstep, Yang Kai naturally would not show any mercy.