Chapter 27: Madness
Returning home, Deng Yunliang still appeared somewhat absent-minded, as he had never expected Ji Yuan to be such a sentimental person.
Originally, Deng Yunliang had always thought Ji Yuan to be an aloof and indifferent cultivator, since he rarely interacted with others and kept to himself.
Yet after witnessing what happened today, he had not expected that Ji Yuan would actually step forward to save Lin Hu.
What’s more, Ji Yuan clearly disliked gamblers.
Although Deng Yunliang was unwilling to admit it, he could undeniably sense this fact.
Thinking back to what had happened earlier, Deng Yunliang couldn't help but worry whether Ji Yuan might blame Lin Hu’s gambling problem on him.
After all, it was he who had dragged Lin Hu into gambling in the first place...
If that was the case, and Ji Yuan truly decided to hold him accountable, how could he, someone only at the early stage of Qi Refinement, possibly stand against someone at the mid-stage?
Deng Yunliang also recalled the time when he had asked Ji Yuan to lend him money, and the cold, indifferent expression Ji Yuan had given him back then—it was as if Ji Yuan had been looking at a... dead man.
Deng Yunliang shivered, his face turning pale with fear.
‘No... I can't just sit and wait for death!’
As a true gambler, Deng Yunliang’s first reaction was... to gamble!
He grabbed a cup of tea and took a large gulp, then began carefully considering his options.
Ji Yuan was at the mid-stage of Qi Refinement, but he seemed to be quite wealthy.
Even the flying boat he used was of such good quality, and from time to time Deng Yunliang could hear the clucking of Green-Yellow Chickens coming from Ji Yuan’s backyard. It even seemed like he had recently started raising Spiritual Pigs.
Damn it, even what his animals ate probably tasted better than what Deng Yunliang ever got to eat!
How wealthy must he be?
The more Deng Yunliang thought about it, the more tempted he became.
If he could take down this neighbor, the fortune he could seize would be enormous—especially since Ji Yuan was an orphan.
That made it even better.
Even if he killed him, there would be no consequences.
That led to the most critical issue.
How could someone at the early stage of Qi Refinement possibly kill someone at the mid-stage?
Not to mention, based on how Ji Yuan had casually offered two Spiritual Fish last time, it was obvious the man was highly skilled in combat.
It was impossible for Deng Yunliang to confront him head-on.
That would be suicide.
If Ji Yuan was to be killed, it had to be done by someone else... Fortunately, Deng Yunliang had spent a lot of time frequenting various gambling dens in Zengtou Market lately and had indeed made quite a few acquaintances.
Though they were all gambling buddies, only those kinds of people dared to risk their lives.
If they were acquaintances from more respectable circles, who would dare take on such a task?
So who should he approach? It would be best to find two cultivators at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement. During the fight, at least one of them needed to die together with Ji Yuan... or even better, if both of them perished along with Ji Yuan.
That way, Deng Yunliang could walk away with the belongings of all three.
Of course, the premise was that he had to survive long enough and not get killed by Ji Yuan in the very first exchange... Several names began to surface in Deng Yunliang’s mind.
…
After Ji Yuan returned home, he soon forgot about the incident at the door.
With his cultivation having made a breakthrough and his strength having increased, it was only natural to spend more time adjusting to his magical tools.
Take the Black Gold Dagger, for example.
When Ji Yuan was at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, although wielding it wasn't exactly strenuous, it still consumed a fair amount of spiritual energy. But now, it felt entirely different.
He could control the Black Gold Dagger however he pleased with ease.
Especially after he had learned how to draw talismans, his manipulation of magical tools had become even more precise.
Ji Yuan spent the next two days cultivating at home.
Though he didn’t leave the house, he occasionally heard Lin Hu coming and going from early morning till late at night.
It seemed Lin Hu really had stopped gambling, just as he had promised.
As for Deng Yunliang, it appeared he had received some visitors over the past few days.
Ji Yuan had noticed two unfamiliar auras coming and going. However, since they hadn't disturbed him, he paid them no mind.
It wasn't until the third day that he decided to go out to buy some Semi-Spiritual Fish and Green-Yellow Chickens, along with some talisman paper and talisman ink.
Just as Ji Yuan turned to lock the courtyard gate behind him, he suddenly sensed something amiss!
From his storage pouch, a streak of black light shot out, growing larger in the wind and suspending itself behind him.
“Ding—”
A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out as the Black Gold Dagger was forcibly pushed back by a tremendous force, pressing against Ji Yuan’s back with significant power.
If it had been an ordinary cultivator, their internal organs might have suffered severe injuries from that single strike.
Unfortunately for them, Ji Yuan had trained his body!
He rolled back into the courtyard, even shutting the door behind him in the process.
“Not good!”
A startled shout came from outside the courtyard, followed by a Water Arrow smashing through the wooden door, reducing it to splinters.
‘Damn you!’
Spiritual energy surged violently around Ji Yuan as four Water Shields appeared around him, hovering in place. He leaped onto the courtyard wall in one swift motion.
With just one glance, he immediately understood what was happening.
Standing by the shore were two middle-aged men dripping wet, one in black robes and the other in gray.
Both exuded the aura of cultivators at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, their expressions fierce and ruthless.
Above the head of the man in black robes floated a magical tool—a bronze spike about the size of an arm.
Clearly, this was the weapon that had just ambushed Ji Yuan.
If his reaction had been any slower, he might already be a corpse on the ground.
Standing at the gate of Ji Yuan’s courtyard was Deng Yunliang, clutching two Water Arrow Talismans in his hands, his face filled with panic as he stared at Ji Yuan.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan immediately grasped the situation.
A gambler... had gambled again!
Deng Yunliang truly lived up to his reputation as a gambler.
Despite being only at the third layer of Qi Refinement himself, he had the audacity to hire two cultivators at the fourth layer to assassinate Ji Yuan.
Without wasting a second, Ji Yuan, standing atop the courtyard wall, activated the Black Gold Dagger.
“Go—”
He shouted lightly, and the short dagger vanished in an instant, slicing toward the black-robed man with the magical tool.
At the same time, Ji Yuan pointed both hands at Deng Yunliang.
Water Drop Finger!
Two streaks of spiritual light shot out, but Deng Yunliang, without saying a word, immediately threw out the two Water Arrow Talismans in his hands.
The collisions resounded with the sharp sounds of metal and water exploding.
Along with the noise came a muffled grunt.
The gray-robed man, who had yet to make a move, suddenly convulsed before falling over stiffly, becoming a lifeless corpse.
His eyes remained wide open, dying with lingering hatred.
The black-robed man turned his head to look, seemingly in disbelief, as he began to turn back toward Ji Yuan. “You—”
Before he could finish speaking, a faint streak of red light flashed before his eyes. He instinctively recalled his magical tool.
Standing on the courtyard wall, Ji Yuan pointed once more.
The Water Drop Finger flipped the bronze spike aside.
The Death Needle pierced through the air, embedding itself right between the black-robed man’s eyebrows, passing cleanly through his skull.
“Bang—”
The corpse toppled backward into the waters of Yunyu Marshlands.
These two had clearly been hiding in the Yunyu Marshlands earlier, which explained why Ji Yuan hadn’t noticed anything unusual. Well, now they could rot there as well.
Having killed the two assassins in one swift motion, Ji Yuan felt nothing.
Firstly, their cultivation levels had already been lower than his.
Secondly, they had no real combat skills—just empty shells with spiritual power who knew nothing about real fighting.
Take the recent exchange, for example: Ji Yuan had pretended to attack the black-robed man and Deng Yunliang but had actually targeted the man in the middle with the Death Needle. Yet the man hadn’t even bothered to set up a few Water Shields.
Clearly, they were nothing more than gambling addicts that Deng Yunliang had picked up from the gambling dens.
They weren't here to fight; they were here dreaming of getting rich.
Ji Yuan leaped down from the courtyard wall. Deng Yunliang had already collapsed to his knees, trembling.
When he saw Ji Yuan looking at him, he started kowtowing frantically.
“Ji... Ji Senior, Ji Brother, have mercy, Ji Brother!”
Ji Yuan, soft-hearted as he was, couldn't bear to see others bawling so pitifully, so he mercifully ended Deng Yunliang’s suffering with a single Water Drop Finger.
When it came to people who sought to take his life, Ji Yuan had only two choices.
Either die by their hands, or... kill them first.
After collecting the nearly worthless belongings of the three gambling addicts, Ji Yuan used three drops of Corpse Dissolving Water to eliminate the traces.
He then glanced around before heading to Lin Hu’s house and knocking on the door.
There was no response.
It seemed even Wu Qin had gone out to sea with them.