Chương 398: Zhou Zheng's death

"What the hell is going on? We deserve an explanation!" Chen Zhaofeng roared as they flew.

"Long story short, The Lian clan is actually the Teng clan and Lian Bao is Teng Yanbin in disguise, and we'll soon be hunted down by peak deities at best and by a Dao realm master at worst." Long Feng summarized everything and dumped it at once. The four youths nearly screeched to a halt at once, not daring to believe their ears.

"What the hell are you saying?!" Ren Ji was naturally the first to question.

"How is that possible?" Chen Zhaofeng muttered. Even with their shock, they didn't dare to slow down their flight. At the same time, they couldn't comprehend anything Long Feng said, as there were several terrifying points in his explanation. The Lian clan was the Teng clan? That didn't even make any sense! Lian Bao was Teng Yanbin? That was even more ridiculous and Ren Ji especially found it impossible to believe. As for the fact that they would soon be hunted down by peak deities or even a Dao realm master...

that was easy to understand but also the most terrifying point of all.

"Long Feng! Are you messing with us?!" Hua Zhi roared coldly.

"You're free to go back if you don't believe me."

"You!..." They all glared at him, unable to retort. It was obvious that something was wrong within the Lian clan, especially after the elder tried to stop them from leaving. None of them were fools. But Long Feng's explanation was just too extreme.

"Then you should give a more thorough explanation right now!" Chen Zhaofeng stated. Long Feng frowned before organizing his thoughts and guesses.

Within the Lian clan's valley, Lian Bao was seated in the central palace, deep in meditation when the old man from earlier appeared before him all of a sudden.

"Teng Yanbin, those brats have fled." Lian Bao's eyes shot open with a grim expression.

"Hm. I was right. That brat already knows something, and he drew them in."

"They're getting far away. What should we do with them?" The old man asked. He slowly lifted his head up, glancing at the old man.

"Kill them all. Leave none of them alive. That should also buy us a few days of time." The old man nodded.

"Good. I will personally lead a few peak deities and slaughter them all. Rest assured, none of them will survive even if they have three lives." He turned around and began to exit.

"Don't underestimate them. They're all inner disciples, so they should have lifesaving methods." The old man paused then snorted.

"Lifesaving means? I'm interested in seeing what means can save them from me." He released a bit of his energy, revealing his cultivation at the early Dao realm. After that, he vanished from the hall, leaving Lian Bao, or Teng Yanbin alone. He lowered his head slightly.

"Our plan will be disrupted... originally, they shouldn't have realized anything. We would let them go without hurting them so they would relay to their sect that nothing is wrong, buying us more time." He sighed.

"Unfortunately, that brat ruined that part of our plan, and has now ruined all five of them entirely. We can't let even one of them return to the sect, otherwise the consequences will be dire." His eyes flashed coldly as he thought of Long Feng, then hiccuped when he recalled the gaze that was on his back and couldn't help but frown deeply.

"I'm not sure of the specifics, but the Teng clan somehow murdered the entire Lian clan and transported their corpses to the Teng clan while relocating themselves to the Lian clan." Long Feng roughly explained, leaving the four youths stunned.

"Impossible! How can that happen?" Long Feng continued, "I'm not sure how exactly they did it. But the Teng clan had two, maybe even three Dao realm masters, while the Lian clan only had one, which is the so called Teng clan Chief's corpse we found in the Teng clan." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"That doesn't explain anything! You're making this all up!" Ren Ji roared.

"How do you know this? And how are you sure you're not wrong?" Chen Zhaofeng asked with a deeply troubled expression.

"The formations at the core of the Teng clan weren't activated, because there was no enemy. Teng Yanbin personally destroyed the weaker formations with brute force to sell their story. The corpses all had the exact same symbol on their robes as the current Lian clan's disciples. While it is possible to slaughter the entire Lian clan and transport their corpses, it is impossible to go as far as to undress them all jus to hide this flaw, and in a single night."

The four youths gasped with growing terror in their eyes as they listened to his explanations with the unsettling feeling that he was right! Long Feng wasn't done. By speaking out loudly, he was actually confirming his guesses and organizing the scattered thoughts in his head.

"Most importantly, I was able to sense Lian Bao's cultivation, and it wasn't at the early stage but the mid stage Dao realm!" He didn't mention the disguise that unraveled under his gaze. That wasn't worth mentioning right now. His final reasons caused them all to react instantly.

"Long Feng! Do you take us for fools? How can you sense the cultivation of a Dao realm master?" Ren Ji snapped. He was completely unwilling to believe that Long Feng was right, otherwise...

"Yes, that isn't possible!" Long Feng shook his head.

"I have my methods. I've said all I will, and whoever still has doubts is free to fly back. Perhaps your sincerity will soften their hearts and spare you the fate of dying."

"But why would they do that?" Chen Zhaofeng asked. Long Feng shook his head.

"That, I do not know."

"Their action is tantamount to betraying the supreme heaven sect! If the sect finds out, then whatever their reason is doesn't matter. They'll likely face the threat of extinction, which is why we must be eliminated."

"Have Teng Yanbin gone senile? Why the hell would they do this? What are they plotting that requires them to betray the sect?!" Ren Ji cursed. No one said anything as they continued flying. They had already left the valley far behind them and were quickly rushing towards the nearest city that had a teleportation formation. After hearing everything from Long Feng, they all had a chilling sense of terror in their hearts and we're unwilling to spend a single second more than they had to outside the sect.

About an incense stick worth of time later, all of their expressions changed as several auras locked on to them. Moreover, among those auras was a unique one that didn't belong to any Deity, a divine sense which could only come from a Dao realm master!

"They're coming!" Long Feng unleashed the full prowess of the third step, actually staying at the forefront of the group. Each of them out forth their entire speed, only hating that they couldn't grow wings and fly faster. Zhou Zheng's face was full of terror as he was slowly being left behind by everyone. Speed had never been his forte, and he had always replied on his defense and great power to overcome his lack of speed. But what do those count for in this situation?

He wouldn't even know how he died if he got caught! Gritting his teeth, he burned a bit of his cultivation and blood essence at once, quickly catching up to the others.

"They're closing in fast!" Chen Zhaofeng muttered grimly. The divine sense of a Dao realm master had already locked onto their locations. Unless they could outrun him or cut off the divine sense, he would eventually catch up to them.

"What do we do? We're fishes on the chopping board if even the peak deities catch up, not to mention the Dao realm master!" Zhou Zheng gasped agitatedly. By now, he was clear that Long Feng was still as ridiculous as before, maybe even more so. If someone would die first, it was certainly going to be him, and the last person to die might be Long Feng, after all, he alone had uncovered this entire ridiculous plot.

Ren Ji glanced behind breathlessly and caught sight of a dozen figures racing across the night sky, quickly closing in on them. One particular figure was way ahead of the others, rapidly covering the distance and bringing with him an overwhelming lifeform suppression. Ren Ji's heart was beating erratically as he thought of a way to save his life. He thought of countless things, but none it them would work.

As time passed, the Dao realm master's figure became clear hundreds of meters behind them, and he was still closing in. Clearly, he wasn't even trying hard, merely flying at his leisure and was still closing the distance.

"It's not Teng Yanbin!" Long Feng noted with some relief. Teng Yanbin was a mid stage Dao realm master. If he was the one chasing them personally, then death was a foregone conclusion for all of them.

"It's an early stage Dao master!" Chen Zhaofeng roared.

"What's the difference? He's still going to butcher us up!" Zhou Zheng roared desperately. What he wanted to hear was solutions! Not useless words that wouldn't help his heart!

"Brats! Running is pointless! I will grant you all a quick death if you stop!" The old man from behind causally shouted with a playful expression. None of the youths responded as they focused on running further.

"Hm. What bullshit inner disciples? Strength is all that matters in this world! I can sense your terror from over here, and it has already made my day!" The old man laughed as he decided to make it a bit more fun. He was already a mere few hundred meters away, which was already within the range of his attacks. He lifted an arm and unleashed a tremendous force that disregarded the distance and latched onto Zhou Zheng's body.

Even after burning his cultivation, he was still at the back of the group, barely keeping up. All of a sudden, the space around him tightened, slowing him down to a crawl. Zhou Zheng's eyes whitened with terror as he felt himself slowly being dragged backwards while the other four rushed further away in his eyes. He unleashed a piercing scream, catching the attention of the other four. They didn't slow down at all as the glanced back at him with pity and fear in their eyes.

"Help me! Ren Ji! Save me!" Zhou Zheng roared, causing Ren Ji's face to turn pale. Save him? He wasn't even sure he could save himself just yet! Zhou Zheng's eyes landed on Long Feng, who was at the forefront of the group and it looked like he had seen his last hope.

"Long Feng! Save me! I'll be your slave! I'll tell you the person who wants you dead! I'll do anything you want..." he was practically in tears as he cried out. Long Feng didn't even blink as he kept on flying. What a joke. Save him? He wasn't tired of living yet. Before Zhou Zheng could speak again, a skinny and wrinkled arm grasped his neck, lifting him into the air like a dead chicken.

"Help you? Look at them. They can barely help themselves." The old man smiled as he watched them run.

"This is so much fun. Hunting down such top geniuses like preys... I'll get them all, one by one, making them despair and die with resentment!" As he spoke, he tightened his fists, causing Zhou Zheng's eyes to bulge out as crushing sounds echoed from his neck. The old man threw the corpse aside before stretching his arms with a smile.

"One down. Four more to go... run, my little preys." He grinned ferociously before shooting after the four who had already vanished from his sight. Of course, his divine sense had been locked on to them, meaning his eyes were pretty much useless. He could track them down no matter where they went.

"Zhou Zheng is dead!" Ren Ji gasped, his face pale white.

"What do we do? He's already coming over again!" Hua Zhi shivered.

"Should we split up?" Chen Zhaofeng proposed without thinking, unable to properly think of anything right now.

"Split up? We're not doing that! I'm the leader! No one splits up!" Ren Ji roared agitatedly. If they split up and that terrifying Dao realm old man decided to go after him as the leader, then he would die faster than he could hide his emotions. They all wracked their brains but couldn't come up with a solution.

"Long Feng, do you have an idea?" Chen Zhaofeng asked. Long Feng had been silent since they started running, and since he had somehow deduced all these while they couldn't find a single clue, they couldn't help but place their hopes on him. Long Feng laughed bitterly.

"That's a Dao realm master. What idea can I possibly have other than a faster way to die?" Their eyes all turned dim as they realized that he was right. A Dao realm master wasn't something mere deities could face even with tricks and plots. The incalculable power gap and lifeform suppression was enough to void everything. Ren Ji's eyes rolled as he thought of an idea.

"Long Feng, how about you stay back and buy some time for us? I assure you that we'll return with help as fast as we can, and I will mention your contributions to the deacons so you'll be greatly rewarded!"

"Fuck your grandfather!" Long Feng was so enraged that he laughed and uttered a curse he had never used.