Jun Xiaomo’s Mirror of a Thousand Reflections had indeed recorded every single one of Ke Xinwen’s actions. These disciples watched in absolute horror as they discovered that the usually big-hearted and magnanimous martial brother Ke had such a fierce and vicious side to him – this truly made them tremble in fear.
Wasn’t Yao Mo but an array master at the first level of Qi Mastery? What grudge did martial brother Ke bear against him that made him want to kill Yao Mo so much? He even unleashed his strongest Windsquall attack on him and turned everything around into dust!
If Yao Mo had been in the room when Ke Xinwen attacked, then he would most certainly have become minced meat under Ke Xinwen’s attacks.
Once these disciples witnessed with their very eyes how Ke Xinwen had attempted to attack Yao Mo, they could no longer justify making things difficult for Yao Mo. Thus, they remained absolutely silent.
These disciples were also thinking about the other disciple mentioned by Ke Xinwen, Lu Rong. Lu Rong was a fellow disciple of theirs, and seeing how things were, there was a good chance that Ke Xinwen had murdered Lu Rong and disposed of his body so that no one could find a single trace of it.
As they thought about these things, the disciples who had always been chummy with Ke Xinwen suddenly got gooseb.u.mps. Even Fan Hai who would adamantly stand up for Ke Xinwen was left speechless.
“That…these few distinguished guests, could I ask how you intend to deal with the man in this room?” The innkeeper asked cautiously. He could tell that these people knew the madman in the room, so he was careful not to refer to Ke Xinwen as a madman so as not to offend these cultivators. Therefore, he politely reminded Qin Lingyu and the others to think of a way to deal with this situation.
Jun Xiaomo leisurely fanned herself as she answered, “Innkeeper sir, don’t worry. These brothers standing around and that person in the room are martial brothers and sisters, so they definitely won’t ignore him and leave him here.”
The innkeeper smiled as he responded, “Ha…haha. That’s good, that’s good. I, Mr Yang, will have to thank everyone here for their help then.”
Everyone’s faces were absolutely downcast after Jun Xiaomo had spoken. There was little they could do to salvage their reputation now that Ke Xinwen had acted like this and tarnished Dawn Sect’s good name. Who knows how these onlookers would talk about the Dawn Sect disciples from now on? Perhaps they would say that the disciples from Dawn Sect were vicious people who would slaughter their own brothers; or perhaps they would say that a Dawn Sect cultivator at the twelfth level of Qi Mastery had lost to an array master at only the first level of Qi Mastery. Either way, there was nothing good that could come out of the the present situation at all.
Qin Lingyu also witnessed how Ke Xinwen was tormented by a well-linked chain of attacked from all these formation arrays that had been set up, and he sized up Yao Mo thoughtfully – this person is not simple at all.
At the very least, he had definitely underestimated his opponent prior to this. Who would have thought that even with a low cultivation, Yao Mo was incredibly talented and knowledgeable in the field of formation arrays? Normal array masters would not have been able to set up this chain of formation array attacks within such a short amount of time, and with the s.p.a.ce constraints Yao Mo had.
As Qin Lingyu turned his thoughts to how Ye Xiuwen and Yao Mo maintained such a good relations.h.i.+p, he could not help but have a bad feeling about all of this. Perhaps the plans that he and his master had carefully crafted would have to be modified to deal with this new variable. Otherwise, with this formidable array master by Ye Xiuwen’s side, it might truly be difficult to achieve their initial goals right now.
At this moment, Jun Xiaomo stored her Mirror of a Thousand Reflections in her Interspatial Ring. As it vanished into thin air, Qin Lingyu’s eyes curled up, exuding a greedy, covetous intent.
If this person could take out such priceless treasures with such east, perhaps Yao Mo’s true ident.i.ty might not be as simple as I thought!
Several possibilities flashed quickly across Qin Lingyu’s mind at this point, but he decided to shelf all these for the moment and adopt a “wait-and-see” approach.
In any event, the Mystic Woods are still about two to three months’ away by foot, and I can carefully plan my next steps along the way.
This final formation array set up by Jun Xiaomo, the Nightmare Array, was set up with enough spirit stones to last only up to noontime. Once noontime pa.s.sed, the formation array would lose its effects.
Ke Xinwen had been completely trapped in this illusion – his martial brother Lu Rong whom he had killed had time and time again appeared before him, and Lu Rong would not die no matter how much he hacked and slashed at him. Ke Xinwen’s face was now strewn with black streaks of dried blood, replete with a terrifying, macabre expression as he sought to take Lu Rong’s life again and again. Right now, Ke Xinwen was trapped in the illusion and he could not see his surroundings outside the formation array. Therefore, he thought that his surroundings comprised only of him and Lu Rong, and he once again hollered at Lu Rong in order to muster his energy and self-confidence.
But it was finally noontime, and the formation array had just started to lose its effects. At this moment, Ke Xinwen finally saw Lu Rong’s appearance start to blur and fade away as it became less and less corporeal.
Could it be that Lu Rong has finally given up on his vengeance? Ke Xinwen finally felt more at ease as he laughed manically, “Lu Rong, oh Lu Rong, it seems you could only put on a front and give me a scare. Look at you now – you can’t even deal with me as a ghost! Hahahahaha…”
Then shortly after, Ke Xinwen noticed that his surroundings were starting to blur as well. His heart tightened anxiously as he grew anxious by the prospects that this might be another one of Lu Rong’s tricks. Subconsciously, Ke Xinwen tightened his grasp around the large sword in his hands again.
Just this moment, a ray of bright light penetrated the boundaries of the formation array and entered Ke Xinwen’s eyes, causing him to shut his eyes reflexively. Then, in the next moment when he finally opened his eyes again, he realized that it was already daytime outside.
Under the effects of the formation array, Ke Xinwen had thought that he was surrounded by the darkness of night, and he did not know how much time had pa.s.sed as he battled the spirit of Lu Rong.
The bystanders around could see Ke Xinwen slowly calming down as he ceased flailing his hand about and slas.h.i.+ng that big sword in his arms anymore, and they looked at each other in dismay.
The show was over – this madman had recovered on his own, and his own martial brothers and sisters did not even have to do anything.
Of course, Ke Xinwen had not gone crazy to begin with. It was only under the effects of the formation array that he momentarily lost all rationality when he saw Lu Rong’s image appear before his eyes. Additionally, because there was no one else around, he naturally felt no need to temper his conduct and appearances with restraint.
But now that the formation array’s effects were gone, Ke Xinwen could finally see the throng of people surrounding and watching him. Apart from Yao Mo, who was fanning himself leisurely, the people standing closest to him were his martial brothers and sisters from the Sect.
These martial brothers and sisters had always gotten along well with him. But right now, everyone was looking at him with a complicated gaze in their eyes – obviously everyone had witnessed everything and heard every single word that he had shouted to “Lu Rong”.
On the other hand, Qin Lingyu and Ye Xiuwen knew that Ke Xinwen was a two-faced person, so they had the calmest of expressions among all the other disciples present.
As realization dawned upon him, Ke Xinwen’s face turned sickly green and pale. He could never have thought that the reputation he had carefully built for himself over all these years would be lost overnight just like that!
Most pertinently, if Qin Lingyu reported this matter of him murdering a fellow disciple to the Sect, he would definitely be summoned before the Sect Elders to answer for his crimes. If that happened, his life would be over.
“That…martial brother Ke, can you recognize us now?” Fan Hai noticed that the others maintained their silence, so he had no choice but to make the first move.
Truth be told, he was rather fearful of Ke Xinwen right now. And this was not solely because of his suspicion that Ke Xinwen had previously killed a talented fellow disciple, but also because of Ke Xinwen’s present looks.
Ke Xinwen had not rested the entire night, and his eyes were bloodshot. Furthermore, he had been battling with Lu Rong’s illusion the entire night, and his body was still shrouded with thick, murderous intent. Therefore, Ke Xinwen’s present expression looked manic and macabre, like that of a crazed warrior at the end of a long, arduous battle.
Ke Xinwen did not immediately answer Fan Hai. He wore a somber expression at this moment as he swept his gaze across the entire ma.s.s of onlookers, before finally resting his gaze on Yao Mo.
From his eyes, one could see that an intense fury and hatred for Yao Mo had ignited in his heart.
At this moment, Qin Lingyu stepped forward a few steps and obscured Ke Xinwen’s gaze on Jun Xiaomo, as well as the onlookers’ line of sight on Ke Xinwen.
Since the formation array’s effects had worn off, Qin Lingyu could easily walk into Jun Xiaomo’s room now.
As he looked on Qin Lingyu, Ke Xinwen’s face looked completely drained of colour – he knew right this moment that his fate rested in Qin Lingyu’s palms. If Qin Lingyu reported all of this to the Sect Elders, then there was no way he would be able to walk away from this incident intact.
Even the Second Elder would be powerless to protect him if this matter came to light. After all, murdering a fellow disciple was a grave crime within the Sect. Additionally, even if he managed to step into the Foundation Establishment stage before the age of thirty five, none of the other upper-tier sects would be willing to accept him as a disciple, given his criminal records.
Qin Lingyu’s eyes flashed with a cold gleam, as he patted Ke Xinwen’s shoulder and spoke in a low voice, “Let’s discuss this matter after we leave this place.”
Ke Xinwen loosened his grip on the large sword in his hand, deliberated for a moment before silently nodding his head helplessly.
There were just too many onlookers present right now. No matter how Qin Lingyu decided to resolve this matter with him, it was now considered Dawn Sect’s internal affairs, and there was no need for so many onlookers to be involved in this process or witnessing it.
Qin Lingyu led Ke Xinwen as he walked out of this place. As the bystanders noticed Ke Xinwen walk towards them, they all parted ways and gave him a great berth of clearance as he left. After witnessing how Ke Xinwen had put on a crazed expression on his face for an entire morning, none of the onlookers were willing to risk getting too close to him for fear that Ke Xinwen would once again erupt in a manic frenzy.
Right now, everything seemed completely surreal to Ke Xinwen. Last night, he was even chatting heartily and making merry with his fellow martial brothers and sisters. Yet overnight, everyone’s att.i.tude towards him had completely changed.
All of this had been caused by that darned array master! As he pa.s.sed by Jun Xiaomo, Ke Xinwen grasped onto his large sword tightly, fervently suppressing the urge to lunge over and hack away at that sc.u.mbag smiling at him with slightly raised eyebrows. He wished to kill Yao Mo with all his heart! But he knew that he could not make a move under everyone’s watchful eyes, because doing so would simply confirm and seal everyone’s impression of him right now.
He could no longer act with reckless abandon.
Jun Xiaomo also knew this. Therefore, when Ke Xinwen coldly stared daggers at her, she could still give Ke Xinwen a radiant smile from the depths of her heart.
Ke Xinwen was enraged by this, but he quickened his steps and fixed his eyes straight ahead. Everyone else consciously parted ways and allowed this madman to leave the premises of the inn.
“Ahem, that…dear guests…look at my room…” As the “madman” left the premises in large strides, the innkeeper was left almost in tears. Everything in the room had been turned to sawdust and wood shavings – who knew what his losses would amount to?
Therefore, the innkeeper had no choice but to look hopefully at Yao Mo and see if he would be willing to compensate for some of these damages. After all, she had been one of the main causes of this incident.
Jun Xiaomo pointed her fan at Fan Hai as she responded, “Look at how pitiful this innkeeper is. Won’t you make some form of recompense to him?”
Fan Hai did not expect Yao Mo to immediately nominate him, and he immediately pointed at his own nose as he responded in astonishment, “H-?! I pay him?!”
“Of course! Brother Ke is from Dawn Sect, and you’re from Dawn Sect. At the very least, you should help your martial brother Ke account for the mess he’s created, shouldn’t you?” Jun Xiaomo explained logically.
Most of the other Dawn Sect disciples had left the premises together with Qin Lingyu, and only Fan Hai was left to deal with this mess.
The other onlookers also felt that Jun Xiaomo’s words were reasonable, and they started to chatter among themselves as well.
In fact, Ye Xiuwen was also from Dawn Sect, but he had not spoken this entire time, and naturally he was outside the consideration of all of these onlookers.
Seeing how things panned out, Fan Hai frowned bitterly as he retrieved a whole bunch of spirit stones from his Interspatial Ring, counted out a few mid-grade spirit stones and ten low-grade spirit stones and handed them to the innkeeper, asking, “Is this enough?”
“That’s enough, that’s enough.” The innkeeper smiled radiantly as he accepted the spirit stones offered by Fan Hai.
Actually, this was more than sufficient compensation. However, this innkeeper was clearly not someone very honest, and he did not disclose this to Fan Hai. At the same time, Jun Xiaomo had also noticed that Fan Hai had given the innkeeper more than he needed to, but she decided to keep mum about it as well.
“Let’s go. We should follow them and see how your Sect Leader’s First-Seat Disciple is going to handle this fella Ke Xinwen.” Jun Xiaomo waved at Ye Xiuwen and Fan Hai.
Ye Xiuwen followed Jun Xiaomo. Fan Hai also followed behind for a few steps before he froze momentarily – Hang on. Why do I have to listen to this array master at the first level of Qi Mastery? This array master is an outsider, and we’re going to deal with our Sect’s internal affairs right now, so what right does he have to observe these matters?!
After Jun Xiaomo had walked to the other side of the stairs, she realized that Fan Hai had not followed her, so she quickly turned around and asked, “Brother Fan, you’re not leaving yet? Don’t tell me that you want to stay here and do the dishes for the innkeeper?”
Fan Hai: ……
Forget it. Just don’t think about it. We’ll deal with this after we leave this place. Fan Hai thought to himself, as he quickly left this place under the onlookers’ watchful eyes.
On the other side Qin Lingyu led Ke Xinwen out of the inn first, and the other disciples followed not far behind.
The other disciples had not come close to Qin Lingyu and Ke Xinwen right now because they had seen Ke Xinwen’s vicious looks earlier and they were afraid of him right now.
The more Ke Xinwen thought about it, the more furious he grew. He was already well above his boiling point, and he wanted so much to tear Yao Mo to shreds this instant. At the same time, he felt uneasy about how Qin Lingyu was going to deal with him.
Qin Lingyu’s probably going to report these matters to the Sect Elders, right? After all, I’m now also at the twelfth level of Qi Mastery, and I’m one of Qin Lingyu’s rivals. Ke Xinwen thought to himself.
Just this moment, Qin Lingyu turned around and faced Ke Xinwen as he asked plainly, “Do you want all these problems to go away?”
“Wh-…What?” Ke Xinwen did not expect the first thing that Qin Lingyu said to be this.
Qin Lingyu hooked his lips and smiled wryly as his eyes revealed a cruel and profound intent, “If you become my lackey and allow me to use you, I will allow you to continue practicing your cultivation in peace. How about that? Do we have a deal?”