Chapter 22 - A Dead End!
"Auntie, I feel… that from now on, I’m afraid that the family can no longer harvest Fire Cloud stones from inside that mine." On the way back to Black Cloud City, Nie Tian finally couldn’t hold back any longer and revealed the suspicion in his heart.
In the evening, the sunset penetrated through the gaps between the dense trees and shone on the stone forest trail.
Nie Qian, who was in a hurry, suddenly paused after hearing his words.
She looked suspiciously at Nie Tian, and her eyes gradually become serious and solemn. "What did you say? Those Fire Cloud stones have been harvested within that mine by our family for many years. Lingyun Sect’s Lian Qi Shi also recently had a.s.sessed and a.n.a.lysed that with our speed, they can be mined for at least a dozen more years. How could it be suddenly cut off? "The Fire Cloud stones in the mines can be described as the livelihood of the Nie Family. It was through the harvest of the Fire Cloud stones that the Nie Family was able to obtain asylum from the Lingyun Sect.
Once the Nie Family loses this function, then for the Lingyun Sect, the Nie Family is good for nothing.
Even though Nie Beichuan had become the patriarch now, and she and Nie Donghai have been ill-treated in the family, she would never want to see the whole Nie Family being discarded by the Lingyun Sect.
"I"m sorry." Nie Tian bowed his head, took out the animal bone, and with an apologetic tone said, "It is all because of this. The flame energy required to condense the single drop of fresh blood was all from the Fire Cloud stones within the mine! It successfully condensed a drop of fresh blood but it drained all the flame energy within the Fire Cloud stones in the mine. I really think that all of the Fire Cloud stones have become average rocks. Even if they are mined and harvested, those mined rocks will no longer have even a hint of flame energy."
"The condensation of a a single drop of fresh blood absorbed all the flame energy in the Fire Cloud stones. How... how is this possible?" Nie Qian was aghast.
“I think it is." Nie Tian smiled wistfully.
"No, this is absolutely impossible!" Nie Qian shook her head repeatedly, with a look of disbelief on her face.
"If you do not believe me, then never mind." Nie Tian said angrily.
"I’m not going to argue with you. It’s getting dark and we should try to get back to Black Cloud City as soon as possible." Nie Qian looked forward. "So much has happened in the mines. I want to inform your grandfather of the situation so that he will be ready for any consequences."
"Okay." Nie Tian spoke no more.
Afterwards, the two no longer argued and went straight to Black Cloud City.
A quarter of an hour later, when they were just about to pa.s.s through the jungle, Nie Qian suddenly stopped.
"What’s wrong?" Nie Tian was puzzled.
Nie Qian had a serious expression and her breathing became rapid. Waves of spiritual power fluctuations that even Nie Tian could notice were rippling outwards like water with Nie Qian as the center.
"Sha! Sha! Sha!"
The leaves were rustling without any wind.
"Nie Tian! Turn back immediately, run with your fastest speed back to Gun Hill!" Nie Qian shouted.
"Crash!"
The silver bracelets on her arm suddenly flew out one by one towards the rear of the two trees in front of her. They burst out with bright, silver spiritual light.
"Ding! Ding Dong!"
Suddenly, the sounds of clashing metal rang out, accompanied by two m.u.f.fled snickers coming from behind the two trees.
When he heard the sound of laughter, Nie Tian’s face drastically changed and he instantly realized that something was off.
"Go!" Nie Qian exclaimed, as she immediately screamed.
She turned to look at Nie Tian. Her eyes were filled with fear and she looked anxious.
"Huh!"
The silver bracelets that had flown out of her hand were now spinning with a greater speed behind those two trees.
Behind the silver bracelets, two men dressed in blue walked out, both with a malicious smile.
"Run? Where can he run to?" One of them looked at Nie Tian coldly.
"Bang!"
At that moment, the silver bracelets flew back and hit awall of water that was condensed by Nie Qian’s spiritual power.
Nie Qian’s feminine body suddenly took two steps backwards. The silver bracelets were hanging on the wall of water like pendants. They didn’t immediately fall onto the ground.
She reclaimed the silver bracelets one by one. Then, she looked at the two men in blue robes with a pale face. "I"ve seen you two before in Black Cloud City!"
She remembered clearly that a few months ago, these two people were among the many strangers, that had been wandering around the Nie Family.
She soon realized that the appearance of these two people here must be due to Yuan Qiuying and the dispute in front of the jewellery store last time.
"You will soon be dead anyway. The two of us brothers aren’t afraid to tell you that we were entrusted by Ms. Yuan to come here," The other man in a blue robe said with a grin.
"It really was her!" Nie Qian clenched her teeth.
"Second Brother, you go kill the kid first. This woman..." The blue robed man, with a thin scar at the corner of his eye, suddenly curved his lips up in an odd smile. “She will be handled by me. Mrs. Yuan ordered that we cannot let her die a clean death. We took her money, so we have to complete the task. I certainly will make Mrs. Yuan satisfied. "
The other person smiled knowingly, then nodded and said, "Big Brother, I’ll come look for you after I kill that kid.”
"Sensible, ha ha!"
The two of them were joking brazenly. They obviously looked down on Nie Qian and Nie Tian. In their eyes, Nie Qian and Nie Tian were already dead.
"He’s still a child! I beg you, please let him go!" Nie Qian cried, "Whatever that Yuan Qiuying gave you, after I return to my family, I’ll give you three times as much. The Nie Family still has its financial foundations, believe me!"
Her probing just now had let her understand, that the two blue robed men in front of her had the spitiual power of at least the middle Houtian realm and their bodies exuded an aura of murderous intent. That meant that the two men weren’t ordinary cultivators, but had actually cultivated themself through endless slaughter
.
Her mind was clear and sharp, so she knew that she was no match for either of them.
"Both of us brothers received the Yuan Family’s grace previously, therefore we were indebted to them." The man with the scar at the corner of his eye chuckled, rubbed his chin, and said, "Also, I like your looks. Just accept your fate."
From his words, Nie Qian knew that it was unlikely she would survive today. She could not help it and screamed, "Nie Tian! Run away!"
"Ding! Ding!"
She flung both of her hands and the silver bracelets collided with each other, creating an ear-piercing whistle. With an even more shocking speed, they flew separately to the two people in front of her.
"Everybody says that the Nie Family has been watered down. It seems that is really the case." The man who was the leader shook his head. While looking at the silver bracelets that were shooting towards him, he said, "You’re the eldest daughter of the Nie Family and Yun Zhiguo’s previous wife, but you still use this kind of low level spirit weapon.”
When he was ridiculing her, he raised a prism shaped, round bronze shield.
"Huh!"
Reddish-yellow light radiated from the surface of the round shield, with sections of intricate patterns becoming clearer as the sparkling light became more radiant.
"Gravity Cataclysm!"
The man, who was the leader, shouted, and the gravitational field around him instantly multiplied its force several times.
The silver bracelets that were flying with a roar, suddenly fell to the earth due to changes in the gravitational field!
"Second Brother, even though we checked carefully, we can’t guarantee that there won’t be any pa.s.sers-by, so we have to finish this as soon as possible!"
"Big Brother, I"ll kill this brat first then!"
The other person replied, then turned away from Nie Qian and suddenly rushed towards Nie Tian.
The silver bracelet that was flying towards him fell instantly onto the ground, due to sudden changes in the gravity, and thus they did not const.i.tute a threat towards him.
"Nie Tian! Escape now!" Nie Qian was yelling crazily.
However, when the man came with lightning speed, Nie Tian stayed motionless even though his eyes were burning with flames of raging anger.
"With only the fourth Lianqi level, and under my brother"s mysterious yellow shield’s five times gravitational field, it would be strange if he could escape," The man that was running towards Nie Tian, said cynically with cold eyes.
Having heard him say that, Nie Qian seemed to become desperate, and in despair, shouted with all her might, "I will not let you go even if I die!”
"Puff! Puff!"
Nie Tian kept on breathing heavily. The spiritual power in his body converged rapidly to both of his legs, doing everything possible to fight against the sudden increase in the gravity from the inner depths of the earth, trying to make his body move.
But the earth underneath his feet seemed to have become a giant magnet at that moment, pulling him tightly to it.
He unleashed his full power, and yet he still failed to shake off the earth"s gravity. It was as if his feet were being crushed by a huge rock, and no matter what he still couldn’t move.
His feelings of despair, unwillingness, and irritability in his mind became more and more intense as the man approached.
It was also at this moment, that he suddenly felt the animal bone, that he was holding in his hand, quickly become burning hot.
……