Chapter 796: Malevolent Squall Bandits
Xia Fei raised his head and asked with a smile, “Are you guys Malevolent Squall Bandits?”
Killing decisively without a hint of hesitation. Having witnessed Xia Fei murder his sect brother without uttering a word, this fat robber lost all his will to fight back. After all, killing was one thing, but killing so cleanly without any change in expression was another thing entirely. Xia Fei’s emotionless and cruel approach had shaken him to the core.
“Yes,” the robber answered with much difficulty.
Xia Fei nodded and commanded Peac.o.c.k Blue to loosen its grip, so that the robber would have an easier time answering his questions.
“What use do the Jade Forest Wrap and Thousand Shapes Painting have? Just who exactly is the master of this crypt?” Xia Fei lit a cigarette and continued his interrogation.
“The master of this crypt went by the name Thousand Mountains, once a super artificer, reaching level 8 cultivation, a hundred years ago. Plus, he succeeded in joining the G.o.d Race, managing to make quite a name for himself up there. He’s considered a hard-to-come-by talented artificer.
“Too bad that Thousand Mountains was too insolent a person, vicious in how he behaved and did things. In the end, he acquired too many enemies and was a.s.sa.s.sinated barely at the age of thirty-four. If not, he might’ve become a great grandmaster in the world of artificing,” the fat robber explained in a trembling voice.
Perhaps Xia Fei had scared him senseless, but his voice was very low and shaky, making it a little difficult for Xia Fei to make out what he said, so he had to try and grasp the meaning behind his words.
Xia Fei was surprised. A super artificer at the mere age of thirty-four? Thousand Mountains was truly a genius, and as for his sinister methods, Xia Fei was very much convinced of that. Had it not been for this extreme personality of the artificer, he would not have been someone who could come up with that long pa.s.sageway of death before. It was a good thing that he had the Law of Speed under his belt; it allowed him to evade the many traps set up, managing to pa.s.s through unscathed.
Xia Fei shook the Jade Forest Wrap and the Thousand Shapes Painting in his hand, indicating for the robber to continue talking.
The fat robber gulped as he said, “From what I heard, Thousand Mountains was so powerful because of the Thousand Shapes Painting that his ancestors had given him. The painting is a profound picture, and the comprehension of it will allow the user to reach the apex of the artificing profession.”
“The Thousand family’s ancestor was a G.o.d of artificing, also known as a max level artificer. The Thousand Shapes Painting was what the old man left behind, but it’s too bad that the painting was just too profound and complex, and most people simply couldn’t grasp it. Even the members of the Thousand family only had Thousand Mountains realizing the true meaning behind it all these years.”
Xia Fei gave a slight nod. It turned out that the Thousand Shapes Painting was actually a technique inheritance of artificers, which was a wondrous treasure. The fact that Huo Yutong had no knowledge of this meant Xia Fei would naturally take it for himself.
“And what about the Jade Forest Wrap?”
“That’s a protective covering, akin to war armor. There’s no cultivation requirement from its user. Artificers usually don’t have any combat strength to speak of, so this sort of high-quality armor that doesn’t require any cultivation is very popular, though it’s useless to a warrior.”
Xia Fei understood now that Huo Yutong was seeking armor—one that had no requirements to be used.
Huo Yutong would be leaving for the G.o.d Race soon, and he must know just how ruthless and dangerous it would be up there. That was why he urgently needed to get his hands on this armor that Thousand Mountains had previously worn for his personal protection. It was just that he had never imagined that the most valuable item on Thousand Mountains was not his armor but the Thousand Shapes Painting, instead! The lifetime inheritance of a heavenly master artificer!
Jade Forest Wrap was an armor for artificers, which was not particularly useful to Xia Fei. After all, he was a warrior, and the Monohorn Ogre armor from the Fig Corporation provided far greater defense than the Jade Forest Wrap.
“The question I’m gonna ask you right now is very important,” Xia Fei said sternly. “Have the Malevolent Squall Bandits made enemies and started feuding with someone recently?”
That person who s.n.a.t.c.hed away the Law of Time could very well have animosity with the Malevolent Squall Bandits, which was why he had left behind items bearing the marks of this grave-robbing organization, casting blame onto others. Getting to know the enemies of the Malevolent Squall Bandits could very well aid Xia Fei in his search for the Law of Time!
“E-enemy? The Malevolent Squall Bandits operate a business that can’t see the light of day. We practically have countless enemies!” the fat robber sputtered anxiously. Digging out the family graves of others already meant that they had already offended plenty of people out in the Law Realm. The entire Law Realm was practically their enemies.
Xia Fei persisted. “I’m talking about a specific enemy who’s fairly strong and vicious in their methods. It’s possible they are involved in some shady business themselves.”
“We’ve truly made too many enemies out there. Besides, my comrades and I are just the grunts. It’s our grandmaster and master who are the ones truly making the decisions in this!” The robber in black was scratching his head in distress, his eyes erratic.
*Whoosh*
Xia Fei abruptly left before the grave robber finished his sentence, leaving just Furball to keep an eye on him.
In the next moment, a series of loud fighting sounds broke out somewhere far away in a pa.s.sageway, which was preceded by a painful wail!
*Crash*
Xia Fei returned and tossed a black figure to the ground, stomping down on this new person with one foot.
This was an old man with milky eyes and pale skin, looking like the result of not seeing sunlight over an extended period of time.
His entire right arm had been cut off by Xia Fei, which only added to the pasty paleness to his white old face. Color had long drained out from his face, as sweat droplets the size of beans dripped freely.
‘Law Emperor cultivation… Not bad,’ Xia Fei said to himself as he looked at the armless individual dressed in black. Now that Xia Fei had reached level 5 Law Emperor, he was just a step away from becoming a Great Law Emperor. Adding the power he had from his Law of Primal Chaos, as well as all the treasures in his a.r.s.enal, Xia Fei was no longer a match for people at his level, so taking down a Law Emperor hiding in the darkness was a piece of cake.
“I believe that this must be your master?” Xia Fei asked.
The fat robber was dumbfounded as he moaned, “Master, why have your venerable self come all the way down here?! You must save me!”
“*Whizz!”
Before he could even finish his words, Xia Fei plunged Blood Crystal right into his heart, instantly turning the fat robber into a dried out husk.
“You’re better off praying for G.o.d to save you instead of your master! The one dying by my hands is precisely your master!” Xia Fei stomped out his cigarette b.u.t.t as he pointed the Blood Crystal right to the old man’s neck, while Peac.o.c.k Blue had already crept its way up the armless old man’s shoulder threateningly.
“Name?”
“Faru,” the armless old man hurriedly answered, well aware of just how powerful Xia Fei was.
“You’re not a very good master, sending your disciples off yet still feeling uneasy about it, so you ended up following them in secret. That poor fatty was even hoping you’d save him right till the end,” Xia Fei recounted with a somber expression. “If I didn’t do so, I’m afraid that you’d kill your disciple with your own hands; am I right?”
Old Faru’s expression changed. The situation was indeed as Xia Fei described. Thousand Mountains was a very devious and vicious person, and Faru did not dare to risk his life himself. As such, he sent his disciples to do the work in his stead while he tailed them from afar. The moment they uncovered the Thousand Shapes Painting and Jade Forest Wrap, Faru would kill the survivors and obtain the treasures for himself. ‘Dead men tell no tales.’ This was the best way to ensure that his disciples would be unable to leak a word.
The Law Realm had always been such a sinister place. Dangers lurked at every corner; Faru’s actions here were actually very common. After arriving at the Law Realm, Xia Fei could not help but feel that there were simply fewer good-natured people around.
Faru gritted his teeth and did not say a word, so Xia Fei smiled. “Same question as earlier, except you’re the one answering it now.”
Faru frowned, thinking before answering, “You must be speaking of the Mountainback Liu Clan. They mine and deal with all sorts of precious gems and precious stones. Because they depend on the mountain as their living, they are nicknamed the Mountainback Liu. They bear deep-seated animosity with us Malevolent Squall Bandits.”
Xia Fei furrowed his brows. “The one I’m looking for isn’t someone who sells rocks.”
Faru paused and said, “People in our line of work need a front. In name, the Liu Clan are merchants dealing in rocks and gems when, in actuality, they fence stolen goods. If they’re given the chance, they’ll have no qualms killing people in order to turn a profit.”
Xia Fei nodded. “You Malevolent Squall Bandits rob graves, while the Mountainback Liu fences stolen goods. You two ought to be partners in crime, so why the enmity with each other?”
“Hmph! We and the Liu Clan originally split profits forty to sixty; they take forty and we take sixty. Alas, these last few years, the people of the Liu Clan have forcibly increased their take to sixty, and it’s just because they’ve gotten stronger! For us to only take 40% of the profits after all our hard work, how could we accept such an arrangement?
“As such, we joined up with several other major bandit syndicates and went independent, forming our own network, cutting off ties with the Liu Clan once and for all. This directly severed their most important business, thus causing the feud between us. Both parties have had losses over this. Wouldn’t that qualify as deep-seated animosity?”
Xia Fei softly muttered, “Severing their path of fortune is no different from killing their parents. This would indeed generate no simple feud.”
Xia Fei’s eyes flashed as he asked again, “Since the relations.h.i.+p has soured to such a degree between you and the Liu Clan, there ought to be plenty of precautions taken against each other. I do believe that both sides planted spies in each other’s midst. Has the Liu Clan employed any large-scale mobilization recently?”
A single person could not have murdered the tens of thousand followers in the Old G.o.d Cult, and it was even more impossible for the Liu Clan to have made such a big move without stirring up even the slightest news. Getting a clearer picture would help Xia Fei make his judgment.
“Not at all. The Liu Clan has been very strange recently, almost as if they suddenly died out. According to the reports from our spies, a few more unfamiliar faces are among their midst, coming and going in a hurry, nor do they chat with anyone else.”
*s.h.i.+ng*
After learning about the situation, Xia Fei instantly slayed Faru with a flick of his wrist. The number four member of the Malevolent Squall Bandits, Law Emperor Faru, died!
“Do you believe his words?” The old demon lord asked.
Xia Fei shook his head. “I would at most half trust the words said by anyone and everyone. As for Faru, I only believe a tenth of what he told us.”
…
Huo Yutong finally got a hold of the Jade Forest Wrap that he had dreamed of. He kept trying it on, unable to put it down.
Xia Fei was not in the least bit interested in this. After all, the Jade Forest Wrap was something made for people who had no combat strength to speak of, so Xia Fei liked his war armor even more. Besides, he had already obtained the Thousand Shapes Painting, the most important item from the crypt—something that even Huo Yutong had no clue about.
Carefully storing the Jade Forest Wrap away, the artificer gladly expressed his thanks toward Xia Fei repeatedly.
Xia Fei casually replied, “Master Huo, now that you have everything you need, when do you think you can be done with the Celestial Zerohammer?”
“What are you in a rush for? You’ll be able to see it in three months’ time,” Huo Yutong said, not even raising his head to look at Xia Fei when he replied.
Xia Fei smiled as he extended a single finger. “I give you one month at most.”
Huo Yutong was first surprised but soon began chuckling. “Don’t think that just because you got me this treasured item, you’ll be able to order me about. When I say it’s three months, then it’s three months!”
Xia Fei took a sip of tea, completely unfazed, as he rumbled in a deep voice, “Though the Thousand family doesn’t have Thousand Mountains, they’re still considered a major clan in the field of artificing. If they were to learn that you had obtained Thousand Mountains’ Jade Forest Wrap, I wonder what they would do to you…”
This sentence he spoke held a tinge of insidiousness, causing Huo Yutong to blurt out indignantly, “Are you threatening me?!”
Xia Fei laughed. “Sorry, but there’s a function that the war armor possesses called video recording. I’ve ‘accidentally’ recorded that scene of you gleefully getting hold of your precious Jade Forest Wrap and also inadvertently saved it to a location that only I’m aware of.”
Xia Fei maintained his smile as he changed the subject. “That’s why I’m asking Master Huo to ‘accidentally’ complete the Celestial Zerohammer in a month’s time as well.”
Huo Yutong was so flabbergasted that his mouth hung agape. He had indeed been overly excited just now that he failed to notice Xia Fei capturing everything! Xia Fei basically had a firm grip over him right now!
That almost diabolical smile of his was causing Huo Yutong to break out in cold sweats.
This was the first time Huo Yutong had been tricked by Xia Fei, and it would not be his last as well. Anyone who ever wanted to take advantage of Xia Fei usually found themselves in quite a terrible end.
Xia Fei ignored the surprise Huo Yutong was showing as he got up and turned to leave.
“Everything has a price. Making me, Xia Fei, take a risk for you, has naturally a price, too.”