"Let's go take a look, but be extremely careful!"
Li Yan quickly transmitted his voice. However, having made a discovery, it was a cultivator's instinct to investigate. Otherwise, if an opportunity was missed, one would only regret it later.
The dilapidated ancient pagoda was only about fifty li away from them, and they arrived in front of it in a single breath's time.
The ruined pagoda was mottled and ancient, its brickwork pitted and uneven. The entire structure was black and gray. The pagoda had a hexagonal shape. On the first floor, which was exposed above the ground, five sides were windows and one was a door. The pagoda door was mostly obscured by yellow sand. Although it was wide open, it only allowed an adult to pass through by stooping.
Li Yan and Zhao Min had already activated their protective spiritual energy shields. They first observed the pagoda carefully from the outside for a long time but found nothing else unusual. Then, after scanning the surrounding environment with their Divine Sense, they stooped and entered the pagoda one after the other.
The space inside the pagoda was not particularly large, probably able to accommodate about ten people. The outside scenery could be seen from almost every direction inside the pagoda.
Li Yan's gaze immediately fell upon a withered beast bone on the ground, which was emitting a faint spiritual power. The fluctuation of spiritual power they had sensed earlier was coming from this beast bone. It was unknown how long this demonic beast's withered bone had been here. It was yellowish-brown, with many fine cracks on its surface. The bone was covered with a lot of sand and soil, and also had many black spots.
This beast bone was of a low rank. Perhaps someone had noticed it before but ultimately decided not to take it.
Li Yan did not immediately approach the beast bone. Zhao Min, having developed a perfect tacit understanding with Li Yan, would not proactively approach as long as Li Yan did not speak. She stood by Li Yan's side, also using her Divine Sense to observe the piece of bone over and over again.
After three breaths, Li Yan and Zhao Min suddenly flew up, rapidly retreating towards the pagoda door from which they had come.
And at that very moment, two streaks of light flashed, "swish, swish," and slashed across the spot where Li Yan and Zhao Min had just been standing. However, Li Yan and Zhao Min were unable to exit the pagoda. The scene before them distorted, and the surrounding scenery suddenly changed drastically. Li Yan and Zhao Min's bodies were also blocked by a force, pushing them back.
The doors and windows of the pagoda had all disappeared. They were now standing in a dimly lit stone chamber. The stone chamber was about fifteen to sixteen zhang in size, looking quite spacious. The floor beneath their feet was hard black rock, no longer buried in yellow sand.
At this moment, on the hard rock ten zhang away from Li Yan and the other person, there were two deep cutting marks, still emitting wisps of green smoke.
There were actually three other people in the stone chamber. The space here was filled with a thick smell of blood.
'A trap!'
Li Yan and Zhao Min stared ahead, the magical power around their bodies surging. At this moment, their path of retreat was cut off. They had been drawn into the other party's formation. The piece of broken bone from before was a bait deliberately thrown by the other party.
"You two… you two fellow Daoists, save me! This person is Min Qi, the 'Green-Robed Guest of the Grave Mounds.' He spends all his time… cough cough cough… all his time in the secret grotto hunting oth… others… I hope you can… can save us. This old one will definitely thank you with all… all my possessions, you two…"
In front of Li Yan was a man in a green robe with a gloomy expression, staring at them with a look of surprise and uncertainty. The green-robed man held a three-pronged fork in one hand. The prongs were sharp and long, and on the side of each prong were heart-stopping reverse barbs, glinting with a soul-devouring cold light.
He shifted his gaze from Li Yan and Zhao Min to the two people in a corner of the stone chamber. There was an old and a young cultivator there. A gray-robed old man was lying on the ground, his body covered in bloodstains. His chest was heaving violently, and a deep, bloody gash that revealed the bone was gurgling with blood, a truly gruesome sight. Beside the gray-robed old man was a beautiful young girl of about eighteen or nineteen, supporting the old man with a terrified expression.
There was a long tear in the clothes on her right back, as if cut by a sharp blade, revealing a large expanse of snow-white, tender skin. One could even vaguely see a small patch of snowy white roundness in front…
The gray-robed old man was still holding a long saber in one hand. Although his aura was weak, he was still struggling to get up. He was the one who had just spoken.
Li Yan's Divine Sense quickly swept over the three people here. The man in the green robe had a cultivation of Mid-stage Golden Core, while the gray-robed old man on the ground was at the Late-stage Golden Core. The young girl-like cultivator, however, was only at the Late-stage Foundation Establishment.
"Hehehe, I didn't expect you to have a trick up your sleeve, to actually send out a distress signal before being drawn into the formation. A true old fox. The withered bone left outside was just an ordinary demonic beast's withered bone. I didn't even notice it. Hmph! You two fellow Daoists, I have a feud with this person that spans generations. This matter has nothing to do with you. Just now, you only triggered my formation's restriction, which is why the formation attacked on its own. I didn't deliberately attack you. It's all just a misunderstanding!"
The green-robed man glared at the gray-robed old man with a vicious look, then turned to Li Yan and Zhao Min, a smile already plastered on his face. Apparently, with the sudden arrival of two Golden Core cultivators, he had to be cautious.
'So that piece of beast bone was left by this gray-robed old man…' Li Yan's face was as calm as ever, showing no expression, but his mind was racing.
"You two seniors, this person… this person doesn't know us at all. He set up an ambush here. My master was ambushed by him. I beg you two seniors to save us!" This time, before the gray-robed old man could speak, the beautiful young girl pleaded anxiously, tears already rolling down her cheeks. They had only wanted to come into the pagoda to rest for a bit, but they were ambushed by this person.
"You two… you two fellow Daoists, my disciple and I entered the secret… secret grotto… this time just to find some Second-rank medicinal herbs that might be extinct. I've only heard of this Min Qi's name. I have no grudge with him. He… he ambushed me here… This old one… Just… just now he was also overcome with lust and had ill intentions towards my disciple. This… this old one is no match for him. I… I beg you two fellow Daoists to help. Cough cough cough…"
At this point, the gray-robed old man coughed again, and blood once again gushed from his chest, as if his internal organs had been injured.
Hearing the words of the beautiful young girl and the gray-robed old man, the green-robed man just curled his lips. When he looked at the gray-robed old man, a trace of sinister killing intent flashed in his eyes. Then he swept his gaze over the pitiful, trembling, and beautiful young girl, and a lecherous light flickered in the depths of his eyes, but it was immediately suppressed by him.
All of this was seen by Li Yan and Zhao Min, who had been silent all along. Especially Zhao Min, when she saw the lecherous look hidden in the green-robed guest's eyes, a boundless sense of disgust rose in her heart. When she had just entered, the green-robed guest had also scanned her with the same gaze. Perhaps after seeing that Zhao Min's appearance was ordinary, he had stopped staring.
Li Yan and Zhao Min just listened in silence. This made the green-robed guest not dare to act rashly for a while. He had no idea whether the other party would attack or not.
Li Yan and the other person had roughly understood the meaning. This green-robed guest should have been the one who had ambushed the gray-robed old man. Otherwise, how could a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator be so easily injured by an enemy whose realm was lower than his own? But this gray-robed old man had also made the most correct judgment before being trapped in the formation. He had thrown out a piece of demonic beast's withered bone and had hastily tampered with it. Because the spiritual power on the demonic beast's withered bone was thin, the green-robed guest, in his haste to kill him, had not noticed it in time. But it was sensed by Li Yan and his companion, which was why they had rushed over.
By this calculation, Li Yan and Zhao Min had also fallen for the gray-robed old man's scheme. Li Yan was extremely frustrated.
Seeing that Li Yan and Zhao Min had been silent since they had entered, just quietly watching, a glimmer of hope rose in the beautiful young girl's eyes, only to have her face grow paler and paler. How could she not know the ruthlessness of the cultivation world? But the will to survive was an instinct for everyone. What's more, if she fell into the hands of a male cultivator, she would most likely become a miserable cultivation cauldron.
Seeing this, the gray-robed old man, while staring at the green-robed guest opposite him and tightly gripping the long saber in his hand, took out three storage pouches from his waist with his other hand with some difficulty.
"This is all… all of this old one's possessions. I… I hope you two fellow Daoists can take my disciple away!"
The gray-robed old man knew that it would be difficult to ask the other party to kill Min Qi, so he hoped that Li Yan and the other person, for the sake of profit, could take his disciple away. This time, he did not mention saving himself. Instead, he held the storage pouches and looked at Zhao Min. He sensed that Zhao Min's cultivation was higher, so of course, the two of them should be led by her.
Zhao Min still didn't speak. Li Yan finally spoke faintly at this time. His gaze also fell on the sharp fork magical treasure in the green-robed guest's hand.
"Was the attack just now really from the formation itself?"
Hearing this, the green-robed guest was disdainful in his heart. Of course he had wanted to ambush the other party just now. It was just that these two were too perceptive and had reacted in advance. However, on the surface, he showed a sincere smile.
"Of course. I don't know you two fellow Daoists, and I wouldn't be so arrogant as to attack two cultivators of the same realm at the same time, right? Just now, I was fighting with this old ghost. How could I have time to be distracted by the outside world…"
"Senior, he's lying! Just now, I clearly saw him attack outside the formation. The two cutting marks on the ground, you can tell at a glance that they weren't caused by a formation attack…"
Before the green-robed guest could finish, the beautiful young girl squatting in the corner of the stone chamber, ignoring the tears in her eyes, immediately retorted, her voice filled with a plea for help.
"Little girl, you really haven't been tamed by a man. Spouting nonsense in a panic. How could you possibly see the attacks of us Golden Core cultivators clearly? What a joke!"
The green-robed guest also unceremoniously interrupted the other party, the aura around his body becoming even colder.
At this time, Li Yan and Zhao Min opposite him looked at each other. After a period of silence, Li Yan spoke again.
"Who is right and who is wrong between you, we of course do not know, nor do we want to know. Fellow Daoist, can you open the formation and let us out?"
Hearing this, the green-robed guest was first stunned, not expecting the other party to so easily let the matter go. Then his face lit up with joy. He knew that there were no fools here. The other party should be able to tell at a glance that the attack marks on the ground were not caused by a formation. However, it was clear that these two knew they were in someone else's formation and were unwilling to cause extra trouble. As for whether the other party would settle accounts with him in the future, that was for later.
So he gently waved his sleeve, and a patch of hazy light shone in from a corner of the stone chamber not far from the gray-robed old man. Vaguely, some of the scenery outside the pagoda could be seen.
Zhao Min, on the other hand, frowned. She herself was not a warm-hearted person. On the contrary, she was as cold as ice to anyone outside her family. It was just that as a woman, the thought of the lecherous gaze the green-robed guest had also cast on her just now made her feel a little uncomfortable.
"Senior, please save me!"
"Fellow Daoist, Fellow Daoist, these things are all yours! There is a magical treasure of no low rank here, as well as several cultivation methods that this old one has collected over a thousand years, and more than sixty thousand Spirit Stones. Please… please lend a hand!"
Seeing this, the gray-robed old man no longer dared to hesitate. At the same time, he struggled to get up and bow. The storage pouches in his hand had been hastily thrown over. Just now, he had wanted to wait for the other party's promise before giving the things to them. Now, seeing Li Yan's cold and ruthless appearance, as if he didn't care at all, he could only take a final gamble. If Li Yan took the storage pouches and left, he would detonate the Divine Sense imprint left on the mouth of the pouch. But in that case, he would have truly and completely lost hope!