Chapter 0: The Son of Yan Qihao
Along the way, Qin Gou and the Fire Crow envoys did not stop for a moment, rushing back to the ancestral holy land of the Bi Fang Clan.
Beast Land, West Qin Mountain.
Not long after their arrival, Qin Gou also met an old acquaintance, a tall and burly male cultivator with a stern face, the third elder of the Fire Crow Bi Fang, Yan Cang Zhou.
To be precise, Qin Gou had dealt with his Divine Soul Split Soul twice.
The first time, he was protecting Yan Qihao and was caught off guard, being thoroughly consumed by the fortuitously counter-effective Mo Qingxin.
The second time he appeared, it was by mistake that he identified the Falling Prison Stele as the culprit behind Yan Qihao’s death.
Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that he had intentionally misidentified it. After all, as long as Yan Qihao’s own misdeeds were concealed, the Bi Fang Clan’s pursuit of a wicked thief and revenge for their cherished disciple would be an excellent reason to legitimately set foot in another clan’s territory. At the same time, they had already wished to eliminate Duoyu for a long time.
“A mere Empty Illusory Snake would have such audacity? And it even involves the Demon Race and the Sea Race?”
After hearing the reports from Qin Gou and the others, Yan Cang Zhou’s eyes were as dark as water.
In recent years, friction between the Demon and Sea races has been minimal, and cooperation between them was not impossible, a point Yan Cang Zhou did not doubt much.
After all, if the two races were truly irreconcilable, why would the impulsive second prince of the Abyss, Mo Yu, have directly ventured into the Sea Race’s territory and repeatedly harassed Ao Banwei, who possessed true dragon bloodline, and not been beaten to death?
What truly puzzled Yan Cang Zhou the most was how the Huan Kong Main Vein could have such a deep relationship with these two races, even with the powerful protection of a Realm Lord Realm expert.
“Since a Realm Lord Realm cultivator interfered, the loss of this battle cannot be blamed on you,” Yan Cang Zhou pondered for a moment, his gaze radiating coldness, and thoughtfully said, “Moreover, that green-dressed Sea Race woman easily brings to mind a certain existence… that currently elusive Dragon Saint!”
Upon hearing this, Qin Gou was not too surprised. With the appearance of Little Fish, coupled with the preconditions of the Sea Race and Realm Lord, it was indeed not difficult to guess. And thus, if the Bi Fang Clan were to immediately gather their forces and rush to讨伐 (taǒfá – to punish) the ‘evil dragon’ with murderous intent, it would truly make people call them ‘madmen’ on the spot.
Qingyu, that wench, had guarded the Sea Soul for nearly a thousand years. As a generation of Dragon Saint, she had stabilized the sea with her own body. She was the object of faith for many Sea Race cultivators. Many Sea Race cultivators had grown up listening to the legendary stories of Ancestor Qingyu leaping the dragon gate and镇海魂 (zhèn hǎi hún – suppressing the sea soul). Even though the Kunpeng Zi Dian now presided over Dragon God Island, Qingyu still possessed the most astonishing reputation. Not to mention, Zi Dian was personally trained by Little Fish, and owed her a great debt of gratitude.
However, how the Bi Fang Clan would ultimately decide to handle this matter was no longer something Yan Qihao, whom Qin Gou was impersonating, and the other Fire Crow envoys could know. After some explanation, they had finally confirmed that they were neither meritorious nor at fault.
After Yan Cang Zhou left, seemingly preoccupied, Qin Gou immediately stopped Yan Kong, the Fire Crow envoy who had recognized his Faceless Hermit demonic mark earlier.
Qin Gou stood with his hands behind his back, and looked directly at Yan Kong, saying, “Drive the Spirit Boat to my cave dwelling. This envoy has something to instruct!”
A moment later.
Outside the cave dwelling belonging to ‘Yan Qihao’, Qin Gou seemed to have no intention of letting Yan Kong in. He simply reached out and gently patted his shoulder, his voice calm as he instructed, “Today, you will go to my clan’s scripture repository and search for information regarding the Soul Plunderer clan. Remember, you must present it to this envoy no later than noon tomorrow!”
Upon hearing this, Yan Kong couldn’t help but put on a distressed expression. It wasn’t that the task was difficult, but rather he felt that his superior was determined to hold a grudge against him for his previous slip of the tongue.
Following this, Qin Gou directly dismissed him, saying crisply, “Hurry up and go?”
His series of actions indeed seemed like he was deliberately making things difficult for Yan Kong, causing him to be heartbroken and regretful to the extreme. Even his departing back appeared dejected and utterly dispirited.
But in reality, Qin Gou’s true intention was simply… he had no idea where Yan Qihao’s cave dwelling was, and he happened to borrow the authority of his position, as if reprimanding Yan Kong, to have him lead the way.
Using the Spirit Talismans from Yan Qihao’s Nas storage ring, he opened the cave dwelling and stepped inside. However, before he could properly look around, he suddenly heard a series of tragic female screams.
“Young Master, please spare me!”
“You, if you take one more step forward, I will kill myself on the spot before letting you succeed!”
At the same time, he heard a man’s smug cold laugh: “Kill yourself? You don’t have that ability in front of me!”
Qin Gou immediately rushed over, slammed open a room door, and saw a young male cultivator restraining a woman in colorful clothing with spiritual power, approaching her step by step. He even made a move to strip her clothes.
“How dare you,” Qin Gou exclaimed in anger.
When the male cultivator saw Qin Gou’s current appearance as Yan Qihao, he hastily bowed respectfully, “Father!”
This person was Yan Qihao’s son?
Qin Gou maintained his composure outwardly, pointed to the pale-faced girl with desolate eyes, and said, “What does my son mean by this?”
“Father, please don’t be angry. She’s just a new maid my son found, but she is truly ungrateful and dared to disobey orders, so I intended to teach her a good lesson.” The person was still somewhat playful, and he deliberately glanced at the girl in colorful clothing, saying, “A rude person like this, if she weren’t somewhat attractive, I would have taken her dog life long ago as a warning.”
“But judging by your demeanor just now, this so-called disobedience clearly means this little wench refused to be taken advantage of by you?” Qin Gou’s lips curved into a playful smile, “You brat, you’re truly a scoundrel.”
“Father!” He probably thought Qin Gou was just joking, and chuckled again. At the same time, he noticed Qin Gou’s gaze fixed on the area behind him, and couldn’t help but turn his head to look curiously.
“Bang!”
In an instant, Qin Gou did not say a word and unceremoniously struck the back of the man’s head with his palm, causing him to crash straight onto the ground and fall unconscious.
Seeing this, the girl’s face was filled with panic.
Qin Gou immediately waved his hand, removing all the spiritual power restrictions on her, and said with a calm expression, “Don’t be afraid, wench, you are safe now. You won’t have to worry about this brat bothering you anymore. Just stay by my side!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the effect on the girl was indeed significant. Her eyes, which were originally filled with terror, instantly changed to a look of despair.
