Chapter Ninety-Two: Violence

A storm had risen. Over the deep blue sea, furious waves surged, and the trees on Emeraldwood Island swayed and rustled.

At that moment, a voice rang out, drowning even the roar of nature.

“Is anyone on the island? I am Hongsong of the Red Sprite Clan, come to call.”

Lanxi, seated in the attic, had been braced for this, yet she was still startled. She had not expected them to come so quickly. The moment Lei Xiang was hidden away, they were already on his trail. It seemed his calculations had been exact indeed. And then, hearing the name Hongsong, she was truly shaken. He was an elder of the Red Sprite Clan, infamous for his cruelty and ruthlessness. How was she supposed to deal with him?

As Lanxi hesitated, a streak of red light descended outside the attic. Hongsong had already arrived with five Red Sprites. Lanxi had no choice but to answer, “So it is Senior Hong. I am Lanxi of the Blue Sprite Clan. Forgive me for not coming out to greet you.”

Lanxi?

At the sound of her name, Hongsong’s pointed head gave a slight tilt, and a trace of barely perceptible amusement flashed and vanished at the corner of his mouth. “Niece Lanxi, no need for courtesy. Let us go inside and talk.”

He led his men in at once.

Lanxi, who had come downstairs earlier, hurried forward to greet him. Hongsong waved her off. “Niece, we have come this time to capture a vicious criminal, a human cultivator. Have you seen him?”

Lanxi’s expression did not change at all. She merely shook her head lightly.

Hongsong narrowed his small eyes. “That man has already killed my disciple, Marian Lei, who was at the late Foundation Establishment stage. Since your own cultivation has been lost, you are even less his match. It is safer to let me search.”

Lanxi replied calmly, “I truly have not seen him. You may search if you wish, but I think he may have slipped past the island. Think of it: a fugitive—how would he dare hide on my island? He must have gone to some desolate, uninhabited place to conceal himself.”

Hongsong kept staring at her delicate face, yet saw no flaw. He too considered this possibility. The Red Sprite Clan’s treasured white jade bed had lost all trace of itself in this region; perhaps the human cultivator had discarded it.

“I am still worried that the human cultivator may harm you. Better to search and be at ease.”

With that, Hongsong formed a seal with both hands and released powerful divine sense, covering all of Emeraldwood Island as he began to inspect it inch by inch.

Lanxi appeared composed on the surface, but inwardly she was deeply anxious. Would Lei Xiang, hidden inside the crystal stone puppet, truly be discovered?

To conceal the puppet’s aura, Lanxi had used the Illusionary Eyes, a supreme treasure of the Blue Sprite Clan. Any divine sense that passed over it would fall into illusion and fail to perceive what it covered. This treasure had been passed down for a thousand years; its grade could not be estimated, at least a fine artifact, perhaps even superior. But now that she no longer had any spiritual power to drive it by secret art, she had no certainty at all how much of its power she could actually bring out.

Suddenly, a meaningful smile appeared on Hongsong’s face, making Lanxi’s heart give a hard thump.

“My divine sense found nothing. You few, go search the outer island separately. Be thorough and examine it bit by bit. I will inspect this little building myself.”

After assigning the search, he watched as the others flew off on their artifacts. Only then did Hongsong casually cast up a soundproof barrier and speak to Lanxi.

“Do you truly not know? He is hiding in this attic, or are you deliberately concealing something?”

Startled by the abrupt question, Lanxi trembled all over. “No... I don’t know.”

Hongsong fixed her with a cold stare, as if he had not noticed her reaction at all. “Heh. My Red Sprite Clan and your clan are both part of the sprite race. Naturally I will protect you. Tell me why you are hiding this outsider. If there is a reason, I may consider not pursuing your responsibility.”

Lanxi sneered inwardly. If you have already locked onto Lei Xiang, there is no need to ask me. Besides, the Hongsong of ordinary days was famously hot-tempered—why was he being so mild today? Something about this was profoundly strange. She only shook her head slightly.

Hongsong suddenly sprang up, howling in fury. “You think I’m giving you a kind face? If you don’t talk now, I’ll kill you on the spot.”

Lanxi said calmly, “Don’t you find it strange that I live alone on this island? Have you not considered that my father is with me, and that he will be back at any moment?”

Hongsong’s small eyes rolled over her face as he weighed the matter. Lanxi was the Blue Sprite Clan chief’s adopted daughter. If the chief returned, of course Hongsong would not dare offend him. But a fat piece of meat that had reached his mouth could not simply be spat out. Looking at Lanxi, that plump little lamb, so many people would have given anything to taste her beauty—how could he let this opportunity slip by?

After weighing the pros and cons again and again, Hongsong still decided to take the risk. After all, that old fellow was not here. The girl was most likely bluffing. He would seize her first and speak later. By the time her foster father learned of it, there would be no way to tell who had done it.

Having made up his mind, he no longer hesitated. His body shot forward like a great roc, and his withered hands reached for Lanxi. Frightened, Lanxi retreated in a panic and fell backward into the chair. Her hand brushed, almost absentmindedly, along the armrest.

At that moment, Hongsong’s short arms suddenly lengthened by a full foot, and his gaunt fingers nearly caught Lanxi. Yet he was abruptly thrown back by a layer of pale yellow light, leaving him stunned. He could feel the tremendous rebound force in the yellow barrier—at the very least, a fine lower-grade artifact. He had not expected this little girl to have a hidden trump card. This was turning troublesome. He only hoped the old thing would not return so soon, giving him time to break through the defense.

Hongsong stretched both palms forward. Between his fingers, scarlet flames suddenly erupted, coiling like spirit snakes toward the barrier. The barrier showed no change, but Lanxi inside grew more and more alarmed.

When she left the clan this time, she had brought only two artifacts. One was the Illusionary Eyes for concealing Lei Xiang; the other was this Barrier of Iron and Splendor. From the looks of it, it would not hold for long. The Blue Sprite Clan chief did not even know she had run to this island, much less that he would come to rescue her. What she had said just now had indeed been bluffing.

On the other side, seeing that he could not break the barrier, Hongsong was also furious. He poured out his full power, and the fire serpents he spat became as thick as arms, crazily slamming into the shield formed by the Barrier of Iron and Splendor. It had already begun to tremble faintly, and the crackling blasts echoed without end.

As for Lei Xiang, hidden inside the crystal stone puppet, he had been sitting with eyes closed in meditation, carefully studying the situation. He had already made up his mind that once he escaped this time, he would certainly learn puppetry from Lanxi. This crystal stone body, equivalent to the Qi Refining stage, was far superior to those animal puppets in lion and leopard form.

Rumble.

A series of explosions reached his ears. Lei Xiang was startled. Activating Divine Thunder Severance, blue light flashed in his eyes, and through the thick stone wall and the crystal puppet itself, he saw Lanxi’s current predicament—and Hongsong’s face, twisted with lewd, shameless delight.

Lei Xiang’s blood boiled. This could not be allowed to happen. In his heart, Lanxi occupied the place of a goddess. How could she be defiled by such a man? Yet the instincts of a sniper forced him to cool himself instantly. He had to think of a foolproof plan.

At that moment, Lei Xiang’s mind spun furiously, thoughts flashing like lightning, and a bold plan was born. He had no way to control the Illusionary Eyes, but he could make use of the crystal puppet. After all, by now he had mostly figured out its workings. In this situation, seizing this puppet would not displease Lanxi either.

Lei Xiang no longer hesitated. With one hand he formed a seal, and a pale blue incantation shot into the puppet’s heart. The empty heart was immediately filled with blue light. Seeing this, Lei Xiang hurriedly took out a fine spiritual stone and fitted the rhomboid gem into the heart with perfect precision. A blue shockwave burst forth from the heart, surging along the Heart Protector Meridian and into the puppet’s meridians.

Lei Xiang sent out spell after spell. The blue shockwave traveled through each meridian. Once every passage had been opened, Lei Xiang raised his right hand and forced out a drop of essence blood. He then directed the blood through the puppet’s eight extraordinary channels and twelve regular meridians, until it finally settled in the energy sea acupoint and was completely absorbed.

With the deed accomplished, Lei Xiang let out a long breath.

For the crystal puppet to recognize him as its master this time, he also owed thanks to Lanxi’s total loss of spiritual power and her inability to find a fine spiritual stone. Of course, it was also because Lanxi no longer had power, so this crystal puppet possessed only Qi Refining cultivation. The making of a puppet was closely tied to the maker’s own cultivation, and once this matter was settled, Lei Xiang intended to find a chance to refine it all over again.