Chapter 100: Nowhere to Fly

Master Lin, though not particularly powerful, was a man of many schemes. Having witnessed Jiang Dali’s penchant for bizarre behavior, he had now pierced through the young man’s intentions. He immediately resolved to drive Jiang Dali away to avoid any further complications.

Yet, as their eyes met, he couldn't help but shudder. Why had that fellow’s gaze suddenly turned so sharp? Master Lin feigned composure, but his heart was in turmoil. For reasons unknown, Jiang Dali suddenly posed a palpable threat. This would not do; for the sake of caution, he had to leave!

"Hmph! I have no desire to make an enemy of a junior like you. Be off with you; stop following us." Master Lin turned his head, refusing to make any further eye contact with Jiang Xiaotian.

Wang Lei led the other members of the Wang family in a barrage of insults, and even the other freelance cultivators, who were in the same boat as Jiang Xiaotian, wore complex expressions, clearly wishing to distance themselves from him.

But having been targeted so many times, the latter was already furious. To be told to get lost now? That was out of the question. He began to circulate his celestial energy, intending to subdue Master Lin and force a confession of his true motives.

However, just as he prepared to strike, two familiar auras entered his perception! They belonged to Wu Jian and Wu Siya. Having spent time with them, Jiang Xiaotian had committed the signatures of his companions to memory. Since they all hailed from the same village, their auras felt remarkably similar, allowing him to identify them instantly. They had entered the city park after all!

Before he could even feel a surge of excitement, he noticed that their energy fluctuations were chaotic and sluggish—they were likely injured! Ignoring the situation at hand, he knew he had to reach them first. Without a word, he turned and bolted.

The scene drew jeers from Wang Lei and his cohorts. Even Master Lin was caught off guard, momentarily stunned that he had actually been intimidated by such a coward. It seemed his own guilty conscience had played tricks on him. Wang Xuening flashed a look of disappointment; she hadn't expected Jiang Dali to simply run away. Shaking her head, she dismissed the thought. "Since Jiang Dali has left, let us prepare to move. We must find a safe place."

Master Lin offered an imperceptible smile and rose to lead the way. In the distance, Wu Jian and Wu Siya were frantically searching for an exit from the city park.

They had been assigned to different minor families, and these weak factions had been coerced by the Zhao family into acting as their vanguard. The city park was not as peaceful as it appeared. Perhaps it had always been this way, or perhaps the Ouyang family was pulling strings from the shadows, but the no-man's-land had become a place of lurking peril.

It seemed saturated with an unknown energy that slowed human reactions and dampened speed, making even breathing a labor. The energy was so thick it had condensed into a white fog—a detail missing from previous intelligence. Seeing the situation, the smaller families immediately moved to retreat, but a mid-stage external-force expert among them, secretly working for the Zhao family, forced them all deeper inside to scout the path for their masters.

Wu Jian and Wu Siya had crossed paths in the midst of this. They realized the no-man's-land likely held something that deterred the three great families and the authorities from entering rashly. To them, staying meant certain death, so they joined forces and fled. Naturally, their actions invited the wrath of the Zhao family. The Zhaos, having lost their minds, sought to make an example of them, intending to cripple them both.

If not for their respectable skills and tacit cooperation, they would have likely met a grim end. Even so, they were both wounded, surviving only by hiding in the low visibility of the fog. As the mist thickened, they felt as if they were trapped in a ghostly maze, unable to find an exit or decide whether moving forward meant escaping or venturing deeper into the abyss.

Wu Siya, being highly perceptive, finally understood why the imperial court and the Ouyang family had failed to crack the secret of this place for so many years, despite their ability to predict the appearance of treasures with such precision. It was not that they did not want to; it was that even the Ouyang family lacked the capability to investigate! No wonder this place was dubbed a no-man's-land. The martial artists who had come for a stroll or a sightseeing trip had no idea they had walked straight into the tiger's maw.

Wu Siya looked at Wu Jian with a pang of heartache. To protect her, he had taken several direct hits from the mid-stage experts, and now, covered in wounds and bleeding, he was only still standing through sheer grit. Wu Jian looked pale; he was slower, and if Wu Siya had chosen to abandon him, she might have escaped, but she had stayed by his side.

"What is this mist? Why does it even block the signal from our activity trackers?" Wu Jian asked with a weak, bitter laugh. Wu Siya did not answer; she was busy contemplating how to shake off their pursuers. Mid-stage experts were a dime a dozen in the Zhao family, and they had sent two of them just to hunt the pair down—a net from which there was no escape. Meeting other families would be useless; outside of the Ouyang family, no one would risk offending the Zhaos to intervene.

Even their distress signals were blocked. And even if a signal were to get through, only Song Yixuan could possibly come to their aid, but she would struggle to face two opponents of that level alone. It felt like a hopeless cycle.

Just as she was deep in thought, her heart skipped a beat! "Watch out!" Wu Siya shrieked, pulling Wu Jian back a step. A figure landed exactly where they had been standing, leaving a crater in the ground.

"Heh, running? Do you think you can get away?" Another figure appeared, cutting off their path of retreat. It was the Zhao family martial artists.

"Where did these pieces of trash come from, daring to defy the orders of the Zhao family? Nobody is leaving today. The two of you will spend the rest of your lives as cripples!"

"Hey, don't be in such a rush. This girl is actually quite pretty. If you're willing to spend a night with us, we might just spare your life!"

Wu Siya trembled with rage. She had never suffered such an insult. "I warn you! We are both members of the Falcon Squad! Consider the consequences if you dare to cross us!"

The two men exchanged a look, their expressions turning even more sinister. "Heh, then we'll have to show no mercy. The dead don't tell tales."

Wu Siya realized that even their affiliation was not enough to deter them. Her heart sank, but she refused to surrender to fate. Gritting her teeth, she pulled Wu Jian and retreated again. The two Zhao family martial artists laughed and caught up without the slightest effort.

"Stop wasting your energy. Kill the man, cripple the woman, and hide her away. We'll come back for her tonight, heh heh!"

Wu Siya’s face was deathly pale, her lips bitten raw. She knew they were trapped with no way out. However, a smug, mocking voice suddenly rang out: "Why wait for tonight? Why not include me in the fun?"