After returning to the yard, Lu Li comforted Chen Zhong a few words and then went back to his room.
The celestial fruits on Qin Shouren were gone. Presumably, they had fallen into someone else's hands. Since only he himself knew that Qin Shouren had the celestial fruits, it was unlikely that someone had killed him on purpose to seize the treasures.
Then there was only one possibility. When Qin Shouren went up the mountain, he happened to run into an enemy. After the conflict between the two sides, the other party discovered the celestial fruits and then killed him to silence him.
And there was only one person who had a conflict with Qin Shouren...
The answer was almost obvious.
Lu Li didn't tell Chen Zhong his speculation because the other party must have been targeting Chen Zhong. Because Chen Zhong had told him before that he had beaten Sun Zi'an on the mountain.
According to speculation, since Sun Zi'an had already been beaten by Chen Zhong once, it was unlikely that he would go up the mountain alone to intercept Chen Zhong. That is to say, the other party had brought helpers...
He touched the three Explosion Talismans in his arms and clenched his fists tightly.
The Explosion Talismans needed to be activated by releasing true energy outward. At their level of the first level of Qi Refining, they hadn't even opened up a single qi meridian. Although they could mobilize true energy to make their bodies lighter, they couldn't release true energy outward at all.
Now, if they wanted to take revenge, they could only seek to break through to the second level of Qi Refining as soon as possible and then use the Explosion Talismans.
Moreover, the Explosion Talismans on Qin Shouren had also been taken away. For Lu Li, this was a very bad result. He had to be extremely careful.
He suppressed the impulse to take revenge immediately and directly entered the Time Hall.
At midnight.
In the last large courtyard in the residential area of the servant disciples, a young man in green clothes gently closed the door and walked out of the yard. This man had a ruddy complexion, a tall and straight figure, and an extraordinary temperament.
There was a strong look of satisfaction on his face, and he murmured, "I didn't expect that those few fruits would have such an effect. It's truly wonderful."
With that, he shook his clothes and walked into the small courtyard next door.
The room directly opposite the courtyard gate and the room on the left side of the courtyard were both lit. The young man in green clothes' eyes darkened, and he walked straight towards the room opposite the gate. He knocked on the door and said, "Xiao Cheng, open the door."
Immediately, the sound of footsteps came from inside the room, and a young man in pajamas opened the door. When he saw the young man in green clothes, he was stunned for a moment. "Brother Sun, why are you..."
At this time, Sun Zi'an stood straight, not looking at all like the obsequious look he had before.
Sun Zi'an chuckled. "The fruits last time were good. I特意 left one for you. Let's go inside and talk."
Xiao Cheng's face lit up with joy, and he quickly invited Sun Zi'an into the room.
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At the moment when Xiao Cheng turned around, a cold light flashed in Sun Zi'an's eyes. He took out a rolled-up yellow paper from his arms and threw it at Xiao Cheng's back.
Boom!
A loud explosion shook the whole house.
Looking at Xiao Cheng again, he was blasted forward for more than ten feet and fell heavily onto the bed. His back was a bloody mess, and the broken spine and shattered internal organs could be vaguely seen.
"You!" Xiao Cheng struggled to turn his head, but he died before he could finish a sentence.
"Humph!" Sun Zi'an snorted coldly. He turned Xiao Cheng's corpse over, searched around, and took out an identical yellow paper from his arms. Then his body swayed, and he hid behind the door.
In just a dozen or so breaths, the door of the small house on the left side of the courtyard burst open, and a burly man quickly rushed into Xiao Cheng's room.
When he rushed into the room and saw the corpse on the bed, his face suddenly changed, and he immediately turned around to go out.
Just at the moment when he turned around, a talisman suddenly flew towards him at high speed.
Boom!
Another explosion sounded, and the burly man was also blasted flying backward.
There was a hideous big hole on his chest.
"Sun Zi..."
The big man's pupils dilated, his head tilted to one side, and he died instantly.
"Blame it on your bad luck. Only the dead can make me feel at ease," Sun Zi'an showed a look of pain on his face. He searched the two men's bodies again. Only when he found an identical talisman on the burly man's body did he breathe a sigh of relief. "Such talismans, what a pity that two were wasted in vain."
After a while, he carried one on each shoulder and disappeared into the darkness easily.
The next evening, someone discovered the bloodstains in the house. Frightened, he immediately reported it to Steward Wen Hong. When Wen Hong heard that someone might have died, he was terribly frightened and rushed over to check in a hurry.
In a place like the Qingyang Sect, although the servant disciples were all Five Spiritual Roots, they were also the foundation of the sect. It would be a big deal if even one died, let alone two at once. If the Punishment Hall found out about this, it would be the least of his worries if he lost his position. He might even have his cultivation abolished and be expelled from the sect.
After some inspection, Wen Hong's face had become extremely ugly.
He found Sun Zi'an and asked him to secretly investigate this matter. And he strictly ordered the person who reported it not to spread the matter outside, or he would kill him.
Sun Zi'an had left the bloodstains on purpose to attract Wen Hong's attention so that this matter wouldn't reach the Punishment Hall. Wen Hong's arrangement was exactly what he wanted. He believed that as long as there were no more big disturbances in the valley, this matter would be over.
The next day, he came to Lu Li's courtyard and knocked on Lu Li's door.
Lu Li woke up from his cultivation and opened the door. His pupils contracted involuntarily, and he forced himself to calm down and said, "Senior brother, what's the matter?"
Sun Zi'an pretended to be ignorant and said, "Where's that guy named Qin Shouren? I haven't seen him for several days. Is he still going to do his tasks or not?"
Lu Li could tell at a glance that the other party had already taken the celestial fruits. He could hardly suppress the impulse to flare up in his heart and said coldly, "I just met him on the way. I'm not very familiar with him. If senior brother has nothing else to do, I'm going to continue my cultivation."
"Not familiar?" Sun Zi'an raised his eyebrows, looking a bit surprised. "Forget it. Maybe he thought cultivation was too tiring and ran away."
Then he "kindly" gave some advice. "Junior brother, perseverance is the key on the path of cultivation. You should understand that when senior brother arranged these heavy tasks for you, it was actually for your own good. Look at me, senior brother."
Speaking of this, he rolled up his sleeves, revealing an arm full of explosive power. "I also went through what you're going through now, and that's how I achieved what I have today. Do you understand senior brother's good intentions?"
"Junior brother understands." Lu Li lowered his head and didn't look at Sun Zi'an.
"Hehe, it's good that you understand." Seeing that Lu Li didn't show any intention of standing up for Qin Shouren at all, Sun Zi'an nodded with satisfaction and left happily.
Until Sun Zi'an had gone far away, Lu Li finally couldn't help but punch the door panel. With a crack, he punched a big hole in the wooden door.
Just at the moment when he was about to turn around and go back to his room, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Chen Zhong's tightly closed door on the right side of the yard. He frowned and walked over quickly.
The door wasn't locked from the inside. Lu Li pushed it gently and opened it.
Walking in, he found that Chen Zhong was lying motionless on the bed. His big face was ashen, and his lips were chapped as if he hadn't drunk water for several days.