Chapter 224 - An Ungrateful Man
Chapter 224: An Ungrateful Man
“Papa, can I use fire now?” asked Tang Tang.
“Yes, you can use it when I tell you to.”
“Great! Finally, I can use fire now!”
Tang Tang let out a cry of joy, and two golden flames of fire appeared in her eyes, burning and jumping wildly. They finally turned into two strings of fire in the air and shot toward the iron that blocked the exit.
Under the fire of Eyes of Phoenix exerted by Tang Tang, a block of iron about one cubic meter was cut down from the solid obstacle like tofu cut by a knife and fell on the ground immediately.
Seeing that the fire released by Tang Tang was fierce as before and burned toward the upper part of the cave, Qin Haodong hurriedly cried to stop her, “Stop, Tang Tang. That’s enough!”
“Okay.” Tang Tang answered reluctantly but still withdrew the fire she released. The fire returned to her eyes and disappeared slowly after jumping for two seconds.
Hu Xiaoxian was astonished by the power of Eyes of Phoenix. She had tried to break the iron, which was so solid that even her Purple Flash Sword could not damage it even a little bit. However, Tang Tang destroyed it so easily.
Qin Haodong shared her feelings. Since Tang Tang had reached the Small Completion of Eyes of Phoenix, the fire she released was in a change from Innate Fire to Samadhi Real Fire and was very close to the latter.
“Papa, how is it? Am I brilliant?”
Tang Tang cried cheerfully.
“Of course, you’re so brilliant!” Qin Haodong then added, “But remember, don’t use Eyes of Phoenix without my permission.”
“Okay, got it.” Tang Tang answered obediently. “Papa, when can we go home? I miss mom now.”
“Then, let’s go home now.”
Their journey in Shennongjia ended in a satisfactory way, and they all completed their missions and gained much benefits, so, it was time to go back.
After finishing his speech, Qin Haodong collected the Dragon-shaped Bronze and the fallen block of iron into his Storage Ring. Even without the Spirit Stone of Upper Level, the Dragon-shaped Bronze was still a precious treasure, and the iron was even more valuable for making weapons, thus, he took both of them with him.
The three of them walked out of the undercroft and came to the formation where Lei Tianrui and others were trapped. Lei Tianrui and other four people were lying on the ground, barely breathing, without any energy to appreciate the treasures around caused by illusion.
Ordinary people would die in three days without food and water, but these five people survived as they were warriors, and because of hunger, their eyes grew hollow, their face turned pale, and they had no strength.
As Qin Haodong raised his hand and patted on the wall where the formation eye was, the formation was then destroyed. He picked up the formation board and formation flag, the material of which were extremely rare. He wanted to kept these two things for later use in setting up a formation, which he was good at.
After the Phantom Magic Field was destroyed, Lei Tianrui and others immediately saw Qin Haodong, Hu Xiaoxian, and Tang Tang. Seeing that the three were glowing with radiating vigor, they immediately said in a feeble tone, “Water, give me some water.”
Facing these people who had done many bad things but also were her companions, Hu Xiaoxian still took out several bottles of water and gave each of them one.
After they got the water, they drank it up in one breath without hesitation, and with the nourishment of the water, they immediately looked spirited.
“Xiaoxian, do you have any food? Hurry up, give us some.”
Having not eaten anything for five days, Lei Tianrui’s eyes were green of hunger. Brought up in a rich family, he had never suffered like this.
Hu Xiaoxian sneered. “So, you are not scared that we’ll grab your treasures and scrolls now?”
Until then, Lei Tianrui realized something. He shouted crazily glaring around. “Where are my treasures? My scrolls? My elixirs?”
As a formation builder, Zhao Qiankun found the clue to the whole thing. He said, “Calm down, boss. They are all illusion. We fell into a Phantom Magic Field just now.”
The Phantom Magic Field set by Sikong Zhaixing was indeed powerful with an extra function of creating illusion. Trapped there, Lei Tianrui dreamed of gaining the treasures but could not get out, and passed out in hunger in the end.
Lei Tianrui found the fact so unacceptable and shouted madly again. “Illusion? You meant they were all illusion? But how? We’ve definitely found something, haven’t we?”
“Come on, stop dreaming. This is not a treasury at all,” said Hu Xiaoxian, “but a cave belonging to a passed cultivator. There is no treasure.”
“Yes, there is! You must have hidden them somewhere. Show me!”
As he said that, Lei Tianrui charged at Hu Xiaoxian, raising his hands, as if he were about to search her body.
“Piss off!”
Hu Xiaoxian could not stand Lei Tianrui anymore and sent him flying with a kick.
Lei Tianrui bumped against the wall and fell on the ground, which also woke him up a little. He finally came to himself and collapsed on the ground.
“Xiaoxi, please forgive him. He just lost it,” said Zhao Qiankun, “Do you have any food? Please give us some, we’re starving.”
He was very smart to know that Hu Xiaoxian must have brought some foods with her as she still looked glowing after five days in the cave.
“Sorry, I don’t have any food either. We’ve been feeding ourselves with these elixirs.”
She had agreed with Qin Haodong that they would keep the heritage and Storage Ring as a secret and would tell others they survived because of some elixirs, which Qin Haodong had picked them up from the elixir room. They would make the same explanation to the officials.
Hu Xiaoxian handed the elixirs to the five people, who swallowed them immediately without hesitation.
These elixirs were made by Sikong Zhaixing in person and were nourishing despite that some of their effect had been lost with time.
After taking the elixirs, the five people no longer felt hungry but regained their strength.
After running the Genuine Qi inside him, Lei Tianrui felt himself at his peak status, which also gave him some courage. He scanned between Qin Haodong, Hu Xiaoxian, and Tang Tang and suspected them of stealing his treasures.
“Let’s go and check inside.”
He glared at Qin Haodong and led some people deeper into the cave. After checking around carefully, he found nothing but the elixirs in the elixir room.
Unlike Qin Haodong, he knew nothing about medicine and could distinguish the property and effect of the elixirs, which, thus, were useless for him. He dared not to take any of them in fear that he might be killed.
He could accept that he had to return home with nothing. Staring at Hu Xiaoxian and Qin Haodong, he said, “Since this cave is left by a cultivator, there must have been treasures in it, and the two of you hid them away. We came here together; you can’t keep the treasure yourselves. You must share them with us.”
“You’ve seen it, there is nothing like a treasure. What could be have gotten from it?” said Hu Xiaoxian.
“I won’t be convinced unless I’ve searched your bodies,” Lei Tianrui said, pointing at Qin Haodong, “Especially his backpack, I reckon he had hidden something in it.”
Hu Xiaoxian’s expression changed, and she said, “Who do you think you’re, Lei Tianrui? Even if we’ve gained something here, why should we share it with you? Who gave you the courage to request to search our bodies?”
Lei Tianrui sneered. “See, I’m right. You’ve hidden the treasures. I’ll be kind if you’d love to share them with us. If you want to keep them yourselves, don’t blame us for being ruthless.”
After saying that, he waved his hands, and Zhao Qiankun and others immediately surrounded Qin Haodong and Hu Xiaoxian, showing their intention to grab the treasures from the latter.
Hu Xiaoxian shouted with angry. “Don’t go too far, Lei Tianrui! I’ve saved your life just now.”
Qin Haodong said, “Xiaoxian, I’ve told you, he is an ungrateful guy. We should have left them on their own just now.”
Lei Tianrui said, “Save your words. You’ve no good intentions on us from the very beginning. Otherwise, you would not have left us in the Phantom Magic Field and escaped yourselves. You only wanted to get the treasures for yourselves.
“Throw your bag over here. I’ll spare you for the sake of your saving my life, or, you’ll have to die here today.”
Qin Haodong sneered coldly. “I’ve never seen anyone as shameless as you. You only blame on others while you’re nothing-for-good.”
Hu Xiaoxian said, “Don’t waste your words on these shameless bastards. Let’s go, Haodong.”
As she said that, she took Qin Haodong’s hands and tried to leave.
“Stop there, Hu Xiaoxian! Don’t think that you can do as you please because you are at second level of the Covert Power. With my brothers here, we can take down in joint hands.” Lei Tianrui then said to Zhao Qiankun and others, “Let’s take them down together, and all of us will have an equal share of the treasures.”
Though his voice was loud and full of confidence, he avoided Hu Xiaoxian and charged at Qin Haodong, one hand attacking Qin Haodong’s face while the other hand grabbing toward Qin Haodong’s backpack.
He thought that Qin Haodong was less powerful than Hu Xiaoxian, so, he chose Qin Haodong, a weaker one in his eyes, to attack. However, he had never expected that Qin Haodong was at the fifth level of Covert Power and had practiced cultivation methods and was number one expert among those at his level.
Naturally, Lei Tianrui got himself in trouble.
With his one arm holding Tang Tang, Qin Haodong slashed Lei Tianrui on the face with another hand. It was a simple but quick and powerful blow, which sent Lei Tianrui flying under the force.
Before he could figure out what was going on, Lei Tianrui smashed against the wall of the cave. The blow he received just now was much heavier that he received from Hu Xiaoxian, his face where was slashed swelled up, and his teeth were scattered on the ground.
“When… when did you become so powerful?”
Lei Tianrui struggled up and looked at Qin Haodong in horror. He could tell from the blow that Qin Haodong was at least above the third level of Covert Power and much more powerful than Hu Xiaoxian.
However, this also made him more convinced that Qin Haodong must have gained some treasures, otherwise, Qin Haodong would not have improved his cultivation so fast.
Zhao Qiankun, Dong Sihai, and others had wanted to grab the treasures together, but before they took actions, they saw that Lei Tianrui was beaten badly, which scared them and made them dare not to move.
Qin Haodong glanced around with a cold look and said in a threatening tone, “I don’t care if you’re from Xuanyuan Pavilion or not, I’ll kill you if you dare to make trouble for me.”
Lei Tianrui and his brothers shivered in horror under Qin Haodong’s glare. Though they were unwilling to give up, power decided all. It was obvious that Qin Haodong would defeat them with one hand, so, they surrendered in silence.
“let’s go!”
Holding Tang Tang and taking Hu Xiaoxian’s hand, Qin Haodong walked toward the exit of the cave. Seeing that they left, Lei Tianrui and his brother would not stay there either so they followed the three out.