Chapter 26

Qin Lie reburied Gao Yuan's body, erased the surrounding traces, and after a moment of contemplation, seeing that it was getting late, he headed towards the canyon.

The rain gradually stopped.

When he returned to the canyon, he saw the martial artists from the Ling, Feng, and Gao families still mining on the rock walls. They were all drenched like wet chickens, but their spirits were still high, as if the Yanyang Jade had stimulated them to the point of forgetting fatigue.

Even Liu Yan, who usually lay in the valley to rest, was not lying down. Instead, he came to the area with Yanyang Jade, looking at the people from the Gao, Ling, and Feng families working there with a spirited expression, closely guarding against any private hoarding of Yanyang Jade.

He had always been indifferent to Fire Crystal Stones because they were not valuable, and the three families had no weapon masters who would privately take them away.

Yanyang Jade was different.

The value of a Xuan-grade spiritual material was too great. If the three families privately hoarded Yanyang Jade, they could directly sell it at the Ice Rock City auction house to exchange for considerable wealth.

Therefore, Liu Yan had to carefully watch to prevent the three families from secretly hoarding the mined Yanyang Jade.

"Xiao Ying, how about having a few more drinks with Big Brother later?" Feng Lun grinned, his eyes flashing with naked lust as he stared at Ling Ying, who was not far away. "Big Brother is much stronger than Ling Feng and can take better care of you, hehe."

Ling Ying, drenched by the rain, revealed a well-defined figure, her full curves indeed inviting thoughts.

She held onto a rope with one hand, her feet on the rock wall, her plump buttocks slightly raised, making many of the Gao and Feng family martial artists swallow their saliva and stare at her boldly.

However, only Feng Lun dared to speak directly to tease her; the martial artists from the Gao family did not say much.

Feng Lun was Feng Yi's cousin, with a cultivation level of the seventh stage of Body Tempering. He was the one who had spoken rudely to Qin Lie before, provoking Ling Yushi's attack.

After being taught a lesson by Ling Yushi and scolded by Feng Yi, Feng Lun had been well-behaved for a long time and had not acted out of line recently. It was unknown why he suddenly became bold today.

"Go take care of your mother!" Ling Ying, a thorny little rose, glared with her beautiful eyes and cursed without any courtesy.

"Feng Lun! Clean your mouth!" Ling Feng frowned and couldn't help but coldly hum.

"Hehe, your little mouth is quite fierce, it's flavorful! I like it!" Feng Lun's eyes flashed with a hint of ferocity, and he lowered his head and laughed strangely. "I hope you can stay fierce, that way it will be more interesting..."

"Shut up!" Feng Yi said coldly.

Feng Lun clearly feared him, shrank his head, and said no more.

At this moment, the martial artists from the Feng family around him, for some reason, all had a look that was worth pondering, as if they were all expecting something, clearly different from usual.

"Alright, stop arguing, let's call it a day for today." Liu Yan squinted and interjected. "Not bad, today the three families obtained eleven pieces of Yanyang Jade, the value of which is much greater than our efforts over the past period! You three families can rest assured, the Pavilion will not treat you unfairly this time!"

Following Liu Yan's instructions, the martial artists from the three families gradually came down from the rock walls. After landing in the canyon, many people went to the tents to change into dry clothes.

Ling Yushi's neat green martial outfit was also soaked by the rain, revealing her graceful figure, which made Feng Yi look over from time to time.

Seeing that Qin Lie had returned, Ling Yushi smiled and smoothed her wet hair, saying, "I'll go change clothes with Ling Ying first, and then I'll make you something to eat."

She and Ling Ying shared a tent. As they entered the tent and changed clothes, it caused many of the surrounding martial artists to become restless, their eyes scanning over, wishing their gaze could penetrate the tent and see the beautiful scene inside.

After a while, she and Ling Ying came out in dry clothes, and Ling Feng and others also changed clothes and gathered over.

"Damn, those bastards from the Feng family, I don't know why they suddenly started talking trash. A few days ago, they were all fine, but now they dare to tease Xiao Ying!" Ling Xin looked grim, staring at the distant Feng family martial artists. "Yesterday, one of them said he was sick and wanted to go back to the Feng family for treatment. That guy didn't look sick at all; he must have discovered the Yanyang Jade and rushed back to the Feng family to report it."

Qin Lie's heart stirred, and he also looked towards the Feng family area.

"Hehe, look at that fool!" On the Feng family side, Feng Lun noticed his gaze and grinned strangely. "Him? He's even engaged to a woman the young master has his eye on... The head of the Ling family must have been infected by that fool, his brain is also messed up."

"Right, I heard that the Ling family is being suppressed by a woman surnamed Du, and they dare not speak up even when Ling Chenghui was killed," another person chimed in, lowering his voice and mockingly discussing the Ling family's disgrace, occasionally letting out a laugh that disturbed the mind.

The two families were a distance apart, and the conversation from the Feng family side occasionally drifted over, making the Ling family members look grim.

"Those bastards from the Feng family, have they taken the wrong medicine these past two days?" Ling Xin stood up and shouted angrily, "Miss, should I go slap their mouths?"

"Forget it, let them talk behind our backs, no need to pay attention." Ling Yushi weakly waved her hand, signaling him to sit down, and then said with the same confusion, "Those people from the Feng family have indeed been strange since yesterday. Feng Yi's gaze on me... has also become more bold."

"Is there something wrong with the Feng family?" Ling Feng asked solemnly.

"What could be wrong?" Ling Yushi shook her head. "With Liu Yan from the Star Cloud Pavilion here, what can they do? The Feng family, like us, is just a vassal of the Star Cloud Pavilion. The Star Cloud Pavilion can easily destroy the Feng family, and Feng Kai is also inside the Star Cloud Pavilion. What can the Feng family do?"

"That's true." Hearing her explanation, Ling Feng nodded and said no more.

Qin Lie listened silently, his heart stirred, and he vaguely caught a clue...

He looked blankly at the opposite Feng family, becoming more cautious, knowing that Gao Yuan's death was likely related to the person who left the Feng family.

According to common sense, as a vassal force, the Feng family would not dare to play tricks under Liu Yan's nose from the Star Cloud Pavilion.

But this time was different.

Yanyang Jade was too precious, and this was a Yanyang Jade mine, the value of which could not be measured! It was worth taking a risk!

Thinking along this line, Qin Lie suddenly found his thoughts becoming unusually active, as if he had been familiar with these matters for ten years and was very good at analysis and reasoning.

"If I were the Feng family and had already decided to offend the Star Cloud Pavilion to swallow this invaluable Yanyang Jade, what would I do?"

Qin Lie asked himself, and his heart trembled, feeling increasingly uneasy.

His conclusion was—kill all the informants in the canyon! Not a single person from the Gao family, Ling family, and Liu Yan would be spared!

Only by eliminating everyone could the news of the Yanyang Jade be kept secret, allowing them to swallow the mine and mine the Yanyang Jade before the Star Cloud Pavilion discovered it, then make other arrangements.

After reaching this conclusion, he looked at the Feng family martial artists and saw that their eyes seemed to reveal a hint of ferocity...

If this were true, they would naturally treat the Ling family as lambs to be slaughtered, and their attitude would be abnormal. The desires they usually hid towards Ling Ying and Ling Yushi would no longer be suppressed, gradually losing control.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Qin Lie unusually did not go out to practice, but remained in the canyon, blankly watching the people on the rock walls, seeing the three families working together to mine Yanyang Jade.

He carefully observed the expressions and small actions of the Feng family, finding that they seemed less dedicated to mining and were not as excited and focused as the Gao and Ling families.

Sometimes, when the Ling and Gao family martial artists were focused on mining, the Feng family martial artists would look at them from behind with eyes full of killing intent.

Qin Lie gradually understood that the Feng family was holding back because their current strength was not enough.

The Feng family martial artists were now waiting for reinforcements to arrive, to completely eliminate the Ling and Gao family martial artists in the canyon, as well as Liu Yan.

After roughly figuring out the intentions of the Feng family martial artists, Qin Lie returned to his usual state, wandering in the forests outside the canyon while the three families were mining.

However, he did not practice martial arts again but secretly paid attention to the surrounding situation.

"It's already July. If Grandfather was right, the Silver-Winged Demon Wolf should be returning soon. Without the Silver-Winged Demon Wolf, it would be best to immediately notify Ling Yushi to leave the Tianlang Mountain to avoid being surrounded and killed by the Feng family's reinforcements. But with the arrival of the Silver-Winged Demon Wolf, there are many variables..."

Qin Lie also secretly planned, carefully wandering around the area, hiding in the shadows and quietly observing the situation.

Three more days passed.

During these three days, the Feng family martial artists frequently had minor conflicts with the Ling and Gao families. Even Liu Yan couldn't stand it and severely reprimanded Feng Yi, saying that the Feng family martial artists were becoming more and more bold.

However, everyone thought that the Feng family martial artists were just overly excited by the Yanyang Jade, so they were acting out of line.

No one thought deeper about it...

Now, Qin Lie not only observed secretly during the day but also left quietly at night when the Ling family was asleep, patrolling the surrounding forests and being cautious.

He calculated the time, knowing that the people the Feng family was waiting for could appear at any moment, and he had to be extremely cautious.

One night, he was hiding in the branches of a dense ancient tree, resting his eyes, when he suddenly heard the "rustling" sound of footsteps.

Pushing aside the branches covering his head, he looked in the direction of the sound under the moonlight, his face suddenly changing, and he shouted in his heart: It's the Ice Shattering Manor!

He saw fifty to sixty martial artists with the Ice Shattering pattern on their chests, uniformly dressed, slowly approaching.

They deliberately lightened their steps and did not speak loudly, clearly preparing for a surprise attack, ready to kill everyone in the canyon while they were asleep.

The leader, with a withered face and cold eyes, seemed to be an elder of the Ice Shattering Manor, definitely at the mid-Opening Heaven stage!

Qin Lie only looked for a few seconds before his back turned cold, and he quickly and quietly descended from the tree.

He carefully made his way towards the canyon, afraid of making any sound. Only after putting a