Chapter 506 — Three Figures on the Road

CHAPTER 506

Three Figures on the Road

The three figures landed on the road without raising any dust.

Shi Feng stopped walking. Rain hung in the air ahead of him, thin and grey, and the last of the dusk was fading behind it. The hills on both sides were bare. There was no inn, no farmhouse and no other traveller within a hundred li.

He knew the yellow trim before he knew the faces. It ran down the sleeves of the two in white, and a sun was stitched over every heart. The one in the middle wore white edged in gold, bright even in the rain. Azure Sun Sect.

“Little local,” Qu Ming said. “A moment of your time.”

Qu Ming stood between his companions, a beaten-gold lantern hanging from two fingers. His dawn-coloured eyes looked calm and curious. That frightened Shi Feng more than open anger would have. The rain slid off a shell of light a hand’s width from Qu Ming’s shoulders, never touching his robe.

On his left, Ji Wen let the gold chain slide from his wrist and caught it again, bored. A cloth-wrapped bundle hung at his belt. On his right, Xie Yun held a bronze compass flat on his palm. His narrow face was still drawn and pale from the dais. The needle shivered once, swung round and settled on Shi Feng's stomach.

“Still there,” Xie Yun said. “Stronger than in the chamber.”

“Of course it's strong,” Ji Wen said. “He swallowed it whole. As the saying goes, a snake that is never satisfied swallows an elephant.”

Shi Feng said nothing. He was counting.

All three were at peak Golden Core. Their qi pressed against his skin even through the rain. Each carried a treasure that a Great Liang sect would have kept in its vault. Shi Feng had already seen those treasures at work inside the Ruin. He couldn’t afford to misjudge a single one.

His own core was near-full, but the stolen essence hadn’t settled yet. It surged inside him, hot and difficult to control. Having it in his core wasn’t the same as being able to use it. He could barely call on half. Until it settled, that fullness wouldn’t save him.

Three peak Golden Core cultivators. One road. No walls.

Run, he thought. Drifting Ash Step was at Major Success, and the hills were close.

Then he looked at the compass. It would follow him over every hill in the region.

Nobody was coming. Gu Zhan had gone to his master's quarry. Ling Qingzhu and Sima Lan were in other corridors, or already out. Lin Langtian was waiting at the seal, a hundred li behind him, and Lin couldn't enter the Ruin's gates even if he wanted to.

“You walked a long way from the exit,” Qu Ming said. “We were nearly impressed.”

“I should have noticed at the dais,” Xie Yun muttered. “A man crawling seven paces to the front.”

“You told me the Empire looked bright,” Qu Ming said. “I thought it was a joke. Then the cloud went dark.” He smiled. “It was a very good joke.”

“Say the word, Young Lord,” Ji Wen said. “I owe him a wrist.”

Qu Ming raised one hand, and his companion went quiet at once.

“We aren’t thieves,” Qu Ming said, lifting his free hand. “Our elders studied that Ruin for sixty years. You arrived on the last day and swallowed what belonged to us. Give it back. We’ll take it gently, and you’ll leave alive. Most regional disciples don’t get that choice.”

“And if I can't give it back?” Shi Feng asked.

“Then you can't,” Qu Ming said. “And we'll find out together.”

Shi Feng looked at him.

He really couldn’t give it back. The essence was already in his flesh and core; he had no method for drawing it out again. Even Mo Tianheng’s old notes said nothing about reversing this. Shi Feng doubted anyone on this road knew how, including the three men demanding it.

He also knew a second thing. If he said so, they wouldn't believe him. If they did believe him, it would only make them look harder.

So he chose the old answer. He closed his mouth and let the rain run down his face.

Xie Yun frowned at the compass. Ji Wen shifted the bundle at his belt. For three breaths, nobody spoke.

“Silence,” Qu Ming said at last, and the smile deepened. “I've heard that in the frontier, silence means consent.”

Shi Feng’s expression didn’t change. Qu Ming had turned his own rule against him. This time, keeping silent would give an enemy the excuse he wanted.

“Good,” Qu Ming said. “Ji Wen. Unwrap the lamp.”

The cloth fell away from a black iron lamp the size of a child's head. A pale flame stood in its mouth. It gave no heat. The rain over it simply stopped.

Shi Feng drew the Sword.