Chapter 1050 - 879: Vague and Unclear_2

Thinking again about Wu Jinliang's response strategy, and recalling Shi Chun's past when breaking through, these two guys made him curious about the Life Prison.

In the past, he'd certainly be thinking about how to go in and explore, even if his master broke the staff over him, he couldn't be stopped. But now, even without his master's intervention, he'd just think about it and not go to places he couldn't.

Moreover, his perception of the Nanshan Royal Court grew dimmer. The Nanshan Royal Court frequently called for things like eradicating evil and upholding the way, unexpectedly they were secretly nurturing a demon cultivator.

The few who arrived were shocked when they saw who he was carrying, of course they also noticed Li Hongjiu was using the 'Ice Sheep' to sustain the severely injured.

The leading cloaked man exclaimed, "Li Hongjiu, what is going on?"

Li Hongjiu glanced over his shoulder nervously and said, "There's a skilled pursuer. The three of them were heavily injured holding up the rear, likely in a dangerous situation. You might not be able to stop them, better escape back first."

At these words, the group hesitated in uncertainty. The lead cloaked man asked again, "What kind of skilled pursuer?"

Li Hongjiu, unwilling to waste words, directly went and stuffed the crippled cloaked man into the other's hands, then uttered a sentence and quickly turned to run back, "Stay and you'll know, I need to report to Mr. Yu first."

Afraid of not escaping quickly enough, he dumped the burden, leaving the others unsure whether to stay or go, unable to proceed.

Finally, the cloaked man suggested, "Let's go back and clarify the situation first."

He felt that after clarifying the situation, he still had the ability to find the killer.

Avoiding danger, the others had no objections, so they quickly retreated, soon catching up with Li Hongjiu. They couldn't just abandon him, since they still needed him to understand the truth. Using magic, they wrapped him up and rushed back together.

After a long run, the group returned anxiously to the vicinity of the exit and met up with their comrades.

Seeing Li Hongjiu, Yu Yifu hadn't even had the chance to question before being captivated by the severely injured cripple. His first thought was they had encountered a formidable enemy, quickly asking the expected question, "What happened?"

He pointed to Li Hongjiu.

Li Hongjiu immediately replied, "I previously went to meet Shi Chun to persuade him to surrender, it was pointless, he ran off. Knowing that once he ran, you guys would surely take action, I quickly hid to avoid being caught up." Pointing to the injured, "Later on, he came running with three others. Who knows what he was thinking, secretively insisted on going in a certain direction. I didn't know where he intended to go, but I did call out to them to come back, but I was too insignificant to stop them. As we walked, we suddenly found another group of people, strangely enough, he brought us right to where Shi Chun's subordinates were…"

As soon as he said this, someone immediately questioned, "Such a coincidence?"

Yu Yifu glanced back, raising a hand to stop the chatter, as some things might not be understood by many present, but he immediately grasped the situation because he knew the special abilities of the crippled cloaked man. What others saw as unreasonable, he knew had a cause. He then gestured to Li Hongjiu, "Continue."

Li Hongjiu continued, "Shi Chun's men were digging there. We were hiding and observing when suddenly, someone sitting on a dune turned and looked right where we were hiding, then directly charged over. Their attack power was formidable, it was inconvenient for me to engage, so I turned and fled. Later, he chased after us, telling me to take him back quickly, saying the other three couldn't hold for long, and then he fainted. On the way back, we encountered them…" pointing to the cloaked person holding the injured.

Everyone's gaze followed, and Yu Yifu came closer to inspect the wounded's injuries.

The cloaked person holding the injured said, "He's badly hurt, unconscious. Judging by the broken bones, the attacker's power was indeed strong, and the wounds carry significant leftover demon energy — it was a skilled demon cultivator."

Yu Yifu, inspecting the injury carefully, turned to ask Li Hongjiu, "Are you saying one person fought all four of them, with no other accomplices?"

Li Hongjiu, "Yes, just one person attacked, the distance was a bit far, could not see the face clearly, seemed to be wearing a mask, I was too focused on avoiding the danger to notice details."

Everyone knew that his so-called 'inconvenient to engage' and 'avoiding danger' essentially meant running away.

Someone dissatisfied with this vague explanation stepped forward, "Mr. Yu, I think this fellow is not being honest. There are too many loopholes in his words. How could Mr. Fang arbitrarily run in one direction and coincidentally find Shi Chun's subordinates leading to this danger? This guy might secretly have some unspeakable collaboration with Shi Chun."

Yu Yifu glanced at Li Hongjiu.

Li Hongjiu stiffened his neck and argued back, "What do you mean, can I command them to run that far with me? How would I know what craziness made him insist on running so far and just happen to meet Shi Chun's subordinates? You should wait until he wakes up and ask him yourself, don't ask me, I'm just as confused."

That person sneered coldly, "Being stubborn is useless, I think we need to use torture."

Li Hongjiu raised an eyebrow, "My Yanbao Sect isn't made of mud, you go ahead and try!"

He was truly unafraid of the threat, without evidence or reason, nobody would dare to openly act against him!

The person was angered and about to act out when Yu Yifu raised his hand to stop once more, "Lu Feng excels in tracking, perhaps he discovered Shi Chun's path and followed the scent there."

The stopped person had to accept the explanation while remaining perplexed, not understanding why Yu Yifu would cover such an obvious flaw.

Li Hongjiu didn't concede easily either, speaking to correct, "Mr. Yu, it wasn't this Lu-whatever tracker leading, it was him…" pointing to the unconscious wounded.

Yu Yifu directly interrupted, "Alright, wait until he wakes to discuss."

He waved a hand to indicate someone should heal the unconscious one, then diverted the topic, "At Shi Chun's subordinate's place, did you see Shi Chun's mount?"

Li Hongjiu shook his head, "No, only saw a group of people digging in the sand." Glancing around, he asked, "Did you capture Shi Chun?"

This was a rhetorical question; if they had captured him, they wouldn't still be standing here.

Indeed, the fact they still guarded this place puzzled him. If Shi Chun had escaped, why would they still hold this area, waiting for those who went out to return?

Yu Yifu's brow lifted at these words, "That slippery guy got away, but he didn't flee far, hiding right outside in the protective formation. After all, he's an official of the Heavenly Court, we can't openly act in front of outside guards, that would escalate things. You're familiar with him, why don't you go out and speak with him again, we don't expect him to surrender, just one task, see if his mount is still with him, this won't damage your friendship…" His gaze was penetrating, leaving no room for refusal.

"..." Li Hongjiu was stunned, being besieged by so many masters, Shi Chun that brat hadn't left, what was he doing hiding outside, wasn't he going out to find help from the Heavenly Court? What on earth is happening?