Chapter 700 - 699: The 4 Celestial Blood Bandits!

Chapter 700: Chapter 699: The 4 Celestial Blood Bandits!

"Well, well, if it isn’t the Celestial Blood Four Bandits. I can’t believe you’ve been hiding nearby this whole time. You really know how to play the part of the oriole stalking from behind, don’t you?"

Jiao Linghe let out a cold laugh, but inwardly she was already plotting her escape, her eyes continuously scanning her surroundings to find the best route.

This wasn’t a dead end, but her escape routes were cut in half. A great mountain loomed before her. Fleeing up its slopes would slow her down considerably, making her an easy target.

The Celestial Blood Four Bandits were especially formidable. Their strongest member was at the seventh layer of the Spirit King Stage, while their weakest was at the fourth. Her own cultivation wasn’t shabby either—at the fifth layer of the Spirit King Stage, she fell somewhere in the middle.

Their names were Celestial Slaughter, Celestial Water, Celestial Emperor, and Tianhui. No one knew their real names, only their titles. As their name suggested, they were bandits who committed every imaginable evil—arson, murder, and pillage.

"Don’t bother looking. Do you really think you can escape our grasp?" Celestial Slaughter sneered. "You’ve slipped away a few times before, but your luck has run out. You’re caught in our Four Locks. You still think you can run?"

"Heh heh, that’s right. Our Four Locks are astonishingly powerful. We once trapped and killed a ninth-layer Spirit King expert with them. I can still vividly recall the helpless look in his eyes!" Celestial Water chuckled sinisterly, his gaze raking up and down Jiao Linghe’s body. He licked his lips. "What a fine figure. I’ve rarely had a taste of a female Spirit King Stage Cultivator. Looks like my wish will be granted today, eh?"

"Celestial Water, stop being so disgusting. I bet you’d even eat your own woman one day," Celestial Emperor said with a repulsed look, but he didn’t press the matter.

When Celestial Water said "taste," he meant it literally. He was a cannibal. Eating people was his favorite pastime; he wouldn’t pass up anything he considered edible.

"Alright, enough. This little beauty is mine to enjoy first. She’s ruined our plans time and again. Once she’s caught, I’m going to have my way with her!" Tianhui licked his lips. How could he possibly pass up such a stunning woman?

He paid no mind to ordinary women. It was the powerful ones, those with high cultivation and real ability, that gave him a true sense of conquest.

There was no way the four of them were letting Jiao Linghe go—and especially not the Blood-Drinking Grass. They would have both the woman and the herb.

"Ruined your plans? You’re the ones who keep ruining mine!" Jiao Linghe retorted coldly. "What are you good for, besides robbery?"

"What am I good for? You’ll find out soon enough," Tianhui said, his eyes filled with lewdness. His intentions were utterly vile.

"Shameless!" Jiao Linghe stared at them coldly. "How about this: I’ll give up the Blood-Drinking Grass if you let me go!"

"Oh-ho, willing to compromise now, are we? You were so stubborn before. Finally realize the power of our Four Locks?" They broke into loud laughter.

The four chains they’d thrown were now anchored in place, locking down the entire area. A single sharp tug and the chains would constrict around her in an instant. With all four sides sealed, where could she possibly run?

The only way out was to brute-force a breakthrough. But could one person break a blockade set by four? Her cultivation was lower than theirs, and she was completely sealed in. The difficulty was immense.

"Fine, you win this time. I’ll give up the Blood-Drinking Grass!" Jiao Linghe said coldly.

"Heh heh, we already told you, why would we let you go? Have you ever heard of anyone escaping us alive once they’re trapped?" Celestial Slaughter said coldly. "Your life is ours, and so is the Blood-Drinking Grass!"

"Little beauty, I’ve got my heart set on eating you today. How could I possibly let you go?" Celestial Water licked his lips again. "Besides, if we let you leave, you might come back to get even with us someday, and that would be a problem. Everyone knows you’ve got a nickname—the Lady of Vengeance. You always repay your debts!"

Lady of Vengeance was her title. It wasn’t the most refined name, but it fit her style perfectly. She never failed to repay a grudge, even if it meant hunting her target to the ends of the earth to finish the job.

"That’s right. Now that you mention it, she ambushed us once, and we nearly died," Tianhui said, his eyes glinting with a fanatical light. "But that just makes it all the more exciting. Watching you struggle, seeing that hateful glare in your eyes... that’s the best part! I love it when they fight back. It really satisfies my desire for conquest!"

Each one was more depraved than the last. As expected of bandits, they weren’t just ruffians—they were twisted degenerates.

"So, you have no intention of letting me go." Jiao Linghe drew a short sword and held it over the Jade Box in her other hand. "If that’s the case," she said coldly, "I’ll destroy this Blood-Drinking Grass and then kill myself! Let’s see what’s faster—your attack, or me destroying this and ending my life."

The four men’s faces fell. Her death didn’t matter, but losing the Blood-Drinking Grass would be a serious problem.

Blood-Drinking Grass was a sixth-grade Spirit Grass, and a top-tier one at that, making it incredibly precious. It could drastically increase a person’s Blood Qi. Even someone on the brink of death could extend their life by several decades, or even a century, just by consuming it.

It wasn’t just a potent Longevity Medicine; it was also a powerful Spirit Medicine for replenishing Blood Qi. Blood Qi was the foundation for any Cultivator. With sufficient Blood Qi, one’s cultivation would be stronger, and they could even last longer when burning their Essence Blood.

One could say the Blood-Drinking Grass was far more valuable than Jiao Linghe’s life, yet she was now using it as a bargaining chip. It was a clever move.

"Destroy the Blood-Drinking Grass?" Celestial Slaughter sneered. "Go ahead. We’ll take the fragments. The medicinal effects will be greatly reduced, but we can still absorb what’s left!"

With a cold laugh, Celestial Slaughter immediately whipped his chain forward, apparently unafraid of her threat to destroy the Blood-Drinking Grass.

Seeing their leader attack, the other three struck in unison. They unleashed their full power, and their chains erupted in a dazzling light, forming a dense spiderweb that closed in around her.

At that moment, Jiao Linghe hurled the Jade Box. It shot through the air like Li Xuan’s Arrow. One of the bandits, reacting with incredible speed, flew over to intercept it. Seizing the opportunity, Jiao Linghe immediately shot through the opening he had created.

The one who had grabbed the box was Celestial Water. He wrenched it open, only to find there was no Blood-Drinking Grass inside at all—it was just a radish!

"She switched it!"

The four flew into a rage and immediately gave chase, their chains whipping through the air to encircle her. They were even faster than she was.

Jiao Linghe’s eyes went cold. She crushed a Jade Talisman in her hand and transformed into a streak of light, shooting toward the sky. But just as she began her ascent, a brilliant light descended from above and slammed her back down.

The instant she was knocked back, the four chains whipped around her, binding her completely. She couldn’t move an inch.

’An ambush!’ She hadn’t expected another trap.

Looking closely, she saw a middle-aged man blocking her path, a mocking smile on his face.

"I knew you’d try to trick us. Good thing I had our leader waiting in ambush, or you might have actually gotten away," Celestial Slaughter boomed with laughter.

’Leader?’ Jiao Linghe was stunned. ’Where did another leader come from?’

"Surprised? We’re not the Celestial Blood Four Bandits, we’re five! He’s our leader, Celestial Blood." Celestial Slaughter was immensely pleased with her shocked expression. After hunting her for so long, they had finally caught her. How could they not be delighted?

’Have the heavens themselves conspired against me?’ A look of utter despair crossed Jiao Linghe’s face. Her mind raced, filled with memories—a small figure, the sound of a child’s weeping—things she could never forget.

But it was a pity. From this day forward, she would never see them again. Never.

’Goodbye, world... Goodbye, Celestial Cloud... Goodbye, Xingchen.’ Tears streamed down her face. She prepared to take her own life. She had one last move left: self-detonation.

’It’s the only way to take my enemies down with me. For someone who travels alone, getting caught is always a risk. To avoid capture and humiliation, suicide is the only answer!’

"Sister?"

At that moment, a clear voice called out from nearby. She snapped her head up. Her eyes fell upon one face that was slightly familiar, and another that she had never seen before, yet felt impossibly familiar!