Chapter 24: Ren Tian's Burial

  "Hey, where are you going? I really don't understand this 'yōu míng qīng huǒ' (dark and light green fire), can you explain it to me?"

  "What is Dusty Pavilion again?"

  "Can't you have some basic manners? I'm also a person, can't you not ignore me so directly?"

  "My master is Sun Wukong, my second master is Zhu Bajie, and you, sir, what's your surname?"

  "Huh? No way! Hey!! Come back!! Where's my Spirit Spring Water?! You thief, bandit! Return my Spirit Spring Water!"

  Tang Yan teased a few sentences and suddenly woke up, rushed into the dense forest, but couldn't find any trace of that person again. No matter how he scolded or searched, he still couldn't find any clues.

  "Bastard, can't you be more shameless!" Tang Yan slammed his fist on the tree trunk, speaking lightly, but his face was exceptionally gloomy. After risking his life to hunt down a golden-haired violent ape, it was simply too much for someone to just take it away from him with ease!

  Lingyuan liquid is not just a life-saving pill, but also extracts the essence of life and absorbs negative emotions, which helps with the evolution of the Undying Heavenly Art and the power of the Silent Eye.

  Tang Yan didn't give up, continuing to search in the woods, but soon a thin fog filled the surrounding forest and slowly thickened. At first, Tang Yan didn't think much of it, as occasional fog in these deep mountains wasn't unusual, but after a moment, a faint warmth appeared on his forehead, followed by... danger!

  A sudden intense emotion!

  Tang Yan was unclear, and involuntarily touched his forehead, but didn't find anything unusual. The slightly hot feeling still existed, and the strange sense of danger lingered in his mind for a long time without dissipating.

  This sudden abnormality made Tang Yan alert and he quickly retreated into the dense forest.

  A thin fog seemed to have permeated the entire area, no matter which direction Tang Yan rushed in, he couldn't escape the range of the fog. After more than ten minutes, Tang Yan suddenly realized that there were shadows darting around in the surrounding woods, extremely fast.

  Are there monsters?!

  Tang Yan accelerated his sprint and leaped onto a dense ancient tree in front of him, quickly hiding himself.

  Not long after, four white-clad figures with wolf-toothed masks emerged from the fog and appeared in the four directions where Tang Yan was hiding.

  "Is it them?!" Tang Yan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, his body involuntarily tensing up.

  "Are you coming out yourself or should we take action?" Zhou Linglu raised her head, her clear and cold gaze directly fixed on the branch where Tang Yan was hiding.

  "Huh? Found out? Tang Yan felt a bit strange, this position completely avoided their line of sight, shouldn't have been discovered."

  "Tang Yan, come out yourself, otherwise you'll freeze into an ice sculpture along with this tree!" Zhou Lingluo's voice was cold and detached. The other three white-robed figures raised their hands one after another, and the temperature around them dropped. A crystal-like frost began to spread rapidly from the branches and leaves.

  How did she know my name?

  Tang Yan looked even stranger, slightly hesitant, jumped down from the tree and smiled: "Hey, everyone, good afternoon, looking for me... something?"

  "Is this guy crazy? I'm here to kill you! Zhou Lingluo was furious, having lived for over 20 years and never seen such a scumbag: "Nothing special, just want your life."

  "This... I don't care anymore, being able to die under a beauty's sword is still something I can accept. It's just..."

  "What's that?"

  "My bodyguard seems reluctant."

  "Bodyguard? What bodyguard?"

  "In simple terms, it's called a personal bodyguard!" Tang Yan walked casually, quietly observing the surroundings and thinking of an escape plan.

  Tang Yan's guiding principle in life has always been that he will never give up easily unless he has exhausted all possibilities.

  Zhou Linglu was secretly on guard, but it wasn't because of Tang Yan's threatening words. Instead, it was because when she activated the Water Curtain Tianhua to search for Tang Yan, she had always felt something was off. In a certain area of the entire misty region, there was always a faint blank space that no matter how hard she searched, she couldn't see the scenery within.

  In order to avoid unexpected situations, they deliberately surrounded them from four directions and checked if there were any abnormalities. As a result, no obvious discoveries were made.

  Could it be someone else sent by the Tang family?

  Tang Yanshan can send Tang Qiong to rescue Tang Yan, and it's possible that he will send another trusted person to serve as a sacrifice, which is not surprising.

  She has just caught a glimpse of Tang Qiang's terror and must be careful in her response.

  Compared to killing Tang Yan, one's own life is more important.

  "You know my name, so you should know what kind of person I am. Although I don't have any great abilities, I'm quite likable due to being handsome, elegant, and having a good heart, respecting the elderly and loving children, so he sent someone over to protect me."

  "Shameless! Where is your guard?"

  "My stomach is upset, I have diarrhea, and I'll be back soon."

  "Little guy, are you kidding me?"

  "Don't believe it? If you don't believe it, then just wait and see, maybe it'll be back soon."

  "Is that so? Then let's see if he can come back before we kill you, take action!!"

  Three figures in white robes simultaneously activated their spiritual energy, causing the air temperature around them to drop drastically. The crystal clear frost seemed to have a life of its own as it rapidly spread towards Tang Yan.

  Tang Yan's face changed slightly, this icy aura surrounded him from all sides, a completely angle-less attack, for himself as a small third-stage martial artist, it was simply a heavenly net.

  "Freeze him into an ice sculpture!" Zhou Linglu urged while remaining vigilant at all times.

  Tang Yan wanted to escape, but frost covered his entire body, and the biting chill quickly invaded. He tried to urge out the green fire, but was shocked to find that the spiritual energy in his body had begun to stagnate. A slight anger rose to his head, and he suddenly roared: "Hurry up and come out! I know you're nearby! I'll tell you everything I know!"

  "Stop pretending!" Zhou Lingluo didn't hesitate any longer and shouted in a clear voice: "Luo Xue, Bing Feng!"

  "Snowfall!" The three men in white clothes quickly switched their martial arts, and the surrounding mist rapidly gathered, transforming into snowflakes that silently fell from the sky.

  "Come out!!" Tang Yan bellowed in a shrill voice.

  "Save it!"

  "If I don't come out again, I'll die!!"

  "Die!"

  "Get out, you scoundrel who buys wreaths!" Tang Yan let out his final roar, but at this moment, frost had spread across his lips and frozen his entire body. Pale snowflakes fell silently, about to engulf him whole.

  "Finally... it's over..." Zhou Linglu let out a long sigh of relief, finally going to resolve this trouble.

  However... In an instant! A silent yet piercing sound wave came surging in, like a tidal wave. Whether it was the frost or the cold air, or even the falling snowflakes, everything vanished into thin air in an instant. Along with it, the frost inside and outside Tang Yan's body also shattered silently, disappearing.

  "Ah!!" The crowd was caught off guard, hugging their heads and screaming in despair. This sound wave was extremely eerie, like an invisible sharp blade ravaging the souls of Zhou Lingluo and others.

  "Who's there? Come out!" Zhou Lingluo and the others suddenly woke up, strongly enduring the sharp pain in their heads, and a strong icy aura burst out from their bodies, staring fixedly at the forest in front of them.

  "This little guy, you can't kill him for the time being." A cold and emotionless voice echoed through the forest, and under Zhou Lingluo's astonished gaze, a man carrying a pale paper person slowly walked closer.

  "Be careful, this guy is a bit weird!" The three white-robed men of the Wu Zong level suddenly became alert, they felt a strong threat from this person, or a kind of cold aura.

  Ah!!! The paper man behind the man showed slight movement, and then... the paper man moved on its own, crawling up the man's back to his head, its movements extremely slow and stiff, but its wooden head slowly drooping down, with a faint crimson glow flickering in its empty pupils.

  A strange and eerie aura of evil lingered in the forest for a long time.

  Ahh!! Zhou Linglu was startled and a chill ran down her spine.

  Tang Yan's eyes widened in shock, a mix of horror and astonishment as he stared at the 'resurrected' paper figure. The scene had gone beyond being eerie, it was even more terrifying than seeing a ghost.

  A moment later, the pupils of the three white-robed men suddenly contracted, and they exclaimed in unison: "Ren Tian Cang?!"

  Paper man? Evil? That's right, he is Ren Tianzang! Zhou Lingluo also thought of something and her expression became very serious: "Ren Tianzang, this matter has nothing to do with you, I advise you to leave!"

  Ren Tiancai did not make any statement, and directly walked past Tang Yan's body, only coldly spitting out a word: "Leave."

  "Huh? Ah!" Tang Yan came back to his senses, hurriedly followed up, slightly calmed down, turned around and smiled at Zhou Lingluo: "Bye bye, beauty, your figure is not bad, I'll appreciate it next time."

  Zhou Linglu didn't flare up or chase after them, standing still for a long time gazing at the back of Ren Tianzang until they disappeared from view. Her face was gloomy as if it could drip water: "Is the guard Tang Yan mentioned him?"

  "It's unlikely; the monsters of the Ren family have always been lone wanderers, rarely getting entangled with others, especially not with aristocratic families."

  "Ren Tianzang as the current heir of the Ren family, is proud and cold, and will never become a 'guard'."

  "It's possible that something on Tang Yan's body sparked his interest, or perhaps they reached some sort of agreement."

  "Master, shall we continue chasing?"

  "Do you think we are worthy opponents of Ren Tian Lang?" Zhou Lingluo was somewhat unwilling, but never blindly impulsive. After a moment's deliberation, she said: "Things have become complicated, let's discuss this with Uncle Hua first and consider it carefully."