Chapter 24: An Open Conspiracy
Xie Bailu had thought she was about to die, but after being pulled by Ling Song, she seemed to have a final burst of clarity.
But she heard Ling Song sigh again. “You’re really capable, to be able to persuade an evil cultivator to help you.”
He smiled, but the grip on Xie Bailu’s chin tightened. She immediately remembered what he had said before, that he didn’t like her plotting against him with others.
As soon as his voice fell, the surrounding aura instantly changed, and a dual-layered array trapped them.
Xie Bailu also felt this change. She knew it was because of Ling Song’s words that the evil cultivator, fearing an accident, had activated the array in advance.
…Alright, if she could die with Ling Song, it wouldn’t be a loss.
This near-death feeling diluted her fear of Ling Song and of death. Xie Bailu had the thought of throwing caution to the wind.
But she held back.
Ling Song was here, and so was the evil cultivator. They were bound to fight. If she could just survive, she would win!
Xie Bailu grabbed Ling Song’s wrist and freed her chin, but because she was weak, she could only continue to hold his hand for support as she looked at him and smiled. “How could I have the ability to ask an evil cultivator senior to help me? He’s after you. You’re the capable one. I’m just an innocent bystander.”
Ling Song could guess that the other party had probably followed him here and had set up this trap to trap him in advance.
As soon as the grand array started, the feeling of countless ants gnawing at her followed her like a shadow.
Feeling her life force slowly draining away, Ling Song didn’t seem to care much. He glanced at Xie Bailu’s hand, which was clearly using all its strength but had little power, and smiled. “Then you didn’t tell him anything?”
Xie Bailu said righteously, “That’s an evil cultivator! Of course, I’ll say whatever he asks.”
Ling Song laughed and suddenly pried open Xie Bailu’s hand. With no support, she had to lie back on the ground.
He stood up and looked down at her, his tone cold. “You’re going to die.”
Xie Bailu stated the main point. “That’s right, killed by an evil cultivator. Aren’t you angry? He found me because he was following you. How dare he snatch your prey!”
Anyway, the grand array had already been activated. The evil cultivator probably wouldn’t care what she said anymore. She didn’t have to worry about him. If Ling Song had a way to break the array, the evil cultivator wouldn’t be able to bother with her either.
Hearing this, Ling Song’s cold tone inexplicably softened, and his tone became much gentler, even with a smile. “You really want me to fight him.”
Xie Bailu was too lazy to answer such an obvious question.
She was now only concerned about whether she could hold on until they fought and a winner was decided.
The power of the grand array was gradually revealing itself. Perhaps the evil cultivator hadn’t lied to her. Her feeling was very slight. Perhaps this sinister spiritual energy that had destroyed her internal organs was really providing her with some protection under the grand array.
And Ling Song’s face was gradually turning pale, but his expression was still calm.
Perhaps feeling that Ling Song couldn’t escape, the man in black finally appeared, smiling at Ling Song. “Brat Ling Song, if you return my junior brother’s things, I might spare your life!”
Ling Song looked at the evil cultivator, naturally not recognizing him, and asked lazily, “Which junior brother of yours?”
The man in black took Ling Song’s words as a provocation and sneered, “Little Xie has already told me everything.”
Ling Song turned to look at Xie Bailu, and even though she was weak, she still managed to speak. “It’s that Nascent Soul evil cultivator whose Violet Mansion you tore apart!”
Ling Song said with a faint smile, “What did you tell him?”
Xie Bailu said vaguely but with certainty, “Everything I saw!”
The man in black said, “Ling Song, hand over the things immediately, or this grand array will continue, and even I won’t be able to stop it. It won’t stop until you’re sucked dry.”
Ling Song’s lips curved into a particularly annoying smile. “What things? Your junior brother’s Nascent Soul that I crushed?”
An ordinary person would definitely be angered to death by this blatant provocation, but the relationship between fellow evil cultivators was mostly weak. Their actions were inhumane. Family, friendship, and love were worth less than a good magical treasure in their eyes.
Therefore, the man in black just smiled. “I advise you not to waste any more time. You don’t want Little Xie to die, do you? If you say a few more words, she’ll be beyond saving.”
Ling Song’s gaze fell on the pale-faced Xie Bailu. He raised his chin and smiled gently. “Miss Xie, you didn’t tell him that you took his junior brother’s storage bag?”
Xie Bailu’s heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t afraid of the evil cultivator’s fiery gaze from being tricked. He couldn’t reach her anyway. She was worried that Ling Song would come and check her storage bag, so she immediately said, “It was full of dark magical treasures. I was scared, so I found a place to bury it.”
She looked at the man in black, her eyes sincere, her words provocative. “Senior, I do have your junior brother’s spirit stones with me. Do you want them?”
The man in black had thought that this little girl had some tricks up her sleeve, but they were easy to see through, and he had been playing with her all along. Who knew she had hidden the most important thing!
His cold gaze darted between Xie Bailu and Ling Song, and he snorted. “How could I be fooled? Little Xie, Ling Song is watching you die. Your relationship is not one where you can just take my junior brother’s things from him. If you say you stole it or robbed it, that’s even more nonsense!”
Xie Bailu said, “Is it possible that Ling Song was injured and fainted after killing your junior brother, and I stole the storage bag?”
The man in black naturally didn’t believe it. “You said you wanted to kill Ling Song. Why didn’t you do it when he fainted?”
His words also had the intention of sowing discord.
Unfortunately, Ling Song already knew that Xie Bailu wanted him dead. He just looked at her, as if a little curious about the answer.
Xie Bailu said with a righteous expression, “Taking advantage of someone when they’re unconscious is not what a hero would do!”
As for the red eyes she had vaguely seen that day, it was better to keep it a secret. She didn’t know what secret she had touched upon, and she didn’t want to make her situation worse.
Before the man in black could speak, Ling Song had already laughed. “You didn’t seem to hold back in the Absolute Demon Domain.”
Xie Bailu sighed with regret. “That’s why I still regret it when I think about it now!”
Ling Song’s gaze deepened for a moment, and for some reason, he didn’t continue to ask.
And the man in black, after realizing that things had exceeded his expectations, had a murderous intent, but he couldn’t make a decision because he didn’t know if Xie Bailu’s words were true or false.
If Xie Bailu was now outside the array, he had plenty of ways to make her confess everything, even about wetting the bed as a child!
But he didn’t know if these two were colluding to deceive him. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Ling Song with a sneer. “This little girl is full of lies. Ling Song, you’ve been tricked by her many times, haven’t you!”
Ling Song smiled. “Yes, I like it very much.”
The man in black’s face immediately darkened.
Xie Bailu thought to herself, Heh, didn’t expect that, did you? Ling Song is a pervert!
She didn’t want to talk anymore. If she continued, she was afraid that the fact that she had picked up the blood demon condensed core would be exposed.
At this moment, the man in black was still suspicious, so he was trying to sow discord to find out where the condensed core was. Once he knew it was in her storage bag, he might change the efficiency of the array and make her die a violent death.
Xie Bailu struggled to sit up, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, and sighed with boredom. “How much longer are we going to talk? Two grown men, can’t you just fight it out? Let me see you two take each other out before I die, alright?”
She looked at the smiling Ling Song. “You can’t even break this array, can you? You’re Ling Song!”
She rested her chin on her hand. “I heard that those who provoke you never have a good end. This evil cultivator followed you, set you up, and even looks down on you. He’s provoked you so much, and you’re still not going to kill him?”
She pointed to the ground in front of her. “If I were you, his head would already be here, and I’d be kicking it like a ball.”
Ling Song’s smile did not change. He seemed to want to hear what else Xie Bailu could say.
But Xie Bailu had already turned her gaze to the exceptionally ugly-faced man in black. “Senior, look at you. You’ve lived for so long, and you have to be so careful to deal with a brat who’s not even thirty. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator like me looks down on you. If you want to waste time, go ahead. Anyway, if I die, no one will know where the thing you want is.”
Ling Song added, “I also don’t know where she buried it.”
The man in black said coldly, “This little girl is really good with her words.”
She was so openly sowing discord in front of the two of them. If he wasn’t the one involved, he would have applauded her for her courage.
Xie Bailu smiled. “You’re too kind, but I’m about to die.”
With that, she fell back, even closing her eyes.
The man in black took a step and said, “Ling Song, you’re not going to save her?”
Ling Song knew that Xie Bailu was using her life to force the evil cultivator to stop the grand array. He naturally wouldn’t sabotage her. It would take some effort to break this grand array, so it was best to save some energy.
As for her little scheme of wanting him and the evil cultivator to take each other out, she could continue to think about it.
Ling Song stood still, as if rooted to the spot, with a calm expression. “If she dies, she dies.”
Inside the array, Ling Song stood at the side, as if in deep meditation, only his face was slightly pale. Xie Bailu lay flat on her back, her eyes closed, looking like she was breathing her last.
Outside the array, the man in black’s face was grim, his gaze on Xie Bailu as if he wanted to tear her to pieces.
He could either watch Xie Bailu die and possibly never find the blood demon condensed core again, or be forced to give up the array he had set up and fight Ling Song openly, then capture her and interrogate her properly.
Xie Bailu might be lying, but he couldn’t afford to gamble.
After his expression changed drastically several times, the man in black finally made up his mind. He took out a token and crushed it, then destroyed the two array feet that made up the grand array. The moment the grand array disappeared, his figure rushed towards Xie Bailu like a ghost.
But Ling Song was prepared. He knew that in this open conspiracy, this evil cultivator had only one choice.
His life-bound sword left his body and blocked the evil cultivator, its sword qi pressing, stopping the other party’s steps.
Ling Song raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Your opponent is me. What are you doing bullying a little girl?”
Xie Bailu, who was pretending to be dead but was really not far from it, was speechless. “…” You’re the last person who has the right to say such a cool line. How many times have you bullied me!