"Hmm?" Yun Lintian seemed to notice something. He turned around to look in the previous Rainbow Cloud Lotus position with a frown between his brows.
"A space fluctuation?" Nantian Lingyan suddenly said. She had also perceived something.
Yun Lintian stopped his track and said. "Let's go back to take a look."
Following that, everyone quickly rushed toward the previous position and found a man's body floating in the pond beside the lotus. There was a small hole in his heart's position. Obviously, it was the cause of his death.
"What happened here?" Nantian Lingyan looked at the petrified group of people and asked coldly.
A man who seemed to be the group leader returned to his sense and hurriedly explained. "W-we have no idea, Divine Phoenix Fairy. Earlier, Qiao Feng was trying to get the lotus, but a spatial crack appeared out of nowhere and shot a black light at him."
"Spatial crack?… It's definitely not something the Ruler Profound Realm practitioner is capable of. How could it appear here?" Tong Mi'er said in doubt.
Typically, only the Monarch would have enough strength to cause a spatial crack, and with the island's restrictions, there shouldn't be a single monarch here… What exactly happened here?
Yun Lintian shook his head. "It's not true. There are many practitioners who are proficient in the spatial element out there. They could manipulate the space with no problem. Also, it might not necessarily be a man-made work. Don't forget that the restriction we experience now comes from a high-level formation. Who knows? There may be other formations we don't know here."
Nove l B(in).C OM
As he spoke, Yun Lintian opened his Eyes of Heaven and scanned the vicinity. What surprised him was that he found nothing in this place. Not a single trace of Abyssal Energy could be seen here… What the hell was that black light?
"Maybe our sisters and brothers have encountered this?" Xue Qianqian expressed her doubt.
Tong Mi'er and the others remained silent, as they couldn't think of anything at the moment.
Yun Lintian thought for a moment and said. "Let me try."
Without waiting for everyone to react, Yun Lintian had already appeared above the Rainbow Cloud Lotus and reached out to grab it.
However, he could smoothly take the lotus away under everyone's vigilant gaze.
Yun Lintian flew back to the shore and briefly scanned the surroundings again to make sure. The result was the same. Nothing could be seen.
"Perhaps it triggered once and gone?" Nantian Lingyan said uncertainly.
"Or it chose a weak target?" Tong Mi'er added.
Yun Lintian didn't think so. Since his Eyes of Heaven couldn't find a single trace left behind, he was pretty sure it was a work of someone instead of a formation. Otherwise, he would at least see some energy flows around here.
However, Yun Lintian didn't intend to say this, as he wasn't sure whether this person was still around.
Yun Lintian turned to the man in the distance and threw the Rainbow Cloud Lotus to him. "Take it."
The man subconsciously caught the lotus and did not know what to say. "This…"
Yun Lintian channeled his profound energy to lift the dead body floating in the pond up and pushed him toward the man. "Men die in pursuit of wealth, birds die in pursuit of food.[1] If this is your way of thinking, you can continue your journey."
After finishing his sentence, Yun Lintian turned around and went toward the island's center without greeting anyone.
Nantian Lingyan, Xue Qianqian, and the others didn't say anything and quickly followed Yun Lintian behind.
Meanwhile, Tong Mi'er hesitated briefly and said to the group of men. "I suggest that all of you leave this island." Afterward, she turned around and followed Yun Lintian.
"Brother Su… I think we should…." Watching Yun Lintian's group leave, a young man behind the group leader said nervously.
The group leader, Brother Su, glanced at his comrade's lifeless body in his arm and said decisively. "Leave. We will leave now." What a joke! What was more important than life?
***
"Spare me…Ugh!" On the other side of the island, a haggard, middle-aged man crawled along the ground, looking at several men with red skull emblems on their clothes in terror. Before he could plead for his life, a stout man nearby swung a huge machete down at the middle-aged man's neck, ultimately beheading him.
"No, Uncle Kang!" In the distance, a young woman was tightly locked in a place with two men on both sides. Her eyes were filled with despair as she looked at her uncle dying.
The two were wandering practitioners who came here to try their luck. Apparently, their luck wasn't good. After landing on the island for a few minutes, they directly encountered a group of Red Skull pirates. They had exhausted every means to fight back, but it was futile in the end.
"Hehehe! Don't be sad, girl. Big brother will accompany you from now on." The man with a long scar on his face beside her laughed lewdly while stroking the woman's face.
The young woman gritted her teeth, enduring the humiliation while crying in despair. She could already foresee what would happen to her next. Unfortunately, these beasts wholly sealed her profound strength before she could commit suicide.
"Hold back the thing between your leg. This is not the time to do this." The machete man frowned and scolded his comrades.
The scarred face man clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, but he knew the machete man was right. He pulled the woman up and snarled. "Walk! I will deal with you later."
The woman was pushed forward. She had no choice but to follow these beasts into the forest. Her eyes kept looking around, trying to find a way to escape from this predicament.
"Don't think about it. I won't mind cutting your legs right now." The scarred face man snorted coldly as he could see through the woman's mind.
The woman bit her lips and forced herself to calm down. If she lost her legs, her chance of surviving would become zero.
Leading in the front, the machete man suddenly halted his track, and the rest followed his action. He scanned the surroundings vigilantly as his intuition told him something was not right.
"Jiejiejie! Not bad for trash like you." A burst of cold and bizarre laughter suddenly rang out, causing everyone to raise their guard.