The battle for Maple Island has ended, and the fishermen who went to seize treasures have all returned one after another.
The wounded Liu Lai-Zi was naturally among them.
He knew he had offended many people, but he didn’t expect so many would dare to surround and kill him during this opportunity!
If it weren’t for the substantial savings from his early years, he might not have survived. Having returned to Zengtou City, after two days of recuperation, his injuries improved greatly.
But thinking about the encounter, he still felt unsettled.
What to do when feeling unsettled?
When there’s unhappiness in the heart, killing is the answer!
This has always been Liu Lai-Zi’s approach; speaking of killing... he inevitably thought of the person Old Man Huang mentioned last time.
Ji Yuan.
Old Man Huang is already feeding fish now, and it was under his very watchful eyes.
So if he wants to kill Ji Yuan again, he can’t count on Old Man Huang.
Then who to find?
Liu Lai-Zi closed his eyes and pondered. His usual method of killing over the years was to find a friend of the target, then use Spirit Stones to bribe them, linking the two together to kill the target.
Perhaps outside, this method wouldn’t work that well.
But unfortunately, this is Zengtou City, the city on the shore of Cloud Rain Marsh.
The principle of "Man dies for wealth as birds die for food" is infinitely magnified here.
In the past, Huang Lao-Tou was bribed by Liu Lai-Zi to lure Ji Qingyun into a pre-set trap, thus leading to his death.
Now, this method is about to be used on Ji Yuan.
But who to find... Liu Lai-Zi didn’t know much about Ji Yuan, but it’s okay, there’s always someone who understands him.
Liu Lai-Zi went out for a day. After asking a few people, he quickly got some information and had a suitable candidate.
Whether Ji Yuan is friendly with others doesn’t matter, but he happens to be close with someone like Qiu Qianhai... What kind of person is Qiu Qianhai?
He’s a notorious desperado in Zengtou City.
The saying "the barefooted ones don’t fear the shod" perfectly describes Qiu Qianhai.
So finding him is absolutely reliable.
"Dong——"
"Dong dong——"
That night, Liu Lai-Zi knocked on Qiu Qianhai’s courtyard door.
If someone comes at this hour, it’s probably urgent, yet even so, Qiu Qianhai still held a Water Arrow Talisman before opening the door.
Standing before him was a middle-aged man with a face full of pockmarks.
"What do you want with me?" Qiu Qianhai frowned.
Liu Lai-Zi’s infamous reputation was well-known throughout Zengtou City.
"Naturally, I’m here to make money with you." Liu Lai-Zi looked around to make sure no one else saw him before nodding toward the inner room and saying, "Let’s talk inside."
Qiu Qianhai hesitated a bit but eventually chose to let Liu Lai-Zi in. Once inside, they sat down without even tea to drink.
Liu Lai-Zi cleared his throat and asked:
"Cough cough, Qiu Qianhai, do you think Spirit Stones or life is more important?"
"Life is naturally more important."
Qiu Qianhai instinctively touched his waist, where his magical artifact was hidden.
Liu Lai-Zi clearly noticed such an evident movement, so he smiled and added, "And what if it’s someone else’s life?"
"Then Spirit Stones are more important."
Qiu Qianhai blurted out.
Liu Lai-Zi smiled, then leaned closer and whispered, "So, do you think Ji Yuan’s life or Spirit Stones are more important?"
"Ji Yuan?"
Qiu Qianhai was slightly stunned but quickly realized, "You want to kill him?"
Once Liu Lai-Zi targeted someone, it was always for killing; no other possibilities.
If there were, he would have gone directly to Ji Yuan instead of finding him.
"Hey."
Liu Lai-Zi shook his head, "How can you call it killing, it’s clearly helping him escape from the dire straits of our Zengtou City."
"Heh."
Qiu Qianhai snickered unapologetically.
Seeing this, Liu Lai-Zi spread his hands, "Just say it straight. Is Spirit Stone more important or Ji Yuan’s life?"
Qiu Qianhai stared into Liu Lai-Zi’s eyes without a trace of fear.
They were silent for a long time before Qiu Qianhai slowly said, "I, Qiu Qianhai, haven’t had many friends in my life... Don’t you, Liu Lai-Zi, know that Ji Yuan is my brother in arms, my dearest kin?"
"You, Qiu Qianhai, would have a brother in arms?"
Liu Lai-Zi laughed out loud as if he’d heard some great joke.
"Alright, just say it directly, what will it take for you to agree to act?"
Qiu Qianhai didn’t blush; he rubbed his thumb and index finger slightly on the table and chuckled, "Add more money!"
"Okay, after it’s done, I’ll give you three extra Spirit Stones, how about that?"
Three Spirit Stones were enough to pay a month’s Immortal Residence fee. Naturally, Qiu Qianhai had no reason to refuse.
"Fine."
Liu Lai-Zi then laid out his plan.
The plan was extremely simple; Qiu Qianhai only needed to lure Ji Yuan to a certain place in Cloud Rain Marsh, where Liu Lai-Zi would ambush and, upon killing Ji Yuan, split the loot 30-70.
Liu Lai-Zi would take 70, and Qiu Qianhai 30.
Liu Lai-Zi would additionally give Qiu Qianhai three Spirit Stones.
"Let’s make it 50-50, I’ll be helping with the kill too."
Qiu Qianhai stated decisively.
"Alright."
Liu Lai-Zi promptly agreed, for him, Ji Yuan was just a small fry in the early stage of Qi Cultivation, how many treasures could he possibly have?
Taking an extra or losing two-tenths might just mean a few Broken Spirits’ difference.
"Fine, when do we act?"
"Tomorrow." Liu Lai-Zi naturally thought the sooner this is resolved, the better, "Such matters shouldn’t be delayed."
"Okay, then I’ll go to find him early tomorrow, where’s the place?"
"Cloud Rain Marsh, Wogui Island."
"..."
"Pfft——"
Ji Yuan pulled his hand out of the ground, looking at the smooth, round hole in the ground with satisfaction.
After a few days of practice, performing the Water Drop Finger no longer caused any pain, and as the Spiritual Qi transformed into droplets of water shooting out from his finger, there was even an inexplicable pleasure.
As for the number of uses, based on his Qi Cultivation level 4 Spiritual Qi reserves.
Shooting continuously four or five dozen times shouldn’t be a problem.
After all, this spell inherently consumed little, plus water cultivators’ Spiritual Qi is naturally more resilient and lasting.
"Dong dong——"
Someone was here?
Ji Yuan subconsciously reached for the Thunder Strike Talisman on his chest. It was still there, so he relaxed and went to open the door.
"Qiu Qianhai? Why are you here?"
Since the two knew each other, this was Qiu Qianhai’s first visit, so Ji Yuan was quite surprised.
"Naturally, here for something."
Qiu Qianhai squeezed a smile onto his face and nodded.
"Then come in and talk."
Ji Yuan first closed down a few construction effects in his mind, then led Qiu Qianhai into the house.
Unlike Old Man Huang, who looked around as soon as he entered, Qiu Qianhai sat quietly in the hall upon entering.
Ji Yuan even made him a cup of tea.
Qiu Qianhai watched the new tea of the year roll up and spread out in the water, seemingly lost in thought.
Ji Yuan wasn’t in a hurry, waiting quite a while before hearing Qiu Qianhai ask, "Ji Yuan, do you remember how we met?"
"Of course I remember."
As Ji Yuan was about to speak, Qiu Qianhai interrupted, "Back then, my parents had just passed, I didn’t believe in fate and went out to sea alone."
"As a result, I encountered the most dangerous storm in Cloud Rain Marsh, was knocked unconscious, and washed ashore, and it was you who saved me."
Seeing something was off with Qiu Qianhai, Ji Yuan restrained his smile and nodded slightly.
The facts were indeed as Qiu Qianhai described.
After finishing, Qiu Qianhai closed his eyes and thought for a long time, then slowly opened them and said, "Liu Lai-Zi wants to kill you, how about we two brothers team up and take him down?"