Chapter 69 The debts owed by the Xie family, I, Xie Xun, acknowledge.

Li Nong's voice was hoarse as he suddenly ripped open his collar, revealing a black line that ran from his neck all the way to his chest. It looked shocking and terrifying.

"This...this is the Golden Silkworm Gu turning against them,"

He looked up at Xie Xun, a hint of resentment in his eyes, "The love potion failed, you'd rather find someone else than me... it backfired on its host..."

Upon hearing this, Xie Xun's lips curled into a cold smile.

He found it utterly ridiculous.

Li Nong took it upon himself to administer the love potion, and now he's reaping the consequences of his own actions, yet he still has the nerve to blame him.

Why should he be expected to clean up this mess for him?

Do they really think he's a sucker?

"What does this have to do with me?"

Xie Xun's voice was calm, but every word was piercing: "You were the one who cast the Gu poison, so you deserve the backlash."

He looked down at Li Nong, who was kneeling and begging, his eyes showing no pity whatsoever. "Whether you live or die is your own choice. You can't blame anyone else."

These words struck Li Nong like a bucket of ice water being poured over his head, leaving him choked and deathly pale. He slumped to the ground, the dark line on his chest seemingly creeping upwards even further.

"Tsk, how rude."

Fu Qinghuai finally spoke slowly, his voice tinged with displeasure at being woken up, "Didn't you see we were still resting? You just barged in like that?"

Li Nong, however, seemed not to hear Fu Qinghuai's sarcasm. He suddenly looked up at Xie Xun, his eyes filled with a desperate madness, as if afraid that Xie Xun would really leave him to fend for himself. He spoke very quickly:

"The Liu family has been to the village. They know you broke the previous array's core, and this time they're going to use the entire village as an altar to set up an even bigger Seven Fiends Soul-Locking Array to deal with you! They gave me Gu worms, promising to cure me of the Golden Silkworm's backlash after it's done, but I'm not here now..."

He was breathing heavily, dark lines already creeping up to his chin. "But I can't hold on until then... Brother Xie, save me... Save me and I can tell you where the formation's core is..."

Li Nong was desperate and was trying to use information about the Liu family to buy a chance to survive.

Xie Xun's eyes turned cold; the Liu family's actions were faster than they had anticipated.

"Oh? Tell me about it. If what you say is of value..."

Fu Qinghuai chuckled, a wisp of black energy swirling around his fingertips. He paused meaningfully, "Perhaps my Xunxun will consider doing some good deeds."

Xie Xun immediately understood his meaning, and looked sharply at Li Nong, "Speak."

Immediately, Li Nong seemed to have grasped at the last straw and hurriedly said, "The ancient banyan tree on the east side of the village and the mountain god temple on the back mountain both have talisman stones given by the Liu family buried there."

With each word he spoke, the black line on his chest twitched, and he struggled to finish the last sentence, "They said... activate it at midnight tonight when the yin energy is at its peak, and it will lock your soul in the town..."

Upon hearing this, Fu Qinghuai sneered, and black energy from his fingertips shot out like a serpent, circling around the black line on Li Nong's chest.

In an instant, the black line slowed down noticeably, and Li Nong's breathing calmed down a bit.

"You won't die for now."

Fu Qinghuai raised an eyebrow with a hint of regret, then looked at Xie Xun with a look of gleeful anticipation, "Xunxun, do you think we should keep this idiot alive, or..."

He twirled a wisp of black smoke around his finger, like playing with a rope, gesturing towards Li Nong, who was sprawled out like a rag doll. The meaning couldn't be clearer.

Li Nong trembled with fright, staring at Xie Xun with wide eyes, not daring to breathe.

Looking at Li Nong's cowardly yet wicked appearance, Xie Xun made up his mind. He deliberately waited a few seconds until Li Nong was almost driven to a mental breakdown before speaking slowly and deliberately.

"Keep it."

He glanced at the dark line on Li Nong's chest that was temporarily suppressed and said indifferently, "He knows better than us where the Liu family buried those junks, so it'll save us some trouble."

"Besides,"

Xie Xun's tone was calm, as if he were saying that the weather was nice today, "Once the formation is broken, the chieftain will naturally deal with him. Whether he lives or dies depends on the rules of the village, it has nothing to do with us."

"Okay, whatever you say."

Fu Qinghuai chuckled, clearly thinking this was a good idea. The black energy at his fingertips swiftly returned to his body, and an invisible mark was deeply imprinted on Li Nong's body.

When Li Nong heard that he would be dealt with according to the village rules, he went limp and was even more afraid than when he thought he was going to die.

There are countless ways to deal with traitors in the village, and just thinking about the methods passed down from the older generation makes him shudder.

"Still standing there?"

Xie Xun had already straightened his clothes and stood up from the bed. His tone was flat. "Lead the way. Let's go to the nearest array point first."

Fu Qinghuai slowly walked to his side, naturally put his arm around his waist, and rested his chin on his shoulder, looking just like a spoiled fox demon.

"Xunxun, I've helped you so much, you have to thank me properly when we get back~"

Xie Xun nudged him with his elbow, "Get out of the way, it's hot."

"I feel cold."

"It's hot there too."

Li Nong felt even more desperate watching the two flirting and teasing each other as if no one else was around.

Now he understands that his life is nothing in other people's eyes; he's just a tool to be used.

Even so, he dared not provoke Xie Xun again.

Li Nong could only resignedly get up, and pointed shakily to the east, "The ancient banyan tree is the closest, follow me..."

As dawn broke, the three of them stealthily made their way towards the east end of the village. When they were almost at the ancient banyan tree, Xie Xun suddenly grabbed Li Nong and gestured for him to shut up.

Sure enough, there was movement under the old banyan tree. Two people dressed in black were setting something up around the trunk, fiddling with something in their hands.

Fu Qinghuai narrowed his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Xunxun, should we keep these few alive for questioning?"

"No need, the Liu family's lackeys won't get any information out of you."

Xie Xun took out a few copper coins from his bag. "Let's finish this quickly and not alert the people in the village."

With that, he flicked his finger, and the copper coin silently disappeared into the night.

The copper coin Xie Xun flicked flashed with barely perceptible golden light in the night before striking the back of the necks of the two men in black.

The two men froze, then went limp, the talismans in their hands rolling to the ground.

"Let's go," Xie Xun said in a low voice, and the three of them quickly arrived under the banyan tree.

Seven black stones with strange runes were buried around the thick tree trunk, arranged in a twisted pattern that sent chills down one's spine.

"This...this is the talisman stone given by the Liu family,"

Li Nong pointed to one of the pieces and said in a trembling voice, "They say it was soaked in the blood of a boy born on an unlucky day, in an unlucky month, and in a yin year..."

Fu Qinghuai frowned in disgust, "Despicable methods."

With a casual wave of his hand, a wisp of black energy swept past, and the runes instantly turned into dust.

Just as the runestone was destroyed, a shrill whistle suddenly rang out from afar!

"We've been discovered!"

Li Nong's expression changed drastically. "That's the Liu family's whistle."

Fu Qinghuai laughed, “Perfect, saves us the trouble of searching for them one by one.”

Suddenly, seven or eight dark figures emerged from the morning mist. The leader was an old man wearing a bamboo hat, who stared at Xie Xun with cold eyes and a hoarse voice, "Little bastard of the Xie family, how dare you ruin our plans!"

Xie Xun, without changing his expression, pulled out a handful of talismans from his bag and sneered, "Is this all the Liu family knows?"

"You're courting death!" The old man waved his hand, and the shadowy figures immediately pounced on him.

Fu Qinghuai quickly pulled Xie Xun behind him, "Stand back a bit, don't get your clothes dirty."

As soon as he finished speaking, the black energy around him surged and suddenly transformed into countless sharp blades. The shadowy figures were torn to shreds before they could even get close, and they didn't even have time to scream.

Seeing that things were not going well, the old man turned around and tried to escape, but Fu Qinghuai grabbed his neck from a distance and lifted him up.

"Wait," Xie Xun suddenly spoke up, "Spare his life."

Fu Qinghuai raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

Things always need to be resolved eventually, and the one who tied the knot must untie it; he planned to ask him something.

"Go back and tell the person in the Liu family who can make the decision,"

Xie Xun walked up to the old man who was slumped on the ground, his expression sharp. He looked directly into the old man's terrified eyes and said, word by word, "I, Xie Xun, acknowledge the debts owed by the Xie family. But not with my life. If you really want to understand this centuries-old feud, let someone who keeps their word come and talk to us personally."