Chapter 65 Annihilation (Part 3)

Chu Jianshan pondered for a moment: "It must be Qiao Yi's idea. I didn't expect you to actually listen to him."

He and Qiao Yi had only met a few times, yet they seemed to have reached some strange understanding. Qiao Yi could guess his purpose, and he could predict Qiao Yi's actions. In this respect, he was a qualified opponent.

What Chu Jianshan fears most now is that he still doesn't know the man's purpose. Every move the man makes leaves him confused, so every time he faces him, he is always uneasy, afraid that the man will use some underhanded tricks.

Upon hearing this, Ji Zihua smiled faintly without saying a word, but he had already turned around completely to face Chu Jianshan, his fingers resting on the hilt of the sword sheath, clearly indicating that he was ready to strike.

Chu Jianshan continued to provoke him: "Among the younger generation, apart from Cheng Yuan, you are a rare genius. Of course, I know you must think you are better than Cheng Yuan, so you have set your sights on me. Now that you have finally met me, don't you want to give it a try?"

Ji Zihua suppressed the agitation in his heart, but the desire in his eyes could not be hidden. He took a deep breath and said, "Immortal Chu is truly eloquent. If I am unwilling today, wouldn't you accuse me of fleeing at the first sign of trouble and losing without a fight?"

Bai Qianfan pursed his lips, unable to suppress a laugh: "That's quite possible. He's always liked to spread rumors about other people."

Chu Jianshan glared at Bai Qianfan, who obediently shut up. He was still using Cheng Yuan's face, but he couldn't act at all. Fortunately, Ji Zihua wasn't familiar with Cheng Yuan, otherwise he would have definitely been exposed.

Chu Jianshan then looked at Ji Zihua: "Where's that aura you had just used to force people to kneel? Wouldn't it be better to use it to fight me?"

Ji Zihua lowered his eyebrows and said in a calm voice, "Immortal Chu's words make it hard for me not to suspect that this is bait."

Chu Jianshan smiled and raised his voice: "Isn't it true that those who are willing will take the bait?"

"It's just a matter of moving the plan forward by one day, so why not?"

Ji Zihua met his gaze: "Immortal Chu...you are right."

With a bang, the two started fighting immediately, their spiritual energy exploding instantly, causing a fierce wind to rise around them.

Bai Qianfan shielded his eyes from the wind and sand with his arm, looking in the direction of Chu Jianshan. He cursed Chu Jianshan a hundred times in his heart. They had guessed that this man would retreat on the first day, and their plan was to capture him on the second day so that he could set up the formation in advance.

But not only did he come early today, he also used such strong spiritual power right away, without caring whether the spiritual core could withstand it. Even if Lin Mumu could repair it, he wouldn't play like this. Whoever gets stuck with him is really unlucky.

However, upon further reflection, he could understand. He hadn't been entirely confident when he came, always worried that Chang Jinshan might run into trouble. Even though he and Chu Jianshan had ruled out all possibilities and tried to convince him that Linyimen couldn't do anything to Chang Jinshan, Chu Jianshan seemed to have a bad feeling and hadn't been at ease along the way. In addition, he had suffered some shock in Furong Town, so it was only natural that he wanted to finish the battle quickly.

Inside the sandstorm, Chu Jianshan was finding it somewhat difficult to defeat Ji Zihua. It had to be said that this man's talent was extremely strong. Even some of the moves that Chu Jianshan had created, which initially put Ji Zihua at a disadvantage, he was able to replicate them quite well after a short time, and then return them all to Chu Jianshan.

In addition, the young man was full of energy and fought like a madman, while Chu Jianshan had to take care of his spiritual core. As a result, he fought the battle cautiously and without any sense of enjoyment.

The two faced off. Ji Zihua looked at Chu Jianshan and gave him a cryptic smile: "Immortal Chu, is this all your strength? It doesn't look like much."

Chu Jianshan said, "Are you very proud of yourself?"

Ji Zihua tilted his head and laughed, "What kind of youth is one who isn't frivolous? Besides, I should thank Immortal Venerable Chu for giving me this opportunity to be frivolous."

“Sigh…yes,” Chu Jianshan said quietly, “I’m getting old compared to you.”

"However," he changed the subject, "I also hope you can understand the principle of being cunning and shrewd."

Ji Zihua immediately sensed something was wrong: "What do you mean?"

Chu Jianshan laughed: "So you mean you want to hit me?"

"Cheng Yuan! Form the formation!" Chu Jianshan shouted to Bai Qianfan.

Bai Qianfan was stunned for a moment before realizing that he was Cheng Yuan. With a series of smooth hand gestures, the golden array began to gather under the feet of the two. Ji Zihua tried to escape, but was blocked by Chu Jianshan with the hilt of his sword.

After exchanging a few more blows, Bai Qianfan rushed over to block Ji Zihua's sword strike for Chu Jianshan. Chu Jianshan then took out a talisman he had prepared beforehand from his waist. With Bai Qianfan's formation combined with the talisman, he would be suppressed and unable to move. However, before he could even stick it on, Bai Qianfan was kicked away by Ji Zihua.

Chu Jianshan: "..."

Helpless, Chu Jianshan could only hold the talisman, trying to block his attacks while searching for all sorts of tricky spots to stick the talisman on his body.

"Chu Qingyuan!" Ji Zihua seemed to have been pushed to the limit and began to call him by his full name: "You would do such a despicable and shameless thing?"

Chu Jianshan looked completely innocent: "Why can't I do it? I've done even more despicable things."

In fact, Chu Jianshan could understand Ji Zihua. Children of this age would always have some chivalrous dignity and would look down on petty tricks. Chu Jianshan himself was like that when he was young.

However, in the seven years he lost his spiritual power, he experienced a lot and no longer had this inexplicable sense of dignity. In most cases, being able to make a living through some small tricks was enough to make him feel smug for a few days.

Seeing that he was not in a stable state of mind, Chu Jianshan pretended to draw his sword and let him defend himself, but actually grabbed his wrist and flipped him over after turning him halfway around.

At this moment, Bai Qianfan also reacted. Ignoring the pain of being kicked away by Ji Zihua, he grabbed the talisman and stumbled over to stick it on Ji Zihua.

In an instant, all the energy of the formation converged on the talisman, as if a thousand pounds were pressing down on his back. Ji Zihua couldn't hold on and knelt on the ground, trying to use his sword to support himself, but it was all in vain.

He strained to straighten his neck, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Chu Jianshan, gritting his teeth as he uttered a few words: "Insidious and cunning."

"All warfare is based on deception," Chu Jianshan corrected.

He turned and went to Dong Huai Ren's side, where he saw Dong Qi hugging his father and crying with snot and tears streaming down his face. Anyone who didn't know better would think that the man was dead.

When Dong Huai-ren saw Chu Jian-shan approaching, he didn't give him a friendly look and simply snorted, "Don't expect me to thank you for anything."

Chu Jianshan shrugged: "I never really expected it anyway."

He led the fathers into the main hall, then turned to Bai Qianfan and said, "Tie up Ji Zihua. With him here, the remaining Linyi Sect cultivators are nothing to fear."

Even after being tied up, Ji Zihua was still yelling and shouting, no longer caring about his dignity, and spewing out a string of foul language.

He shouted, "You think you've won?! Hahahaha, don't even think about it! When the demon army arrives tomorrow, Shaoxuan Sect will still be razed to the ground!"

Bai Qianfan said, "But we still have you. I don't believe they won't have any concerns if you're taken hostage."

Ji Zihua sneered: "What am I? If he wants to do something, even a thousand or ten thousand lives are nothing but grass!"

He tried to negotiate with Bai Qianfan: "Instead of us dying together tomorrow, why not release me? I can then put in a good word with the Lord and maybe he can spare their lives."

"Thank you for your kindness, but I can't let you go." Bai Qianfan painstakingly tied him to a pillar outside the main hall, then used his feet to brace the pillar and tie a knot, making it impossible for him to escape now.

Ji Zihua said, "Young Master, why bother associating with these people? It's only a matter of time before Linyi Sect unifies the world. Once you return to Linyi Sect, you will have supreme power. At that time, won't you be able to get whatever you want with ease?"

"Young Master?" Bai Qianfan didn't react for a moment: "Oh right, I am... your young master."

Bai Qianfan almost couldn't help but laugh. He felt that the young man was talking to himself, so he ignored his rambling and turned back into the main hall.

Chu Jianshan and his son Dong Huairen sat on either side of him, neither of them speaking. As soon as Bai Qianfan came in, he asked, "What's wrong? Why is the atmosphere so serious?"

Dong Huai-ren asked, "What do you plan to do when the demon army attacks tomorrow?"

Bai Qianfan laughed and said, "What else can we do but try our best to stop them?"

Dong Qi timidly asked from the side, "You...are you really willing to save us?"

Bai Qianfan shrugged: "Since we're already here, it wouldn't be right for us to run away."

Dong Qi asked again, "But aren't you the young master of Linyi Sect? Why are you helping us deal with Linyi Sect?"

Bai Qianfan sat down next to Chu Jianshan and remained silent for a while, trying to think about the matter from Cheng Yuan's perspective: "Whether I become the young master or not, it seems that no one has asked for my opinion."

Upon hearing this, Chu Jianshan immediately looked up at him. At this moment, Bai Qianfan was still in Cheng Yuan's appearance. Looking at this face, he felt as if he had really seen Cheng Yuan, the person who took everything lightly but remembered everything deeply.

Bai Qianfan continued, "It's just some unfortunate events that happened to our parents, but others always have to bear the consequences for them. I don't want to be any young master. For me, that would only be a shackle."

After saying that, Bai Qianfan was suddenly stunned. He couldn't believe he had said something so reasonable. But when he truly put himself in Cheng Yuan's shoes, he realized that it was indeed true. Just because of his identity, he was caught in the middle, scrutinized by everyone with strange eyes, and he couldn't even run away.

Upon hearing his words, Dong Huai-ren simply said, "I hope that's really the case."

Bai Qianfan smiled, then glanced at Chu Jianshan beside him, who was hanging his head and not saying a word, and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you so silent?"

Chu Jianshan snapped out of his daze and replied dismissively, "Nothing, I'm just hungry."

Hearing him say this, Bai Qianfan also felt a little hungry, so he asked Dong Huai Ren, "Is there any food? Leftovers are fine too, we're not picky."

Dong Qi felt a little embarrassed and said in a low voice, "I'm very sorry, we just went through a fierce battle, and the kitchen was almost completely destroyed. I guess there's not much food left to eat."

"I see..." Bai Qianfan was somewhat disappointed.

Chu Jianshan suddenly spoke up: "If there's no food, we can cook for ourselves. I saw the vegetable garden on the back hill when I came here, and it's still in good condition."

Bai Qianfan looked puzzled: "You're going to do it? They didn't deserve to die, and besides, there aren't even any pots or pans, what are you going to use to cook?"

Chu Jianshan snorted and said, "Wait."

After a stick of incense had burned, he came over with a bag of sweet potatoes, and while he was at it, he gathered some firewood and skillfully started a fire on the ground.

Seeing this scene, Bai Qianfan hesitated, then asked, "The food you're talking about... it's not just roasted sweet potatoes, is it?"

Chu Jianshan blinked: "That's right."

Bai Qianfan sighed and chuckled wryly, "You..."

Chu Jianshan retorted, "What's wrong? Don't underestimate me just because I'm not good at anything else. I'm quite skilled at roasting sweet potatoes. Besides, aren't you all hungry? Eating this will fill you up easily."

He ignored Bai Qianfan and started a fire on his own, skewering sweet potatoes on sticks and roasting them. Bai Qianfan could only go over to help him, but he saw that his movements were smooth and effortless, without any hesitation, which showed that he often did this kind of thing.

He couldn't help but ask, "When did you learn this?"

Chu Jianshan's attention was still on his sweet potato, and he replied casually, "I've known how to do it for a long time, about six or seven years now."

Six or seven years... Bai Qianfan calculated in his mind, which was about the time when he first came down the mountain.

Bai Qianfan said, "I don't remember you used to like eating this."

Chu Jianshan chuckled: "What's the point of loving or not loving food? It's better than having nothing to eat at all. The feeling of being hungry is unpleasant."

"Here, this one is fine."

Chu Jianshan handed the first baked cake to Bai Qianfan. Bai Qianfan took it and was about to be touched when he heard him say, "Give this to Dong Qi."

Bai Qianfan pursed his lips, handed over the sweet potato, and Dong Qi accepted it with a flattered expression. After thanking him, he shared a portion with Dong Huai Ren.

Bai Qianfan was unwilling to give up and shouted for Chu Jianshan to bake him an even bigger one. Chu Jianshan glared at him and said, "Don't you have hands?"

Bai Qianfan said, "Without your skill, this is practically divine!"

Chu Jianshan understood that he was praising him on purpose, but he couldn't help but feel flattered. He couldn't help but smile and silently replaced the sweet potato in his hand with a bigger one.

The fire warmed everyone, and after they had eaten and drunk their fill, Chu Jianshan suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "Is there something we've forgotten?"

“Oh right,” Bai Qianfan said, “there seems to be someone else outside the door.”