Chapter 603: Speechless Jin Lin

He instantly recognized the old man. His face was identical to that of the Martial Emperor’s Divine Thought that had emerged from between Qi Cheng’s brows back in Ancient Yang City.

A cold glint flashed in the old man’s eyes. "That’s right," he said apathetically. "I am Qi Tuo. Speak! What happened? Where is my grandson, Qi Cheng?"

Elder Tianyi’s expression immediately froze. As if hiding some unspeakable secret, he stammered, not daring to speak. "Young Master Qi... Young Master Qi, he..."

"What happened to him?"

At the sight, a chill shot through Qi Tuo’s heart. A dreadful premonition surfaced, and he lost his initial calm, his voice turning furious.

Gasping for breath, Elder Tianyi’s face flushed crimson. A pained expression twisted his features as he rasped, "Senior... Young Master Qi... he... he was possessed."

It was as if saying this drained Elder Tianyi of all his strength, leaving him completely limp.

"What?" His suspicions were confirmed. A savage look appeared on Qi Tuo’s face as he cried out in anguish, "Damn it! My grandson, Qi Cheng, you died such a miserable death! You old fool! My grandson Qi Cheng came to your Profound Mystery Sect on business! Why are you still alive? You should be the one who’s dead!"

A terrifying power erupted from Qi Tuo, violently flinging Elder Tianyi away. His robes shattered as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Nearby, Chen Kang and the others were also sent flying by this aura. They were left dizzy and dazed, suffering from broken bones and torn ligaments as they howled in pain. One of the Supreme Elders, already severely injured, spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and died on the spot.

The old man’s face was savage. Still not satisfied, he unleashed a sliver of golden light from his hand that shot into Elder Tianyi’s body.

"AHHH!"

Elder Tianyi writhed in agony on the ground, his forehead beaded with cold sweat. His entire body twitched and convulsed as if ten million ants were gnawing at him from the inside. He let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Watching their sect’s ancestor writhing so wretchedly, Chen Kang and the others felt a chill creep into their hearts, terrified.

"My lord, it wasn’t my fault! It was that fiend from the Soul-devouring Race, and those people from Gale Light Academy! My lord, spare me!"

Elder Tianyi pleaded desperately.

"Hmph. Tell me what happened. If you utter a single lie, I will tear out your soul and refine it, leaving you to suffer endless torment, unable to live and unable to die."

With a wave of his hand, the old man dispelled the pain in Elder Tianyi’s body.

"Yes, yes." Elder Tianyi, pale and terribly weak, recounted everything that had happened in Ancient Yang City from beginning to end.

Upon hearing that Qi Cheng had been possessed by a demon from the Soul-devouring Race—one that had been suppressed beneath Ancient Yang City for over ten thousand years—Qi Tuo’s expression turned grim, his eyes flickering.

’This Soul-devouring Race... what kind of race is it? Why have I never heard of them before? My grandson Qi Cheng’s life tablet in the Infinite Mountain Life Palace has yet to shatter. Does that mean he’s not dead? Or is it because he was possessed?’

A thousand thoughts raced through Qi Tuo’s mind in an instant. He then asked coldly, "Those people from Gale Light Academy, where are they now?"

"Replying to my lord, this humble one doesn’t know either. But I would guess that they’ve most likely gone to Gale Light Academy. Lord Yao Jishuang and his men, who arrived earlier, are in the process of attacking the academy. I do not know if they have succeeded yet."

"Yao Jishuang." A cold light flickered in Qi Tuo’s eyes as he spoke through clenched teeth. "To claim all the credit for himself, that man sent my grandson and a good-for-nothing like you to Ancient Yang City while he took everyone else to attack Gale Light Academy’s main campus. He deserves to die."

"Let’s go. We’re going to Gale Light Academy."

Qi Tuo snorted coldly, then grabbed Tianyi Ease Ancestor and shot into the sky, streaking toward Gale Light Academy.

「Several thousand miles away, in the Jin Yuan Mountain Range.」

"I’m finally out! That was too close. This King almost died back there. Scared me to death! Luckily, This King is smart enough to know that of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, the best one is to run! Damn it."

Jin Lin gazed toward the distant Profound Mystery Sect, patting its chest with a hoof-like claw, a look of lingering fear on its face.

’It was well aware of how terrifying a human Martial Emperor was. Before being sealed, it could have swatted a dozen of them to death with a single swipe. But now, in its sealed state, if that man had targeted it, its fate would have been no better than the Silver Wolf Emperor’s.’

"Lord Jin Lin, now that the Wolf Emperor has been killed, what are we going to do?"

A large number of Demon Kings from the Wolf Emperor Hall who had escaped landed beside Jin Lin, their faces filled with panic. They were all at a complete loss.

Jin Lin’s eyes turned cold as it declared with an air of righteous fury, "What can we do? Avenge Brother Yilang, of course! There isn’t a single coward in our Demon Race! So what if the man who dared to kill Brother Yilang is a Martial Emperor? Are any of the heroes of Wolf Emperor Hall afraid to die? We can’t just let this go! He must pay for this with his blood!"

Stirred by Jin Lin’s words, the Demon Kings’ blood began to boil, and they roared with fury.

"Lord Jin Lin, we will all follow your lead now!"

"Kill! Kill that human Martial Emperor!"

"Blood for blood!"

The countless Demon Kings roared, their eyes glinting fiercely as they all looked to Jin Lin.

"Lord Jin Lin, you are the new Hall Master of our Wolf Emperor Hall! Just say the word, and we’ll fight our way back to the Profound Mystery Sect to avenge Lord Silver Wolf!"

"That’s right! There are no cowards in Wolf Emperor Hall!"

All the Demon Kings roared in fury, waiting for Jin Lin’s command. They were ready to charge back to the Profound Mystery Sect at a moment’s notice.

Jin Lin shot them a speechless look and said irritably, "Are you all pig-headed? Charge back? That’s a human Martial Emperor we’re talking about! All of us Demon Kings combined wouldn’t even be a mouthful for him. Avenge Brother Yilang? We’d just be adding more restless spirits to the Demon Race, that’s all."

"Then what should we do?" All the furious, bloodthirsty Demon Kings were dumbfounded.

Jin Lin snorted. "Isn’t it obvious? The humans have a saying for it: ’As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood.’ Now do you get it?"

The pack of Demon Kings stared at each other, their eyes wide as saucers. Then, in unison, they shook their heads like rattle-drums.

"Lord Jin Lin, what does that mean?"

"No firewood? What do we need firewood for?"

The Demon Kings asked, perplexed.

Jin Lin was speechless. Cold sweat beaded on its forehead, which was covered in golden Scale Armor. "I call you stupid, and you really are stupid!" it raged. "Alright, considering that last saying was too profound for you, let me try another: ’For a gentleman, revenge is never too late, even after ten years.’ Now you all understand, right?"

The Demon Kings paused, then began nodding their heads like chickens pecking at grain. They all grew excited. "Lord Jin Lin, we understand that one!"

Jin Lin smiled smugly, feeling quite pleased with its own literary flair.

But then they heard the Demon Kings ask in confusion, "But Lord Jin Lin, even after ten years, we still won’t be able to beat that human Martial Emperor."

"Yeah! Ten years will fly by, and our strength won’t have improved by much!"

"Besides, we’re not gentlemen. We’re Demon Beasts!"

The Demon Kings began to chatter amongst themselves, their voices full of confusion.

The smile on Jin Lin’s face froze. PUFF! It nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

It roared, "You’re killing me! Talking to you is like burning a zither to cook a crane, or playing a zither for a cow!"

"Burning a zither to cook a crane?"

A crane-type Demon King with a red crown on its head stepped forward. "Lord Jin Lin, are you talking about me?" it asked, confused. "But why would you want to cook me? Besides, the flames from a regular wooden zither would only be enough to keep me warm. It couldn’t possibly kill me; it couldn’t even set my feathers on fire."

Staring at the utterly serious and perplexed crane-type Demon King, Jin Lin’s face started to turn green.

"Crane Fairy, you’re so dumb! The zither Lord Jin Lin is talking about is definitely not a normal wooden zither. It’s probably a human’s Seventh-level or Eighth-Level Profound Soldier! That could definitely burn you to death!" one of the Demon Kings chimed in, thinking itself quite clever.

"And you, Old Ox! The zither being played at you must also be a High Tier Profound Soldier! A single note would make you explode and die!"

"Ah!" The crane-type Demon King jumped in fright, its eyes filling with terror. On the verge of tears, it said, "Lord Jin Lin, what has this subordinate done wrong that you want to burn me to death? This subordinate doesn’t understand!"

Nearby, a green ox Demon King was trembling so badly it could barely stand. On the verge of tears, it stammered, "My lord, I, Old Ox, have always been diligent in my duties at Wolf Emperor Hall. I have never once disobeyed you. I don’t understand why you would want to use a human’s High Tier Profound Soldier to kill me. I... I just don’t understand!"

As it spoke, the green ox Demon King burst into tears.

"Yes, Lord Jin Lin! Why do you want to burn the Crane Fairy and play the Old Ox to death? They haven’t done anything wrong!"

"My lord, please spare the Crane Fairy and Old Ox!"

One after another, the Demon Kings began to plead for the Crane Fairy and the Old Ox.

Jin Lin’s face went from green to white, then white to red, and finally... PUFF! It coughed up another mouthful of blood.

’These Demon Kings are such pig-heads.’

In the end, Jin Lin had to spend a great deal of time explaining the meaning of the two idioms.

"So, my lord didn’t actually want to burn me to death. You scared poor me half to death!"

The Crane Fairy patted her chest, saying with lingering fear, "My poor little heart is still going thump-thump-thump."

The green ox Demon King also looked as though it had just survived a catastrophe. "My lord," it said nervously, "you have to speak more clearly in the future. I really thought you were going to kill me! I have so many children and grandchildren. Without me, how would they ever survive?"

’I didn’t speak clearly?’

Jin Lin’s face turned white, then green, red, purple, and finally black—a veritable rainbow of exasperation. In the end, it could only sigh and reflect on one thing...

’Ignorance is truly a terrifying thing!’

"My lord, after all that, you still haven’t told us what we should do."

After everything that had just happened, Jin Lin couldn’t be bothered with any more idioms. It spoke simply and clearly, one word at a time: "First, we return to the Endless Mountain Range. We report this to the higher-ups of the Demon Race. A human Martial Emperor dared to kill the Hall Master of our Wolf Emperor Hall. The Demon Emperors will surely avenge Brother Yilang. When that time comes, will that human Martial Emperor still be breathing?!"