But
"You five—your legs aren't slow," Jiang Chen said with a cold smile. "If you don't want another beating, stay away from me."
He had no interest in making small talk with the Five Friends of the Ghost Cave.
The five exchanged embarrassed grins and bowed obsequiously. The one-eyed dragon leader nodded in a hurry. "Yes, yes, senior. We'll leave right away. But we'd also like to give you a word of advice—don't go west. It's a bit dangerous over there."
"What kind of danger?" Jiang Chen frowned.
"We haven't gotten all the details, but we did see King Shangping heading that way. And it looked like he was setting up a formation to ambush someone. From the looks of it, there's definitely something good there." The one-eyed dragon leader seemed eager to curry favor with Jiang Chen.
"King Shangping?" Jiang Chen wasn't the least bit surprised. The man was a sanctimonious hypocrite—ordinary people might be fooled by his act, but Jiang Chen had never trusted King Shangping.
However, his gaze drifted back to the Five Friends of the Ghost Cave, and a trace of cold amusement curled at the corner of his lips.
That said, Jiang Chen didn't trust the Five Friends one bit either. Whatever treasure, whatever King Shangping—he had zero interest in any of it and wasn't about to waste his thoughts on the matter.
Though he was indeed heading west, he wasn't going to let a few words from the Five Friends hold him back.
"You lot, get lost and stay out of my sight." Jiang Chen shot them a glance, laughed coldly, then flew off with Huang'er.
"Wait!" The one-eyed dragon called out. "Does Fellow Daoist Huang not want to know the latest news about that pill-selling partner of yours?"
Jiang Chen's steps faltered. He fixed the one-eyed dragon with a frigid stare. "What do you mean?"
The one-eyed dragon chuckled. "So there's finally something Fellow Daoist Huang is interested in?"
"Out with it. If you're lying, I won't mind sending you to your grave right now." Jiang Chen's expression darkened.
The one-eyed dragon let out an eerie laugh. "You could kill us, but then your partner would certainly be dead too."
"Spit it out." Jiang Chen scowled.
"Five million Holy Spirit Stones." The one-eyed dragon blurted out a number.
Jiang Chen's eyes went ice-cold. "I'll give you ten million. But if this is false information, you will die for certain."
The one-eyed dragon grinned. "I can swear a Heavenly Dao Oath—if the information is false, or if it has nothing to do with that pill-selling kid, then let the Five Friends of the Ghost Cave perish miserably in the wilderness."
Hearing him swear the Heavenly Dao Oath so readily, Jiang Chen was momentarily taken aback. He'd assumed the one-eyed dragon was playing games, but the man had just sworn the oath outright.
That forced Jiang Chen to take it seriously. In the martial world, no cultivator dared make a Heavenly Dao Oath lightly.
The Heavenly Dao was clear and absolute—whoever trifled with it was courting their own destruction.
Moreover, the Heavenly Dao Oath left no loopholes to exploit. The one-eyed dragon's words had been unmistakably confident.
"Lead the way."
Jiang Chen frowned. A tangle of thoughts surged through his mind, though he couldn't immediately seize the central thread.
Though the one-eyed dragon's Heavenly Dao Oath had been emphatic, an inexplicable suspicion still gnawed at Jiang Chen. Something about this whole affair reeked of strangeness.
How had the Five Friends of the Ghost Cave appeared so conveniently? And how did they happen to know about
Keep in mind, Jiang Chen and the others had only been separated from Lin Yanyu for an hour or two at most.
How much could happen in an hour or two?
And the Five Friends just happened to have witnessed it? And they just happened to arrive in front of him at exactly this moment to deliver the news?
Even if someone had orchestrated this, they couldn't have planned it this perfectly.
"Where did you see him?" Jiang Chen suddenly asked.
"You'll find out when we get there." The one-eyed dragon chuckled. "Before we collect our reward, we're not saying a word. Don't bother asking, senior."
"How is he right now?"
The one-eyed dragon laughed. "In grave danger. Trapped by some kind of humanoid plant—can't break free. I estimate he won't hold out much longer. If we're too slow, there might not even be bones left."
Jiang Chen gave a slight nod and asked nothing further.
After a few steps, his nose twitched as a thought suddenly struck him. "Do you five have any conscience at all? He sold you Eight Treasures Misfortune-Breaking Pills, and now you're supposedly doing him a favor by bringing me this news—and you're still charging money?"
"Heh heh, we're cultivators who put our lives on the line for every copper—everything comes down to money, senior. Don't tell me that just because he sold us pills, we'd work for free. Even if he'd given them to us as gifts, we still wouldn't do charity."
"Do you still have the pills?" Jiang Chen suddenly asked.
The one-eyed dragon was briefly stunned, then laughed. "We ate them."
"How did they taste?" Jiang Chen asked with a faint smile.
The one-eyed dragon glanced at him and replied casually, "What's so special about the taste of a pill? Just the usual. Nothing remarkable."
He seemed to realize Jiang Chen was probing him, and his mouth tightened abruptly.
Jiang Chen suddenly halted. The hint of a smile on his lips faded to nothing, replaced by a chill killing intent.
"What is it?" The one-eyed dragon frowned. "Don't tell me you doubt our Heavenly Dao Oath? If you don't want to go, suits me fine."