Chapter 116: Sudden Turn of Events

Tang Murou’s face drained of color, leaving her pale and trembling. She was so terrified that she could only let out faint gasps, yet she still wailed pitifully: “Brother… brother, I don’t want to die!”

Yin Buqi was enveloped in a cold, oppressive aura. His handsome face was pale, and his smile carried a sinister edge.

With a swift, decisive motion, his hand flipped the hilt of his sword, and the blade shot toward Tang Murou, who was some distance away. The sword sliced off one of her fox tails.

Blood spilled onto the ground, instantly staining her snow-white tail crimson.

Tang Murou felt a sharp, unbearable pain she had never experienced before.

She looked down, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Her tail… her tail was gone!!!

Yin Buqi was truly going to kill her!

She spat out a mouthful of blood, but she didn’t die immediately. Her eyes bulged, her body convulsed, and she struggled fiercely.

Knowing that begging for mercy was useless, she stopped pretending. She lay on the ground, glaring venomously at Jiang Niannian, whom she had long wished to tear to pieces.

She gritted her teeth and said, “You bitch! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have ended up like this! It’s all your fault! You stole everything from me! You shouldn’t even exist!”

As she spoke, her eyes filled with malicious hatred.

Her gaze was as if laced with poison: “My dreams are the will of Heaven. Heaven sent me to kill you. You should have died long ago! Why have you pushed me to this point?!”

Her voice rose to a near scream.

“I am so tainted, how dare you remain so pure!”

Even if Jiang Niannian died now, it wouldn’t be enough to quell the hatred in her heart.

However, with every word she spoke, another one of her tails was severed, the pain making her wish for death!

When the last tail was cut off, Yin Buqi looked at her coldly: “Even at death’s door, you still dare to be stubborn.”

Tang Murou, terrified, took two steps back.

Covered in blood, she laughed maniacally: “Hahaha, sooner or later, you’ll be the death of her. She deserves to die! This is all the will of Heaven. Even if you—”

“You’re asking for death.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the crimson iron sword was filled with spiritual energy, ready to pierce Tang Murou’s heart in the next strike.

Boom—

At that moment, a towering black flame erupted from within the barrier!

Jiang Niannian’s gaze trembled. In the next second, she was pulled into Yin Buqi’s embrace.

Coalball and Jiang Ziyou hurriedly retreated, crashing into the wall.

When the flames disappeared, Yin Buqi urgently cupped Jiang Niannian’s face and asked, “Nian Nian, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Jiang Niannian said, looking toward the spot where Tang Murou had been. The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood, and the ground was soaked with the blood from her severed tails. The nine tails still lay on the ground.

However, Tang Murou was gone.

Jiang Ziyou exclaimed, “She escaped!”

“Awoo!!!”

Jiang Niannian was also shocked: “This is your barrier. How could an outsider take her away?!”

Yin Buqi was at the Great Ascension stage of cultivation. There were almost no cultivators stronger than him, let alone someone who could breach his barrier and take someone right from under his nose.

The person who took her must have been incredibly powerful!

Could it really be the “Heaven’s Will” that Tang Murou spoke of?

Did Heaven want to protect Tang Murou but wanted her dead? But why wouldn’t Heaven just kill her directly?

Yin Buqi stared at the pool of blood, his expression growing darker. A layer of frost seemed to settle over his features, and a devouring ferocity surged from the depths of his being.

Jiang Niannian felt a pang of panic and instinctively squeezed Yin Buqi’s hand.

Only then did Yin Buqi snap out of it. He pulled her into his arms and said, “Nian Nian, don’t overthink it. I’ll protect you. No one can take you away from me. No one.”

He held her tightly, his chest heaving.

He murmured, though it was unclear whether he was speaking to Jiang Niannian or to himself.

She was his. No one could take her away.

“I know, Buqi,” Jiang Niannian sighed in relief, a gentle smile appearing on her lips as she softly touched his hand.

“I won’t overthink it. I believe you’ll protect me. I trust you.”

Only then did Yin Buqi release her and dispel the barrier.

“The final item for auction today is a forbidden technique,” the master of the Linglang Pavilion announced, drawing everyone’s attention.

The highlight of every auction was always hinted at beforehand, and many had come specifically for this, eager to bid.

A tall, masked man walked onto the stage.

He was draped in luxurious brocade robes, edged with gold and silver threads that shimmered brilliantly.

His hands were empty.

Someone muttered, “What’s this? He didn’t even bring a scroll. How is he going to teach the technique? By word of mouth?”

“Ah, forget it. Forbidden techniques have never been auctioned before. This is probably just a gimmick by the Linglang Pavilion.”

“Tsk tsk, it seems the Linglang Pavilion’s reputation is about to be ruined!”

Yin Buqi’s cold, jade-like fingers rested on his temple as he watched coldly from above.

Jiang Niannian’s expression had already changed drastically. She stared at the man who was calmly walking onto the stage, her eyes widening in disbelief.

She murmured, “How… how is this possible… Zhao Anming…”

Even though he was wearing a mask, Jiang Niannian recognized him from the half of his face that was visible.

Most of the people here had come for the Puppetry Technique, and some of the more impatient ones couldn’t wait any longer.

They began to shout, “Can you hurry up? Bring out the scroll for the Puppetry Technique already!”

“Don’t rush,” the man said. “First, let me show you the power of the Puppetry Technique.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the man spread his fingers. In an instant, a brilliant light erupted, and a figure in white descended from the sky. The figure held a long, clear sword and thrust it directly toward a private booth on the third floor.

The curtain was torn apart, and the person inside the booth hurriedly dodged, but the sword sliced through their cloak, revealing their true face.

Jiang Niannian and the others were shocked once again: “Shen Yu?!”

But what concerned Jiang Ziyou was something else. The person fighting Shen Yu was none other than True Monarch Qinghe—his deceased master, Wen Shili!

This realization made his entire body tremble. The pain in his heart seemed even more intense than before. He gasped for breath, slowly raising his head, his breathing involuntarily slowing.

“They’re fighting already?!”

“Something’s wrong. Let’s get out of here!”

Many people, seeing this scene, tried to leave, but they found that with every step they took, a barrier rose in front of them, trapping them in place, unable to move!

Yin Buqi sensed something was wrong and tried to break the barrier with his spiritual energy, but it was useless.

A barrier of this level could only mean one thing.

“No one survives…”

He murmured.

Thinking this, he casually slashed open one of the walls of the private booth. Sure enough, there was a corpse hidden inside.

From the moment Zhao Anming stepped onto the stage, this barrier had been formed. No wonder he hadn’t noticed it earlier.

Yin Buqi said, “No One Survives is a barrier technique that uses corpses as its foundation. Judging by the strength of the barrier, the walls of this entire Linglang Pavilion are filled with corpses.”

Jiang Niannian asked, “Is there a way to break it? Zhao Anming… does he want to kill us?”

“Unless the caster releases it or dies,” Yin Buqi said, watching as Shen Yu, unable to withstand Wen Shili’s sword, fell from the third-floor railing.

He continued slowly, “However, it seems his purpose in setting up this barrier isn’t to kill us, but to prevent us from interfering.”