AMSSO-Chapter 99: Hidden Well

The three Golden Core Stage cultivators who had been unconscious finally opened their eyes.

The moment they did, they saw a crowd of people standing before them.

They were just about to speak, when they gasped sharply and instinctively leaned back, staring in horror at the massive spirit beasts sprawled behind them like small mountains.

“I-I-I-Iron-Eating Beast?!”

“S-S-S-S-S-Spotted Spirit Cow?!”

“S-S-Soul-Devouring Tiger?!”

They gawked, eyes bulging, thinking they must be hallucinating.

Wasn’t this supposed to be just a small sect? How could there be so many spirit beasts here?!

This wasn’t the Myriad Beast Sect!

At that moment, dread crept into their hearts.

They had clearly kicked an iron wall.

“Caw—!”

The Black Abyss Falcon, displeased at being ignored, screeched loudly.

The three turned toward the sound and nearly fainted when the enormous falcon leaned closer. They fell backward, hitting the ground with a painful thud and clutching their heads in panic.

If the Iron-Eating Beast and Soul-Devouring Tiger were illusions, then the Black Abyss Falcon who had attacked them, was terrifyingly real!

They vaguely remembered that every time they tried to open their eyes before, a cloud of darkness had descended from above, suffocating them into unconsciousness.

Now, seeing the massive falcon before them, they finally understood, it had all been real!

Their faces went pale with fear; their minds were in chaos.

Just as Chu Jingzhuo and the others had guessed, these three had indeed been sent to assassinate Zhou Wanyao and Chu Jingzhuo.

Who could’ve thought that instead of killing anyone, they’d become captives themselves?

They glanced around nervously, eyes darting, hands instinctively reaching for their storage pouches.

—Where are their storage bags?!

“Don’t bother looking,” Chu Jingzhuo said lightly, tossing a few pouches into the air and catching them again with a smile. “We took your storage bags already.”

All eyes followed the motion, and the three men’s faces turned green.

At that moment, they realized why they hadn’t been tied up.

They had various things inside the storage bags, having their storage bags taken away, they’re naturally helpless.

But seeing those massive spirit beasts nearby, they trembled all the same.

Even if they had their storage bags, they wouldn’t dare fight here!

Inside, they cursed the Chu Family furiously.

They hadn’t even investigated the situation properly before sending them here!

Now look what happened, they’re finished!

“You’re from the Chu Family, aren’t you?” Chu Jingzhuo asked with a friendly smile that sent chills down their spines.

“Wh-what Chu Family? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Though they cursed the Chu Family silently, they dared not admit it aloud.

“Tsk. So loyal,” Chu Jingzhuo sneered. “They’ve already thrown you away like dogs, yet you’re still protecting them. Truly devoted hounds of the Chu Family.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?!” The three men’s faces instantly changed colour.

“You’re the dog!”

“If they hadn’t abandoned you, why would they send you here?” 

Chu Jingzhuo pointed behind him at the line of terrifying spirit beasts, laughing coldly, “They intercepted my letter to my mother, so they definitely knew how many spirit beasts we have here. And yet they still sent you. That’s a death sentence.”

Of course, he was bluffing.

His letter to Zhou Wanyao had only mentioned that his spiritual root was healed, there was no mention of other matters.

But these men didn’t know that.

Chu Jingzhuo vaguely remembered them, they weren’t actual members of the Chu Family, just affiliated rogue cultivators.

Some rogue cultivators without family backing had to attach themselves to clans for resources. In exchange, they ran errands and did the clan’s dirty work.

He had seen them once as a child. 

If his memory weren’t so good, he’d have forgotten them entirely.

“Fourth Senior Brother, looks like these men weren’t well-liked in the Chu Family,” Qin Yiwei said dryly. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been sent here to die.”

“Maybe they offended someone, so this was a convenient way to get rid of them,” Chu Jingzhuo replied with a faint smile.

“Tsk, that’s unlucky,” Meng Fanzé said, shaking his head dramatically.

Listening to their words, the three men’s faces darkened.

They insisted they didn’t believe it, but all three believed Chu Jingzhuo’s words.

As outsiders serving the Chu Family, they had never been treated as equals.

The Chu heirs barked orders at them, used them like servants, and sent them on disgraceful errands.

They’d endured it for the sake of cultivation resources.

But this time, the Chu Family was actually sending them to their deaths!

The more they thought about it, the angrier they grew. Their faces twisted with fury.

“Alright, let’s just kill them,” Xin Jinrui said impatiently. “They won’t admit it anyway. So let’s be done with it.”

“No!”

“You can’t kill us!”

They cried out in panic, “We are from the Chu Family!”

“Oh? Weren’t you just saying you weren’t?” Xin Jinrui said coldly. “Now you change your story? Do you take us for fools?”

“N-n-no, we really are from the Chu Family!”

“Proof? Who would believe you with no proof?”

“I—I have proof!” one man shouted suddenly, raising his hand.

He lifted his robe, reaching behind himself.

“What the hell are you doing?!” everyone’s expressions went black.

“I-I’m looking for proof! Wait a second!” he said awkwardly, forcing a grin as his hand kept fumbling behind him.

After a moment, he pulled something out, a small token, about the thickness of a pinky finger.

Chu Jingzhuo and the others, who had previously searched their bodies top to bottom and found nothing, all stepped back simultaneously, expressions twisting in disgust.

While Chu Jingzhuo recognized their identities as people of Chu Family, he also knew that mere words weren’t enough to accuse the Chu Family.

If they confronted the Chu Family without evidence, the Chu Family could just deny any relationship with these men, claiming slander.

So they’d checked everything from their storage pouches to their clothing.

But, what surprised them was that none of them had carried any Chu Family items!

That’s why they’d chosen to frighten them together.

They originally thought those three men must’ve hid their tokens elsewhere, when their psychological defenses collapse, they’ll bring out the tokens.

But who could’ve thought, someone really brought the token with them!

And much to everyone’s shock, the place where the token was hidden was so horrifying!

Even the two rogue cultivators looked at him with complex, almost pained expressions.

Seriously… there?!

Who in their right mind hid a family token there?!

Everyone’s faces darkened, none could bear to look directly at it.

They could almost smell the horror emanating from that token…

Only Mu Shiyue’s eyes sparkled as she clapped her hands, “Not bad, not bad! Very clever, excellent hiding spot!”

Everyone else: “……”