Chapter 234: Why Doesn’t It Match Up?

The man on the ground naturally did not know what the other bottle of medicine in Lian Li’s hand was for; he only knew that Lian Li was currently treating his injuries.

However, his expression and gaze showed no hint of gratitude. Instead, they were filled with vigilance, and even a touch of mockery and contempt.

Lian Li did not care about his mockery and contempt in the slightest. If this man had suddenly looked at him with eyes full of gratitude and then wept bitterly while apologizing for coming to ambush him and Yun Huizhou, he would have found the situation rather difficult to handle.

Lian Li was the type of person who responded to gentleness rather than force, yet he didn’t fall for just any kind of “soft” approach.

Seeing the man’s current gaze, he felt much more at ease.

The man’s martial arts were roughly on par with his own, and his injuries weren’t excessively heavy. With the West Island Master’s high-quality medicine and Lian Li’s treatment, he looked much better after half an hour.

At the very least, he was at a level where he wouldn’t be tortured to death.

Thus, without any psychological burden, Lian Li stuffed a pill that could cause extreme pain into the man’s mouth.

In less than ten breaths of time, the medicinal effect kicked in.

The man lying on the ground instantly developed an extremely distorted expression. His entire head swelled, his pupils dilated, his eyes became bloodshot, and his muscles began to twitch.

He opened his mouth to gasp for air, letting out a shrill, agonizing sound.

However, even in this state, he could not move an inch because Yun Huizhou had sealed his acupoints.

Seeing him like this, Lian Li’s hand gripped the medicine bottle tightly.

Although the decision was his and he had administered the medicine, and he knew exactly what the outcome would be, actually witnessing this scene still gave him a bit of a shock and a trace of pity, even though he was now capable of killing without blinking.

He turned his head away, avoiding looking at the man, but spoke nonetheless: “What was Monk Suixin’s purpose in seeking you out? Tell me what you know, and I will give you the antidote.”

Yun Huizhou and the South Island Master, on the other hand, showed no reaction. They had a deeper understanding of the Demonic Cult and felt no sympathy for its members.

After all, there were plenty of people who had died at the hands of these cultists in ways far more painful and cruel than this.

However, just because Demonic Cult members were cruel to others did not mean they could endure such pain themselves.

Very quickly, the man could no longer hold out.

In a pained, intermittent voice, he said: “I… will speak… quickly, give me the antidote… no… just kill… me.”

Hearing him say this, Lian Li pulled the antidote from his robes, still not turning his head back.

With a flick of his finger, he shot the antidote into the man’s mouth.

Slowly, the man’s sounds of agony diminished until there were only some heavy, ragged gasps.

Only then did Lian Li look over and ask, “What news did Monk Suixin bring?”

The man’s eyes were still somewhat unfocused, but hearing Lian Li’s question, he did not dare refuse to answer.

“In the place where dragon qi gathers, a supreme treasure must emerge.”

“The place where dragon qi gathers?”

“A supreme treasure must emerge?”

Lian Li and Yun Huizhou each repeated a phrase.

Lian Li repeated the first part—the place where dragon qi gathers. In an ancient setting, his first reaction was the capital.

But if that were the case, it wouldn’t match his previous guess. The capital didn’t lack water.

Could it be a great drought this year? But even with a year of severe drought, it would be hard to reach the point where everyone had no water to drink; it would just be miserable for the farming peasants who would have no harvest and would likely suffer greatly.

Furthermore, he didn’t think there would be a great drought this year. Although the New Year had not long passed, there had already been several rainfalls.

Most importantly, if there were a drought, it wouldn’t just affect the place where dragon qi gathers.

Could his guess be wrong? Was the struggle for that thing not actually in the desert?

But the “supreme treasure” part at the end matched his guess perfectly!

What exactly was going on?

Lian Li couldn’t figure it out. He even felt as if an invisible, massive net was shrouding them; it smelled of a conspiracy.

Yun Huizhou’s focus, meanwhile, was on the latter phrase regarding the supreme treasure. He thought to himself: This kid was right again.

As for the location being completely different, he didn’t particularly mind. He even felt that the place Lian Li mentioned might be the correct one. After all, if his Uncle-Master Bei was abstract but accurate, then not a single place where dragon qi gathered could match Uncle-Master Bei’s keywords.

Besides, who was to say this man wasn’t lying?

Thinking this, he took the bottle of pain-inducing medicine from Lian Li’s hand, poured a pill into his palm, and approached the man on the ground.

Seeing this, fear instantly surfaced in the man’s eyes. His lips moved weakly: “I have already told you everything I know. You cannot do this.”

Yun Huizhou’s expression didn’t shift as he held the pill near the man’s mouth. “How do I know if what you said is true or false? Why don’t you take another one and think about it?”

With his acupoints sealed, the man couldn’t move. He could only watch as the medicine was about to be stuffed into his mouth again.

He broke down, saying, “Kill me, I beg you, kill me! I really didn’t lie to you, don’t give me the medicine.”

His eyes began to lose focus, looking somewhat crazed.

Seeing him like this, Yun Huizhou frowned slightly. It seemed this man was not lying.

Lian Li also watched all of this, and he believed the truth of these words even more.

But because of that, he understood it even less. Could he really have guessed wrong?

Seeing Lian Li’s inner conflict and bewilderment, Yun Huizhou stood up and drew his blade. With a slight turn of his wrist, he ended the life of the Demonic Cult member on the ground.

Afterward, he gently patted Lian Li’s shoulder and said, “Perhaps he told the truth, but Monk Suixin told a lie?”

Lian Li replied, “But even if Monk Suixin wanted to lie, if he’s after that treasure, he couldn’t pull the location so far away. The capital is in the south, while the desert is in the northwest. It’s too far.”

“And even if he wanted to trick the Demonic Cult into entering the Central Plains to stir up trouble while he found a local guide to enter the desert for the treasure, wouldn’t he be afraid that once the Demonic Cult realized they’d been tricked, they would turn around and find trouble with him?”

“The Demonic Cult has several Transcendent masters, right? Is he so certain that after finding the treasure, he can use it to increase his martial arts so drastically in a short time that several Transcendent masters wouldn’t be able to do anything to him?”

“Besides, this is the Demonic Cult’s territory after all. It’s impossible for the Demonic Cult to be completely unaware of his movements here. They might discover they’ve been tricked before he even finds the treasure.”

After saying all this, Lian Li paused, then whispered, “Maybe it really is in the place where dragon qi gathers? Maybe my previous guess was wrong?”

At this, Yun Huizhou didn’t know what to say either. Seeing Lian Li clearly starting to doubt himself, he could only give him a light hug and then look toward the South Island Master.

The South Island Master fell into deep thought for a moment and met Yun Huizhou’s gaze.