“Were you beaten by Hanyan?” the Patriarch of the Ancient God Clan asked, looking at the familiar injuries on the Second Elder's body.
“Yes!” the Second Elder replied with a single word.
Then, looking incredibly pitiful, he said, “Patriarch, you have to reimburse my losses!”
The Patriarch frowned. “Didn't I already give it to you?”
The Second Elder instantly reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “Hanyan stole my storage bag...”
“Second Elder, don't talk nonsense. Although Hanyan is a man of few words but brutal actions, he has never robbed anyone of their storage bag.” Before the Patriarch could even speak, the Third Elder's voice rang out from beside them.
“Exactly. Second Elder, you're being too greedy. How could you even utter such a lie? We've all been beaten up by Hanyan in the past. Who doesn't know his style of doing things...”
“Cough, cough...” Hearing their words, the Second Elder grew so agitated that blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“The past is the past! This time, he really robbed my storage bag!” the Second Elder shouted in agitation after catching his breath.
He was telling the truth! Why did nobody believe him?
“Second Elder, look at how worked up you are. Even if you want to swindle some extra resources, you shouldn't neglect your own health!” the Patriarch comforted.
“Pfft...” The Second Elder spat out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing him spit blood, the Patriarch and the Third Elder looked utterly helpless. “He's even spitting blood now?”
“Am I really that kind of person?” the Second Elder asked, feeling deeply aggrieved.
“Yes!”
“Indeed!” the Patriarch and the Third Elder replied in unison.
The Second Elder felt like the ship of their friendship had just capsized!
“Why won't you believe me? Hanyan really robbed my storage bag! Can't you see that I don't even have a storage bag on me anymore?”
The Third Elder glanced at the Second Elder's empty waist. “You must have hidden your storage bag somewhere just to trick us out of spirit stones!”
The Patriarch nodded in agreement. “Alright, stop fooling around. Tell us about what you found out on your scouting trip.”
The Second Elder stared at the two of them in utter shock. “Why? Why would you rather believe the enemy than me?”
“Pfft...” As he spoke, the Second Elder spat out another mouthful of fresh blood and passed out cold!
Seeing this, both the Patriarch and the Third Elder were shocked.
“Second Elder...”
“Second Elder!!”
The two panicked and scrambled to revive him.
Once the Second Elder slowly came to, he looked at the Patriarch and the Third Elder with eyes full of deep resentment, as if looking at a pair of unfaithful lovers. “Hanyan really, really robbed my storage bag!”
That resentful gaze and miserable tone made both of their scalps tingle.
They exchanged a glance. Could the Second Elder really have been robbed?
“Could the Second Elder have run into a fake Hanyan?” the Third Elder couldn't help but mutter.
But looking closely, the injuries on the Second Elder's body were undoubtedly caused by Hanyan's sword qi.
Upon hearing the Third Elder's muttering, the Second Elder nearly rolled his eyes and fainted again.
“Wait, wait... We believe you! We believe Hanyan stole your storage bag!” the Patriarch quickly cried out.
He was afraid that if he was a second too slow, the Second Elder would pass out once more.
“Waaah... You finally believe me! Hanyan is a monster! He really stole my storage bag... How could he do this? Beating me up is one thing, but why did he have to rob me too?”
Hearing the Second Elder's tearful complaints and seeing his broken state, the Patriarch and the Third Elder finally believed that Hanyan had indeed robbed him.
After all, such grief could not be faked.
“Why do you think Hanyan would steal the Second Elder's storage bag?” the Third Elder asked, thoroughly puzzled.
The Patriarch also knit his brows, unable to wrap his head around it.
Then, he looked at the Second Elder. “Did you have some world-shaking, heaven-defying treasure in your storage bag?”
The Third Elder also stared at the Second Elder with curiosity.
The Second Elder fell into deep thought, mentally reviewing the contents of his storage bag.
“There wasn't anything special! Even if there were some unique natural treasures, they weren't particularly valuable!”
“Besides, even if I did have some incredible treasure, there's no way Hanyan would have known about it, right?”
The Patriarch and the Third Elder nodded.
On the surface, the Second Elder hadn't acquired any treasures over the years.
As for what exactly was inside his storage bag, they didn't know either.
And Hanyan of the Qingshan Sect had been in seclusion from the world for many years, so how could he possibly know?
If it wasn't for some rare treasure, then what was the reason?
Right then, the Patriarch's eyes lit up. “Do you think it's possible that the Qingshan Sect is so dirt-poor right now that they can barely keep the lights on, so Hanyan has resorted to robbing people during fights?”
Upon hearing this, both the Second and Third Elders' eyes lit up, and they nodded in agreement.
“That's highly likely!”
Otherwise, why would there be such a sudden, drastic change in his behavior?
The three of them exchanged a glance, all wearing expressions of pure schadenfreude. “We must not tell the other ancient powers!”
They couldn't be the only ones to suffer this loss!
Since they were getting drenched in the rain, everyone else had to get soaked too.
“Hehehe...”
Following that, the three of them let out a chorus of sinister, ill-intentioned laughter.
“Patriarch, you have to compensate me!” the Second Elder said again after they finished laughing.
“Cough... I will give you a partial compensation!” the Patriarch said.
“Why only partial?!” the Second Elder cried out in shock.
“If even Hanyan has started robbing storage bags, the other members of the Qingshan Sect are bound to be even more aggressive. We need to prepare ourselves for hard times ahead...”
Hearing the Patriarch's words, the Second Elder opened his mouth but found himself completely speechless.
Just then, the Patriarch spoke up again: “How did your scouting trip go?”
“Our Ancestor was talking complete nonsense! The largest dynasty in the Eastern Province right now is the Great Qin, not some Xinghe Dynasty...”
Hearing the Second Elder's words, the Patriarch's brow furrowed slightly. “What about the Heavenly Demon Sect in the Northern Province?”
“Sigh! According to the demonic cultivators in the Northern Province, the Heavenly Demon Sect was just a tiny sect that disappeared ages ago. They might all be dead by now!”
Before the Patriarch could ask anything else, the Second Elder continued, “Oh, and as for the demon race, their imperial clan isn't some Xiaotian Imperial Clan at all, but rather the Tiger clan...”
“I kept saying our Ancestor has gone senile and his words can't be trusted, but you guys just wouldn't believe me!”
The Patriarch's brow furrowed. “But we really can't get in touch with Baili Mo and Huangpu Tao!”
Stroking his beard, the Third Elder analyzed, “Could it be a coincidence? Even if Baili Mo and the others are dead, it might not have been Lu Ming of the Qingshan Sect who killed them. If it really were him, those protective old fogies of the Qingshan Sect would have come demanding compensation from us long ago...”
Hearing the Third Elder's analysis, both the Patriarch and the Second Elder nodded in agreement.
“Furthermore, Hanyan beat me up without even mentioning this matter, and he didn't beat me up in the Eastern or Northern Provinces either...” the bruised and swollen Second Elder chimed in with his own analysis.
In the end, the three of them reached a conclusion.
This was all just a wild-goose chase caused by their Ancestor's ramblings.
As for Baili Mo and the others, perhaps something really had happened to them, but it likely had nothing to do with the Qingshan Sect.
Subsequently, the Patriarch sent someone to the Central Province once again to gather news about Baili Mo and the others.
Rate on N.U.
