Chapter 196: Demon-Locking Bag – He Was Ready to Risk It All Against Those Two Bitches

The Fish-and-Goose Stone was silent for a long time before Linghu Meng’s trembling voice came through: “If I kill him… will you let me go?”

Lian Mu: “?”

“If killing him will help you and Bai Su vent your anger, then go ahead.” Linghu Meng’s side was filled with noise. “Just don’t come after me. I… I was being controlled. Your friend and Spirit Pet, it wasn’t me…”

Before he could finish, the connection abruptly cut off.

Lian Mu’s gaze turned cold. As expected, someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.

She had always doubted Linghu Meng had that kind of power.

Lian Mu tossed the Fish-and-Goose Stone back beside Gong Yu and said, “The friend you treasure so much doesn’t seem to care whether you live or die. You’ve been covering for him all this time—guess this is karma catching up.”

Gong Yu seemed to hear her… or maybe not. A line of blood-tinged tears slid from the corner of his eye, quickly evaporating—whether from the pain wracking his body or from hearing Linghu Meng’s words, it was hard to tell.

When the Black Flood Dragon finally swallowed the flame beast’s head whole, Gong Yu could hold on no longer. His vision went black, and he passed out cold.

On the Cloud Platform above, Gong Yu’s Life Lamp went out. His body lay motionless. The crowd watching was stunned into silence.

The Spirit Summoning Talisman had reached its limit. Lian Mu raised her hand, and the Black Flood Dragon, still gnawing on the Red-eyed Five-form Beast’s corpse, was pulled back into the Jiao Pearl, transforming once more into a streak of black within the pearl’s heart.

No one announced a winner. The arena fell into a heavy silence. Then even the spectators began to realize something was very wrong.

Both sides had violated the rules. The Silver-masked Person hadn’t stepped in to stop it. Even after Gong Yu’s Life Lamp extinguished, no one appeared. Only a fool wouldn’t sense something off.

Silver Crane let out a quiet sigh of relief. Earlier, he’d been worried that if the spectators found out about the Red-eyed Five-form Beast, it would cause panic, leading the flame beast to change targets and break through the outer barrier, injuring people. Now that the crisis had passed, he had nothing left to fear.

He turned to the crowd and said, “Everyone, there was an unexpected incident during this match. Our Pavilion Master will be returning shortly to handle the matter. Please leave the Beast Fighting Arena at once. Flying Sea Pavilion will fully compensate your ticket costs.”

He had just finished speaking when Lian Mu shot out from the arena like a streak of light. With a single sword strike, she shattered the outer barrier, grabbed Silver Crane by the collar, and slammed him against the railing.

Half his body dangled over the edge. Silver Crane waved his hands frantically. “Young friend, calm down! Don’t be rash—let’s talk this out!”

“Talk it out?” Lian Mu pressed her sword to his throat. “Flying Sea Pavilion caused this whole mess. Someone kidnapped my friend and stole my Spirit Pet, and you all act like you know nothing? And you still have the gall to say that? Where is Bai Su?”

Silver Crane, an artifact refiner, had never been treated like this before. But not wanting to ruin their relationship completely, he softened his tone and explained, “I’m not sure where the Pavilion Master went. I’m just a nominal artifact refiner hired by Flying Sea Pavilion—I don’t have the authority to question the Pavilion Master’s movements. But please don’t misunderstand. Flying Sea Pavilion would never do anything so outrageous.”

Then he lowered his voice. “We suspect someone else is manipulating things behind the scenes. The Pavilion Master has already gone to investigate. With her abilities, I believe she’ll uncover the mastermind soon.”

Lian Mu let go of him. “I’ll give you one last chance. Which direction did your Pavilion Master go?”

“Young friend, I advise you not to run around blindly. Whoever’s behind this is clearly targeting you. And anyone bold enough to stir up trouble in Flying Sea Pavilion isn’t some nobody—their strength could rival even the Second Boss.”

Lian Mu understood all of this. With Bai Su guarding Flying Sea Pavilion, no one without real power would dare step in here. But now wasn’t the time to sit around and wait. The more mysterious the enemy, the more she needed to strike first.

After all, if the person behind this really meant what they said, Ji Mingyue could be in danger.

“If you don’t want them to find out what happened to Gong Yu, then tell me the truth,” Lian Mu said coldly.

Silver Crane sighed. “Young friend, you… Fine. Since you’re determined, I won’t stop you.”

He pointed to a direction in the sky. “Take care.”

In the next instant, Lian Mu shot off in that direction, leaving only a blur behind.

Silver Crane gave a wry smile. As expected of someone the Pavilion Master had her eye on—same temperament, through and through.

Still, he wasn’t too worried about her getting hurt. He’d only tried to stop her because the Pavilion Master had ordered it. Just the fact that she had a spirit flood dragon by her side was enough to ensure her safety. No Spirit Artifact could last long against a Spirit Beast. And with the Pavilion Master also pursuing those people, nothing would go wrong.

The only problem was… now he was stuck cleaning up the mess at the Beast Fighting Arena.

Silver Crane looked around at the wrecked arena and the unconscious Gong Yu lying on the ground, a headache already forming.

Before this match began, he never imagined it would end like this. Though Gong Yu had never liked him, Silver Crane had secretly hoped he’d survive. After all, General Bean would only stay at Flying Sea Pavilion for a short time, while the Beast Fighting Arena needed a Beast Master to hold the fort long-term.

Now that Gong Yu was down, the arena’s business would take a major hit for at least the next three years.

Silver Crane sighed, jumped down from the railing, stepped over the Red-eyed Five-form Beast’s corpse, and knelt beside Gong Yu.

He checked his breath—barely hanging on.

Gong Yu had long known this day might come, when his beast would lose control. He’d prepared a fallback plan: channeling the flame beast’s spiritual energy into his own body, using it to forcibly block the fatal backlash of the life-binding contract with extreme-tier spiritual power.

Seeing him covered in blood, Silver Crane couldn’t help but recall the first time they met at the Flying Sea Pavilion.

Back then, he was just a green, penniless youth with no talent for cultivation. Someone had referred him to the Flying Sea Pavilion just so he could get a bite to eat.

At first, he didn’t even know what beast taming was. He showed up at the Beast Fighting Arena with a dog on a leash, only to be laughed at by everyone. It was Silver Crane who told him that the “beasts” in beast fighting were demonic beasts—not cats and dogs brawling.

He had no one to rely on and barely scraped by doing odd jobs at the Spirit Ore Shop. Life was tough. Once, when Silver Crane came to the shop to buy binding gold, the boy told him he wanted to become an artifact refiner one day.

There had been such innocence in his eyes when he spoke of his dreams. Silver Crane hadn’t the heart to crush them. He simply smiled and said nothing.

When did things start to change?

Silver Crane couldn’t remember. All he knew was that one day, the boy returned with a fierce demonic beast in tow—and a very wealthy friend by his side.

From then on, the name “Gong Yu” began to spread through the Flying Sea Pavilion. He made a name for himself with a single fight at the Beast Fighting Arena. The next time they met, he was no longer the boy Silver Crane once knew.

Later, Gong Yu entered the arena with his newly modified demonic beast and happened to draw Silver Crane as his opponent. At the end of the match, Gong Yu looked at him with nothing but disdain.

It wasn’t until today that Silver Crane had been this close to him again.

“Sigh… Xiao Weng,” Silver Crane folded up his fan and propped up the boy’s frail body. “Next time you make a friend, open your eyes. This is the last time I’m helping you.”

……

……

In the darkness, a strange fragrance filled the air, so thick it was almost suffocating.

A pair of green eyes opened in the gloom. The black scorpion shell twitched, but felt itself bound tight.

Green Bean blinked. Its pincers shifted to the side and brushed against a soft piece of fabric. It tried to tear it apart, but couldn’t get past the silk threads.

Green Bean froze for a moment, as if just realizing it had been kidnapped. The pair of red eyes on its back opened, paused, then bit down on the fabric and began to gnaw carefully.

“It’s struggling inside.”

On the rooftop of a tall building—none other than the main tower of the Flying Sea Pavilion—a golden-eyed woman sat while a three-eyed man stood beside her.

“No matter. Let it struggle. A first-tier Demon-Locking Bag isn’t something it can break free from.”

The woman asked, “Has the commotion at the Beast Fighting Arena died down?”

The man replied, “Someone took out that Extreme-Grade Flame Beast. The strike was so swift—it seems there are still hidden experts in the Flying Sea Pavilion besides Bai Su and Bai Lingque.”

“Even if that flame beast didn’t get to wreak havoc in the arena, it was enough to give Bai Su a headache,” the woman said. “I wonder if that sword cultivator will behave.”

“She’ll come,” the man said. “Not everyone is as heartless and cold as that pawn.”

The woman chuckled. “Sometimes, having someone you care about isn’t a good thing.”

As they spoke, the “pawn” they referred to was trembling in the shadows beneath the eaves.

Linghu Meng crouched low, clutching a shattered half of a Fish-and-Goose stone, trying his best to make himself invisible.

He was filled with regret, but there was no way out now.

At first, he just wanted to get back at General Bean. But he couldn’t find anyone in the Flying Sea Pavilion willing to help him anymore. When these two approached him, he thought they shared his grudge against her and agreed to their plan.

They said he’d kidnap General Bean’s friend to lure her out, and then they’d teach her a lesson.

But he never imagined their real target wasn’t just General Bean—they were also out to stir up chaos in the Flying Sea Pavilion.

That woman’s eyes could cloud the mind. She had used him like a puppet, making him steal General Bean from the Beast Fighting Arena and injure several of the Pavilion’s guards.

When he came to his senses, he was frozen with fear.

Things had spiraled out of control. This time, Bai Su would never let him off the hook. Even if Gong Yu stepped in, it wouldn’t help.

Linghu Meng no longer cared what was happening with Gong Yu at the arena. Gong Yu couldn’t protect him now. Whether he lived or died had nothing to do with him anymore.

He had spent years throwing money at Gong Yu, supporting him. That was more than enough.

Right now, the only thing that mattered was getting out of the Flying Sea Pavilion—as far away as possible. If Bai Su got his hands on him, he was as good as dead.

Linghu Meng tried to piece together the Fish-and-Goose stone to contact his old friends, but no matter how hard he tried, it was useless. He wasn’t an artifact refiner—he didn’t know the first thing about this stuff.

His hands trembled. Gritting his teeth, he hesitated, then steeled himself: if he was going to die anyway, he might as well take them down with him.

Those two bastards who ruined him—if he couldn’t live, they weren’t going to have it easy either.

Linghu Meng stepped onto the wall and scrambled up. He might be worthless in many ways, but he was good at this—like a nimble monkey, he climbed swiftly to the rooftop.

Maybe they didn’t see him as a threat at all. When the two turned and saw him, they didn’t even move, just looked at him with puzzled expressions.

Linghu Meng clenched his teeth. “I’m taking you two bastards down with me!”