The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Hehe, exactly!”

Upon hearing that, the arrogant youth said, “I’ve heard some things about the Evil Fending Villa being a shelter for the wizard tribe, and have wanted to find out more about it. Now that we have three people on the team, we could finally give it a whirl.”

The total of the people on the team obviously excluded Su Yu.

“Guys, if you could help me kill a deity-level wizard, I’m more than willing to give away the items that I promised.” Liang Kuan displayed three items, among which was the Wizard Dragon Fruit that he promised Su Yu.

“Please have a look. If there’s no problem, let us set on the journey now.”

Su Yu took a glance, and after ascertaining that the fruit was in good condition, he nodded gladly.

The group of people left the Alliance and headed for the range of mountains shrouded in thick fog.

“The dense fog never dissipates. Rumor has it that it has existed ever since the birth of the Ancient God Realm.”

“Various grotesque and odd creatures live within it, and they are usually very powerful,” along the way, while they were resting in a quiet valley, Liang Kuan explained to relieve the disharmonious ambiance.

“However, we’re only at the outer perimeter, and there are no powerful strange beasts known to live in the vicinity of the Evil Fending Villa, so that should reassure us.”

Upon hearing that, Su Yu asked, “Who are the founders of the Evil Fending Villa? Why did they establish the villa in the remote, deserted region of the Lost Nation? Weren’t they afraid of being raided by the wizards of the Moonwatch Sect?”

Before Liang Kuan could reply, the arrogant youth interrupted. He snorted, “You took on the adventure without even knowing that? The Evil Fending Villa was founded by the former Monarch of the Heaven-defying Empire, Nitian Qiubai.”

“The purpose of building it was to form a base where the movements of the Moonwatch Sect within the Lost Nation could be monitored at all times. Once they showed signs of unusual behavior, the Evil Fending Villa would ring the alarm.”

So that was it. Su Yu was not bothered about this person’s arrogance. He continued to ponder, alone with his thoughts.

“We’ve had enough rest. Let us carry on with the journey.”

It was just as Liang Kuan had said. They encountered no danger along the way and successfully arrived at the Evil Fending Villa.

White fog lingered around the Evil Fending Villa, impregnated with dead silence. Once in a while, the chirps of insects could be heard.

The villa appeared uninhabited, and at the moment, not a single soul was in sight.

Anyone would find the sight eerie and gloomy.

When Su Yu and the rest approached the villa, they noticed traces of abnormal activity.

Whiffs of dim grey fog hovered over the mountain behind the villa. Those were made of sorcery energy!

Liang Kuan was right. Wizards were lurking around the villa.

“Who’s there?”

With a creak, the gates of the villa opened. A short-statured man with a long beard stuck his head out and glanced around nervously.

Liang Kuan replied with a smile, “Don’t be afraid. We are Wizard Hunters, and we noticed the scent of wizards somewhere around here. We were worried that wizards might have invaded the area, thus we hastened here to find out.”

The long-bearded man’s glance swept around them, and he looked relieved as if he had been granted amnesty. “You guys are finally here! Help at last!

“Thank you so much for offering aid! If the three of you had come any later, we’d be sucked dry by that wizard.”

The three of them? Liang Kuan turned around to look. There were four of them, so why did this old fellow only see three?

However, the important point was the wizard.

“So there really is a wizard here. Where is he?”

The short, long-bearded man said, “He comes and goes without leaving a trace behind, and only comes out at night. Sometimes he’ll take some of the livestock, and at other times he’ll capture the servants of the house.”

“He has taken three servants already, and when we went up the mountain to look for them, we only found their skins, which looked like dry husks.”

“The rest of the servants were so scared they ran away, leaving only me and the Master, who is still keeping the last will of the former Monarch and safeguarding this place, monitoring the movements of the wizard tribe,” the man explained.

“Several days ago, we have informed the defending troops at the base of the mountain, but they have not sent us any aid until now. No matter how, please help us seize that wizard today.”

Liang Kuan said, “Rest assured, we came today to deal with the wizard. Do allow us to lay an ambush in the manor.”

The short-statured man was more than willing to do so.

Following Liang Kuan’s arrangements, they set a powerful, gigantic trap within the villa.

Any creatures that would barge in from the outside world would trigger the formation and be trapped within it.

Su Yu was dispatched to the southeast corner to keep an eye on the changes of the formation.

The other three each safeguarded a different corner, carrying out close surveillance.

Time trickled away slowly until it was only a couple of hours before dawn, yet there was not a single movement outside the villa.

Ahh!

However, the short, long-bearded man let out an anguished scream that pierced through the night sky.

Su Yu glanced sharply around him as an ominous feeling filled his insides.

Liang Kuan also realized the situation after a moment of surprise. “It’s that servant! We have evaluated the situation wrongly. That wizard hadn’t come from the mountain beyond the villa, but has been hiding inside the villa the whole time!”

There were only two creatures in the villa!

Since the servant had been captured, the one who did it was undoubtedly the wizard who had disguised himself as a creature of the Ancient God Realm.

Liang Kuan yelled, “Search! The would-be master of the Villa Fending Villa is the wizard himself!”

They gathered into a group and searched every single room.

Eventually, they found faint traces and clues left behind in the ancestral hall.

All of a sudden, a ghastly scream sounded from the hall. A pair of eyes that looked as if they were filled with ghost fire peered from the darkness of the ancestral hall.

A monster in human form, with odd-looking liquid trickling down all over him, exuded a dense wizardly scent and bellowed at them, his blood red-eyes open wide.

As for the long-bearded man, he was most probably dead.

The arrogant youth stared at the human-like monster, his eyes filled with shock. “The master of the Evil Fending Villa, Bi Haisheng! I recognize the jade crown that he is wearing. I can’t believe he’s become a monster of the wizard tribe!”

Liang Kuan tried to keep his composure. “Don’t be afraid, guys, let’s kill him together.”

They nodded and dashed into the ancestral hall to kill the wizard.

The wizard was a powerful one. In an intense struggle between life and death, while he was fighting three opponents all by himself, he wasn’t losing his ground!

Only when the arrogant youth hurled a precious explosive talisman, which created a dent in the monster’s skull, did Liang Kuan and the hunched elderly man find the opportunity to give the wizard a fatal blow, shattering his skull completely.

With a howl of pain and fury, the wizard collapsed onto the ground, turning into a puddle of grimy liquid and leaving behind a bunch of wizard tribe tools, scattered all over the place.

Liang Kuan’s and the other men’s eyes glittered, and they divided the treasures among them.

Liang Kuan cast a look at Su Yu, who stood outside the ancestral hall and did not enter. He asked, “Little brother, don’t you want to get some?”

Su Yu folded his arms across his chest and said dispassionately, “I’m only interested in wizards. I have no intention of touching the things of this creature, who belonged to the Ancient God Realm.”

Upon hearing that, the arrogant youth snorted coldly, “You’re insane! This was a wizard that we have just killed. How could he be a creature of the Ancient God Realm?”

He did not notice how Liang Kuan’s eyes gradually turned dark and stared at Su Yu for a while. He heaved a dismissive sigh. “Seems like your super-penetrating vision was no great help after all.”

“No wonder you chose to avoid taking a single step into the ancestral hall. You must have realized something wasn’t right, haven’t you?”

The arrogant youth’s contemptuous smile froze, and his face fell. He got up abruptly and dashed outside, growling furiously, “What on earth are you doing?”

The good-natured look on Liang Kuan’s face was gradually replaced by gloomy fierceness. He snapped his fingers. “You should have believed him. It’s too late to leave now.”

Clang!

At the entrance to the ancestral hall, the door crafted from precious minerals fell all of a sudden.

The arrogant youth struck forth with a sword, but the blade of the sword was forcefully severed.

The expression of the arrogant youth’s face finally changed. Leaning against the door, he stared at Liang Kuan vigilantly, with anger in his eyes. “What do you want?”

Liang Kuan pointed at the corpse on the ground, his manner creepy. “To find a substitute to fool the other deities, of course.”

“Senior, let us subdue him together,” the arrogant youth finally curbed his pride and spoke to the hunched elder.

The dreadful elder turned sideways to look at him. He, who had not spoken a word until now, flashed him a spine-chilling, ominous smile. “What makes you think that I don’t belong on his side?”

“What?” The arrogant youth inhaled sharply. “You… you guys gang up to murder people?”

The two of them flashed him eerie, cold smiles, and struck at once.

After a brief scuffle, the arrogant youth was on the ground with a blade of a pitch-black dagger thrust into his back. The poison in the dagger flowed into his body slowly, and it began to decay speedily, emanating a putrid, rotten scent.

His appearance bore a disturbing resemblance to the man they had seen previously!

The stooped elder picked up the jade crown from the ground and placed it on top of the arrogant youth’s head. In a ghastly voice, he said, “This is the jade crown of the Evil Fending Villa Master. Don’t drop it.”

At that time, Liang Kuan shoved the elder with his elbow. “Look outside.”

The elder took a glance outside and bared his teeth. ” He hasn’t fled yet! Has he become stupid from fright? He won’t make it out anyway, though.”

Liang Kuan scowled. He opened the iron door and stepped out of the hall cautiously. “Old Wu, be careful. I think this guy is kind of strange.”

The hunched elder was not bothered. “A mere fourth-realm Mortal Fairy. how dangerous could he be?”

“Hey, fellow, how did you realize the truth about the two of us? Tell us. I might be in a good mood and show you some mercy,” the hunched elder said in a warning manner.

Su Yu replied nonchalantly, “I have seen more wizards of a higher level than you ever had. Not any creature could impersonate a wizard by simply getting tinted with some sorcery energy.”

The moment he saw the creature in the ancestral hall, Su Yu had realized it was a trap.

“Besides, how could there be such a coincidence? I happen to need a Wizard Dragon Fruit, and a Wizard Hunter immediately comes up with a mission, promising the Dragon Fruit as a reward?

“Not only that, but this Wizard Hunter was so magnanimous that he agreed to give me a place after some trivial abilities that I displayed.”

In fact, since the very beginning, Su Yu had been vigilant.

Liang Kuan smiled. “In that case, it’s our fault that we did not arrange it well and roused your suspicion.”

Su Yu nodded. “Yes, your trick was not well-disguised at all, and could only fool people who were not yet familiar with the ways of the world.”

He looked pityingly at the arrogant youth’s body. When Su Yu refused to enter just now, if the youth had been clever enough to follow suit, he could have managed to escape.

However, he was too self-assured to understand Su Yu’s intention.

The hunched elder’s face grew even more sinister. “Well, you should speak your last wishes. How about that?”

“Last wishes?” Su Yu chuckled. “I’d like to ask you, how many times have you done this?”

The hunched elder started counting on his fingers and chortled once he had touched them all. “Can’t remember, too many times.”

“More than enough, then,” Su Yu nodded. “Alright, I have heard your last wishes. I’ll send you on your way to Hell now.”