Chapter 222: Shang Luo
Lu Zhen looked at the people inside the formation with an amused glint in his eyes.
"So these guys... those old foxes wanted me to kill them personally?" He was inwardly puzzled, but upon seeing their sect uniform, he was pretty sure they were from the same faction.
"Who are you?" Liao Mao asked calmly, looking at Lu Zhen with a cold expression on his face.
"Oh, who do you think I am?" Lu Zhen questioned instead of replying, with a smirk on his face.
"We are disciples of..." Shang Luo was about to continue.
"Stop, junior sister," Liao Mao hurriedly interrupted her. "This woman is stupid," he cursed inwardly.
"Oh, I am sorry, senior brother," she hurriedly bowed with an embarrassed expression on her face.
"It's okay, junior sister. As a junior, everyone makes mistakes," Liao Mao nodded his head with a gentle smile on his face.
"Senior brother is magnanimous..." Everyone in the group praised Liao Mao, but his expression remained unmoved as he looked at Lu Zhen coldly.
"Get out of the way, or you are going to die."
Lu Zhen observed all this with a strange expression. "Are these people stupid, or are they truly ignorant?" He was amused, witnessing such behaviour.
After all, once individuals embarked on the path of martial arts, the constant tempering they experienced tended to mature and toughen their minds quickly.
"Or perhaps they are the type of ignorant people who are genuinely unaware of the world..." Lu Zhen frowned as he sensed their aura. Liao Mao's strength wasn't too shabby as a third-stage martial artist, and the others seemed to be on the cusp of breaking through to the third-stage martial realm, right at the peak of martial trainee. They were relatively young as well.
"So, sheep are groomed in a stable, are they..." Lu Zhen quickly came to that conclusion as he scrutinised each one of them.
"What are you doing, kid? How dare you be presumptuous in front of us?" Liao Mao's voice carried an authoritative tone as his aura fully erupted.
Lu Zhen just shrugged, casually staying where he was as he remained unfazed.
"This... is the danger really from him?" Liao Mao's eyes widened with realisation, a shiver running down his spine as he confronted a stark truth.
"What should I do?" Despite his internal turmoil, he managed to maintain a relatively calm exterior, looking at Lu Zhen with a cold expression.
"He shouldn't be able to break through these barriers anytime soon, so we can stall him for some time. If anything doesn't work, I'll have to use the sect's name." Liao Mao grumbled inwardly.
However, to his despair, he watched the crimson-haired youth walk up to the barrier and deliver a slight punch. The barrier rippled like water but remained relatively strong.
"Oh, it can take 20% of my strength," Lu Zhen thought with some surprise. "Well, how about this then..." His eyes flashed with a ruthless glint as he punched again.
"Dong!"
With that punch, the barrier simply broke almost effortlessly, creating spider-like cracks.
"This... this..." The girl watched with horrified eyes.
"Senior brother." She looked back, but Liao Mao was nowhere to be seen.
"Eh, where did he go?"
Suddenly, blood splattered again, and she witnessed her team members being split cleanly in half, one by one, without the attacker even appearing.
She fell to the floor, witnessing the gruesome sight before her eyes with despair etched in her eyes losing any hope for survival.
"So he ran away?" Lu Zhen looked in the direction where the man had left with a strange glint in his eyes before turning his attention to the last remaining girl in the team.
"Seeing her clothes, she must be a high-ranking member of the organisation," Lu Zhen said as he walked up to the trembling girl.
"Don't come near me. Do you even know who I am..."
Lu Zhen instantly appeared in front of her, staring at her with his crimson eyes.
Her words struck her throat, and she didn't dare utter any more words.
"Good girl, tell me everything you know," Lu Zhen said, patting the head of the girl. He looked at her with a cold, emotionless gaze, as if he was looking at a bug he could crush at will.
"Yes."
….
Liao Mao ran through the forest with despair on his face. As he looked back and saw no one coming towards him, he felt relieved, yet his pace continued to increase.
"I don't want the junior brothers and sisters to be my scapegoats until I can run away," he muttered with a mad expression on his face. "My life is too important for me, but your lives are insignificant, and you guys are weak."
Liao Mao said in a loud voice, as if trying to convince himself.
Jiang Xue looked at him with a disgusted expression; however, deep happiness came from the bottom of her heart.
"At least Lu Zhen came for me," she thought with happiness.
"This guy is as good as dead now." Jiang Xue had mixed feelings towards Lu Zhen because he was the one who saved her previously, but due to her aloofness, she had wronged him.
Now he was the only one who could save her, and he did appear to save her. Whether for his own benefit or out of genuine concern was another matter, but Lu Zhen did appear to save her.
"I must gain more power in the future and repay the debt to Lu Zhen..." Jiang Xue thought with confidence that he could save her.
"Why are you shaking around, you bitch?" Liao Mao felt movement on his shoulder and gritted his teeth with a frown on his face.
"Everything is because of you, unlucky bitch! Who is that young bastard anyway?" he roared with anger.
"If it wasn't for my master's order…" He looked at Jiang Xue's body and licked his lips, drool leaking out with a lustful eyes.
Jiang Xue's expression became disgusted upon seeing this.