Lin Yun had never been one to assume the worst of people. But his kindness had been betrayed many times, and with the added advantage of his panel, he often didn't need to pay close attention to notice the world's abundant malice.
Just like now.
He didn't know what choice Fei Yuming would make, but it couldn't change his own attitude on the matter.
Not long after Qi Desheng returned, Fei Yuming was set free. The disciples of the Beast Taming Sect had been waiting for Lin Yun's rescue, but when they saw the completely unbound Fei Yuming, they knew.
They had been thinking too naively. Their Senior Brother Fei had defected to the enemy.
"Senior Brother Fei, how could you?"
"You were the one who insisted on leading us away, and that's why we ran into danger!"
"And now you betray your fellow sect brothers to buy your own freedom! Have you no shame?"
A group of disciples shouted at him. After all, Lin Yun was genuinely trying to save them. But Fei Yuming was a selfish coward, through and through.
"Tsk tsk, is everyone unhappy?" Fei Yuming sneered. "If you think what I did was wrong, why don't you go and tell Lin Yun? Heh, aren't you all just like me, hating Lin Yun's guts? Why else would you be here?"
His words left them speechless.
"I merely traded Lin Yun's one life for my own!" he declared with pride. The reason he had betrayed them so decisively was because he had just learned from Qi Desheng that the direction Lin Yun was heading likely held a hidden secret realm. A firm conviction immediately took root in his heart. Lin Yun and Zhou Damao must be after a secret realm! When their strength skyrocketed, what place would there be for him back at the sect?
Besides, Qi Desheng's strength was clearly superior. Since the Crimson Ghost Sect already had everything under control, why struggle? Wasn't it simpler to just defect to the enemy? This line of thinking led to the ensuing series of events. Fei Yuming repeated everything Lin Yun had told him to Qi Desheng, down to the last detail.
"Do you know what you're saying?" Qi Desheng stared coldly at Fei Yuming. "If I find out that a single word of what you just said is false, I might just kill you." He needed this man to understand the consequences of crossing him. Either solve the problem honestly, or wait for even bigger trouble.
Fei Yuming gave an awkward laugh. "Every sentence I spoke is the truth! All of them heard it!"
Qi Desheng glanced at the other Beast Taming Sect disciples. One of them had a crisis of conscience. They had always thought their Senior Brother Fei was a kindred spirit, but he was actually a selfish coward. And Lin Yun, while perhaps annoying in many ways, had at least never harmed them.
"Hmph, Fei Yuming, do you even hear yourself?" the disciple challenged. "You're only doing this for yourself, aren't you? And you want to use this opportunity to get someone else killed?"
Hearing this, Fei Yuming panicked. Before Qi Desheng could even react, Fei Yuming himself rushed forward and began raining fists and kicks on his own sect brother. After a short while, the disciple was a bloody mess. Seeing his pathetic state, Fei Yuming finally stopped, panting heavily.
"You traitorous scum, eating from the inside and digging from the outside," he spat. "What do you think I'm doing? Only if I am free will you all have a chance to be released."
Watching Fei Yuming's frenzied display, Qi Desheng smiled. It seemed his guess was correct. There was some credibility to what Fei Yuming had said. The Crimson Ghost Sect had issued a kill-on-sight order. It didn't matter who, as long as they could capture Lin Yun, there would be a heavy reward, whether he was dead or alive. To them, this was clearly a matter of utmost importance.
"Let's go. We'll see for ourselves what's going on!" Qi Desheng had taken the bait.
Meanwhile, Lin Yun and Zhou Damao had already arrived at the location. They quickly found the dilapidated tombstone and, sure enough, discovered the entrance to the ancient secret realm beneath it.
Although a seal had been placed on it in advance, for Zhou Damao, who had come prepared, it was no problem at all.
"Junior Brother Lin, this is incredible! How on earth did you know about this?" Zhou Damao was still in a state of disbelief. "For you to find such a hidden place!" This was a secret, yet Lin Yun had somehow known.
Lin Yun, having prepared his excuse long ago, just smiled. "Have you forgotten, Senior Brother? Not long ago, I took care of disciples from every major sect. And, of course, I relieved them of quite a few things. This location was something I found among their belongings."
Hearing this, Zhou Damao's doubts were immediately dispelled. Just as they had thought, Lin Yun had his own methods. Otherwise, this whole affair wouldn't have become so simple.
"I never would have imagined so many things were happening as if guided by fate," Zhou Damao remarked with a sigh.
The two continued forward. After moving the tombstone aside, they broke the seal. A powerful surge of energy immediately washed over them.
Zhou Damao frowned. "Careful, this place is very dangerous. If we go in rashly…"
Lin Yun smiled. "If this place weren't dangerous, we wouldn't have come here. Those guys from the Crimson Ghost Sect are all battle-hardened. If we fight them head-on, we have almost no chance of winning. But if we use strategy, taking them down isn't impossible."
Although Zhou Damao didn't fully understand Lin Yun's meaning, he knew his junior brother must have a plan to deal with their enemies.
"You all stay here and don't follow us down," Lin Yun instructed the other disciples. "I only need Senior Brother Zhou to go down with me to lure the enemy over. Your job is to rescue all the other disciples."
The few junior brothers nodded seriously.
"Senior Brother Lin, what if… what if Senior Brother Fei tries to stop us?" one asked. "He's one of them now. Will he still care about us?"
Seeing the doubt on their faces, Lin Yun smiled. "Don't worry about that. This situation will soon take a turn. Fei Yuming will pay the price for his reckless decision."
With that, Lin Yun and Zhou Damao entered the ancient secret realm.
As they descended, Zhou Damao asked one more time, "Junior Brother Lin, are you truly prepared for this?"
Lin Yun nodded, his gaze fixed on the bottomless entrance of the secret realm.
"I'm ready. Driving the tiger to devour the wolf—this is the only way to solve this once and for all."
The previous chapter was not provided. This is the translation for Chapter 130.
The actor returned to Lin Yun's group, putting on a grand act of self-sacrifice. He claimed to have been injured while escaping and offered to lure the Crimson Ghost Sect away as a distraction. The ever-trusting Zhou Damao was nearly convinced, but Lin Yun, playing along, agreed to the plan.
After Fei Yuming departed, a triumphant look on his face, Lin Yun confirmed to Zhou Damao that the betrayal was real. He knew Fei Yuming was a fool who thought himself a genius. With the broken sword hilt, opening the bronze door to the true secret realm was now possible.
Fei Yuming rushed back to Qi Desheng, presenting the "evidence" from the Image-Retaining Crystal. Just as things seemed settled, a dissenter from the Beast Taming Sect, Chen Shiming, spoke up, accusing Lin Yun and Zhou Damao of being the true hypocrites, merely using the rescue as a pretext to claim the secret realm's treasures for themselves. This ironically solidified Qi Desheng's belief in Fei Yuming's story.
"I see," Qi Desheng said, a cold smile on his face. "If that's the case, then you, Fei Yuming, will lead the way."
The look of triumph on Fei Yuming's face turned to one of bewildered horror. He was being forced to be their pathfinder. After a brief, pathetic attempt to refuse, he capitulated under Qi Desheng's threat. To ensure a foolproof plan, Qi Desheng left some of his men outside while taking his elites into the secret realm, with Fei Yuming at the very front, flanked by two Sky-Soaring Realm experts.
The moment they entered, a terrifying wave of energy washed over them.
Qi Desheng's face lit up. "It seems you were telling the truth! They really did find the best solution." He was ecstatic. Once he captured Lin Yun, he would be set for life. Who could stay calm in such a situation?
Fei Yuming quickened his pace. When they arrived at the bronze door, they found it had indeed been opened. Inside was a small chamber. A central pillar, carved with hollowed-out characters, stood in the middle. Surrounding it were over a dozen coffins.
For some reason, the sight of the coffins sent a shiver down Fei Yuming's spine. It's not a good idea to open these.
But the thought had barely crossed his mind when a few foolishly greedy Crimson Ghost Sect disciples rushed forward. They had spotted a treasure peeking out from a crack in one of the coffins. Immediately, they began to swarm and snatch at it. Those who couldn't get to it turned their attention to the other coffins.
And at that moment, their nightmare began.
When the disciples, thinking they were about to receive an ancient inheritance, pried open the coffins, they found they didn't contain human remains. Nor were there any treasures.
Inside lay a group of pale, completely hairless monsters, their bodies clad in what looked like azure-blue skin-tight armor.
"What is this?" one disciple cried out.
The next moment, the creature's blood-red eyes snapped open. Its sharp claws instantly pierced through the disciple who had made the sound.
In that same instant, in all the other coffins, the monsters began to stir.