NEBM Chapter 51: A New Matter

They’d been closed off in the secret realm for nearly half a year. Therefore, it was odd why they would suddenly be blocked by someone.

Shen Zhixian flicked his sleeves, and his invisible qi energy smashed against young men’s swords, knocking them together.

The youths were forced to take several steps backward and break apart to avoid accidentally injuring one another.

Shen Zhixian smoothed his sleeves casually. “Speak properly. I don’t like to be pointed at by swords.”

The youths apparently didn’t expect their opponents to be so powerful. After their strategic formation was so pathetically and easily broken apart, they dare not take it lightly anymore. They carefully regrouped and looked at the two with vigilance.

The young man wearing a blue robe was the first to speak. His sword flitted between Shen Zhixian and Yan Jin, before finally settling on Yan Jin. “Are you Yan Jin?”

Yan Jin calmly said, “Yes.”

The young man sternly said, “That’s you, all right. You’ve been fooling around for more than half a year, causing countless harms. Your crimes are many. Today, we’ve finally found you. If you still have a conscience, hand yourself over…”

Shen Zhixian, “????? ”

What’s going on? For the past six months, they’d been cultivating, eating and drinking in the secret realms. Who could they provoke?

With his chin slightly raised towards Yan Jin, he smoothly interrupted the youth’s words, saying doubtfully, “Him? Are you sure?”

This group of youths seemed to be no older than sixteen to seventeen years old. This was the first time they were face to face with a infamous, serial murderer. As a result, they were naturally nervous.

Because of this, the young man in blue couldn’t help but be somewhat suppressed by Shen Zhixian’s calm. When Shen Zhixian asked the question, he paused and subconsciously looked at Yan Jin again, just to be sure. “It’s him all right.”

He took a deep breath and counted Yan Jin’s crimes without a pause, “Five months ago, he killed a villager in Northwest County and a girl in Pinghe Town…Three months ago, he murdered a junior disciple named Yi Ming from the Yunxiao Sect … ”

In the end, there were dozens of lives taken, many of them disciples from various sects.

After the young man finished speaking, there was silence all around as everyone looked at each other for a while. Shen Zhixian came back to his senses and asked slowly, “You mean, someone who looks exactly like him is harming people everywhere?”

The young man in blue said, “Yes…No. What do you mean, look exactly the same? Do you want to deny it?”

Shen Zhixian slowly furrowed his eyebrows.

Why was this scene so familiar?

He almost instantly remembered the countless “Yan Jin” in the secret realm, which were illusions fabricated by the secret realm to coax him to stay. But now that the secret realm had completely disappeared, why were there more “Yan Jins” here?

Seeing that they had nothing to say, the group of youths thought the two could no longer denied it and began to encircle them in a threatening manner.

Shen Zhixian said, “It’s true. We spent about half a year in a secret place. We don’t know much about the outside world so you can just carefully talk to us. What’s going on?”

The youth in blue hesitated, “This … ”

Shen Zhixian looked like someone with a mild temperament. Moreover, he also didn’t look like he was lying. The group of youths watched him, noticing that he seemed to sincerely not know anything. This shook their resolve. The youth in blue said suspiciously, “You really don’t know?”

“Senior Brother Yuan, don’t believe him! That Yan Jin has been evil for a long time. He must be a treacherous and cunning man. I’m afraid that he’s just pulling some tricks.”

Another slender youth saw that everyone was hesitating. He pulled out a sword and directly pointed it at Yan Jin, saying hatefully, “All my life, I’ve hated people like you who willfully slaughter others. Others may believe your conniving words, but I don’t!”

The skinny youth’s status was obviously not low in their group. The moment he said this, the other youths’ fighting spirit were once again roused up.

The young man in blue held up one hand to stop their movements. He wanted to investigate some more. Moreover, they’d never actually seen Yan Jin kill anyone and were basing their opinions on hearsay. They’d only heard the elders spoke of it and seen what vaguely appeared to be Yan Jin’s face recorded by an illusion stone. Yet, they believed it unwittingly…

–Wait, someone had seen Yan Jin kill!

He turned around to the youth next to him. “Junior Brother A’Lin. Two months ago, on that night, you stumbled upon Jin Yan harming the town’s people. Do you recognize and identify that this is him?”

The A’Lin he’d called was a heavyset and stout disciple who looked simple and honest. His courage also seemed a bit small. When asked about that night, he began to stammer, “I, he … Yes, he looks like him… ”

God knew that night had been like a nightmare to him for the past two months! He just got up at night to empty his bladder. Who knew that he would come upon a murder scene? Even if he forgot the murderer, he could never forget how the murderer instantly sucked the energy right out of that person until he became a dried corpse…Ahhh, so terrifying!

He was notoriously timid, and when he saw such a scene in the middle of the night, he was very frightened. It wasn’t until the murderer had dropped the corpse that he remembered to shout for help.

He didn’t see exactly what the murderer looked like, only vaguely noticing that it was a man in black. It wasn’t until the next day, when an elder cultivator surveyed the site and asserted that it was Yan Jin’s doing, did he realize who he’d ran into.

The young man in blue saw his hesitancy. His mouth pursed helplessly, somewhat hating iron for not becoming steel.

Shen Zhixian saw this and took the opportunity to ask, “Regarding this person you’re talking about, how was he dressed, what weapons did he use, were you alone, did you say anything, who determined that Yan Jin was the murderer, what were the evidence…”

He asked so many questions in a row that the young man in blue could only gape speechlessly

Shen Zhixian looked at their speechless appearance and understood what was going on. He smiled and said, “Young people must understand what’s right and what’s wrong. Don’t just accuse others and create fierce rumors. You also shouldn’t be fooled by tigers…Well, don’t make trouble now. We have more important things to do so please make way.”

However, the young man in the blue robe tightly held the hilt of his sword and refused to let them go. “Who are you? Qingyun Sect had released a search and arrest warrant, asking for Yan Jin to be brought back to be questioned. This is only fair for everyone. If you say you’re innocent, then go with us to Qingyun Sect and let the sect leader determine the truth.”

….

After undergoing several negotiations, Shen Zhixian finally promised that they’ll go with the group of youths to Qingyun Sect.

In fact, it would be quite easy to get away from them. But, the situation was rather strange. From the youth’s meaning, these murders seemed to have caused a lot of chaos outside, resulting in Qingyun Sect issuing an emergency warrant for Yan Jin to be captured and taken back.

Shen Zhixian was also willing to go with them. These young men were disciples who came out of the Xiaozong Sect. They were very young, yet were already full of chivalry and a strong sense of justice, punishing evil and promoting good, and were not deeply involved in the world. Shen Zhixian also intended to find out a little more information from them.

He had a gentle appearance and an easy-going attitude. It was easy for him to make other people drop their guards. He also had good interpersonal skills, ensuring that youngsters were unaware of any hidden traps. He walked with them for half a day, only avoiding the youth who claimed to hate those who kill innocent people. That latter was too deeply guarded. Meanwhile, he was able to soften the other disciples’ attitudes by quite a lot.

After communicating with them, Shen Zhixian learned a lot.

About half a year ago, a man in black who looked exactly like Yan Jin had begun to cause chaos, killing many innocent people.

At first, no one cared. After all, it was only ordinary people who died, and they could not afford to make any troubles. Until, five to six sect disciples died.

This caused an immediate sensation. The sect suddenly lost a few excellent disciples and were furious. They offered a reward for the murderer’s capture.

No one knew who he was, until a senior disciple from Qingyun Sect recognized that it was Yan Jin, who’d seemed to have quietly disappeared.

At first, when it became known that he was a disciple of Qingyun Sect, everyone couldn’t believe it. After all, Qingyun Sect was quite famous in the cultivation realm and was known as one of the top sects. How could it have taught such a disciple?

However, tragedies continued to pile up one after another, until it became clear that the culprit was the same person. As a result, more and more people began to spread the rumor that Yan Jin was the murderer.

An illusion stone could project a short recording, and it projected the murderer wearing black clothes and clutching a sword. He wore a cold expression on his face, which looked exactly the same as Yan Jin from the Qingyun Sect.

No one could tolerate this. The victimized sects were full of injustice and rushed to Qingyun Sect to ask for an explanation.

However, Yan Jin had already left for a long time, and Shen Zhixian had also been in retreat for a long time. As a result, Song Ming had no choice but to discuss the issue with several other elders. He ultimately issued an emergency warrant and asked that Yan Jin come back quickly to give everyone a statement.

All these things were full of drama.

In fact, these youths were initially suspicious of this matter. But they could only acquiesce under their leader’s decisive judgement. Moreover, they’d seen the so-called illusion stone, which appeared to confirm this hypothesis.

But now, after Shen Zhixian had asked his series of questions, they once again felt hesitant.

Yu Yuan briefly discussed the issue with his brothers. He felt that they couldn’t solve the problem by themselves. So he decided to send the two people back to Qingyun Sect for the elders to deal with.

The youths were eager to know the truth and have been traveling diligently these past few days. Shen Zhixian followed them with a bright attitude, but secretly pondered other thoughts.

Today, once night descended, everyone stopped to rest. However, there was no village, no town, nor any shelter nearby for them to rest in. They had no choice but to rest in the forest.

Of course, each of them had their own dinner. The youths ate dry rations. Yan Jin caught a passing hare, silently roasted it, and tore off the fattest part for Shen Zhixian to eat.

The youths were not far away from them, so they could smell the delicious fragrance. They stopped talking and couldn’t help themselves from their heads to look at them.

However, Shen Zhixian ignored them. As he and Yan Jin ate the little hare, he said quietly, “Let’s not rush back. Let Song Ming have a headache. We have to figure this out ourselves.”

On the surface, Song Ming may appear like a good sect leader, but in his heart, he was not good to them. There were still many mysteries that Shen Zhixian still hadn’t figured out yet. He couldn’t completely rely on him. Who knew if he should take advantage of this? Or, whether this was a trick or not?

Yan Yin let out a sound of agreement. He saw that Shen Zhixian’s lips were stained with oil and wiped them with a handkerchief.

Shen Zhixian filled his belly under the youths vaguely grumbling gaze. Turning his neck, he said with a smile, “Tired.”

Yan Jin silently cleaned up the mess and applied a cleansing technique to clean them up. After a while, Shen Zhixian leaned familiarly on him and closed his eyes. Yan Jin’s arm encircled him and he also closed his eyes, not caring about the young men’s vague and curious gazes.

The night was dark. Seeing that the two had no intention of being vigilant, the blue-robed young man named Yu Yuan frowned and arranged for several lookouts to rotate, saying, “Watch them carefully. Don’t make any mistakes.”

Several youths answered. One of them looked curiously at the two “intimate” people. “What is the relationship between them? Their relationship seemed to be very good.”

The white-clad man named Sui Xian had said that they were brothers, but what kind of brothers would act so intimately? They even saw Yan Jin finishing Sui Xian’s meat, uncaring that he’d taken a few bites already.

“Who knows.”

The youths were all full of energy and weren’t sleepy. Someone said a few words and started a quiet discussion. The topic was nothing more than the two over there.

Although their voices were quiet, their conversations still fell clearly into Shen Zhixian’s ears. Shen Zhixian didn’t mind their guessing about his and Yan Jin’s relationship. But he really was tired and couldn’t sleep because of their talking. He sighed and murmured without opening his eyes, “These young men are really energetic.”

Yan Jin shifted slightly, letting Shen Zhixian adjust to a more comfortable position.

Shen Zhixian used his shoulder as a pillow and, in the next moment, a warm palm covered his ear, which blocked out the buzzing from the group of bees over there.

With his ears blocked, silence descended.

Shen Zhixian smiled with satisfaction and leaned on Yan Jin to fall asleep comfortably.

The teenagers who’d been paying attention to the situation over there: “…”

The discussion grew quiet for a moment. Before they could start again, they saw Yan Jin looking at them, his eyes extremely chilly.

His eyes were like shards of ice, piercing them.

Their mouths immediately snapped shut. Feeling the sudden, bitter chill, as if shooting them straight in the heart, they couldn’t help but settle down.

Seeing that they were finally quiet, Yan Jin retrieved his gaze.

The newly thawed youths closed their mouths and were so frozen that they no longer wanted to continue the discussion. They quietly dispersed, some setting up watch while others meditated in rest.

There was a moment of silence. Half an hour later, the young man named A’Lin suddenly stood up, scratched his head in embarrassment, and whispered, “I, I urgently need to…”

It was Yu Yuan who was guarding in the middle of the night. He nodded and said “Be careful”, and watched as A’Lin rushed away.

They had encountered no danger in these four weeks. Yu Yuan didn’t worry too much, and quickly recovered his sight.

A’Lin returned after about two quarters of an hour. When he returned, his face was pale, his steps a bit heavy. He saw Yi Yuan’s frown and quickly said, “Maybe it’s because I’ve been eating dry food for two days, and my stomach is upset. I just squat…Squatting until my legs went numb… ” He scratched his head in shame, revealing a smirk.

Yu Yuan frowned and looked at him for a while, vaguely sensing that something was off. But he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He whispered, “Then you meditate and rest for a while. I’ll take your night shift for you.”

A’Lin answered gratefully, and soon returned to his original position, meditating with her eyes closed. He looked the same as before.

The night passed quietly.

They continued to travel quickly the next day.

Several youths, including Yu Yuan, were too young and inexperienced. They hadn’t seen anything wrong with Shen Zhixian and Yan Jin for the past few days. They’d also never seen Yan Jin harm anyone in person. Their originally tight nerves gradually relaxed, and only the thin young Lin Qin at the beginning continued to guard against them.

When one youth saw his cold face, he whispered, “They don’t seem to be hostile. Maybe there’s something secretive going on. When we get to Qingyun Sect…”

“The heart can differ from the outward appearance.” Lin Qin interrupted his words coldly, glanced at Yan Jin, and did not suppress his suspicion at all. He pointed out, “Don’t take it lightly, lest you suffer. ”

The young man felt like he’d been pricked. Feeling the other’s disapproval, he no longer wanted to talk to him and instead reached out to pull on A’Lin. “Hey, Junior Brother A’Lin, you say it carefully again. What was the situation that night?”

A’Lin had been silent since that morning. He’d been walking silently when he was suddenly grabbed. He slowly turned to look at the youth, his face as pale as snow, which scared the other youth into letting go.

“Junior Brother A’Lin, what’s the matter with you?”

A’Lin’s face was completely bloodless, and the two black eyes slowly shifted over. He slowly said, “I’m fine, but last night, I got sick from eating food and my stomach’s sore.”

The teenager listened to A’Lin explain that he just had a bad stomach and was relieved. He took the initiative to stretch out his hand. “And you’re still moving. Can I help you?”

“It’s better now.” A’Lin shook his head. He passed over his hand and put it on the other youth’s hand. “Do you want to hear what happened that night?”

“Mmn. But if you feel uncomfortable, don’t talk about it.” The youth carefully looked at his face, a little worried. “Your hands are cold.”

“I’m okay… ” He grinned but his face was too pale and his smile did not have the usual vigor. Instead, it seemed somewhat horrifying. The other youth suddenly felt a cold chill. A trace of something he couldn’t quite grasp flashed through his heart. It felt like a foreshadowing of something terrible to come.

He settled down, and when he looked at A’Lin again, there was nothing wrong. Everything appeared normal.

“I actually saw how the man in black killed…” A’Lin said dully.

He had never said this before, and the youths all turned to look at him in suspicion. Yu Yuan asked, “What’s the matter? Didn’t you say that you were scared silly, and the surrounding was too dark so you didn’t see anything clearly?” ”

A’Lin shook his head, ignored Yu Yuan’s question, and continued, “The man in black twisted his neck, then he raised his hand, and suddenly punched it through the man’s chest …” He drew in a breath. “Then the man was drained …”

“Hand?!”

“The wound was made by hand?”

A series of voices exclaimed one after another. This was new news. The man who died that day had his blood and spiritual qi completely sucked clean, leaving only a big hole in his chest. The sect leaders and elders investigated for a long time but couldn’t tell who kind of weapon was used. The murderer was…unarmed?

The youth who supported A’Lin couldn’t believe it. “How can this be done?”

“Why can’t it be done? Would you like to try it?” A’Lin glared at the youth, smiling faintly, as if he had just casually asked him if he wanted to drink water.

The youth froze. “Try what–”

Before he could finish his words, he felt A’Lin tightly pinched his wrist, the grip like cold iron tongs. Then, from his chest came a cool sensation.

Something had completely punctured through his chest.

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