Chapter 25: The Black-clothed Cultivator

“Why aren’t you going to school! Didn’t I tell you that you must Cultivate diligently to return to the First Outpost! Only then can our family be reunited!”

“Are you trying to anger me to death!”

Qin Wu’s Mother’s pale face flushed red with anger, then she started coughing again, continuously vomiting blood.

Qin Wu suppressed the rage in his heart, forcing an ugly smile onto his lips: “Mother, didn’t I say there was an activity at school? I’ve been at school these past few days. Who told you I didn’t go?”

“You’re still lying to me?” Qin Wu’s Mother’s eyes were filled with disappointment. “Your school teacher just came by—cough, cough—asking where you were and why you haven’t attended class these past few days.”

When he heard about the school teacher, his first reaction was Zhao Qiantong, but upon second thought, something felt wrong.

He had taken a month’s leave before leaving school, and besides, why would Zhao Qiantong care about him?

“Mother, there really is an activity at school, related to a certain Secret Realm. It’s confidential to everyone except the participating students and teachers.” He lied without changing his expression.

Qin Wu’s Mother looked at him suspiciously: “Is what you said true?”

“Of course. There’s no benefit for me to lie to you. I also want our family to reunite soon!”

After Qin Wu calmed her emotions, he saw Qin Wu’s Mother stare blankly at his soaked clothes for a long time, then tears fell, and she said painfully: “I’m sorry, Mother didn’t mean to. I was just too angry, I…”

“I’m fine.” Qin Wu blocked the hand she was trying to reach out with and changed the subject, “Mother, what did the teacher who visited you just now look like?”

Qin Wu’s Mother wiped away her tears and recalled: “He was tall and imposing, wearing black clothes, and…”

After hearing his mother’s description, Qin Wu frowned tightly. Wasn’t this the Cultivator who had cornered him in the rental house back then?

Is this person still looking for him?

“When did he leave?”

“Not long ago. He just left when you arrived.” Qin Wu’s Mother realized something, “Does he have a problem?”

“No, I was just asking.” Qin Wu tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Mother, I have something to attend to at school, so I’ll take my leave now. Remember to eat your meal.”

He walked out of the hospital room and happened to run into the Caregiver who was returning with food. Seeing how disheveled he looked, she asked in surprise: “Young employer, what happened to you? Why is your body covered in liquid?”

She tried to pull Qin Wu inside to wipe him down.

“No need, Auntie.” The smile on Qin Wu’s lips remained unchanged. “It’s nothing major. Just take good care of my mother. I already bought her food; it’s on the bedside table.”

Watching Qin Wu’s retreating back, the Caregiver’s mind kept replaying the smile on his face, which then turned into those cold, emotionless eyes. She suddenly shivered for no reason.

Qin Wu entered the elevator, his expression slowly sinking, radiating a terrifying low pressure all around him.

This month was simulated to be summer, the weather was muggy, and he was only wearing a shirt.

His chest was covered in burns. Because they weren’t treated promptly, his clothes had stuck to his flesh and blood.

“She is the mother of this body?” Consort Lian, who hadn’t spoken since the beginning, finally couldn’t help but speak in the elevator. “She seems to have some mental issues.”

Qin Wu tugged at his collar. The burn on his chest sent a continuous, sharp pain through him.

“Tsk.”

He circulated Qi around the wound, and finally felt a trace of coolness.

“Mm.” Qin Wu nodded, saying in an indifferent tone, “But taking care of her is one of the former owner’s last wishes. I just need to be wary of her when I see her in the future.”

Qin Wu went downstairs and bought burn medicine to apply to himself.

It was a pity that the place was crowded, and he had delayed so long at Qin Wu’s Mother’s side; the person disguised as a school teacher had probably already fled.

“Ah! Ah!!”

A little girl dressed in rags was frantically slapping the glass outside the pharmacy. The clerk inside was about to chase her away. Qin Wu saw her and quickly walked out.

“Xiao Liu, why are you here?” It was Xiao Liu who had warned him about the Cultivator looking for him back at the rental house.

Xiao Liu couldn’t speak and made urgent hand gestures to him, moving so fast it was like forming seals.

Qin Wu hadn’t learned sign language in his previous life, and the original owner communicated with Xiao Liu through other children acting as translators, so he had no idea what Xiao Liu was saying. But seeing her look like she was about to cry, he knew the situation was urgent.

“Are your brothers nearby? Take me to find him.”

Xiao Liu stomped her foot and immediately ran forward. Qin Wu tucked her under his arm: “I’m faster than you, just point the way.”

She didn’t seem bothered by the discomfort and pointed in one direction.

More than ten minutes later, seeing that they were heading toward increasingly secluded areas, with fewer and fewer surveillance cameras until there were none, Qin Wu felt uneasy.

This was District Eleven. There were actually many places like this, but his eyelid kept twitching.

This place was too suitable for murder and silencing someone.

“Ah! Ah!”

Qin Wu stopped. Xiao Liu pointed ahead with bright red eyes. Even without speech, he could feel her intense anger.

“Two more brats?”

The Black-clothed Cultivator in front of him kicked the teenager aside. His eyes lit up when he saw Qin Wu: “I’ve been looking for you for several days without success. I didn’t expect you to walk right into my hands!”

Qin Wu placed Xiao Liu behind him, a slow smile curling on his lips. This was the person disguised as the school teacher!

He also hadn’t expected it. He had already assumed he wouldn’t find him; it truly was an unexpected gain.

As the Black-clothed Cultivator rushed over, a faint, almost inaudible chuckle echoed in the air. His steps faltered, and his movements became sluggish.

Qin Wu took out his long sword from his storage ring and stabbed forward: “Xiao Liu, turn around.”

The child was young and couldn’t bear to see blood.

The long sword collided rapidly with the fist, emitting continuous metallic clanging sounds.

The Cultivator before him must have Cultivated his physical body; his movements were broad and unrestrained, pushing forward relentlessly. The sword in his hand was not Senior Brother’s personal sword, unthinking; it was just an ordinary long sword from the school, completely unable to harm him.

His physical body was too fragile. If Consort Lian wasn’t restraining the opponent, he probably wouldn’t have lasted more than a few blows before being beaten to death by random punches.

However, he was at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, inherently stronger than him.

The two clashed countless times. The long sword in Qin Wu’s hand finally couldn’t withstand it and shattered inch by inch.

“Tsk.”

He gripped the remaining hilt and quickly retreated.

“Hahahaha!” The Black-clothed Cultivator laughed continuously. The muscles in his calves bulged, and he stomped hard on the ground, lunging toward him.

“Stay put obediently. Someone has offered a bounty to break one of your legs. I don’t want to kill you!”

Qin Wu indeed stood still, which made the Black-clothed Cultivator look satisfied. “That’s right. I’ll be quick when I strike, so you suffer less.”

But then he heard the laughter in the air become clearer, echoing outward again and again.

The Black-clothed Cultivator stopped. He was momentarily confused, and then, as if seeing something, he showed a shy smile toward Qin Wu.

Qin Wu couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine. He raised the broken sword, intending to stab it into the man’s neck.

“Wait…”

The teenager who had been kicked aside sat up at some unknown time, leaning weakly against the wall. His body was covered in bloodstains: “Don’t kill him, he knows where Xiao Yu is.”

“Xiao Yu? What happened to him?” Qin Wu was momentarily stunned and subconsciously touched his storage ring.

He still had the purification potion he bought for him inside.

Recalling the day the child bumped into the Black-clothed Cultivator downstairs at the rental house, could it be…

Xiao Liu, hearing that the fight was over, rushed to the teenager’s side, crying continuously. He smiled bitterly, patted Xiao Liu’s head, and looked at Qin Wu: “Back then…”

As the two were talking, neither noticed a flicker of struggle suddenly cross the face of the Black-clothed Cultivator, who was being controlled by Consort Lian.