Chapter 17: The Conspirator

Believing they had guessed the reason, the silver-haired old man and the hooked-nose man subconsciously glanced at the scarred man. They had not expected that the scarred man’s words would have such a miraculous effect.

If Zhao Yu were to volunteer, that would be for the best. Otherwise, if he were to stubbornly refuse, they would have to find a way to take the risk themselves.

Half a breath later, the silver-haired old man put on a kindly expression. "That is correct, it is just that simple. Go on, little friend. You only need to place the stone stele into the black wind. Once this is done, not only will we spare your life, but we will also give you a generous reward—a sum of wealth you could never earn in a lifetime."

The hooked-nose man added a threat: "We will be watching you, so don't even think about trying to pull any tricks!"

"Fine, I suppose," Zhao Yu replied after a moment's thought, nodding in agreement. He knew he couldn't defeat the six-handed monster, and since the task wasn't much trouble, there was no harm in agreeing. He stepped forward, picked up the stone stele, and walked toward the cave entrance.

The scarred man chuckled, "Thank heaven for sending us a fool."

The stone stele was impervious to magical power, so they could not use their abilities to force it into the Winds of Despair. The only way was for someone to stand near the black wind when it passed and toss the stele into it. This presented a problem: after throwing the stele, one might succeed in running away, or one might be swallowed by the black wind before they could escape. Without Zhao Yu, one of the three of them would have been forced to take that risk. Now, that was no longer necessary.

The silver-haired old man stood up. "Let's go to the cave corner and watch. If he somehow survives after delivering the stone stele, we’ll see him off personally." Spare him? Impossible. The secret must not be leaked.

The hooked-nose man remarked, "I don't think he’s clever enough to think of tossing the stele into the black wind. Besides, as a mortal, I doubt he even has the strength for it." Despite his words, he stood up and followed the other two toward the corner near the cave entrance.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yu carried the stone stele, sauntering toward the mouth of the cave. He poked his head out; outside, the overwhelming black wind was still raging. He was glad he had chosen to find a place to hide, or he would have been in agony. He gnashed his teeth internally: "They actually dared to threaten me and force me into the black wind... Just wait. Once I can cultivate, I’ll definitely finish you all off."

He stepped out of the cave with the stone stele. Instantly, he was enveloped by the raging black wind. In the blink of an eye, he was plunged into darkness; even straining his eyes, he could barely see more than a few feet in front of him, everything veiled in black. As the black wind blew past, his clothes remained unscathed, but Zhao Yu felt a faint, needle-like prickling sensation all over his body.

It also felt as though something were trying to drag him into the ground. However, since he was standing on solid earth, being dragged underground was impossible.

At the corner of the cave, the three men watched as Zhao Yu entered the range of the black wind, and they were all stunned. Before a moment had passed, they saw a beam of light shoot up from within the black wind, only to vanish instantly. Had they not been watching the whole time, they would have thought it was an illusion.

The three of them broke into smiles. The stone stele had entered the black wind within the designated area; the mission was a success!

The hooked-nose man chuckled, "I told you he was a fool." Anyone with half a brain wouldn't have believed they would help protect him from the black wind, only to foolishly walk into it. That was the Wind of Despair, after all.

The silver-haired old man stroked his beard and laughed, "Our mission is a success. Once we return and receive our rewards... the three of us will have a chance to reach the Transformation Stage."

As they spoke, their expressions suddenly froze, and they began rubbing their eyes. They saw Zhao Yu emerging from the black wind. Their faces were filled with shock.

"He didn't die?"
"Am I hallucinating?"
"Have I fallen into a demonic obsession?"

Even peerless beings on the verge of ascension could not withstand the Wind of Despair head-on; once inside, one would surely be dragged into the Abyss of Despair. Yet, Zhao Yu had actually come out? It was a scene so absurd that one couldn't even dream it!

The three of them exchanged glances, but the fact remained: Zhao Yu had emerged. A mere mortal, and he hadn't been dragged into the Abyss of Despair? How did he do it? Even with their cultivation and experience, the three were left standing in stunned silence, unable to recover for a long time.

After a long while, the three of them suppressed their thoughts. Their first instinct was that Zhao Yu was some unfathomable, peerless expert with an extraordinary secret technique. But this thought was immediately dismissed—if Zhao Yu were truly that strong, why would he have been intimidated by them earlier? This meant Zhao Yu was indeed a mortal. If they could learn from him how to resist the Wind of Despair...

At this thought, their eyes grew hot with greed.

Zhao Yu, who had been planning to continue hiding from the black wind, felt his heart tighten. "Oh no, these people are sick..." Whenever his younger brother and sister-in-law had their episodes, their eyes would look just as "greedy." The greed in these three was so intense that they were clearly terminally ill.

Zhao Yu, who had already decided to take revenge one day, sighed magnanimously, "Well, since I'm a kind-hearted person, I won't hold it against you, considering you're all ill." Seeing these three having their "episodes" reminded him of his poor brother and sister-in-law back home—that accursed sense of sympathy.

The three men looked at each other, confused. "Is he insane?"

The scarred man shook his head. "Whether he is insane or not is irrelevant to us."

"True," the silver-haired old man agreed. He turned his gaze to Zhao Yu. "Little one, how did you just walk out of that black wind?"

"I just walked out," Zhao Yu replied, being very honest.

The silver-haired old man’s face darkened instantly. "You know what we are asking. If you dare to play the fool and dodge the question again, I will extract your soul and burn it in a raging fire! Believe me, that is a pain you could never understand and would never want to endure!"

Zhao Yu shook his head slightly. "This illness is more serious than I thought..." Did he really need a special method to walk out of the black wind? Surely any normal person could walk out... well, perhaps not; if someone were too weak and couldn't move due to the pain, maybe they couldn't get out?

"Look, you three, I can see your condition is quite severe. Why don't you take a moment to detach your heads and calm down?" Zhao Yu suggested sincerely. "Since you are ill, I won't hide it from you—people in my family get sick too. When they have an episode, they take their heads off. As soon as the head is removed, the person calms down immediately."

His sister-in-law had an episode yesterday, took her head off, and calmed down on the spot. It was such a great method; once you tried it, you would know how effective it was.