"Brothers, today make sure to beat these two to death! Once we complete our mission, I’ll treat everyone to meat and wine to celebrate!"
Voices in unison, they quickly dashed to Chu Ge and Jian Chunqiu’s sides, surrounding them tightly.
Chu Ge remained indifferent, not taking these people seriously at all. With one hand behind his back, he gently lifted the other, a wisp of white smoke slowly swirling around his fingertips.
"Are you sure you want to try?" Chu Ge said in a deep, resonant tone.
His voice was clear and penetrating.
Although it was a question, Chu Ge did not allow them any chance to respond. The wisp of white smoke at his fingertips grew denser.
Before those men could react, Chu Ge had already frozen them all with Spiritual Energy.
This move also shocked Jian Chunqiu, who was standing beside him.
He looked at Chu Ge incredulously, wondering if this was the long-lost Ice Freeze Technique?
Chu Ge was also surprised, not knowing he had mastered the Ice Freeze Technique, or even when he had done so.
All those men were frozen solid, unable to move, leaving only the leader unfrozen.
This man hadn’t anticipated Chu Ge’s capabilities and took a step back in fear.
"Chu Ge! You even learned such crooked witchcraft!" the man accused.
Now their plan to delay Chu Ge couldn’t proceed, since relying on him alone was inadequate to stop an Innate Grandmaster and Divine Communication Mirror.
Fortunately, he had a backup plan.
"That’s right, Chu Ge, do you think you can bother me by freezing them?" the man said harshly.
After speaking, he quickly turned and ran up the mountain, but as he ran, he somehow triggered something, and Chu Ge felt a violent shaking beneath his feet, followed by the sight of a gigantic humanoid beast slowly rising from the mountain.
To be precise, it had been lying on the mountain, only awakened by the man.
Jian Chunqiu stared at the giant, and couldn’t help but curse softly, "Damn, a stone man?"
Chu Ge was puzzled and looked sideways at Jian Chunqiu, "Stone man? What is that?"
"It’s said that Fangshan has an abundance of Spiritual Energy, which has turned the trees into spirits long ago. Unexpectedly, even the stones have absorbed the essence of sun and moon."
Jian Chunqiu snorted, "But even if the stones absorb the essence of sun and moon, they shouldn’t develop , unless someone has imbued them with consciousness."
Chu Ge understood what imbuing consciousness meant, as he had once imbued a dragon formed from clouds with consciousness.
However, he couldn’t understand why someone would imbue these stones with consciousness here.
"That man’s only goal is to hinder us."
Jian Chunqiu, after all, was a centenarian, and he could see the real purpose behind their actions.
Knowing that these men were no match for them, yet still having them challenge us, clearly showed they wished to create the illusion of a duel.
What was truly waiting for them, however, was this stone man.
The stone man was about fifteen meters tall; Chu Ge and Jian Chunqiu seemed tiny in comparison.
"Your consciousness says someone is trying to stop us?" That would explain it.
Using Black Witch Sect and Huayue Sect as a cover to attract them here, then use these men and the stone man to entangle them, was nothing more than a tactic to buy time.
"But what exactly do they want to do?" Chu Ge asked, puzzled.
How would delaying them benefit those behind the scenes?
As Chu Ge hesitated, the stone man had already walked up to them, lifting its foot towards Chu Ge and Jian Chunqiu.
Both quickly pushed off the ground, leaping into the air.
The stone man’s foot landed heavily, shaking the ground violently, with dust kicking up and leaving a deep pit where it stepped.
It was hard to imagine what would happen if that foot had actually landed on someone.
Without pondering further, Chu Ge and Jian Chunqiu concentrated their efforts, flying to either side of the stone man and channeling their True Qi towards it.
However, the stone man absorbed all the True Qi they directed at it, as if it was impervious to blades and spears.
Even though the stone man had human consciousness, its reactions weren’t as quick.ู As it turned, Chu Ge had already leaped to the other side.
He loudly said to Jian Chunqiu, "Uncle Jian, this isn’t working. Since they want to delay us, there must be some more significant conspiracy. We can’t afford to linger too long."
Jian Chunqiu thought the same but knew that if they didn’t deal with the stone man, it would follow them down the mountain, bringing disaster to the ordinary people below.
After thinking it through, Jian Chunqiu said to Chu Ge, "You go back first. I’ll handle things here."
Chu Ge hesitated for a moment. Given the current situation, that was the only option.
He nodded vigorously and said to Jian Chunqiu, "Be careful, Uncle Jian."
Jian Chunqiu waved his hand dismissively, confident that the stone man wasn’t a threat. Since they intended to use it to detain them, he might as well turn the situation around and let the stone man lead them to the mastermind.
Indeed, the stone man only had basic consciousness, so when someone moved in front of it, it couldn’t distinguish whether it was Chu Ge or someone else.
Taking advantage of the stone man reaching out to hit Jian Chunqiu, Chu Ge rallied his energy and leaped into the air, flying down the mountain.
Meanwhile, at the Nangong Family estate, chaos had already ensued. Mr. Nangong was found ten minutes after Nangong Sanli had left.
Housekeeper Uncle Fu had been waiting outside for a long time without seeing Mr. Nangong emerge, so he went to the study, knocking on the door, but no answer came for a long time.
It finally dawned on Uncle Fu that something serious had happened; he pushed the door open and walked up to Mr. Nangong, asking, "Old Master, are you alright?"
Mr. Nangong sat quietly on the sofa, eyes gently closed, and could easily have been thought to be sleeping.
But because he was so quiet, too quiet, Uncle Fu couldn’t help but reach out to check his breathing.
Uncle Fu didn’t know why he felt compelled to check, but there was a foreboding feeling inside him.
Mr. Nangong’s breath was very weak. Only then did Uncle Fu realize that something really had happened to him.
He quickly took out his phone and dialed 120, then notified Nangong Man Sha and other members of the Nangong Family.