Martial Saint with Passives

Liu Qing’s inquisitive gaze swept over the pair.

Beside her, Su Wan quietly tugged on Liu Qing’s sleeve and gave her a look.

Liu Qing’s gaze shifted between Xie Xingwen, Tang Qiaoqiao, and Su Wan, and she instantly understood most of the situation.

’It must be that soft-hearted Su Wan gave her tacit approval for Tang Qiaoqiao to meet with Xie Xingwen late at night!’

A flare of anger rose in her heart. ’Master Ye Lianzhen had warned them a thousand times: they could be friendly, but they must never cross the line! How could Su Wan be so careless?’

However, she suppressed her anger and carefully examined Tang Qiaoqiao and Xie Xingwen.

She saw that their clothes were neat and their hair was not disheveled. Aside from looking a little tired and frightened, there was nothing else out of the ordinary about their expressions.

’She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the worst hadn’t happened yet.’

However, when she remembered the Demon Sect’s attack during the day and Jiang Che’s warning, her heart tightened once again.

She originally had a good impression of Xie Xingwen.

Not only was he handsome, but he was also the son of the Vice Sect Leader.

And his Cultivation Realm wasn’t low either.

But now, the Seed of doubt had been planted.

Now, as she looked at Xie Xingwen’s still-gentle and refined smile, Liu Qing felt the suspicion in her heart grow wildly, like a creeping vine.

’She secretly decided she had to find a chance to have a proper talk with Tang Qiaoqiao and Su Wan. She had to make them be more on their guard!’

As the beastly roars faded, the forest returned to its usual dead silence.

Everyone waited nervously for a while. Seeing no further disturbances, they could only suppress their shock and suspicion and return to their tents to rest.

However, everyone was lost in their own thoughts, and no one slept.

For the rest of the night, the camp was shrouded in an oppressive silence.

As the sky gradually brightened, the thick fog began to dissipate slightly.

The group set off once more.

Cloud Mist Ridge was open for a total of two days, and this was the last day.

Along the way, Xie Xingwen made the excuse that he had "left behind an important item" and temporarily left the group.

Following his memory, he quickly found the place where Jiang Che had fought fiercely with the Demon Sect members last night.

However, the scene before him made him gasp in shock!

He saw four corpses in black clothes, torn to pieces and scattered across the ravaged forest floor!

The soil was soaked a dark brown with blood.

Severed limbs and shattered bone fragments were mixed in with the churned-up soil and broken branches and leaves—the scene was too grisly to look at!

Looking closely, the horrific wounds on the bodies seemed to have been caused by some kind of massive, heavy blunt weapon, smashed and flattened with extremely violent force!

On the ground, there were also several extremely clear and enormous, yet strangely humanoid, footprints sunken deep into the mud.

However, a closer look revealed two different types of these Big Footprints!

’This meant that two huge, humanoid Black Beasts had fought a great battle here!’

Xie Xingwen’s expression flickered, and he quickly made a deduction.

’It seems that while the four Demon Sect members were hunting down that troublemaker, they unfortunately ran into two terrifying, humanoid Black Beasts!’

’The troublemaker managed to escape by a stroke of luck, while these four unlucky bastards became an outlet for the Black Beasts’ fury, torn apart and beaten to death...’

’Useless trash!’

A surge of anger mixed with frustration welled up inside him.

His father, Xie Songnian, in order to position himself in the struggle for the Sect Leader position, had secretly colluded with the Demon Sect, each side using the other for their own needs.

This time, to secure Tang Qiaoqiao and ensure nothing went wrong, he had specifically borrowed manpower from the Demon Sect to help with his act.

Now that he had lost four skilled men in one go, the Demon Sect was bound to be furious. There would surely be trouble and compensation to deal with later!

’What was even more infuriating was that he had been on the verge of success, only for it to be ruined. Tang Qiaoqiao, that plump piece of meat right at his lips, had just flown away!’

With a nameless fury he couldn’t vent, he gritted his teeth and swore he would find the person who ruined his plans and make them pay the price!

Upon returning to the group, Xie Xingwen quickly resumed his calm and composed appearance of a noble Young Master, a gentle smile on his lips, as if he had just gone for a stroll.

He casually struck up a conversation with Tang Qiaoqiao, seemingly unintentionally steering the topic toward yesterday’s Demon Sect attack, his tone laced with a hint of lingering fear and worry:

"Sigh, those Demon Sect scoundrels yesterday were truly vicious. Who knows if they’ll come back. By the way, Qiaoqiao, that Junior Brother Jiang was quite brave yesterday. Even though he’s only at Force Integration, he was able to hold his own against two people in the Bone Forging Realm! His strength is impressive. But he doesn’t seem to be from your courtyard, does he?"

Xie Xingwen thought about it carefully. He felt that Jiang Che was the most likely suspect, so he decided to probe for information about him first.

When Tang Qiaoqiao heard this, she immediately pouted, making no effort to hide her displeasure with Jiang Che. "Hmph! It would’ve been better if you hadn’t mentioned him, Brother Xingwen! That Jiang Che is just a guard my mother foisted on me! He might have some skill, but his intentions aren’t good! He actually went and badmouthed you to Senior Sister Liu, saying he almost killed one of the Demon Sect members, but then you came over and scared the guy away? And he thinks *you’re* suspicious! It’s ridiculous! You were the one who saved us, Brother Xingwen! Those Demon Sect people ran away in fear the moment they saw you! I think he’s just jealous that you’re so skilled and popular!"

A cold glint flashed in Xie Xingwen’s eyes. In his heart, everything instantly became clear as day.

’So it really was you, Jiang Che!’

’Not only has this brat ruined my plans time and again, but he even dares to sow discord behind my back!’

But on the surface, he wore a magnanimous smile and gently patted the back of Tang Qiaoqiao’s hand.

"Qiaoqiao, don’t say that. Junior Brother Jiang was just concerned for everyone’s safety. It was just a misunderstanding in the heat of the moment. I don’t blame him."

In his heart, however, he had already marked down Jiang Che’s name, plotting to find someone to kill him later to eliminate any future trouble!

Before long, the group arrived near a steep mountain cliff.

The rocks here were rugged and jagged, and mist swirled between the cliffs.

Jiang Che stopped and pointed to a few inconspicuous plants on the cliff face, their stems like withered bones and their leaves like fine needles, and said: