Chapter 46: Instant Karma for Evil Deeds

The next morning, the diligent new disciples rose early to water their corn. When they arrived at the fields, they erupted in curses. Some heartless bastards had trampled a path straight through their neat rows of crops, crushing countless seedlings.

A few of the more observant disciples followed the path and saw that it led directly to the Spirit Spring plots belonging to Qin Haoxuan’s trio.

Could it be that Gu Xiaoyun made good on his threat and really destroyed Qin Haoxuan’s field? At this thought, a few of the quicker-witted ones ran over to see. Sure enough, the sight that met their eyes was one of utter devastation. The ground was littered with the broken green stalks of the corn, snapped in half.

Not long after, Qin Haoxuan, Xu Yu, and Murong Chao arrived together. Today was the day Qin Haoxuan planned to finish watering the corn, fill the last water vat, and then deliberately cause some trouble to get sent to Confinement Mountain for a few days of quiet cultivation.

From a distance, they saw a crowd gathered around their plots, whispering amongst themselves. When they saw Qin Haoxuan, their expressions were a mixture of pity and schadenfreude.

Why are they looking at me like that? A seed of doubt sprouted in his heart. He quickened his pace. This is…

The neat rows of corn from yesterday were now nothing but a field of debris.

Darkness clouded his vision. All his hard work these past few days had been for nothing. Gu Xiaoyun? It had to be him. I thought he was just making empty threats, but I never thought he’d actually do it.

His face ashen, Qin Haoxuan turned without a word and stormed off in the direction of Gu Xiaoyun’s dormitory.

The crowd, sensing a good show, grew excited. They had been waiting for this moment ever since the two had exchanged threats yesterday. They hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. Zhang Yang, in particular, who had been cowed by Qin Haoxuan’s glare, was thrilled. Gu Xiaoyun was a Seventh-Leaf Spirit Sprout Realm expert, much stronger than the Fifth-Leaf Yuan Shanxiang. Plus, he was the nephew of Master Guyun. If Qin Haoxuan started a fight, he would lose no matter the outcome.

“Gu Xiaoyun, come out here. We need to talk.”

Having done his dirty work the night before, Gu Xiaoyun had slept soundly. In his dreams, Qin Haoxuan was kneeling at his feet, begging for mercy, while Xu Yu and Murong Chao pleaded with him to take the Spirit Spring land. Just as he, full of magnanimity, was about to grant their pathetic request, a roar like thunder ripped him from his beautiful dream.

He rubbed his eyes and saw the enraged Qin Haoxuan. Still half-asleep, he yawned and said, “What, did some disaster strike and wipe out your corn? Have you come to beg me to trade land?”

Hearing this, Qin Haoxuan, who had intended to question him first to avoid wronging an innocent man, dispensed with the pleasantries. Gu Xiaoyun’s own words had exposed him as the culprit. Otherwise, how would someone still in bed know that his corn had been destroyed?

“Good, good, good!” Qin Haoxuan said three times. Without another word, he lunged forward, grabbed Gu Xiaoyun by the neck, and slammed a fist into his dantian.

The poor, sleepy Gu Xiaoyun had never imagined that a new disciple with no strength or backing would dare to attack him. He was hit with several heavy blows to his dantian and chest before he could even react.

Completely unprepared, he was no match for Qin Haoxuan’s physical strength. He tried to gather his spiritual energy, but Qin Haoxuan’s continuous strikes to his vital points sent waves of pain through him, scattering his energy before he could even form a single technique.

“I warned you! I told you I wouldn’t let you off if anything happened to my corn! But you just had to test me!” Qin Haoxuan roared, landing a flurry of iron fists on the sides of his head and neck.

Struck in a vital point on his neck, Gu Xiaoyun cried out and passed out.

His followers cowered in a corner, not daring to help. “I’ve already reported this to the Discipline Hall!” one of them stammered. “If you keep hitting him… you’ll be sent to confinement!”

At the mention of confinement, Qin Haoxuan sneered. “I’ve been wanting to go back to confinement. I was just looking for an excuse.”

With that, he delivered another series of punches to Gu Xiaoyun’s torso, specifically targeting his internal organs.

Although Gu Xiaoyun was a Seventh-Leaf expert, he had been ambushed in a daze. He was used to being the one doing the hitting, not the other way around, so his actual combat experience was zero. In contrast, Qin Haoxuan had been fighting since he was a child, and he always aimed for weak spots and vital points. Even a Seventh-Leaf expert couldn’t withstand such a ruthless assault.

If they had fought at any other time, Qin Haoxuan would have surely been the one to get beaten. But now, in a fit of rage and with the element of surprise, Gu Xiaoyun had completely capsized.

Xu Yu and Murong Chao tried to hold him back, but he shrugged them off, sending them stumbling back several steps. They watched in a panic. If he kept going, he would surely kill him.

The other onlookers, including Zhang Yang, had never expected Gu Xiaoyun to be so weak, to be beaten so badly without even a chance to fight back. But none of them dared to intervene.

“Stop! Stop at once!”

Just then, several disciples from the Discipline Squad rushed to the scene. Seeing Qin Haoxuan’s assault, the squad leader formed a hand seal, and after a few breaths, several head-sized boulders of spiritual energy materialized and slammed into Qin Haoxuan, knocking the rampaging bull away.

Gu Xiaoyun lay on the bed in a deep coma, his face swollen like a pig’s head, his mouth bubbling with blood. The squad leader, knowing he was the nephew of a Hall Master, immediately took out his most precious healing pill and placed it in his mouth.

The pill dissolved, and its medicinal power quickly took effect. Gu Xiaoyun, who had been on the verge of death, finally stabilized.

After a brief examination, the squad leader said, “The victim has 27 broken bones and possible internal damage. Get the elders of the Spirit Field Valley to treat him at once! Apprehend the assailant and take him to the Discipline Hall for judgment!”

Two enforcers moved to grab Qin Haoxuan, who did not resist. “There’s no need for a trial,” he said without a trace of fear. “He destroyed my crops, I injured him. I plead guilty. Just send me to confinement.”

The squad leader gave him a long, cold look. This was the legendary figure who, in less than a month, had fought his way up from the Third-Leaf to the Seventh-Leaf, set a new record for the Rooting Stage, and was now about to be sent to confinement for the second time. “Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

“I’m the one who hit him. I have nothing else to say. Just lock me up.”

Just then, Zhang Yang, who had been hiding in the crowd, shouted, “For a vicious criminal like Qin Haoxuan, even a year or two of confinement would be too light!”

“That’s right! A year!”

The crowd, mostly composed of troublemakers and followers of Zhang Kuang and Li Jing, roared in agreement.

The squad leader’s gaze flickered between Qin Haoxuan and Zhang Yang, a playful smile on his lips. Everyone in the valley knew that Gu Xiaoyun had been trying to swindle Qin Haoxuan out of his land. Now that the crops were destroyed, if a real investigation were to be launched, he would be implicated. Since Qin Haoxuan had a reason for his actions, according to another of the sect’s rules, his punishment could be mitigated.

“Confine Qin Haoxuan to the Nine Yin Ice Cavern… for 20 days!” he declared.

“No, that’s too light!” Zhang Yang shouted, leading the crowd in protest.

The squad leader’s face turned cold, his gaze like a blade of ice sweeping over the crowd. “If you are not satisfied, you can appeal to the elders!”

Anyone his gaze fell upon felt as if they had been plunged into an ice cave and fell silent. Besides, with Xu Yu and Murong Chao backing him, the sentence was unlikely to be increased. And if a real trial were to take place, Gu Xiaoyun might even expose Zhang Yang’s own role in the plot.

“Whew…” Flanked by two enforcers, Qin Haoxuan let out a long, relieved sigh. After a brief farewell to his friends, he walked happily towards Confinement Mountain.

The squad leader watched him go, then looked at Gu Xiaoyun, who would be bedridden for at least a month, and thought, Did I really let him off too lightly? Oh well. As long as no one died, there’s no need to offend a Purple Seed.

At that moment, Gu Xiaoyun desperately wanted to speak. He could have thrown all the blame on Zhang Yang. But he was unconscious.

As soon as Qin Haoxuan stepped through the door of the new confinement cell, a wave of cold air hit him. The further he went, the colder it got. By the time he reached the entrance to the Nine Yin Ice Cavern, the walls were covered in a thick layer of ice. The iron lock on the door was frozen solid, and an enforcer had to use the Raging Flame Art to melt it.

To the enforcers’ surprise, Qin Haoxuan, in a place so cold that even they had to circulate their spiritual energy to resist it, walked in calmly, seemingly unaffected.

The story of his time in the Lava Cellar had already spread among them. Now, he was equally at home in the Nine Yin Ice Cavern. Is he naturally immune to heat and cold? To achieve such a state, one would normally have to reach the 20th or 30th leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm.

He had prepared for a fight, but when he entered, no one paid him any mind. The other prisoners were all busy meditating, resisting the biting cold.