Am I the only good person in this cultivation world?

"Um?"

Cao Ye frowned, not realizing for a moment who was talking to him. He smiled with relief when he saw the person in front of him.

"So it's you. Did you take care of what needed to be done? Has that kid surnamed Zhou been dealt with?"

Upon hearing this, Song Zhiyu's heart tightened, and she quickly looked at the black-robed cultivator.

"No, hurry, or it'll be too late!"

The black-robed cultivator spoke urgently, offering no explanation, only urging him on, while his divine sense spread out in all directions.

"What do you mean? You failed?"

Cao Ye's face twisted in pain:

"I hired you with a lot of spirit stones, not so you could just sit around doing nothing! Is that kid dead or not?"

Before the black-robed cultivator could reply, a soft laugh drifted over, seemingly echoing:

"Spirit stones? You might be able to earn them, but I'm afraid you won't live to spend them."

Everyone in the room felt a sudden tightness in their chest!

The cultivator surnamed Fang reacted quickly, pulling Cao Ye behind him and then summoning a defensive magic artifact resembling a wooden shield to protect the two of them.

The black-robed cultivator flicked his sleeve, and three fist-sized spirit insects appeared before him—

These three spirit insects were entirely black, with sharp teeth, red markings on their wings, unusual horns on their heads, and twisted markings on their backs that resembled ghost faces, making them look quite terrifying.

As soon as the spirit insects appeared, they quickly flew around him, resembling three wisps of dark red and black smoke.

"Oh? A ghostly weeping bug! That's quite rare."

"Who are you! You're playing tricks on me. Show yourself! I am the fourth young master of the Cao family of Lishan!"

Before the two bodyguards beside him could speak, Cao Ye started shouting in a panic.

Inside the hall, a black wind rose, and when the smoke cleared, two people appeared in front of Zhiyu. One had his hands behind his back, looking calm and collected, while the other held a magic sword and was furious.

"Yunli! And this one... could it be Senior Yao?!"

"Miss Zhiyu, how have you been?"

Yao Han greeted Song Zhiyu, but his eyes were fixed on the three people opposite him.

"Ninth level of Qi Refining!"

The cultivator surnamed Fang's pupils contracted, and he summoned another longsword from his storage bag, hovering it in front of him.

Zhou Yunli comforted Zhiyu, his fingertips trembling as he wiped the wound on her neck, then suddenly turned around and angrily drew his sword!

"Cao Ye, you damned beast! Not only did you scheme against me, but you also tried to bully my wife! If I don't kill you today, I, Zhou Yunli, swear I'm not a human being!"

Seeing that his scheme had failed, and that the other side had gained an additional expert to assist him, Cao Ye rubbed his hands nervously, but then peeked out from behind the cultivator surnamed Fang:

"Hmph, you're smart enough to come back alive. But do you really think one of you at the fourth level of Qi Refining and the other at the ninth level can take on so many of us? Brothers—"

Cao Ye shouted at the top of his lungs towards the outside, but received no response. He only heard gasps of surprise coming from outside.

"...This bunch of useless trash!"

Cao Ye curled his lip, grabbed a bamboo stool, and smashed it towards the wooden window.

With a loud bang, the window was smashed open, and he turned to look outside, his expression instantly becoming quite interesting.

Suddenly, a huge white python appeared in the courtyard. A little girl, holding a golden-red spear, stood on the python's head and charged haphazardly between the four cultivators. The four were so frightened that they retreated in all directions, stumbling and swaying.

"You bunch of useless trash, what are you doing! This girl is only at the first level of Qi Refining, join forces and take her down!"

"Young master, this spirit snake is a third-tier demonic beast—ah, my foot!"

A cultivator dressed in brocade robes was caught off guard and was hit by Xiao Yuan's icy breath. His leg was instantly frozen solid by the ice.

"Run! That little girl's spear is a top-grade magic weapon! We can't defeat her!"

"I'm sorry, young master, but I don't want to lose my life here—"

The group made a move to run away, but although Xiao Yuan was several times larger, its speed was not slow at all. Its snake body nimbly coiled in the courtyard, forcing the group back.

Yao Han kept a close eye on the situation in the courtyard with his divine sense, and gently shook his head.

Although these four people were all more skilled than Ai Lan, they were probably all from wealthy families and were usually idle and uneducated. Now, disturbed by Xiao Yuan, they couldn't even cast a simple spell and were being stabbed by the spear.

Seeing that the situation in the courtyard was still at a stalemate, Yao Han withdrew his divine sense and focused his attention on the two people in front of him.

"Who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you in Lishan before. How many spirit stones did that brat surnamed Zhou pay to hire you? I, Cao Ye, can offer more than three times that price!"

Seeing that his trusted men were so useless, Cao Ye gave up on trying to command them and held up three fingers to Yao Han.

"You want to hire Yao?"

Yao Han stroked his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face, which made Yun Li and his wife's hearts tighten.

Seeing that there was hope, Cao Ye nodded quickly and gave Zhou Yunli a contemptuous smile.

"Fine, if you can come up with 20,000 spirit stones, I'll leave now and won't get involved in this matter anymore."

Yun Li and the other two breathed a sigh of relief, while Cao Ye's smile froze, and veins bulged on his forehead:

"Twenty thousand spirit stones, what arrogance! Who do you think you are, a Foundation Establishment cultivator? Don't think you're so great just because you're at the peak of Qi Refining! Brother Fang Wen, Senior Blood Ant, capture this man immediately!"

Despite their words, neither Fang Wen nor the mysterious cultivator known as the Blood Ant made any rash moves.

Both men were seasoned veterans, and they both sensed a dangerous aura emanating from Yao Han.

The blood ant slowly opened its mouth:

"How did this Fellow Daoist Yao come to know the name of my spirit insect?"

"Its wings have red stripes, its back bears strange shapes, and it resembles a wailing ghost. It bites anyone it encounters and is extremely poisonous. This wailing ghost worm isn't a rare creature in Dongling, so why couldn't I recognize it?"

"However, it is said that the Ghost Cry Insects were nearly extinct a hundred years ago, and the few that survived are kept in the Insect Control Pavilion of Flying Dragon Valley. I wonder what kind of insects these are—"

Before Yao Han could finish speaking, he saw a blur before his eyes as the blood ants transformed into a streak of gray-black light and flashed toward the window!

Before the group could react, a deafening crash rang out, and the window on the other side was smashed to pieces, with a flash of gray-black light disappearing in an instant.

"They...they ran away?!"

Cao Ye was dumbfounded, then flew into a rage:

"What blood ants?! You damned bastard, give me back my spirit stones!"

Zhou Yunli's telepathic message suddenly rang in Yao Han's ear:

"Brother Yao, didn't you say you were interested in this person's martial arts on the boat just now? Why didn't you pursue him?"

"No rush, I've already set up a few puppets outside, enough to delay him for a while."

Yao Han calmly turned his gaze to Fang Wen:

"Fellow Daoist, are you a cultivator from the Shangyun Sect? Why aren't you running away?"

Fang Wen sighed:

"I never wanted to get involved in this mess, but everyone has times when they have no choice. Fellow Daoist, there's no need to say more. Today, no matter what, I will protect the Fourth Young Master with my life."

He waved his hand and pointed forward, the sword's edge aimed directly at Yao Han:

"bring it on!"