Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 127: Bell

Joel and Maxwell ignored the newcomers, retrieving the magical beasts’ cores they found from their opponents’ pouches and storing them in the space-ring.

Instead, Liam was unable to show nonchalance. He had lost his borrowed bow, but his cold gaze snapped up, down, left, and right to check every detail about the four teams and the encirclement they had created.

The encirclement was too perfect to be random. Trios had appeared in Liam’s team’s four directions, which couldn’t be a matter of different starting points.

Clearly, the other teams were actively cooperating down to their very battle formations, all with the joint goal of cornering the Pale Moon Sect’s group and getting Liam. They were probably communicating, too, enabling such perfect teamwork.

And Liam didn’t know what to make of that. If it were only foundation experts, he could likely run away. He would even consider fighting if it had only been the four of them, but the presence of more numerous, stronger cultivators made the plan unfeasible.

Liam’s thoughts didn’t stop there. He was virtually innocent. His only real sin lay in being born with something that made people wary of his potential. He had basically only reacted to unsanctioned attacks, but the cultivation world didn’t care for fairness.

A hatred that didn’t need any hiss to deepen spread inside Liam. Merely hearing the news from his Master had left some vagueness in the matter, but everything grew clearer now that he could stare right at it.

The neighboring Sects truly were out to kill Liam, and the idea of destroying them became stronger in his mind, especially due to an aggravating, unforgivable factor.

The jury was still out on Maxwell, but Liam considered Joel a friend. His public support and advice despite the problems Liam attracted had been more than enough to vouch for his genuine stance.

And Liam’s problems hadn’t only involved Joel. The latter had already suffered injuries, and that encirclement could deliver far worse than ringing ears.

Liam was still a powerless foundation expert, but a decision formed in his mind anyway. If anything happened to Joel, his revenge list would gain new names, and no amount of financial settlements would affect it.

’I need to become so strong that no one would even think about doing this again,’ Liam thought, ignoring the fact that the snake had remained silent despite his raging hatred.

That hatred also quickly found a more specific target. The four teams were all guilty in Liam’s perspective, but one was guiltier than the others, probably featuring the tipping point that had led to that outward ploy.

On a tree on Liam’s left, three red figures stood on the leafless branches, with Cecilia only having eyes for him, her glare growing even more unfriendly when he matched it.

Nevertheless, by then, Joel and Maxwell were done collecting the blue team’s points and finally looked up to address the encirclement, the latter obviously taking care of representing his team.

"Fellow cultivators," Maxwell called, his calm gaze browsing over the four teams. "I find it hard to believe that you gathered here by chance. I had hoped you would have at least felt ashamed of disclosing your collusion so blatantly."

"How can you talk about shame while standing next to our fellow cultivators’ corpses?" Cecilia snorted. "My Seniors and Juniors, the Pale Moon Sect broke the mission’s agreement and must plan to extend the hostilities to us!"

The claim matched what the Alchemy Elder had warned Liam about. Orthodox, theoretically lawful Sects couldn’t outright resort to murder. They could only bend the rules, and Cecilia was trying to create a reasonable excuse to do so.

Of course, hiding behind self-defense when outnumbering Liam’s group four to one was ludicrous, but such details didn’t matter in the cultivation world. As long as the other Sects agreed with the claim, no one could argue against it.

"The Crimson Warrior Sect dares to make such claims with that beacon still shining above our heads?" Maxwell wondered. "That light alone is proof that the Rising Waterfall Sect forced our hand."

The Crimson Warrior Sect’s group wasn’t the only one occupying a tree. Another team with yellow robes also stood on branches to Liam’s right, and one of their rooting experts acted at those words.

Liam only turned when his perception alerted him, managing to witness a sphere of red flames rising past the trees and crashing into the blue light in the sky, burning it away.

And, as the flames dispersed to show the unstained air, the man behind the fireball spoke. "The Scorching Sun Sect hasn’t seen any beacon!"

"The Iron Will Sect confirms the Scorching Sun Sect’s disciple’s words!" A member of the dark-grey team announced.

"The Swallowing Forest Sect can’t see any beacon, either," The woman among the green team declared.

’Was that a ball of fire?’ Liam gasped in his mind before pushing away his marvel to refocus on that development. ’And I thought I was bad at lying.’

Obviously, Liam realized the reason behind that poor acting. The other teams didn’t need to put any effort into their lies since truth had no value in the face of superior power. As long as they agreed on that fake story, the Pale Moon Sect’s side would be in the wrong.

"The Pale Moon Sect talks about shame while resorting to lies," Cecilia exclaimed. "Seniors, Juniors, they clearly planned to murder us and rob our corpses!"

"I would have personally delivered these belongings to the Rising Waterfall Sect," Maxwell revealed. "Unless you plan to call me a thief."

Maxwell didn’t do anything special. He didn’t even summon his Qi. Yet, his gaze gained faint cold tones, and that was enough to bring tension to the area.

Still, Cecilia had been ready for that.

"The Pale Moon Sect’s Head Disciple’s honorable character is known to us all," Cecilia said, going back on her previous claims. "I have also had the pleasure of working with Fellow Daoist Joel, so I can vouch for righteousness."

Everyone’s gaze then moved to Liam, as if they had been waiting for that moment.

"But the Pale Moon Sect’s new disciple is suspicious," Cecilia continued. "Liam has already admitted to killing three of my Junior Brothers. He must be brought to my Sect’s Elders for questioning."

Liam had lost the plot there. The switch in tones and topics had been too sudden for him to follow. He only understood that the focus had narrowed on him now.

Instead, Joel and Maxwell knew what Cecilia had done. That narrower, smaller request was her way of giving their team a way out of harsher repercussions that the current situation could easily unleash.

Still, Liam did notice something. Normally, Maxwell would have responded with overbearing remarks, but he remained silent now. That superior number of rooting experts probably was too much to handle even for him, preventing him from relying on his previous tactic.

Liam was correct, but only halfway. The problem wasn’t with Maxwell’s prowess but with his ability to defend Liam against that many opponents.

However, Cecilia hadn’t been the only one ready for that development. That was a consequence of Maxwell’s strategy, and he had prepared for it.

Maxwell dropped the enemy’s pouch, revealing a small, copper bell nestled in his palm. He grabbed it by its tip, lifting it above his head, seemingly wanting to show the inscriptions on its surface to that audience.

"With one chime of this magical item," Maxwell announced, "All the beasts in the immediate surroundings and beyond will enter a killing frenzy. Disperse now, or you’ll force my hand."

The small bell had already claimed Liam’s attention, and that description deepened it. That was another rank 2 item, but Liam felt it was on the weak end of the spectrum.

Nevertheless, the area tensed up even further. None of the teams questioned Maxwell’s claim, seemingly aware of the bell’s capabilities. The doubts were about Maxwell himself.

"You are bluffing," Cecilia challenged, unable to hide her wariness.

"Never antagonize the Pale Moon Sect unless you are ready to die," Maxwell declared, waving the bell, which released a high-pitched noise that carved cracks into its fabric.