BXBX NOVEL Chapter 249: A Scapegoat
“What’s happening?” Everyone looked horrified. Li Tongtian’s body just mysteriously flew away?
With an uneasy look on his face, Fang Lin stared intently in the direction of the Ice Palace. He had thought that killing Li Tongtian would simplify things. But now, everything seemed even more bewildering.
Qing Jianzi, Yang Pojun, and Li Youbing also had a look of worry in their eyes. Li Tongtian was definitely dead but his corpse had flown into the Ice Palace, a situation completely beyond their anticipation. They had no idea what changes might occur to Li Tongtian’s body inside the Ice Palace.
“We have no choice but to venture into the Ice Palace now. Otherwise, we’d still be trapped here,” Fang Lin said through gritted teeth.
Everyone was silent. If they had a choice, they would rather not enter the eerie Ice Palace, but it was quite clear they had no other options.
Moreover, with their spiritual energy currently unusable, they were practically disabled. Venturing into the Ice Palace under such circumstances was tantamount to walking down a road to certain death.
Fang Lin glanced at Li Youbing, saying with an icy tone, “I still can’t trust you. I have to take certain measures.”
Upon hearing this, Li Youbing was naturally irritated. The situation was under their control, and she was alone and powerless. What could she do even if she disagreed?
“What are you planning to do?” Li Youbing asked somewhat resentfully.
Fang Lin fished out a glossy black pill from the Nine Palace Bag and held it in front of Li Youbing.
“What is this?” Li Youbing felt slightly intimidated and asked.
Fang Lin gave a cold laugh. “Take it. This way, you won’t dare try anything funny inside the Ice Palace.”
Li Youbing was fuming. After all that, did he never trust her at all?
“Fang Lin, you are ten times more sinister than Li Tongtian!” Li Youbing said bitterly, her face full of hatred.
Not wanting to waste any more words with Li Youbing, Fang Lin bluntly asked, “Will you take it or not?”
Fang Lin’s message was simple. If you take it, you’ll behave. If not, I’ll kill you now to avoid future problems.
Li Youbing kept a cold face, not uttering a word. She took the pill and swallowed it in one gulp.
The pill had no taste, but without thinking, Li Youbing knew it was a poison pill, which Fang Lin was using to control her.
“Are you satisfied now?” Li Youbing asked, a trace of scorn on her face.
Fang Lin didn’t even spare her a glance as he walked over to the group of Li Family members who had previously followed Li Tongtian.
“Hand it over to me.” Fang Lin coldly said to one of the young men.
The young man was clutching a Jade Talisman, the thing Li Tongtian had tried to use as his last resort, which had been suddenly seized by the Li family members.
After some hesitation, the young man reluctantly handed over the Jade Talisman to Fang Lin.
Upon examining the talisman, Fang Lin discovered it was a Jade Talisman, sealed with an exceptional Li Family power. Upon its breakage, it should unleash a strong attack. However, Fang Lin wasn’t sure if it was a one-time use or if it could be used multiple times.
Moreover, Fang Lin was highly skeptical about whether its power could be exerted in this bizarre place. After all, this place could seal everyone’s Inner Strength. The power within the talisman might be suppressed. Even if they broke it, it might not have any effect.
If that was the case, then this Jade Talisman would be useless. Still, Fang Lin decided to carry it with him. Even if it was useless here, it might come in handy once they made it out.
“Fang Lin, what should we do about these Li family members?” Qing Jianzi asked Fang Lin.
Yang Pojun huffed from the side, “Just kill them all. It will save us from them dragging us down.”
Hearing these words, Li Youbing was immediately alarmed. She quickly disagreed, “No way! You promised not to harm anyone other than Li Tongtian!”
Yang Pojun scornfully replied, “If I wanted to kill, could you stop me?”
Li Youbing bit her lip, feeling a wave of sorrow. Indeed, if they went back on their word and harmed the others, could she even stop them?
She had her own life at their mercy, and Yang Pojun might even get carried away and kill her too.
Fang Lin shook his head, “Let’s keep them alive for now. Li Tongtian’s corpse flew into the Ice Palace, and the situation is still uncertain. Killing them might have some unintended effects on us.”
Hearing this, Yang Pojun also found it reasonable. Li Tongtian’s corpse had already flown into the Ice Palace. If more corpses flew in, who knew what would happen inside the Palace? It was better not to act recklessly for now.
Upon seeing this, Li Youbing let out a sigh of relief. She had been genuinely afraid that Fang Lin and the rest would go back on their word and kill all the Li family members present. Even if she managed to survive and escape the Endless Dungeon, she would bear the guilt for the rest of her life, forever living in a shadow, even if the Li family had no way of knowing the truth.
Li Youbing gathered all the Li Family members on her side. She went over to a nearby spot to untie the bound Li Family members. Altogether, there were forty of them, all under Li Youbing’s command.
However, all of the Li family members had looks of resentment. They were clearly harboring a grudge against Fang Lin and the rest for killing Li Tongtian.
After a lot of persuasion, Li Youbing finally managed to explain the current situation to them. She warned them against any rash moves and told them they must follow her orders.
Fang Lin had also planned for this in advance. Secretly, he told Yang Pojun that if anyone from this group dared to act, show no mercy, just kill them on the spot.
Once everyone was ready, the large group started marching towards the Ice Palace.
As they moved past the five statues, Fang Lin looked back and thought to himself, what was the purpose of these five statues? Were they placed here solely to accentuate the grandeur of the Ice Palace?
At the entrance of the Ice Palace, there was a door towering a dozen men high. They couldn’t see the inside clearly as it seemed to be obscured by an array that blocked their line of sight.
When they arrived there, many people hesitated, their faces showing fear. They clearly feared that they would be trapped inside the Ice Palace once they entered it.
Among them, Fang Lin was the calmest. But even he had a particularly solemn look on his face.
Just as Fang Lin took a deep breath and was about to step forward, he suddenly turned back and looked at Li Youbing.
Li Youbing’s heart skipped a beat, feeling an ominous premonition.
“Lead your people to the front,” Fang Lin ordered her without leaving room for refusal.
Qing Jianzi and Yang Pojun both looked amused. Fang Lin sure was resourceful, using the Li Family members as pioneers. If there were traps or any kind of devices, it would be the Li family members who would get the brunt of the impact first, a brutally cunning act.
Both Li Youbing and the Li family members were exasperated, clearly understanding that they were being used as sacrificial lambs!