Capture

"Brother, are we just going to let these two go like this? Won't they blame us?" A tall, slender man who emerged from the back asked anxiously.

The first person to come out trembled upon hearing the man's words, clearly terrified of the "they" he was referring to.

"There's nothing we can do about it! Those two are genuine Foundation Establishment cultivators. If the few of us were to make a move, they definitely wouldn't survive a moment!" the man said with a sigh.

"Hmph! Big brother is right. They told us to capture or kill the person coming, but they didn't tell us that the person coming would be a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Isn't this just blatantly sending us to our deaths? I don't believe those people are completely unreasonable!" The only woman among the four said indignantly.

Upon hearing this, the other three exchanged wry smiles, secretly lamenting the naivety of this young woman. Now that their lives were in her hands, there was no reasoning with her!

Just then, one of the cultivators who had never spoken before suddenly spoke with some doubt.

"However, why do I feel like I've seen that Foundation Establishment cultivator with dark skin somewhere before...?"

The other three were taken aback upon hearing this, their eyes showing surprise. The female cultivator, in particular, was extremely curious and opened her mouth to ask for clarification, but was interrupted by the man they called "elder brother."

"Alright! No matter what, let's get out of here quickly!"

Although the woman was a little curious, she still had to listen to her elder brother, and the other two had no objections either, so they all nodded in agreement.

"Where would you gentlemen like to go? How about I give you a ride?"

Just as they were about to take out their magical artifacts and leave, a cold voice suddenly came from above them.

The four people's expressions changed drastically. Almost simultaneously, they released their spiritual energy shields and scattered before daring to look up.

Several dozen feet in the air, Li Yunfan and Han Li stood on their respective flying boats, looking down at them expressionlessly. The difference was that Han Li's eyes flashed with a chilling light, while Li Yunfan remained completely calm.

"Disperse!"

The eldest of the four, upon seeing Han Li's gaze, felt a sinking feeling in his heart and shouted without hesitation.

He then shot off behind him, simultaneously pulling out a disc-shaped magical artifact, which he stepped on and soared into the sky.

Upon hearing their elder brother's voice, the other three each chose a direction and scattered to escape.

They all knew very well that the four of them were no match for Foundation Establishment cultivators, let alone two, so they immediately split up to have a sliver of hope of escape.

However, they were not facing ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Seeing that the group still wanted to escape, Han Li patted the storage bag at his waist with his right hand, and several black rays flew out from it, heading in the direction the four people were fleeing.

Li Yunfan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he couldn't help but be surprised, because those black lights were all puppets, and they were all level two puppets.

These puppets attacked in pairs, one from a distance and the other in close combat. Although the four of them were quite skilled, they were only focused on escaping. Faced with such an attack, they lost their composure and were forced back by the puppets.

Seeing this, Han Li waved his hand without hesitation, and several green beams shot out, entering the bodies of the four people and imprisoning the flow of spiritual energy within them.

"Brother, let's take them away from here first. Since these people came here on orders, the enemy's experts will likely arrive soon!" Han Li said to Li Yunfan after he had subdued the four men.

"Alright! Let's find a secluded place and interrogate these four people. We should be able to get a lot of information from them," Li Yunfan nodded and said.

Then they took the four people onto their respective flying boats and flew towards the distant horizon.

Not long after the two left, two more people appeared on the small hill. They were dressed the same as the four people that Li Yunfan and his companion had captured, except that their clothes were no longer black, but a deep red like blood, which was extremely unsettling to look at.

"Looks like they've failed!" one of them said with a sigh.

"Hmph! A bunch of useless trash. We should have just sacrificed them back then. They can't even handle this small matter!" Another younger man sneered.

"The Five Friends of Mengshan are no pushovers. There's not a trace of blood here, which means the newcomers subdued them with almost no effort. It seems..."

The first person to speak expressed some disagreement, and the two lingered there for a short while before quietly leaving the hills and disappearing without a trace.

In a desolate area more than a hundred miles away from this small hill, Li Yunfan and Han Li had already put the four people down and begun interrogating them.

"Take off the black cloth covering your face. It's pointless to cover it up now," Li Yunfan said calmly.

Upon hearing this, the four exchanged glances. In the end, it was the eldest brother who made the decision, and only then did they remove the black cloths from their faces.

When the four men revealed their true identities, Han Li couldn't help but sigh inwardly. These men were indeed the Five Friends of Mengshan he had met at the restaurant.

"Why are you there?" Li Yunfan asked the four of them first.

The four did not answer immediately upon hearing this. Finally, the dark-faced old man, who was their eldest brother, sighed and revealed their identities.

"Senior, we are the Five Friends of Mengshan, not some evil spirits or heretics. We simply wandered into that place by mistake. If we have disturbed you, please forgive us!"

"Do you think I'd believe that story, or do you think I'm some kind of clueless idiot?" Li Yunfan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said in a somewhat cold tone.

The dark-faced old man remained silent for a moment before speaking weakly.

"Senior, our lives are no longer our own. Even if we are not killed by you, we probably won't live much longer. Those who control us have already placed a restriction called the Blood Curse on us. Once their important matters are revealed, the restriction will immediately activate, and we will die from ruptured hearts."

Li Yunfan and Han Li exchanged a glance, both becoming curious, and then spoke to the dark-faced old man.

"What blood curse? Let me check!"

Upon hearing this, the dark-faced old man's spirits lifted, and he began to guess whether the other party wanted to help them break the curse. So, after only a slight hesitation, he stretched out his arm.

Li Yunfan grabbed the other's wrist and began to probe his body with his divine sense. After a moment, he found a blood-red restriction on the left chest. However, he had no knowledge of this and therefore did not know how to break the curse.

The old man with the dark face had initially held a sliver of hope, but when he saw Li Yunfan's furrowed brows, that hope was instantly extinguished, and a look of despair appeared in his eyes.

Seeing that Li Yunfan had finished his investigation, Han Li, who was standing to the side, also grabbed the black-faced old man's wrist and began to investigate. However, this time, although he frowned, he asked about the specific details of the curse.

After listening to the old man's description, a strange smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he spoke calmly.

"I already know what the blood curse is all about!"