Chapter 333: Conning the Whole Way (1/2)
Chapter 333: Conning the Whole Way
One million Spirit Stones appeared; brilliant sunlight reflected off of them, creating a radiant glow. This afternoon in this part of the Black Lands, a crazed frenzy rose up among hundreds of Cultivators.
This was especially true of the Cultivators in the very back, who had come along to watch the excitement. Their eyes went red as they immediately used every technique they knew to increase their speed, scattering in all directions to grab Spirit Stones.
The people from the Han River Sect were the closest. The pock faced old man hesitated for a moment; something didn’t seem right to him. He thought back to the auction, and how Meng Hao had apparently been short on Spirit Stones. However, it was impossible to tell whether the Spirit Stones were illusory or real. Seeing how the disciples surrounding him were all breathing heavily, he gritted his teeth, abandoned the chase, and went after the Spirit Stones. His sleeve flicked as he tried to gather together as many as possible.
The other Han River Sect disciples charged forth madly. The disciples from the other two Sects immediately began to struggle for supremacy in taking the Spirit Stones. It only took a moment for hundreds of Cultivators to be flitting about in all directions after Spirit Stones. Soon, they began to fight and plunder.
“Dammit, that’s my Spirit Stone!”
“The guy who robbed the auction tossed out these Spirit Stones to save his own skin! They don’t belong to anybody. First come first serve!”
The sound of explosions echoed out. One million Spirit Stones seemed like a lot, but considering hundreds of Cultivators were fighting over them, they were divided up very quickly. It was without hesitation that the Cultivators tossed them into their bags of holding.
Suddenly, their excited, complacent thoughts changed, and they looked off in the direction Meng Hao had fled.
In their opinion, for him to have thrown out a million Spirit Stones just to buy some time, indicated that he must have even more Spirit Stones on his person.
A strange light appeared in the eyes of the Han River Sect Cultivators. They had snatched up the most Spirit Stones of all, perhaps more than two hundred thousand. The expression on the face of the pockmarked old man indicated that he was determined to win. He knew the Spirit Stones weren’t fake; after snatching them up, he had carefully examined one. With a hearty laugh, he shot in pursuit of Meng Hao, his disciples in tow.
Almost all of the other Cultivators in the area did the same. There were a few who hesitated, worried that something untoward would happen if they were too greedy. Some even considered leaving; after all, everyone had gotten some Spirit Stones, which meant that everyone had profited at least some. Some people were surreptitiously examining their bags of holding to count exactly how many Spirit Stones they’d acquired.
It was then that a flabbergasted gasp could be heard.
“Huh? Where are the Spirit Stones? I just took about ten thousand, where did they go?”
“Mine are gone too! What’s going on…?”
Others who overheard such remarks immediately looked down to check their own bags of holding, whereupon their faces instantly fell.
“My Spirit Stones are gone! Impossible! I stole at least eight thousand just now!!”
“Something fishy is going on….”
A buzz rose up, mixed with miserable cries. As they checked their bags of holding, the faces of all the Cultivators grew deathly pale. Some of the Cultivators even began to shake, and veins began to pop out on their faces. Intense rage and insanity poured out from their eyes.
“My magical items are gone!!”
“Dammit, my medicinal elixir! There’s none left at all in my bag of holding!!”
“Ahhhhhh! My bag of holding has nothing in it! What’s going on!? It’s totally empty! Even the magical item I just bought at the auction is gone!”
As word spread, the miserable cries grew even louder. The pock faced old man from the Han River Sect flickered as he looked down to his own bag of holding. Then, his face went as gray as ash; he lifted his head up to the sky and let out a desolate howl.
His body shook, and smoke began to rise up from the top of his head. Veins of blood shot through his eyes, which radiated vicious frenzy. How could he not go crazy? His heart virtually dripped with blood, as if someone had literally ripped it open.
His bag had originally contained hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones, which had apparently vanished into thin air. All of his medicinal elixir, magical items, medicinal pills… everything was gone, even the random odds and ends he had collected inside.
His bag of holding had been thoroughly cleaned out. He was now completely empty handed.
His savings of many years, half of the wealth of the Han River Sect, had all been on his person. Now, however… it was gone.
The pock faced Patriarch howled. Behind him, the Patriarch from one of the other great Sects was shaking and howling madly. His bag of holding was equally empty.
The bags of holding of all the hundreds of Cultivators were completely empty. Someone had inexplicably removed their contents, leaving behind not a sound or hint of how it had occurred….
“That Heaven-damned bandit! I won’t rest until he's dead!” These words came out even before Patriarch Pockmarks could say anything similar. They came from a rubicund old man whose entire body was quivering. The insanity in his eyes outmatched that of Patriarch Pockmarks'. This was the Patriarch from one of the other Clans.
The source of his madness was the fact that just before the auction, he had filled his bag of holding with a million Spirit Stones. That was the price he had demanded from the Dongluo Clan to join them.
In addition to the Spirit Stones, there had been magical techniques from the Dongluo Clan, which he had long thirsted for. Now, though… they were all gone. How could he not go mad?
These Black Lands Cultivators weren’t stupid. If they couldn’t figure out that Meng Hao was the culprit, then their years of Cultivation had been spent in vain. And the root of the problem was those Spirit Stones….
Hundreds of Cultivators were now in a rage. Their eyes were red, and they used all the power they could muster to shoot at top speed after Meng Hao.
Revenge must be had! However, there was no sign of Meng Hao. Fearing that he would escape completely, the hundreds of Cultivators used a variety of methods to call upon friends.