Xu Dongxu opened his eyes, seeing Lin Tian right in front of him, and his heart skipped a beat from fright.

He watched Lin Tian warily, then mustered all his strength to stand up with difficulty, quickly running to a rock five meters away from Lin Tian to keep a safe distance. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Xu Dongxu didn’t know how long he had been soaking in the water; he only felt his whole body lacked strength, which also pulled on his wounds, causing sweat to trickle down from pain.

Lin Tian stood in place, bent down, and picked up a smooth stone from the ground, teasingly smiling as he said, "Running away upon seeing me? Am I that frightening? Moreover, you’re covered in wounds now, where can you even sprint to? The stone in my hand is enough to blow your brains out."

Xu Dongxu’s face turned cold as frost, his hand reaching into his bosom to tightly grip a yellow talisman, his last means of survival!

Lin Tian did not react, casually tossing the stone in his hand a few times, saying, "If I wanted to kill you, I could’ve plunged the dagger deeper into your heart when you fainted. But since I didn’t, it means you still have some use. Put away your tricks, they won’t work in front of me."

Xu Dongxu stared cautiously at Lin Tian, contemplated briefly, and slowly took his hand out of his bosom.

He had long noticed the wound in front of his heart, but luckily it only cut the skin and didn’t sever the arteries; this amount of bleeding was still acceptable.

"What did you feed me just now?" Xu Dongxu asked, his mouth still lingering with the bitter taste of medicine.

Lin Tian’s eyes twinkled mischievously as he smiled, "Nothing much, just a temporary poison. You’ll feel no discomfort initially, but in about three days, you’ll feel weak, and later your blood will turn black, eventually dying from bleeding from all your orifices. Of course, I have the antidote but only if you cooperate obediently."

Xu Dongxu clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and cursed, "Despicable!"

"Oh~ you say I’m despicable?" Lin Tian chuckled sarcastically, "You’re the one calling the thief a thief! First, Xu Nanhai extracted Ruyan’s essence blood, then you ambushed my apprentice with various vile tactics, and finally, the old Xu Xichao tried to get my head in the bamboo grove. Tell me, who’s truly despicable?"

"Humph!" Xu Dongxu couldn’t argue back, only retorting heavily to express his strong displeasure.

Lin Tian also walked to a large rock, leaned against it, and asked, "Alright, I’m not here to chat with you. Tell me, where is the Martial Sect?"

He had been searching along the river for more than half an hour, only encountering Xu Dongxu here, indicating Martial Sect might be not far if it fell into the river too. If not, it’s probably not in danger, so there’s no need to look further.

Xu Dongxu closed his eyes for a moment and replied, "I don’t know."

"I’m not satisfied with that answer; answer again carefully if you want to suffer less," Lin Tian crossed his arms, not surprised by this reply. If he cooperated so easily, he wouldn’t be Xu Dongxu.

"Dead," Xu Dongxu said nonchalantly.

Whoosh~

Lin Tian jumped swiftly, landing right in front of Xu Dongxu.

Smack~

A crisp slap reddened half of Xu Dongxu’s face.

"Spit!"

Xu Dongxu spat out the blood and the tooth that was knocked out, staring at Lin Tian with bloodshot eyes filled with murderous intent!

"I know you want to kill me, but you lack the capability, and no one in the Xu Family has the capability," Lin Tian suddenly reached out and patted Xu Dongxu’s right shoulder, saying, "That slap was just to knock out a molar of yours; I’ll give you another chance. If you’re still uncooperative, I’ll dislocate your right arm, and I mean what I say!"

Blood slowly crept into Xu Dongxu’s eyes. He panted heavily, yet had no option.

His right shoulder under Lin Tian’s grip sent shivers of cold and piercing pain.

"He chased me to the riverbank with red eyes. As you saw, this river is so wide; given my injuries, I couldn’t possibly cross it. Either way, it was certain death, so I intended to fight him to the end."

"And then?"

"Then, he and I fought to mutual destruction on the riverbank. I struck him on the forehead, and when he was about to fall into the river, he grabbed my ankle, pulling me down with him. Unbalanced, I inhaled a lot of water. I don’t know how long I was submerged; when I awoke, I saw you," Xu Dongxu said.

Xu Dongxu’s words ran through Lin Tian’s mind, seemingly true, but there were still some questionable points.

Lin Tian asked, "How do you know he’s dead?"

"I’ve learned Taoism for ten years; besides ghost catching and fortune-telling, I know many techniques for dealing with human souls. That strike likely knocked his three souls and seven spirits out of his body. Not unusual."

"Isn’t that all speculation?" Lin Tian sneered.

"Sort of. If it were ordinary people, I could be a hundred percent sure they wouldn’t survive. But that old man, being a Golden Core master, might have some chance," Xu Dongxu admitted.

"Alright, assuming what you said is plausible, we should still verify alive or dead."

"I’m covered in injuries and likely can’t accompany you," Xu Dongxu said.

Lin Tian retracted his hand, smiling faintly, "Even if it’s difficult, you have to go. You think I’ll just let you go back like this? Let’s move!"

Xu Dongxu stood still.

Lin Tian turned to him, saying, "If you don’t go, I’ll throw you into the middle of the river. With your current injuries, you certainly won’t swim back, and with the floods rising now, nobody’s fishing along the river. Downstream, it’ll reach the sea; survive the sea, would you?"

Xu Dongxu’s face turned grim. Looking at Lin Tian’s smiling face made him feel powerless to resist, only to sigh helplessly and follow.

According to Xu Dongxu, both were swept to the riverbank by the flood, being washed downstream, but after searching for half a day, they found no one.

Xu Dongxu’s lips turned pale, his face ashen, with unsteady steps and labored breathing, nearly tottering with each step. His appearance doesn’t seem feigned.

"We’ve been searching for almost half an hour; I truly can’t go on," Xu Dongxu said weakly.

"Not willing to proceed? Fine, I’ll throw you into the river then," Lin Tian said flatly.

Xu Dongxu glared fiercely at Lin Tian, yet he spoke no harsh words, too tired to utter anything.

Lin Tian glanced sideways at Xu Dongxu, quietly amused.

After administering a Great Rejuvenation Elixir to him, its effects should have taken hold after this lengthy journey, capable of lasting several more hours like this.