"You should have done this in the first place. From the beginning, you never had the choice of running away. Because of you, my young master died. Come with me and accept your punishment." Shadow Fang said as he walked towards Mo Han.

But Mo Han didn't respond to the warnings. There was no hint of fear or anger on his face, and that's what confused Shadow Fang the most.

"Stop your act. Come down and kneel before me. I'm not going to punish you right now. Your fate will be decided by the patriarch of the Dong family," Shadow Fang said again, his gaze sharp and intimidating.

"Who are you?" Mo Han finally asked, staring directly into Shadow Fang's eyes.

"My name is Shadow Fang. And this dead body—" he pointed at the corpse on top of the spirit crane, "—is Dong Ming, the heir of the Dong family."

"Why are you hunting me? As far as I know, I have no feud with your family. Is there some misunderstanding?" Mo Han asked again, his voice calm and steady.

"Hahaha… don't act innocent. Because of you, the Dong family lost thousands of spirit stones in the Khan family auction. Without having the wealth, you still dared to bid like a child playing house. We came here only to teach you a lesson, but you went overboard and killed my young master Dong Ming. Are these details enough for you? Now, come here and kneel." Shadow Fang's voice boomed as he took out a dagger and pointed it at Mo Han.

Without showing fear, Mo Han sat on the boulder with his legs crossed. In his mind, the pieces clicked together—the people in private room number thirteen were indeed from the Dong family.

After spotting the Fire Bolt spear beside Dong Ming's corpse, Mo Han understood the full picture.

Behind the boulder, Fatty Lambu and Jia Kai also realized the background of their enemy. Unlike Fatty, Jia Kai was ready with her weapon to protect Mo Han if things turned dangerous. In their hearts, both had already accepted the possibility of certain death. Only their trust in Mo Han made them believe there was still a chance to escape.

"Don't waste my time, boy. If you don't submit now, I will make you miserable. There's still a chance for you—my patriarch might spare your life because of your Han family background," Shadow Fang said confidently, a playful smirk on his lips.

Mo Han finally stood up from the boulder.

"That's more like it," Shadow Fang commented, thinking Mo Han was finally going to submit.

"Are you done speaking?" Mo Han asked as he prepared to summon the weapon spirit hidden inside his soul space.

"What?" Shadow Fang frowned in confusion.

The next second, a mighty lion's roar shook the entire mountain range. A lion, larger than the mountain appeared before Shadow Fang in spirit form.

Glowing in golden light, the lion raised its massive paw and slashed Shadow Fang's body into pieces. Shadow Fang didn't even have time to scream—his body fell into three parts, and the lion's spirit vanished into thin air after letting out another earth-shaking roar.

Witnessing this, Fatty screamed and collapsed backward unconscious. Even Jia Kai trembled in fear, her heart pounding violently. The golden hairs stood up as goosebumps ran through her body.

"Wha… what is that…?" Jia Kai asked in a shaky voice, struggling to walk forward on weak legs.

Mo Han turned his head toward her and said calmly, "Don't worry. Everything is alright now. We'll leave this place in a few minutes."

"But… but… how? How can you have an inner spirit? You're still at the Qi Condensation stage…" she asked in a mix of fear and disbelief.

"I'll explain later. Go and give water to Fatty and the mountain eagle. We must leave as soon as possible." Mo Han took out the cursed sword from his waist.

Jia Kai nodded slowly.

While Jia Kai woke Fatty, Mo Han picked up Shadow Fang's dagger and a small pouch from his waist. Then, using the Sun Piercing Sword technique, he unleashed fireballs to burn Shadow Fang's corpse to ashes.

He approached the spirit crane, which cowered under a tree with its head hidden between its legs. Normally, such a beast would have flown away at the first sign of danger, but fear had rooted it in place.

Mo Han gently stroked the crane's neck to calm it. Before touching Dong Ming's corpse, he took the Fire Bolt spear and any other useful items. Then, dragging Dong Ming's body away, he completely burned it to nothing.

"Brother Han…" Fatty called in a weak voice. Mo Han could see the fear and hesitation in his eyes.

"It's alright. We're fine now," Mo Han reassured him with a smile.

Fatty nodded and drank water from a bottle gourd.

"What about the spirit crane?" Jia Kai asked with a bit of hesitation.

"It's coming with us. You two take the spirit crane; I'll drive the mountain eagle."

Jia Kai was confused for a moment at the word "drive," but she understood his meaning.

"There's a problem. The spirit crane is a soul beast—we can't ride it without making a blood contract," Jia Kai explained.

Mo Han frowned. "What is a blood contract?"

"The beast becomes a slave to its master once it tastes a drop of the master's blood. Since its owner is dead, we can make a new contract now," Jia Kai said.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but give the spirit crane to Fatty. Do whatever process you need," Mo Han said, moving toward the mountain eagle.

Jia Kai turned to Fatty with a helpless look. Understanding her meaning, Fatty gathered his courage and approached the spirit crane. He bit his fingertip, letting a drop of blood fall onto the crane's beak.

After a moment's hesitation, the crane extended its tongue and tasted Fatty's blood. A strange warmth spread in Fatty's heart as he felt a bond forming with the spirit crane.

Soon, the mountain eagle and spirit crane took to the skies, soaring together toward the mountain desert.

-

Note: For those people who were wondering where did the Lion come from... It is a storyline from Part 1 of the book. For your information he had another 5 of such weapon spirits inside his soul.