The Conclusion of Ethereal Red

After speaking,

Yi Feng paid her no further attention.

He tied up Piaomiao Hong with a rope and dragged her away in frustration.

The woman behind him remained in a daze.

What exactly was this man's goal?

And how had he spent a full day and night in the Forest of Terror without a single incident, emerging completely unscathed?

The shock in her heart made her instinctively glance back at the Forest of Terror.

At first glance, nothing seemed amiss, but upon closer inspection, her astonishment only grew.

The eerie, bone-chilling aura that the Forest of Terror once exuded was gone. The oppressive darkness that loomed from the outside was nowhere to be seen.

Even the overwhelming sense of threat she used to feel just by looking at the forest had vanished.

In its place was an atmosphere of tranquility and peace.

"H-How is this possible?"

Her lips parted slightly before she shook her head firmly, dismissing the thought.

Because a terrifying hypothesis had just crossed her mind—one she couldn’t bring herself to believe—that Yi Feng had entered the Forest of Terror and eradicated all its threats in one go.

She raised her head and looked at Yi Feng again.

The man’s silhouette was hazy, impossible to decipher or comprehend...

After a long silence,

she finally voiced the question burning in her heart.

"May I ask why you’ve captured me?"

She spoke to Yi Feng, who was walking ahead.

Yi Feng paused mid-step and turned to look at her.

"Before I answer that, could you answer a question for me?"

He paused briefly before continuing, "Could you tell me when the Hong Sect behind you plans to come rescue you?"

"Hong Sect?"

The woman frowned. "Rescue me?"

"Never mind, I’ll be straight with you." Yi Feng decided there was no harm in being upfront. "I captured you solely to provoke the Hong Sect’s hatred. I’m waiting for them to come save you!"

"Wait… so you’re waiting for the Hong Sect to rescue me, just so you can wipe them all out?"

Piaomiao Hong’s expression turned incredulous.

Given Yi Feng’s strength, if he wanted to deal with the Hong Sect, why go through such convoluted methods?

Couldn’t he just storm their stronghold and crush them with a single slap?

"Not to wipe them out—I’m waiting for them to kill me."

Yi Feng said earnestly.

Hearing this,

Piaomiao Hong’s mouth formed a silent "Oh," her face blank with shock.

Her expression grew even more bewildered.

"So you’re saying… you captured me just to draw the Hong Sect’s hatred, so they’ll come and kill you?"

Piaomiao Hong asked in disbelief.

"Yes, you’re quite sharp."

Yi Feng nodded approvingly.

Piaomiao Hong was utterly speechless.

Yi Feng, a super expert of unfathomable strength, had captured her—someone whose power far surpassed that of the Hong Gate—just to wait for a mere sect to come kill him?

Was he out of his mind?

And why did he even want the Hong Gate to kill him in the first place?

As if sensing her skepticism, Yi Feng sighed and explained, "You might not believe me, but my goal is to die."

After a pause, he added, "Fine, I’ll lay it all out. I’ve tried countless methods to end my life, but none worked. That’s why I intercepted your convoy."

"At first glance, your convoy looked impressive, so I assumed your forces were strong enough to slaughter me as a mere bandit. But your people..."

Here, Yi Feng paused, his expression stern.

"I have to criticize you—where did you find those guards? They were utterly pathetic. I finally managed to provoke one into slashing me with his sword, but he didn’t even leave a scratch. His strength was worse than my neighbor’s elderly grandfather."

"Since your guards couldn’t kill me, I had no choice but to kidnap you." Yi Feng continued, "This way, your Hong Sect will come to your rescue and gang up on me, finally putting an end to my misery."

"Unfortunately, despite their grand reputation, the Hong Sect is painfully slow. It’s been ages, and not a single one of them has shown up."

Piaomiao Hong listened to Yi Feng’s entire explanation with a mix of exasperation and bewilderment.

But judging by the absolute seriousness on his face, she realized there was a ninety percent chance he was telling the truth.

So his reason for capturing her really was just to lure the Hong Sect into killing him.

The absurd part?

Her guard, Luo Chen, couldn’t even scratch him. What made him think the Hong Sect stood a chance?

"Here, take a look at this."

After a moment, Piaomiao Hong pulled out a jade slip.

Yi Feng recognized it—he had bought one before. These slips updated in real time with the latest happenings across the Nine Realms.

Piaomiao Hong had likely acquired it to gather intel, perhaps about the Saints.

But right now, the slip recorded the following event:

"The Hong Sect first announced a half-month retreat.

After the half-month passed, they promptly disbanded.

Countless Hong Sect disciples returning from training missions found their sect… gone."

Reading this, Yi Feng’s face twitched.

"What the hell?"

"Such a massive sect, disbanded just like that!"

"Can they really be this reckless?"

Yi Feng grumbled under his breath.

If this was the case, hadn’t he just wasted an entire month for nothing?

Piaomiao Hong, however, wore a complicated expression.

She could more or less guess the reason behind the Hong Sect’s dissolution.

If even someone like her could be kidnapped, how could the Hong Sect possibly stand a chance against such a force?

So, she couldn’t help but think to herself—wasn’t this all your doing?

At the same time, she drew a conclusion about Yi Feng.

This unbelievably powerful young man seemed to have no grasp of his own strength—nor anyone else’s, for that matter.

Otherwise, why would he do something as absurd as kidnapping her just to provoke the Hong Sect’s wrath?