The warm spring sun shone on Seven Stars Castle, but the people within felt none of its warmth.
The air throughout Seven Stars Castle was thick with the suffocating stench of blood.
The eyes of those who walked its grounds were filled with fear and confusion.
On the lawn in the southwest corner of the East Courtyard, weeds had just begun to sprout tender shoots, yet dark red bloodstains, long since dried, were caked between the blades.
Two days ago, a guard had lost control and beaten a fleeing disciple to death. The blood was from that incident.
The once-glorious Main Altar of the Seven Stars Gang had lost all its forr splendor, becoming nothing more than a prison.
Countless Seven Stars Gang disciples who had tried to flee were now trapped inside.
The bronze beast-head rings on the main gate of Seven Stars Castle were coated in a layer of dust. Once so polished they could reflect a person’s image, they were now matted with dried hair and streaks of blood.
The guards stationed by the gate scanned their surroundings, their gazes unfocused. Not a shred of their forr arrogance remained.
Inside the council hall of Seven Stars Castle, the atmosphere was even more oppressive.
Cobwebs, thick with dust and the desiccated husks of insects, clung to the rafters, swaying gently with every draft.
The edges of the long, black ironwood table in the center of the hall were covered in countless nicks and gouges, both deep and shallow.
Embedded in a corner of the table was half a broken iron chain. Its links were rusted black, yet the faint, lingering sll of blood clung to them.
Shen Shikang, Gang Leader of the Seven Stars Gang, sat in the seat of honor, the scar on his temple pulled taut.
His expression was as dark as a gathering thunderstorm.
Four people sat below him, two on each side. Among them was Lin Luoxue, Hall Master of the Punishnt Hall, who had been severely wounded by Chu Fan.
Lin Luoxue’s face was deathly pale, but her eyes held a frightening intensity, like a dying beast fixing its gaze upon its prey.
The dark circles under Vice Gang Leader Pan Heng’s eyes were so heavy they looked as if they’d been painted on with ink. Dried blood was still caked between the fingers of his right hand—a remnant from suppressing the deserting disciples the previous night.
Across from Pan Heng sat Right Guardian Jiang Lianyue. This master had protected the Seven Stars Gang alongside Cao Feng for many years. The black gauze on her wrist was flecked with dirt, and several fresh ligature marks were faintly visible beneath it.
That morning, upon discovering her personal maid secretly passing a ssage, she had personally strangled the girl to death with a scarf, leaving the marks on her own wrist in the process.
The last person was Bai Nan, Hall Master of the Seven Stars Gang’s Red Fla Hall.
Bai Nan’s fists were clenched, his face ashen. A broken iron rod lay at his feet, its tip crusted with dried brain matter.
He had used it the night before to cripple a deserting disciple.
"Nine days..."
Shen Shikang’s voice shattered the dead silence. It was hoarse and weary, yet it carried an undercurrent of suppressed brutality.
A letter lay on the table before him.
The letter detailed the situation at the Seven Stars Gang’s Sub-Branch in Cyan Yang City.
Shen Shikang’s eyes were filled with resentnt and killing intent. "What’s the news from the Moon Worship Sect?"
"If the Moon Worship Sect refuses to help, how are we supposed to repair the Blood Refining Array?!"
Vice Gang Leader Pan Heng bowed and replied, his voice hushed. He couldn’t, however, conceal his ragged breathing. "The Moon Worship Sect still hasn’t replied. They’re just urging us..."
"...to send the Blood Nourishing Realm disciples in Seven Stars Castle to them as quickly as possible."
"If we send away all our Blood Nourishing Realm disciples, will there be any point for the Seven Stars Gang to even exist?" Bai Nan snapped his head up, fury blazing in his eyes.
He slamd his right fist onto the table. BAM! The teacups rattled.
Bai Nan raged, "We should have never been so rciful! If we had just taken Cao Feng’s head back then and slaughtered the Cao and Li Families, we wouldn’t be in this ss today!"
"Now he’s running around with Cao Yan and Li Qingxue, turning our Sub-Branch in the city completely upside down!"
"He even leaked our secrets... Now Seven Stars Castle is in total chaos, and the disciples below are on the verge of panic!"
"Last night, seven Blood Nourishing Realm disciples in the East Courtyard tried to dig through a wall to escape."
"My n broke their legs and left them in the courtyard as a warning."
"And yet, when I went to check this morning, soone had actually dared to sneak them water!"
"There’s no use talking about the past," Vice Gang Leader Pan Heng said, his tone somber. "Back then, Cao Feng was in his pri. We went to great lengths to arrange for the Blood Saber Sect to trap him."
"But in the end, that useless Sect Leader from the Blood Saber Sect brought a group of masters and still failed to surround and kill him..."
"If we had moved against the Cao and Li Families back then, the Moon Arrow Martial Arts Hall and the Mountain Opening Boxing Hall would never have stood idly by."
"It would have been a pyrrhic victory at best."
"And it would have thoroughly enraged Cao Feng..."
The few people in the council hall exchanged glances, their expressions growing even grimr.
’They had thought that by banding together, they had Cao Feng completely under their thumb. They never imagined he could stage a coback and beco such a grave threat!’
But Jiang Lianyue shook her head, a cold sneer playing on her lips. "Master Bai, the real trouble isn’t Cao Feng."
When she raised her eyes, they held no warmth, only a deathly chill. "The real trouble... is the Ghost-faced Man."
"He killed Qin Fei, and he’s the one who severely wounded Luoxue..."
"How could soone who hasn’t even broken through the five stages of Foundation Establishnt kill Qin Fei, a warrior who had achieved Mortal Transformation?"
"Even now, I can’t fathom when a figure like that appeared in Cyan Yang Ancient City."
"The information Cao Feng obtained clearly ca from that Ghost-faced Man."
"And the moves made by Cao Feng and the Cao and Li Families were also clearly instigated by that Ghost-faced Man..."
"That bastard is the true culprit!"
Lin Luoxue coughed twice, her eyes glinting with a bloodthirsty ruthlessness. "That man is no simple character... I suspect the Moon Worship Sect is pulling the strings!"
"But... how is that possible?" Vice Gang Leader Pan Heng’s eyes filled with disbelief. "What could the Moon Worship Sect possibly gain from doing this?"
A cold light flashed in Lin Luoxue’s eyes. "Then how do you explain the fact that he knows the Extre Night Cold Prison Hand and the Ghost Shadow Illusionary Body Step?"
"For soone who hasn’t even broken through the five stages of Foundation Establishnt, his mastery of those two techniques is even more profound than... than that of the Special Envoy!"
Everyone present fell silent.
When Lin Luoxue had returned, severely wounded, and told them about it, they had been aghast, finding her story impossible to believe.
Over the past few days, they had considered countless possibilities, but none provided a satisfactory answer.
Just as Jiang Lianyue had said, their biggest problem wasn’t Cao Feng, but the Ghost-faced Man... No, to be more precise, it was the Moon Worship Sect!
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