Celestial Crane Mountain.
"Cough, cough..."
Gao Changgong was curled up on the ground, coughing as he tried to get to his feet.
Suddenly, he pulled a miniature red gourd from his robes, aid it at Gu Zheng, and shouted, "Who are you? If you’ve got the guts, state your na!"
Gu Zheng remained expressionless and made a beckoning gesture with his hand.
WHOOSH!
The miniature red gourd was forcibly ripped from Gao Changgong’s grasp and flew into Gu Zheng’s hand.
"Gao Changgong, Yu Chengjun and Wu Qian have already confessed."
Activating his Eyes of Golden Fla, he scanned the gourd to confirm it was genuine. "They were all very cooperative," Gu Zheng said calmly. "And as a result, they had a quick death and went to et their ancestors."
"What about you?"
Gu Zheng looked at Gao Changgong and said indifferently, "Will you cooperate willingly, or should I have soone *make* you cooperate?"
"...Cough, cough... Woo, woo, woo... WAH!"
Gao Changgong froze for a mont. After hearing the nas Yu Chengjun and Wu Qian, he dropped the act. He collapsed to the ground and began to wail, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"Wooo... I didn’t want to! I was forced!" he sobbed. "If I didn’t listen to that bastard, my life would be a living hell! A living hell, do you understand, milord? Wooo..."
"Give a chance, milord! Please, I’m begging you, give a chance! I’ll surrender! As long as you spare , I’ll cooperate with anything you want!"
SHING!
Before the last word was even out of his mouth, Gao Changgong’s head snapped up. He flung a black needle, swift as lightning, straight at Gu Zheng’s face, who was standing three paces away.
SLASH~
A flash of a blade, and the black line traced by the needle shattered. It broke into several pieces and clattered to the ground.
As soon as he threw the needle, Gao Changgong tumbled to the side and dove into the bushes. With a POP, he threw another small porcelain vial, which exploded into a cloud of black mist, obscuring all vision.
Seizing the opportunity, Gao Changgong dragged one leg behind him, scrambling on all fours into the mountain forest, keeping his body low as he scurried away.
But...
SLASH!
A blade flashed. With a sickening SQUELCH, both of Gao Changgong’s legs were severed from his body. They lay in the grass as blood gushed out ceaselessly.
His upper body, carried by montum, crawled a few more ters before tumbling to a halt. Before he even stopped moving, a shrill, bloodcurdling scream erupted from his mouth.
"AHHH—!!"
The piercing shriek echoed far into the mountain forest, drowning out the chirping of insects and birds as it lingered in the air.
Gu Zheng walked over slowly and stood beside Gao Changgong. Without wasting any words, he channeled his Divine Wondrous energy to stanch the wounds and stop the bleeding.
Then, he grabbed Gao Changgong by the collar, leaped into the air, and bounded across the treetops, heading back up the mountain.
By the ti he returned to the Luotian Sect’s encampnt, the battle was already over.
Most of the Luotian Sect disciples had been annihilated; only a few had managed to escape from the periphery.
Gu Zheng tossed Gao Changgong to Zhang Ning, telling him to teach the man a lesson he wouldn’t forget.
The Impermanence Sect specialized in assassinations and underhanded tricks, yet their Sect Leader, Wu Qian, had been much more straightforward. Realizing the situation was hopeless, he had been very cooperative.
Gao Changgong, on the other hand, clearly hadn’t given up hope. He tried deception, then begging and pleading, and even used a hidden weapon.
A person like him would never cooperate unless all his hope was utterly crushed.
He would just keep trying to use more tricks.
Gu Zheng didn’t want to waste any more words on him. After handing him over to Zhang Ning, he began to wander through the rooms, looking for anything valuable.
The Luotian Sect had been entrenched in Shuanghe County for nearly a century, so its foundations were naturally deep.
Besides a large amount of gold, silver, and jewels, there were also famous swords and sabers—Divine Weapons from before the Celestial Change.
There were also various rare dicinal herbs, which would have been considered potent, aged dicines before the Celestial Change.
Gu Zheng picked through the haul, storing everything that caught his eye in his Storage Leaf.
Once An Xiaoxue had regulated her breathing and recovered her depleted Divine Wondrous energy and stamina, he let her take whatever she wanted as well.
Might as well take it.
To Gu Zheng, the gold and jewels were useless, but the dicinal herbs were sowhat valuable.
"Boss, Gao Changgong is willing to cooperate now."
When he went back outside, Zhang Ning had finished his "re-education" of Gao Changgong and was reporting back to Gu Zheng.
"Mm, good work."
Gu Zheng nodded. "Go and rest. After you’re rested, take whatever you want. I’ll handle things from here."
"Yes, sir!"
Zhang Ning bowed and retreated.
Gu Zheng went inside and stood silently beside Gao Changgong, who was lying limply on the floor, the lower half of his body soaked through.
"I... I’ll cooperate..."
Gu Zheng didn’t say anything. Sensing this, Gao Changgong began to beg in a hoarse, tearful voice, "I was wrong, milord, I was wrong! I’ll cooperate!"
"Let’s hope so."
With a gesture, Gu Zheng lifted Gao Changgong’s bisected torso and walked outside.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
He soared into the air, flitting across the treetops.
He didn’t stop, descending Celestial Crane Mountain and heading straight for a wide valley beyond it.
Putting Gao Changgong down, Gu Zheng handed the miniature red gourd back to him.
"Summon all the Demon Fiends here."
"...Huh? A-Alright." Gao Changgong took the gourd and looked around, confirming he was in the center of the valley. He swallowed hard, gritted his teeth, raised the miniature red gourd, and closed his eyes.
HUMMM—!
A strange, invisible energy emanated from the red gourd in successive waves, spreading out in all directions with Gao Changgong at its center.
CRUNCH!
Gu Zheng suddenly lifted his foot and stomped on Gao Changgong’s other hand, crushing it into a paste of flesh and bone.
"AHHH—!"
Gao Changgong howled in agony, stopping his activation of the miniature red gourd. He collapsed, his half-body trembling as sweat poured down his face.
"Wh-What are you doing? I was cooperating...!"
WHAM!
Gu Zheng raised his foot and slamd it onto Gao Changgong’s head, grinding his face into the dirt.
"Cooperating? You think I don’t know what the energy fluctuations for summoning Demon Fiends are supposed to feel like?"
Gu Zheng spoke coldly, killing intent glinting in his eyes.
’If Gao Changgong weren’t the only one who could summon the Demon Fiends, I would’ve already crushed his head.’
’The miniature red gourd’s ability was quite strange. After Gao Changgong, Yu Chengjun, and Wu Qian had used it to turn people into Demon Fiends...’
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