Meanwhile, in the northern suburbs, Gu Dacheng and Liu Huan's faces were dark with anger, their chests churning with stifled frustration.
Gongsun Bei's sudden appearance had been like a mountain crashing down from the heavens, instantly turning the battle into a one-sided crushing defeat.
The two of them had teamed up to pursue the Chess Fiend, Zhongli Mo, chasing him across several long streets. They had finally cornered him, beating him to the brink of death, and were on the verge of capturing him alive.
Who could have expected that at the final moment, Zhongli Mo would not hesitate in the slightest, directly invoking a technique to end his own life and dying on the spot!
“Dammit!”
With a ferocious expression, Gu Dacheng slammed a fist into the high wall.
The force of his punch penetrated the wall, causing the brickwork to crack and stone fragments to rain down.
A late-stage Huajin Rank expert and a peak mid-stage Huajin Rank expert, working together, had failed to capture Zhongli Mo, who was only at the mid-stage Huajin Rank, alive... It was an utter embarrassment!
Nearby, Liu Huan, the patriarch of the Liu clan, was about to offer a few words of comfort when a sudden gale whipped up from the ground. The sound of fluttering robes cutting through the air rushed into their ears from above.
Liu Huan stopped mid-sentence and looked up.
A purple-robed figure swooped down like an eagle, his robes billowing as he descended from the sky and landed steadily in front of them.
“Master Gongsun!”
Upon seeing him, the two of them hurriedly clasped their hands and bowed in greeting.
Gongsun Bei's face was solemn as he glanced at the dead Zhongli Mo, his expression cold as frost.
He held a man in his right hand and carelessly tossed him to the ground, his movement as casual as discarding a piece of trash.
This person was none other than the Flying Fiend, Ke Duhe!
His four limbs had been twisted into bizarre shapes, his joints bent backward, and the bones of his arms and legs protruded through his flesh in pale, jagged splinters as he lay limply on the ground.
His upper, middle, and lower dantians were completely destroyed, his Qi sea shattered, and his meridians severed, leaving him an absolute cripple.
Even his jaw had been crushed to pieces, causing his entire face to cave in, with his nose and mouth twisted in a bloody blur.
His ash-gray eyes were half-open, blood, tears, and mucus mingling as they flowed down his face.
One of his eye sockets had been gouged out, leaving only a dark, bloody hole, while a dart was thrust straight into his other eyeball!
It was Ke Duhe's own signature hidden weapon—the Flying Dart!
He had been hoisted by his own petard.
Gu Dacheng and Liu Huan subconsciously exchanged a glance, their hearts tightening simultaneously. What brutal methods!
This leader of the Nine Anhuai Fiends, who had just been so insufferably arrogant and had slain several Huajin Rank experts with his withered claws, had been reduced to this half-human, half-ghost state by Gongsun Bei in the span of a single cup of tea.
“Garrison Master Gu,” Gongsun Bei finally spoke, his tone flat, devoid of any emotional fluctuation. “Please escort these two back to the Prefectural Governor's Mansion. Keep the living one under strict guard, and as for the dead one—”
He paused slightly, his gaze falling on Zhongli Mo's corpse. He looked at it as if it were mere grass, without the slightest ripple of emotion. “Chop him up and feed him to the dogs.”
“Yes!”
Gu Dacheng shuddered and hurriedly accepted the order.
He grabbed the two bodies from the ground, his robes billowing as he leapt up and vanished in an instant.
Gongsun Bei withdrew his gaze, turned to Liu Huan, and said, “I must trouble Patriarch Liu to cooperate with the Prefectural Governor's Mansion to continue hunting down the demon sect rebels. Do not let a single one escape.”
“Understood!”
Liu Huan clasped his hands in response. With a flash of his figure, he sped toward the other end of the long street.
Once he departed, Gongsun Bei withdrew his gaze. With a flick of his sleeves, he was about to give chase toward the south when his brows suddenly furrowed.
Boom!
His cold eyes snapped around, his razor-sharp gaze piercing toward the north.
In the neighboring Jiuzhai Ward, a high wall collapsed with a deafening roar. Bricks and stones flew in all directions as dust surged into the sky like an angry dragon.
A sharp, piercing aura, even across several streets and alleys, still faintly pricked at him, making his brow tingle with cold.
“This is...”
Gongsun Bei's gaze faltered slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
In the next instant, his figure shot into the sky, turning into a purple streak of light as he rushed toward Jiuzhai Ward.
...
In the alley, Shen Xiuhan ripped the storage bag from Liu Sanxian's waist. Opening the bag, he swept his gaze inside, and his eyes instantly lit up.
The bag was stuffed to the brim!
Bottles and jars were crammed together, silver coins and banknotes were neatly stacked, and several manuals and secret techniques were tucked inside. A single glance was enough to tell him that their value was extraordinary.
“Not bad. He was quite wealthy.”
Tucking the storage bag into his robes, he prepared to inspect it in detail after returning.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the entrance of the alley, exceptionally clear in the quiet, narrow passage.
“Someone is coming!”
Shen Xiuhan's heart leaped. Just as he gathered strength in his feet, a purple-robed figure flickered into view from the alley entrance like a ghost.
“So fast!”
Shen Xiuhan's pupils contracted, and warning bells rang in his head.
This kind of speed was something even a Huajin Rank expert like Liu Sanxian could not match in the slightest!
Before he could think further, the purple-robed man had already come to a halt beside Liu Sanxian's corpse in the blink of an eye, looking down to inspect it closely.
After a moment, the purple-robed man spoke slowly, his tone flat as if talking to himself: “The palm wound on the chest was left by me. The injury on the waist carries traces of cold poison, and judging by the trajectory of the wound, it seems to have been caused by a rather sophisticated claw technique. The right elbow and chest both show signs of bone fractures...”
He paused slightly, extending two fingers to hover over the cut where Liu Sanxian's corpse had been severed in two.
Before his fingertips could even touch the flesh, a trace of residual sharp intent made his fingers tingle slightly.
“But none of those were fatal.”
The purple-robed man slowly raised his eyes, his gaze locking directly onto the stiff-faced Shen Xiuhan.
“A three-foot blade with an aura like a rainbow, slashing through the floating clouds without leaving a trace. What truly brought about this person's death was sword-qi.”
“Am I correct?”
Having his secrets laid bare in a single sentence, Shen Xiuhan's heart shuddered, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
He forced himself to remain calm on the surface, feigning composure as he clasped his hands and said, “This junior is Shen Xiuhan of the Star-Plucking Sect's Tingquan Academy. May I ask who senior is...”
“Gongsun Bei.”
The purple-robed man stood with his hands behind his back, calmly uttering three words, as if the name itself carried more weight than a thousand words.
Gongsun Bei?
Shen Xiuhan's mind raced, but he came up with a complete blank. He did not know him!
Shen Xiuhan had a decent grasp of the experts and geniuses of the Star-Plucking Sect and the other three sects, but he knew very little about the local experts and major clans of Nanxiang Prefecture capital.
However, it did not matter.
Shen Xiuhan's expression remained unchanged as he muttered in his heart: Open box... bah, intelligence!
Today's intelligence has been refreshed!
In an instant, several lines of golden text flowed down from the void like a waterfall, hovering before his eyes.
【Intelligence 1: Gongsun Bei! Outer Gang Rank cultivation, has already formed two “divine ability seeds.” Originates as an inner court disciple of Cangzhou's upper sect, the Guanhua Sect. Currently serves as the personal bodyguard of Nanxiang Prefectural Governor Jiang Qiliang. Cultivates Gangjin Rank techniques: 《Seven Lodgings Mountain-Suppressing Palm》 at Great Perfection, 《Tianji Mountain-Moving Step》 at Great Perfection, and 《Seven Stars Golden Gang Forging》 at Great Accomplishment...】
An Outer Gang Rank expert!
And he was actually the personal bodyguard of the Nanxiang Prefectural Governor!
Shen Xiuhan realized, instantly gaining confidence. He clasped his hands once more, his tone becoming even more respectful:
“So it is Senior Gongsun. This junior has long heard of your esteemed name.”
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