Chapter 308: Each with Blood on Their Hands

The Dongyang Villa was like heaven on earth with the light rain, ancient pagodas, pavilions and fog covering the green lake. However, after a closer look, one would find that the pagoda was half-collapsed, some of the trees had been snapped and the flowers had withered. It looked more like the aftermath of a war.

“You guys fought fiercely last time, huh.” Meng Qi had learned from his Samsara task, so he quickly shook off the dizziness and checked out the surroundings.

Perhaps it was because Jiang Hengchuan had achieved Oneness of Heaven and Men that he came to his senses a bit earlier. He smiled apologetically and said, “Money drives everything. It’s been almost a hundred thousand years since Dongyang villa was at its height, and the elixirs have been rendered useless and turned to dust. The same goes for the talisman and manuscripts. But the objects that could keep well, like Refined Weaponry, Precious Weapons, and the valuable herbs growing in the lake, are still priceless. Even Top Class Masters would give in to greed upon seeing them.”

“There are Precious Weapons and herbs?” asked Meng Qi as he raised his eyebrows. “Discovering relics is far better than multiple Samsara tasks!”

Jiang heaved a sigh and said, “There was only one valuable object in the outer villa, a Precious Weapon, which has been taken by the Eight-armed Flying Dragon. Now it should be in the hands of a devil, or Qiufei. I was only able to grab a few refined weapons and material. The others, as long as they survived, all had gotten some relics, which is why there are not many valuable things left.”

“The devil had already had formidable strength, with a precious weapon, he’s even more dangerous.” Commented Meng Qi, a hint of blame could be heard in his tone.

Jiang then added apologetically, “My bad, I wanted to tell you, but I had to keep everything under wraps. And we were running short on time, so I forgot to remind you.”

He confessed honestly.

“You got any ideas on how to deal with a devil?” Asked Meng Qi directly, not worrying about his negligence.

Jiang Hengchuan nodded and said, “My strength is about the level of the Half-step Exterior Scenery and if you give it your all, you’d be able to battle Snake King. So if we joined forces, even if we couldn’t beat the devil with a Precious Weapon, I’m quite sure we’d be able to make a safe getaway at least, because he isn’t exactly on the Exterior level. As long as we can persuade Qiu Fei to cooperate, unless the devil’s out of his mind, he would know that he doesn’t have a choice but to join us in opening the inner villa. Otherwise, he wouldn’t gain anything either.”

“By then, we’ll have them fight over valuable objects, while we just need to grab a precious weapon each and make our getaway. There’s no need for us to join the fray. Greed is the devil, and content is bliss. We Rogue Cultivators rely on small increments to reach abundance and not overnight fortune.”

Meng Qi nodded in agreement as he listened, “Brother Jiang, your points are more than valid, which coincides with my thoughts exactly.”

Upon reaching a consensus, the two of them headed for the pagoda. The light rain landed on their bodies, as if trying to wash away their dust.

“This rain is from the spiritual pond, it can make you feel calm and relaxed,” said Jiang Hengchuan as he pointed towards the green pond in the distance. As they got closer to the pond, they could only see a mess. There was only a broken strand of spirit-grass left. No other signs of life could be seen.

“They really didn’t leave anything…don’t they know about sustainable development…?” Meng Qi cursed the savages under his breath and stepped on the cloister, walking between the pond and the pavilion.

“This place was previously used to store precious weapons.” Jiang Hengchuan explained to Meng Qi while opening a large door to some great hall.

Suddenly, he flew backwards rapidly, as though he was weightless. An orange Eyebrows-abrest Stick was flying directly towards his chest.

“Qiu Fei!” As the name entered Meng Qi’s head, he already slashed with his long saber. The blade was so fast that it looked like lightning had flashed across the sky, disappearing just as fast.

The long saber had hit the side of the Eyebrows-abrest Stick, but it was as if the saber was cutting through thin air for the stick felt weightless.

The Eyebrows-abrest Stick swung toward Meng Qi, and at that moment, Jiang Hengchuan made a palm attack. The palm attack gained more momentum, like a violent wave, heading directly for the disciples behind Qiu Fei.

The hall shook as though there had been an earthquake. Jiang Hengchuan’s palm strength was so strong that Qiu Fei and the Life-changing Sect Disciple had no choice but to use defence.

“Stop! Aren’t you worried about the other devils?” Shouted Meng Qi.

Since Qiu Fei had popped up in North Street, he would definitely know about what happened to Old Zhong.

Qiu Fei abruptly came to a halt, and while in a defensive stance, he replied in a deep voice, “You want to join forces?”

The two Life-changing Sect disciples were still wearing pointy hats, one in black and the other in white. They did not speak a word but their faces looked like that of dead corpses.

“The Eight-armed Flying Dragon’s strength rivals yours, not to mention he had precious weapons and the help of the Three Eagles of Cloud Ridge. Even so, he still died in the hands of that devil. Now that he has attained a Precious Weapon, he’s even stronger. How confident are you about fighting him?” Jiang Hengchuan asked seriously.

As Qiu Fei’s eyes met with the disciples of the Life-changing Sect’s, they discussed things under their breath and finally said, “We can join forces to open up the inner villa, but once we’ve killed the devil and gotten inside, it’s everyone for themselves. What do you think?”

He obviously felt it was unfair to him since they had divided the valuables inside the villa evenly.

“No problem.” Jiang Hengchuan and Meng Qi had already made that decision.

Meng Qi felt somewhat deceived seeing the disciples and Qiu Fei attack, because their sneak-attack seemed a little watered down. Based on their strength and the mystic arts of the Life-changing Sect, their moves should have been more refined. Unless they had planned all along to join forces. Their attack was more like an olive branch somehow.

And where were their Exterior Zombie and Swordsman of Ning Province? They could not possibly be scared of him, could they? Or were they planning on using them when there was more at stake?

Meng Qi used Supernatural Power of Shaking Heaven and Hitting Earth to temporarily put these doubts and suspicions aside.

Both sides tacitly failed to mention the Soul-pledging Oath incident, as if they were ready for a battle to the death as soon as they opened the inner villa.

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Once they passed through the pavilion, the path to the inner villa appeared. It was paved with grey stones and lined with dark soil on the edges.

In the silence, Jiang Hengchuan reminded them, “From the death of the Eight-armed Flying Dragon and others, we can see that that devil likes to spring sneak-attacks on others, so we should have constant vigilance.”

“Sneak-attack…” Snorted the Life-changing Sect disciple cloaked in white, as though he felt that no one could sneak up on him.

Meng Qi observed coldly from the sidelines, suspecting that the Swordsman of Ning Province was just nearby. He even thought that the Swordsman of Ning Province was following them by using the earth blending skill. Based on his Exterior-level senses, even though he was now a zombie, it would be damn near impossible for a Half-step Exterior Scenery master to sneak up on him.

Could it be that they were only cooperating with us to paralyze the devil and draw him out?

At the end of the path was a river, a wooden bridge was hovered just above the water. A smoke cloud gathered from across the river, forming a unique type of game.

Meng Qi and Jiang Hengchuan stepped on the bridge, Qiu Fei and the disciples followed closely behind.

Suddenly the bridge swayed, causing Meng Qi to lose his footing. Then a hand shrouded in black smoke popped out of the river and grabbed the ankle of the white cloaked disciple!

When one was only at the enlighten acupores level, no matter how much strength he had, it would be difficult for him to go against someone of the Half-step Exterior Scenery, especially if he was subject to a sneak-attack and genuine Qi had penetrated his body. His life would be in jeopardy.

“Plunk!” the white cloaked disciple was dragged into the water. The black cloaked disciple then did a back kick, but only managed to kick thin air.

He then attacked the water with his hands and Qiu Fei stabbed with his stick. The water splattered and turned green.

Then the water became still as if nothing had happened.

Meng Qi stepped off the bridge, looked backwards and asked, “Was that the devil?”

“Indeed.” Jiang Hengchuan looked sullen, clenching both fists.

Qiu Fei and the black cloaked disciple quickly stepped off the bridge too. Their faces looked grim. And to think that Jiang Hengchuan had just warned them about being sneak-attacked!

Since when had Old Zhong’s strength become so frighteningly strong? Could it be that his heterodox training was that effective?

The four of them fell silent, and the tension in the air was apparent.

Moments later, Jiang Hengchuan walked to the front of the cloud-gate and tried his Dongyang fragmented print, but nothing happened. He then walked towards Qiu Fei with dry laugh, “It looks like the gate requires all three fragmented pieces to open.”

“It seems the devil wants everything for himself the way he is acting.” Qiu Fei said in a low voice.

Meng Qi did not comment. He just observed with his blade in his hand. Jiang then added, “Indeed, but if he tries to ambush us again, we’ll teach him a lesson on the importance of cooperation.”

“He won’t have the chance to sneak attack us again,” said the black cloaked disciple.

Jiang Hengchuan nodded, “We don’t have to worry about danger anymore because no one can enter the villa without the Dongyang fragmented print. Now, we’ll just have to deal with the devil.”

Suddenly a shrieking sound came from a distance. The scream was bone-chilling. With a closer look, they realized that it was the white cloaked disciple.

The black cloaked disciple turned his head upon hearing the shriek. Qiu Fei’s eyes followed. They felt terrible about the fact they were not able to help a teammate.

Just at that moment, Jiang Hengchuan struck with his right hand, whose power was concentrated on just one finger, and stabbed the back of the black cloaked disciple.

The attack had sucked all the life out of the black-cloaked disciple, he shockingly looked at Jiang Hengchuan and thought, “We haven’t even gotten rid of the devil yet, how could he have turned on me?”

Before Qiu Fei could attack, Jiang Hengchuan retreated a few steps and smiled, “Brother Qiu, now we can really cooperate. I was never comfortable with those two exterior level zombies.”

“With the two of you, we at least have a 50 percent chance of defeating the devil, so we don’t need them.”

All of a sudden, the strength of the two sides had suddenly flipped.

Qiu Fei looked at the black cloaked disciple laying on the ground and said, “You knew?”

He viewed their cooperation as superficial, but The Astounding should not have known that…The restraint he showed was amazing. However, should Killing Blade Su Meng not be the last trump card?

After the battle at the Jinshui River, as long as Qiu Fei was not blind, he should recognize that Su Ziyuan was in fact Killing Blade Su Meng.

Meng Qi remained silent, as though he was a real bystander.

“Since the Life-changing Sect sent their core disciples, it’s only natural that there’d be Exterior-level zombies. Too bad they were lacking in Jianghu experience,” said Jiang Hengchuan while wearing a smile, looking smug.