Luo Yingbai might not act rashly, but when he did strike, he was truly ruthless. He had completely eroded the trust they had cultivated among the villagers. By exposing their shortcomings so brazenly, Peng Xuan and the entire Qingmen sect would be disgraced!
Qi Kun first couldn’t be bothered to speak with Luo Yingbai and sent several disciples to pacify the angry villagers, asking them to go home and promising a reasonable explanation later – though even they didn’t know how to provide such an explanation.
Those who had come to seek medical treatment learned of this shocking incident and followed to the temple’s exterior, unwilling to let the matter rest, creating a commotion.
The Qingmen disciples sent to calm them down finally persuaded everyone to leave reluctantly, but Qi Kun knew this matter was far from over – after all, they had been involved in using living people to cultivate poison.
Luo Zhao, as the director of the special investigation bureau, had the responsibility to constrain the actions of practitioners and prevent them from harming ordinary people.
Now that Qingmen’s collaboration with Peng Xuan was exposed, Luo Yingbai had no direct power to intervene, but reporting to his father would be simplicity itself.
Qi Kun was hesitant, not daring to kill Luo Yingbai but also unwilling to simply hand over Peng Xuan and let him leave.
As he was weighing his options, his clothes were tugged. Turning around, he found Peng Xuan standing behind him.
He seemed to have already discerned Qi Kun’s thoughts and whispered, “Sect Master Qi, don’t worry. I’m the one dragging you down, and I’m truly sorry. How about this – you help me escape, and then blame everything on me. This way, I survive, and Qingmen preserves its reputation. What do you think?”
Qi Kun thought this person’s reactions were remarkably quick. Even in this situation, he showed no panic, instead generating one plan after another. No wonder he had successfully schemed against his senior martial brothers and their wives.
Yet for some reason, Qi Kun found it strange – Peng Xuan had been with Qingmen for nearly a year, but Qi Kun could hardly detect any hostility towards Luo Yingbai. On the contrary, when Peng Xuan occasionally mentioned Luo Yingbai, his attitude seemed both reverent and nostalgic.
So what exactly was going on between them? Could Peng Xuan be a Changliu sect spy?
This thought flashed briefly in Qi Kun’s mind, not because he trusted Peng Xuan, but because he was self-aware – given the power difference between Qingmen and Changliu sect, a spy would be unnecessary.
In a brief moment, his thoughts shifted, and he quickly responded, “Fine, I’ll help you escape.”
Peng Xuan gave Luo Yingbai a deep look and said, “Okay.”
Wei Shou ran to his front, gripping a gun with both hands and pointing it at him, solemnly saying: “I don’t want to shoot you, but if you insist on resisting, I’ll have no choice.”
Peng Xuan kicked towards his wrist with a flying kick, coldly laughing: “With words like that, do you think I’ll survive just by not running?”
Wei Shou deflected his hand, the bullet missing, and he simply put away his gun, engaging Peng Xuan in a direct physical confrontation.
Peng Xuan said: “It’s been a while, you’re much more ruthless now than before.”
Wei Shou seized the opportunity while Peng Xuan was distracted, reaching back to grab and lock onto his pulse point, almost immobilizing him. However, a powerful evil energy suddenly erupted from Peng Xuan’s body, reversing Wei Shou’s force and throwing him back several steps.
Wei Shou almost spat out blood, looking shocked: “Where did you learn such a technique?”
Peng Xuan coldly laughed without speaking. Seeing Qingmen still blocking Luo Yingbai, he immediately pressed his hand against the nearby wall, preparing to escape by climbing over.
Unexpectedly, Wei Shou pounced and grabbed his legs, forcefully pulling Peng Xuan down from the wall, both falling heavily.
Peng Xuan immediately punched Wei Shou: “What are you doing!”
Wei Shou gripped him tightly, gritting his teeth: “I really don’t understand. Why? The master and his wife were so good to you. Our sect never had power struggles! Why harm them? Why abandon a reputable sect to learn such life-shortening dark arts!”
“Senior brother Peng… Peng Xuan, I truly don’t understand!”
Peng Xuan kicked him away, his emotions finally losing control, roaring: “If someone dies, what use are those words! I don’t want to die! What’s the point of coming to this world if not to avoid death? Is it wrong to not want to die?”
Wei Shou was stunned: “Who said you had to die?”
Peng Xuan realized his outburst, bit his lip hard, and coldly said: “It’s none of your business!”
Although Luo Yingbai’s performance at this time was already shocking enough for the Blue Gate people, he has never been known for his strength, so fighting like this would put him at a disadvantage.
At this moment, if Luo Yingbai were to retract the red thread like before, he could completely block these four swords, but seeing Wei Shou injured and Peng Xuan about to leave, he could not afford to wait any longer.
As the sword edge approached, Luo Yingbai simply did not dodge or evade. With a light rebuke of “go”, thousands of red threads, both sharp and entangling, broke through the formation and struck towards Peng Xuan.
Peng Xuan was forced to stop, looking at Luo Yingbai with a complex expression. He pulled out a dagger and met the attack.
With this move, the disciples in the formation simultaneously pressured Luo Yingbai. Luo Yingbai’s wrist trembled, and the curved knife almost fell to the ground.
In the critical moment, Luo Yingbai ran his fingers along the blade’s edge. The knife’s light suddenly burst forth, and Qi Kun immediately felt an enormous resistance, wanting to withdraw his attack. Luo Yingbai seized the opportunity to sweep his knife horizontally, causing the two swords coming at him to break instantly, while the other two were grabbed bare-handed.
Blood trickled down the sword’s edge, and this ruthlessness involuntarily chilled those around him.
Luo Yingbai suddenly exerted force, and the two swords snapped. Then he swiftly turned, and with a light sound, a disciple guarding the formation let out a miserable cry, blood seeping from his chest as he fell to the ground, breaking the formation!
Even at this point, he was mindful of not harming the innocent. When the sword blade came down, he used the blunt side without an edge, so the disciple suffered only a flesh wound. But fighting to this extent, both sides had torn away all pretense, and it was clear this matter could not be resolved peacefully.
Seeing that Luo Yingbai had actually broken the grand formation with brute force, Qi Kun was both furious and horrified. He pointed his sword at the peripheral disciples and ordered, “Reinforce!”
But just as his command left his mouth, the knife in his hand suddenly emitted a loud buzzing sound. Then a clear light flashed, breaking through the air and directly slashing at Peng Xuan, who was still entangled with the red threads.
Before the edge even reached, Peng Xuan felt a bone-chilling coldness like autumn waters spreading. He immediately realized who had arrived, his face changing. He tried to resist with all his might, but after blocking with his dagger, the weapon was cleanly sliced in two. Peng Xuan spat out a mouthful of blood, staggering back several steps, and was directly pinned to a tree behind him by the long sword through his shoulder.
The red threads immediately seized the opportunity, tightly binding Peng Xuan.
However, the focus of the scene had already shifted. At the same moment the long sword appeared, a figure also jumped down from the tree. Midair, he turned and kicked, landing a direct blow to Qi Kun’s chin that sent him flying backward, his knife falling to the ground.
