A Confession and a Mystery

Viper Elder!

The bandits of Clearwind Stronghold, the murderers of Li Shengnan's father, Li Kui!

That day, he and Bloodhand led a group to intercept the caravan. Qin Ming fought with all his might to kill Bloodhand and then escaped.

Since then, Qin Ming has never seen the Viper Elder again, and he did not appear on the day of the Twin Martial Arts Academies Tournament Viper Elder Arts Competition.

Qin Ming glanced around and quickly noticed something amiss: these people seemed to be bandits from Clearwind Stronghold!

But he clearly remembered that there were no bandits from Clearwind Stronghold in the city before. Could they have entered in the last couple of days?

The outside was shrouded in Ghost Fog, making it impossible to go in or out. How did these bandits get in?

Or were these bandits hiding in the city all along?

Suppressing his doubts, Qin Ming watched as the bandits laughed wildly and wreaked havoc, humiliating the eldest daughter and her husband. With a flash of light, Qin Ming's Butcher's Knife flashed, and he swiftly charged into the courtyard like a white meteor.

The laughter in the courtyard stopped abruptly the next moment, and various shrill screams suddenly rang out. The remaining bandits scrambled to escape, but no matter how fast they were, they couldn't outrun the knife in Qin Ming's hand.

The doctor rushed in in a panic, only to find the courtyard littered with heads and corpses. In a corner, his wife and daughter, barely clothed, were huddled together, trembling.

"My husband!"

The three of them hugged each other and wept bitterly.

On the other side, Qin Ming killed all the bandits, leaving only the Viper Elder.

"Kid, it's you!"

The Viper Elder looked at the somewhat familiar young man before him and finally recognized Qin Ming, his heart filled with shock and disbelief.

The last time Qin Ming was robbed, he was just a lowly bodyguard with the Mid-Stage Skin-Refining Realm level, completely unremarkable. He only managed to escape from Qin Ming's clutches by sheer luck.

How long has it been? His opponent's strength has already grown to the point where killing him is as easy as slaughtering a dog!

What kind of monstrous genius is this?

"Old man, long time no see."

Qin Ming grinned, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. The next moment, he raised his hand and plunged a knife deep into the Viper Elder's calf.

"Ah!"

The Viper Elder screamed, "Kill him!"

A foul stench swept over me from behind.

A giant snake, several meters long, swung its tail and swept towards Qin Ming, instantly coiling around him tightly.

"Very good!"

Seeing Qin Ming caught in the giant snake's coils, the Viper Elder was overjoyed and immediately gave the order, "Strangle him!"

The giant serpent is extremely powerful. Not to mention those at the Flesh Refining Realm, even those at the Bone Refining Realm would have their bones crushed and turn into minced meat and die instantly if caught in its coils.

The giant snake was extremely intelligent and, upon hearing this, immediately exerted its strength, concentrating all its power on Qin Ming, intending to crush him into mincemeat.

But as it unleashed its full power, Qin Ming remained completely still, without even a change in expression. The giant snake felt as if it had trapped an iron man; Qin Ming's hard flesh was causing it unbearable pain, and it couldn't help but let out a painful roar.

The next moment, as Qin Ming gradually exerted his strength, he actually used his arms to forcefully spread the snake's body open!

"How is this possible?!"

The Viper Elder cried out in shock, hardly believing his eyes.

How could human strength be so great? What kind of monster is this?

"Bang!"

Qin Ming unleashed his full Qi and Blood, tearing the giant snake into several pieces. The shattered, massive snake head slammed heavily in front of the Viper Elder.

My darling!

The Viper Elder's eyes were bloodshot.

This giant snake was a pet he had painstakingly raised, and now it had died right under his nose.

With a flick of his wrist, Qin Ming Butcher's Knife flashing through the air before it precisely pierced the Viper Elder's other leg, pinning him to the ground, rendering him immobile.

"Answer me, did you enter the city in the last couple of days, or have the bandits from Clearwind Stronghold been hiding in the city all along?"

Qin Ming's voice was icy.

The Viper Elder clutched his injured thigh, his face contorted in pain, but he laughed wildly, "Want to know? I'm not telling you!"

Qin Ming smiled.

"Don't you know what I used to do? I was a pig butcher!"

The butcher's specialty is butchering a whole pig clean! Coincidentally, I not only know how to butcher pigs, I'm adept at it. Don't worry, in a moment I'll let you watch your own flesh being sliced off inch by inch!

The Viper Elder shuddered in fright, but remained defiant. "I don't believe it!"

Qin Ming didn't waste any words with him, twirling the Butcher's Knife in his hand, creating a flourish.

The next moment, he suddenly plunged down, the Butcher's Knife instantly piercing the Viper Elder's skin, activating the Cook Ding Dissects the Ox's Skill!

"Laugh!"

With a flurry of blades, in the blink of an eye, the skin on Viper Elder's two arms was completely peeled off. Seeing this, Viper Elder was almost scared to death, and the excruciating pain nearly overwhelmed him.

That wasn't all. True to his word, Qin Ming sliced off pieces of flesh from the Viper Elder's body, each slice as thin as a cicada's wing, perfectly sized.

In just a few breaths, the blade had been shaved so deeply that even the bone fragments were faintly visible. The Viper Elder was in so much pain that he fainted. Qin Ming raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face, forcibly waking him up.

"Don't worry, you won't die. I told you, you'll watch yourself being sculpted into a skeleton."

Qin Ming spoke calmly, as if he were talking about a trivial matter. His Butcher's Knife continued to strike, slicing Viper Elder's arms until only bones and fascia remained connecting them.

The Viper Elder fainted three times in a row, only to be slapped awake by Qin Ming. After several such incidents, the Viper Elder finally gave in and told Qin Ming everything he knew, begging him to give him a quick death and stop torturing him.

Upon learning the truth, Qin Ming's face turned extremely grim.

He didn't kill the Viper Elder; instead, he grabbed the old man's head with one hand and lifted him up.

Not far away, the doctor and his family of three were embracing each other tightly, their pale, stiff faces filled with despair and resentment.

The couple, having suffered such humiliation, were too ashamed to live and chose to commit suicide. The doctor followed them, and the entire family of three perished.

Qin Ming stepped forward and gently closed the doctor's wide-open, angry eyes.

The hand swept across the room, but the doctor's eyes remained open.

"I will slaughter all these bandits to avenge you and your wife and children."

Qin Ming said in a low voice.

Seemingly upon hearing Qin Ming's promise, the doctor finally closed his eyes.

Qin Ming slowly stood up, his five fingers like iron hoops, piercing into the skull of the Viper Elder. The Viper Elder let out a wail but was powerless. His two arms had turned into bare white bones and were forcibly broken by Qin Ming dragged the mangled body away.

Perhaps intimidated by the killing intent emanating from Qin Ming, no Ghost Entity dared to approach along the way.

Qin Ming dragged the barely breathing Viper Elder back to his residence.

Seeing Qin Ming return, Xiong San breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Qin Ming is strong, the Ghost Entity outside are even more terrifying. He might encounter Ghost Entity as terrifying as that Silver-Haired Evil Ghost, in which case the odds would be against him.

"Senior sister, look who caught me!"

Qin Ming carried the Viper Elder in his hand. After the ordeal along the way, the Viper Elder was on his last breath.

"It's you!!"

When Li Shengnan saw the Viper Elder, her eyes instantly turned red. Her face flushed, and she clenched her fists so tightly that she didn't even notice her nails digging into her palms, because her mind was now consumed by hatred.

The Viper Elder, the murderer of her father!

When the Twin Martial Arts Academies Tournament, the Viper Elder did not come, and Li Shengnan had not found an opportunity to take revenge. Later, she inquired about him, but still had no information. Now that the Viper Elder has appeared in front of her, Li Shengnan's only thought is to kill him and avenge her father!

Qin Ming broke the Viper Elder's limbs and casually tossed them on the ground for Li Shengnan to handle. He then went outside the courtyard and informed Xiong San of the information he had just received.

"What?! Such a thing actually happened?!"

Xiong San was shocked. Even he couldn't believe that the bandits of Clearwind Stronghold were so ruthless as to agree to cooperate with the Ghost Entity!

The bandits of Clearwind Stronghold, who belonged to the same group as the Viper Elder, were recently let in by the Ghost Entity. Their goal was to kill everyone and steal all the treasures.

"You mean the Ghost Entity gave them orders to kill as many people as possible in the city?"

Xiong San seemed to realize something, and his body suddenly trembled.

"I remember now, each time those villages and towns were destroyed, there seemed to be signs that they had been completely slaughtered."

Hearing Xiong San say this, Qin Ming thought of Qingshan Town from before.

Twin Martial Arts Academies Tournament, Clearwind Stronghold attacked. If he hadn't returned in time, the entire Qingshan Town would have been slaughtered. Afterwards, Qingshan Town was shrouded in Ghost Fog, and the corpses turned into Dry Corpse and came back to life. The Ninth Boss Clearwind Stronghold became a half-human, half-ghost Ghost Entity.

Looking at Qingyang City now, it seems to be following the same path as Qingshan Town.

First, send the bandits from Clearwind Stronghold to kill people. Once they've killed enough, the Ghost Fog will envelop them, wiping out all living things.

"So you're saying that the Ghost Fog deliberately shrouded the area around Qingyang City, preventing it from spreading in, just to wait for the bandits of Clearwind Stronghold to start their massacre?"

Xiong San stroked his chin, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"In other words, one of the purposes of these Ghost Entity cooperating with Clearwind Stronghold is to get them to kill! And what is their purpose?"

A sudden inspiration flashed in Qin Ming's mind.

"Wraiths! The Ghost Fog is creating Wraiths!"

Qin Ming thought of the Red-Clad Female Ghost.

The first time he encountered them, he killed all the Wraith except for the Red-Clad Female Ghost. The second time he met them, there were many more Wraith. Qin Ming hadn't thought about it in detail before, but now he realized that one of the Xiantian conditions for the formation of these Wraith seemed to be that they were people who died unjustly at the hands of the bandits of Clearwind Stronghold.

If someone is possessed by Wraith, their life force, Qi and Blood, and spirit will all be devoured by the Wraith, leaving nothing behind.

Qin Ming felt that his guess was getting closer to the truth, but he also felt that it was not that simple.

What is the true purpose behind the Ghost Fog's gradual encroachment on Qingyang County, starting from the surrounding towns?

"Ah!"

The Viper Elder's shrill screams echoed from inside the room, then abruptly ceased.

Not long after, Ye Wei dragged the corpse of the Viper Elder out.

"I'll take care of it."

Ye Wei dragged the corpse to the backyard and threw it over the wall.

This is how he disposed of the bodies of the Black Tiger Gang and the Wild Wolf Gang.

A short while later, heavy breathing and the sound of bones being chewed could be heard from outside the wall.

Ye Wei dared not linger and quickly tried to leave.

But just as he turned around, he suddenly felt a cold wind blowing from behind.

In an instant, Ye Wei felt as if the blood in his body had frozen solid.

"There are... there are Ghost Entity..."

Ye Wei's heart skipped a beat. He turned his head slowly and uncontrollably. When he saw what was in front of him, Ye Wei vision went black and he almost fainted from fright.