Cao Zhi's body stiffened.
"Senior Dugu?"
Without betraying any emotion, he retreated two steps and forced out an awkward smile. "Why are you here?"
"Why?"
Dugu Ao paused, then added, "Why must you kill Lu Shengzhi? What grudge does he have against you?"
Cao Zhi replied, "Does the hatred of a destroyed kingdom count?"
"A destroyed kingdom?"
Dugu Ao gave a soft, cold laugh. "You're helping Cao Xie kill someone, aren't you?"
Cao Zhi fell silent.
"If I remember correctly, Cao Xie should be about due to undergo his Heart Tribulation, then find a way to enter Deity Transformation, shouldn't he?
"At a juncture like this, instead of hiding away in closed-door cultivation, he ran about everywhere just to kill a junior from some barren land. Let me guess why...
"Could it be that this tiny Foundation Establishment Cultivator has become the Heart Tribulation of Law Dao Lord Myriad?"
At this point, mocking laughter rang out from beneath the Fox Mask. "Cao Xie cultivated for several centuries, only to have his steps tangled by an unsuspecting junior in the end. That truly is the funniest joke I've heard in recent decades.
"However...
"There is something you may have gotten wrong. The man just now was surnamed Lu, not Chen. If you want to kill Chen Sanshi, go to the Eastern Continent yourselves. Do not lay another hand on Lu Shengzhi. I'm protecting this little brother.
"If the Horse Groomer insists on killing him, tell him to come personally. He'll have to get past me first."
"What is Senior Dugu's relationship with Lu Shengzhi?"
Cao Zhi probed, "Is it worth Senior personally making such a statement?"
"That is none of your concern."
Dugu Ao clasped his hands behind his back. "Remember what I said. Now hurry up and get lost."
"Senior