Secrets

Ling Yun flashed and vanished from where he stood.

When he reappeared, there was already a constantly writhing figure in his hand—the strange youth who had been following Situ Ying.

After witnessing Situ Ying's defeat and death, the fellow had been terrified and tried to sneak away.

Unfortunately, Ling Yun had long since kept part of his attention on him.

He had not even run far before being caught and dragged back.

Ling Yun gripped his neck and held him aloft, watching him struggle desperately.

Only when his eyes rolled back and his face turned blue-black did Ling Yun loosen his grip.

"Cough, cough... urgh..." The youth crashed to the ground, coughing violently and dry-heaving in agony, snot and tears spilling everywhere.

"Cough, cough... Please... please... don't kill me..." After catching his breath for a moment, the youth rolled over, dropped to his knees, and kowtowed like a pounding pestle.

Even when his head was split open and bleeding, he did not dare pause in the slightest.

He knew that his life now rested entirely on a single thought from the man before him.

Ling Yun stood to the side with a cold gaze, showing not the slightest pity.

After all, if he had lost this time, his end would probably have been even worse!

The only reason Ling Yun had not killed him immediately was because he wanted to learn a few things from him.

After a moment of silence, Ling Yun judged that the heat was about right and said blandly, "I ask, you answer. If your answers satisfy me, you live."

The youth shuddered all over. Without the slightest hesitation, he heavily knocked his head against the ground twice more.

"Thank you for sparing my life, sir! Thank you for sparing my life! This lowly one will tell you everything he knows!"

Ling Yun glanced around at the wreckage, frowned slightly, then turned and walked toward the other side.

"Follow."

As he passed a pile of rubble, he casually lifted his foot and kicked a raised mound of dirt.

"Ow! Which bastard—"

Zhang Mu sprang out of the dirt mound, clutching his backside and scanning around. When he saw Ling Yun's half-smiling gaze, he swallowed the rest of his words whole.

This kid was quite lucky. After Ling Yun broke the illusion, he had also managed to snatch his life back.

During the battle that followed, he had simply buried himself in a pit, having thoroughly grasped the essence of Old Six.

Ling Yun shot him a glance, his tone leaving no room for refusal. "You too. Come with me."

Watching Ling Yun's departing back, Zhang Mu felt like crying without tears. Yet he did not dare entertain even the slightest thought of taking the chance to slip away.

Although he had not witnessed the earlier battle with his own eyes, merely feeling its aftershocks was enough to crush any thought of resistance in him.

He could only lower his head dejectedly and follow behind.

Inside a clean room.

Ling Yun lifted his teacup and took a light sip. Looking at the respectful youth before him, he said calmly:

"What is your name?"

The youth did not dare hesitate in the slightest. "Sir, my name is Deng Lun. I am the eldest son of the Deng Family."

The eldest son of the Deng Family? Ling Yun paused slightly and looked at him in surprise. He had not expected the fellow to have such an identity.

Only then did Ling Yun remember—where had the Deng Family members gone?

The commotion when he fought Situ Ying earlier had been so great that even a deaf man should have noticed it.

Yet from beginning to end, the only person he had seen was the fellow before him, who claimed to be the Deng Family's eldest son.

They were clearly no longer inside the illusion, so where had the Deng Family members gone?

Ling Yun narrowed his eyes at Deng Lun, but did not ask. Instead, he changed the subject.

"Tell me, what is your relationship with that old fellow? And how much do you know about him?"

At this, Deng Lun's face instantly turned pale. With a thud, he dropped to his knees again and said in a trembling voice:

"He... he is... is... my master. His name is Situ Ying, and he is a Demon Queller. Half a month ago, he came to the Deng Family and said he wanted to take me as his disciple. I truly don't know anything else."

"Sir, he was behind all of this! I don't know anything!"

Seeing the fellow start kowtowing incessantly again, Ling Yun neither confirmed nor denied it, merely waving a hand to stop him.

Then, with a "kind" expression, he said, "You don't need to be so afraid. I'm not some demon. I won't casually kill people."

Zhang Mu secretly rolled his eyes at that, grumbling inwardly, Yes, yes, you're not a demon. You're far more terrifying than a demon!

Yet Ling Yun seemed to have heard his thoughts. He turned and cast him an indifferent glance.

That single glance nearly made Zhang Mu's heart stop.

Naturally, Ling Yun had no mind-reading ability, so he had no idea that Zhang Mu was already beginning to doubt his life. He merely smiled at the grateful-looking Deng Lun and said in a voice only Deng Lun could hear:

"Now for the final question. Do you know the Blood Fusion Art?"

Outside the Deng Family gates.

"Say, Junior Brother Ling... Brother Ling, are you really going to let that kid go just like this?"

"I can tell from his broad face and long nose that he's no good!"

Zhang Mu looked at Deng Lun, who stood respectfully at the gate, still finding it rather unbelievable.

Had the world changed? Since when did demons become soft-hearted?

Ling Yun ignored him and simply walked onward. Though Zhang Mu did not understand, he could only follow helplessly. Before long, the two vanished into the darkness.

After watching them leave, Deng Lun slowly raised his head. There was no trace of respect left on his face.

As he watched Ling Yun depart, a deep sneer flashed through his eyes.

So what if he was strong? Wasn't he still being played around in the palm of Deng Lun's hand?

He then shut the gates tightly and turned back toward the Ancestral Hall.

Ignoring the ruin-like scene around him, he walked straight toward the coffin in the center and felt around several concealed spots on its surface.

Soon, accompanied by a series of clicking mechanisms, the entire coffin slowly sank down, revealing a pitch-black hole in the ground.

No one would have imagined that such a passage was hidden beneath the coffin.

Deng Lun did not hesitate. He flipped over and jumped straight down.

Before him was a long corridor. The air was somewhat damp, and a strange smell seemed to hang within it—somewhat like... the rusty scent of blood after it had coagulated!

Hiss!

Deng Lun skillfully lit a torch and strode quickly into the depths.

The farther in he went, the larger the corridor became, while the strange smell in the air grew ever stronger.

Yet Deng Lun showed no reaction at all. His steps grew faster and faster, and an unusual light flickered in his eyes.

Before long, he reached the very end of the passage.

The space here had become extremely vast, as large as half a football field!

Who knew how much effort had been spent to create such a mysterious place?

In the open space shrouded in darkness, dense rows of black shadows could vaguely be seen. The intense rusty scent in the air emanated from those shadows.

Soon, after Deng Lun lit an enormous brazier, everything in this place was revealed before his eyes.

Under the firelight, those so-called black shadows were shockingly corpses with blue-black faces!

All the corpses stood upright, arranged in neat layers. At a glance, there were at least several hundred of them.

The entire scene was like stepping into some evil sacrificial site.

Judging from their clothing, they were the missing Deng Family servants and guards. In one corner, Steward Deng could even be seen...

No wonder not a single person could be found in the entire Deng Family. It seemed they were all here.

Beyond the reach of the firelight, flesh tubes as thick as thumbs hung down from the ceiling of the cave. They were deeply inserted into the corpses, pulsing as they sucked something out.