Taotie Mark

Divine Fist Gate's stronghold.

Qiu Feipeng could neither sit nor lie still. He paced back and forth through the room, glancing now and then toward the Iron Palm Gang's direction. At last, unable to hold back any longer, he went to Feng Jiu and asked, "Mr. Jiu, nothing will happen to Manager He and the others, will it?"

"What could happen?" The table before Feng Jiu was laden with delicacies from land and sea, and his mouth glistened with grease as he ate. "In Luyang City, no one believes Feng Qi has the ability to uphold justice anymore. If his Keyword truly is upholding, his attributes would have long since fallen to rock bottom. Instead of coming to Luyang City to look for the murderer, he gathered the people from the Three Gates and Five Sects under the banner of Peacekeeping Joint Defense. He's nothing more than a sick man grasping at any medicine he can find."

"A sick man grasping at any medicine?" Qiu Feipeng raised a brow.

Han Zuo was resting with his eyes closed nearby. At those words, he shot Feng Jiu a glance. Both he and Feng Qi were Heavenly Demons, yet Feng Jiu lacked Feng Qi's calm composure. Deep in his heart, there was always a faint, lingering unease.

"Feng Qi used a set of hollow, grandiose theories to fool the Feng Family until they couldn't tell north from south. They think he'll unite the martial world any day now, so they support him with everything they have. This time, he called the managers of the Three Gates and Five Sects over there—he's probably planning to use the same old trick again! But Manager He already knows everything he's done in the past. He definitely won't fall for it." Feng Jiu gave a derisive snort and tossed away the chicken bone he had picked clean.

With a thud.

The chicken bone sank deep into the wooden doorframe. He nodded in satisfaction.

"But you said it yourself—what if his attribute isn't upholding?" Qiu Feipeng asked.

"Feng Qi only took the Iron Palm Gang by ambushing Gang Leader Qiu. And when he orders you around, he uses such low, filthy tactics as threatening the old gang leader. Right now, he has no more than three to five hundred people who aren't even fully under his control. We can ruin everything he's done with a casual move. If he dares provoke the Three Gates and Five Sects all at once, then he must not want to keep living in this world."

Feng Jiu spoke with the air of an old sage. "Young Master Qiu, Heavenly Demons only need their words and deeds to match their attributes—they aren't idiots. Feng Qi's greatest flaw is his arrogance. He always thinks he can control everything. If not for that arrogance, would the Feng Family have fallen to its present state? If Young Master Qiu truly can't rest easy, we can always move somewhere else and hide in advance..."

"What are you saying, Mr. Jiu? When Manager He returns and finds that we've left, what will he think of us?" Qiu Feipeng said awkwardly.

"I told you long ago that we should have found some random place in Luyang City to hide. We'd have been far more flexible—leave whenever we wanted, stay whenever we wanted, and sabotage Feng Qi whenever and wherever we pleased. But you insisted on finding allies. Now, for the sake of face, you can't even leave..." Feng Jiu sneered. Suddenly, his expression changed. He bolted for the door. "Not good. Someone's coming. Run!"

"Who?" Qiu Feipeng froze. Outside, a chaotic din had already erupted—the clash of weapons and shouted cries.

"Ding Wanjie, have you gone mad? You actually dare attack the Divine Fist Gate?"

"Kill them! Don't let a single villain escape!"

"Ninth Brother, old friends meeting again, and you won't even say hello? Where are you rushing off to?"

"My precious little darlings, why have you raised your butcher's blades against me? Be good. Put down your weapons, and let big brother taste your blood..."

"Feng Qi!" Hearing Dug's terrifying voice, Han Zuo sprang to his feet. "Feng Jiu, that bastard! I knew he couldn't be trusted. Fourth Young Master, Hall Master Yan, we need to leave!"

"How is that possible? Manager He couldn't have betrayed us!" Qiu Feipeng said.

"There are Beggar Gang members outside. Manager He is probably already dead." Han Zuo urged, "Go, Fourth Young Master, Old Yan. We need to find a way to fight our way out. Third Miss went to invite Gate Master Tong. As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood."

"Dead? But Manager He is from the Divine Fist Gate..." Qiu Feipeng's face was full of shock.

"Fourth Young Master, don't worry about that now. If we don't leave, it'll be too late." Han Zuo grabbed Qiu Feipeng by the arm and pulled him toward the door.

But the moment they stepped outside, their expressions turned even uglier.

The courtyard was an utterly one-sided slaughter.

The Divine Fist Gate's Luyang City stronghold had around twenty people. Apart from He Yuan'an and the deputy manager, the rest were ordinary Divine Fist Gate disciples. Only a few were comparable in skill to the Iron Palm Gang's incense masters.

Adding in the guards from the Iron Palm Gang's various halls whom they had brought along, as well as several incense masters, they numbered only a little over fifty.

Their opponents, however, were Gao Yong, Ding Wanjie, Nie Nong, and the other managers of the Three Gates and Five Sects.

Under normal circumstances, even if fifty-odd people faced several experts, they would still have had the strength to fight.

But now, Wang San stood outside the crowd, disrupting the Divine Fist Gate members with his bizarre, affected voice.

Surrounded and attacked by those experts, the fifty-odd people panicked one after another, thinking only of escape. Before those masters, they could not even last two or three moves before being cut down.

"Kill Wang San first." Han Zuo accurately assessed the situation and shouted, "If we don't kill Wang San, none of us can get away."

"Han Zuo, I liked you so much. First you betrayed me, and now you want to kill me. What did I do wrong?" Wang San gave a cold laugh, looking at Han Zuo as his unhurried voice rang out.

Overwhelming terror instantly seized Han Zuo's heart. He did not even dare look at Wang San anymore. Having experienced it firsthand, he finally understood why everyone fell into chaos whenever Wang San spoke. Suppressing the fear in his heart, he trembled and said, "Fourth Young Master, kill Wang San..."

"You are all my lovers. None of you can escape." Wang San let out a sinister cackle, sweeping everyone into his words.

"No."

Qiu Feipeng staggered backward in terror.

Xia Mingliang of the Tianshan Gate swept them a glance, then unleashed a sword move that enveloped all of them.

He had no choice but to act. From beginning to end, Feng Qi had remained behind them, playing the role of a supervising officer.

Everyone knew that even after signing the Peacekeeping Joint Defense contract, Feng Qi had never trusted them. Surrounding and exterminating the Divine Fist Gate was their pledge of loyalty. Whoever refused to act would be sent by Feng Qi's dagger to meet He Yuan'an.

Why had he pulled it off again?

You're the Three Gates and Five Sects—how could you be as stupid as the Feng Family?

What benefits did he give you? Why? Why did everything he do go as smoothly as a fair wind? And that yandere—why did she help him so wholeheartedly? What kind of advanced skill had he developed? An intelligence-reducing aura? Watching Feng Qi stand there brimming with high spirits, Feng Jiu's jealous heart bled. After comparing the strength of both sides, he took a deep breath and piled a smile onto his face. "Seventh Brother, we're old acquaintances who know each other inside and out. Do I still have a chance to join you?"

If you hadn't stabbed me in the back, you would have had a chance...

Dug looked at Feng Jiu, shook his head, and said, "Ninth Brother, if you hadn't destroyed the justice I worked so hard to uphold yesterday, you would still have had a chance."

Feng Jiu abruptly fell silent. He looked at Dug desolately and said, "Seventh Brother, I'm a student of the Commoner Academy. I know you won't trust me again. But I don't want to be eliminated so soon. Give me one more month. Let me enjoy this world's food for a little longer."

"Seventh Brother, don't believe him." Feng Zhong lowered his voice. "There are no weaklings in the Simulation Arena..."

Hearing Feng Zhong's words, Feng Jiu let out a silent sigh, gave a wicked grin, and suddenly said, "You forced my hand. Once I devour the three of you, I'll soar straight to immortality. Come forth, Taotie Mark."

The instant he spoke, Dug's alarm bells rang. The Flying Dagger in his hand had already flown out with a whoosh, burying itself in Feng Jiu's chest.

Yet Feng Jiu did not die. Jet-black patterns suddenly surfaced across his face. Once they appeared, they seemed to come alive, instantly spreading to cover his entire body.

Immediately afterward, his body swelled at high speed, bursting apart his clothes and transforming into a monster over two meters tall, with a sheep's face and a human body, eyes beneath its armpits, tiger fangs, and human claws. It looked at Dug, threw back its head in a roar, then leaped into the air and pounced at Wang San.

Dug's Keyword was Maintenance; he did not know Feng Zhong's Keyword.

But from Feng Yunjie, he knew that Wang San's Yandere inflicted an inexplicable terror on people. Therefore, he had to kill Wang San before he could speak. Otherwise, he would not have the slightest chance.