The Truth

"Chief Gao, truly extraordinary—you guessed everything right. But unfortunately, there's no reward."

Han Zheng clapped his hands in admiration. "If things had gone normally, Cao Bin and Jiang Tai would never have been a match for you. But the pity is, there's no 'if' in this world."

As his words fell, Han Zheng stamped his foot, like a dragon-elephant striking the earth, a dull thud echoing out.

He formed a fist seal, Vajra Demon Subduing, and smashed it down from above!

The Vajra Demon Subduing Seal's momentum was vast and overbearing—simple, direct, crushing with sheer force.

Gao Kaiyuan had erupted with a wave of blood qi earlier, and now the poison inside him was rebounding even more severely.

Han Zheng pressed him with momentum, leaving Gao Kaiyuan no choice but to tough it out.

Every time the Vajra Demon Subduing Seal came down, Han Zheng was knocked back, but a trickle of black blood seeped from Gao Kaiyuan's mouth.

If this kept up, Han Zheng would eventually wear him to death!

A flash of resolve lit Gao Kaiyuan's eyes—one last gamble!

He jabbed his fingers fiercely into his own meridians, using powerful inner force to seal off a portion of his meridians and acupoints, completely trapping the poison within those channels.

A Xiantian Mortal-Transcending late-stage martial artist had immense control over their own body, precise enough to reach every shred of flesh and blood.

This way, though Gao Kaiyuan couldn't use the power of those sealed meridians and acupoints, he could fight free of the poison's influence.

Han Zheng was still two minor realms below him.

As long as he swiftly defeated Han Zheng, everything could still be saved!

Blood qi and inner force boiled and erupted. Gao Kaiyuan bellowed, his Shattered Jade Hand slashing horizontally and chopping vertically, a haze of black shadows filling the air as he frenziedly attacked Han Zheng.

Han Zheng formed a fist seal and held it before him, pushing the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill to its limit.

Vajra Demon Subduing, immovable as a mountain!

The inner force cultivated by the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill was immensely thick, and with it, Han Zheng's physical body was far tougher than other martial artists of the same rank.

The Shattered Jade Hand, enough to split stone and crack tablets, slammed into Han Zheng, sending his blood qi surging and his body stumbling back.

Even Han Zheng's feet were driven three inches into the ground.

But Han Zheng showed no sign of retreat. With the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill bolstering him, he hurled out the Vajra Demon Subduing Seal again.

Attack against attack—unyielding ferocity!

The shockwaves of inner force between them shattered the ground within a yard, and Han Zheng was driven a full foot into the earth, sinking down a notch.

Under the relentless exchange, a trickle of blood leaked from Han Zheng's mouth.

He had no sense of pain, but his sense of touch remained. Looking inward, he could see fine cracks forming in his internal organs.

Though Han Zheng was the one gritting it out, Gao Kaiyuan was drenched in cold sweat, as if frantic with urgency.

Then, Gao Kaiyuan suddenly let out a pained grunt, spewing a gush of black blood mixed with shreds of flesh.

Blocking was worse than channeling. By sealing the poison in his meridians, Gao Kaiyuan only invited a more violent backlash.

Now the poison had already destroyed several of his meridians. Even if Gao Kaiyuan survived today, his cultivation would be half-ruined.

Strike while the iron is hot!

Han Zheng's blood qi surged and swelled, like a white ape stretching its arms, leaping out of the pit and crashing toward Gao Kaiyuan with a fierce, howling wind!

His arm swung like an iron whip. Gao Kaiyuan blocked a few blows but stumbled back several steps.

His Shattered Jade Hand, drained of blood qi, was no longer the pitch-black it had been—now tinged with a pallid white.

Stepping in close, Han Zheng's form charged like a dragon-elephant, his arms circling as if offering a fruit, then swinging down in a full arc!

With a dull thud, Gao Kaiyuan's Shattered Jade Hand—enough to shatter stone—was twisted and broken by the blow, exposing stark white bone. He himself flew backward.

Another gush of black blood sprayed out. Gao Kaiyuan's aura had sunk to its lowest, utterly stripped of combat strength.

Han Zheng took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Gao Kaiyuan, back then, why did you have Wang Xiong find strong young men and take them out of the city?"

Gao Kaiyuan stared at Han Zheng in disbelief. "You don't know? You actually don't know?"

Han Zheng tapped his head and said flatly, "I hit my head that day and lost a day's memory. I don't remember anything that happened outside the city. But don't try to fool me, or you'll die a very miserable death—so miserable you'll regret being alive."

Gao Kaiyuan paid no heed to Han Zheng's threat. Instead, he burst into wild laughter, laughing so hard tears nearly came.

"So you really don't know anything!"

"If I'd known you knew nothing, why would I have come after you?"

"To silence someone who knows nothing, and end up like this—what a joke!"

Han Zheng frowned. "Done laughing? Are you going to talk or not?"

"If I talk, will you spare me?"

Han Zheng picked up the Wild Goose Feather Saber that had been knocked away earlier and walked toward Gao Kaiyuan.

"If you don't talk, you die now."

"I'll talk! I'll talk now!"

Gao Kaiyuan had never been a tough man. As long as he could stay alive, he didn't mind groveling and begging like a dog.

"Actually, you're taking revenge on the wrong person. I'm just the one who does the dirty work. It wasn't me who took you out of the city and nearly got you killed—it was the Song Family."

"The East City Song Family? You're still trying to frame others when death is staring you in the face?"

Gao Kaiyuan gave a bitter smile. "I've already fallen to this state, just begging to live. Would framing anyone even mean anything? It really was the Song Family who made me do it. Between Shannan Dao and Huainan Dao, there's a mountain called Blustering Wind Mountain. Inside, there's a Great Demon at the Profound Gang Realm, known as the Tearwind Great King. The Song Family made a deal with the Tearwind Great King—every month, they send two pairs of healthy, vigorous men and women as blood sacrifices. In return, the Tearwind Great King gives the Song Family a Spiritual Medicine called the Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruit. So every month, I had Wang Xiong find people and send them a hundred li outside the city. There, minor demons under the Tearwind Great King would receive them. It wasn't until recently, when I traded with the Tearwind Great King again, that I found out. Last time, after Wang Xiong delivered the people, one of those minor demons got diarrhea on the way and wasn't careful—one person actually escaped. That's why I had Feng Yuan investigate urgently. It wasn't until Feng Yuan was killed by you that I confirmed all the deaths were connected to that incident. I had to find that person. Before, I only thought that person knew about my dealings with the Demon, so I had to silence them. I never imagined the one striking back was that very escapee!"

By this point, Gao Kaiyuan was gnashing his teeth in hatred.

Who was he hating?

Wang Xiong and Ma Gui, of course!

Wang Xiong wasn't the strongest of his subordinates, but he was one of the most trusted. So Gao Kaiyuan always had him handle this task. But he never expected Wang Xiong to cut corners—he had Ma Gui trick people into coming, and the one Ma Gui tricked was a calamity like Han Zheng!

How long had it been? Han Zheng had gone from a martial arts apprentice who wasn't even at the Early Acquired Stage to the Innate Realm. Could he be an ordinary person?

And when Wang Xiong learned Han Zheng was still alive, he didn't notify Gao Kaiyuan immediately. Instead, afraid of punishment, he tried to kill Han Zheng himself to cover it up. But he ended up dead instead, leaving no one who knew Han Zheng's identity, giving him time to rise.

One slip-up leads to eternal regret.

Gao Kaiyuan had gone from the Second Gang Leader of the Three Harmonies Gang to this miserable state—all because Ma Gui happened to glance at Han Zheng in the crowd that day.

Han Zheng frowned deeply. He hadn't expected things to get even more complicated. How did the Song Family get dragged into this?

Seeing Han Zheng silent, Gao Kaiyuan thought he didn't believe him.

"It really was the Song Family who made me do it! The Tearwind Great King demands vigorous young men and women, not scrawny beggars. Anyone meeting those requirements would be well-fed, decent folk from good families. Too many missing people like that would draw attention from above. If I got caught sending people to be eaten by a Demon, my reputation would be ruined, everyone would call for my head, and it might even bring the Demon Extermination Division down on me. By then, forget the Three Harmonies Gang—I wouldn't even be able to stay in Black Stone County. Why would I bother with such a thankless, risky task? It was the Song Family who promised to help me seize control of the Three Harmonies Gang. That's why I took the huge risk of doing this heartless thing for them. And the Song Family are no good either—they've been stringing me along, never saying when they'd actually help me take the gang leader's seat. If you spare my life today, I'm willing to go with you to take revenge on the Song Family! The Song Family Ancestor, Song Xingfeng, is at the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm Perfected, a master who has cultivated the Water-Fire Immortal Robe. You broke through quickly from the Houtian Meridian Opening Realm to the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm, but the four stages of the Innate Realm—each step is harder than climbing to heaven. With my help, you'll have a chance at revenge!"

Gao Kaiyuan's tongue was slick, only trying to persuade Han Zheng to spare his life.

Han Zheng thought it over. Gao Kaiyuan's words didn't sound like lies. Even if he were making it up on the spot, he couldn't have spun it so perfectly.

So the thread of events was clear now.

The Song Family had Gao Kaiyuan find people to trade with the Tearwind Great King. Gao Kaiyuan sent Wang Xiong, and Wang Xiong found Ma Gui—layers of subcontracting. Then a minor demon under the Tearwind Great King messed up, letting him escape. But somehow, a Broken Temple appeared, crushing "this life's" Han Zheng to death, and he transmigrated. After that, Ma Gui discovered him and told Wang Xiong, but Wang Xiong, afraid of punishment, didn't notify Gao Kaiyuan right away. Instead, he tried to silence Han Zheng but got killed by him instead. Gao Kaiyuan wasn't sure at first that Wang Xiong and Ma Gui's deaths were connected to the Tearwind Great King's deal. It wasn't until Feng Yuan died and he traded with the Tearwind Great King again that he confirmed it, and then he went all out to investigate him. But by then, it was already too late—Han Zheng had started scheming against Gao Kaiyuan.

Looking at Gao Kaiyuan's hopeful gaze, Han Zheng smiled.

Behind the Monkey Face Mask, Gao Kaiyuan couldn't see Han Zheng's expression, only that his eyes seemed to show a hint of amusement.

Gao Kaiyuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next moment, the Wild Goose Feather Saber in Han Zheng's hand slashed out fiercely, beheading Gao Kaiyuan in one stroke.

"I'll take my revenge myself. You can't escape, and neither can the Song Family!"

Thanks to reader Most Brilliant Life Dream for the 45,000 Qidian coins tip (^ω^)