The cold wind swept into the forest, swirling up layers of withered yellow leaves from the ground.
Fine dust and debris were blown up, forming a floating mass resembling yellow snow.
Zhang Rongfang looked at Zhao Tianming through the eyes of his mask.
"Since you did what happened that day, you should have thought that what happened today would inevitably happen."
He approached step by step. His boots crushed the withered leaves on the ground, and then the broken leaves were swept up by the wind and blown forward.
"It's you!!" Zhao Tianming roared, his voice contorted with rage, pointing at Zhang Rongfang.
"It's all your fault!! If you hadn't shown up back then, how could I have... how could I have..."
Bang!
In an instant, a figure rushed in front of him, grabbed his throat with one hand, and lifted him high up.
Puff.
Another short sword silently pierced Zhao Tianming's heart.
He twisted the hilt of the sword with force.
Blood oozed from the edges of the wound, gradually staining his clothes red.
Zhao Tianming struggled, but he was ambushed at the moment when his emotions were at their most intense. The huge difference in strength meant that he couldn't even put up the slightest resistance.
"Please, spare my family!" He raised his hand, trying to grab Zhang Rongfang.
But his arm, which he had only raised halfway, drooped down limply.
"I promise you. I won't let my family suffer." A hint of reluctance flashed in Zhang Rongfang's eyes as he spoke softly.
He witnessed too much killing and death in a single day.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Tianming finally closed his eyes slowly, tilted his head to the side, and completely lost his breath.
Zhang Rongfang released his grip, sighed, and let it fall to the ground.
Without looking at the body again, he turned and left quickly.
He had just received the news, which is why he rushed over to deal with Zhao Tianming.
Zhao Tianming thought he could escape, but unfortunately, Tanyang City was now full of people from the Golden Wing Tower.
The power of the Golden Wing Tower extends throughout the city, making it impossible for anyone to escape the surveillance of the assassins and intelligence personnel.
After traversing the forest for several breaths, Zhang Rongfang arrived at the ruins of a building that was still burning.
The ruins were filled with collapsed buildings, broken beams, burning walls, and piles of waste emitting black smoke.
And corpses scattered all over the ground.
At the very front of the ruins, a broken plaque on the ground clearly displays the words: Zhao Family Village.
Zhang Rongfang quickly found a campfire, reached out, and grabbed the handwritten sutra from his Scripture Silk.
"What are you doing?"
Suddenly a voice rang out behind him.
Zhang Rongfang felt a chill run down his spine and up to his head.
He released his grip and slowly turned around.
Standing behind him was none other than the Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang.
She was dressed in pure white, her long hair flowing in the wind, and she held a golden needle between her fingers.
He stared intently at Zhang Rongfang with deep, penetrating eyes.
"You just went and killed someone?"
Zhang Rongfang fell silent for a moment.
"Your subordinate just received a message from me, so I went to deal with a traitor ahead of schedule."
Tong Zhang stared at him silently, his eyes unblinking, his clear black pupils reflecting the Reflection of the person before him like a mirror.
The wind fanned the flames, and the fire grew larger and larger.
The last remnants of Zhao Family Village were gradually swallowed up by the flames.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds.
Zhang Rongfang bowed first to show respect.
For some reason, he always felt a sense of trepidation when he was in front of the Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang.
It was as if the other party might attack him at any moment.
"You're a good boy. A good boy shouldn't do bad things."
"Yes!" The sense of horror in Zhang Rongfang's heart gradually subsided and disappeared.
His body instinctively sensed that the alert had been lifted, and he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he had passed the test.
He had been following Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang, but he had taken advantage of her brief absence to go and kill Zhao Tianming, which was disrespectful.
As a member of the organization, it is wrong to act without consulting superiors at such a time.
If it were someone else with a bad temper, they would immediately suspect him of tipping off others and colluding with the enemy.
"Let's go." Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang turned around and continued walking towards the woods to the left of Zhao Family Village.
Each step she took seemed gentle, but the distance she covered was much greater than one might imagine.
It was almost like floating; with a light touch of the toes, it glided several meters away.
Zhang Rongfang used his agility to barely keep up with her.
"The Secret Teaching hidden in Zhao Family Village has been wiped out. Why did you just tell that person that you were willing to spare his Lineage?"
The Heavenly Maiden's sudden words nearly made Zhang Rongfang tremble and freeze in place.
He opened his mouth, but his throat felt extremely dry, and he couldn't utter a single word.
"Are you afraid?" The Heavenly Maiden did not turn around. "You have done nothing wrong, so why are you afraid?"
"Your subordinate." Zhang Rongfang wanted to say something, but didn't know what excuse to use.
The other person's ability to see through hidden emotions made him increasingly cautious and uneasy.
"I just feel that since he's going to die eventually, it's better for him to die peacefully. That way, perhaps he won't become a ghost and harm me in the future."
Zhang Rongfang carefully worded his reply.
This answer clearly surprised the Heavenly Maiden.
She gave Zhang Rongfang a strange look.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Zhang Rongfang paused for a moment before answering.
"I don't know. However, since we're going to take action, we must eliminate all possible troubles. So, even if there's something fishy going on, letting him leave in peace will reduce the danger and trouble."
Even those bizarre Statue have appeared, what else is impossible? The Heavenly Maiden's gaze towards him became somewhat strange.
It's as if I'm only now truly realizing that this guy is a talent.
Let's go.
She said no more and continued walking.
The two walked one after the other, and soon arrived at a completely unfamiliar small village.
First Squad of Cloud Smoke Death Warrior in gray-white armor had already arrived in the village.
The ground was littered with the bodies of villagers.
The elderly, children, women, farmers—most of them were beheaded, and a small number were slit in the throat.
Zhang Rongfang even saw two infants in swaddling clothes being chopped in two with a single blow, and he sighed inwardly. Looking ahead, he saw that the Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang had already met with a strong, assassin leader who was at least two meters tall.
The commander was reporting something to her in a low voice.
The sound was too soft, and the wind was too strong, so I couldn't hear it clearly for a moment.
Zhang Rongfang was in no mood to eavesdrop at this moment; he was just thinking about finding an opportunity to burn the Scripture Silk in his arms completely.
This Scripture Silk was not even allowed to be copied by hand, which clearly means that its contents were absolutely not to be known by anyone.
Handwritten copies are very likely to contain errors and omissions, and even such versions are not allowed to be leaked in any way.
What does this mean? It means that the Golden Wing Tower and the Ling Ting are unwilling to take any risks.
If Zhang Rongfang still can't figure out the background of Golden Wing Tower by now, then he has truly lived such a long life in vain.
Shortly after the two finished their conversation, the commander led First Squad men and turned to leave.
Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang continued to lead Zhang Rongfang in a different direction, heading towards other places.
Rixing Town, near Tanyang, is another bustling town close to the city.
When we arrived at the town.
In a spacious manor, Zhang Rongfang met the Snake King of the Black Ten Sect once again.
This former Snake King has long lost his former prestige.
He and several other Black Ten Sect members were surrounded in the middle of the manor's square.
His long hair was disheveled, and his body was covered in blood.
"Come on! You bunch of lunatics!?"
The Snake King Xue Jinghao roared furiously.
He was panting heavily, and more than a dozen armored, gray-white assassins had already fallen to the ground around him.
Numerous crossbow bolts and arrows were scattered around. Clearly, there were still many crossbowmen and archers nearby, ready to aim at this spot at any moment.
Among those besieging the Snake King were two commanders of assassins dressed in full white armor.
The two men stood side by side, one holding a metal longbow, which he was drawing back and aiming at the center of the arena.
The arrival of Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang and Zhang Rongfang immediately caused the two to stop and turn around to look in their direction.
With a whoosh.
Taking advantage of the moment of distraction, Snake King Xue Jinghao dashed to the left and threw a black ball out of his hand.
The black sphere exploded, releasing a cloud of black smoke that obscured its shape.
Using the black smoke as cover, he rushed towards the right side of the encirclement, trying to break through the circle of assassins and escape.
Snap! Just then, the sound of a bowstring being released suddenly came from all around.
A dense rain of arrows, like locusts, traced a fine parabola, enveloping an area of several dozen meters around the Snake King.
The Snake King hurriedly swung his sword, deflecting the arrow that had been deflected.
But after one volley of arrows, another came.
He was forced to stop and continuously parry the incoming arrows.
Bang! A gunshot rang out.
Amidst the rain of arrows, muffled gunshots rang out.
The bullets travel faster than arrows and fall like raindrops, like a scattering of bullets.
The Snake King blocked several attacks in succession, and blood Qidian over its body.
The other Black Ten Sect masters beside him finally couldn't hold on any longer and were knocked to the ground one by one.
After three volleys of arrows, two volleys of firearms were fired simultaneously.
When everything came to a stop again.
The Snake King Xue Jinghao was finally covered in blood, so exhausted that he knelt on the ground, his hair disheveled and barely recognizable.
At this moment, his outer robe was torn to shreds, revealing the black inner armor he was wearing underneath.
If it weren't for that inner armor, he might have been finished long ago.
Swoosh! The curved blade in his hand pierced the ground.
"If you've got the guts, fight me fair and square!!" he roared, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth and nostrils.
But his eyes were fixed on the approaching Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang and Zhang Rongfang.
Seeing Zhang Rongfang's mask, he finally understood what was going on.
"Golden Wing Tower!!"
Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang glanced sideways at Zhang Rongfang.
"Are you going up there to take revenge?"
Snake King Xue Jinghao injured Zhang Rongfang's hand back then, and it hasn't healed yet.
Now is the time for revenge.
Zhang Rongfang looked at the Snake King in the arena and remained silent for a moment.
"This is a Super Grade expert. I am no match for him. Let's just give up."
Since you can just crush them, why risk going up there yourself?
This is his idea.
"It's alright," Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang said softly. "We'll have to come into contact with each other sooner or later, so let's go try it now."
Sooner or later? This is Super Grade expert!
The meaning behind her words immediately stirred something within Zhang Rongfang.
He looked again at the exhausted and wounded Snake King, and immediately stepped forward.
They walked until they were only a few meters away from the Snake King before stopping.
"My right wrist isn't very strong, and you're injured too, so we're even. Only a fair fight like this would be fair."
He vaguely guessed that this might be a test from the Heavenly Maiden.
If we win, we might get a lot!
The Snake King stared at him, already remembering who this person was.
"It was my mistake not to kill you completely back then!" He propped himself up, feeling as if his internal organs were on fire.
This body has suffered severe internal injuries. Naturally, its strength has also been greatly diminished.
But it doesn't matter. This person in front of me seems to be of high status. As long as I can defeat him, I'll have a chance. I'll have a chance to "make amends for this mistake today!!"
Boom! He stomped on the ground, and it cracked.
The blade in his hand flashed like a black snake, its tip leading the way as it curved and stabbed towards Zhang Rongfang.
The speed of this attack, though seemingly explosive, was actually only around the Eighth Grade.
The tip of the knife was black, with traces of blood still remaining, and in the blink of an eye it had covered half the distance between the two people.
Zhang Rongfang was also solemn. He gripped his short sword tightly, raised his Eagle Claw, and attacked forward.
"Secret Bell!!"
Unexpectedly, after taking only one step, he was suddenly struck by the other party's violent roar.
The Snake King charged halfway before suddenly swelling up and its muscles bulged.
The bloodshot in his eyes intensified instantly, and the speed of the Black Blade in his hand increased dramatically.
That seems to be the Limit State!