True and False

In just a blink of an eye, Ge Jingchun, who had been so composed moments before, was now sprawled on the ground like a dead dog, his face ashen.

What could he do now? There was no path left but to close his eyes and wait for death.

But looking towards the source of the voice, he couldn't see Chu Qing's face; he was masked.

"Who... who exactly are you?"

Ge Jingchun's voice began to tremble.

His pain was even greater than Mei Qianluo's.

His arm had been directly torn from his shoulder, and both his feet had been cleanly severed.

This person's blade work was fast and vicious, with distinct characteristics.

However, no matter how carefully Ge Jingchun thought through all the skilled swordsmen he knew, he couldn't connect any of them to the person before him.

"A kind passerby."

Chu Qing said casually with a laugh:

"Seeing you people, chasing down an innocent young woman, and then killing people here to silence them...

"I simply couldn't stand by and watch, so I showed up to uphold justice."

"..."

This was pure nonsense.

Ge Jingchun didn't believe a single word of it.

He let out a bitter laugh:

"Fine, just give me a quick end."

As of today, there was no hope of survival. Even if Chu Qing didn't kill him, with such severe injuries, he was destined to die anyway.

Rather than slowly enduring the pain until death, it was better to let Chu Qing kill him with a single strike.

But Chu Qing shook his head:

"There are some things I want to ask you about... Has your Divine Sand Gang surrendered to the Valley of Ten Thousand Nights?"

Ge Jingchun's face turned cold:

"They... are they worthy?"

"Then it's a collaboration?"

Chu Qing mused:

"Tell me, what do you plan to do within Heavenly Dance City? And how did you sneak in?

"I imagine even if the city defenses of Heavenly Dance City were lax, it would be impossible for famous figures like yourselves to easily break in and hide.

"Is your Divine Sand Gang leader, Cheng Sihai, currently in Heavenly Dance City?"

Ge Jingchun stared intently at Chu Qing for a moment, then suddenly said:

"Sneaking into Heavenly Dance City was assisted by the Falling Rain Hall.

"We infiltrated using the Falling Rain Hall's secret passage...

"You're right, there is indeed a collaboration between us.

"The goal of coordinating from within and outside is to take Heavenly Dance City. At that time, the power in Heavenly Dance City will be split in two, with my Divine Sand Gang and the Valley of Ten Thousand Nights each taking half!"

He paused slightly here, then sneered:

"If the leader were in Heavenly Dance City right now, how could he allow you to be so presumptuous here!

"Tonight, you are certain to die!"

No sooner had Ge Jingchun finished speaking than a weak voice from the corner spoke up:

"He's lying...

"Cheng Sihai is in Heavenly Dance City!"

Ge Jingchun's face immediately darkened.

Lies are often a mix of truth and falsehood, usually seven parts truth and three parts false, or nine parts truth and one part false.

His admission about the Falling Rain Hall's secret passage was already a huge piece of information, and the objective was perfectly reasonable.

Only the leader's whereabouts did he want to conceal.

As a result, before Chu Qing could even react, he was directly exposed by Xia Wanshuang.

Considering everything that had happened tonight, what Ge Jingchun regretted most now was not strangling this Xia Wanshuang the moment Mei Qianluo entered.

He had thought this person's life was completely in his control.

He could even use her to lure Chu Qing out... but he hadn't expected Chu Qing's martial arts to be far more formidable than he had anticipated.

He had succeeded, and he had failed.

He had succeeded in luring Chu Qing out, but it had resulted in Mei Qianluo being directly beheaded by Chu Qing.

Later, during his confrontation with Chu Qing, he was ambushed by Xia Wanshuang.

That's how he ended up utterly defeated.

If Xia Wanshuang had died then, would his fate still have been the same?

But even as he asked himself this, he had no answer.

He simply couldn't see through Chu Qing's martial arts.

This person emerged from the mist, his skills hidden beneath it. He was clearly highly skilled, yet he refused to face him head-on.

Instead, he relied on various underhanded methods of sneak attacks and ambushes.

But based solely on this person's blade techniques, he was definitely no ordinary individual... In a true fight to the death, without having fought him before, it was really hard to say.

It wasn't surprising that Ge Jingchun felt uncertain. As an assassin, Chu Qing didn't follow the path of the typical martial arts heroes.

They disdained sneak attacks and preferred to fight openly and honorably.

But what honor did an assassin care about?

Unless his martial arts could one day truly crush the world, he would always try his best to gain the first move and secure a significant advantage.

Even without an advantage, he would forcefully create one.

That was a basic quality of an assassin.

Chu Qing silently glanced at Ge Jingchun, then shifted his gaze to Xia Wanshuang:

"And how did you know that Cheng Sihai was in Heavenly Dance City?"

"The Divine Sand Gang and I have a blood feud. Ever since my martial arts reached a certain level, I've thought of nothing but eradicating Cheng Sihai and those other traitors.

"So, I've always been lurking outside the Divine Sand Gang, watching their every move.

"That's how I knew that Cheng Sihai, Ge Jingchun, Mei Qianluo, and the four protectors of the Divine Sand Gang left the Divine Sand Gang together and came to Heavenly Dance City."

As Xia Wanshuang said this, she felt her breathing become unstable. After taking a few gasps, she continued:

"He said they entered Heavenly Dance City through a secret passage. That part should be correct.

"I saw them with my own eyes reaching a patch of woods and being welcomed into a secret passage by someone... I didn't dare to intrude easily, but I recognized the person who welcomed them. It was Tang Xi, the young master of Falling Rain Hall.

"After that, I waited outside the city for several days without seeing any trace of them, so I came into Heavenly Dance City.

"Through discreet inquiries, I found the residences of Ge Jingchun and Mei Qianluo.

"Unfortunately, Cheng Sihai is very well hidden... I couldn't find him."

Chu Qing nodded and said to Ge Jingchun:

"Look, I think this girl's words are more convincing than yours.

"Why don't you tell us again, where is Cheng Sihai now?"

Ge Jingchun looked as if all the strength had been drained from his body. He weakly glanced at Chu Qing:

"I don't know where the Gang Leader is either."

"So, you're not willing to cooperate."

Chu Qing sighed, reached out and tapped several pressure points on his body to slow down his blood flow.

Then he found Mei Qianluo's body and searched through it.

As expected of the third-in-command of the Divine Sand Gang, he had much more wealth on him than others.

There were hundreds of taels worth of banknotes alone, and quite a bit of silver and gold, stuffed into his money pouch, making it bulge.

Besides that, there were three small porcelain bottles.

It was hard to tell what was inside these.

This person was skilled in hidden weapons and clearly had some research into poisons, but it was unknown which one could cure Wenrou's poison.

While Chu Qing was doing these things, he noticed that Xia Wanshuang had been staring at him.

After being watched by her for so long, Chu Qing thought for a moment, then took a small piece of gold from Mei Qianluo's money pouch and threw it to her:

"Everyone gets a share."

"..."

Xia Wanshuang's gaze towards Chu Qing changed, but after a moment of thought, she didn't dwell on it and instead said:

"What are you looking for Cheng Sihai for?"