Lin Qingyan left the study in the Centurion's Office.
Two female adjutants had been waiting by the entrance for some time. The moment they saw her, they hurried over.
"Lord Lin."
"Mm."
Lin Qingyan gave a slight nod and told them that the Qiankun Brothers had both been killed.
Chen Xiu and He Yue were stunned. A hint of satisfaction glimmered in their eyes.
There was no need to say anything about the Zheng family's eldest young master. He was a complete scumbag, and the world was better off without him.
The Zheng family's second young master was a little more restrained, but he'd still done plenty of bullying under the protection of his family's power.
After pulling strings to become a Centurion in the Demon Suppression Bureau, he'd relied on the Zheng family's influence to form cliques in the office and do whatever he pleased.
Zheng Kun had to bear no small share of the blame for the Changle County branch of the Demon Suppression Bureau becoming so rotten.
Not to mention, he'd constantly harassed Lord Lin for no reason, buzzing around like an annoying fly until even the two of them, her attendants, couldn't stand it.
Now that both brothers had died violent deaths, it was truly cause for celebration!
"Ah? Lord Lin..."
Chen Xiu's expression shifted. She glanced around, then lowered her voice and asked in a conspiratorial whisper:
"Do you think... Lord Gu might have done it?
He didn't come back with us because of personal business, remember? Could he have gone out of his way to rid the people of those pests?"
Before Lin Qingyan could answer, He Yue hurriedly objected.
"Don't be ridiculous! How could Lord Gu do something like that?"
"Besides, the route we took back from Black Wind Mountain was in the exact opposite direction from the Zheng family's country estate.
It's so far away. Do you think Lord Gu grew wings and flew there?"
"But what if Lord Gu really can fly?"
Chen Xiu stubbornly refused to back down.
Ever since she'd witnessed Gu Cheng's abilities, the female adjutant had become his die-hard fan.
The more she'd looked down on him before, the more she praised him now. She'd swung from one extreme to the other.
He Yue was more levelheaded, so she began arguing her case with Chen Xiu.
"..."
Lin Qingyan stood between them, silent.
She'd long since grown used to her two lively subordinates.
And, if she was honest, she was more inclined to agree with Chen Xiu.
Lin Qingyan knew all about the conflict between Gu Cheng and the Gu brothers, and she believed he was capable of it.
However, in the mind of this cool, stunning beauty, Gu Cheng was clearly plotting something much bigger...
"Given Centurion Zhao's temperament, he obviously didn't want to ask headquarters for help at first.
But after learning that Zheng Kun was dead, he felt that the Rebirth Sect had provoked him, and immediately changed his mind."
"Could it be... Gu Cheng had already anticipated what Centurion Zhao would do, and seized this opportunity to strike?
He could kill his enemy with his own hands, frame the Rebirth Sect perfectly, and help Centurion Zhao make up his mind... Three birds with one stone!"
A strange glint flashed through Lin Qingyan's clear eyes.
She looked up at the night quietly descending and grew even more curious about her nominal 'fiancé.'
Just as Lin Qingyan was privately Di Hua-izing—
In the wealthy district of the southern city stood a massive manor, rivaling the Demon Suppression Bureau's headquarters.
Only the Zheng family, practically the 'local emperor' of Changle County, could afford such a place.
In a spacious study in the Zheng family's old residence, a sturdy old man with graying hair and luxurious clothes was smashing everything he could get his hands on like a madman.
The clatter of breaking objects sounded like a typhoon sweeping through.
The servants outside fled far from the room, afraid their master would take his rage out on them.
"Who was it?! Who did this?!"
"Who killed my two beloved sons?!"
Zheng Tianlu's eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled. He looked utterly deranged, like a raging lion.
He'd had his sons late in life and had doted on them both.
Now his two beloved sons had died violent deaths, and he was consumed by heart-wrenching grief and hysterical fury.
Another incense stick's worth of time passed.
Only after he'd smashed every treasured ornament in the study and vented some of his rage did Zheng Tianlu draw deep, heaving breaths and gradually calm down.
He turned around.
To his surprise, a gray-clad youth had appeared out of nowhere on the only chair still left in the study.
The youth looked about fifteen or sixteen. He had red lips and pearly teeth, and was quite handsome.
But his face was deathly pale, and his deep black eyes were utterly lifeless. Rather than making him appealing, they gave him a sinister look.
"Feeling better, Tianlu?"
The gray-clad youth held a porcelain cup and quietly regarded the old man.
His deep black eyes held a weariness that didn't belong to someone his age.
"Holy Envoy..."
Zheng Tianlu hurriedly bowed, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.
"Look on the bright side. It's only two dead sons. You'd think you were the only one who'd ever lost someone..."
The youth gently swirled the liquid in his porcelain cup. It wasn't wine or tea, but scarlet blood.
"Children are merely an extension of your life.
But once you have a lifespan of a thousand years, what difference does it make whether you have children or not?"
"..."
Zheng Tianlu lowered his head without a word, clenching his fists and cursing inwardly that this was pure nonsense.
Yet in front of this Holy Envoy of the Rebirth Sect, he didn't dare overstep in the slightest. He could only hurry to change the subject.
"Holy Envoy, the ritual altar hidden on Black Wind Mountain has been destroyed by those bastards from the Demon Suppression Bureau.
Even the two fox demons who were skilled at setting up formations were killed by them earlier... What should we do now?"
"Hmph! Isn't this entirely your own fault?"
The gray-clad youth crossed one leg over the other and snorted.
"A month ago, when I happened upon that little girl from the Xu Family, I warned you.
You couldn't put off your ascension ritual any longer. You had to take the most extreme measures, but you refused to listen!"
"..."
The old master Zheng lowered his head even further.
He'd only joined the Rebirth Sect a few years ago, and had yet to become a completely raving cultist.
What little conscience he had left still couldn't let go of his family, his ancestral estate, or Changle County, the home where he'd lived for decades.
"Fortunately, there's still a chance to turn things around..."
The gray-clad youth smiled faintly and pulled a blood-red helmet from the storage pouch at his waist.
The helmet was dark red all over, shaped like a human skull.
A faint crimson glow rippled across it, as though the entire thing had been cast in blood. It looked utterly sinister.
The moment Zheng Tianlu saw the Blood Skull Helmet, his expression changed. His eyes filled with resistance and inner turmoil.
"Tianlu, everyone in this world must die.
So why not let them become the souls slain by the disciples of my holy sect, and serve as nourishment for our pursuit of 'rebirth and immortality'?"
The youth saw right through the old man's struggle.
A delighted smile appeared on his paper-pale face as he softly coaxed him.
"Besides, the Demon Suppression Bureau has already discovered your arrangements. They won't sit idly by. It's only a matter of time before they send experts from headquarters to investigate.
Once they uncover the truth, do you really think your whole family will survive, with those bloodthirsty killers from Tianshui City coming after you?"
"If you're going to die either way, what difference does it make whose hands you die by?"
The gray-clad youth drained the blood in his porcelain cup and licked the crimson from the corner of his mouth before continuing.
"You have about ten days left."
"If you're lucky enough to succeed and ascend to the Xiantian realm, and you manage to evade the Demon Suppression Bureau's pursuit afterward, take this Blood Skull Helmet and come find me where we first met..."
With that, the youth's body suddenly turned into a cloud of black smoke and vanished into thin air.
Only a strange skull-shaped helmet remained, resting quietly on the chair.
Its hollow eye sockets stared straight at Master Zheng, radiating an eerie yet bewitching aura.
"..."
The man and the skull stared at each other. The study was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
After a long while—
Zheng Tianlu drew a deep breath. The struggle and confusion in his eyes gradually faded.
In their place came the mad, resolute defiance of a man driven to the edge of a cliff!
"Someone, come!"
Swish—swish—
Two men in black flashed into the study and dropped to one knee.
"Master, what are your orders?"
"Go inform the Wolf King and the Pig King. Tell them I have something important to discuss with them..."
Before you continue