True and False

In less than a moment, Ge Jingchun, who had been calm and composed just moments before, was now sprawled on the ground like a dead dog, his face ashen.

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

He followed the sound, but couldn't see Chu Qing's face; he was masked.

"Who exactly are you?"

Ge Jingchun's voice began to tremble.

His suffering was even greater than Mei Qianluo's.

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

This person's Blade Technique was fast and vicious, with distinct characteristics.

However, Ge Jingchun meticulously searched through all the skilled blade users he knew, yet he couldn't connect any of them to the person before him.

"A kind passerby."

Chu Qing chuckled casually.

"I saw your group, first chasing an innocent girl, and then killing people here to silence them.

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

"..."

This was pure nonsense.

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

He gave a bitter smile.

"Fine, give me a quick end."

Reaching this point, 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 would be better to have Chu Qing end it with a single strike.

Chu Qing, however, shook his head.

"I have a few things I want to ask you... has your Shashen Gang already surrendered to Ten Thousand Night Valley?"

Ge Jingchun's expression turned cold.

"They... are worthy?"

"So, it's cooperation then?"

Chu Qing mused. "Tell me, what are you planning to do within Heavenly Dance City? And how did you get in?

"I imagine that no matter how lax Heavenly Dance City's defenses are, they wouldn't allow such notorious figures to easily infiltrate and hide.

"Is your Shashen Gang leader, Cheng Sihai, currently within Heavenly Dance City?"

Ge Jingchun stared intently at Chu Qing, then suddenly said, "Our infiltration of Heavenly Dance City was aided by Luoyu Hall.

"We used Luoyu Hall's secret passage to sneak in...

"You're right, we do have a partnership.

"The goal of coordinating from the inside and outside is to take down Heavenly Dance City. Afterward, Heavenly Dance City's influence will be split in two, with my Shashen Gang and Ten Thousand Night Valley each taking half!!"

He paused slightly at this point and sneered.

"If our leader were currently in Heavenly Dance City, how could he allow you to run rampant here!

"Tonight, you are certainly doomed!"

As soon as Ge Jingchun finished speaking, a weak voice from the corner spoke.

"He's lying...

"Cheng Sihai is in Heavenly Dance City!"

Ge Jingchun's face instantly darkened.

Lies often contained seven parts truth and three parts falsehood, or nine parts truth and one part falsehood.

His revealing the Luoyu Hall secret passage was already a significant piece of information, and his stated goal was reasonable.

The only thing he wanted to hide was the whereabouts of his leader.

However, before Chu Qing could even react, he was directly exposed by Xia Wanshuang.

Looking back at everything that had happened tonight, Ge Jingchun's greatest regret was not strangling Xia Wanshuang to death the moment Mei Qianluo entered.

He had thought her life and death were entirely within his control.

He had even planned to 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 succeeded in luring Chu Qing out, but in doing so, Mei Qianluo's head was directly severed by Chu Qing.

Later, while confronting Chu Qing, he was ambushed by Xia Wanshuang.

This led to his utter defeat.

If Xia Wanshuang had died then, would he still have ended up like this?

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

He hadn't seen through Chu Qing's martial arts at all.

This person emerged from the mist, his skills hidden beneath it. Though clearly skilled, he didn't engage in direct combat.

Instead, he resorted to all sorts of ambushes and sneak attacks.

But based on this person's Blade Technique alone, he was no ordinary individual… In a true life-or-death battle, without fighting, it was truly hard to say.

It wasn't that Ge Jingchun was unsure of himself; as an assassin, Chu Qing didn't follow the path of the chivalrous heroes of the Jianghu.

They disdained sneak attacks, preferring straightforward confrontation.

But what was straightforward for an assassin?

Unless one's martial arts could truly crush the world, they would always try to seize the initiative and gain a massive advantage whenever possible.

Even without an advantage, they would force one.

This was the basic quality of an assassin.

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

"How did you know Cheng Sihai was in Heavenly Dance City?"

"The Shashen Gang has a blood feud with me. Ever since my martial arts were perfected, I've longed to kill Cheng Sihai and the other traitors.

"Therefore, I've been lurking outside the Shashen Gang, observing their every move.

"That's how I knew Cheng Sihai, Ge Jingchun, Mei Qianluo, and the Shashen Gang's Four Great Protectors left together to come to Heavenly Dance City."

As Xia Wanshuang spoke, her breathing became unsteady. After taking a couple of breaths, she continued:

"He said he entered Heavenly Dance City through a secret passage; that part should be true.

"I watched them go into a forest and be welcomed into a secret passage… I didn't dare to barge in, but I recognized the person greeting them as Tang Xi, the young master of Luoyu Hall.

"Afterward, I waited outside the city for days without seeing any sign of them, and then I came into Heavenly Dance City.

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

"Unfortunately, Cheng Sihai is too well hidden… I can't find him."

Chu Qing nodded and said to Ge Jingchun:

"See, I think this young lady's words are more convincing than yours.

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

Ge Jingchun seemed to have his strength drained from his body. He looked weakly at Chu Qing:

"I don't know where the gang leader is."

"So, you're refusing to cooperate."

Chu Qing sighed, pressed a few acupoints on him to slow his bleeding.

Then he found Mei Qianluo's corpse and searched him thoroughly.

After all, as the Shashen Gang's third-in-command, he had far more possessions than others.

There were over a hundred taels in Silver Notes alone, along with quite a bit of Silver and Gold in bulging money pouches.

In addition, there were three small porcelain bottles.

It was difficult to identify the contents within.

This person was skilled in hidden weapons and clearly had some knowledge of poisons; it was unknown which one could cure Wen Rou's poison.

While Chu Qing was doing all this, he noticed Xia Wanshuang staring at him.

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

"What's found is shared."

"..."

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

"What are you looking for Cheng Sihai for?"