The flicker of a smile he had failed to suppress vanished from Liu Dongqing's face in an instant.
Then, the moment Jiang Xiuyong finished speaking, Liu Dongqing suddenly clapped his hands and let out a heavy sigh.
"Exactly—
Junior Brother, Fang Jing pressed me step by step and left Liu no way to live. With no other choice, I killed him before coming to find you.
You know my background. With our Mystic Sect's wondrous arts, even if Zhao Ruiyang came in person, I would not fear him.
But our elder cousin is another matter entirely.
As the saying goes, nothing goes beyond three times. Junior Brother, tell me—next time, could I still get away unscathed?
And if I fell into our cousin's hands, after all manner of methods were used on me, do you think I would give you up?
Cultivating the Sin Sect's evil arts alongside my own and secretly changing allegiances—what sort of crime would that be in our Holy Cult?"
At those words, Jiang Xiuyong first froze. Then his snake-like pupils hooked toward Liu Dongqing, and he let out a cold laugh.
"What? From the sound of it, Senior Brother Liu, you are trying both carrot and stick—trying to persuade me while threatening me?
Do you think this is still that day on Autumn Water Plateau?
Back then, I thought you were barefoot and feared no one in shoes. But now, if you risk your life to threaten me again, are you really still willing to throw that life away?"
A thoroughly unruly smile spread across Liu Dongqing's face.
"Yes. By your reasoning, Junior Brother, I have put on shoes now. But it is precisely because I put on shoes and climbed a few more steps that I can see the situation clearly.
Me? Rooted in