Blood Fiend Break

But then Shen Cheng said, "For this matter, I gave you quite a lot of silver. Now that you failed to get it done, you must return every last coin."

"This..." Zhang Dacuo felt a pang of pain, but thinking of the Mount Tong Temple Daoist's methods, he did not dare truly pocket the silver. After a brief hesitation, he answered, "Take money to do a job; fail the job, return the money. That is only right and proper. I have exchanged the silver for banknotes and brought them all. Please inspect them and take them."

"Then bring them over." Shen Cheng revealed a faint sneer as he spoke.

Zhang Dacuo suspected nothing. He had worked with Shen Cheng several times and felt that although the Daoist had plenty of tricks up his sleeve, he still kept his word in their dealings. Since Shen Cheng was taking back the silver, he clearly did not intend to pursue the matter further.

He had worked for nothing for so long, and the losses were naturally no small matter to Zhang Dacuo. But fearing those methods, he would rather suffer some losses himself than leave this matter unresolved.

As for the two brothers who had died, he would pay compensation from his own pocket when he returned!

Zhang Dacuo followed the voice over, but after taking only two steps, a bone-chilling dread seized him, making him halt abruptly. Fine sweat seeped from his forehead. After a moment of silence, he said, "Daoist, I have placed the banknotes on the ground. Take them yourself when you have the time. There is urgent business in the gang, so I must return first."

As he spoke, he set down the banknotes and turned to leave.

From the darkness, Shen Cheng gave a soft laugh. "So vigilant. Worthy indeed of grassland snake stock. But since you have come, do not leave."

Before the words had even faded, a torch flared up with a snap.

"Ah!" Zhang Dacuo had already been on guard, but as the light came on, his head suddenly sank. Something burrowed into his forehead. His once-clear mind felt as if worms had crawled inside, churning and devouring it. The pain was unbearable, and he rolled on the ground.

His screams sounded only a few times before cutting off abruptly. The pitch-black basement was now bright as day.

Shen Cheng, dressed in Daoist robes and looking every inch an immortal sage, stood where Zhang Dacuo had kept his back turned. Looking at Zhang Dacuo lying on the ground, he sneered.

"You... you..." Zhang Dacuo had not yet completely lost consciousness. His eyes were wide as he stared fixedly at Shen Cheng, his outstretched hand trembling. "The gang... will not... let you off..."

"Idiot." Shen Cheng raised his brows and commanded, "Rise!"

The next moment, Zhang Dacuo felt his body slip beyond his control. He actually began to crawl to his feet slowly. He tried to seize back control of his body, only for a violent pain to erupt in his mind again, tormenting him until his eyes turned bloodshot.

"Though the killing aura is a little heavy, that makes him just right. Go up to the altar yourself." Without even sparing him a glance, Shen Cheng continued giving orders. Zhang Dacuo slowly turned and headed toward a stone chamber.

The stone chamber blazed with firelight. Inside stood a high platform large enough to hold twenty people, and more than a dozen people were already standing upon it. When Zhang Dacuo stepped up, they made eighteen in all.

Only after standing there for a while did Shen Cheng come over. His face had suddenly turned pale, even carrying a faint bluish tinge. Facing Zhang Dacuo, whose eyes were forced wide open, he coughed several times and said, "Heh heh, truly worthy of grassland snake stock. Even after the times have changed, there can still be backlash."

"Grassland... snake stock..." For some reason, once he reached the platform, the control over him loosened somewhat. Zhang Dacuo gritted his teeth and forced out those words.

"Yes. Great Wei's national fate lasted 484 years, far beyond three hundred, suppressing who knew how many dragons and snakes."

"The late emperor of this dynasty raised a three-foot sword and swept aside the feudal lords, founding Great Zheng, yet he may not have uprooted every last dragon and snake. Judging by your bones and disposition, you are one of them. Otherwise, why do you think Lu Fengyun defected to you? It is because you carry a trace of Dragon Aura."

"It is only that you emerged too late. The dragons and snakes lost the favorable hour of Heaven and became nothing more than loaches, fit only to be a gang boss in a county. Otherwise, why do you think the Flying Fish Gang was wiped out, smoke and all, while you alone survived?"

"That tiny bit of disposition and fate saved your life."

"But now, it is exactly what I need to break Su Ziji's fate." By this point, Shen Cheng had recovered somewhat, and a little color had returned to his face. A small banner had also appeared in his hand. At first glance, it looked much like a toy from a temple fair, but brought out at this moment, it was naturally no ordinary object.

"Disciple Shen Cheng hereby sets forth eighteen sacrifices, sacrificing to Heaven and Earth, following Heaven's Mandate, slaying the lingering remnants... This disciple stands at the head. Eighteen people willingly offer blood sacrifice. Here, sacrifice—slay!"

With Shen Cheng's cry of "Slay," the eighteen people, turned into puppets and forced to "volunteer," simultaneously began to glow with a faint bloody light.

The bloody light floated up from their bodies and gathered toward the center. When the eighteen clusters converged, they twisted into one, forming a blood-red arrow that flashed with cold light. A shrill howl faintly rang out, followed by a clang as the blood arrow streaked across the air and vanished without a trace in an instant.

Coiling Dragon Lake · Painted Pleasure Boat

Hu Xiyan sat in a cabin occupied by only three people, looking gloomy and displeased. Before her stood a bronze mirror half a person tall, its surface displaying the scene inside the cabin.

"Ah, this chess player made another wrong move. He is about to lose." The Han man who looked to be thirty stamped his foot, his manner enough to make outsiders shudder.

"Little Nineteen, there are no outsiders here for now. You can return to your original appearance." Even Hu Xiyan could not help shivering at the sight as she spoke.

Of the maids following her, one was still making rounds, while the other was an ordinary human. She was currently asleep on a couch to one side and would not wake until it was time to return.

The burly Han man thought for a moment, then with a bang, transformed on the spot. The thirty-year-old man, who had seemed slightly out of place, directly became a pretty young girl.

Her slightly upturned Fox eyes were crafty and adorable, yet upon closer inspection, there was a fundamental difference between her and Hu Xiyan, her fellow tribeswoman before her.

She had only taken human form a few years ago and was still a playful "child." She was not yet very skilled in seductive arts. Once she cultivated for longer, she would naturally become more and more accomplished.

Hu Xiyan, on the other hand, had been richly gifted from birth. The moment she took human form, she had become a beauty, one of the rare elites among the Fox Tribe.

That was why the young girl was especially close to Hu Xiyan. The two were relatives. Hu Shijiu had spent more than a year working alongside the Hu Family's humans and had gained some experience, but she still possessed a child's temperament. The moment she regained her own appearance, she immediately turned and asked Hu Xiyan, "Sister, you still have not told me. Did you come this time to see me? Why do you seem a little unhappy? Did you not get to eat Zhengde Braised Chicken?"

As she spoke, she licked her lips.

Zhengde Braised Chicken was a one-hundred-and-sixty-year-old establishment, passed down through seven generations, and had always been a favorite of the Fox Tribe.

Hu Xiyan was helpless under her pestering, yet she could not say that she had come because half a Rosewood Pendant had resonated, leading her here to search for someone destined for it. She could only smile. "Nineteen, you are the one craving it, are you not? Later, Sister will take you to—"

Before she could finish, her expression abruptly changed. Yet before she could form a hand seal or chant an incantation, a streak of blood-red light arrived in the blink of an eye. Just as it struck the painted pleasure boat, it subtly shifted direction and slammed downward.

With a boom, an uncontrollable demonic aura exploded in an instant. The painted pleasure boat shuddered, a slight distortion appeared on the lake's surface, and then it slowly began to sink. Hu Xiyan gave a muffled groan and spat out a mouthful of blood.