But what good did regret do?
The old man's voice had barely grown hoarse before the air around him froze solid!
Boom!
An oppressive force as heavy as a mountain crashed down, enveloping the Third Elder!
The teeth-grating crack of breaking bones followed!
The old man screamed as his entire body was driven into the ground!
His bones and tendons snapped one after another like beans popping in a hot pan, and blood instantly stained the paving stones red!
"Talk."
The young man's voice rang out again, even more chilling than before.
The agonizing pain finally shattered the Third Elder's reason and broke through his last defenses.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Spare me, Venerable Immortal! Please spare me!!"
Tears and snot streamed down his face as he frantically kowtowed, howling out a confession of what he had just done:
"It was Ruan Heng! No... it was me! I lost my mind!!"
"I activated the altar and reported your whereabouts to the Beast Venerable!"
"I also told him you killed the Rat General... but please understand, my lord, I only wanted to survive!"
"I was thinking of everyone in the stockade, too!!"
The Third Elder begged frantically for mercy, his voice unbearably shrill.
But to Ruan Zheng, standing nearby, every word felt like a plunge into an icy abyss.
Her hands and feet went cold as she stared in disbelief at the elder who was always preaching righteousness and morality.
"The altar... reported to the Beast Venerable..."
Ruan Zheng's lips trembled. She felt as though the sky were falling.
The Third Elder, so highly respected throughout the stockade, had actually alerted the Beast Venerable in advance!
He had betrayed the benefactor who had just saved them!
Judging by the usual distance between the two sides and the speed of the altar's