The Ghost Gate Vine seemed capable of sucking up flesh and blood. The more Lie Hu, Jie Gang, and the others struggled, the tighter it constricted around them. In moments, they were drenched in blood.
Zhen Ping'er laughed like a little witch. Rather than recklessly approach them, she kept the Ghost Gate Vine in midair where she was, watching as Jie Gang and the others became more and more entangled.
"So shameless, simply too shameless! How could anyone be so shameless?"
Yang Zhen shook his head repeatedly. Such a beauty, yet she had chosen to be a thief. Sure enough, the prettier a girl was, the better she was at deceiving people. How could anyone deceive people so shamelessly?
A short while later, Jie Gang and the others were powerless to resist. Lie Hu was in the worst state; the Ghost Gate Vine had nearly sucked him dry.
Zhen Ping'er giggled. At some point, the long sword in her hand had turned into a long whip. A flash of green light appeared as she walked up to Jie Gang and the others and sneered, "This is a lesson for you. The jianghu is dangerous. When you're out and about, you must keep your guard up, or you won't even know how you died."
"Junior Sister, watch out!"
Senior Sister Fang suddenly cried out, her face changing drastically as she rushed toward Zhen Ping'er. But while she was still in midair, her face went pale, and she spat out a mouthful of blood before falling to the ground.
Zhen Ping'er's expression changed, and she too fell to the ground. She stared coldly at Jie Gang and said through gritted teeth, "Despicable scoundrel! You actually used poison?"
Jie Gang grinned and said viciously, "Zhen Ping'er, you were right. When you're in the jianghu, you must keep your guard up, or you won't even know how you died."
"You..."
Zhen Ping'er hadn't expected Jie Gang to throw her own words back at her. Furious, she struggled to get up, only to fall back to the ground.
"Don't bother struggling. This is a poison exclusive to the Black Nightmare Sect. It's colorless and odorless, and not only can it seal your True Essence, but after fifteen minutes, it will pierce your heart, blood, and internal organs, leaving you to die without a burial place."
Lie Hu was covered head to toe in blood, looking like a blood gourd, yet he still grinned and mocked Zhen Ping'er. Then the Ghost Gate Vine seemed to tighten around him, and he shuddered all over, his face growing even paler.
In less than fifteen minutes, the two sides had fought until both were badly injured. Yang Zhen clicked his tongue in wonder.
The most miserable of all was the Gale Sheep behind the two groups. First, it had roared loud enough to shake the heavens after the Ghost Gate Vine ensnared it, and then the poison had left it thoroughly disoriented. Now it could only lie on the ground and glare fiercely at both groups. Though unwilling to accept its fate, all it could do was snort angrily over and over.
"Zhen Ping'er, neither of us stands to gain anything in this situation. Why don't we release each other from the poison at the same time, and then discuss who gets the Gale Sheep?" Jie Gang stared coldly at Zhen Ping'er, his voice beginning to weaken.
Zhen Ping'er snorted coldly and struggled to her feet. "Are you begging for mercy?"
Jie Gang chuckled strangely. "I just don't want to die here without even knowing why, that's all."
Zhen Ping'er fell silent for a moment, then took a jade bottle from her robes. "I'll count to three, and we'll release each other at the same time!"
A strange look flashed across Jie Gang's face. He too took a jade bottle from his robes and said, "Fine. If either of us fails to release the other, may that person die a horrible death and never attain the Dao!"
"Fine!" Zhen Ping'er nodded and swapped the bottle for another jade bottle from her robes.
Jie Gang sneered when he saw this. "Witch Zhen Ping'er truly lives up to her name!"
As he spoke, Jie Gang calmly swapped his bottle for another jade bottle as well.
Seeing this, Zhen Ping'er sneered. "Right back at you!"
Yang Zhen watched with deep distress. "This... how could anyone be so shameless? The jianghu is dangerous! Oh my, these people are too shameless. There really aren't many upright people like me left."
"One."
"Two."
"Three."
Whoosh, whoosh! The two jade bottles traced arcs through the air as they flew toward each other.
"Oh no! Xiao Qiang, Xiao Qiang, what's wrong with you, Xiao Qiang?"
With a strange cry, Yang Zhen leaped down from the tree. While still in midair, he casually caught both jade bottles and tucked them into his robes, then landed in front of the Gale Sheep with another strange cry.
"Poor Xiao Qiang! Poor me! You've made me, a black-haired man, bury a white-fleeced sheep. How am I supposed to go on living?"
Zhen Ping'er: "..."
Jie Gang: "..."
Everyone was startled by Yang Zhen and stared dumbfounded as he wailed in front of the Gale Sheep.
But Yang Zhen's crying was simply too fake. The corners of Zhen Ping'er's, Jie Gang's, and the others' mouths kept twitching, but there was nothing they could do.
"Shameless!" Zhen Ping'er glared at Yang Zhen through gritted teeth.
"Shameless!" Jie Gang stared at Yang Zhen in bewilderment, his eyes nearly splitting with rage.
"It was you... you killed my Xiao Qiang?" Yang Zhen's grief-stricken cries shook the heavens. He turned and looked down at Jie Gang, Zhen Ping'er, and their groups, a sorrowful expression on his face.
"Good sir..." Jie Gang opened his mouth and managed to force a smile.
"Don't try to get friendly with me. Who's your good sir?" Yang Zhen glared, startling Jie Gang. "You killed my Xiao Qiang. Well? How are you going to settle this?"
"You're shameless!" Zhen Ping'er stared at Yang Zhen, wide-eyed and dumbfounded. "What proof do you have that the Gale Sheep is your Xiao Qiang?"
Yang Zhen clicked his tongue. "When it comes to shamelessness, I'm nowhere near your level. You're masters at every kind of dirty trick and underhanded scheme."
"You..." Zhen Ping'er was about to say more when Junior Sister Fang tugged at her clothes from behind.
The three of them were now suffering from a deadly poison. If they didn't take the antidote quickly, they would be dead within fifteen minutes. This was clearly not the time to go against Yang Zhen.
Zhen Ping'er struggled to her feet. "Even if I die, I won't let this despicable, treacherous scoundrel have his way."
"All right!" Yang Zhen smiled at them, holding two bottles of antidote, one for the Ghost Gate Vine and the other for the poison. He weighed them in his hand. "Raise your hand if you don't want to die!"
Jie Gang and the others immediately raised their hands. Only Lie Hu, bound up like a rice dumpling, couldn't raise his, and he cried out anxiously.
The woman surnamed Fang and Zhen Ping'er's junior sister from the same sect hesitated for a moment, then raised their hands as well.
Zhen Ping'er glared at Yang Zhen, snorted, and turned her head away.
People were like that. Once their lives were threatened and they gave up resisting, anything could be negotiated. The two bottles of antidote in Yang Zhen's hand were the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"I'm actually very easy to talk to. As long as you hand over everything you have and tell me the cultivation methods and martial skills you practice, I'll spare your lives. From then on, the great road will stretch toward the sky, and we'll each go our own way. How about it?"
"Don't even dream of it!" Zhen Ping'er glared at him.
Yang Zhen waved a hand. "Dead people have no right to speak, much less the means to bargain!"
"You..." Zhen Ping'er was so furious that she spat out a mouthful of blood.
"I'll count to three. If you don't hand them over, I'm leaving!"
"One."
Yang Zhen counted as he walked.
"Three."
"Wait... wait! I'll give them to you!" Jie Gang said through gritted teeth.
Yang Zhen immediately smiled and patted Jie Gang's face. "That's more like it. A wise man knows when to yield."
Once someone had taken the lead, the rest was easy. Even the woman surnamed Fang and the junior sister from the same sect hesitantly disclosed the cultivation methods and martial skills they practiced. Only Zhen Ping'er still held out, but her face had already turned bluish-black, and her whole body was trembling.
"Now you're the only one left!" Yang Zhen stood smiling in front of Zhen Ping'er.
The status has finally changed! You can send tips now! Holding out my bowl. Thank you, boss! May you strike it rich, boss! Sob, sob, sob.
(End of chapter)