A Heart Deserving of Death

No wonder— Yin Yunze always felt that something was off about the whole thing.

It turns out that everything was caused by Liu Zhu.

To put it bluntly, the whole incident stemmed from Liu Zhu's knowledge of Yin Yunze's existence. He wanted to use Yin Yunze to eliminate Grandfather Huang Three.

However, for her own safety, she didn't want Grandfather Huang Three to know about her collusion with Yin Yunze.

Therefore, Liu Zhu did not directly approach Yin Yunze to discuss this matter, but instead went around to Qi Siyuan, deliberately saying that they wanted to jointly attack Clear Creek Village.

But in reality, Liu Zhu knew very well that Qi Siyuan would most likely tell Clear Creek Village this news.

After all, it wasn't exactly a secret that Yin Yunze arranged for Sun Qin to send people to befriend Upper Creek Village and Lower Creek Village.

Even thinking about it from the opposite perspective, since Yin Yunze has already approached Upper Creek Village, there's no reason why he wouldn't approach Lower Creek Village as well.

At this time, Liu Zhu pretended not to know and specially came to deliver this message. Qi Siyuan would naturally treasure it as a token of his loyalty to Yin Yunze.

But Liu Zhu's purpose was precisely to pass this message to Yin Yunze through Qi Siyuan, so as to attract Yin Yunze's attention.

Thinking about it this way, it's likely that the person from Upper Creek Village that Qi Rongrong later found, the one who supposedly revealed the information, was also someone Liu Zhu had placed at the village entrance.

After all, when investigating such matters, Qi Rongrong couldn't really go around asking everyone in the village. As an outsider with some distance from the village, Qi Rongrong could only ask people she happened to run into at the village entrance.

As long as a group of people are arranged to stand at the village entrance and chat about Grandfather Huang Three, Qi Rongrong will naturally fall into the trap.

Once the information is gathered, it's easy to point the finger at Grandfather Huang Three.

Liu Zhu, the mastermind behind it all, was able to remain well hidden behind the scenes.

Beating up the people sent by Clear Creek Village would probably also be a way to attract attention.

After all, those people were sent by Sun Qin, so they represented Yin Yunze's reputation.

If it were an ordinary person, they might not care if their face was slapped, but since it involved the evil spirit Grandfather Huang Three, Yin Yunze would most likely not be able to sit still.

The reason for not killing was so that, like now, Yin Yunze could turn around quickly after winning.

After all, if someone were to die, many things would become complicated.

Whether for the safety of the village or for his own reputation, Yin Yunze will most likely make a trip to Upper Creek Village.

Given Grandfather Huang Three's temper, any fox spirit from out of town who entered Upper Creek Village would be targeted by Grandfather Huang Three.

No wonder Yin Yunze felt that there was something unreasonable about this whole thing.

Not only Qi Rongrong, but also Qi Siyuan and Sun Qin's words seemed somewhat contradictory.

The plan, which involved the fate of more than a thousand people in three villages, was riddled with flaws.

Upon arriving at Upper Creek Village, Yin Yunze showed no signs of war whatsoever.

The reason for all this is that from the very beginning, the joint attack on Clear Creek Village was just a pretext.

The key point is to place Grandfather Huang Three in front of Yin Yunze, so that the two sides face off.

Whether Grandfather Huang Three wins, or Yin Yunze wins, or the two cooperate, or both are severely injured, or even perish together—

No matter which future it leads to, Liu Zhu has enough flexibility to remain invincible.

For example, Yin Yunze is the winner now.

Then Liu Zhu could exert his influence to the fullest extent, using his outward compliance to subtly restrain Yin Yunze, this outsider who had not yet established himself.

To be honest, when it comes to people with their own agendas, like Song Zhao in the beginning, Yin Yunze usually tries to reduce their influence rather than actually intending to kill them.

After all, people are selfish and tend to think more about themselves, and Yin Yunze is no exception.

Unfortunately for Liu Zhu, this time she went too far.

As a mortal, Liu Zhu had no idea how dangerous the death battle between the two Incense God would be.

The thought that Zhao Wan almost lost her life at the hands of Grandfather Huang Three because of Liu Zhu's petty scheme made Yin Yunze want to tear her to pieces!

To ensure their own safety, they deliberately concealed crucial information.

If only some information about Grandfather Huang Three being Land God could be revealed, Yin Yunze would have made more thorough preparations before coming to take a look.

At the very least, they would absolutely not choose to Spirit Descent into Zhao Wan's body.

It can be said that the chaotic battle in Upper Creek Village, which nearly killed Zhao Wan, was 50% due to the greed of Third Grandfather Huang, 10% due to Yin Yunze's lack of caution, and the remaining 40% due to Liu Zhu's scheming!

"Lady Fox Immortal ----" Seeing that Yin Yunze did not respond for a long time, Liu Zhu's voice became softer and softer.

Feeling a pang of panic, Liu Zhu gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and said, "But no matter how you look at it, I am truly to blame! Please forgive my offense, Lady Fox Immortal! I am willing to offer twenty taels of gold to express my remorse—"

"Ha, ha----"

Upon hearing this, Yin Yunze couldn't help but laugh, a chilling laugh, "Forgive you? Fine, I forgive you—"

I am naturally willing to forgive the dead.

After glancing at the others, Yin Yunze still didn't directly say the remaining half of the sentence.

Hearing Yin Yunze say this, Liu Zhu, who did not see Yin Yunze's cold smile, was secretly delighted.

Just as she had inquired, this was a kind fox spirit who loved gold and disliked killing.

When formulating the entire plan, Liu Zhu also specifically asked someone to investigate Yin Yunze's situation.

This arrangement was made after understanding Yin Yunze's temperament.

According to rumors, aside from her fondness for gold and her habit of forcing believers to exchange gold for things from her, Yin Yunze is seen by others as a generous, easy-going, and kind fox spirit who never kills!

This is completely different from the evil spirits that used to indiscriminately kill innocent people and feast on blood!

After all, the two blood offerings from Upper Creek Village that were previously served to Yin Yunze were first-person witnesses.

The two vividly recounted to Liu Zhu how Yin Yunze not only refused to eat but also proceeded to hurl insults at the people of Clear Creek Village.

Therefore, in Liu Zhu's view, Yin Yunze was a gentleman, and a gentleman can be deceived by reason.

However, Liu Zhu was unaware that Yin Yunze was not incapable of killing; in fact, he had killed several people.

However, Wang Guisheng is another story; he died there and probably no one would recognize him.

Some of the three women, including Spirit Medium Wang, recognized that Yin Yunze had killed them, but this matter was only known to a few people to begin with, and was naturally suppressed under the manipulation of Sun Qin and Song Ran.

Few people in Clear Creek Village knew about it, let alone Liu Zhu, the village chief of Upper Creek Village.

Liu Zhu's biggest mistake in the entire plan was misjudging Yin Yunze as a gentleman who could be easily manipulated and bullied.

But in fact, just the fact that he almost killed Zhao Wan makes it impossible for Yin Yunze to let Liu Zhu off the hook.

Not to mention, Liu Zhu's ambition is different from Qi Rongrong's.

Qi Rongrong simply wants to live a better life through her own efforts, and for that, she resorts to some clever tricks.

However, Liu Zhu's ambition lies in using the sacrifice of others as a stepping stone to gain his own benefits.

Such a person is far too dangerous.

Yin Yunze doesn't reject ambitious people, but he doesn't like dangerous ambitious individuals.

Keeping Liu Zhu around means there's a risk that he might sell out Yin Yunze for even greater profits someday.

With the example of Spirit Medium Wang, Yin Yunze will not be soft-hearted this time.

Having made up his mind, Yin Yunze once again conjured a black command flag that seemed to float in mid-air.

Just as Liu Zhu raised his head to speak, he saw the black command flag.

A sense of foreboding arose in her heart, but the more this was the case, the calmer Liu Zhu became. She then put on a pitiful expression and timidly asked, "Lady Fox Immortal, is this...? Didn't you say you forgave me?"

"Yes, I said it. I just said it."

Looking at Liu Zhu, Yin Yunze channeled the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into the Dark Heavenly Lightning Flag, saying calmly, "However, I forgot to mention a condition. If you survive this lightning strike, I will forgive you!"

Before Liu Zhu could beg for mercy, a bolt of blue lightning erupted from the Dark Heavenly Lightning Flag and struck Liu Zhu on the forehead.

However, even the lowest level of blue Purifying Lightning would be enough to instantly shred and electrocute an ordinary person's brain.

The next moment, Liu Zhu's eyes widened, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

His eyes, wide open in death, still held a deep sense of confusion.

She seemed to be wondering what she had done wrong, or perhaps why Yin Yunze had killed her.

Perhaps, there was still a sliver of doubt about how Yin Yunze dared to kill her.

Without her, how could Yin Yunze maintain his foothold in Upper Creek Village?

Liu Zhu never understood one thing: her existence wasn't as important as she imagined. In fact, the entire Upper Creek Village wasn't that important to Yin Yunze either.

After acquiring the Land God Divinity of Upper Creek Village, the villagers of Upper Creek Village were merely prospective incense providers to Yin Yunze.

Without any familial ties, why should Yin Yunze care about their feelings?

Moreover, why must all of Yin Yunze's followers be from Upper Creek Village?

Moving the residents of Clear Creek Village here would free up Clear Creek Village, making it a reserve for accommodating disaster victims.

You should be glad that you are the first person to die under the Dark Heavenly Lightning Flag after I obtained it.

He muttered something to Yin Yunze, then suddenly paused. It seemed he was becoming increasingly indifferent to the lives and deaths of ordinary people.

In the past, Yin Yunze would have hesitated for a while.

But thinking about it, it makes sense.

Having already faced death once, Yin Yunze felt it was normal for his mindset to change.

Ignoring Liu Zhu's death, Yin Yunze, holding the Dark Heavenly Lightning Flag, looked at the terrified crowd with an air of indifference, like a true god, and said, "Those who are clever with words and flatterers, and do not believe me, die!"

Liu Zhu, through her death, perfectly fulfilled the role of the chicken in the story of "killing the chicken to make a monkey."

After executing Grandfather Huang Three and Liu Zhu, the two most prestigious figures in Upper Creek Village, in succession.

This time, no one else in the crowd, including Liu Zhu, stepped forward to question Yin Yunze's words.

The next moment, countless points of light from believers were lit up.