As evening approached, Old Man Longsword hurried through the bamboo forest.
He was covered in wounds and looked exceptionally wretched. The bloody gash across his neck was particularly shocking. Had it not been for his many years of cultivation, his soul would have been shattered long ago under Hongfu's torture.
Old Man Longsword had thought he would surely die at Hongfu's hands this time. To his surprise, a masked man in black had appeared, injured Hongfu, and saved him. However, after rescuing him, the man in black vanished without a trace.
But Old Man Longsword had no time to ponder over these details. His only thought right now was to escape.
That detestable demon behind the scenes had stolen all his treasures and severely injured him, leading to his capture by Hongfu. What made him gnash his teeth even more was that those cultivators still had no idea he no longer possessed the treasures; they still treated him like a lucrative prize.
Old Man Longsword could only swallow this humiliation for now. Once he made his comeback, he would personally kill the one who had schemed against him from the shadows!
"It's Old Man Longsword! Halt!"
Numerous figures suddenly appeared. The weapons in their hands gleamed with a cold light, and pairs of greedy eyes locked onto Old Man Longsword.
In the blink of an eye, Old Man Longsword was completely surrounded.
A cultivator spoke up, "Fellow Daoists, we all discovered Old Man Longsword together. Why don't we come to an agreement? Let us exact justice on behalf of the heavens and cleanse Chiyan Peak of this traitor."
Someone chimed in, "Well said, Daoist. Old Man Longsword is an ungrateful wretch who slaughtered his fellow disciples. His crimes are already unforgivable. Perhaps the demonic beings that have been appearing frequently of late are also his doing. As our generation slays demons and upholds justice, we are duty-bound to act."
A third person smoothly added, "As for his treasures, if they fall into the hands of those with malicious intentions, I'm afraid they will stir up another storm of blood and gore. I propose that we divide these treasures equally among ourselves for safekeeping, so as to prevent further disasters. What do you think, fellow Daoists?"
The others exchanged shifting glances, then nodded in agreement one after another.
"You speak the truth, Daoist."
"That sounds perfect."
"I have no objections."
...
These seemingly glamorous and respectable cultivators used high-sounding excuses to appear righteous, yet they had already finished dividing up Old Man Longsword before even making a move.
As for whether Old Man Longsword had any objections, it did not matter.
Old Man Longsword had done his fair share of wicked deeds, but now that he was reduced to meat on a chopping block, he truly wanted to furiously curse this group of beasts in human clothing. Yet, due to a restriction placed upon him, he could not utter a single word.
With a shared glance, the cultivators eagerly charged forward.
Though they spoke of dividing the treasures equally, who didn't want to strike first and snatch Old Man Longsword's Qiankun bag before the rest?
Knowing he had reached a dead end, Old Man Longsword could only muster the meager cultivation he had left to fight them to the death.
Unexpectedly, the moment Old Man Longsword channeled his cultivation, it felt as though a fire had suddenly ignited within his body. This scorching heat rapidly spread through his entire being.
A cultivator realized something was wrong. "Not good, fall back!"
But it was already too late.
A fiery serpent burst out of Old Man Longsword's body, swiftly coiling around the approaching cultivators. Wherever its crimson tail swept, robes instantly curled into ash, flesh sizzled with a burning sound, and screams erupted one after another.
This fire serpent was no ordinary flame; it was more like a fierce and ominous demonic fire. The tighter it coiled, the more intense it became. It actually drilled into the crowd's spiritual energy meridians. No matter how much they channeled their energy to resist or swung their swords to slash at it, they only fueled the flames further.
Old Man Longsword finally realized what was happening. His eyes, bloodshot and filled with resentment, screamed frantically from the depths of his soul—
Hongfu!
Sure enough, in the next moment, a crimson whip swept past with a fierce gust of wind. With a sharp crack, the two closest cultivators were shattered at the waist by the fiery whip before they could even finish their screams. In the instant their flesh and blood splattered, they were incinerated into flying ash by the raging flames.
A vibrant red figure slowly stepped out from the firelight. Her face was as exquisitely beautiful as a blooming peony, yet her eyes harbored a bone-piercing, venomous chill. It was none other than Hongfu, who had been rumored to be heavily injured.
With a light flick of her wrist, the fire whip slithered and coiled like a living snake. Wherever it passed, the cultivators' protective spiritual auras shattered upon impact, and their meridians were burned to pieces by the unnatural fire.
All the magical artifacts left behind after the corpses burned fell into Hongfu's hands.
Old Man Longsword glared until his eyes nearly split open. The fire poison in his dantian was agitated by her, becoming increasingly violent, causing excruciating agony to tear through his meridians.
It turned out that from the moment he was rescued, this had all been a trap.
Hongfu desperately needed heavenly materials and earthly treasures to break through a cultivation realm that had remained stagnant for two hundred years. However, Old Man Longsword obstinately refused to reveal where he had hidden his treasures. Since these cultivators were covetously eyeing her from the shadows anyway, she simply gave them an opportunity.
She had tampered with Old Man Longsword's body long ago. The moment that group of cultivators drew near, they would be entangled by her poisonous fire. Afterward, she just needed to step out like this and harvest their heads one by one.
Old Man Longsword watched as the surrounding cultivators died one by one in the blazing inferno. He then saw Hongfu's whip coil around one of the cultivators, pulling him into her grasp. She pressed her hand against the cultivator's head and actually absorbed all of his cultivation into her own body.
Shock filled Old Man Longsword's eyes.
Just when did Hongfu start walking the path of a demonic cultivator!
The line between the righteous path and the demonic path was but a single thought. Two hundred years ago, the proud and arrogant Hongfu had developed an inner demon. Now, to break through her realm, she would resort to any means necessary.
The cultivators who had been clamoring to divide up Old Man Longsword just moments ago were now nothing but corpses littering the ground.
"Since you refuse to reveal the whereabouts of the treasure, then you can take this secret to your grave forever!"
With a sweep of Hongfu's whip, Old Man Longsword's body shattered, and his soul was torn apart. Filled with indignation, he turned to dust and vanished into the air without a trace.
Two handmaidens appeared and stood respectfully behind Hongfu.
As Hongfu's murderous intent gradually subsided, she ordered, "Release the news: these people were hunting Old Man Longsword. Driven into a corner, Old Man Longsword detonated his dantian, perishing together with them."
One handmaiden nodded. "Yes."
The other handmaiden spoke, "Fairy, there are many corpses on the other side of the bamboo forest. They belong to the people of Zhenyue Mountain City."
Hongfu slightly raised an eyebrow. "Let's go take a look."
Cangshu Haoxue and her group had attempted to visit Hongfu several times before, but were rejected each time. After being turned away, Cangshu Haoxue had spouted nothing but unpleasant words, leaving a deep impression of their group on the two handmaidens.
Even though they had been dead for several days, the corpses were covered in frost, preserving the gruesome state of their deaths.
When Hongfu arrived, the people of Zhenyue Mountain City happened to arrive as well.
Among the dead was the Third Young Master of Zhenyue Mountain City, yet those who came to collect the bodies showed no significant emotional changes.
"I am Cangshu Fenming of Zhenyue Mountain City. Greetings, Fairy Hongfu." The young man was handsome, looking very scholarly and refined. "I have come to collect the Third Young Master's body. I wonder if the Fairy knows anything regarding the circumstances of the Third Young Master's death?"
