Chapter 303: Execution

Duan Rong looked at the thin plum blossom on the blood-stained handkerchief; it seemed that even the blood covering the sky could not drown out its proud and aloof temperament...

Suddenly, Duan Rong's brow twitched, for his peripheral vision caught sight of a person standing at the edge of the dense forest ahead.

Duan Rong grabbed the handkerchief and tucked it into his sleeve, then fixed his gaze on the person.

He saw Fan Yuanhai, whose left arm was severed halfway, looking at him with a smile.

"Disciple Duan Rong! These Tainted Blood Demons are truly terrifying; it is fortunate that you are unharmed. Come, let us go to the Official Road together! The others are all waiting for us there."

Duan Rong was a Registered Disciple, and Fan Yuanhai was an Outer Sect Disciple; for him to call Duan Rong 'Disciple' could be considered a form of closeness between fellow sect members.

As Fan Yuanhai spoke, he had already begun walking slowly toward Duan Rong.

"Senior Brother Fan, it seems you are injured?" Duan Rong's gaze swept over Fan Yuanhai's severed arm, and he retreated with a grave expression.

"Indeed, I was almost killed by that Tainted Blood Demon; fortunately, my life is tough." Fan Yuanhai noticed Duan Rong looking at him with a wary expression and frowned slightly.

When they left the city, Fan Yuanhai had separated from the group, which had already aroused Duan Rong's vigilance.

Now, this person had suddenly appeared before him again.

Duan Rong did not believe that Fan Yuanhai was worried about his safety and had come specifically to find him.

He had absolutely no such friendship with Fan Yuanhai.

Duan Rong's Divine Sense had already been projected, passing through Fan Yuanhai's dantian.

Fan Yuanhai was at the True Qi Realm Second Layer, and the True Qi within his dantian was far from exhausted!

Duan Rong's thoughts churned like lightning, his gaze deep.

"Disciple Duan Rong, why do you keep retreating? Could it be that your Senior Brother would eat you?"

Fan Yuanhai approached slowly, originally intending to take advantage of Duan Rong's inattention to destroy his dantian in one move and capture him. He did not expect that Duan Rong seemed to have seen through his intentions at the very first encounter and kept retreating.

At this moment, the distance between the two had not only failed to shrink but had actually widened significantly.

"Senior Brother Fan is joking. In this desolate mountain and wild forest, it must have taken quite some effort for you to find me, right?"

"Sigh... doesn't this just show that you and I are fated?"

"That is so, that is so..." Duan Rong echoed, then suddenly exerted his Cloud Snake Step to its full extent, his figure leaping into the nearby dense forest.

The moment Duan Rong's figure moved, Fan Yuanhai also raised his True Qi and dashed out.

The two dashed into the dense forest almost simultaneously. Fan Yuanhai was a powerhouse at the True Qi Realm Second Layer and was quite skilled in Lightness Skill; although Duan Rong kept making turns in the dense forest, Fan Yuanhai still closed in on him in less than two breaths.

Fan Yuanhai smiled and said, "Disciple Duan Rong, your Senior Brother wants to be close to you; why do you push people away like this?"

As Fan Yuanhai spoke, his right hand reached behind his waist, gripped his Iron Fan, circulated his True Qi, and struck toward Duan Rong's dantian.

His movement technique and cultivation realm were far superior to Duan Rong's; there was no reason for this strike to miss.

Duan Rong had projected his Divine Sense and had long since thought everything through; the moment the Iron Fan closed in, he moved his mind, and blood threads instantly erupted all over his body!

The floating, wriggling blood threads were like living things; the moment they erupted, they gathered and bulged like a mass of blood-colored sand, colliding with the incoming Iron Fan!

Fan Yuanhai only felt a flash of blood shadow before his eyes, and his Iron Fan was caught by the gathered and bulging blood threads!

Duan Rong's Filthy Blood Divine Art had already reached the Second Layer; his achievement in the Filthy Blood Divine Art was already at the same level as Xueseng Wuxiang and Wei Yutian.

"Filthy Blood Divine Art!"

Looking at the blood shadow before him, Fan Yuanhai's figure could not help but stall, and his thoughts churned like a tide.

"Duan Rong is actually a Tainted Blood Demon of the Filthy Blood Sect!"

Fan Yuanhai immediately understood why Duan Rong had been able to kill Xie Daohan.

And looking at it this way, this person was the inside agent for this ambush.

What was even more terrifying was that Duan Rong was still a Registered Disciple of the Sect.

This was a major case of the Sect being infiltrated by the Filthy Blood Sect!

If he cracked this case, advancing to an Inner Sect Disciple would not just be a possibility! It would be a certainty!

Such a great merit! It had actually fallen from the sky!

Fan Yuanhai could not hide the look of wild joy in his eyes.

Duan Rong's figure flickered, Plum Blossom Afterimages bloomed at his side, and one Willow Leaf Knife after another flashed with light, shooting toward Fan Yuanhai.

Fan Yuanhai flicked his wrist, and with a 'Crack!', he opened his Iron Fan.

The Iron Fan flickered, fanning down the Willow Leaf Knives one by one!

While Fan Yuanhai disdainfully swatted away the flying knives shot by Duan Rong, he pondered a strategy to deal with him.

But Duan Rong already had a plan in mind.

He suddenly dashed forward, holding the Minghong Saber, and slashed at Fan Yuanhai. Fan Yuanhai swatted at the Blade Shadow with his fan, and Duan Rong immediately retracted; at the same time, he flicked his left hand, and another Willow Leaf Knife shot out!

Fan Yuanhai swung his Iron Fan, and with a 'Ding!', he swatted the Willow Leaf Knife away, then sneered, "Disciple Duan Rong, you have practiced these juggling tricks quite well; it would be a waste not to perform on the street..."

Facing Fan Yuanhai's sarcasm, Duan Rong's expression remained unchanged; his gaze was fixed on the tattered cloth wrapped haphazardly around Fan Yuanhai's severed left arm...

Just at this moment, the tattered cloth soaked in bloodstains suddenly drifted off...

That tattered cloth had been wrapped around the wound haphazardly to begin with; after the two had chased each other through the dense forest, and with Duan Rong using flying knives and feints to harass him, he had intended to force Fan Yuanhai to move his body rapidly.

Sure enough, as Fan Yuanhai's figure swayed, the tattered cloth he had wrapped haphazardly fell off the wound...

The moment the tattered cloth fell off, Duan Rong suddenly closed in and slashed at Fan Yuanhai with his saber. Fan Yuanhai sneered and swept his fan across.

Just at this moment, Duan Rong moved his mind, and a Divine Soul Wave shot out abruptly.

The invisible and silent ripples passed through Fan Yuanhai.

The sneer on Fan Yuanhai's face suddenly stiffened; in that instant, his mind went blank!

In that split second, Duan Rong flicked his left sleeve, grabbed a handful of Poison Powder, and smeared it onto the wound of Fan Yuanhai's severed arm.

"I'll apply some medicine for you!"

Having succeeded in his strike, Duan Rong immediately flickered his figure; Plum Blossom Afterimages bloomed at his side, and one Silver Needle after another shot out from within the afterimages.

At this moment, what Duan Rong shot out were no longer Willow Leaf Knives, but Silver Needles soaked in poison!

Fan Yuanhai's mind suddenly went blank; it was but a flash of lightning, yet he was startled to realize it, and he swung his Iron Fan, knocking down the flying Silver Needle that Duan Rong had shot over!

Upon seeing the needle-type hidden weapon, he became even more certain that Duan Rong was the person who had committed the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu Case!

Fan Yuanhai naturally knew that what Duan Rong had just smeared onto his wound was clearly some kind of poison.

He immediately circulated his True Qi, sealing the various meridians on his severed arm to prevent the poison from invading his internal organs along the severed limb.

What shocked Fan Yuanhai the most at this moment was that for a split second just now, his Divine Soul had been blank, in a state of near-blackout.

Fan Yuanhai had never practiced the Womb Treasury Sutra, and this Divine Soul Wave was a Soul Technique that could only be unleashed after achieving the third layer of the Embryo Storage Realm; he had never even heard of it.

In his view, Duan Rong making his mind go blank instantly was clearly some kind of demonic art of the Tainted Blood Divine Sect again.

Duan Rong not only had Tainted Blood protecting his body, but also possessed strange means to attack the Divine Soul, which immediately gave Fan Yuanhai a massive headache.

Fan Yuanhai's mind had only been blank for an instant, after which he knocked down the few flying needles Duan Rong had shot over, but when he circulated his True Qi to seal the meridians on his severed arm, he discovered that in just one breath, the toxin was already about to invade past his shoulder!

Once the toxin passed the shoulder, it would invade his heart meridian!

"This speed of infection..."

A chill ran through Fan Yuanhai's heart; he suddenly thought of the words of the Coroner Liu Kui, that the violent speed at which the poison Xie Daohan had been struck with spread far exceeded that of the Corpse Rot Poison.

Fan Yuanhai's complexion turned as black as the bottom of a pot in an instant; with a wave of his Iron Fan, he smashed it toward his own severed arm—at this point, circulating True Qi to seal the meridians was already too late.

His severed arm was a fresh wound and still bleeding, and Duan Rong had directly smeared a handful of Poison Powder onto it. The toxicity of the First Grade Red was fierce, and Duan Rong had used such a large amount that the toxin naturally invaded Fan Yuanhai's body like fire.

The large and small meridians on Fan Yuanhai's severed arm were already completely filled with toxin at this moment, and it was spreading at a terrifying speed, visibly about to pass the shoulder and press straight toward the heart meridian.

In his haste, it was impossible for Fan Yuanhai to circulate his True Qi to seal off all the large and small meridians on his severed arm at once.

Therefore, he made a prompt decision to sever his arm to survive, using his Iron Fan to smash his own arm off at the root!

Just as his Iron Fan was about to be raised, Duan Rong immediately knew what he was going to do; Duan Rong's figure flashed, and with a leap, he actually tackled Fan Yuanhai to the ground.

Duan Rong used his own body to block the strike of the Iron Fan that Fan Yuanhai was aiming at his own severed arm. Because, with his martial arts realm, neither his blade nor his flying needles could possibly block a strike from a True Qi Realm martial artist.

The moment Duan Rong tackled Fan Yuanhai, Fan Yuanhai's strike with the Iron Fan hit Duan Rong's chest; blood threads floated and squirmed all over Duan Rong's body, gathering and bulging to take the blow.

As the two were about to fall to the ground, Fan Yuanhai could feel countless slippery blood threads squirming on his face, as if his whole face were covered in maggots and leeches; nausea surged in his heart instantly.

Fan Yuanhai exerted his movement technique, stepped on the ground, and flew backward with his body tilted, dodging away from Duan Rong.

Fan Yuanhai had just steadied his figure when he cried out that it was bad, because in that very instant just now, the toxin had already invaded past his shoulder and entered his heart meridian.

Fan Yuanhai was both shocked and furious; without any hesitation, he used his fan to smash off his own left arm at the root, because the toxin was still continuously spreading and invading from the severed arm.

A spray of blood splattered, and the bone fragments were exposed at Fan Yuanhai's bloody shoulder.

The sudden, immense pain made Fan Yuanhai dizzy, and he almost collapsed!

Duan Rong stood not far away with blood threads floating all over his body; his Divine Sense penetrated Fan Yuanhai's body, and his heart immediately settled—the First Grade Red had already invaded Fan Yuanhai's heart meridian.

Fan Yuanhai immediately sat cross-legged in the dense forest, wanting to circulate his energy to force out the poison.

Once the toxin entered the heart meridian, it would instantly spread throughout the body with the heart's pumping of blood. But if he sealed the heart's beating, even if Fan Yuanhai were a True Qi Realm expert, he would not last long. Moreover, sealing the toxin inside the heart would cause the heart to rot away very quickly.

Seeing Fan Yuanhai sitting cross-legged, Duan Rong just looked at him with an unmoved expression.

Duan Rong was very clear. This time with Fan Yuanhai was different from the time with Xie Daohan; Xie Daohan's toxin had entered through the stomach, and he could still force it out by circulating True Qi. Therefore, when Xie Daohan sat cross-legged to force out the poison, Duan Rong had constantly harassed him.

But this time for Fan Yuanhai, the toxin had entered the heart; the toxicity of First Grade Red was so fierce that once it entered the heart meridian, there was simply no saving him.

Even if he did nothing at this moment, Fan Yuanhai would undoubtedly die.

Moreover, the toxin Xie Daohan had been struck with was only three Silver Needles; what kind of dosage had he given Fan Yuanhai?

If the Evil Physician Shen Ping knew that he had just smeared First Grade Red on like that, he wondered if he would scold him for wasting a heavenly treasure.

However, after only a few breaths, the toxin had already permeated into all of Fan Yuanhai's meridians; it was impossible for his True Qi to force it out!

He suddenly opened his eyes, and a fierce light shot from them!

He was a True Qi Realm Second Layer martial artist; he had never thought that Duan Rong, an Inner Breath Realm practitioner, could actually kill him!

But he knew in his heart that he was already doomed to die today!

Duan Rong had blood threads floating and squirming all over his body and was protected by the Filthy Blood Divine Art; he could not possibly kill Duan Rong, but even if he could not kill him, he could expose him.

As long as he rushed to the Official Road and told Zhu Qunxiang and the others that Duan Rong was an inside agent for the Filthy Blood Sect, Zhu Qunxiang and the others would never let Duan Rong go!

Fan Yuanhai suddenly jumped up, leaped, and ran wildly in another direction.

Duan Rong was stunned for a moment; he had thought Fan Yuanhai would launch a desperate counterattack before dying, but he had not expected that Fan Yuanhai would still be thinking of fleeing when death was imminent.

"Not right!"

Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat; he immediately understood Fan Yuanhai's vicious intentions, and he ran wildly to chase after Fan Yuanhai.

But Fan Yuanhai was a True Qi Realm expert, and his Lightness Skill was excellent; how could Duan Rong catch up?

Yet, just as Fan Yuanhai exerted his movement technique, in only a few breaths, his vision began to double, and his footsteps became unsteady.

The toxin had originally only been within his meridians; after his wild run, the toxin instantly invaded his muscles and organs.

He could not see it himself, but he was already blood-red all over, as rich and bright as blood!

This color was much more intense than the color when Xie Daohan died!

Fan Yuanhai leaped up, and while in mid-air, his figure suddenly stalled, and he fell straight down.

Duan Rong, who was several yards behind him, stopped not far away after a few leaps, looking at Fan Yuanhai who had fallen to the ground with a cautious expression.

Fan Yuanhai landed on his back, and Duan Rong could clearly see that his face was as red and bright as if it had been painted with fresh blood.

Duan Rong flicked his hand, and a Silver Needle shot toward the center of Fan Yuanhai's brow; the Silver Needle sank straight in without any resistance.

Duan Rong's heart relaxed, and he let out a breath of turbid air; with a thought, the blood threads floating and squirming all over his body suddenly retracted into his body through his pores.

While the blood threads were floating and squirming, Duan Rong had been suppressing his trypophobia, those waves of nausea and itching that kept rising.

If there had been any other way, he would never have wanted to use the Filthy Blood Divine Art.

Duan Rong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and repeatedly used his Divine Sense to investigate; his Divine Soul had already consumed quite a bit, and he had also used a Divine Soul Wave just now, so his Divine Soul was already sending out a stinging pain, and a heavy look of exhaustion appeared in Duan Rong's eyes.

Duan Rong gritted his teeth and walked toward Fan Yuanhai's corpse with rather heavy legs.

Duan Rong walked over, grabbed Fan Yuanhai's corpse, and walked slowly out of the dense forest, returning to the ruined temple.

Duan Rong threw Fan Yuanhai's corpse beside the headless corpse of Xueseng Wuxiang, then with a single blade strike, he severed Fan Yuanhai's head.

Stimulated by the thick, bloody stench, those ownerless blood threads on Xueseng Wuxiang's headless corpse, which were already withered and famished, immediately spread and climbed toward Fan Yuanhai's corpse like wild grass; in just a few breaths, Fan Yuanhai's corpse had turned into a dried husk...

(End of chapter)