Chapter 107: Jiang Ye

You refused a chance to live, then.

Seeing Liu Yiyi and Wang Siyi turn and flee, Gu Yang’s smile slowly faded, replaced by a cold sneer.

He stepped forward at a leisurely pace, chasing after them, each footfall making the ground tremble slightly, like a predator playing with its prey.

“Jiang Elder! You’re incredible!”

Zheng Hui covered her mouth in shock, her dark eyes brimming with admiration: “My brother chopped at it dozens of times and couldn’t split it open—you smashed its head with one punch!”

Hearing this, Zheng Feng’s face flushed slightly with embarrassment; he cleared his throat but said nothing in defense.

Still, his gaze toward Jiang Ye grew even more respectful: “So Jiang Elder specializes in fist techniques! You’ve truly broadened our horizons!”

When Jiang Ye dealt with Feng Gang earlier, he hadn’t even used a technique—just manifesting his true qi had severed Feng Gang’s arm.

Now, seeing Jiang Ye’s brutal, forceful fist techniques, Zheng Feng felt even more deeply that this Jiang Elder was utterly inscrutable.

“Jiang Elder, why isn’t this corpse ghost attacking us? Do they naturally avoid humans?”

Jiang Ye stared at the headless corpse ghost and asked Zheng Feng, puzzled.

Zheng Feng shook his head slightly: “That doesn’t make sense. Ancient texts describe corpse ghosts as bloodthirsty, extremely sensitive to the scent of the living—almost always killing on sight.”

“As for why this one hasn’t moved... I don’t understand the reason...”

He stared at the headless corpse for a moment, equally baffled.

“But I sense that whoever created this corpse ghost probably wasn’t a good person.”

Zheng Feng sighed, frowning deeply.

At that moment.

Zheng Hui flared her nostrils, her eyes suddenly brightening with excitement: “I smell something cold and icy—it must be an ice-elemental spiritual herb!”

“Oh?!”

Hearing this, Jiang Ye and Zheng Feng forgot about the corpse ghost’s anomaly and asked at once: “Which direction?”

“Over there!”

Zheng Hui pointed toward a side tunnel on the opposite side of the cave—a path entirely opposite to the one they’d come from, deep and unknown.

“Go!”

Without hesitation, Jiang Ye and Zheng Feng moved instantly, with Zheng Hui protected between them; three figures swiftly vanished into the side tunnel.

“Bad news, Sister Yiyi! That big fool is catching up!”

Wang Siyi glanced back and saw Gu Yang drawing nearer, each stride covering two or three times the distance of a normal man’s; his once-simple face now wore a mocking sneer.

Wang Siyi’s heart pounded as if trying to leap from her throat; her legs trembled, yet she ran with all her strength.

Liu Yiyi didn’t look back—she fixed her gaze ahead, a resolve slowly hardening on her cold, beautiful face.

She knew clearly: with their both being Dark Force cultivators, escaping Gu Yang was nearly impossible.

His strength even surpassed her father, Liu Qingshi.

“Wang Shimei, run separately from me.”

Liu Yiyi took a deep breath, her voice cool and firm: “His target is me—the one holding the snow lotus. Run that way—he won’t chase you.”

“No! Sister Yiyi, I’ll fight beside you to the end!”

Wang Siyi shook her head firmly, her youthful face set with stubbornness, her beautiful eyes flashing with equal resolve.

At that moment, a large group of disciples appeared ahead at the fork.

Some from Tianqing Sect, others from Hanjian Sect—they were arguing over something, chaotic and noisy, none noticing the situation here.

Wang Siyi’s sharp eyes spotted Chen Lili among them.

That tall, graceful figure stood out sharply in the crowd.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, voice thick with desperate hope:

“Sister Chen! Save us! This big fool wants to kill us!”

Chen Lili turned at the cry—and her face instantly paled.

Because Liu Yiyi’s appearance and aura were so striking, Chen Lili remembered her clearly—and by extension, the ever-present Wang Siyi.

She saw the snow lotus in Liu Yiyi’s hand, and Gu Yang hot on their heels.

Her sharp mind instantly understood what had happened.

This Hanjian Sect disciple was trying to steal the treasure and kill them.

“Scum! Stop right there!”

Chen Lili drew a deep breath and roared, charging toward Gu Yang.

She’d seen this Hanjian Sect disciple’s strength—he was far above her.

But Jiang Elder had entrusted all these outer disciples to her before leaving; she couldn’t stand idly by.

Besides, as fellow Tianqing Sect disciples, how could she watch her own sect members slaughtered?

No matter what, she had to act.

Chen Lili’s strength neared the late Dark Force realm; her internal force erupted, her body swift and agile as a furious she-leopard charging at Gu Yang.

“Seeking death!”

Facing Chen Lili’s furious charge, Gu Yang sneered with a cruel grin and swung his fist out violently.

Chen Lili dodged nimbly to the side, then struck hard at his neck.

Her punch was fast and brutal.

But Gu Yang didn’t dodge or evade—he smirked with contempt.

He twisted his neck, letting his muscular shoulder take the full force of her blow.

Thud!

A muffled sound.

Chen Lili felt as if she’d punched solid bronze—pain shot through her fist.

“Hmph!”

Gu Yang grunted, absorbing the blow without moving an inch; as Chen Lili’s momentum faded and her next strike hadn’t formed, he spun and slammed a fist straight into her chest.

“Damn.”

Chen Lili’s heart froze; she barely raised her left arm to block.

Crack.

A crisp snap of bone.

Her left wrist shattered instantly; a crushing force surged through her arm, shaking her entire body, churning her internal organs.

She was thrown back five or six meters, stumbling, face as white as paper, nearly collapsing to the ground.

In that brief moment, Liu Yiyi and Wang Siyi had run farther ahead—but to Gu Yang, it was still just a few steps.

“You can’t escape! No one can save you today!”

Gu Yang’s once-simple face now twisted with savagery.

He drew a deep breath, gathering all his force into his legs, then exploded forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, stirring up a gust of wind.

In the blink of an eye, he stood behind them—his towering figure loomed like a moving mountain, casting a shadow that swallowed them whole.

“Sister Yiyi, run...”

Wang Siyi, nearly paralyzed with fear, gritted her teeth, spun around, and launched every ounce of her strength into a punch aimed at Gu Yang.

That punch carried all her courage and despair—yet it was like a moth flying into flame.

“Fool!”

Gu Yang casually swung his fist to meet hers—not even using full power.

Thud.

The two fists collided; Wang Siyi’s slender arm couldn’t withstand such force—she flew backward like a kite with severed string.

“Ugh...”

Her delicate body slammed into the ground, rolled twice, blood trickling from her lips; she tried to rise but her limbs were limp, collapsing helplessly onto the floor.

“Wang Shimei!!!”

Liu Yiyi’s cold eyes narrowed sharply; rare fury darkened her brow; her fingers clenched white, knuckles cracking.

Then, a look of desperate, sacrificial courage spread across her face.

Before Gu Yang’s savage gaze, Liu Yiyi unhesitatingly opened her mouth and swallowed the snow lotus whole.

“You dare!!!”

Gu Yang’s eyes bulged, his savage expression twisting into pure, uncontrollable rage, veins throbbing violently on his temples like a mad beast: “I’ll cut open your belly and still retrieve the snow lotus!!!”

Liu Yiyi swallowed the snow lotus, her cold eyes showing no fear—only a bitter smile: “Then try.”

“Worthless bitch! I’ll flay you alive!”

Enraged beyond reason, Gu Yang raised his fist to strike.

The next instant.

A killing intent, utterly yin and icy, descended like a glacial river pouring from the heavens.

That killing aura was freezing, brutal, as if countless tormented souls wailed at their ears, as if ten thousand cavalry thundered across mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Gu Yang’s body hair stood on end; his half-swinging fist froze mid-air—he was as if petrified by a spell.

He turned instinctively to look back.

Right into a pair of ancient, merciless eyes.

At the same moment, everyone present felt the temperature in the cave suddenly spike.

A scorching aura, like an invisible tide, surged from the owner of those ancient eyes, sweeping away all the cave’s cold dampness.