Chapter 110: After confirming the gaze, you're the right person!

On the second day, at daybreak.

Shen Qing led his people to Bright Moon Sect.

As soon as Lin Zikai stepped through the Bright Moon Sect gate, he shuddered, a wave of cold hitting him.

"Strange, why is it so cold here?"

"Could it be bad feng shui?"

Though winter had just begun, the place felt as bitterly cold as after a snowfall, with even the leaves of the surrounding trees bearing a faint frost.

Shen Qing shook his head, reached out and grabbed a leaf covered in white frost: "It's not feng shui; it's true qi, extremely yin and cold true qi."

Before the scholar and others could voice their doubts, Shen Qing narrowed his eyes, and Pan Ruhai, walking closest to him, seemed to have noticed something as well.

"What is that?"

That exclamation made everyone look forward, where they saw dozens of corpses hanging from the gate of Bright Moon Sect.

Each corpse's skin had been peeled off, bloody; although the icy true qi had already frozen the bodies, the blood on the ground was enough to show how gruesome the situation was.

The scholar counted with a grim face: "Altogether thirty‑nine corpses. According to Lin Yuxiu, the sect's guarding elders and disciples total thirty‑nine, so they should all be here."

The coroner accompanying them had quickly lowered the corpses and begun a preliminary examination.

Not long after, the coroner came to report to Shen Qing.

"Reporting to the Commandant, of the thirty‑nine corpses, half show expressions of terror—they were skinned alive."

Lin Zikai sucked in a breath of cold air: "This is ruthless—we rarely resort to such methods!"

"What kind of grudge would warrant this?"

The Embroidered Uniform Guard's punishments are harsh and they spare no means, yet for hundreds of years they have never gone this far.

The scholar gritted his teeth: "The Copper Hammer Sect's extermination was the same—bodies hung on the gate—but it wasn't nearly as brutal as this."

"Are they trying to intimidate the sects participating in the anti‑Wokou resistance this way?"

"It's utterly insane."

Shen Qing continued: "What about the other corpses—can you determine their cause of death?"

The coroner nodded: "The others are still being examined, but the one with the highest cultivation certainly died from an extremely yin‑cold palm strike—a single blow that killed him instantly."

Shen Qing fell silent for a moment.

According to Lin Yuxiu, besides her there was another elder left behind who had reached the Master realm; the one who killed him was likely the grand master who dueled with Jiang Zhushen outside the Commandant's Office last night using palm techniques.

Shen Qing turned to the scholar: "Any matches?"

The scholar quickly flipped through his little booklet.

"There are plenty of grand masters who favor palm techniques in Jia Shui Jun, but adding the condition of yin‑cold true qi narrows it down a lot."

"There are three in total: Dead Water Sword, Azure Lotus True Person, and Frost Staff."

"Azure Lotus True Person and Frost Staff are both in the south fighting the Wokou; we don't know if they've left."

"Finally there's Dead Water Sword Yin He, the grand elder of Eight Cloud Sect, who has remained stationed there."

"However, according to the records I found, there's no mention of Yin He having uneven legs."

Shen Qing smiled: "Uncertain? Then it's still possible."

"Then let's go—capture Yin He and test him, and we'll know."

The gate towered, its stone steps winding deep into the clouds and mist, occasionally graced by the clear cry of a white crane.

This is Eight Cloud Sect, ranking among the foremost martial clans of Jia Shui Jun.

Its strength is respectable; it had amassed considerable wealth in Jia Shui Jun before, but it had no plans to send troops against the Wokou—instead it intended to relocate to another commandery.

Inside the main hall atop the sect's summit.

Several people sat in a circle, discussing anxiously.

"Why would the Embroidered Uniform Guard come looking for the grand elder? Could they be in trouble?"

"No, the grand elder has been in seclusion; we haven't seen him in ages."

"It couldn't be that we angered the Guard by planning to flee."

Sect Master Huang Jiang frowned and tapped the table: "Don't speculate—I've already looked into this Shen Qing."

"If he wanted to move against us, he wouldn't warn us; normally, if he truly intended to act, our first meeting would be him holding a blade to our throats."

"He's probably genuinely seeking the grand elder—let's go down the mountain to meet him, so we don't keep him waiting."

"We must speak politely."

"Hey, right—who's on gate‑guarding duty today?"

They glanced at each other: "Probably Second Elder Yun Ling."

"How can that stubborn oaf be guarding the gate? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Huang Jiang's face changed instantly.

This Second Elder is notorious in Eight Cloud Sect for his stubbornness.

The other elders' faces also shifted: "He won't pick a fight and talk back to Shen Qing, will he?"

Oh no! My sect!

Shen Qing stood before the gate, wearing a crimson‑bottomed azure flying‑fish robe, his waist belted with a narrow‑bladed Crimson Sky Treasure Saber.

Before him stood Eight Cloud Sect's Second Elder Yun Ling, his face stern.

"What does the Embroidered Uniform Guard commandant want with us? Eight Cloud Sect hasn't sent troops against the Wokou, nor have we harmed the people or the court—is it proper for you to come seeking us? If you want to see our grand elder, shouldn't you have given notice first? Showing up like this is hardly giving us face."

Shen Qing gave him a cold smirk: "Say that, and outsiders might think Eight Cloud Sect has already seceded from the Great Wu."

"Do I need to send a notice to Eight Cloud Sect before the Guard even shows up? What pomp."

Shen Qing gripped the Crimson Sky Treasure Saber, took a step forward, and a blood‑colored mist slowly spread in the air, making every Eight Cloud Sect disciple feel a tremendous pressure weighing down on them.

Immediately afterward, the red mist behind Shen Qing suddenly coalesced into a huge phantom blood dragon.

At that moment, Yun Ling's breath stopped dead; the disciples behind him were even worse, swaying left and right, feeling as if a giant hand had grabbed their hearts.

Shen Qing stepped forward, and the huge blood dragon phantom erupted, pressing toward Yun Ling so hard he didn't dare look Shen Qing in the eye: "Do you still think I didn't give you face just now?"

Zhang Shan and the others behind them let out a cold snort.

Before the Japanese pirates arrived, you were the worst at extorting wealth; now that they're here, you're also the fastest to run.

Still want face? Even if you barged straight into the mountain gate on some flimsy pretext, that would count as giving you face.

Originally, since you weren't harming the civilians, I'd have been polite and just asked you to bring out Elder Yin He for a look—but now, with this attitude?

Then that's another matter.

Shen Qing waved his hand: "Up the mountain!"

Behind him, the four hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard stepped forward in unison; the Eight Cloud Sect disciples, already unable to breathe from Shen Qing's killing intent diagram, now felt their innards about to burst.

Just then, a middle-aged man came running down the mountain, shouting as he ran: "Governor Shen, please wait! Governor Shen, please wait!"

The man was none other than Sect Leader Huang Jiang; having run all the way, even a distant glance at Shen Qing's blood dragon phantom behind him made him feel his breath catch.

Still, he gritted his teeth and ran up to Shen Qing.

"Governor Shen! Governor Shen! I am Huang Jiang, sect leader of the Eight Cloud Sect."

Then he pointed at Yun Ling: "This is our second elder, Yun Ling—a blockhead; his words don't represent the Eight Cloud Sect."

"The Eight Cloud Sect will surely welcome Governor Shen's inspection with open arms."

Shen Qing snorted: "I don't want to ask a second time—where is Elder Yin He with the Dead Water Sword?"

"He's up on the mountain, in seclusion!"

Saying that, Huang Jiang led Shen Qing up the mountain.

Soon they arrived at a cave entrance; Huang Jiang bowed and scraped as he walked over and knocked hard on the door.

"Elder Yin! Elder Yin!"

From inside came an annoyed voice: "Didn't I say not to bother me unless there's something?"

But he still came to open the door; a chilling yin aura drifted out, and Elder Yin He stepped out as well—by the dim light one could see a purple fruit treasure medicine inside the secret chamber.

At the instant he saw Shen Qing, he froze in place, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes.

And Shen Qing also noticed a scar on his wrist, and one leg longer than the other, while perfectly capturing the panic in his eyes.

After confirming the gaze, you're the right person!

"Hundred Split Fist Bone!"

In an instant, nearly a hundred fist images swept out, seeming to destroy heaven and earth.

Bang!

Elder Yin He's whole body flew up, then was flung backward, losing all ability to move.

All the Eight Cloud Sect elders and disciples on site hadn't reacted yet—how did Shen Qing suddenly strike? Or was it an instant supreme technique?