Chapter 39

"Heh... that's good... that's good..."

Zhong Zhong Wanchou took one last look at Gu Gu Hanyuan, and after he nodded, he breathed his last in peace.

Gu Gu Hanyuan understood the meaning of that look: "Take good care of the two of them."

Gu Gu Hanyuan felt a touch of emotion.

Zhong Zhong Wanchou did not actually have to die, as he posed absolutely no threat.

For a man who had been played in the palm of Gan Gan Baobao's hand, his life or death held little significance.

Gu Gu Hanyuan thought to himself:

So this is what it means to be a villain?

Bearing the resentment, unwillingness, and attachment of those who died because of him, hacking through thorns and brambles in a sea of blood like an Asura.

One cannot retreat, because behind lies a cliff.

"Brother Wutian, I beg you for one thing."

Gan Gan Baobao pleaded with Gu Gu Hanyuan.

"Speak."

"Help me kill Duan Duan Yanqing."

"Fine."

Gu Gu Hanyuan agreed readily, his eyes cold and sharp.

"Duan Duan Yanqing, if you survive this move, you can live today. If you can't, then die."

Duan Duan Yanqing actually still had many uses for Gu Gu Hanyuan, but there was no need to make himself unhappy for the sake of petty gains.

Of course, if he could truly withstand Gu Gu Hanyuan's move, he could be spared today; he was a dead man sooner or later anyway.

He would just use his life to place a bet.

Seeing a purple longsword appear in Gu Gu Hanyuan's hand, Duan Duan Yanqing vigilantly focused his attention to face him.

"Crown Prince Duan Yanqing, I have always felt guilty toward you in my heart; today, I shall lend you a hand."

Because of the events of that year, Duan Duan Zhengming felt his claim to the throne was illegitimate, so he wanted to take this opportunity to resolve his hatred.

Duan Duan Yanqing, however, did not appreciate it at all, his ventriloquism sounding out:

"Duan Duan Zhengming, do not think I will give up on reclaiming the throne."

Duan Duan Zhengchun originally did not want to get involved, but firstly, he held a grudge against Gu Gu Hanyuan, and secondly, he could not let Duan Duan Zhengming go to help alone, so he called upon Master Master Huangmei and the four of "Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer, Scholar" to step forward together.

Although Ye Ye Erniang and Yue Yue Laosan felt fear, they both had confidence in Duan Duan Yanqing and did not believe Gu Gu Hanyuan could kill him in one move; at this moment, they firmly held their weapons to help.

Gu Gu Hanyuan did not care about the increase in the number of opponents; after all, apart from Duan Duan Yanqing and Duan Duan Zhengming being Grandmasters, the rest were merely at the Innate realm.

"Sword Twenty-One."

After Gu Gu Hanyuan gave a soft shout, sword qi appeared on the magic sword, and the sword qi grew more and more numerous; a full twenty-one streaks of sword qi, mixed with the momentum of thunder, shot toward Duan Duan Yanqing.

Although Duan Duan Yanqing had long been vigilant, because the two were quite far apart, he waited quietly for the opponent to make a move.

He did not expect it to be a sword qi attack, and in such great numbers.

Duan Duan Zhengming had always thought that the "Six Meridian Divine Sword" was the only martial art in the world capable of emitting sword qi, and he did not expect to see even more terrifying sword qi today.

Just looking at the momentum, he felt that Duan Duan Yanqing could not block it.

Duan Duan Yanqing, Duan Duan Zhengming, and Duan Duan Zhengchun tried their best to fire the "One Yang Finger," but they only managed to knock down a few streaks of sword qi; the remaining dozen or so streaks continued to shoot toward the crowd.

Except for Duan Duan Zhengchun, who was avoided, the others hit by the sword qi faced an almost certain death.

Despair even began to appear in everyone's eyes.

Yet at this moment, five monks entered the scene.

It was precisely the high monks of Tianlong Temple, led by Master Master Kurong.

Master Master Kurong had originally been lurking in the shadows out of concern for the safety of Duan Duan Zhengming and the others.

After all, he was the emperor of a country; if he were to pass away, the country would inevitably be in turmoil.

Furthermore, he also felt guilty toward Duan Duan Yanqing and had to prevent him from being killed, which led to the current scene.

Duan Duan Zhengming and the others had already been somewhat desperate, not expecting to find a way out of a hopeless situation.

The five monks of Tianlong Temple began to emit sword qi from their fingers simultaneously; it was indeed the "Six Meridian Divine Sword."

In particular, Master Master Kurong's "Shaoshang Sword" could almost knock down a streak of sword qi every time.

As the foundation of Dali, all the members of Tianlong Temple were Grandmasters, and Master Master Kurong was even at the late stage of the Grandmaster realm; using such a supreme skill as the "Six Meridian Divine Sword," they quickly knocked down most of the sword qi.

But several streaks of sword qi still landed in the crowd.

Duan Duan Yanqing's shoulder was pierced through.

As the main force of the defense, Master Master Kurong was hit by three streaks of sword qi. Blood flowed from his arm, thigh, and abdomen; fortunately, his realm was high enough, and he dodged the fatal attacks at the last second, leaving him only severely injured.

Benguan and Benxiang were also injured in the arms by sword qi while protecting Duan Duan Zhengming.

The "Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer, Scholar" and others had lower realms and were not the main targets, so they were not hit.

"Amitabha. Benefactor, your martial arts are peerless; please spare Duan Duan Yanqing. Tianlong Temple will remember this in our hearts."

After Master Master Kurong pressed acupoints on several wounds on his body to stop the bleeding, he put his palms together and bowed.

He knew that a single move had left everyone unable to parry; if he insisted on attacking, no one would be able to leave alive.

He did not dare to insist on saving face and directly begged for mercy.

"This seat keeps his word. Since he did not die under my 'Sword Twenty-One,' I will give him a chance to live."

Gu Gu Hanyuan did not have the intention to kill Duan Duan Yanqing; since his life was not meant to end today, letting him go was fine.

Master Master Kurong breathed a sigh of relief and performed a Buddhist salute again.

"From now on, wherever you are, the Four Great Evils will surely keep their distance."

Duan Duan Yanqing also knew that he was just lucky today; shocked by Gu Gu Hanyuan's martial arts, he spoke softly and fled directly with Ye Ye Erniang and Yue Yue Laosan.

Dao Dao Baifeng glanced cryptically at the departing Duan Duan Yanqing and breathed a sigh of relief.

Duan Duan Zhengming also signaled with his eyes that Duan Duan Zhengchun must not provoke such a formidable enemy.

Duan Duan Zhengchun nodded with frustration; he knew he would not be getting Gan Gan Baobao back.

The crowd left accordingly.

Although Gan Gan Baobao was slightly unwilling about this result, she knew her status in Gu Gu Hanyuan's heart was not high and did not dare to force it.

She pondered asking Zhong Ling to help her plead with him.

After Gan Gan Baobao collected Zhong Zhong Wanchou's remains, she returned to Wan Wan Jiegu with Gu Gu Hanyuan.

Zhong Ling was also very sad after learning of Zhong Zhong Wanchou's death from Gan Gan Baobao.

Although she already knew he was not her biological father, the affection from raising her for more than ten years was still very deep.

Afterward, Gu Gu Hanyuan stayed in Wan Wan Jiegu to comfort Zhong Ling.

The continuous rushing had made Gu Gu Hanyuan somewhat tired, so he rested well in Wan Wan Jiegu for a few days.

During this time, Zhong Ling gave herself to Gu Gu Hanyuan.

"Brother Gu, I like you. Even if you are a bad person, I still like you."

Zhong Ling bravely wrapped her arms around Gu Gu Hanyuan's neck.

Gu Gu Hanyuan, having removed his mask, had gentle eyes as he gazed at Zhong Ling, who looked like a startled little deer.

"I like you too."

"Brother Gu, will you always like me?"

Zhong Ling was still somewhat fearful of what was about to happen.

Gu Gu Hanyuan did not reply, only using his palm wind to blow out the candle.

This girl, who was like a forest sprite, had jumped and skipped into his heart; how could there be any reason to let go?

Because of the previous events, Gan Gan Baobao was still very worried about whether Zhong Ling could handle it.

Fortunately, Gu Gu Hanyuan was still very gentle with Zhong Ling; after all, she was not like other people's wives, whom he could use without feeling heartache.

However, although Zhong Ling was innocent, she was intelligent after all.

These past few days, Gan Gan Baobao would always find various excuses to come find her and chat about trivial things.

In reality, her eyes would often steal glances toward Gu Gu Hanyuan, and she knew that something must have happened between the two.

Coupled with the fact that she already knew Gu Gu Hanyuan was a bad person, she was not too surprised when she saw the two come out of the room together.

Of course, dissatisfaction was inevitable, and she ignored Gu Gu Hanyuan for quite a while.

But after all, she was sunny and open-minded, and before long, she was sweetly clinging to him again.