Chapter 84

Li Miao glanced at Mei Qinghe, then looked toward Liu Baiyun.

Liu Baiyun was an old hand in the Jianghu; he immediately understood, and while Mei Qinghe was distracted, he tapped a finger against the side of her neck.

Mei Qinghe slumped softly to the ground.

Li Miao twisted his fingers and said, "The current situation is unclear; I don't know what this Yun Zelin is plotting."

"If you want revenge, wait until I slaughter him, then let Little Mei hack at the corpse a few times—that will suffice. There's no need to be so desperate."

Liu Baiyun bowed deeply to Li Miao: "My lord, thank you."

Li Miao waved his hand: "No need."

He turned his head and said to the three sect leaders: "The three of you did very well today."

"First, collect the corpses of your sect members, then join Sect Leader Liu in searching the city to see if there are any remaining Gu poisons or Ming Sect members."

"Among the officials guarding the city gates, there is one named Jiao Qingfeng who can handle things. After you finish cleaning up the city, have him lead the able-bodied citizens to put out fires and check for any trapped people."

"I will head to the Taishan Sect first. After you finish your tasks, go to the foot of the Taishan Sect and guard the mountain paths. Do not let the Gu poison from the mountain leak into the surrounding villages and towns, or this matter will never end."

"I'm going to see what exactly this Ming Sect Right Envoy is planning."

"I let him keep his life back then; today, it is only right to settle the score."

Before his voice had faded, Li Miao had already vanished.

The others went about their business cleaning up the aftermath, but let us return to Li Miao.

There was still some distance between Tai'an City and Taishan.

Li Miao had been rushing about all night without a moment's rest.

First, he saved Wang Hai, then galloped back to Tai'an City with him. After arriving and wanting to rest for a moment, he discovered the citizens had been poisoned by Gu.

Afterward, he rushed to the Prefectural Yamen, ordered the officials and soldiers to guard the city gates, and searched the city for citizens, using his true energy to purge the Gu insects.

When Wang Hai returned with Li Xiaosi, Li Miao rushed out of the city without stopping, found Mao Yingxia, and killed five hundred Gu soldiers.

After the slaughter, he rushed back into Tai'an City, saved Jiao Qingfeng, and then went to support Wang Hai and the others in the city.

Every single one of these tasks was far from easy. Only Li Miao could have taken them all on in the span of a single night.

But even ignoring everything else, the consumption of his true energy was real.

Yet Li Miao did not stop for a moment, rushing toward the Taishan Sect.

According to the three sect leaders, there were still a pile of Taishan Sect disciples poisoned by Gu on the mountain.

The Taishan Sect was not Tai'an City; it had no city walls. If these people were allowed to run down the mountain and rush into the surrounding villages and towns, it would inevitably be a repeat of the disaster in Tai'an City.

Even if he ignored the Gu poison, Li Miao could not leave Yun Zelin alone to stir up trouble on the Taishan Sect.

Li Miao did not understand the internal affairs of the Ming Sect, but he clearly felt that the Ming Sect's plan had been stabbed in the back by someone other than himself, creating loopholes, which was why he had been able to defeat them one by one.

If the Ming Sect's plan had been followed, Mao Yingxia would have entered the city with five hundred Gu soldiers, and combined with the chaos caused by the Flood Banner leader's group, the number of people dead tonight would certainly be more than what he saw now.

And the person who stabbed the Ming Sect in the back was most likely Yun Zelin, who had appeared at the Taishan Sect.

Thick Earth Banner leader Zhou Mingxu had truly been sent by Yun Zelin to Li Miao to be killed.

Moreover, although these Ming Sect members recognized Li Miao, they did not have a deep understanding of his Wu Gong Realm. That was why Lan Lechuan had appeared alone on the Taishan Sect, only to be killed by Li Miao.

Only this Yun Zelin seemed to have been certain from the beginning that Lan Lechuan would die at Li Miao's hands. One must know that even Zhu Zai did not know Li Miao's current realm, so how could this Yun Zelin be so certain?

Li Miao used his light-body technique to the fullest; his speed was much faster than a horse.

In less than an hour, he appeared at the foot of Taishan.

Before even ascending the mountain, Li Miao faintly smelled a hint of fishy stench.

Following the stone path hidden by the mountain forest, he could see corpses lying on both sides of the road.

The vast majority were Taishan Sect disciples, along with some Tai'an City soldiers, as well as a small number of eunuchs and Embroidered Uniform Guard corpses.

Li Miao walked up to the corpse of a Taishan Sect disciple, reached out to pluck a branch from a nearby tree, infused it with true energy, and slashed across the corpse's chest.

The originally fragile branch was now like a sharp sword, easily slicing through flesh and revealing the sternum inside.

Li Miao poked with the branch again, shattering the sternum. The corpse's heart was then revealed.

Its shape was already different from a normal person's; it was pitch black and covered in hyperplastic flesh.

Li Miao raised his eyebrows.

He found a few more corpses and did the same.

Looking at the identical internal organs, Li Miao twisted his fingers.

The Gu insects inside these Taishan Sect disciples... why did it seem like the mother Gu was already dead?

If the host died, the Gu insects would remain as they were, merely losing their vitality.

If they were forcibly dug out, they would be shriveled and white.

Only if the mother Gu died and these Gu insects died along with it would they turn into this pitch-black, gelatinous mass.

Throwing down the branch, Li Miao walked quickly toward the main hall of the Taishan Sect.

Outside the main hall of the Taishan Sect was a plaza, now covered in blood and corpses; there was not a single living person left.

And from far away, Li Miao saw Yun Zelin sitting comfortably in the main seat inside the open doors of the Taishan Sect's main hall.

Li Miao smiled, raised his hand, and pointed from afar with a "Profound Heaven Finger."

It must be said, this unique skill of the Ming Sect was truly useful: its power was not bad, and he didn't have to worry about getting his hands dirty. Although Li Miao looked down on the Ming Sect's conduct, he was fond of this martial art.

The sharp true energy whistled past, piercing toward Yun Zelin's face.

Yun Zelin was sitting in the main seat, his hands on the armrests, his head lowered, his eyes tightly closed.

He actually didn't react at all.

In an instant, the "Profound Heaven Finger" struck his forehead.

Blood splattered everywhere!

Half of the skin on Yun Zelin's forehead was torn away, revealing the white skull beneath!

Li Miao raised his eyebrows and stepped through the door.

He hadn't held back at all with that strike just now.

Yun Zelin had taken that blow head-on, yet only the skin had been torn; there wasn't even a mark left on the bone.

"Jin Gang."

Without a doubt, Yun Zelin had already mastered "Jin Gang."

Suddenly, Yun Zelin moved, slowly raised his head, and opened his eyes.

Only then did Li Miao see his face.

Wrinkles covered it, his eyes were dim—he looked exactly like an old man of seventy or eighty!

Yun Zelin opened his eyes, but his vision was blocked by the flesh hanging down from his forehead.

He raised his hand to touch it, smiled, and actually tore that piece of flesh off directly, throwing it casually to the ground.

"Li... cough, cough, Lord Li, you have come."

He opened his mouth to speak, his voice old and sticky, like an old man on the verge of death.

Li Miao looked Yun Zelin up and down and said, "The Five Decays of Heaven and Man."

"Are you sick in the head? Going to such lengths just to seek death?"

"I was wondering, with your martial arts, how could you not know I had arrived, and how could you not dodge that strike of mine."

"You are in so much pain that you have no energy to pay attention to the outside world, right?"

Yun Zelin curled his lips, a terrifying, aged smile appearing on his face: "Yes, this 'Five Decays of Heaven and Man' is much harder to endure than I expected."

"To be able to see Lord Li, all of this is worth it."

"I must also thank Lord Li for this greeting. A distinguished guest has arrived, yet I was completely unaware; I have lost my manners, and I hope you will forgive me."

Having said this, he bowed to Li Miao with a sincere and apologetic face.

"However, for a mediocre person like me, if I don't put in some effort and pay some price, how can I discuss the Dao with Lord Li?"

"It took fifteen years, the death of Left Envoy Lan, the death of Sect Leader Zuo, and I myself am on the verge of death, just to exchange for this brief moment to stand side-by-side with Lord Li."

Li Miao said: "You say this as if we are very familiar."

"If I remember correctly, I only met you once fifteen years ago, right?"

"You sacrificed half the Ming Sect and your own life just to say these irrelevant things to me?"

Yun Zelin smiled and gestured toward the seat beside him: "Lord Li, please sit for a moment."

"Dharma Protector Mao's five hundred Gu soldiers, although they couldn't hurt Lord Li, must have consumed quite a bit of Lord Li's true energy."

"If I am not mistaken, Lord Li has still not taken that step, and your true energy is limited."

"Why not sit for a moment and listen to me say a few words. Afterward, I will hand this life over to you to dispose of, how about that?"

(End of chapter)