Chapter 55: Heart Like a Snake and Scorpion

“Open...”

He Pingsheng had nowhere left to retreat!

He waved his hand, and the talisman transformed into a fireball the size of a foot, roaring outward toward the giant serpent’s mouth.

The speed was too fast; the giant serpent had no time to dodge.

Boom...

The Fireball Talisman exploded inside the giant serpent’s mouth.

Splash...

Immediately, red blood rained down from the air.

In agony, the giant serpent could no longer continue swallowing He Pingsheng, but its pain was immense—it twisted its massive head violently and slammed into He Pingsheng.

At this moment, He Pingsheng had already prepared himself.

A layer of earth armor expanded around his body, followed by a layer of fire shield.

In addition, the supreme magic treasure, the Green Wood Shield, was also activated.

Three layers of defense altogether.

These three shields, even a Qi Refining Stage Twelve cultivator might not break through in one blow.

But the golden giant serpent was Foundation Establishment.

Crash...

He Pingsheng was instantly blasted away.

The three shields he had raised shattered like paper.

The Green Wood Shield was knocked far away, landing on the ground.

His body flew over ten zhang before crashing heavily to the earth.

“Puh... puh-puh...”

After landing, he spat out several more mouthfuls of blood.

The might of Foundation Establishment was beyond the comprehension of Qi Refining disciples.

Fortunately, He Pingsheng had three layers of shields, and that strike had merely been the serpent’s instinctive outburst of pain—not a true attack—otherwise, whether He Pingsheng would still be alive was uncertain.

“Roar...”

The golden giant serpent stared at He Pingsheng, its vertical pupils brimming with boundless hatred, then prepared to strike.

At that moment, He Pingsheng’s master, Yu Ning, finally arrived.

“Beast... how dare you harm my disciple?”

Yu Ning stepped forward, landing in midair, and flicked her dust whisk—white threads shot out, wrapping around the giant serpent.

The serpent and Yu Ning clashed, neither gaining the upper hand.

“Damn beast!” At this moment, the master of Hongde Courtyard, Yu De True Person, finally emerged from his cultivation chamber—he roared, and immediately took control of the golden giant serpent.

“What happened?”

After controlling the serpent, Yu De turned to Yu Ning: “Sister... why are you fighting this beast?”

“Hmph...” Yu Ning sneered. “That’s something you should answer yourself—why did this serpent suddenly fly out of your palace and attack someone? Look at my disciple—he’d be dead if I’d arrived half a breath later!”

At this moment, He Pingsheng had risen from the ground and retrieved his Green Wood Shield.

He dared not raise his head, fearing Yu De might recognize him.

Of course, he was overthinking it.

Yu De did not recognize He Pingsheng.

“Boy, what happened?” Yu De demanded of He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng replied: “Respected Master, one of your junior attendants claimed to carry your decree, summoning me to Hongde Courtyard for questioning. I followed him to the courtyard’s entrance, but saw no sign of you—only this serpent bursting from your cultivation hall, nearly swallowing me!”

“Junior attendant?” Yu De’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t send anyone...”

“Don’t falsely accuse me!”

Yu De stared at He Pingsheng.

“Master!” At this moment, Zhao Linger stepped forward. “I can testify—it was your attendant Mingzhu who did this.”

“Good, good, good!” Yu Ning sneered. “Brother, your own attendant is using your name to kill people!”

Yu De’s face turned black. “Mingzhu... come out here! I want to know who gave you the nerve!”

“Grandfather... Grandfather...”

At that moment, Linglong emerged from Hongde Courtyard with a group of disciples. “Grandfather... Mingzhu dared to forge your decree and nearly killed Brother He!”

“I’ve already executed him on the spot!”

“Look!”

Crash...

Several disciples tossed a corpse onto the ground.

Who else could it be but Mingzhu?

This...

Everyone stared in stunned silence.

Dead?

No witnesses left?

He Pingsheng took a deep breath and looked at Linglong. If he still didn’t understand what had happened now, he might as well be dead.

He had refused to help this woman with her pill refining, and she had held a grudge—so she fabricated an excuse to lure him here, then unleashed the golden serpent to kill him.

If He Pingsheng died, all blame could be pinned on the attendant Mingzhu.

Clever plan.

So cruel.

A snake-and-scorpion woman.

Linglong’s gaze turned toward him.

Her eyes brimmed with provocation, arrogance, and a touch of condescension.

“Brother!” Yu Ning said. “As far as I know, my disciple had no contact or grievance with your Hongde Courtyard attendant. If you don’t give me an explanation, I’ll take this matter straight to our Master!”

“He Pingsheng, did you have any feud with Mingzhu?”

After speaking, Yu Ning turned to He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng shook his head. “No... until just now, I didn’t even know Mingzhu’s name.”

“Then it was an accident!” Yu De declared outright. “This beast doesn’t understand human nature—it probably didn’t recognize Brother He and attacked out of fright!”

“No!” Zhao Linger shouted from afar. “Master, it was clearly Linglong who asked Brother He to refine pills and was refused—then she set this trap!”

“You must investigate thoroughly!”

“Otherwise, why would Mingzhu forge your decree to summon He Pingsheng? That makes no sense!”

Swish...

All eyes turned to Linglong.

Linglong panicked. “Lies... I didn’t... I didn’t...”

Yu De’s gaze sharpened as it landed on Linglong.

He knew his granddaughter’s nature too well—but he couldn’t sacrifice her over this.

“Brother He,” Yu De turned to He Pingsheng. “You’re the one involved—what do you think?”

He Pingsheng paused, then bowed. “I don’t know the truth. I thought perhaps refusing to refine pills might anger Sister Linglong—but I never believed she’d be so heartless.”

He Pingsheng naturally wanted to kill Linglong.

But he knew it was impossible.

Since he couldn’t strike her down in one blow, better to retreat.

Otherwise, screaming and raging would only be foolish noise.

How could someone so high above him kill his own granddaughter for a mere disciple?

Even if he was an inner sect disciple, what did that matter?

This wasn’t cowardice—it was stepping back to hide and wait for an opportunity.

“Hehe... Brother He speaks wisely!” Yu De chuckled. “Very well. I believe this was merely a misunderstanding. Let it rest—I’ll continue investigating.”

“Brother He, don’t take offense—here’s some compensation...”

“Take it for now. When I have progress, I’ll give you a proper explanation.”

A Hundred Treasures pouch was thrown toward him.

He Pingsheng took it without hesitation.

Why refuse free gains?

“Sister... what do you say?” Yu De turned to Yu Ning.

Yu Ning nodded. “Fine... let it be this way for now.”

“Pingsheng, Ling’er...” Yu Ning turned to her disciples. “Come with me.”