Chapter 16: Chen Qing's Calculations (Part One)

It seems...Lord Chen's deductions were spot on!

Wei Gongcheng finally acknowledged with heartfelt admiration; it was no wonder that Lord Wang could entrust a matter of life and death to him. That lord's meticulousness was no less than Lord Wang's. Upon first hearing about the Thousand-Faced Fox, he had never thought so deeply about it.

"General Wei doesn't seem surprised by my appearance?" The benevolent-looking old man smiled genially at Wei Gongcheng. The entire dark domain was devoid of color, the only thing visibly clear was his figure, and his voice could be heard, giving Wei Gongcheng an incomparably strange feeling.

"I merely suspected..." Wei Gongcheng said coldly, "I'm very curious why you suddenly chose to make a move against me?"

"Because you're more likely to mess things up..." the old man said with a gentle smile, "You people of the Wind Snake Bloodline don't act reasonably. No matter how clever the deception and arrangement, your body's bloodline will alert you, and since you've separated the puppets from the non-puppet personal soldiers, you must have noticed something..."

Upon hearing this, Wei Gongcheng looked around: "Your technique can completely seal a person off, preventing even sound from escaping, can't it? No wonder Lu Jiaming and the others, although not far from the Governor-general's Mansion, still let you harm them right under the general's nose!"

"This isn't necessarily a bad thing..." the old man observed his opponent and said, "Mister Hua Pi's craftsmanship is extraordinary. Even when turned into puppets, they still retain the memories from before their death. Isn't this another way of surviving? Plus, there's no fear of growing old, nor any sickness, hunger..."

"Ha..." Wei Gongcheng burst out with an ironic laugh, "Since it's so wonderful, why don't you try it yourself?"

As he spoke, his hands clenched tightly, and his muscles tensed up, ready to burst forth with vitality, when suddenly he felt a chill down his spine, then a numbness spread throughout his body, as if all his strength had dissipated, and Wei Gongcheng instantly collapsed to the ground with weak legs!

What the devil is this?

Wei Gongcheng felt a cold chill in his heart, vaguely sensing something... crouching on his back...

"Knowing you are from the Wind Snake clan, I naturally knew you could summon Weichi Peng by exploding your vital blood. How could I let you succeed?"

Surprise flashed in Wei Gongcheng's eyes. He even knew about this?

Descendants of the Wind Snake could stimulate their bloodline to summon the celestial Peng, a supreme secret of the family known only to the direct descendants through the generations, kept secret from illegitimate members both of the Weichi Clan and the Wei Family. How did the other party know?

Could it be...

At the thought of a certain possibility, Wei Gongcheng felt an exceedingly chilling sensation!

"Tell me, who is the person who controlled the Ghost Doll and then contacted you?" The old man stepped closer.

"What are you talking about?" Wei Gongcheng asked, breathing heavily.

The thing on his back seemed to drain one's essence, at first causing numbing weakness, but now he could feel his gathered essence slowly fading away!

"Why play dumb, General Wei?" The old man's smile faded as he spoke in a solemn tone, "Though the Wind Snake Bloodline is troublesome, it's just that, a trouble. With your capabilities, it's impossible for you to guess our arrangement. But today, you separated the puppets from the living correctly, obviously with the guidance of a mastermind. Did you want to lure me out, am I right?"

The person behind the Ghost Doll?

Wei Gongcheng was puzzled. Could the ordinary scholar operate a Ghost Doll?

But his face showed a cold sneer, "Since you guessed it, you still dare to show up?"

"You want to lure me out, and I want to extract information from you," the old man sneered back, "In the end, who outsmarts whom still comes down to each other's abilities, doesn't it?"

"I think so too!" Wei Gongcheng's face twitched, and he wanted to sneer back coldly, but with his entire body numb, he couldn't even move his facial muscles; he could only struggle slightly to show he wasn't conceding.

"Don't struggle anymore..." The old man approached step by step, walking straight up to Wei Gongcheng. In his hand, somehow, were four or five steel needle-like objects, making Wei Gongcheng's eyelids twitch.

"What's on your back is a Child-Mother Ghost. Once entangled and poisoned, not even the strongest warrior can move a muscle. Thinking of biting your tongue to stimulate your vital blood? It's completely a dream..."

With that, a steel needle pierced right into his chin, driving into the crown of his head, an unprecedented pain nearly caused Wei Gongcheng to faint!

As a vassal family, they were trained in enduring torture from a young age, but no form of brutal torment ever felt as excruciating as this moment.

What made it even more terrifying was that despite such agony, his muscles remained lax, tension was impossible to achieve, tortured like dead flesh, an exceptional driving force to break a person's spirit...

"Doesn't it hurt?" The old man's voice was still exceedingly gentle, but his eyes showed the thrill of tormenting another, "It hurts so much you don't even have the strength to clench your teeth. I didn't lie to you, did I?"

Wei Gongcheng stared dead at the man. In just a few seconds, cold sweat had drenched his clothes, yet he truly couldn't muster a shred of energy.

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"General Wei... since I'm being so honest, why don't you reciprocate a little?" The old man took out a second steel needle, aiming at the other side of the subject's chin: "The person advising you from behind the scenes, who exactly is it?"

Wei Gongcheng's complexion turned a fierce dark shade yet he stubbornly remained silent.

Seeing this, the old man did not hesitate to insert the second needle!

Wei Gongcheng's eyes widened as the second needle was inserted excruciatingly slowly, bit by bit into the flesh, piercing through bone and meridian, making him feel as if billions of insects were crawling under his skin. The cold pain intensified gradually, almost devouring his entire consciousness!

"No need to rush... We have plenty of time!" The old man's smile grew even more benevolent: "I'll ask once, if you don't answer, I'll stick another needle, understand? That Vice-general Lu Jiaming is also very tough, but he only endured four needles. Tell me... how many can you endure?"

"You!!" Wei Gongcheng's eyes were about to burst with rage, bloodshot as he glared at the old man. If looks could kill, the old man would have been torn into a thousand pieces.

"Don't make such a scary face..." The old man's laughter grew even happier: "It's still early..."

"General... avenge our brothers!!"

As Wei Gongcheng shed tears of blood, that last effortful shout made the old man shake his head in amusement: "Your general... can't hear you. In my technique, only I can hear your voice. Otherwise, do you think your brothers... Hmm?"

As he spoke, the old man's expression suddenly paused, and he frowned, crouching down. Wei Gongcheng was kneeling on the ground looking up, his face bloody and shouting in rage, but it was as if his voice froze in that second!

"Dead?"

The old man checked the carotid artery of the other's neck, his expression immediately one of surprise!

How could this be?

The Child-Mother Ghost's poison was supposed to paralyze the nerves; this man shouldn't have had the strength to commit suicide, and even if he were to sever his heart channels, he would need to gather his blood energy to do it. In a state of complete paralysis, he shouldn't have been able to kill himself...

Bloodline secret technique?

A moment of annoyance flickered across the old man's face. He was about to dispel his technique when he suddenly felt an overwhelmingly terrifying murderous aura!

He was shocked, turning around abruptly only to find that a tall figure with a broadsword was approaching step by step out of the darkness.

The man, unable to see his surroundings, took each step carefully and slowly, yet his eyes brewed with an enormous rage!

"Weichi Peng..."

Glancing at Wei Gongcheng's lifeless body, the old man chuckled: "I see, you used your own life to summon your own general, eh?"

He waved his hand, and a shapeless entity crawled off Wei Gongcheng's body. Upon closer inspection, one could see that similar eerie figures writhed all around in the darkness, identical to the thing on Wei Gongcheng's body, dense and chilling to the bone.

"Mr. Miao always stopped me from attacking you, saying Weichi Peng must not be antagonized directly!" The old man cackled wickedly: "I refuse to believe that. Today, I shall see for myself, the strongest Family Head in The Weichi Clan's history!"

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"Hei Wu... he's made his move!"

At the hot spring inside the mountain, Mr. Miao, now dressed, looked towards Lyuzhou City with a sense of awareness.

"As expected..." Master Huang continued carving the statue of Wang Ye without looking up: "When you used to keep him in check, he restrained himself somewhat. Now that neither of us is in Lyuzhou City, with his combative nature, it's no wonder that he couldn't hold back..."

He paused before speaking again: "However, it's not necessarily a bad thing that he's chosen to confront Weichi Peng. With his capabilities, he should be able to restrain Weichi Peng for a while."

"What worries me isn't that..." Mr. Miao said, shaking his head seriously: "I always feel we've miscalculated. We shouldn't have left him in Lyuzhou City; we should have brought him with us to protect us."

"You always overthink..." Master Huang rolled his eyes and was about to say something more when something in the corner of his eye made him almost jump in fright!

Mr. Miao also sensed it and turned sharply to look. Without knowing when, a tall figure appeared ten meters away – the Ghost Doll clad in coarse hemp clothes!

"How did he track us here?" Master Huang was immediately flustered.

But Mr. Miao was looking beyond the Ghost Doll: "Since you have come, why not step out and see us?"

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