Chapter 998: One Each. Finish Them Off!

How were the two supposed to choose?

They had already watched Elder Niu attack people from Misty Pavilion. Was there anything he did not dare do?

Just moments ago, Elder Niu had personally shown them his strength.

If they chose badly, at least one of them would probably be unable to leave alive.

Yet betraying an Elder of their own sect was also a deeply troubling problem. If they did not betray him and Misty Pavilion eventually uncovered the truth, the consequences were easy to imagine.

Faced with a choice this difficult, Qin Guan gave an evasive answer. "We obey the sect's decree."

Niu Youdao smiled. "That's more like it. We're all doing this for the good of the sect."

One of the two cursed his mother inwardly. The other sent greetings to his ancestors.

This was for the good of the sect?

Would the sect dare do something like this?

"Relax. It isn't as serious as you think. Like I said, if two people die here, Misty Pavilion won't be able to find out who did it..." Niu Youdao began talking the matter through with them.

Neither man agreed in his heart.

Outwardly, however, both nodded and murmured obedience.

After he had rambled on for a while, a pained voice suddenly came from behind them.

"I'll talk!"

Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie looked back.

Niu Youdao walked between them toward the two prisoners.

After exchanging another glance, the disciples followed.

Only when they reached the two wounded men did they notice something abnormal.

Both prisoners wore expressions of intense pain.

Half of each man's skin had turned blazing red as though scorched by fire, while frost had formed over the other half.

The sight made Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie look at one another in alarm. Neither knew what was happening.

What they did not know was that the two men's bodies were trapped in an extreme torment of heat and cold.

The pain was difficult to describe.

Their spiritual power had been sealed, leaving them unable to resist with cultivation. Their bodies had no choice but to endure it directly.

Niu Youdao asked, "Willing to talk now?"

The mud-covered man said painfully, "I'll talk."

Niu Youdao turned to the other. "And you?"

The man with the broken arm trembled. "Even if I talk, you won't let me live."

Niu Youdao said, "Let me remind you of something. He's already willing to talk. If you refuse, then I have no choice but to kill you."

"I'll be direct. Once you betray Sacred Realm and Misty Pavilion, I'll have leverage over you. At that point, I won't need to kill you. You'll still be useful to me."

That reasoning made sense.

Someone else had already agreed to speak. If he alone remained silent, he truly would be choosing death.

Still suffering under the torment, the man with the broken arm gritted his teeth. "Fine. I hope you keep your word. I'll talk."

"That's more like it. No reason to make things harder on yourself."

Niu Youdao bent down and pressed a palm to the chest of the mud-covered man.

The frost on the man's body gradually melted.

The abnormal burning redness of his skin also faded.

The torment temporarily receded.

The man drew heavy breaths, gasping like someone finally freed from unbearable suffering.

Niu Youdao then went to the other prisoner and similarly relieved his pain for the moment.

After withdrawing his hand, he warned them, "I'll ask questions. You answer. I'll compare both of your statements. If even one answer doesn't match, I'll remove a piece from one of you, or simply kill whichever man is lying. Understand?"

The two men lying on the ground panted without answering.

Niu Youdao lifted his sword.

He suddenly jabbed the man with the broken arm.

The prisoner immediately lost consciousness.

Niu Youdao returned to the mud-covered man and said to Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie, "Prepare something. I'll ask questions. You record his statement."

The two still could not understand why he was taking such a huge risk and going to all this trouble.

They did not think it was worth it.

But to Niu Youdao, this was necessary.

For someone making decisions, understanding the situation was the most basic foundation for judgment.

The factions of the cultivation world knew far too little about Sacred Realm and Misty Pavilion.

They did not even possess useful information about the opponent before them.

Without that, they effectively did not even qualify to face them.

No one had paper or brushes.

There was nothing nearby suitable for recording testimony either.

At Niu Youdao's reminder, they finally stripped the unconscious man's clothing, cleaned the cloth, and used his blood in place of ink.

Niu Youdao pointed at Qin Guan to make the record and ordered Ke Dingjie to watch the surroundings.

Only then did he question the wounded man on the ground.

"First, give me the names of the Misty Pavilion personnel taking part in this Demon Fox hunt."

"Chen Biao, Lu Tianguang..." The mud-covered man lay on the ground gasping, slowly recalling the names one by one.

There were many names.

Reciting all of them smoothly from memory was not easy, and from time to time he had to stop and think.

After the entire list had been given, Niu Youdao took the names one by one.

"What does Chen Biao normally do in Misty Pavilion? What post does he hold..."

He asked about them one by one.

The mud-covered man answered each question in turn.

There was a great deal of information.

Niu Youdao repeatedly reminded Qin Guan to record only the essentials and omit useless words. They had too little material to write on.

By the time he finished asking only these questions, the sky was already nearing dusk.

Niu Youdao did not yet know what use this testimony might ultimately have.

But he had already gained something basic.

More importantly, he had found something that made his heart stir.

One name on the list had caught his eye.

Ao Feng.

According to the prisoner, Ao Feng had come from Wuliang Garden.

Wuliang Garden was a forbidden ground of Sacred Realm where the Wuliang Fruit grew.

The Wuliang Fruit was what the Demon Fox race called the Fox Immortal Fruit.

Niu Youdao stared at Ao Feng's name on the list for a while before asking, "Tell me about this Ao Feng. Wuliang Garden is forbidden ground in Sacred Realm. Someone assigned to guard Wuliang Garden shouldn't normally be able to come out and take part in this competition. Why is he here?"

The mud-covered man said, "He probably didn't want to remain trapped there and used connections to get out during this opportunity."

"Wuliang Garden is one of the places the Sacred Venerables value most. It's forbidden ground. The duty looks easy, but in reality anyone serving there walks on thin ice. The slightest negligence means losing your head. If something goes wrong, no matter who you are or what your background is, you won't escape death."

"And once someone enters Wuliang Garden, they practically lose their freedom. Almost no one wants to serve there."

"This competition offers heavy promotion to those from Misty Pavilion who achieve outstanding results. The few important positions inside Wuliang Garden have long been fixed in the hands of the Nine Saints' confidants. Ao Feng probably has ambitions of his own."

Niu Youdao looked again at the information recorded beside Ao Feng's name.

"He's from Wuxu Sacred Land. A grand-disciple of Sacred Venerable Du Wuxu..."

The mud-covered man explained, "He's a disciple of Ye Nian, who is a disciple of Du Wuxu. He probably got out because of that connection."

Niu Youdao pondered this and gave a slight nod.

Then he asked, "How many Wuliang Fruits are there inside Wuliang Garden?"

The man replied, "They're extremely difficult to grow. How could there be many? It's said that long ago there was an entire grove, with many fruit trees. Later, the Sacred Venerables forcibly destroyed almost all of them and left only one tree."

"That single tree bears only twelve fruits."

"Countless people have already died because of that one tree."

Niu Youdao fell briefly silent.

Then he asked, "What does Ao Feng look like?"

"Tall and thin. Fair-skinned, no beard, large eyes..." The man abruptly paused.

Then realization struck him and he looked alarmed.

"You want to find Ao Feng? What are you planning to do?"

Hearing that, Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie's hearts lurched as well.

Tall and thin.

Fair-skinned, no beard.

Large eyes.

Those three traits were already enough.

Niu Youdao raised his sword and jabbed the man, knocking him unconscious immediately.

"Wake the other one and question him. Verify whether this fellow lied about anything."

He tossed the cloth covered in writing to Qin Guan and told him to handle it.

Qin Guan obeyed.

He woke the man with the broken arm and repeated the interrogation according to Niu Youdao's method, checking the previous prisoner's information against his answers.

One man interrogated.

One man kept watch over the surroundings.

Niu Youdao stood nearby with both hands resting on his sword, his gaze flickering as he contemplated something no one else could read.

From time to time, Ke Dingjie observed Elder Niu's expression.

After night fell, Niu Youdao ordered Ke Dingjie to light a campfire so Qin Guan could continue working.

Ke Dingjie's heart jumped again.

He could not help warning, "Elder, if Misty Pavilion discovers two people are missing and starts searching everywhere, won't this fire expose us?"

Niu Youdao said, "You're overthinking it. They won't immediately begin searching everywhere the moment two men fail to return by nightfall. They'll wait first. Only after confirming the two truly disappeared will there be any possibility of a search."

"Their next rendezvous point is far from here. By the time anyone finds this place, we'll already be finished."

"Even if someone does come, they won't all swarm over together. Don't worry. If anything happens, I'll deal with it. You only need to keep watch."

Ke Dingjie felt uneasy and helplessly did as ordered.

He had thoughts of running.

But he also worried he would not get away.

Deep into the night, Ke Dingjie suddenly approached Niu Youdao and whispered, "Elder. Beneath the tree behind us on the right."

Niu Youdao turned his head.

In the grass beneath the tree, a familiar shadow could be faintly seen.

The black fox again.

This was already their third encounter.

Through the grass, the fox and the man clearly met each other's eyes.

Niu Youdao slowly turned back and ignored it.

Ke Dingjie reminded him quietly, "Elder, Demon Foxes possess intelligence. It saw what we're doing. If word of this gets out, I'm afraid we'll have serious trouble."

Niu Youdao replied, "You don't need to worry about it. I have my own considerations."

At that moment, Qin Guan, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground, shifted his body and also struck the man with the broken arm unconscious.

Then he rose and walked over, presenting the piece of clothing.

"Elder, I've verified it. The information basically matches."

Niu Youdao stood.

He took the cloth, then tilted his head left and right.

"One each. Finish them off!"

"Ah!"

Both men cried out involuntarily.

Naturally, they understood what he meant.

Qin Guan said with a trembling voice, "Elder, didn't you say that once they betrayed Misty Pavilion, you'd have leverage over them and no longer need to kill them? You said they could still be useful!"

Niu Youdao replied, "Misty Pavilion has plenty of people. Capturing two isn't difficult. But Zijin Cave only has the two of you here. Their lives aren't important. I value the two of you more."

"Will you choose to betray the sect, or will you choose to protect the sect's interests? Decide for yourselves."

"But let me remind you: as an Elder of Zijin Cave, I have a duty to clean out traitors from the sect."

The two were trapped between impossible choices.

They desperately wanted to ask him how the hell doing something like this counted as protecting the sect's interests.

Seeing neither speak or move, Niu Youdao looked from one to the other and smiled without smiling.

"Don't force me to clean house. Forget the two of you. Even your masters together wouldn't be my match. You can't run."

"You know what we've done. I have no road back now."

No choice.

The two finally understood.

This Elder kept using the circumstances to offer them choices that were not choices at all.

In the end, both drew their swords.

Beside the campfire, blades rose and fell.

Blood sprayed.

Two heads rolled across the ground.

The two Misty Pavilion men were beheaded.

Behind the grass beneath the tree, the black fox witnessed the entire scene.

Its eyes visibly widened, as though even it found what it had seen difficult to believe.

In the firelight, Niu Youdao's face remained expressionless.

He tossed the written cloth to Qin Guan after the latter turned back.

"Carrying around Misty Pavilion clothing is inconvenient. Copy the information onto the small handbooks you have and keep it for later."

"Clean the scene thoroughly. Leave no trace."

"I have something to do. Wait here for me."

The two men had only just begun to ask where he was going when Niu Youdao's figure flashed.

He shot away like an arrow released from the string, straight toward the black fox hiding behind the grass beneath the tree.

[End of Chapter 998]