Chapter 158: Skin-Cutting Love
The woman then snapped coldly, "Where do you think you're going? You really think you can escape? I have to admire your naivete—luring me out and exposing your identity when you don't even have any True Qi. You're not going anywhere. Obediently tell me everything you know!"
Huang Yongfeng sneered, "Go ahead, notify Wu Xing. I've actually captured Chen Dong, and I've hidden the Mingxi Grass in a certain place. If you want the Mingxi Grass, I'll take you there!"
Outside the door, Chen Dong, who was pretending to play on his phone, froze for a moment. He chuckled inwardly. 'Since when was I captured by Huang Yongfeng? How come I didn't know? What should I do now? Maybe I should play along and let him 'capture' me. That would make things more interesting!'
Not long after, the two walked out of the room. Chen Dong, hiding nearby, finally got a look at the woman. He wasn't too impressed. Her attire was rather frivolous: a shoulder-baring, cutout white qipao paired with black stockings, white high heels, and very trendy makeup. To Chen Dong, she looked less like a Sect Leader's Wife and more like a woman heading out for a wild night at the club.
He followed the pair outside the hotel. A short while later, a bus pulled up. From their auras, Chen Dong could tell there were thirty-two people on board, both men and women.
Before getting on, Huang Yongfeng discreetly hid something in his mouth. After the two boarded, the bus sped away.
Chen Dong could see through the bus windows that everyone on board was from the Star-Picking Sect, all wearing the sect's uniform.
He followed the bus toward the suburbs, and about half an hour later, it arrived at an abandoned factory.
The bus stopped right in the middle of the factory, and the group escorted Huang Yongfeng off. A fierce-looking middle-aged man at the head of the group kicked Huang Yongfeng to the ground. His clothing was different from the other Star-Picking Sect members—it was far more ornate. His black and gold Daoist robe was embroidered with a terrifying giant hand grasping a cluster of stars.
The man asked viciously, "Wu Liu, where are the treasure and the person you mentioned? There isn't even a ghost here! If you don't want to die, you'd better start talking!"
Huang Yongfeng chuckled coldly as he climbed to his feet. He mocked, "Do I look like someone who's afraid of death? Wu Xing, what do you think of the feng shui here?"
Wu Xing stared coldly at Huang Yongfeng. "Whatever tricks you're planning, just get on with it. Even if you aren't afraid to die, I have plenty of ways to make you talk!"
Huang Yongfeng burst into laughter. "This is the grave I've prepared for all of you! Not only have I set up the Array of Qiu Niu here, which you can't escape, but I've also buried two tons of explosives underground." As he spoke, he spat a button-shaped object from under his tongue, showed it to the members of the Star-Picking Sect, and then quickly swallowed it again. At that very moment, a curtain of light enveloped the factory, proving his words were true.
"Don't come any closer! The explosives here aren't just on a timer—the device in my mouth will also detonate if it takes a hard enough hit!"
The members of the Star-Picking Sect were instantly terrified! The power of two tons of explosives in such a small space could mean life or death even for a Celestial Spirit Peak expert, to say nothing of them. Most of them were only at the high-grade True Qi level. There were only twelve Grandmasters, including the Sect Leader's Wife, Xiaoyu, and only three Celestial Spirit Powerhouses: two Elders and the Sect Leader, Wu Xing.
This group represented the last of the Star-Picking Sect's core strength; only a few scattered members were left back at the sect headquarters. Though few in number, their power was considerable. A single Grandmaster could establish a respectable family, and they had twelve. A single Celestial Spirit Powerhouse could found their own sect, and if they were to join the Military Suppression Department, they could serve as a Hundred-man Banner leader or even a general banner leader.
Including the five Celestial Spirit Powerhouses who had already died, the Star-Picking Sect had a total of eight such experts. The sect had once been even more powerful, but an internal conflict over a decade ago had killed nearly half of its powerhouses. Even the Sect Leader at the time, who had been the most promising candidate to break through to the Wai Xiang realm, died in that struggle.
The Sect Leader's Wife, Xiaoyu, looked particularly grim. She had personally searched Huang Yongfeng and found nothing but a mobile phone and a Magical Artifact Knife.
Seeing that Huang Yongfeng still had the detonator switch hidden in his mouth, she shouted coldly, "Wu Liu, are you insane? Do you want to wipe out the Star-Picking Sect's entire lineage?"
Xiaoyu believed that since Huang Yongfeng had once been a disciple of the Star-Picking Sect, he couldn't possibly have the heart to watch all its members die.
Huang Yongfeng sneered. "The Star-Picking Sect belongs to Wu Xing now. What does its fate have to do with me?"
Sect Leader Wu Xing roared, "You son of a bitch, are you trying to take us all down with you?"
Huang Yongfeng retorted mockingly, "Take you all down with me? Are you even worthy? I only want to die with Xiaoyu. The rest of you are just side dishes!"
A murderous look flashed across Wu Xing's face. The Sect Leader's Wife, Huang Xiaoyu, had originally been Wu Liu's woman before he had forcibly taken her for himself—at least, that's what he had always told himself. But Wu Liu's words truly stoked his Heart Fire to a furious blaze.
The Celestial Spirit energy in his body instantly coalesced. But just as it did, he felt something was wrong. There was poison in the factory. The circulation of his True Qi had become extremely sluggish.
He immediately took out an Antitoxic Pill and swallowed it, shouting at the same time, "Everyone, be careful! There's poison here!"
The members of the Star-Picking Sect resentfully took their Antitoxic Pills, but their expressions turned ugly. The pills concocted by the sect had no effect at all.
Huang Yongfeng roared with laughter. Having come from the Star-Picking Sect himself, how could he make such a rookie mistake? He knew exactly which poisons the sect's Antitoxic Pills could cure. The poison in the factory was a special weapon he had prepared, specifically designed to suppress the flow of True Qi. And since he had no True Qi himself, he was immune to it.
A trace of desolation tinged his laughter as he loudly recited, "The road is long, the journey far, a bitter flight for a weary soul. The dream-soul cannot pass the mountain gates. Endless longing, a heart torn asunder!"