Chapter 40: The Fortieth Day as Cult Leader (Part 2)

Watching this scene, Qin Ming found it rather interesting. Jianghu heroes mostly looked down on such underhanded acts, which could indeed be considered open, upright, and devoted to justice. However, it was not wrong for Demonic Cult disciples to use poison either. It was still that saying: righteousness and evil lie in the heart, not in what others say. As long as one’s heart was frank and unashamed, why should one be burdened by such things?

There was no right or wrong in these positions. Qin Ming appreciated them both.

“Let’s go. The situation is urgent. To avoid alerting the enemy, we’ll use knockout powder this time.”

Qin Ming gave the order, and the jianghu heroes did not say anything more. When Fang Zheng’s specially made Soul-Bewildering Powder spread through the surroundings, the movements of those walking figures gradually became sluggish. After only a few breaths, they directly fainted to the ground and slept soundly.

“What an overbearing poison!” The jianghu heroes sucked in a breath and looked at Fang Zheng with extremely wary expressions. Fang Zheng gave a cold laugh. “Don’t worry. If I wanted to poison you to death, you wouldn’t have survived until now.”

“Ahem.” While coughing, Qin Ming secretly gave Fang Zheng a warning look. “Shut up. Stop stirring up trouble.”

Everyone then entered the inner courtyard effortlessly. The farther they walked inside, the worse Yin Hongwen’s expression became. Although he had never been to this place before, the surrounding scenery and furnishings bore a striking similarity to what he remembered of Yantian Sect. This fact nearly caused Yin Hongwen to lose all courage, and several times he almost could not take another step.

But seeing the Demonic Cult’s Cult Leader walking firmly toward the depths, he still clenched his teeth and chose to follow. No matter what the result was, he had to witness everything and prevent the Demonic Cult from striking viciously!

Just as he thought this, they ran into two disciples coming from the opposite direction, moving furtively. Fang Zheng had just prepared to use poison when Qin Ming raised a hand and stopped him, hiding in the shadows and watching with his own eyes as the two fled.

Yu Yu was the first to grow anxious. “Why didn’t you stop them?”

“Look at how hurried they are. They must be heading somewhere important. We don’t have You Rui leading the way now, so we can follow these two,” Qin Ming said in a low voice.

Only then did the righteous disciples suddenly understand, nodding repeatedly. This made Qin Ming find it even funnier. Could it be that righteous people actually had no schemes in their hearts? Was it only their Demonic Cult that liked playing with strategy?

“Follow.” Seeing that the two disciples were about to run far away, Qin Ming immediately led the others in pursuit.

They came to an inconspicuous bamboo grove that seemed to have been abandoned, and then the two figures vanished. Only a great hall, already in disrepair after many years, stood there alone.

“This is?!” Yin Hongwen’s body shook violently. He nearly felt dizzy. Upon reaching this place, he finally confirmed that this place truly was Yantian Sect. It was an abandoned pill-refining room on Yantian Sect’s back mountain. Because it had fallen into disrepair over the years, the disciples basically never came here. But now, scene after scene had proven that Yantian Sect was indeed connected to the disappearance case.

H-How was this possible?!

“They vanished. There is a hidden door.” Zhou Ji looked around the empty interior of the great hall, then lowered his head to observe the not very clear footprints. The footprints were enough to prove that people often came here. Since they could not see any trace of the people, there had to be a hidden door.

Everyone was just about to search around when they saw Chen Lue unhurriedly walk to a deer-head ornament hanging on one wall and gently turn it. The originally seamless floor instantly opened into a large door, revealing a long, dim staircase.

Everyone looked in shock at Chen Lue, who had casually touched something and found the hidden door. Chen Lue merely smiled. “It seems this hidden door is very ordinary. I tried it in passing and it opened.”

“Well done.” Qin Ming had no time to think about Chen Lue’s heaven-shaking luck. Instead, he looked at Yin Hongwen, who was standing blankly in place as if his beliefs had somewhat collapsed. “If we go down from here, I’m afraid we will truly find the truth. Are you certain you can face the truth? Are you certain you can betray Yantian Sect and uphold the justice in your heart to the end?”

Facing Qin Ming’s words, which could be called heart-piercing, Yin Hongwen’s expression grew increasingly pained. A struggling, furious look appeared on his face, and he did not answer for a long time.

Qin Ming was a little disappointed. “Then wait outside. Let the other jianghu heroes go down in your place and see the truth clearly. Just make sure you do not come interfere with our work.”

“No!” Hearing this, Yin Hongwen suddenly raised his head. A crimson, bloodshot color actually burst from the depths of his eyes as he shouted, “I’m going!”

“No matter what the result is, I cannot run away. This is my responsibility and duty as a disciple of Yantian Sect!”

Watching his expression gradually regain its resolve, approval flashed through Qin Ming’s eyes, and he asked in return, “Can you steel your heart to arrest your fellow disciples? Even cross blades with them?”

“...Righteousness cannot stand without chivalry, and chivalry cannot be formed without righteousness. To eradicate the strong and support the weak, to establish a heart for Heaven and Earth, and to secure life for the people—these are the principles of we heroes. Though I, Yin Hongwen, love and respect my sect and also love my fellow disciples, I am not someone who cannot distinguish right from wrong.” The more Yin Hongwen spoke, the calmer his expression became. He had already steadied his heart. Lifting his leg, he walked forward. “I am prepared!”

“Good! Half of you block this place and do not let a single person escape. The rest, follow me down to investigate this thoroughly!”

Qin Ming followed closely behind him, the second to step down the dim stairs.

Almost as soon as they entered the dungeon, they could smell the sharp reek of blood. Qin Ming and Yin Hongwen both showed looks of disgust, but before they could cover their mouths and noses, they heard a woman’s faint cry of pain.

Then a man’s muffled voice nearby began discussing, “This Youth-Preserving Pill really is hard to refine. We’ve taken so much blood from so many women, yet there still hasn’t been any effect!”

“Careful. Don’t let her die. The day we need to hand over pills to Nanxiang Sect is getting closer and closer. We need to intensify our research.”

“Could it be that the dosage of blood isn’t enough? Or is this woman not pure?”

Upon suddenly hearing this discussion, Qin Ming felt so furious that his brows locked tightly together. Yin Hongwen, however, was first angry, then shocked, because the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

It seemed... to be his senior brother, Miao Juncai?

But with his face covered as he followed behind Qin Ming, Yin Hongwen was too dazed and confused to speak at once. As a result, he could only watch helplessly as Qin Ming strode over and shouted, “Stop!”

The two Yantian Sect disciples had originally been drawing blood from the wrist of a woman tied to a chair. When they suddenly heard that cold shout, their hands trembled, and they nearly spilled that small bowl of blood.

They looked in shock at the green-robed man who had suddenly appeared before them. Only after taking a moment to recover did they realize the problem. “W-Who are you?! How did you break in? Someone, come! There are thieves!”

“Thieves?” Qin Ming gave a cold laugh. “You abducted innocent commoners, took their blood and body parts, and finally threw them into the Qi River. Who exactly are the thieves here?”

The two Yantian Sect disciples froze, then were even more alarmed. “How do you...” know so clearly!

At this moment, they finally realized Qin Ming and the others had not come with good intentions, and they almost fearfully backed away. “Who exactly are you people? How dare you trespass into our Yantian Sect!”

“Oh.” Qin Ming’s eyes narrowed, keenly seizing hold of their weak point. “So, you’ve already admitted that you are disciples of Yantian Sect?”

“...” The Yantian Sect disciples were rebuked into speechlessness. Their faces suddenly turned deathly pale, and their hearts lurched.

Of course they knew what kind of massive trouble might be stirred up if the deeds done by Yantian Sect were exposed. And now, this was precisely the most critical moment. At this instant, there was only one thought in their minds—they absolutely could not let these people leave alive! They could not let the information spread!

The next instant, one Yantian Sect disciple’s head heated up, and without any explanation, he suddenly attacked Qin Ming’s face. It was still the poison Yantian Sect loved using most!

Qin Ming merely stood silently in place, a faint trace of mockery surfacing in his eyes. The soft sword hidden at his waist suddenly left its sheath, stabbing forward fiercely like a mountain range. “Courting death!”

That vast sword light, accompanied by powerful might, pointed above and below, and seemed capable of swallowing mountains and rivers.

This was everyone’s first time seeing the Cult Leader draw his sword, but that fleeting glimpse instantly left them trembling with fear and amazement. What a heavy sword. What a mighty stance!

So the Cult Leader knew how to use a sword?

This was Qin Ming’s first time using a move from Myriad Swords as One. Although he was not yet skilled in it, the momentum he had accumulated for a long time still erupted magnificently. The Yantian Sect disciple only felt his mind go blank. His legs went weak, and he fell heavily to the ground.

The sharp blade hovered right above the bridge of his nose, reflecting his deathly pale face. The ringing of the sword did not cease for a long time, striking against his eardrums.

Seeing that they no longer had any intention of resisting, Qin Ming gave a cold snort, then gracefully stopped and ceased attacking. He still had things to ask these two disciples. “A cornered dog jumping over the wall?”

The Yantian Sect disciple, who had been stunned by his sword, was still dazed and had yet to recover. But the other Yantian Sect disciple immediately lost his composure. “What did you say?! Who’s cornered?”

The Yantian Sect disciple gritted his teeth and shouted, “We haven’t said anything. Instead, it’s you who are pressing others too hard and even attacking first. How did you find this place? Hurry and state your names!”

“Who are we?” Qin Ming continued his sarcastic assault. “...If you had not killed disciples of our cult, how would we have been able to follow the clues and find your tracks? All of this is your own doing.”

Those words reminded the Yantian Sect disciples of something. They had vaguely heard a bit of news too, as if Demonic Cult disciples had gone missing and been murdered recently, causing a great uproar throughout the entire jianghu.

“You are... the Demonic Cult?!”

The Yantian Sect disciples’ eyes lit up instantly, and they suddenly felt that they had found a chance at survival. The reason they had not taken the matter stirred up by the Demonic Cult seriously before was because they firmly believed no one would ever trust anything the Demonic Cult said.

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