"Pei Nanchang, do you really think that killing me will end everything?"
As Pei Jiangnan raised his butcher's knife high in the air, the black-clad man on the ground turned over, lying down boldly, with blood seeping from his mouth and a smile on his face, looking at Pei Jiangnan.
"Hmph, a last-ditch effort before death, do you think saying such words can save you from death?"
Seeing that Pei Jiangnan had the black-cloaked man under control, Gao Tianlang walked up quickly, his face cold as he said.
As for this person who mocked his own idol, he had no liking for him at all. If he had the chance, he even wanted to cut him in half with a single blow.
"What do you mean by that?"
Pei Jiangnan's face was cold, and the butcher's knife he had raised high did not fall in the first instance. He felt there was something underlying in the black-cloaked man's words, and also, the person who had escaped just now gave him a bad feeling.
"Pei Jiangnan, do you know what the red light outside the city wall is?"
The black-cloaked man did not directly answer Pei Jiangnan but instead asked with a smile. Pei Jiangnan was immediately at a loss for words. When he entered, he noticed the existence of the red light, but he didn't take it seriously. In his view, the lives of ordinary people were the most important.
Seeing Pei Jiangnan remain silent, the black-cloaked man smiled and then said, "Do you also know why we have been in the city for many days but have only killed those who are disobedient and not taken the lives of others?"
Pei Jiangnan remained silent again.
Gao Tianlang opened his mouth to scold the other person, but seeing the atmosphere was not right, he had no choice but to close his mouth and listen quietly as the black-cloaked man spoke.
"In the city of Lincheng, there are tens of thousands of people. Simply killing would take a lot of time, not to mention practicing poisons. Therefore, we thought of an excellent method——setting up altars."
"By using the tens of thousands of people in the city as offerings, their vitality can be concentrated in one place within a day, which is much faster than feeding them one by one. Moreover, the spiritual energy produced by the altar is much purer and is the best nutrition for cultivating poisons..."
The hood on the black-cloaked man's head had fallen off, revealing the slightly mad smile on his face. Facing Pei Jiangnan's butcher's knife, he showed no fear at all.
"It's truly madness, you guys are like beasts, even lower than pigs and dogs. What do you consider human lives to be?"
Pei Jiangnan's forehead turned blue, over the past three hundred years, he seldom showed anger, but today, hearing the black-cloaked man's words, he could no longer contain his fury in his heart. He roared angrily.
Gao Tianlang gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his face cold. If it were not for Pei Jiangnan being there, he might have lost control and killed the black-cloaked man right away.
"What?"
The black-cloaked man let out a series of weird laughs, "Pei Jiangnan, Pei Jiangnan, you are already a third-grade person, why are you still so naive? Ordinary people are mere ants, have you ever remembered how many ants you have stepped on? Ants are life, humans are life. Why can you stomp on ants without any scruples, but can't kill ordinary people? To me, ordinary people and ants are the same. I don't care how many I kill as long as the master can become supreme."
"Hmph, unfortunately, your wish will come to nothing. Your people are all dead; the altar is now useless... I don't care who it is, I must find and eliminate him."
Pei Jiangnan suppressed the anger in his heart and coldly huffed.
Hearing this, the black-cloaked man burst into hearty laughter, "Pei Jiangnan, you're still so naive. Do you think the person who ran out just now was who? That was the person who started the altar. And in the direction he ran to, that's where the altar was started. As soon as he starts the altar, those tens of thousands of ordinary people in Lincheng will turn into dry corpses..."
"Little Gao, stand guard here and watch him. I'm going after the person who ran away earlier."
At this moment, Pei Jiangnan had no time to kill the black-cloaked man in front of him. He immediately put away his Yanling Knife and was about to set off.
Gao Tianlang nodded slightly, "Sir Pei, please leave it to me. I, Gao Tianlang, will not let down Sir Pei's trust."
"You're wasting your effort, chasing after him? Can you catch up? It's our domain in this fog. Now, you can't catch up even if you want to. Even if you do catch up, it wouldn't matter if you stopped him..."
The black-cloaked man smiled, casually lifting one finger, and saw a blood-red figure leap out of the ground onto an ordinary person. In an instant, the ordinary person's body transformed into a dry corpse visible to the naked eye.
Pei Jiangnan acted quickly, using spiritual power to subdue and kill the man before he could be killed by the poisonous insect.
The black-cloaked man smiled faintly, "Let me tell you, for a precaution, there are three thousand blood poisons underground. Once you leave, I will let them come out to suck the vitality of the people of Lincheng... Oh, by the way, don't even think about killing me. If I die, the three thousand blood poisons will all jump out at the same time..."
"You..."
Pei Jiangnan gritted his teeth, pointing at the black-cloaked man lying on the ground and laughing strangely, the tendons on his forehead became clearer, and he could only shake all over in anger.
"Pei Jiangnan, everyone praises you for the country and the people, they say you are as kind as a god, that you are the messenger of justice, that you are a god descended to earth... Beloved God of Heaven, please tell me, will you save the tens of thousands of people in Lincheng at the cost of giving up three thousand, or give up the remaining tens of thousands for the sake of those three thousand?"
"..."
Sun Qian was held down and unable to move. Watching Su Kekan being about to be defiled by others, he could only weakly plead, but what he got in return was ridicule from the people around him. Just when he was on the verge of despair, a hoarse voice came softly.
"Who is invoking the ancestor's name?"
As the words fell, all of the black-cloaked people's faces changed, and they turned to look behind them. Suddenly, a figure appeared from the forest. With the thick mist obscuring its face, it was unclear who it was.
As the man approached, his face became clearer. It was an elderly man with white hair and beard. His eyes were bright but there was a hint of weariness. The wrinkled and ancient face had slight scars, with blood stains around the corners of his mouth and a red hue on his white goat-like mustache.
The old man wore a grey long robe, which was torn in several places and had clear scars, as if he had experienced a fierce battle for life or death. He held a long sword and walked with an easy, confident stride.
As soon as they saw the old man, several black-cloaked people were initially taken aback, then shocked beyond words, "How... how can it be..."
The old man glanced at the black-cloaked people around him and then saw Su Kekan being held up and about to be defiled, as well as Sun Qian being held down and unable to move. He spoke coldly, "These are truly revolting people who engage in such filthy acts. Well, you're not good people either. You first attacked my Sandstorm Sect, and then you wanted to harm the ordinary people of Lincheng..."
"Only you didn't expect that the old man didn't die under your blades. Although the Sandstorm Sect suffered heavy losses, it has not been annihilated. I came here this time specifically to annihilate you scoundrels."
