Chapter 1263: The Likes Of You Do Not Deserve My Death

“Everyone wants to live, I see. But I already said that at least two of you need to die tonight!”

Ye Qing scratched his nose with a troubled look. “What to do?”

As soon as he said this, Qin Princess and One Sword attacked Shadow at the exact same time. As for One-armed Buddha, he launched a palm strike at Fist Demon.

“You—!”

To Shadow’s credit, he reacted immediately and split into countless shadows in an instant. Unfortunately, he was the most wounded out of the five of them, and he was attacked by two of his colleagues. By the time the first string was plucked, a sword had already cut off the heads of every shadow.

The shadows disappeared one after another. In the end, Shadow’s headless body slowly sank into the river and dyed its waters red.

Fist Demon’s reaction was half a beat slower than Shadow’s. It wasn’t until One-armed Buddha’s life-killing mudra was half an inch away from his head that he realized what was going on and tried to react. Naturally, he was too late.

He had just raised his arms when One-armed Buddha’s life-killing mudra struck him squarely in the head and exploded it like a water balloon. Both his physical body and his mind died there and then.

After Shadow and Fist Demon were dead, Qin Princess, One Sword and One-armed Buddha took several steps away from each other, eyes full of wariness and caution.

Ye Qing said that “at least” two people needed to die, not just two people. Therefore, they had to be on guard against one another.

Clap clap clap!

It was at this moment Ye Qing clapped his hands and praised them with a smile, “Well done, all of you. Congratulations on keeping yourselves alive.”

“Thank you for not killing us, young master.” Qin Princess, One Sword and One-armed Buddha all let out a sigh of relief before paying their respects to Ye Qing.

“Do you know why I want them killed?” Ye Qing asked while waving his hand and sucking Shadow and Fist Demon’s Nature’s Shells into his hands.

“We don’t know, young master!”

The trio shook their heads.

“That’s because I need you to return to Westwind Inn and spy on the Boss for me,” Ye Qing answered. “Just the same, I need Sunlao Taijun and the others to return to Taisui Mountain so they can spy on Ghost Taisui for me.”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“That is why I needed someone to die here. Not only that, I’m afraid you’re all going to have to suffer a little.”

THANG!

As soon as Ye Qing said this, a bell chimed. It was a grand, resonant sound that filled the nine firmanents with profound light, outshining even the bright moon. Space warped and shattered, and the entire Red Moon River churned violently.

Sunlao Taijun, Thousand Change, Qin Princess and more immediately bled from all orifices as their eyes lost focus. The same was happening to the Truemen and Grandmasters as well. Those who weren’t even at that level outright exploded and died without a body to remember them by.

By the time Sunlao Taijun, Thousand Change, Qin Princess and more recovered their wits, their faces were etched with shock, and their auras were as weakened as they could be.

“Do you know what you should say when you return?” Ye Qing asked the group.

“We do. Do not worry, young master.” Everyone exchanged knowing glances with each other. No one here was an idiot. They knew exactly why Ye Qing had done this.

“Very good.” Ye Qing nodded approvingly.

He didn’t plan to make his new followers escort him or protect him even though he could. After all, he suspected that Xuanyuan Kun wasn’t dead, and that he was in cahoots with Ghost Taisui. Naturally, he needed someone to keep tabs on the duo so that they wouldn’t be able to entrap him. It was the same for Westwind Inn’s Boss. Naturally, the task should be entrusted to the Great Truemen and Great Grandmasters.

The likes of Sunlao Taijun and Thousand Change enjoyed great status and influence in their respective factions. They of all people could make easy contact with their highest superior. Unless Ghost Taisui or the Boss decided to pay him a visit themselves, they could not concoct a plan that did not go through the hands of Sunlao Taijun or Thousand Change first. This arrangement would allow him to find out exactly what they were planning at first notice.

Of course, spying wasn’t their only job. Keeping these subverted Great Truemen and Great Grandmasters at his enemies’ sides would allow him to give them a backstab of justice when it was time.

That said, Ghost Taisui and Westwind Inn’s Boss were both thousand-year-old foxes. Caution and shrewdness were their middle names. If he allowed Sunlao Taijun, Thousand Change and more to return to their factions safe and sound, they would surely suspect that something was amiss. Therefore, he needed to come up with an excuse.

The excuse part wasn’t difficult. All they needed to say was that Ye Qing was too strong, and that he managed to escape despite their best efforts. The believability though, that was a different story.

That was why he needed someone to die here. It couldn’t just be the small fries either. The casualties must include powerful Shopkeepers such as Shadow and Fist Demon. Not only that, everyone must be injured to a certain extent as well. Only then could they properly dispel Ghost Taisui and the Boss’ suspicion.

Now, when Sunlao Taijun and Thousand Change returned to their factions, they simply needed to tell Ghost Taisui and the Boss that they had underestimated Ye Qing and the Earthly Sovereign Bell. Not only did they fail to capture Ye Qing, they even lost Shadow and Fist Demon.

When Ghost Taisui and Westwind Inn’s Boss dispatched the men to investigate, they would only discover traces of the Earthly Sovereign Bell on Red Moon River. There would be other witnesses to prove that the story was true as well. They would not find any flaws or evidence that prove that something was amiss.

Of course, this illusion probably wouldn’t hold up to extended scrutiny, but in the short term, it should be enough to appease Ghost Taisui and the Boss.

Snap!

It was at this moment Ye Qing snapped his fingers, and Thousand Change, Qin Princess, One Sword and One-armed Buddha’s eyes suddenly turned as black as the night. There was a flicker of what looked like a demonic lotus in their eyes as well.

A few breaths later, the unusual phenomenon disappeared, and light returned to their eyes. However, the wariness, fear, and well-concealed schemes in their eyes were all gone. All that was left was reverence and loyalty.

Ye Qing had planted a demonic seed inside their minds back when their guards were lowered. Now, he activated them and converted them fully into his Heavenly Demon Dependents.

As for the surviving Truemen and Grandmasters, there was no need to implant a demonic seed in them. Simply discombobulating their minds and altering their memories with his demonic thought were enough.

“Remember, your main mission is to spy on Ghost Taisui and Westwind Inn’s Boss. You do not need to do anything else. Inform me immediately as soon as you catch wind that they have come up with a new plan against me,” Ye Qing instructed.

Everyone saluted him and said, “As you command, young master.”

“Very good. I trust you can handle the aftermath yourselves? See you later.”

Now that all the arrangements were ready, it was time to wrap up the show.

A bell chimed as Ye Qing leaped into the air. When moonlight turned as thin as fabric and shattered into pieces, the young man stood alone in the sky like a deity.

The fact that the unnatural moonlight had disappeared meant that the sealing powers of the Moon Essence Wheel had failed. At that moment, everyone at Red Moon River saw the divine yet demonic figure standing under the moon like a celestial.

“Hahaha... You think the likes of you can kill me, Ye Qing?”

Ye Qing looked down on Sunlao Taijun, Thousand Change and more. “Tell Ghost Taisui and the Boss to come after me themselves. The likes of you are not enough! Not enough!”

Laughing like a madman, Ye Qing rose higher until he completely vanished into the nine firmaments.