Chapter 503 - 495: There’s a Path to Heaven, But You Won’t Take It

Chapter 503: Chapter 495: There’s a Path to Heaven, But You Won’t Take It

"Go check the body. We might find something."

Chu Aoqing circled around from the side of the door and, after giving Mu Chen a sideways glance, slowly walked down. Mu Chen, however, recalled the mangled corpse and shrugged helplessly. ’Getting any clues from that body seems hopeless.’

...

On the First Level, in another part of the student dormitories, lay the most luxurious section of the residential area. Brom was sitting on a long bench, speaking with Broo.

"Brother, do we really have to do this? This is the Inner Mountain. If we get caught, the Holy Punishment Field..."

"Hey!" Brom quickly cut Broo off, smiling confidently. "You worry too much, little brother. Judging by his Martial Artist Realm, he must have gotten into the Inner Mountain because some power from the Outer Realm pulled some strings. Even the instructors in the Inner Mountain won’t look kindly on someone like that."

"But you saw the fight today, brother. With his strength and talent, the Inner Mountain will surely value him highly. Can we really hide what we’re doing from those old monsters in the Inner Mountain?" Broo said, his expression panicked.

Brom’s expression tightened at his words. He shouted, "You’ve been scared of this and that ever since we were kids! It’s because of this mentality that your progress in the Martial Artist Realm has been so slow! Use your brain, little brother! Who did he fight today? Shan Tianyu! One of the Overlords of the Fourth Level! Now tell me, if Mu Chen dies in his dorm tonight, who’s the first person they’ll suspect?"

"The first person they’ll suspect? You mean Shan Tianyu, brother? How is that possible? I clearly heard you told Black Monkey to use poison... Would someone with Shan Tianyu’s strength even need to use poison to kill Mu Chen?" Broo didn’t stop questioning, having instantly found a flaw in the plan.

"Hm?" Brom suddenly realized the flaw in his arrangement, but then he thought for a moment and gave a sinister laugh. "Isn’t this even better? If he dies by poison, the scope of suspicion becomes much wider. Shan Tianyu doesn’t use poison, but do we? Besides, who even knows we have a grudge against Mu Chen, other than Xiaohai and a few elders in our faction?"

"That’s true!" Broo was finally persuaded. After all, Shan Tianyu didn’t use poison, so why would they be suspected of it? And as his brother said, very few elders in their faction knew about tonight’s operation.

But just as Broo began to relax, a figure rushed into Brom’s room with a SWOOSH, looking at Brom in a panic, his lips trembling.

Seeing this, Brom frowned and barked, "Red Dog, what’s wrong with you? Why are you in such a panic? Weren’t you supposed to be outside waiting for news about Black Monkey? Where is it?"

"Boss, Black Monkey... Black Monkey failed."

"Failed?! Black Monkey is a Dark Attribute Martial Artist! How could Mu Chen possibly have sensed him after having his ring broken? Even if Mu Chen wasn’t weakened, Black Monkey is an Early-Stage Seventh-Ring Martial Emperor! Escaping unscathed even if he failed should have been no problem! Why did this happen?!" Brom roared hysterically.

"Because... because there was someone else in that bastard Mu Chen’s room."

"Someone else?"

"It... it was Chu Aoqing! I saw it with my own eyes! A boundless golden radiance, accompanied by golden leaves, burst through the back wall of Mu Chen’s bathroom. The power of that Combat Skill has already reached the Venerable Realm! The only person in all of Holy Tomb Mountain who has golden leaves and can use a Venerable-Realm-level Combat Skill is Chu Aoqing," Red Dog continued, his voice trembling. "Besides, wasn’t Chu Aoqing the one who escorted Mu Chen back to his dorm today?"

"Chu Aoqing! It’s Chu Aoqing again! Isn’t she from the Fourth Level? Why would she linger on the First Level for so long?!" Brom was completely baffled. "Red Dog, what about Black Monkey’s body?"

Red Dog nodded. "I brought it back after Mu Chen and Chu Aoqing went back inside."

"You brought it back? Good work. Take it out, now!" Brom said without hesitation. "We have to dispose of it immediately!"

Red Dog’s face was a little pale. He swallowed hard and said, "I brought it back, but... but... are you sure you want me to take it out?"

Brom smacked Red Dog on the back of the head and cursed, "What’s with the nonsense? Just take it out when I tell you to!"

"Alright, alright!" Crying out in pain, Red Dog hurriedly channeled his Primordial Power into his Storage Ring. The ring flashed, and a mangled, bloody corpse with its entrails spilling out appeared before Brom and Broo.

The pungent stench of blood immediately filled the room. Brom’s brow twitched, but his expression quickly returned to normal. Broo, on the other hand, couldn’t stop gagging. It was obvious this guy, Broo, had never killed anyone before.

"How ruthless! They didn’t even leave a complete corpse. Broo, start a fire and burn Black Monkey’s body. We need to destroy the evidence!" Brom said, his face dark.

Broo could no longer stand the gruesome sight. With a wave of his arm, he tossed a ball of purple fire onto Black Monkey’s corpse, which was instantly engulfed in flames. To prevent the light from the fire from being noticed outside, Brom used Earth Prison to envelop the corpse and the Purple Flame the moment Broo threw it, leaving only two small vents to keep the flame from extinguishing.

Only when he saw the corpse inside the vents slowly turn to ash did Brom reach up to wipe the sweat from his brow. However, no one present noticed that inside Black Monkey’s body, a single golden leaf had not melted in the Purple Flame.

"That’s finally over with. Red Dog, are you sure you didn’t leave any traces?" Brom asked again, just to be certain.

Red Dog nodded affirmatively. "Don’t worry, Boss. I’m a Sixth-Ring Peak Wind Attribute Martial Artist, after all. It’s easy enough for me to take something without leaving a trace."

"True, people tend to forget things when they’re in a hurry. It seems we’ll have to wait for another time to plan our move against Mu Chen. In any case, we absolutely cannot let him grow stronger right under our noses. Otherwise, we’ll all die!" As he spoke, a cruel light once again glinted in Brom’s eyes.

"Another time? Sorry, but I’m afraid you won’t get that chance."

Suddenly, a bone-chilling voice echoed from within Brom’s room, startling Brom, Broo, and Red Dog. Their Primordial Power erupted in an instant, causing the entire room to tremble violently.

"Who is it?!" Brom’s gaze turned cold. ’Whoever it is that came here today,’ he thought, ’they must die!’

"Hmph!"

As Brom watched, a man in a white robe emerged from the darkest corner of the room. The man wasn’t burly, but he was exceptionally tall and slender. His long, ice-blue hair shimmered even in the dim light of the room. A cold smile graced his resolute, fair face, and his Ice Extreme Demon Pupils spun rapidly, taking in Brom, Broo, and Red Dog all at once.

’Tonight, not one of them will escape.’

"Mu! Chen!"

Brom snarled through gritted teeth, Primordial Power already gathering in his hands. He sneered, "They say you shouldn’t barge through the gates of hell when the road to heaven is wide open! After breaking a ring, your body needs at least a day to recover. Do you really think a mere First-Ring Martial Sect like you can do anything to us?!"

Hearing this, Mu Chen smiled faintly and clapped his hands. "Well said, wonderfully said! ’Barging through the gates of hell,’ you say? ’Can a First-Ring Martial Sect do anything to us?’ Indeed, before I broke my ring, I was nothing but an ant you could crush at will! But..."

"When did I ever tell you I came to challenge your Gate of Hell alone?!"

SHIIING!

The clear ring of a sword echoed through the dark room. Brom stared, dumbfounded, as a purple-haired woman stepped out from a tear in space, sword in hand. His pupils contracted as he said in despair, "Chu... Chu Aoqing... Red Dog! You said you didn’t leave any traces!! You call this not leaving any goddamn traces!!?"

Cursed out by Brom, Red Dog, who was already furious, realized he wasn’t getting out of this alive anyway. ’What the hell is there to be afraid of now?’ He shot back, "Goddammit, if you’re so capable, why didn’t you go yourself?! If you didn’t trust me, why didn’t you go?! And now you’re blaming me! Go fuck your ancestors’ coffins!"

"..."

Brom was rendered speechless. At that moment, he finally understood: in the face of despair, status meant nothing. But then, as if he’d thought of something, his expression suddenly relaxed. He pretentiously dispersed his Primordial Power and looked at Mu Chen and Chu Aoqing with a provocative expression. "Brat, and you. You two seem to have forgotten something."

Mu Chen was a bit puzzled by Brom’s actions and asked quizzically, "What might that be?"

"This is Holy Tomb Mountain! The Inner Holy Tomb Mountain! So what if you know I’m the one who arranged the assassination? What can you do? Kill me? Are you kidding? Even if I’m to be killed, it’s the Holy Punishment Field’s job. If you make a move, I’d be more than happy! The moment you attack, the consequence is that you die with me! For me, that’s a win-win! Go on, kill me! Do you dare? Huh? Do you dare? Do you?!" Laughing smugly, Brom leaned his head back against the soft, velvet chair, crossed his legs, and adopted an expression that screamed, ’Yeah, I’m a scumbag. Whatcha gonna do, kill me?’

"Oh? You’re the one who said it..."

Mu Chen didn’t speak, but Chu Aoqing did. She was still as a statue one moment, and swift as a phantom the next. In Mu Chen’s eyes, there was only a flash of golden light. She held nothing back, just like in the bathroom. Broo and Red Dog’s bodies were instantly torn to shreds as if they had been thrown into a meat grinder, and the entire room became an ocean of blood.

As for Brom, the smile on his face froze solid as he felt warm chunks of flesh and blood splatter across his cheeks.

"You... you... How dare you!"