Chapter 807: Or Else What?

“Come in.” Gu Zongren coughed lightly, then looked up and glanced at Yue, who was standing nearby.

Yue curled her lips and looked away.

The door was gently pushed open, and Fuqu walked in cautiously. She first glanced at the expressionless Yue before turning to Gu Zongren. “My Lord, I did not fail you. The task is complete.”

“Good!” A hint of a smile appeared on Gu Zongren’s face. One hundred million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones, along with divine materials of incalculable value, was enough to make even someone of his status and position feel a surge of excitement.

“You got your hands on all one hundred million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones?” Gu Zongren asked.

“Yes, as well as the divine materials. With the people from the Bounty Guild acting as witnesses, I received everything.” At this moment, Fuqu felt deeply relieved that she hadn’t made the wrong choice.

If she had entertained the thought of running away back then, she would probably be a cold corpse right now, just like Luo Tian.

“Very good!” The joy on Gu Zongren’s face deepened.

Even Yue couldn’t help but breathe a little faster.

True, she had put up a bounty of twenty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones for Luo Tian’s head, but that wasn’t entirely her own money; it was also sponsored by Hua he xue.

Now, Fuqu had brought back a colossal sum of one hundred million. Even a top-tier sect would suffer a heavy blow if forced to fork over so much money at once.

This clearly showed just how deep the Jin family’s hatred for Luo Tian ran.

Fuqu also smiled happily. She opened her Storage Ring to take out the Purple Crystal Card and the divine materials, but then… her expression suddenly changed!

Gu Zongren and Yue were both waiting. Seeing Fuqu’s drastic change in expression, Gu Zongren raised an eyebrow, his sharp gaze locking onto her.

Yue was far more direct, asking coldly, “Where are the items?”

“The items… Right, where are the items…” Fuqu’s Divine Sense swept through every corner of her Storage Ring, but there was absolutely no trace of the Purple Crystal Card or the divine materials!

Apart from those, nothing else in her ring was missing!

“This… how is this possible? How could this happen? I clearly put the items inside the Storage Ring! I didn’t run into any trouble at all. Where are the items?”

Fuqu’s face instantly turned ashen, drained of all color.

Sweat dripped down her forehead, falling with a PATTER, but she felt nothing. Like someone possessed, she took off her Storage Ring and opened it.

With a loud CLATTER, everything inside the Storage Ring was dumped out.

Like a madwoman, Fuqu frantically sifted through the pile, trying to find the tiny Purple Crystal Card and the divine materials.

But… there was nothing! Absolutely nothing!

In that pile, there were some mid-level Immortal Spirit Stones, a small amount of Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones, along with various feminine necessities, everyday items, weapons, and Elixirs…

It was like a fully stocked grocery store, yet strangely, the most important Purple Crystal Card and all the divine materials… had vanished without a trace!

THUD! Fuqu plopped down on the ground, completely dumbfounded. Her face was filled with terror, and her whole body trembled. “How could the items be gone? How is this possible? I put them in there with my own hands! How could they just disappear?”

Yue sneered from the side. “As expected of the master of the Divine Maiden Tower in Qingchuan Ancient City. This acting… Tsk, how brilliant! Even I couldn’t help but believe it for a second!”

“No… I… I’m not lying. The items… I really put them in the Storage Ring with my own hands. The Bounty Guild… yes, the people from the Bounty Guild and the Jin family can testify! I… I really put them in myself! I didn’t encounter any accidents on the way. I didn’t go anywhere else and came straight back here. How could the items be gone?”

Tears welled up in Fuqu’s eyes, and cold sweat poured down her forehead. Trembling all over, she crawled over and knelt before Gu Zongren, sobbing, “My Lord, you have to believe me! Even if I had ten thousand times the courage… I wouldn’t dare embezzle these items!”

“Hmph, you talk a good game. Who knows where you hid them? You’re probably planning to slip away quietly later and find some secluded corner to play queen, aren’t you?” Yue said coldly.

“No! I swear on my soul, absolutely not!” Fuqu kowtowed repeatedly. Her smooth forehead was scraped and bleeding, but she was completely oblivious to it. With her face covered in tears, she cried, “My Lord, I am telling the truth!”

Gu Zongren had been sitting there quietly the whole time. He didn’t move an inch or say a word, just watched her silently.

Yue couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. With such a massive fortune, anyone would be envious and tempted. She didn’t believe a word Fuqu said; no matter how realistic her performance was, Yue refused to buy it!

Yue thought, “It’s only natural for a cheap slut who betrays her master for personal gain to do something like this!”

“I believe you,” Gu Zongren finally said calmly after a long time.

To Fuqu’s ears, however, his words were like a heavenly melody. She looked up, her eyes blurred with tears, and choked out, “I am willing to lay down my life for you, My Lord! I am willing to do anything for you for the rest of my life!”

“Mhm, get up.” A faint smile suddenly appeared on Gu Zongren’s face. “If it’s gone, it’s gone. Anyway… it didn’t belong to us in the first place. You don’t need to feel too much pressure. Let’s just treat this… as if it never happened!”

“My Lord… Waaah!” Fuqu was moved to tears. If she had felt any lingering guilt over betraying Xue Chuqing to side with Gu Zongren, at this very moment, she felt that even if he asked her to die, she would do so without hesitation!

“Alright, you can leave first,” Gu Zongren said evenly.

“Yes!” Fuqu struggled to her feet. The intense fear from moments ago had instantly drained her of all strength, and her legs were still like jelly.

She carefully walked to the door and gently closed it behind her, only then realizing that she was drenched in sweat!

The sensation of narrowly escaping death left Fuqu overwhelmingly grateful to Gu Zongren. At this moment, she was willing to do absolutely anything for him.

A sarcastic smile touched Yue’s lips. “What a brilliant tactic to win over people’s hearts. But this price… Tsk, tsk, isn’t it a bit too steep? One hundred million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones, and so many priceless divine materials, hehehe.”

“Do you think I didn’t want to kill her?” Gu Zongren suddenly stood up, agitated. Like an enraged lion, he said coldly, “We are in big trouble!”

“What?” Yue looked at Gu Zongren in confusion. “Do you really believe she didn’t embezzle that massive fortune? Is a woman who betrays her master… really worthy of your trust?”

Yue wanted to call her a slut, but seeing that Gu Zongren seemed genuinely angry, she swallowed the insult, though her tone remained far from polite.

“What do you know? With my realm of cultivation, do you think I can’t tell if she’s lying?” Gu Zongren paced back and forth in the room, muttering, “Luo Tian… died a bit too easily! For an exceptionally talented young man like him to rise to worldwide fame in just a year or two…”

“That seems to make sense.” Yue frowned as she continued, “He first pushed Jin Ming out of Celestial Brilliance, then killed Wind. This shows that he lacks neither martial prowess nor intelligence.

“Then, in Qingchuan Ancient City, after a fierce battle with Du Qingteng, the successor of the Holy Land Weiyu Mountain, they could still sit down and drink together.

“At that ancient ruin, I heard he was the biggest winner. Not only did he destroy the spiritual avatar of the Celestial Venerable Ancestor, but he also killed a Jiuzhou Seed from the Blazing Flame Province, and directly struck down Jin Ming despite his heavy guard…

“It’s simply too absurd for someone like that to die at the hands of a cheap… a woman like Fuqu.”

Yue’s brows were tightly knitted. She suddenly took a sharp breath and looked at Gu Zongren. “Could all of this… be… a trap?”

As she spoke, Yue’s expression abruptly changed. “Xue Chuqing!”

In the next moment, Gu Zongren’s figure vanished from the room. Stomping her foot, Yue also rushed toward the place where Xue Chuqing was being held captive.

Before she was even halfway there, she saw Gu Zongren returning with a furious look. He glared at her and said grimly, “She’s gone!”

“G… gone?” Yue looked at Gu Zongren in disbelief. Even though she had already suspected it might be a trap, having reality confirm her guess still left her reeling.

“How is that possible? Our security is incredibly tight; she couldn’t have escaped even if she grew wings! Not even a fly could get in, so how could she just disappear?” Yue’s eyes widened. She still found it hard to believe that Xue Chuqing, whose meridians were completely sealed, could just vanish right from under their noses.

“For someone capable of taking the Purple Crystal Card and divine materials from Fuqu’s Storage Ring, rescuing Xue Chuqing is hardly a miracle,” Gu Zongren said coldly.

“But… who could it be?” Yue furrowed her pretty brows, muttering softly, “That Luo Tian…”

Gu Zongren pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh. “To think that I, Gu Zongren, having roamed the Jianghu for countless years, would be fooled by a wet-behind-the-ears brat! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

After cursing three times in a row, Gu Zongren’s face contorted into an expression of absolute ferocity.

Yue looked up at Gu Zongren, her face full of confusion.

Gritting his teeth, Gu Zongren said, “The one who died… wasn’t Luo Tian!”

“It really wasn’t?” Yue was dumbfounded. She had previously hated Fuqu for killing Luo Tian, robbing her of the chance to exact her own revenge. Yet now, she desperately wished that the person Fuqu had killed was indeed him! Because that way, at least her enemy would be dead!

“No. I had placed restrictions all over Luo Tian’s body. When he died, he was utterly powerless to fight back. However, when I inspected the body, there was an energy fluctuation on it!

“Furthermore, that energy fluctuation undoubtedly belonged to Luo Tian! I know this because I once hunted him for a million miles!

“Whoever faked his death must have deliberately left that fluctuation on the body, afraid that I would see through the deception!

“How could I be fooled by such a cheap, childish trick… Damn it!”

Yue looked at Gu Zongren with a pale face and murmured, “Then the Su Nu Celestial Scripture…”

“Also a fake!” Gu Zongren ground his teeth, a cold light flashing in his eyes. He muttered, “Whoever it is that saved them, I will not let you off!

“Luo Tian… don’t let me catch sight of you again, otherwise…”

“Otherwise what?” a calm voice rang out from outside. Following that, a tall, handsome young man strolled in.