Chapter 1715 - 870: Scrutiny Behind a Calm Gaze (Part 2)

Chapter 1715: Chapter 870: Scrutiny Behind a Calm Gaze (Part 2)

"Gu, this lady is..."

"Five Poison Divine Sect, Qidiao Yaoyao."

The woman took the initiative to cut off Situ Qingfeng’s words. Her voice was clear, yet carried a kind of straightforwardness and unquestionable tone unique to women of the Southern Border.

As she spoke, she raised her hand and gently peeled off the exquisitely crafted Human Skin Mask from her face.

Beneath the mask was a face that could be called peerlessly beautiful, brows and eyes like a painting, skin fairer than snow.

However, a ferocious, twisted, centipede-like dark red scar ran slantwise from the bone of her left brow across the corner of her eye, extending all the way to her cheek. It ruined her originally perfect features, adding a few shades of demonic eeriness and sharpness.

She displayed this scar with complete indifference, her golden eyes looking straight at Gu Sheng, going straight to the point.

"Gu Sheng, I was entrusted by the Ancestor to come and make a deal with you."

Gu Sheng’s gaze flickered slightly. He did not show much surprise due to her appearance or identity, merely let out a faint "Oh?"

and indicated for her to continue.

Qidiao Yaoyao’s speech was not fast, yet every word was clear, carrying the calm of one stating facts.

"The Longevity Ancestor wants to kill you. You should be well aware that among the Seventy-two Divine Sects, the Longevity Divine Sect is the strongest. The Longevity Ancestor’s status is exalted; with a single word he can decide countless lives and deaths.

Now that you’ve appeared in this Secret Realm, he already harbors suspicions. Outside the Secret Realm, I fear that a Heaven and Earth Net has long since been laid down, just waiting for you to go out. The moment you step out will be a thunderous strike—no escape, even if you had wings."

She paused, watching Gu Sheng’s reaction, then continued.

"My Five Poison Divine Sect can help you escape this calamity."

"Terms?"

Gu Sheng was concise.

"Take me out of the Southern Border and escort me safely into the territory of the Central Province."

Qidiao Yaoyao spoke out the contents of the transaction.

Gu Sheng’s brows lifted slightly.

"Reason?"

Qidiao Yaoyao shook her head. A trace of complexity flashed in her golden eyes, yet she firmly refused to reveal it.

"It is inconvenient to tell you the specific reason. You only need to know that this matter is of great importance.

Moreover, my Ancestor personally promised that as long as you agree to this, all former grudges between you and my Five Poison Divine Sect—whether you killed disciples of my sect or destroyed our branch altars—can all be written off in one stroke, and we’ll be even from then on!"

This condition could not be called anything but generous. It could both dissolve the current kill situation and settle the enmity with the Five Poison Divine Sect.

However, after hearing it, Gu Sheng’s face showed no sign of being moved. Instead, his tone was flat yet carried an unquestionable firmness.

"I want to know the detailed cause and course. Otherwise, no deal."

Qidiao Yaoyao’s delicate brows knitted at once, displeasure surfacing on her face.

"Gu Sheng! What do you mean by this? This is a win–win situation, it’s not my Five Poison Divine Sect begging you! Without my sect’s assistance, do you really think you can escape alive from the Heaven and Earth Net laid down by that Longevity Ancestor? The Arrays and ambushes outside far exceed your imagination!"

She tried to emphasize how critical the situation was and how important the aid of the Five Poison Divine Sect would be.

However, Gu Sheng’s reaction remained indifferent, even with a touch of nonchalance.

"If Miss Qidiao doesn’t mind, you can change your appearance and leave this main hall on your own, take a stroll through other parts of the Secret Realm and enjoy the scenery. I have not tried to keep you here."

He neither showed any concern about the kill situation laid down by the Longevity Ancestor, nor the slightest intention to accept Qidiao Yaoyao’s vague transaction terms. His attitude was resolute—without understanding the full picture, he would never agree.

Qidiao Yaoyao was taken aback by this oil-and-salt-won’t-enter, seemingly fearless attitude of his. Her tightly knitted brows were filled with puzzlement.

No matter how she pondered, she couldn’t figure out why, facing a certain-kill situation set by a Venerable, Gu Sheng could still remain so composed. Where did his confidence come from? Could it be that he had other trump cards or escape routes unknown to others?

Seeing Qidiao Yaoyao fall into silence, Gu Sheng no longer paid her any mind. He turned his gaze to Situ Qingfeng at the side, as though that life-and-death transaction proposal just now had never happened, and asked in an ordinary tone.

"Situ, the thing you were looking for, have you got it?"

Situ Qingfeng had been secretly anxious over the tense atmosphere between the two. At these words, he froze for a moment before reacting, then hastily nodded.

"I’ve got it. Thank you, Gu, for your concern."

He truly couldn’t understand why Gu Sheng was suddenly changing the subject at such a juncture, and couldn’t help lowering his voice to advise.

"Gu, perhaps you should reconsider Miss Qidiao’s proposal? The situation outside really is extremely dire. The Longevity Ancestor has personally come, along with other Venerable Realm experts from the Divine Sects sitting in town. The Arrays are layered and sealed. Without inside help, trying to escape alive will be harder than ascending to the heavens!"

He even carried a hint of probing.

"Maybe... agreeing to her terms is the most reliable choice at the moment?"

To Situ Qingfeng’s persuasion, Gu Sheng merely glanced at him lightly and gave no response.

He drew back his gaze, raised a brow and looked toward Qidiao Yaoyao, who was still frowning in thought at the side. His tone held a faint, indistinct provocation and composure.

"Miss Qidiao, how is your consideration? Do you plan to stay here and continue trying to persuade me, or... make other plans?"

Qidiao Yaoyao lifted her golden eyes and looked deeply at Gu Sheng, as if wanting to find even the slightest trace of disguise on his face, but in the end found nothing.

She took a deep breath, suppressing the doubts and faint anger in her heart, then suddenly smiled. That smile, set against the scar on her face, looked especially妖异.

"Very well! Since Young Master Gu is so ’certain,’ then I shall follow you for now, and see what reliance you have that lets you remain so calm when facing a Venerable’s kill situation!"

With that, she actually stopped entangling over the transaction, turned first, and walked toward the outside of the great hall. Her steps were crisp and resolute.

She mainly cultivated Gu Technique, her methods bizarre. As early as the moment she met Gu Sheng and Situ Qingfeng, she had already planted extremely concealed Gu Worm marks on both of them. No matter where in the Secret Realm they went, she could roughly sense their position, so she wasn’t afraid of losing them.

Situ Qingfeng looked at Qidiao Yaoyao’s departing back, then at Gu Sheng’s calm, wave-less expression. His mouth opened, but finally turned into a helpless sigh as he could only quicken his steps to follow.

The sound of Qidiao Yaoyao’s footsteps as she left still echoed in the empty great hall when the indifference on Gu Sheng’s face instantly retracted, replaced by a sharp glint as keen as a hawk’s.

He suddenly turned sideways, and without any warning raised his right palm. True Qi surged darkly in his palm, bringing with it a fierce gust of force, and he slammed a heavy Handprint onto Situ Qingfeng’s chest, at the Danzhong acupoint!

This palm came far too fast and too suddenly. Situ Qingfeng had absolutely no time to react; he only felt a vast force crash into his chest, as if his five viscera and six bowels were instantly displaced, his Qi-Blood violently surging upward!

"Pu—!"

He staggered backward, "thump thump thump," retreating seven or eight steps before barely stabilizing his figure. His throat felt a sweetness, and a jet of crimson Blood Arrow spurted out uncontrollably, tracing a glaring arc through the air.

"Gu! You... what are you doing?!"

Situ Qingfeng was both shocked and enraged, clutching his violently aching chest. His face was filled with disbelief and a trace of anger at being betrayed.

He absolutely couldn’t understand why Gu Sheng suddenly struck him so heavily.

Gu Sheng did not answer his questioning. His eyes were cold as ice.

He flicked his fingers, and a wisp of pale-golden Pill Fire shot from his fingertips, accurately meeting that still-falling Blood Arrow!

"Chi—!"

The moment the Pill Fire touched the blood, it did not, as common sense would dictate, simply evaporate it. Instead, it was like igniting some invisible thing, emitting a faint, tooth-aching sound of burning.

What was even more hair-raising was that within that pale-golden flame, there were vaguely several twisted shadows thinner than hair, showing a strange ashen hue, wildly writhing and struggling, then under the burning of the Pill Fire turned into wisps of almost invisible greenish smoke, completely dispersing.

"This... this is?!"

Seeing this scene, the anger on Situ Qingfeng’s face froze at once, turning into horror.

Only then did Gu Sheng speak coldly, his voice like deep, frigid water.

"Someone tampered with you, and you actually didn’t notice at all?"

"Tampered... with me?"

Situ Qingfeng subconsciously repeated, and then, like lightning in his mind, flashed that abnormal, almost urgent agreement and persuasion he’d shown earlier when facing Qidiao Yaoyao’s proposal...