Let's rewind time by two hours.
Mount Tai Sect.
The sect masters of the three sects and their disciples, along with the Mount Tai Sect disciples who had fled down the mountain for refuge, were forced back to Mount Tai Sect by Cheng Yuanzhen's troops.
At this moment, in the main hall of Mount Tai Sect, Cheng Yuanzhen was leisurely brewing a cup of tea and slowly drinking it.
He was filled with smug satisfaction, and a cold sneer formed in his heart as he thought to himself.
“Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards), Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards)… they say they are ruthless, but I think they are soft-hearted.”
“They let so many people escape for no reason. One head represents a rebel who colluded with the Ming Cult. How many achievements did they let slip away!”
“Fortunately… a few big fish are still here.”
Cheng Yuanzhen looked up at the faces of Zhou Yingxue, Deng Boxuan, and Zhang Jingfeng.
“Heng Mountain Sect, Hengshan Sect, Songshan Sect, plus Mount Tai Sect, are spread across the north and south of the Great River, yet they insist on colluding with each other.”
“Once this matter is settled, I’ll go to the territories of these few sects and sweep them clean. That’ll be several thousand more heads to account for.”
A chilling smile appeared on his face.
“Thankfully I came early, otherwise this achievement would have flown away.”
He knew the emperor's intention; sending him on this trip was to suppress the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards).
However, he wanted to do more.
Inside the palace walls, the lives of eunuchs were worthless. To climb to his current position, Cheng Yuanzhen relied not only on his martial arts but also on his ruthless and decisive character.
This Five Mountains Sword Sect was a task he had forcefully seized, one that had seen blood.
Just striking at one Mount Tai Sect and taking a few sects as dogs was too small an appetite.
Wouldn't a rebel organization, located across the north and south of the Great River, secretly communicating with local officials, colluding with the Ming Cult, and intending to rebel… be more suitable?
Afterward, he would first pin the charge of “neglecting imperial orders” on Li Miao. Then, he would weave a charge of “dereliction of duty and inability to control subordinates” and give it to Zhu Zai.
He himself would uncover this rebel organization and present it to His Majesty… then everything would be worth it.
Having made up his mind, Cheng Yuanzhen was about to speak and directly impose the charges on the three sect masters.
As soon as he opened his mouth, he suddenly heard sounds of vomiting from outside.
“Ugh—”
He frowned, thinking it was some soldier who hadn't seen blood before and was so useless, but he didn't pay much attention.
But immediately, several screams came from outside, mixed with cries for help, coughing, and sounds of fighting, all erupting at once.
Cheng Yuanzhen stood up and coldly glanced at the three sect masters.
He thought that the disciples who had been restrained outside were refusing to surrender and were fighting with the soldiers.
He thought to himself: “Perfect, resisting imperial envoys, defying the law with martial arts… This saves me the trouble of fabricating charges.”
“These Jianghu people indeed do not obey the imperial law; killing them is no injustice.”
He was not flustered, because he was also a grandmaster, and suppressing three first-rate masters was no problem.
The two hundred eunuchs outside were all carefully selected by him, and their martial arts had reached a high level. Coupled with the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) and soldiers, these disciples of the various sects could not escape his grasp.
Cheng Yuanzhen quickly walked out of the main hall, intending to speak and calm the situation.
However, the sight before him made him swallow his words.
Outside the main hall was a square, where Mount Tai Sect disciples usually practiced martial arts. Events like the Five Mountains Alliance Meeting were typically held here.
After Cheng Yuanzhen arrived on the mountain, he sent people to round up all the Mount Tai Sect disciples and held them here.
Now, it was a scene of chaos.
The Mount Tai Sect disciples, whose ropes had not been untied and whose hands were still bound behind their backs, suddenly leaped up and pounced on the surrounding soldiers, biting them. Some Mount Tai Sect disciples vomited incessantly, spewing blood all over the ground.
Some disciples were even biting each other, tearing off a piece of flesh and swallowing it, like evil spirits.
Cheng Yuanzhen flashed forward and tried to strike an acupoint on a Mount Tai disciple, but it was like a mud ox entering the sea; it seemed as if the acupoints on this person's body no longer existed.
Cheng Yuanzhen became ruthless, directly seizing the person's limbs, twisting them off with a “crunch,” and then examining them closely.
This person's face was blackened, his eye sockets were full of bloodshot veins, and his eyes had become a reddish sphere. Saliva flowed from his mouth, and dark veins protruded on his face.
Even with his limbs broken, he was still squirming on the ground, trying to pounce on Cheng Yuanzhen.
“What… what is this…?” Cheng Yuanzhen suddenly turned his head to look at the three sect masters: “What are you doing here!?”
The three sect masters did not answer.
However, a soft voice came from behind the hall: “It has nothing to do with the three sect masters; it is the work of my Manichaeism.”
Cheng Yuanzhen focused his gaze and saw a person slowly walking out from behind the hall.
He was carrying a headless corpse.
“Yun Zelin, Right Envoy of Manichaeism, greets Eunuch and the sect masters,” he said.
Cheng Yuanzhen and the three sect masters' pupils contracted slightly. They retreated a few steps, looking at Yun Zelin warily.
“Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, everyone. I do not like conflict and have no intention of troubling you,” Yun Zelin said gently.
Cheng Yuanzhen, however, snorted coldly: “You won't trouble me!?”
With that, he stepped forward, a claw striking towards Yun Zelin's face.
Killing the Right Envoy of Ming Cult was better than killing a thousand rebels who colluded with the Ming Cult!
But he did not notice that behind him, the three sect masters had secretly retreated a few steps.
His claw neared Yun Zelin's face.
This work is organized and uploaded by ~ ~
Bang!!!
With a muffled thud, Cheng Yuanzhen flew out of the door, knocking over five or six of his subordinates. He stood up awkwardly, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.
He did not hesitate at all. After getting up, he turned and fled.
“ ‘Vajra,’ that’s ‘Vajra’!”
“The Ming Cult scoundrels, another one beyond grandmaster level has appeared!”
His claw just now had clearly struck Yun Zelin's face squarely, yet it hadn't left even a trace!
The three sect masters also did not hesitate, swiftly retreating out of the door, taking a few disciples with them and fleeing down the mountain.
Yun Zelin quietly watched them flee, not stopping them in the slightest.
After a long while, the screams from outside grew increasingly intense.
Yun Zelin threw the headless corpse in his hand to the ground and let out a soft sigh.
“Alas… Lan Left Envoy.”
It was none other than the corpse of Lan Lechuan, left within Mount Tai Sect!
“You risked your life to protect Master Zuo and help him escape, thinking he was an indispensable ‘blood meal’ for our Cult Master.”
“But you don't know that our Cult Master has planted Gu worms on all of us.”
“All of us… are just his food.”
“It's just a pity that these things, in the end, won't be enjoyed by the Cult Master you swore to serve to the death.”
With that, he extended his fingers into a claw and plunged it into the abdomen of Lan Lechuan's corpse.
He pulled out a wriggling piece of flesh from inside.
And then shoved it into his mouth!
As soon as the flesh entered his stomach, tiny blood beads seeped out from the pores on Yun Zelin's face.
His hair gradually turned white, bloody sweat flowed from his armpits, soaking his clothes, and a foul stench emanated from him.
His normally serene expression also suddenly changed: anger, sorrow, jealousy, hatred, and ecstasy flashed across his face in succession.
“Heh… hehe…”
Yun Zelin, however, laughed with difficulty.
“Clothes… defiled, hair… withered, sweat flowing from armpits, body stinking… ”
“Not happy with this seat…”
“Ha—Celestial Human Five Declines…”
Yun Zelin let out a long breath, forcing a smile.
“No wonder the Cult Master would rather keep us, unwilling to harvest us for so long… and even had to feed Zuo Lishan for nothing…”
“Indeed… it is ultimately incomplete…”
“Fortunately, I don't seek longevity either…”
With that, Yun Zelin slowly walked back to the table, and sat down, supporting his knees.
His gaze fixed on the main door, he quietly listened to the wails outside, trembling uncontrollably, and said nothing more.