Eternal Evil Emperor

He Xi Corridor, Sha Shen Village, the bandit flags fluttering in the wind.

For three hundred miles through the corridor, dozens of mountain strongholds had gathered here. The He Xi bandits drank from large bowls and devoured chunks of meat. A few of them who were more unrestrained even took the women they had captured and did unspeakable acts with them. The rowdiness billowed like the bandit flags in the wind.

Zhao Xuyang hadn't lifted his head since he sat down, continuously downing bowl after bowl of strong alcohol. His eyes, already red, nearly shot out flames. Beside him, there were eight other leaders, and including Li Yuanyang, who was roasting a chicken fifteen miles away, these ten comprised the heads of the ten major lairs of the He Xi bandits.

Matters concerning the He Xi bandits were decided by these ten people. Therefore, when Li Yuanyang sent word that the execution could take place in two hours, the largest assembly of the He Xi bandits in decades began.

"More wine!" Zhao Xuyang slammed down his empty jug, exuding a heavy alcohol breath.

Seeing this, the old undying cackled and said, "Mad Demon, if I were you, I'd drink less. Lest after you've killed and later sober up, you forget about it, and we wouldn't know where to find another one for you to vent your anger on."

"It's simple. Have another son, and let him die again," Gou Jianyang, the leader of Sha Shen Village, said with a sinister smile.

Zhao Xuyang slammed the table and stood up, pointing at Gou Jianyang and cursing, "Son of a bitch! Say that again!"

"Humph," Gou Jianyang couldn't be bothered with the drunken madman, and turned to coldly smile at the old undying, "It's really strange. Our nine strongholds have been in such a mess over one executioner, and I can understand holding a meeting to vent anger. But whose damn idea was it to hold this grand assembly in my Sha Shen Village?"

The old undying coughed a few times and muttered, "Li Yuanyang said, sooner or later the executioner will come for Sha Shen Village. We thought about it, and it made sense, so here we are."

Gou Jianyang was so angry his eyes rolled back, but he was helpless. The ten strongholds of the He Xi bandits were all related by shared breath, so all he could do was grumble. Just as he wanted to drink some wine to soothe his aggrieved heart, the sounds of chaos came from outside the village.

"Go take a look, what's happening…"

Bang!

Before Gou Jianyang could finish his orders, the gates of Sha Shen Village were kicked in two. The noise of the He Xi bandit assembly was drowned out by the thunderous sound.

A man dressed in black, Su Xing, walked into Sha Shen Village as comfortably as if entering his own backyard.

Just like the silence in Sha Shen Village at that moment, aside from the crackling of firewood and the sizzle of roasting chicken, the cave in Po Shan was eerily quiet.

Actually, a quarter of an hour earlier, as soon as Yin Tian'er woke up and saw Li Yuanyang, she burst into loud crying. Although there was a history of bloodshed and corpses between her Yin family and the He Xi bandits, devoid of any affection and full of grievances, today's ordeal had wiped away her perception in this regard. Simply put, seeing Li Yuanyang was like seeing her own kin.

But just as she was about to recount her harrowing experience, she inadvertently saw a person who hadn't moved at all; she paused for a moment, then her shriek pierced the skies.

After the scream, no matter how Li Yuanyang asked, she refused to speak again, just hugged her knees and stared at the fire in a daze, crying.

Xie Tian was also looking at the fire, or more accurately, at the enticingly fragrant roasted chicken over the flame. Li Yuanyang counted—Xie Tian had swallowed twenty-six times during the process.

He was truly hungry.

So, for once, Li Yuanyang did something straightforward; after roasting the chicken, he directly handed it to Xie Tian.

Xie Tian looked at him, silent.

"Ah, sorry, sorry, I forgot about your amputated limbs," Li Yuanyang said with a tinge of guilt, but made no move to help further, only smiling and saying, "Make do with this, I'll hold it, you bite. Careful, it's hot."

Yin Tian'er's eyes darted back and forth, somewhat unable to grasp the situation in front of her. One was a notorious executioner, the other a member of the He Xi bandits who had captured the executioner. The two should have been irreconcilable enemies. It was already enough to help with roasting, but now here they were sharing food and even concerned about the other getting burnt...

"Could it be that Li Yuanyang has taken a liking to him…"

As her family's assessment of Li Yuanyang flashed through her mind, Yin Tian'er shook uncontrollably, then scooted back and viewed Xie Tian with a mix of fear and inquiry.

In contrast to seven days ago, Xie Tian had changed a lot. After being subjected to Li Yuanyang's merciless treatment, he was nearly unrecognizable as human, but Yin Tian'er still recognized him at a glance. However, she dared not reveal that she had seen Xie Tian before.

Firstly, because of guilt, at least in her view, Xie Tian's current plight was greatly due to her advice on drawing a line on the map for the He Xi bandits to follow.

Secondly, due to the words "executioner"; in her eyes, anyone who embarked on the path of an executioner could no longer be called human, only a ghost or demon.

And the most important third reason, Li Yuanyang was right there; if she exposed her acquaintance with Xie Tian, it might provide the He Xi bandits with an excuse to break decades of rules they had followed, leading them to act without restraint.

While the He Xi bandits had steadfastly adhered to their rules for decades, the Yin family was well aware that these vile thieves were increasingly dissatisfied with the rules and always looking for an opportunity to destroy the pact. If the He Xi bandits succeeded, the Yin family would face an enormous crisis.

So, aside from her initial scream, she firmly sealed her mouth and suppressed her curiosity. Li Yuanyang simply thought Yin Tian'er was frightened by Xie Tian's dreadful condition and did not give it further thought.

Seeing Yin Tian'er sneak glances at Xie Tian, Li Yuanyang squinted and smiled, "Miss Yin, this man is the public enemy of the martial world committing executioner deeds in my He Xi Corridor. Thanks to your help, I finally captured him. In a while, we will take him to Sha Shen Village to be dismembered."

Upon hearing this, Yin Tian'er couldn't help but shiver repeatedly, wishing she could tear Li Yuanyang's mouth apart. She glanced fearfully at Xie Tian, seeing that he was indifferent, before her heartbeat finally calmed.

"No, no, it wasn't me, it has nothing to do with me!" Yin Tian'er hurriedly explained, then suddenly remembering something, quickly asked, "May I ask, besides you Sir Li, are the other nine leaders present in Sha Shen Village?"

"Heh heh, they've been waiting for me at Sha Shen Village, counting on me to return with the assassins," Li Yuanyang twirled a twig, flipping the roasting chicken to the other side before asking, "So, what brings Miss Yin here to see us?"

Yin Tian'er stood up somewhat excitedly upon hearing this, "Leader Li, how about we set off right now?"

Li Yuanyang chuckled and shook his head, "Miss Yin, I've treated you sincerely, yet you still refuse to answer me. Unless you tell me what happened to the Yin Family's merchant caravan, I won't take you to Sha Shen Village."

Yin Tian'er struggled for a moment before answering with a sob in her voice, "My Yin Family..."

"I don't eat chicken butts; get another one," Yin Tian'er had barely uttered three words when Xie Tian interrupted her abruptly.

Li Yuanyang's eyes glittered cunningly as he glanced at Xie Tian, then back at the stunned Yin Tian'er, smiling as he picked up the second chicken and brought it to Xie Tian's mouth.

Yin Tian'er seemed to have suddenly grasped something, looked at Li Yuanyang, then sat back down, hugging her knees, refusing to utter another word.

A cold flash crossed Li Yuanyang's eyes, but his lips wore a smile as he said, "It seems Miss Yin truly has her unspeakable difficulties. Well, once I'm done with my matters here, I'll take you to Sha Shen Village. Would that be acceptable?"

"Fine," Yin Tian'er was sparing with her words, trying to hide her feelings as much as possible, not realizing that Li Yuanyang had already noticed the fleeting excitement in her eyes and instantly understood a great deal.

"Heh heh, something really did happen to the Yin Family's caravan. Going to Sha Shen Village is nothing but a ploy to borrow the strength of the He Xi bandits to solve their crisis," Li Yuanyang mused while roasting the third chicken. "The only condition that could make the He Xi bandits take action for the Yin Family would be to present the oath token in front of the ten village leaders!"

"Could it be that the oath token is in Yin Tian'er's possession? If I could get my hands on it, wouldn't my prestige within the He Xi bandits soar?" Li Yuanyang's left hand trembled a few times, a sign of extreme excitement within him.

As if the first chicken had restored some of his strength, Xie Tian tore into the second one rapidly, stuffing all the meat into his mouth without swallowing, appearing to be choking.

Seeing this, Yin Tian'er was somewhat worried; the assassins deserved to die, but choking to death would be too lacking in tragic color—right, although she wouldn't save him, she couldn't let him choke to death.

But just as she raised her head to remind Li Yuanyang to help Xie Tian drink some water, she witnessed a bizarre scene—a man whose limbs were all severed suddenly extended his right hand, grabbed the water jug beside him, pulled the stopper, and began pouring water into his mouth.

"He, he, he..."

The horrified Yin Tian'er pointed at Xie Tian, rendered speechless with fright, while Li Yuanyang suddenly came back to his senses, not because Yin Tian'er had awakened him, but because his keen nose had caught a scent that could have killed him!

"Red Alum Liquid!"

Li Yuanyang staggered back several steps in great alarm, following the scent's trail to Xie Tian.

He then saw Xie Tian pouring Red Alum Liquid into his own mouth; it dawned on him—Xie Tian's repeated glances towards the water jug and requests for a drink were actually an attempt to commit suicide!

At the same time, he also saw the mocking in Xie Tian's eyes; he realized—thinking of obtaining the complete cultivation method of 'nurturing the primordial spirit' from me, what wishful thinking!

In a flash, Li Yuanyang understood all of Xie Tian's thoughts, because only by letting him taste divine sweetness before crushing the hope would inflict the greatest damage on him! Such an injury could make him die with everlasting regret!

"I won't let you die, who dares to let you die!"

Li Yuanyang's eyes turned bloodshot as he sent a blast of Inner Qi from his right palm to knock open Xie Tian's water jug, then he immediately lunged forward to within five feet of Xie Tian, preparing to use his Inner Qi from a distance to force out the Red Alum Liquid in Xie Tian's mouth!

But just then, a series of tragic bear cries echoed from above the hole overhead.

Caught in his fury, Li Yuanyang instinctively looked up.

Ren Ping also looked up at the sky, rubbed his slightly aching right palm, not even bothering with Gou Jianyang whom he'd just knocked away, and continued to walk forward.

Lying on the ground, coughing up blood, Gou Jianyang pointed tremblingly at Ren Ping's back, his expression filled with extreme bitterness, but he was unable to utter a word.

With the master of Sha Shen Village fallen in one strike, no one else dared to step forward to stop Ren Ping, partly because no one present could match his combat strength, and partly because his identity alone could obliterate the three hundred li of He Xi Village with overwhelming force.

Ren Ping walked to where Gou Jianyang lay, turned around to sit down, and said nothing, staring blankly at the setting sun in the west. The sun, though red, was not nearly as piercing as the blood he had seen in his lifetime.

"I've just arrived here and have no other requests," Ren Ping finally made a move—grabbing the wine jar on the table and raising it towards the nine village leaders in salute, speaking indifferently, "Since all the leaders are here, why not join me in watching the sunset?"

Within the broken chamber, two people gazed skyward.

Regrettably, what they saw was not the gorgeous remains of the sunset but a screaming bear plummeting down.

Only Xie Tian did not look up, because before he had ingested the Red Alum Liquid, he already knew someone else had fallen. Using the scars covering his body, two sets of primordial spirit nurturing techniques, and the price of severed limbs, he'd finally waited for the perfect opportunity.

Thus, at the same moment Li Yuanyang looked up startled, Xie Tian mustered all his strength and spewed all the chicken meat and Red Alum Liquid from his mouth!

"Pfft!"