Eternal Evil Emperor

The dying sun over the Hexi Corridor had already set for two hours. In pursuit of the truth, thousands of Hexi bandits holding torches lit up the area within a radius of two miles around the broken cave as if it were daytime.

Qiu Yang, accompanied by dozens of men in black, stood guard at the entrance of the cave, his expression somewhat gloomy. Kneeling before him were two individuals, one was the head of the Yin family's guards, Yin Fang, and the other, a brutish figure.

Seeing the brutish man's bewildered expression, Qiu Yang couldn't help but feel frustrated. He was certain that the man, whose head was filled with muscles, still had no clue why the young master had punished him.

"Please, can't you use your brain for once? In front of so many people, you actually said Master Xu's wife ran off with someone else..." Qiu Yang painfully closed his eyes, then opened them again, shook his head as he turned to look toward the broken cave.

Master Xu examined the cave very carefully, not missing any man-made traces. For two whole hours, he, looking somewhat fatigued, finally stood up and walked to the stone wall marked with traces of salt stains.

"Li Yuanyang captured a man, and given his nature, this person must have been tortured. Yet for some reason, Li Yuanyang never killed him."

Zhao Xuyang raised his red eyebrows in response, "Someone has been carrying out a killing spree among my Hexi bandits, and even murdered my son. Li Yuanyang is in charge of the pursuit, and we have gathered here for this matter!"

Master Xu shook his head, "No, Li Yuanyang's torment of this man had another purpose."

After speaking, Master Xu walked to the other end of the bonfire and pointed to the messy footsteps on the ground, "These footprints are very shallow, left by Li Yuanyang. With his first-level Inner Qi cultivation, he would never so easily lose his composure. This disorderly pacing can only mean that, at that time, Li Yuanyang was here practicing a Cultivation Technique—"

Master Xu then returned to the stone wall, speaking indifferently, "This also explains the messy bite marks on the roasted chicken."

The old man known as 'Immortal' was utterly confused and couldn't help asking, "Master Xu, what did you find?"

"Li Yuanyang tortured this individual, perhaps for a Cultivation Technique. Eventually, he obtained the technique, and to be sure, he broke the man's limbs and practiced the technique in front of him to verify its authenticity," Master Xu picked up the skewer with the roasted chicken and sneered, "With all limbs broken, unable to gnaw, the roasted chicken must have been Li Yuanyang feeding it to the man's mouth, causing the bite marks to be so chaotic."

The nine leaders' eyes widened with realization, and as they looked at Master Xu, they suddenly felt a tinge of dread.

After a moment of silence, Master Xu suddenly asked, "Who is this person?"

"His name and surname are unknown," Zhao Xuyang pondered and added, "He appeared young, about sixteen or seventeen, his Inner Qi was deficient, seemingly as if he had lost his virginity, very wary, ruthless and merciless."

Master Xu nodded and then, with a smile, turned to the nine leaders, "If this person is not eliminated, great disaster looms over your Hexi bandits."

"Ha, Master Xu, you're overreacting. A mere lone individual with cultivation that has yet to break through to the Inner Qi realm is hardly a threat; you're being alarmist!"

"Yes, at most, the individual had the strength of the seventh or eighth level of brute force," Master Xu replied with a mocking smile, "Moreover, he is severely injured, with all four limbs broken. Even so, he was able to kill the leader of your Yingui Fortress!"

"What did you say!"

"Li Yuanyang was truly killed by him?"

```

...

Xu Shao paid no mind to the household heads, squatting down and looking at the tiny pieces of flesh on the ground, his heart trembling slightly, "Li Yuanyang's entire head is gone, killed by Red Alum Liquid, and this Red Alum Liquid was sprayed out of this person's mouth."

With just that one sentence, the entire cave turned into an icy pit, freezing the nine household heads into stunned silence.

"This person first ate a chicken, lowering Li Yuanyang's guards, and when he bit into the second chicken, he didn't swallow it but kept it in his mouth," Xu Shao threaded a tree branch through the handle of a water bottle, bringing it before the household heads, "Then, he poured Red Alum Liquid into his own mouth and sprayed it at Li Yuanyang."

Zhao Xuyang snapped back to reality, about to point out the doubts in this speculation, but Xu Shao spoke first, "There are two things that puzzle me. First, this person's limbs are all broken; how could he lift the bottle to drink the Red Alum Liquid? Second, Li Yuanyang was born with a keen sense of smell; he should have been able to sense it as soon as the bottle was opened, so why was he still sprayed?"

Xu Shao fell deep into thought, pacing back and forth in the cave, and when he spotted a slightly collapsed area on the ground, his eyes suddenly shone with a keen light, and he uttered a few words, "I've got it!"

"Xu Shao, stop with the suspense, tell us quickly!"

Xu Shao took a deep breath and revealed the truth, "Under Li Yuanyang's merciless hands, it seemed like this person was forced to divulge the Cultivation Technique, but in fact, he deliberately aroused Li Yuanyang's desire with the technique. When this person drank the Red Alum Liquid, somehow he made Li Yuanyang instantly believe that he wanted to commit suicide to prevent Li Yuanyang from getting the complete technique, as a form of revenge!"

Inside the cave, there was a silence as deep as death, Old Immortal's eyes wide, his mouth agape, it took him a long while to utter, "The devil sees everything as devilish, the Buddha sees everything as Buddha-like, Li Yuanyang's nature was dark and extreme, suspecting everyone to be just as bad as himself, but he fell right into this person's trap within a trap, ah!"

Xu Shao nodded, "This person deliberately provoked Li Yuanyang's anger, and in his rage, Li Yuanyang forgot his own safety, threw away the bottle, and tried to force the Red Alum Liquid out of the man's mouth, and at that moment--"

Xu Shao lowered his head to look at the large human-shaped mark on the ground, but said nothing.

"Just then, Xu Shao's man rolled down from the mountain, causing Li Yuanyang to look up, and seeing this, the man immediately sprayed out the chicken and Red Alum Liquid!" Zhao Xuyang had an epiphany, taking pleasure in the misfortune, "Rolling down such a steep slope, Xu Shao, your people really work themselves to death!"

Xu Shao did not get angry at Zhao Xuyang's mockery, he sighed, "Even with the chicken meat as a barrier, this person's mouth still came into contact with the Red Alum Liquid, then, he used the thorn on the ground to scrape off the flesh in his mouth that was soaked with Red Alum Liquid, and in the end, this person lived, while Li Yuanyang died. This is roughly what happened."

The nine household heads stared at the thorn on the ground, shivering repeatedly, horrified.

"Formidable in combat, unmatched in cunning; especially rare is the fact that he's harsher on himself than on his enemies. You fellows from Hexi Bandits have made a powerful enemy," Xu Shao glanced at the nine household heads, his mood heavy as he walked out of the cave.

"Xu Shao."

Upon seeing Xu Shao emerge, Qiu Yang immediately approached, asking, "I estimate Yin Tian'er didn't get far, should we continue the pursuit?"

"No need, I know she can't get far, but her reinforcements are likely on their way soon," Xu Shao shook his head, then suddenly looked at Qiu Yang, smiling, "Do you know, I've met a very interesting person, and right now, Yin Tian'er, to me, isn't much at all."

Qiu Yang had heard everything clearly from inside the cave, but since he wasn't present, his feelings weren't as profound as those of the nine household heads who had yet to emerge.

"Get up," Xu Shao walked over to Black Savage, speaking coldly, "From now on, just do your job and keep the chatter to a minimum! After returning to camp, take a hundred military canes for yourself! Qiu Yang, after returning to camp, send some gifts to the Yin family, just say it was all a misunderstanding."

Dozens of men dressed in black followed Xu Shao, vanishing into the mountains shrouded by the night. Yin Fang was a bit dazed, and it took him a while before he shouted to the Hexi Bandits holding a torch, "Hurry up and come over to untie me, fucking Xu family! Misunderstanding, my ass!"

```

The lackey, upon hearing Yin Fang cursing Xu Shao, felt immense schadenfreude. After all, Xu Shao had made them crane their necks to watch the setting sun for over two hours. So, he promptly came forward to untie Yin Fang and even gave the latter a bag of water before watching Yin Fang disappear into the distance.

Yin Tian'er stood on tiptoes, gazing at the vast crimson glow ten miles away and listening to the intermittent calls of the night birds. Two hours ago, she had been there.

The night wind in the mountains grew even colder, chilling her to the bone until she trembled, yet she dared not enter the cave. Not because there was a cultivator whose existence both gods and men would detest, but because that cultivator was healing at the moment.

She couldn't imagine how a person with all limbs severed could travel more than ten miles through the mountains, how it was possible to pull the blade bones out from one's back, or how, with head bowed, to seriously stuff the continuously spilling intestines back in place and sew them up.

In truth, while inside the broken cave, she should have realized how a person with all limbs severed could possibly lift a water flask and drink the poison that led to Li Yuanyang's death.

Yin Tian'er covered her mouth again, warding off the nausea. What puzzled her was that all the acts Xie Tian had done only brought her a single negative reaction—nausea. The rest was a mix of emotions she couldn't describe.

"Did you kill Li Yuanyang?" That was the first thing Yin Tian'er said after entering the cave.

Xie Tian was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Yes."

"Oh."

Cradling her knees and seated on the ground, Yin Tian'er involuntarily drew her delicate feet inside her skirt upon hearing this. She had finally received a definite answer but found herself even more confused.

"You're incredible! How did you do it?"

Xie Tian glanced at Yin Tian'er and, while practicing his Cultivation Technique, simply recounted the events.

"So when you said that sentence, you really meant to interrupt me." Yin Tian'er's eyes sparkled, and she said cheerfully, "I thought so at the time. Li Yuanyang was a very sly man. If I had told the truth then, he would have definitely exploited it for his own gain. Thank you."

Xie Tian was a bit surprised and explained, "I interrupted you just to distract Li Yuanyang."

Yin Tian'er deflated slightly, then softly said after a long silence, "You wanted him to think I had ties to you, to distract him so you could grab the flask, right?"

"Yes."

Yin Tian'er felt downcast. Although she had witnessed an astonishingly brilliant kill, she didn't understand any of it. After a while, she couldn't help but ask, "Your limbs, weren't they all broken?"

Xie Tian shook his head but didn't answer. After a long silence, he suddenly asked, "In the Hexi Corridor before, why did you leave me behind?"

Yin Tian'er was taken aback, "I saw you in a pitiable state, so I let Chief Yin take you in... No, if I had known then that you were a murderous cultivator, I wouldn't have done so."

"Murderous cultivator," Xie Tian looked at Yin Tian'er and asked, "What's wrong with being a murderous cultivator?"

"Murderous cultivators are abhorred by both gods and men, scorned by the world. They... they kill on sight, devoid of humanity… Eh, why, why didn't you kill me?" Yin Tian'er blinked, asking in surprise.

Xie Tian watched Yin Tian'er for a long time and gave a devilish smile, "I am a murderous cultivator, but not the one you speak of."

Yin Tian'er was spellbound. She couldn't imagine that someone who'd been expressionless for so long could smile so beautifully. Xie Tian's smile made her draw closer involuntarily, allowing her to see even more clearly the wounds that covered his body, stirring a sense of pity within her.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"It doesn't hurt."

"Oh." Yin Tian'er was silent for a bit and then hesitantly voiced a question that had been lingering in her mind for a long time, "Do you have a penchant for women, I mean, have you lost your virginity at a young age and are now lacking in vital essence?"

Xie Tian frowned, causing Yin Tian'er to scurry to the cave entrance, frightened like a little kitten.

"I don't know what virginity is," Xie Tian saw once again that devastatingly beautiful face, "A month ago, a woman as beautiful as you drained my vital essence. I entered Hexi to find her."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Tian suddenly lunged at Yin Tian'er. Just as she screamed loudly, he pushed her aside, and the Zi Wu rod in his hand shot out swiftly, the glinting cold light tracing a silver bolt of lightning through the darkness!

"Ah!"

Yin Tian'er glanced at the iron arrow embedded next to her head, screaming for a long while before quieting down, only to realize that the shrieks did not cease. Once she regained her senses, she understood that the screams were coming from outside the cave.

"The murderous cultivator and Yin Tian'er are here!"

"The decree from Hexi is sworn; this child must die!"

"Seize the tokens of oath to avenge our disgrace in Hexi!"

"Avenge Leader Li!"

...

The clash of swords and the din of steel into flesh, screams of pain and the long cries of night birds continued until then did Yin Tian'er understand that the pleasant night bird calls were signals commanding the bandits within three hundred miles of Hexi. Xie Tian hastened his healing all for the imminent battle.

"He is a murderous cultivator, seeking vengeance through Hexi; he is not a murderous cultivator, simply because of this iron arrow..."

With tears welling up in her eyes, Yin Tian'er struggled to pull out the iron arrow and tenderly caressed it.