Open a Clinic to Cultivate Myself

They had walked such a distance and Ning Tao had heard so much nonsense. The only thing he wanted was an answer— who killed Liu Shiba and Reverend Qingsong?

Hai Dongfang was silent for a while before saying, “Before I speak, I want to know why you were in the Immortal’s Tomb with Zeng Xunlong.”

Ning Tao’s thoughts stalled for a moment before he spoke. “Why ask me this?”

Hai Dongfang said, “You want to know who killed Liu Shiba and Reverend Qingsong. I want to know what your encounter in the Immortal’s Tomb was. You tell me what I would like to know, and I do the same for you. Isn’t this transaction very fair?”

Ning Tao smiled. “I might as well let you know. I went to Holy Mountain in the western province to find clues about the elixir prescription of the Ancestor-seeking Elixir. I didn’t expect to meet Zeng Xunlong and his men at their camp. My dog bit his and we had a confrontation. He wanted to kill me. I realized he was armed with a gun, so I got suspicious. Then I followed him into the immortal’s Tomb. I have to admit he was an outstanding tomb raider. He managed to break into such a heavily guarded tomb.”

“You killed him and his men?”

Ning Tao shook his head. “That tomb was guarded by traps and formations. One man would have to die at each pass. All Zeng Xunlong’s men died in the traps along the way. Actually, there was a final trap there for Zeng Xunlong. The man who hired him wanted him dead at the end. So I did not kill any of them, although they had all perished in the Immortal’s Tomb.”

Hai Dongfang was staring straight at Ning Tao, a suspicious look in his eyes. “Is everything you said true?”

Ning Tao replied, “Every word of it. As to whether or not you believe me, that’s your problem.”

“You seemed to have forgotten the most important part.”

“What?”

“Opening the coffin,” Hai Dongfang said. “There’s an immortal’s coffin in that tomb. Zeng Xunlong died in that last formation trap— in other words, at the immortal’s coffin. After opening it, what happened?”

Ning Tao said, “So you want to know the whereabouts of that Picture of the Six Samsara Realms. I can tell you that too. There was a female corpse in that coffin, but she eroded away immediately after. There isn’t even a hair of her left. A picture flew out of the coffin. I’m sure you can guess: it was none other than the Picture of the Six Samsara Realms. The immortal tomb also caved in. So if you want to know the whereabouts of that picture, I have to report very regretfully that I don’t know either.”

Hai Dongfang was still staring straight at Ning Tao. He seemed to be trying to ascertain the veracity of Ning Tao’s words.

Ning Tao said, “I’ve already told you what you want to know. Now’s the time for you to do the same. Who killed Liu Shiba and Reverend Qingsong?”

Hai Dongfang was silent for a while before answering, “That Picture of the Six Samsara Realms was ranked seventh on the 10 top evil tools chart. It can make a person see his past lives, as well as locate the rebirth of a person. But its tool soul is made up of thousands of deceased spirits. It’s extremely evil and crafty, very hard to control.”

Ning Tao frowned slightly. This was not the answer he wanted.

Hai Dongfang walked towards the cell. That cell was the one in which he hanged that concubine. He spoke as he walked. “I know how to control the tool soul in the Picture of the Six Samsara Realms. I can manipulate it for my own use. As long as I can lay my hands on it, I can know where my pitiful child had been reborn and what he looks like now. I can also locate the place where Zhayinagu had been reincarnated. In other words, our family can be reunited. We will never part again.”

Ning Tao suddenly realized something but he said nothing.

Hai Dongfang opened that cell and walked in. He stood before that skeleton hanging on the rafter and stared at it fixedly for a few seconds. Then he reached out to undo the rope around its neck. But that skeleton was too fragile and before he could undo the knot, the skeleton fell apart, tumbling into pieces on the ground. Some pieces broke. Even the skull rolled to one side.

“No—” Hai Dongfang suddenly lost control of his emotions. He growled furiously in a hoarse voice.

Only now did Ning Tao speak. “You were the one who killed Liu Shiba and Reverend Qingsong, right?”

But Hai Dongfang seemed not to have heard him. He hugged that skull and wept. “Nagu, are you hurt? Don’t be scared, I’m holding you. We will soon be reunited. Wait for you, you must wait for me…”

A faint cold smile hovered on Ning Tao’s lips. “Why are you crying? Your feelings for her may be real and you may have suffered for centuries. But you didn’t put yourself in her shoes. When you looped that noose over her neck and killed her, what was she thinking?”

Hai Dongfang suddenly fumed, bellowing at Ning Tao, “You shut up!”

“You said you have given up, but you have not. Some sins, once committed, will gnaw at your soul like maggots. Unless you atone it with death, you will not be released,” Ning Tao said. He was an authority in this field.

Hai Dongfang gingerly put the skull on the ground and stood up. He grabbed that rope and tugged forcefully.

Crash!

A dull thud, and a huge boulder weighing at least several hundred tonnes fell on the entrance, instantly blocking their only exit.

Shoosh, shoosh, shoosh!

Stealth arrows and crossbow bolts started to shoot from the four walls. They were dense and not even a bird could evade them!

In this sealed room, there was nowhere to hide. Ning Tao did not run away either. At the moment when Hai Dongfang tugged vigorously the rope, he had pulled up the hood of his Heavenly Gem Magic Garment and covered his head. The hood was large and covered his eyes and nose. If he lowered his head a little, even his chin would be hidden in the hood.

Shoosh, shoosh, shoosh…

Just after Ning Tao pulled up the hood, countless arrows and bolts struck his head, chest, back and legs. In that instant, at least one hundred spots on his body had been hit!

The lanterns in that dungeon was also extinguished by the arrows. They lapsed into a pitch-black darkness where no one could see his own fingers.

“Hahaha! So what if you know I was the one who killed Liu Shiba and Reverend Qingsong? It will only make you die faster!” From the cell came Hai Dongfang’s cold snickers. “After killing and beheading you, I can lay my hands on the Picture of the Six Samsara Realms! My son, my Nagu, both of you wait for me! Soon, I will locate you and we can be reunited.”

The cell door opened and Hai Dongfang walked out. He waved his hand and a greenish demon flame instantly surged out from his palm. Those lanterns which had been extinguished were energized again and a dim yellow light began to illuminate the room.

Ning Tao was lying on the ground, a heap of arrows and crossbow bolts all around his body. Those arrows and bolts were gleaming with a greenish light. They had obviously been dipped in poison.

Hai Dongfang suddenly halted his steps. The expression on his face instantaneously changed.

There were no arrows or bolts lodged in Ning Tao’s body, nor was he bleeding and wounded. He lay on the ground, his two eyes bulging wide. He gave one the impression not of a horrific corpse which would not succumb to death, but of an insomniac counting sheep.

Suddenly, Ning Tao blinked his eyes.

Hai Dongfang suddenly hurled himself at Ning Tao. A sharp blade suddenly transferred from his waist to his hand. He waved his arm and that knife stabbed into Ning Tao’s heart!

Ning Tao rolled away to dodge. He immediately unleashed a Sacred Needle, streaking towards Hai Dongfang’s chest.

Hai Dongfang overturned his wrist and the knife blocked horizontally before his chest.

Ding!

The Sacred Needle hit his knife and then ricocheted off, returning to Ning Tao’s hand.

“Why… why aren’t you dead?” Hai Dongfang was both shocked and enraged.

Ning Tao stared at the sharp knife in Hai Dongfang’s hand. “You must have killed Liu Shiba and Reverend Qingsong with this same blade. Reverend Qingsong is a highly skilled practitioner. If it weren’t for his trust in you, he would not have been dead.”

“So what?” Hai Dongfang cried harshly. “Whoever hinders my reunion with my wife and son shall be eliminated!”

Ning Tao said, “I heard you say that you only need to kill and behead me to lay hands on the Picture of the Six Samsara Realms. Does someone want me dead?”

Hai Dongfang sneered. “Lend me your head and I will tell you.”

Ning Tao’s expression instantly turned cold. Actually, Ning Tao was already wary when Hai Dongfang avoided telling him who killed Liu Shiba and Reverend Qingsong and strolled into the cell. Ning Tao’s malicious face had awoken then. But now, a raging fire was burning on this face.

Hai Dongfang had strangled that concubine made pregnant by him. He managed to murder Liu Shiba and Reverend Qingsong thanks to their trust in him. These two deeds were unforgivable crimes. Now he was even trying to kill the owner of Sky Clinic and wanted his head!

Ning Tao began to smile from extreme rage. “You are so bold. Lend you my head? Don’t be so insolent before me in the face of death! I will give you one last chance. Tell me who hired Zeng Xunlong and his company to raid the immortal’s tomb. If you tell me, I will bury you with your woman and let you two reunite in hell.”

In other words, he would kill him whether he revealed the secret or not!

“Hahaha! How insolent! You think your magic garment can let you leave this place alive? I’ve been here for centuries. It’s not as easy as you think!” The sharp blade in Hai Dongfang’s right hand suddenly slit his left palm. Fresh blood instantly spurted out, dripping down onto the ground. His mouth started to mumble an incantation rapidly.

Ning Tao would of course not wait for him to finish his incantation. He waved his hand and a Sacred Needle dart out, streaking as a cold light into Hai Dongfang’s mouth.

If you recite incantations, I shall dart a needle into your mouth.

Once again, Hai Dongfang raised his sharp blade to block horizontally, fending off the whizzing Sacred Needle.

Ding!

The Sacred Needle rebounded again.

But this time, it did not return into Ning Tao’s hand. It swerved midway in the air and darted into Hai Dongfang’s neck.

Hai Dongfang’s neck instantly froze. A strange sound emitted from his lips.

He had finished reciting his incantation.

Ning Tao beckoned and that Sacred Needle in Hai Dongfang’s neck returned to his hand.

The earth suddenly quaked.