Chapter 156: Assassin of the Blood-Slaughter Alliance

Liu Junhuai then woke up Fang Weifeng and asked him the same question, but he failed to get any further useful information out of him.

At this moment, Fang Yexu walked out of the room. Seeing the relaxed expression on his face, Liu Junhuai guessed that Che Shangguan must have confessed something.

Sure enough, Fang Yexu pulled him outside and softly recounted the details of the interrogation. It was much as Liu Junhuai had anticipated: Che Shangguan still had several accomplices stationed at the East Corner City Lord's Mansion.

Liu Junhuai shared the information provided by Liao Qifan with Fang Yexu. This was intelligence that Che Shangguan had not disclosed. It seemed either that he was extremely confident in his ability to make a safe escape, or that Fang Haiquan, the head of the Fang family, held a crucial position within the Blood-Slaying Alliance. Of course, the possibility of it being a complete fabrication could not be entirely ruled out.

"I must resort to harsher methods against him! How dare he conceal things from me, humph!" Fang Yexu was extremely indignant as he muttered to himself and returned to the interrogation room.

Liu Junhuai could not be bothered to deal with the details of these interrogations. He had spent a great deal of time and energy doing such things recently, consuming much of his time and focus.

Unless the Blood-Slaying Alliance dispatched reinforcements to the Western Regions, the local forces of the Blood-Slaying Alliance had already been largely depleted.

Without the days spent in battle, Liu Junhuai even felt a trace of weariness toward this relatively stable life. Aside from cultivation, he probably had little interest in anything else at present.

Fortunately, he would not be staying on Longwhale Island for much longer. The upcoming trip to the Sea God Hall would be a major battle. That Grand Hall Master Jing Moyou was an early Nascent Soul cultivator, and dealing with him would require the joint efforts of two Hall Masters.

Although Liu Junhuai might not necessarily lack the strength to fight an early Nascent Soul cultivator head-on, Jing Moyou was the helmsman of the Sea God Hall, and the sects he had lobbied and corrupted were certainly numerous. Engaging in a prolonged standoff with him would be detrimental to the overall strategic needs of the battle.

Feeling idle and bored, Liu Junhuai strolled into the courtyard, sat down on a stone stool, and someone immediately brought him a cup of tea. Gong Hemao approached him with a stealthy and obsequious look, saying, "Senior Liu, I have a piece of intelligence I wish to report to you..." Gong Hemao knew that Liu Junhuai did not hold a favorable opinion of him, so he was eager to curry favor with him now.

"Oh, what is it? Go ahead," Liu Junhuai said, knowing Gong Hemao's thoughts and not minding them. He had no time to bicker with such a person. Once the matters here were resolved, he intended to leave; he had truly no interest in the internal struggles of Longwhale Island.

Gong Hemao walked up to Liu Junhuai with a flattering smile and said, "Senior should know about the Blood-Slaying Alliance, right? I heard they have committed many major crimes in the Western Regions, and nearly a thousand cultivators have died. However, last night, one of my disciples accidentally overheard some news about the Blood-Slaying Alliance at a tavern..."

"What?" Liu Junhuai sprang to his feet, but he immediately cut off Gong Hemao's words, turning instead to address the others: "Go back first. There is nothing more to do here."

Until that person had left, Liu Junhuai asked, "Speak, what is this news you heard about the Blood-Slaying Alliance?"

Gong Hemao was pleasantly surprised. His original intention was merely to win favor with Liu Junhuai, not expecting that Senior Liu would actually be so interested in this intelligence. Relinquishing any hesitation, he quickly said, "Yesterday, one of my subordinates was drinking at the Yaywan Tavern and inadvertently overheard two people talking."

At this point, he glanced at Liu Junhuai, noticing that he was listening intently, and resolved in his heart to reward that subordinate later for bringing him the news.

With mounting excitement, Gong Hemao continued, "One of these two people was a woman, and she and the other person were discussing, roughly, that the target was too powerful, and the Alliance Leader's intention was to settle accounts only after the target officially assumed office. Furthermore, she said she did not want to continue with another mission because she claimed that person was simply someone she could not kill. The male companion, however, replied that if anyone withdrew midway through a mission, the organization would immediately hunt them down. After that, the woman fell silent for a long time and said nothing more."

There was no mention of the three words "Blood-Slaying Alliance" in this, but Liu Junhuai realized that these two individuals were very likely sent by the female Alliance Leader to assassinate Che Shangguan. It seemed that the Sect Alliance's recent operation had indeed caught the eye of the Blood-Slaying Alliance.

At this thought, Liu Junhuai immediately knitted his brows, and upon seeing this, Gong Hemao felt his momentarily triumphant heart tighten once again. Unsure why Liu Junhuai was frowning upon hearing this news, and while he was still feeling anxious, Liu Junhuai asked, "How did your subordinate hear this news? And there was no specific mention of the Blood-Slaying Alliance in it, was there?"

Ah, so it was about that. Gong Hemao hurriedly said, "Zhao Santai only said he overheard the news, but he didn't mention how he heard it. I will summon him here immediately."

Seeing that Liu Junhuai had no objection, Gong Hemao immediately called out to the outside, "Send Zhao Santai over here immediately."

Zhao Santai arrived very quickly. Within just a few minutes, he entered the courtyard. Seeing Gong Hemao, he hurriedly and flatteringly called out, "Grand Elder, did you summon me for something?"

Gong Hemao nodded and said, "This is Senior Liu. He has some questions for you. You must answer carefully and clearly. If there is anything vague, don't blame me for being discourteous."

Meeting the Grand Elder's stern gaze, Zhao Santai nodded quickly and said, "Yes, Senior Liu, please go ahead and ask."

"Did you hear news of the Blood-Slaying Alliance at the Yaywan Tavern?" Liu Junhuai asked immediately.

Zhao Santai breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was nothing too serious, and quickly replied, "Yes, Senior, I did hear news of the Blood-Slaying Alliance at the Yaywan Tavern. I was drinking at the time, and two people were talking in the private compartment behind me, and I heard them very clearly..."

Liu Junhuai let out a cold snort, tapped the table, and said, "You are lying. With your early Foundation Establishment cultivation, how could they possibly have failed to notice you? If you lie again, don't blame me for being impolite..."

Gong Hemao stood up and slapped Zhao Santai across the face. "You must have a death wish, actually daring to lie to Senior Liu."

"Ah..." Zhao Santai was sent flying two zhang away by Gong Hemao's slap, yet he did not dare to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. He simply could not fathom how this Senior Liu knew he was lying.

However, those details no longer mattered. What was important was that if he continued to lie, the Grand Elder might genuinely execute him. Zhao Santai hurriedly fell to his knees and begged, "Grand Elder, spare my life! Every word this disciple spoke is the absolute truth, it's just that I didn't overhear it from the compartment. I know a bit of beast-taming arts. Yesterday, when that man and woman entered the private room, thinking something interesting might happen, I quietly sent a mosquito inside. From outside, I used my sea of consciousness to receive everything the mosquito saw.

"As a result, they began saying those things inside the room and then spoke no further. Grand Elder, Senior Liu, every word I said is true, not a single falsehood."

Liu Junhuai nodded. It appeared that this Zhao Santai possessed some genuine skills. It seemed that the beast-taming art was a good technique; he certainly needed to take a look at it.

"What happened afterward?" Liu Junhuai continued to ask.

Not daring to conceal anything, Zhao Santai quickly answered, "For more than an hour afterward, the two did not speak at all. They merely used alcohol to trace and draw things on the table, and finally left without even lifting a finger against each other."

"Then how did you deduce that the Alliance Leader they mentioned was the Blood-Slaying Alliance?" Liu Junhuai found it strange how Zhao Santai had connected the dots to the Blood-Slaying Alliance.

Zhao Santai looked fearfully at Gong Hemao, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "It was just a wild guess on this junior's part. After all, there are no other alliances within a radius of tens of thousands of miles, and currently, the Sect Alliance and the Blood-Slaying Alliance are the most famous names. To curry favor with the Grand Elder, this junior just blurted it out."

Liu Junhuai smiled wryly and shook his head. This Zhao Santai was truly an eccentric character, stopping at nothing to suck up to his superiors.

"Hand over your beast-taming art for me to look at!" Liu Junhuai still had his mind set on this rare manual.

Zhao Santai's eyes immediately lit up with eager anticipation. He handed over a jade slip as if presenting a rare treasure, saying, "Senior, please keep this and study it slowly. There is an original copy back at my residence."

Pleased in his heart, Liu Junhuai carefully inquired about the appearances of the two individuals, and with a wave of his hand, he produced two barrier-breaking pills, giving one each to Gong Hemao and Zhao Santai. "These are barrier-breaking pills, keep them to take when attempting to break through to the Spirit Realm!"

Both Gong Hemao and Zhao Santai revealed expressions of wild joy.

These barrier-breaking pills were supreme treasures for low-level cultivators in the cultivation world. Even with spiritual stones, they could not be bought casually, and such pills only occasionally appeared at auctions twice or thrice.

Having obtained some clues, Liu Junhuai immediately stood up and said to Zhao Santai, "Good, thanks to you this time, you did very well. Remember not to leak word of this pill, lest you invite a fatal disaster!"

Joy flashed in Zhao Santai's eyes as he repeatedly said he wouldn't dare. He escorted Liu Junhuai all the way outside, watching until his figure completely disappeared, his expression remaining a mixture of shock and joy, hardly daring to believe what had just happened.

Emerging from the large courtyard, Liu Junhuai found a secluded spot and released his divine sense, enveloping the entire Longwhale Island.

As a faint smile gradually spread across the corners of Liu Junhuai's mouth, his figure abruptly vanished from the spot, reappearing a moment later at a beach on the outskirts of Longwhale Island.

Several hundred wooden boats were moored along the beach. Liu Junhuai stopped in front of a slightly dilapidated wooden boat and swept his divine sense inside. There were only two people in the cabin—precisely the man and woman described by Zhao Santai.

With a flicker of his body, Liu Junhuai entered the cabin.

"Is that Liu Junhuai really that terrifying? He's only at the late Foundation Establishment stage! Both of us are at the same realm as him, can't two of us beat one of him? Besides, we are in the dark, and you and I both excel in assassination techniques. You have no reason to be so terrified of him." The male cultivator was evidently trying to persuade the female cultivator, and the topic was still Liu Junhuai.

The female cultivator's face was somewhat pale as she shook her head repeatedly and said, "Third Senior Brother, neither of us has ever interacted with him, so we don't understand how formidable he is. But he was able to slay a late Foundation Establishment cultivator while he was still at the early Foundation Establishment stage, and Elder Gonghu was even killed by him in an instant—moreover, Elder Gonghu had over a dozen mid-to-early Foundation Establishment experts assisting him. At the founding assembly of the Myriad Phenomena Sect, he openly displayed teleportation divine powers on the spot! Divine powers! Third Senior Brother, have you ever heard of anyone in the cultivation world who has mastered the art of divine powers?"

After a pause, the female cultivator continued, "If I had to choose, I would rather offend the superiors above and commit suicide than face that Liu Junhuai; he is simply too terrifying. I have investigated him: he is not even sixteen years old this year, his sect is extremely mysterious, and among his attendants are two late Nascent Soul experts. Furthermore, the Myriad Phenomena Sect has just hired another late Nascent Soul cultivator to serve as their Supreme Elder. I ask you, with three late Nascent Soul subordinates at his disposal, how are the two of us supposed to strike?"

The male cultivator nodded. "What you say is true, Junior Sister, but we cannot afford to offend them. Can we afford to offend the higher-ups either? If we flee, it's still a death sentence, and a most miserable death at that."

The female cultivator remained silent for a moment before saying, "Later on, I also discovered that Bao Yunxiao, Mao Xiaojun, and Taisu Yong of the Falling Star Mansion all died at his hands. Although early Nascent Soul cultivator Huo Shaoying was not killed directly by his hand, it was still a trap set by him—and that was before he had even advanced to the late Foundation Establishment stage. It's not just his strength; during the Battle of Pingdu City, the total massacre of the Shen family not only demonstrated his ruthlessness, but his strategic scheming is also exceptionally profound, and his methods are impossible to guard against! Senior Brother, listen to Junior Sister's advice. Once we assassinate Che Shangguan, let's flee far away!"

Before her voice had even faded, a voice suddenly echoed from outside the cabin: "Want to run? Do you think you can still run?" Following that, a figure lifted the curtain and stepped inside.