Chapter 16: Mending Bonds, Raiding Halls

Gazing at the little girl, who was still trembling slightly, Su Qin whispered softly:

“Rest assured, your master knows you are a good child and won’t blame you.”

Gu Yuhe remained silent, but quietly took Su Qin’s hand, drawing it away from her head and into her embrace, then held it gently.

She didn’t know whom to trust or what to say; only her body, acting almost instinctively, clung to that hand.

“Your master understands you. It was your master who was too impatient and chose the wrong method, leading to your misunderstanding. Your master promises never to treat you that way again, alright?”

Gu Yuhe still said nothing, but a rare flicker of peace appeared in the corner of her eyes.

‘It’s done,’ Su Qin thought.

A quiet delight bloomed in Su Qin’s heart. He didn’t expect to completely subdue her in one go; merely avoiding any trouble in the coming month would suffice.

The rifts between people were exceedingly difficult to mend. Given that she had poisoned him, he didn’t believe the girl would undergo a complete transformation simply due to a few words.

However, he would soon realize he had misjudged.

Gu Yuhe truly had transformed completely, becoming a disciple who made his fingers ache and whom he found impossible to discipline.

Having stabilized Gu Yuhe, the next task was to deal with the matters concerning the Immortal Slaying Valley.

“Yuhe, could you let go for a moment? Your master needs to attend to some matters.” Su Qin’s expression turned serious again.

When Gu Yuhe heard the words ‘Immortal Slaying Valley,’ her grip on Su Qin’s hand instinctively tightened, and she almost completely clung to him.

She naturally knew what awaited Su Qin there. She was terrified, fearing that if she let go, her master would vanish or revert to his former self.

“Then, your master will take you.”

Su Qin did not press her further to let go; instead, he carried Gu Yuhe and walked out of the hall.

On one hand, there truly wasn’t much time left.

On the other hand, he understood clearly that this was also an opportunity to further mend their master-disciple relationship.

In chaotic situations, people instinctively cling to the powerful, choosing to believe their words out of a desire for reliance.

While this method yielded quick results, it also had a drawback: when the strength of the powerful couldn’t be felt, this trust and relationship would waver.

This was a perfect chance to solidify it.

‘However, it seems that demoness Qi Shuyue was actually telling the truth,’ Su Qin mused.

When he had been held by Qi Shuyue, the girl had told him that his disciple Han Zhiyun had attempted to take her away, and suspected that someone was manipulating both disciples from behind the scenes.

His blood bats had witnessed Han Zhiyun’s actions, and Gu Yuhe’s poisoning aligned with the original plot, yet Su Qin had never detected the shadow of anyone else.

Either Qi Shuyue was lying, or that person was incredibly cautious and their methods were flawless.

Rather than acting rashly, Su Qin simply chose to wait.

Gu Yuhe’s sudden arrival at the main hall tonight indicated that someone in the Immortal Slaying Valley had noticed Su Qin’s absence and wanted to confirm his whereabouts.

It seemed there truly was someone pulling the strings. For now, it was best not to alert the enemy.

“Yuhe, did you suddenly come to the main hall tonight because you wanted to see if I had left? Did someone ask you to?”

Gu Yuhe’s face stiffened, then she nodded. Su Qin smiled gently.

“Then just tell them the truth. Your master has already departed.”

Gu Yuhe’s face showed hesitation; telling them felt like harming her master, but not telling them might harm Sister Zhiyun.

She was still somewhat confused.

“You only need to speak. Your master wishes you to speak, and your master will not fall into danger because of a single sentence.”

Su Qin dispelled her doubts at precisely the right moment. Gu Yuhe nodded and activated her communication token.

Su Qin slowly walked out of the hall, and hundreds of thousands of red eyes lit up.

‘Time to harvest,’ Su Qin thought.

A sky-darkening swarm of blood-path demonic beasts took flight: Echo Worms (TL Note: A type of demonic beast), shaped like ladybugs; Bloodsucking Bats, their mouths full of fangs; and the slightly cumbersome Blood Masters (TL Note: A type of demonic beast), resembling longhorn beetles.

The Fang Treasure Chest automatically disassembled into one hundred and eight fangs, leading the way. With the beast horde accompanying the fangs, their combined appearance resembled a terrifying monstrous beast.

“You go first; your master will follow shortly.”

The beast horde gently carried Gu Yuhe aloft. She reluctantly withdrew her hands, a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

Su Qin said nothing more, silently watching the beast horde advance towards the Immortal Slaying Valley.

***

In a flash, he transformed into a blood bat and flew off in a different direction.

The original players of the ‘prison’ storyline were all infinitely cunning, pulling off countless miraculous feats of ‘defeating the strong with the weak’.

Some, with fresh level one accounts, had slowly ground down mid-game bosses, while others, as level three newbies, had cunningly taken down pay-to-win magnates.

Yet he understood that there was no such thing as defeating the strong with the weak; only ‘using substance to overcome emptiness’ (TL Note: A strategic concept, ‘yǐ shí kè xū,’ implying using solid, tangible strength to exploit an opponent’s weaknesses or lack thereof.).

Su Qin, like a blood-red arrow, streaked through the dark night sky, reaching the Painted Bone Hall in less than a quarter of an hour.

Indeed, there was no trace of Gao Peiyou.

Given the old man’s (TL Note: Referring to Gao Peiyou) treacherous and avaricious nature, coupled with Su Qin having seized his storage bag, how could he possibly not interfere when presented with an opportunity to gain something from Su Qin, or even to kill him?

Su Qin sneered repeatedly.

“What a fine fellow disciple, what a fine fellow disciple indeed, seizing the opportunity to loot during a fire.”

If even after all this, Su Qin still carried any psychological burden, then he might as well stop being a demonic overlord.

Given the old man Gao’s cautious style, he would surely have taken the core forces with him, leaving the Painted Bone Hall as the weakest link.

‘I must thoroughly plunder that old rascal!’ Su Qin thought.

Behind Su Qin, three grayish-white fangs followed. He pinpointed the weak point of the mountain-protecting formation and instantly shot out the fangs.

—Crack!

The sound of shattering glass rang out. Although the barrier quickly regenerated, Su Qin had already used that brief interval to enter the hall.

“You—who are you!”

The direct disciple guarding the mountain didn’t even get to utter a second word before a fang pierced their brain, and their hand, poised to activate the killing formation, froze.

Silver-white fangs streaked through the hall, and soon, none of the night-watch disciples remained.

‘Only cultivating formations and nothing else—such a fatal weakness,’ Su Qin mused.

There were records of Foundation Establishment (TL Note: A cultivation realm) disciples jointly forming a formation to kill Golden Core cultivators, and it was the only recorded instance of Foundation Establishment cultivators achieving such a feat.

That was due to the characteristic of formation cultivators, where one plus one was greater than 1.5; if enough people gathered, their combined strength could surpass a Golden Core cultivator.

But if they were sent in one by one, it would be the most taboo ‘adding oil’ tactic (TL Note: A military tactic where reinforcements are sent in small numbers, making them easily defeated one by one, also known as piecemeal commitment.), and even if all were sacrificed, a Golden Core cultivator’s spiritual energy would still be almost full.

‘Fragile! Formation cultivators, sword cultivators, beast tamers, talisman cultivators—all are mere little minions before me!’ Su Qin thought.

Su Qin cleared out the core disciples remaining in the hall with almost no effort. Looking at their tokens, they were practically all surnamed Gao.

“How boring. Where are the things, exactly?”

Su Qin strolled leisurely into the Hall Master’s secret chamber. The fangs swiftly and easily broke through the formation, revealing a room full of treasures.

Finally, he located the yellowed booklet.

“Found it.”

A wicked smile curved Su Qin’s lips. This was precisely the list of the Painted Bone Hall’s spies within the Azure Profound Sect, Su Telie’s (TL Note: A transliteration of ‘Hitler’, used here to refer to a list of traitors or spies.) list.

One of the spy’s names caught his attention.

“Xiao Chen, self-proclaimed spy for the Azure Profound Sect, willing to become a counter-spy for the Painted Bone Hall.”

A double agent. It seemed there was potential for some manipulation.

Su Qin waved his hand, and before leaving, swept his sleeve, completely emptying the old fellow’s entire fortune. He then dispatched small bats to deliver it back to Silver Splendor Hall.

Just as he was about to transform into a bat and fly away, a faint, alluring fragrance assailed his nostrils, and an incredibly charming voice echoed from behind him.

“Hall Master Su truly possesses remarkable methods; this servant (TL Note: A humble self-reference used by a woman when speaking to a superior or husband, implying deference. I have no idea if there is a proper alternative for it in english) is impressed~”