“This…”
Seeing their companion rolling on the ground, emitting piercing screams, the other two black-clad men’s eyes widened with even greater fear.
They had both cultivated spiritual power and naturally understood how cruel pain originating from the soul could be.
“It’s your turn, two. I wonder if you’re willing to answer my questions?”
The icy voice reached them, and the two black-clad men trembled. They shook their heads with difficulty.
Despite their extreme fear of Ye Cangtian, they ultimately did not answer any questions.
The reason was simple: if they revealed their identities, they would also face a certain death upon returning, and it would be a similarly gruesome end.
Therefore, since the outcome was equally grim, it was better to die at Ye Cangtian’s hands. This way, their families could continue to live well.
“It seems you’re unaware of my methods!”
Seeing their heads shake, Ye Cangtian let out a cold smile, and then two strands of spiritual power directly entered their bodies.
After a bout of wails, Ye Cangtian finally chose to stop.
Soon, the three regained consciousness. When they looked at Ye Cangtian again, their eyes held nothing but fear.
“I’ll give you one last chance!”
“If you don’t answer my questions, I’ll have to try other methods. But don’t worry, I won’t kill you!”
“To outsiders, you’ll merely be walking corpses, while you will only feel endless darkness and torment…”
Ye Cangtian’s voice echoed. The three were drenched in sweat. The next moment, one of them pulled out a dagger and plunged it directly into his chest.
Ye Cangtian did not intervene. Instead, he looked at the other two and continued, “What about you? If you wish to die, I won’t stop you!”
Thump! Thump!
As his words fell, the two black-clad men immediately knelt before Ye Cangtian.
They were not afraid of death. Having committed so many wicked deeds, death was merely their retribution, and everything would be settled after that.
What they feared was the never-ending torment…
But fate seemed to have them exactly where they feared to be, as Ye Cangtian’s methods were truly unbearable.
“Lord Ye, please spare us! We truly cannot say! If we speak, not only will we die, but our families will die too!”
Hmph!
Ye Cangtian snorted, cutting off their words.
A killing intent flashed in his eyes, and he coldly continued, “Do you think you’re the only ones with families? Of those you harmed, which one did not have a family? What about them?”
“This…”
With that statement, the two black-clad men were rendered speechless. Their actions were inherently wicked and unconscionable, and they had no way to argue. It was natural they would not be forgiven.
Seeing their silence once more, Ye Cangtian snorted and said, “Since neither of you is willing to confess, I’ll have to act!”
“No!”
As Ye Cangtian’s forehead revealed a shimmering celestial eye, one of the black-clad men quickly reached out to stop him.
“Lord Ye, we cannot tell you the identity of the forces behind us, nor can we tell you anything about the mission.”
The black-clad man spoke. Seeing Ye Cangtian’s grim expression, he quickly changed his tune, “But there is one piece of news we can give you, if you’ll grant us a swift end!”
“Very well!”
Ye Cangtian’s eyes flickered, and he finally nodded in agreement.
Even if this news held no value, and offered him no clues about the mastermind, it didn't matter.
The reason was simple: the opposing party had gone to such great lengths, and he didn’t believe it was merely to extract the spiritual power of the entire city.
This meant the opposing party had a purpose, and he would have opportunities to uncover them later.
On the other side, seeing Ye Cangtian’s agreement, the black-clad man quickly said, “Lord Ye need not be anxious about this. Someone will come to your door within these two days. Perhaps then you will understand everything!”
Heh heh.
Ye Cangtian smiled coldly in his heart. It seemed his suspicions were correct; the other party was using the spiritual power of the entire city against him!
However, this was also good. At least the other party was threatening him with this, indicating they had a solution.
With that thought, he glanced at the two and said indifferently, “You two can decide for yourselves?”
As his words fell, the two black-clad men immediately drew their daggers and plunged them into their chests, as if fearing Ye Cangtian would change his mind.
Seeing this, Ye Cangtian no longer paid them any mind and moved on to the next target.
As dawn gradually broke, after a night of action, everyone reconvened in the hall of the Yin Group.
When everyone saw the results of the operation, their expressions changed once more.
All eight formation bases had been destroyed, but the problem was that Ye Cangtian and his companions had only managed to destroy seven of them.
The next moment, Yuwen Sheng looked at Ye Cangtian and asked, “Lord Ye, who do you think destroyed this last formation base?”
“It’s difficult to say, but I suspect it was the work of Swiftwind Tower…”
Ye Cangtian fell silent for a moment before finally speaking.
Earlier, Han Que from Swiftwind Tower had come to see him and happened to see the map on the table. Perhaps it was based on that map that they found a formation base.
After all, Swiftwind Tower was a peak power, and they wouldn’t stand by and let such a thing happen without retaliation.
Upon hearing Ye Cangtian’s words, everyone remained silent. For them, it didn’t matter who did it; the important thing was that the grand formation was destroyed.
On the other side, seeing everyone fall silent, Ye Cangtian then said, “Let’s discuss the casualties now!”
Yuwen Sheng had already compiled the casualty report upon his return, so he stood up and answered directly.
In this operation, a total of 22 individuals were eliminated and two were captured, while the Yin Group suffered 35 fatalities, ten lightly wounded, and ten seriously wounded.
This was mainly due to the peculiar and difficult-to-defend nature of the soul-based attacks.
Coupled with the enemy’s means of controlling others to fight, and the weakening of the guards’ spiritual power over the past two days, the Yin Group had suffered heavy losses.
Hearing these casualty figures, Ye Cangtian’s expression turned grim again. This was even with the assistance of himself, Ye Zhenghao, and Yi Feipeng.
If the three had stood by idly, the casualties would likely have doubled.
“Report!”
Just then, hurried footsteps were heard.
A guard then entered the hall, bowed respectfully to everyone, and delivered the news.
“My lords, the gatekeepers have just reported that a man in black robes wishes to see Lord Ye!”
Ye Cangtian nodded upon hearing this and said, “Bring him in!”
Seeing the guard depart, Ye Cangtian exchanged a glance with Ye Zhenghao and Yi Feipeng. The two immediately understood and vanished into hiding.
It was clear that Ye Cangtian intended to conceal them as a backup plan.
A short while later.
The guard returned, leading a man completely shrouded in a black robe, who slowly entered the hall.
His gaze was fixed directly on Ye Cangtian, without the slightest sign of evasion. Instead, his eyes held a fierce and triumphant gleam.
As for Yuwen Sheng and the others beside him, he simply ignored them.
“Speak, which one of you from Feiyun Pavilion are you?”
Ye Cangtian glanced at him and questioned coldly.
After last night’s operation, he had already largely concluded that the other party was from Feiyun Pavilion.
“Haha, worthy of being called Ye Cangtian! As soon as I arrived, my identity was discerned!”
The man laughed heartily and did not deny it, continuing, “Since you’ve already guessed, I won’t hide it. I am Hun Jiu from Feiyun Pavilion.”
“Hun Jiu?”
Ye Cangtian glanced at him and continued to ask, “Does this mean the grand formations around Jinling City were all the work of your Feiyun Pavilion?”
As he spoke, a potent killing intent erupted from Ye Cangtian’s eyes.
“That’s right, it was me!”
Facing Ye Cangtian’s killing intent, Hun Jiu smiled faintly and did not deny it, admitting it directly.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
As his words landed, Yuwen Sheng, Yuwen Chengji, and Yuwen Guangxu immediately drew their weapons, with the urge to strike him down.
Hun Jiu glanced at the three and snorted disdainfully, “Dogs should know their place. The master hasn’t spoken yet! You’d best not bare your teeth!”
“You!”
Yuwen Sheng had never been spoken to like this before. Upon hearing these words, his old face immediately flushed red, and he trembled with anger.
“You dare to be so arrogant in my Jinling City? I’d like to see if you have the capital for it!”
“Villain, die!”
Yuwen Chengji and Yuwen Guangxu, standing beside him, suddenly shouted and lunged towards Hun Jiu.
The act of setting up formations to extract the spiritual power of the entire city was already a heinous crime. Now, to dare insult them, the two could no longer tolerate it.