Published: March 7, 2025
CHAPTER 362: Life and Death, Ability and Bravery
Jing Menghun chased after them for half an hour, and as the mountains came into view, a dense forest loomed ahead. Suddenly, he shivered all over! His eyes went blank as he stood frozen in place, his mind abruptly turning into a void!
Right before him, there lay a mass of corpses scattered all over the ground. They were the elite experts from the Golden Horse Knights Hall whom he had dispatched to guard the North City Gate.
One hundred and three people, not a single one missing, all met an untimely death!
The North Gate was crucial in preventing Chu King of Hell from escaping, so the personnel Jing Menghun had stationed here were the best of the best, all his most trusted subordinates! Yet now, they were all dead!
Beside these corpses stood a figure in black, hands clasped behind his back.
"Who?" Jing Menghun's heart raced as he shouted and charged forward.
The man in black slowly turned around, his cold gaze meeting Jing Menghun's face. With a scoff, he said, "It’s me!"
Jing Menghun's rushing body came to an abrupt halt, exclaiming, "Lord Xiang?"
It was indeed Diwu Qingrou.
"They're all gone; it’s been over an hour." Diwu Qingrou responded quietly.
"Gone... then... they..." Jing Menghun looked at the bodies of his subordinates lying on the ground, his facial muscles twitching and spasming.
"They're dead. They died peacefully." Diwu Qingrou's voice was strange, neither lamenting nor mocking, as he said, "In fact, they died quite happily. They willingly consumed the poison that Chu King of Hell provided them, and then they died here with immense satisfaction. All along, there are no signs of struggle."
"This... how is this possible?" Jing Menghun was dumbfounded.
His dazed gaze swept over the faces of the corpses, each one sporting a faint smile, looking tranquil and content. Seeing such expressions made it clear that they were happy! Joyful!
Yet, amidst such happiness and joy, they lost their lives!
Jing Menghun shivered. He could not fathom how Chu King of Hell managed to do this! Over a hundred martial sect experts, this wasn’t just over a hundred pigs!
Even if Chu King of Hell disguised himself as them... how could there be not a single flaw? Even if there were no flaws... how could he have made over a hundred of his subordinates poison themselves and die so... calmly?
Gazing at the frozen smiles on the corpses' faces, Jing Menghun suddenly felt a chill wash over him.
Then he began to sense a faint fragrance of Lan Xiang wafting through the air...
"It should be a peculiar poison," Diwu Qingrou remarked lightly. "A strange flesh." There was an inexplicable quality to Diwu Qingrou's voice, laced with deep contemplation.
With Diwu Qingrou's insight, he could not identify what kind of poison this was, which left him shaken; for this kind of poison, he couldn't even detect... what if he had consumed it himself?
Jing Menghun nodded blankly. His mind still hadn't recovered from the shock.
"Chu King of Hell smeared his blood on hundreds of horses and then left. The fragrance of Lan Xiang fills the air, making it impossible to track." Diwu Qingrou coldly shot Jing Menghun a sidelong glance, "Now, what to do next? I shouldn't have to say it, right?"
Jing Menghun trembled in alarm, snapping back to reality, "Yes!"
Diwu Qingrou huffed coldly and said, "Seal off the entire North Border! Jing Menghun, if you fail to capture Chu King of Hell, you better bring your head to me in your hands!"
"Yes." Jing Menghun felt a heavy weight in his heart. Diwu Qingrou's words indicated that he was extremely dissatisfied with him.
"Chu King of Hell indeed deserves his reputation for being ruthless! He can be so cruel to himself." Diwu Qingrou took a couple of slow steps, raised his head to sniff the fleeting fragrance of orchids in the air, shook his head, and sneered, "To see through my soul crushing heart shattering palm and Lan Xin pursuing soul is already strange; and while he was heavily injured, he still dared to self-harm, smearing the blood of over a hundred horses to escape... that truly takes guts!"