Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Located outside Sword Tower City, in a small grove of trees.

Yan Wenjiu's defenses were indeed broken.

He spent twelve million to get these people out, but they didn't want to seek revenge on Zhou Qingfeng. This completely disrupted his carefully laid plans, almost causing Yan Wenjiu to lose his composure.

Fortunately, Yan Wenjiu had been in charge of the Fifth Division for thirty years and had seen many ups and downs. He quickly regained his composure and understood that plans could never keep up with changes.

It simply means adapting to changing circumstances when plans go awry.

If things truly become unmanageable, Yan Wenjiu will immediately abandon the assassination mission and decisively withdraw.

However, the situation has not yet reached that point, and there is still room for maneuver.

Therefore, Yan Wenjiu not only did not leave, but also took out pills to nourish the body and blood and restore magic power to Gu Daozhao and his group, hoping that they could recover some fighting power as soon as possible and then try to persuade them.

Twenty former princes' personal guards sat around a bonfire, meditating to restore their cultivation under the influence of various nourishing and restorative pills provided by Yan Wenjiu.

Having endured ten years of torment, their individual fighting ability is now far less than before.

His magical power was completely depleted, and his physical body was severely deficient in qi and blood.

When their physical bodies are severely depleted of vital energy, they cannot even use physical supernatural powers, because 99% of supernatural powers require the consumption of physical vital energy, while casting spells requires magical power as an energy source.

A few special supernatural abilities and techniques require the simultaneous consumption of both vital energy and mana.

"Mr. Faceless, thank you for your elixir." Gu Daozhao felt his depleted blood and magical power slowly recovering. He sat cross-legged in front of the fire and expressed his gratitude to the black-robed masked man beside him.

However, Gu Daozhao never mentioned the assassination attempt on Zhou Qingfeng. Even if Zhou Qingfeng was rescued and given pills, it was not enough to make Gu Daozhao and his brothers risk their lives to kill him.

Because this is going back to the same path we took ten years ago.

Ten years ago, no matter which way you went, it was a dead end.

Forced by circumstances, he had no choice but to risk his life to ensure his family's safety, wealth, and comfort.

As a result, he was imprisoned, which was unexpected for Gu Daozhao. At that time, Gu Daozhao was still determined to die and thought that after being released from prison, he would continue to assassinate Zhou Qingfeng.

However, this hurdle seemed endless, with three years following another three years, and then another three years following yet another.

Only when one is in the depths of darkness does one truly understand the preciousness of light.

Ten years in prison is enough for a person to understand many things.

During this time, Gu Daozhao tried to get out by asking for connections, friends, and acquaintances, but it was all in vain. This was because he was in the Sword Tower, and no powerful person dared to offend the four young masters of the Sword Tower and get him out.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will spend the rest of his life in prison and never see the light of day again.

Is it painful? Yes, it is.

Is it tough? Yes, it is.

In prison, Gu Daozhao and his gang all lost their dignity as men.

Scenes involving eating feces and drinking urine, bending over, bullying, and SM are played out almost every few days.

Most people couldn't bear the torment and broke down, committing suicide.

Those who survived lived numbly and cautiously every day.

However, at least Gu Dao Zhao survived, and his family was spared because of his loyalty. The royal family will continue to provide for his family, and his children will inherit the position of imperial guard.

Whenever he thought of this, Gu Daozhao felt comforted and even held onto hope. He believed that once they got out, he could lead his brothers to distant lands, live in anonymity, and start a new life.

This Faceless Man clearly has a grudge against Zhou Qingfeng. He pulled his group out because he wanted to use them as pawns. If Gu Daozhao can't see this, then he's lived in vain.

Yan Wenjiu said, "Gu Daozhao, Zhou Qingfeng caused you to spend ten years in prison. Don't you hate him?"

Gu Daozhao frowned slightly, knowing that the other party was still unwilling to give up and wanted to ignite his desire for revenge. So he pondered for a moment and said directly, "Zhou Qingfeng and I have no personal grudges. I was forced to seek revenge back then. He put me in prison, which actually saved my life and my family."

"I should thank him, but I'm not that magnanimous."

“He put me in jail for ten years and subjected me to torture. It would be a lie to say I don’t hate him.”

“I wish he were dead, but now we have the chance to start our lives over again.”

"Such an opportunity is hard-won, and it is the opportunity we have waited for after serving ten years in prison. I didn't have the chance to restart my life before, and I probably won't have it again in the future. If we miss it, we will miss it forever."

“I don’t have the courage to lead my brothers to take down Zhou Qingfeng, give up the new life that is within my grasp, and repeat the same mistakes and go back to the old ways. Doing so would be detrimental to both me and my brothers.”

"People should always look forward. Do you understand what I'm saying, Mr. Faceless?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Wenjiu's face darkened beneath his mask. Seeing that he couldn't persuade Gu Daozhao through personal grudges, he simply resorted to a more radical approach: "Gu Daozhao, Huangfu Yunzheng has treated you well. Without Huangfu Yunzheng, you and your family would not have been able to enjoy wealth and honor, and you would not have become a Poison-Eating Realm cultivator."

"Now that Huangfu Yunzheng is dead, you, as the commander of his personal guards, do not think of revenge, but instead think of abandoning your grudges and living a life of shame. How can such an ungrateful person have the face to live in this world?"

Gu Daozhao's expression changed slightly, but he was not swayed by the provocation. Instead, he calmly said, "Ten years ago, Gu Daozhao died for his country. Now, I am just a nameless, free man who simply wants to start anew."

“Mr. Faceless, there’s no need to provoke me with your words. Whatever your grudge against Zhou Qingfeng or why you want to kill him, I don’t want to get involved. Please, Mr. Faceless, show mercy and spare our lives.”

Yan Wenjiu stood up abruptly. Seeing that he couldn't reason with her gently, he had no choice but to take a risk and use force: "Gu Daozhao, I didn't save you for nothing. If you want to live, then come with me to kill Zhou Qingfeng."

"Otherwise, I will immediately inform the Python King's family of your news."

"At that time, you will still face certain death, and your families will also be implicated."

Gu Daozhao's expression changed drastically. He couldn't help but stand up, his eyes filled with murderous intent, and his voice turned cold: "Mr. Faceless, you have done us a favor. We could have formed a good relationship with you. Why do you have to force us like this?"

At the same time, the 19 Food Demon Realm brothers stood up in unison, staring at Yan Wenjiu with unfriendly expressions.

Yan Wenjiu's words had truly touched a raw nerve with them.

Yan Wenjiu glanced around and said coldly, "What a bunch of ungrateful beasts! I wasted 12 million in magic money to save you, only to find out I saved a bunch of ingrates."

"Fine, if you won't listen to reason, then you'll have to suffer the consequences. Let's just lay it all out."

"Either you come with me to kill Zhou Qingfeng, and after we're done, we'll keep what happened tonight to ourselves. You go your way, and I'll go mine. We'll never see each other again, and we'll have no further connection."

"Either you try to kill me and see if you have the ability."

"I've finished speaking. You can choose which path to take."

After Yan Wenjiu finished speaking, he released his magical power, his body surrounded by purple light, and looked at the group of people with his hands behind his back, proclaiming his power.

He wasn't afraid that these guys would turn their backs on him.

Because he was already prepared to turn his back on them, he had tampered with the recovery pills he had given them. If he wanted, none of these people would be able to leave this place alive, including Gu Daozhao.

Gu Daozhao and his group looked at the purple light surrounding Yan Wenjiu's body and their expressions immediately darkened.

The characteristic of a cultivator in the Turbid Realm is black light.

The characteristic of a cultivator in the Food Calamity Realm is a red light.

The characteristic of a cultivator at the Devouring Fiend Realm is a bluish-green light.

A cultivator at the Poison-Eating Realm has purple light as their magical power.

A cultivator at the Appetite Realm is characterized by a yellow light emanating from their magical power.

A cultivator at the Food and Injury Realm has a blue light as their characteristic magical power.

These realm characteristics are extremely obvious and easy to identify. If a cultivator needs to intimidate an enemy, he only needs to release his magic power, and the realm level can be instantly identified through the characteristics of the magic power.

The faceless man surrounded by purple light before us is a Poison-Eating Realm cultivator who has mastered some kind of rule.

If Gu Daozhao were in his prime, he would naturally not be afraid, but now he is in extremely poor condition. He has lost many means to increase his combat power, such as magic weapons and talismans, and his combat power is less than half of what it was at his peak.

In this situation, fighting a Poison-Eating Realm cultivator at his peak would only allow him to escape; killing him would be virtually impossible. However, if he couldn't kill him, the cultivator would relay the news that they were still alive to the Python Sparrow Royal Family. To avoid implicating their families, they would have to return to the capital and commit suicide to atone for their sins.

If you try to kill your opponent but can't win, you'll likely be killed instead.

Scattering and fleeing is pointless; it's still a dead end.

But if you act as a tool for the other party, you will inevitably be silenced afterwards.

Having followed Huangfu Yunzheng for many years, how could Gu Daozhao not see through the current situation?

This faceless man concealed his identity from beginning to end, even at the cost of offending Zhou Qingfeng, one of the four young masters of the Sword Tower, just to get his group out of trouble, all in an attempt to use someone else to do his dirty work.

Those who make knives never have a good ending; after they've killed people, their entire group will surely be silenced.

At that time, the faceless man will be able to escape unscathed.

Ultimately, the blame for killing the four young masters of the Sword Tower will likely fall on the shoulders of the Python Sparrow royal family.

If one cannot even see through this point, then Gu Daozhao has lived in vain.

But what good is seeing through it all? Given the current situation, he had no other choice.

They could only try to survive by feigning agreement to cooperate and then seeking a way out during the cooperation process.

"Alas, when you're in the martial world, you're not in control of your own destiny." Gu Daozhao sighed softly, feeling utterly exhausted. He gestured to his nineteen brothers to calm down and then said, "Mr. Faceless, we are willing to join you in killing Zhou Qingfeng."

Upon hearing this, Yan Wenjiu withdrew his magical power and said with a smile, "Those who know when to yield are the heroes. Very well, as long as you listen to me honestly, I guarantee you will be safe and sound."

"You want to start over, right? Starting over also requires money. Once you kill Zhou Qingfeng, I can give you two hundred million in magic money."

"With this money, you brothers can go wherever you want."

Gu Daozhao dismissed this as nonsense, but still bowed and clasped his hands in a salute: "Thank you, Mr. Faceless. My brothers and I still need time to recover. Could we postpone our attack on Zhou Qingfeng?"

Yan Wenjiu said, "You've wasted enough time. There's no need to say more. Let's set off now."

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

At Zuqiu Mountain, Zhou Qingfeng and his group returned to Yangjiazhuang. In order to save face for the Yang family, the evil-level zombie was placed in a coffin made on site and carried back by the servants.

The back door, which should have been tightly closed, was wide open, the manor was brightly lit, and there was no one guarding it.

The group entered the village, but did not encounter a single person along the way; the entire village was deathly silent.

Various magical artifacts were scattered on the ground, many houses collapsed and burned, and blood was splattered everywhere.

It was obvious to everyone that something big had happened in Yangjiazhuang during the time they were away.

But the strangest thing is that no corpses were found.

After a brief moment of confusion and helplessness, Yang Dalang hurriedly took out his evil-grade communication artifact, the 'Thousand-Mile Mirror,' to contact Yang Sanlang. However, no matter how he tried to contact him, Yang Sanlang was unable to reach him, which immediately made Yang Dalang extremely anxious.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Qingfeng frowned repeatedly. What he hated most was encountering unforeseen accidents while handling affairs, causing the situation to spiral out of control, because this often meant that he would no longer be in an absolutely safe position.

Fortunately, Zhou Qingfeng was always very steady and cautious in his actions. Even when he was only seven miles outside the city, he always had the old cripple by his side to protect him. Even if something unexpected happened, he could at least ensure that he would escape unscathed.

Suddenly, a green-skinned zombie appeared in front of us, crawling slowly on all fours.

The green-skinned zombie had disheveled hair, obscuring its face. Its eyes gleamed with an eerie green color through its hair, making it extremely conspicuous in the darkness. Its exposed skin was covered with wounds and pustules, radiating a strong malevolent aura.

Yang Dalang was shocked: "A level-evil zombie! How could a level-evil zombie suddenly appear in the village?"

Yang Erlang was on high alert. He patted his storage bag and summoned a short axe magic weapon: "Damn it, when did this happen? How did a zombie get into the manor? Are all the others good-for-nothings?"

Seeing this, Zhou Qingfeng quietly retreated behind the group, looking around, ready to make a strategic retreat at any time.

"There are more behind! There are more behind!" a servant cried out in terror, drawing his magic knife from his waist.

"There's one up there too~~~" another servant reminded them in a trembling voice.

Before anyone knew it, green-skinned zombies appeared on rooftops, walls, and all around, on the main roads and alleys. These zombies all exuded a strong evil aura and were all of the evil-level zombies.

"┗|｀O′|┛Awooo~~~" The zombie directly in front of him suddenly stood up, tilted his head back, and let out a zombie howl.

Then, as if a zombie horde had been disturbed, the surrounding high-level zombies rushed over at lightning speed, some crawling on all fours, some running on two legs, and some leaping like frogs, moving as fast as streaks of eerie green lightning.

Some zombies even spread fleshy wings on their backs, trying to fly up and charge.

However, just as they took off, a huge azure array suddenly appeared in the sky above them. The array's patterns were mysterious and unpredictable, covering the entire sky and enveloping the entire Yang Family Village.

The flying zombie was instantly crushed by a super gravity force of 108 million kilograms.

In an instant, it fell to the ground and turned into a pile of bloody, mangled flesh.

Even in this state, the fleshy pulp was still wriggling, reforming its shape.

"This is the Yang clan's evil-level clan-protecting formation. Only Mother is qualified to order its activation now. Mother is alright, Mother is still alive!" Upon seeing this, Yang Dalang's face lit up with joy. He summoned the evil-level magic sword in his palm, formed a hand seal, and the magic sword instantly split into thousands.

"Second brother, Mother is in the ancestral hall. Quickly come with me to fight our way there and save her."

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