Wu Ming bowed to Xuanyuan. But his loyalty was not to Xuanyuan, but to the Yin family. Xuanyuan was under the good graces of the Yin family because he proved to be the genius Yin Zhenluo had expected. Wu Ming would be loyal to Lady Zhenluo's disciple.
"No. They were hired hands. We were in the jurisdiction of the Fighting Dragons Sect, not the Eastern Dynasty. We have to be careful." Wu Ming replied to the question.
Xuanyuan nodded, satisfied, "Great. It's good to be careful. We should utilize them if they are hired hands. Get them to kill all the creatures on level four and give me all the elixirs before they leave."
Wu Ming bowed again. He said slowly, "I shall obey master Xuanyuan. All of you, go."
Fierce fighting Qi exploded from the a.s.sa.s.sins. Without hesitation, they slaughtered the white ghouls and demons around them. It was like a training session for them, so none of them lifted an eyebrow at the order.
Tung Xuan was petrified. He didn't have Yan Liang's courage to sacrifice himself, "Who is this Xuanyuan? A king realm fighter bowed to him and called himself his servant. Only people from the powerful families in the Eastern Dynasty would have that power. But I've never heard of someone called Xuanyuan!"
He was thinking anxiously on how to beg Xuanyuan to let him go, when he sensed that Xuanyuan was looking towards him. He trembled at the stare, "Master Xuanyuan, please spare my life. It was all Lu Feng's plan. I wasn't responsible!"
Xuanyuan looked at Tung Xuan coldly, then he pointed his sword at Tung's chest and pierced it into his heart. But Tung Xuan was still a king realm fighter. He had already started to refined his five organs. Fighting Qi had concentrated itself in his heart. A cut from a sword could not take away his life, but it was still painful. He screamed in pain as he said, "Master Xuanyuan, please let me go! I'm willing to give you all my wealth. It is not on me. But just let me go, I'll give you all of it!"
"Tell me, where's your money?" Xuanyuan twisted the sword, excruciating pain tortured Tung Xuan, who went into a state of convulsion. Seeing all the blood spilling onto the ground, Suntao, Yuezen and Yueteng all grew very pale.
"I'll spare you if you tell me where you hid your money."
"It's in the Moonsky City, under the Full Moon Cave of the Fighting Dragons Sect. I bought a mansion there, on the west side of the city, next to a thousand year-old pine tree. All the wealth I gathered all these years is in there!" Tung Xuan grew even more pale and pitiable with his lips trembling. He was a spiteful character so Xuanyuan wasn't able to pity him. He plucked his sword out from his chest and nodded to Guxing, ”"Very well. Guxing, bite out his throat."
"Master, you said you are not going to kill me!" The wolf was approaching and Tung Xuan screamed at the sight.
"I said I won't kill you, but Guxing will. Die!" Guxing leaped forward under Xuanyuan's command.
"Then we shall die together!" Tung Xuan laughed hysterically, his faced twisted.
Tung Xuan started to release his fighting Qi, but Wu Ming was faster. His mirror shot out a bright light and erased Tung Xuan's Qi. Guxing then tore through his throat with its sharp fangs.
Yuezen, Yueteng and Suntao were all begging profusely, but Xuanyuan ignored them. He robbed all the valuables from the dead body, putting Tung Xuan's ring on his finger, and taking his set of top ranking spiritual instruments.
It included a sword, an armour, a pair of boots and a jade pendant. They were all made by the Smith Elder of the School, who was a grandmaster fighter. The instruments he made were all great quality. Usually, a grandmaster realm fighter would be capable of creating low ranked earth instruments.
He stored the set of instruments inside his own fighting ring. Yan Ziyun walked up to him with a sword in her hand.
"You take care of Yueteng." Xuanyuan didn't want to waste any time, so he quickly chopped off the heads of Yuezen and Suntao himself and robbed their bodies of their instruments, rings and money. Then he also took Lu Feng's valuables and Yan Liang's ring. It was a great windfall.
Wu Ming thought that Xuanyuan was funny. He wouldn't regard the things Xuanyuan took as treasures, but no matter the value it was taken by Xuanyuan.
"First Sister, I was wrong. Please don't kill me. Lu Feng forced me to do it. Otherwise he would've killed me." Yueteng was shaking violently and had urinated inside his clothes. The stench from the urine disgusted Yan Ziyun.
"This is for killing my brother." She said angrily. His head was then quickly separated from his body.
Xuanyuan took his valuables as well. Yan Ziyun didn't know what to think about Xuanyuan's behaviour. He just smiled bitterly, and tried to comfort Yan Ziyun, "We can't bring back the dead. Brother Liang died in order to save us. We could only avenge his death. Ziyun, don't let this trouble you."
She understood, of course, but she still refused when Xuanyuan offered Tung Xuan and Lu Feng's rings. “They are filthy." she said.
Xuanyuan only rumbled, "I don't mind it being filthy."
She was amused by his reaction. The only comfort she could draw from this was the thought that Yan Liang could finally rest in peace. The path of martial arts was full of danger. She knew this day would come when one of them would die. It would be either her or her brother. At least, she was able to avenge his death. She would not continue to dwell in sadness for long.
"Wu Ming, kill all the Mo creatures in level four, then we can go to level five."
"I shall obey." The old man followed the order. Everything that the light from the Black Death mirror touched was obliterated immediately.
Xuanyuan also dived into the swarm of white ghouls with the Sword of Swimming Dragons again. He recited his technique.
Xuanyuan was carrying Wu Dong's ring and sword. Wu Ming found it ironic that he now had to protect the boy who killed his adopted brother, but this was his duty. Xuanyuan was a genius. Under his master's order, he needed to protect him, even if the boy killed his closest friend.
Twelve hours later, level four of the nest was covered with bodies. A dozen true disciples died in the fight, the rest was from the corpses and demons.
The a.s.sa.s.sins cleared the scene. They gave Xuanyuan a hundred and twenty elixirs from white ghouls and twelve elixirs from the demons. The tremendous wealth was now safely inside Xuanyuan's deep pockets. Xuanyuan then dismissed the a.s.sa.s.sins. It cost quite a lot to hire them, but Wu Ming paid for the cost, and Xuanyuan earned a lot of money from them. This rendered Wu Ming speechless.
The a.s.sa.s.sins left without a word. The disciples knew very well that the old man was the scariest of the group.
"Master Xuanyuan, about what happened..." A disciple came up, but Xuanyuan didn't bother to look at him, he only said coldly,
"No need to explain. From now on, you have to swear loyalty to Yan Ziyun or I'll kill you here." Xuanyuan threatened. None of the disciples dared to object. Yan Ziyun was a popular leader in Yuehua City. It's not problematic for them if they had to answer to her.
"We shall obey, Master Xuanyuan." The remaining seventy true disciples answered in unison.
"Let's go to level five. Perhaps we can find Master Fung Lie there." Then he turned around and left. Yan Ziyun, Guxing and all the disciples walked behind him. Wu Ming frowned, but he followed nonetheless.