Chapter 131 - Intimidating Ding Tong

Three days later...

Ding Rui was standing at the entrance of a palace, and coldly gazing at the countless clouds swimming around the floating island.

"Out of six hundred endgames, only three endgames were solved in three days, despite the reward offered increasing tenfold!?" Ding Rui coldly looked at Ding Tong, who was standing by her side.

Ding Tong spread his hands and replied as an aggrieved look appeared on his face, "Gu Hai and the Butcher King didn't solve anything again. The three games were only solved by others! I...I...!"

"Why did they not solve any more games?" Ding Rui coldly glared at Ding Tong.

"I...I also have no idea, they are saying that they are a bit tired!" A wry smile flashed past his lips as he replied.

"Tired? Excuses, they are just excuses! If I had not chosen the dao of the zither, I would have solved them a long time ago! Ding Tong, go and urge them to hurry up!" Ding Rui stated emotionlessly.

"But, urging them is useless, I have already paid a visit to them!" Ding Tong said in an aggrieved tone.

"Go again!" Ding Rui ordered indifferently.

"Alright!" Ding Tong could only agree. There was a long-suffering smile on his face...

"Hmph!" Ding Rui let out a cold snort before turning around and entering the palace.

Ding Tong helplessly withdrew and headed down to the Entertainment Valley again.

All the cultivators in the Valley were filled with vigor and energy, continuously studying endgames. However, solving the endgames was easier said than done. Only Heaven knew when they would finally be able to solve the endgames!

They could only rest their hopes on Butcher King and Gu Hai.

Ding Tong sunk into silence as he looked at the two attics on either side. Finally, he chose to go towards Gu Hai's courtyard.

"Patriarch!" The Ding Long Clan disciple who was stationed at the courtyard for attending to and monitoring Gu Hai greeted Ding Tong.

"What's the status?"

"Mister Gu has always been stayed in the courtyard, he has never left. These last two days, he has only been drinking tea and reading books!" the disciple reported.

Hearing this, Ding Tong's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.

"Mister Gu!" Ding Tong shouted towards the small courtyard.

"Gates are open, come in yourself!" Gu Hai's leisurely voice immediately came back from inside the courtyard.

Having received permission, Ding Tong made his way into the small yard.

Ding Tong looked about inside the yard, searching. Very quickly, he spotted Gu Hai in one of the halls.

In the hall, a small stove was placed before Gu Hai, on which tea was being boiled. Gu Hai poured a cup of tea, holding a scroll in his hand as if he was studying.

"Mister Gu!" Ding Tong greeted Gu Hai as he stepped into the hall.

"Oh? Patriarch Ding!" A smile appeared on Gu Hai's face as he put the scroll down.

"Mister Gu, how have you been these days?"

"It's okay! The scenery here is pleasant, the air is fresh. It's a good place for the elderly!" Gu Hai praised, smiling broadly.

Ding Tong was rendered speechless by this reply.

Seeing Gu Hai talking nonsense, Ding Tong could only choose to forgo the civilities and come to the matter at hand immediately. "Mister Gu, it's been three days already. When is Mister Gu going to start solving the endgames again? The reward has been increased by tenfold, you will earn a hundred high-grade spirit stones for solving an endgame!"

Gu Hai, holding the tea bowl, lightly blew on it before taking a sip slowly. He was neither too fast, nor was he too slow.

"Mister Gu?" Ding Tong cried, a bit anxiously.

"Patriarch Ding, I have been here for a few days, have you still not figured it out?" Gu Hai said with a calm smile.

"Oh?" Ding Tong was slightly taken aback.

"Such a huge Ding Long Clan, I wonder how what it look like when it is razed to the ground?" Gu Hai asked with a slight smile.

"Razed to the ground? Mister Gu, what do you mean?" Ding Tong's eyes went wide in shock.

"What do I mean? Patriarch Ding, you did it yourself and you still can't guess the consequences?" said the smiling Gu Hai.

That calm and mysterious demeanor of Gu Hai looked more and more unfathomable to Ding Tong.

"Mister Gu, please speak clearly, I don't understand!" Ding Tong spoke, shaking his head.

"You don't understand? If you don't understand, it's all fine and well. Perhaps it's time for you to experience some physical suffering, that's all!" Gu Hai stated, shaking his own head slowly.

The more Gu Hai didn't explain, the more anxious Ding Tong grew.

"Mister Gu, what do you mean? What physical suffering? Please speak clearly!" Ding Tong cried as his eyes widened in shock and horror.

"I seem to remember there is a penal sentence, what is it called? Oh, I remember, it's called 'flaying with mercury'. Have you heard of it?" Gu Hai asked as a foreboding smile crept up on his lips.

"Penal law? Flaying with mercury?" Ding Tong looked at Gu Hai.

"That's right! Hmm, let's take you for an example. First, your cultivation will be sealed, turning you into a mortal. Then, you will be buried upright to the neck, rendering you unable to move. Afterwards, a hole will be drilled on your head, not too deep, just a thin layer of your scalp, that's all. You won't die, don't worry!" Gu Hai, looking at Ding Tong, gesturing with a smile as he described this event.

But hearing all this, Ding Tong's eyebrows twitched madly.

"Then, quicksilver will be poured in that hole. Do you know what quicksilver is? You know it, that's good! After it is poured, it will stick to your skin as it flows over your skin. It's very itchy, very, very itchy! You will want to scratch it, but you are unable to move. It would really itch, really really itch, so much that you will find it unbearable! Then what are you going to do?" Gu Hai wondered in a low voice.

Ding Tong, on the other hand, felt itchy all over his body as he looked at Gu Hai.

"Well, there is just a hole on your head. You will want to scratch it to stop the itching. Once you are let out, even if you have no skin, you will start scratching, digging through your flesh. All of a sudden you will feel very comfortable!" Gu Hai said with a smile.

No skin?

Ding Tong was suddenly struck with a jolt, his face filled with dread.

"Gu Hai, what are you trying to do?" Ding Tong asked, staring at Gu Hai with a frigidly cold gaze.

Right then, Gu Hai placed the tea bowl on the table, and Ding Tong was subconsciously startled.

"Ding Tong, if you are still going to act like a stubborn fool, then forget it. Treat it as if I didn't say anything. You can leave, I will continue solving the endgames tomorrow!" Gu Hai said coldly.

Hearing this, the look in Ding Tong's eyes changed as sweat began to emerge on his forehead.

Gu Hai didn't make any presumptuous demands. However, his words had sent chills through Ding Tong's entire body. After all, Ding Ton was also tense these days...

"Mister Gu, you… can you please speak clearly?" asked the sweating Ding Tong.

"Whether I am speaking clearly or not, you know in your heart. Where do you think that penal law I spoke of just now came from?" Gu Hai stated as a smile appeared on his lips.

"From your Ascendant Hall?"

"Hahaha, when did you hear me mention the laws of Ascendant Hall?" Gu Hai said, his smile turning colder.

"Huh?"

"It's none of Ascendant Hall's business already. Ding Tong, you know, there are some people you can never touch. Take Hall Lord's mother for example. She is dead, but do you think it's over? No, it's far from finished. Starting twenty years ago, every day a hundred heads are rolling because of Hall Lord's mother's death. You heard it correctly, every day!" Gu Hai stated with a smile.

"Every day? I… I didn't know!"

"Of course, you don't know, what qualifications do you have to know this secret? You don't know because we have been looking for the murderer, we have never, ever stopped. However, it will be over soon. Nine-Five Island has been investigated already, and this place is the source. Some people are seeking their deaths. Since they are putting their heads on a platter themselves, we also can't do anything. Am I right, Patriarch Ding?" inquired the smiling Gu Hai.

"Gu Hai, you… you can't scare me!" Ding Tong flared up, staring at Gu Hai.

Even though Ding Tong was fuming with anger, Gu Hai had already spotted the trickles of cold sweat on his forehead.

"If you think I am trying to scare you, then forget it, treat it as I didn't say anything! Patriarch Ding, you may leave!" Gu Hai replied in a calm and poised manner.

"Who sent you? Speak immediately, or else I will kill you!" Ding Tong drew his longsword and shouted at Gu Hai with a scowl.

"Do you think that since I dare to come alone to your Ding Long Clan, I am afraid of you? Do you think I am afraid of that hiding Ding Rui?" Gu Hai retorted, his smile colder than ever.

"How did you know?" Ding Tong eyes widened as a bloodl.u.s.t emerged from him.

"How did I know? Do you think it's only me who knows about it?" Gu Hai rebuked indifferently.

"Who else? Who else? What do you know? What's your purpose in coming here?" Ding Tong cried out anxiously.

"We don't know anything. Hmm, as for why I came here, I just wanted to make sure of Long Wanqing's safety, nothing more, nothing less! Once I have completed my mission, I don't have to do anything! You can be about your business!" Gu Hai replied coolly.

Ding Tong suddenly collapsed back into the chair.

"You know? How do you know Long Wanqing is imprisoned here? How can you possibly know about it? Is it Grandmaster Liunian? Wrong, if it was Grandmaster Liunian, he would have come long ago!" Ding Tong's heart was in a mess.

"How do I know? Did you think that you and Ding Rui could hoodwink Hall Lord's grandfather with your abilities?" Gu Hai asked as his voice grew grim.

Hearing this, Ding Tong's face went pale as utter dread became apparent on his face.

Hall Lord's grandfather?

"Impossible, he can't come to Nine-Five Island. If he were here, he would have, he would have...!" Ding Tong mumbled, panic-stricken.

"You have imprisoned Hall Lord, that's fine. With Hall Lord and the dragon vein, the bait is sufficient. The fish will soon be hooked. The truth of Hall Lord's mother's death will soon be revealed. At that time, rivers of blood will flow... sigh! Since you have helped us discover the truth eventually, at least, your souls will be spared, you will just face a little punishment!" Gu Hai spoke in a calm tone.

A little punishment? Long Wanqing's grandfather had already set up an ambush, and he was just waiting for the fish to get hooked!? “Small punishment, what punishment?" Ding Tong's heart was beating rapidly.

"Right, don't you feel a little itchy?" Gu Hai asked, smiling. While speaking, Gu Hai pretended to get up and make ready to leave.

"Don't, Mister Gu, Mister Gu, don't leave, please don't go! I was forced, I was forced! I am innocent!" Ding Tong broke into tears as he ran after Gu Hai and hugged his legs.

Gu Hai, on the other hand, stared down at Ding Tong coldly.

"I am really innocent! If I didn't obey Aunt, Aunt would have killed me! Hall Lord is here, she has been well these days, I have also sent people to especially attend her, it's true, really!" Ding Tong kept on hugging Gu Hai's legs, begging for mercy.

In one of the palaces of the Ding Long Clan...

Long Wanqing was sitting before a cloudy endgame. It was one of the endgames from the six hundred endgames circling around the floating island. As Long Wanqing was bored, she was also trying to solve one.

Long Wanqing studied the weiqi board for a while, but didn't bother to solve it. She was quite agitated.

"Gu Hai is here? It won't do, I have to inform Gu Hai! He is just in the Xiantian Stage, even if he is strong, he is not Ding Tong or Ding Rui's opponent. Furthermore, his presence has already been discovered by Ding Rui!

"Will he be killed? From Ding Rui's tone, she seems to be h.e.l.l-bent on killing Gu Hai, only then can she be at ease!

"This is the Ding Long Clan, Ding Tong's home ground! If Ding Tong wants to kill Gu Hai, it's as easy as flipping his palm!

"Right, many endgames were solved a few days ago, it should be Gu Hai's work! There has been no activity these past few days!

"Is Gu Hai dead?"

Long Wanqing's expression became very poor indeed.

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the palace.

"Patriarch Ding! Her Grace isn't here, why have you come?" the guards at the entrance asked curiously.

"It's all right! You can continue to guard, Aunt asked me to question Long Wanqing!" Ding Tong stated calmly.

"Yes, sir!" the guards nodded in acknowledgment.

Ding Tong strode into the palace, followed by a black-robed figure.

Once he was in the palace, Ding Tong shut the doors promptly.

"Ding Tong, you didn't kill Gu Hai, did you?" Long Wanqing asked,her voice growing colder.

Ding Tong, on the other hand, suddenly knelt down on the ground. "Hall Lord, this lowly one was forced by Ding Rui, I didn't want to target Hall Lord intentionally! Hall Lord, please show mercy!"

Long Wanqing was rendered speechless by Ding Tong's actions.

"Thank you very much, Hall Lord, for remembering me! Gu Hai is fine!" the black-robed figure spoke up cheerfully.

While speaking, the black-robed figure slowly lifted his hood, revealing his appearance.

"Gu Hai?!" Long Wanqing blurted out in surprise.