Qin Yun entered through the main entrance and quickly came to a front yard.
The front yard was huge. Under a large tree were a stone table and bench where Gongye Bing was sitting leisurely. On the stone table was an alcohol flask that was being heated by a tiny stove that contained embers glowing red. The nights of late autumn were already very cold.
In front of Gongye Bing was a cup of alcohol and a plate of peanuts.
“Come, have a seat.” Gongye Bing looked at Qin Yun with a smile.
Qin Yun frowned slightly as he scanned his surroundings. He could sense that an array formation had been set up in Chen Garden ahead of time. However, he still needed to come! Firstly, he was confident in himself and believed that the array formation set up by Gongye Bing was inferior to the one the imperial government set up for County Governor Manor. Secondly, his father’s life was on the line. He had to come.
“County Governor Gongye, I’m here. Where’s my father?” Qin Yun walked over and calmly sat across him.
However, Gongye Bing personally placed a cup of wine for Qin Yun. He took up the alcohol flask beside him a poured him a cup of alcohol. The alcohol was still steaming.
“It’s been cold these few days. Have a cup of heated alcohol. It leaves you snug.” Gongye Bing said with a smile.
However, Qin Yun did not touch it.
When he glanced at the alcohol, he realized that it appeared a little turbid.
Gongye Bing did not mind and filled his cup and drank it carefreely. “I bought this unfiltered rice wine on the streets. It’s extremely cheap. I remember when I was young, I loved drinking such alcohol. I studied under the light and my wife would accompany me by the side, heating up the alcohol for me and pouring it.” He picked up a peanut and threw it into his mouth.
Qin Yun watched him.
“Unfortunately, she’s dead. I killed her.” Gongye Bing sighed softly and said, “Why did she have to discover my secret? Only a dead person can keep a secret.”
“I did no wrong but I frequently think of my wife.” Gongye Bing placed the cup down. “Do you know why I’m telling you this?”
Qin Yun looked coldly at him, “You killed your wife because she discovered your secret?”
“Haha…”
Gongye Bing laughed. “Let’s not talk about her! Aren’t you curious why I am attacking your Qin family? And why I’m attacking you?”
“Yes, I’m very curious. I honestly believe that I had no feud with you and we don’t even know each other.” Qin Yun said.
“That’s right!”
Gongye Bing nodded. “I didn’t know you in the past. The reason why I attacked you is that of a treasure.”
“A treasure?” Qin Yun frowned. “It’s indeed because of a treasure.”
As the saying went, human beings die in pursuit of wealth and birds die in pursuit of food.
How many lives have been lost in the pursuit of wealth? Qin Yun never expected that the trouble his Qin family faced was also a result of a treasure.
“What is it?” Qin Yun already had a guess.
“A bottle of blood,” replied Gongye Bing.
Qin Yun’s pupils constricted as he said coldly, “So it was really because of that blood. Previously, Nine Mountain Island Lord had sent three demonic slaves to attack me. I found it somewhat odd. I attributed it to him having a strong relationship with Water God but later, even Golden Firmament came attacking me. I found it even fishier. Golden Firmament is famous for being intractable; yet, he came willingly to sneak an attack on a cultivator in a county city. When have great demons thought so highly of relationships? But from the two attacks, I guessed that it was not simply about revenge. I wasn’t sure what it was for. Later on, the Motai family came looking for me for this bottle of blood. I began surmising that Nine Mountain Island Lord had sent his subordinates for the bottle of blood.”
“That was only a guess. Now, you are also doing it for this bottle of blood.” Qin Yun nodded. “From the looks of it, it’s very special.”
“Yes.” Gongye Bing nodded with a smile. “Hand it over to me and your father will live. If not, your father will die immediately.”
Qin Yun said coldly, “This bottle of blood can be given to you but the exchange has to be done simultaneously. If not, I’d rather destroy it.”
Gongye Bing looked at Qin Yun and laughed.
“Alright, it’s an agreement!” Gongye Bing clapped his hands lightly.
Two guards walked over from the back, bringing the chained-up Qin Liehu. His mouth was still stuffed with cloth and he immediately looked anxious when he saw Qin Yun.
“Where’s the bottle of blood?” queried Gongye Bing.
Qin Yun took out a gray bottle from his Cosmic Bag. He had come with some guesses in mind. He had even secretly extracted minute amounts of blood to investigate it in secret.
“Pull off the stopper,” instructed Gongye Bing.
Qin Yun nodded and pulled off the stopper.
Gongye Bing immediately sent a wisp of his psyche to penetrate the gray bottle and sensed the obstreperous blood that seemed to form a tiny river.
“That much blood from the hearts of children!?” Gongye Bing was secretly alarmed. “How many children’s hearts were needed? Probably twenty to thirty percent of the amount that Disciple-Nephew Water God accumulated over two centuries is here. It’s no wonder Senior Brother Nine Island wants it.”
“Yes, that’s it.” Gongye Bing said with a smile. With that said, he got up and grabbed Qin Liehu.
Qin Yun placed the stopper back into the bottle.
“We will do the exchange simultaneously.” Gongye Bing said.
“Simultaneously,” said Qin Yun as well. He was very careful. He controlled the Heaven and Earth powers to carry the gray bottle towards Gongye Bing.
When Gongye Bing saw this, he pushed Qin Liehu forward and Qin Liehu immediately ran towards Qin Yun.
Qin Liehu came running over, while the bottle flew away.
Qin Yun and Gongye Bing were staring at each other.
While Qin Yun saved his father, he did not dare take any risks.
“Phew.” When his father came close, Qin Yun’s figure flashed to his father’s side. He stretched out his hand and swiped it across, shattering the chains that bound his father. They clashed to the ground in a clamorous din.
And on the other side, Gongye Bing extended his hand to grab the gray bottle and immediately kept it. The smile beamed even more brightly.
“Can we leave?” Qin Yun looked at Gongye Bing. There was an array formation set up in Chen Garden. Qin Yun still wanted to send his father back so it was not the best time to deal with Gongye Bing at that moment.
“Leave?”
Gongye Bing sat back down on the stone bench and held his alcohol cup. He glanced at Qin Yun, “But where else can you go?”
When his voice fell, a nether beam lit up in Chen Garden suddenly as though darkness enveloped the entirety of Chen Garden with an uproarious sound. Qin Yun’s psyche perception was also restricted within Chen Garden, preventing him from sensing anything outside.
“Yun’er, be careful.” Qin Liehu’s expression changed drastically as well.
The seated Gongye Bing held his alcohol cup and frowned slightly, “Only when the array was activated did I realize that you have broken through to the Connate realm. I never realized that before. Have you been hiding your strength or was it a recent breakthrough?”
“You want to attack me?” Qin Yun looked at him.
Gongye Bing laughed indifferently, “Why did I kill my wife? It’s because a dead person is best at keeping secrets. So, it’s best all of you become dead people. Even though you have made a breakthrough, you still have to be a dead man! People that I, Gongye Bing, want to kill have never escaped once I take action.”
As he spoke, he flipped his hand and a red flower appeared at the tip of his fingers.
“Out.”
The red flower spun out into the air and while in midair, the petals separated with a whoosh. They attacked Qin Yun from different directions with mystifying trajectories.
These red petals streaked across the sky, ripping through the air in the process and leaving behind mirages from its blazing speed.
“No good!” Qin Yun could sense that at the moment the red petals separated, other than the petals that dispersed, there was invisible flower pollen that spread in the air. It was rapidly approaching him in its assault.
“Swoosh.”
Thankfully, he was maintaining Heaven Man Unity at all times. By controlling the Heaven and Earth powers, Qin Yun warded off the pollen.
The pollen also naturally spread to the two guards that had been escorting Qin Liehu a distance away. Their bodies trembled immediately as they shouted, “Lord County Governor, save me, save… me…” They yelled as their eyes widened before collapsing to the ground, motionless. They had been poisoned to death.
“I already said that dead people are best at keeping secrets.” Gongye Bing glanced at the two guards. “Tonight, whoever saw that bottle of blood and know that I’ve met Qin Yun shall all die.”
“Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!”
Qin Yun waved his hand as a sword beam flashed.
In midair, Ten Threads flashed across instantly, sending the petals flying far away.
When the seated Gongye Bing saw this, he sighed. “Sword immortals are indeed somewhat powerful.”
His body began experiencing stunning changes.
He changed into a humanoid monster with red scaled armor. Sharp black spikes protruded out of his shoulders and a blood-colored flower petal emblem appeared on his glabella. In addition, scorching dark red mist emanated from his body. His eyes were filled with sinister evil as he looked at Qin Yun with interest. “My wife had discovered this secret of mine. Now, you two have discovered it as well.”