Book 2: Chapter 13: Organized Operation
Two days later in Evil Men Valley:
Boom!
Thunder rolled, and lightning flashed in the sky. Torrential rain fell, turning Evil Men Valley muddy.
Gu Hai had organized the evil men before he relocated to a clean, average-sized cave to take shelter from the storm.
However, chaotic battles continued in Evil Men Valley.
Gu Hai had already selected the legates and centurions. As for the decani, he had allowed the various contubernia to decide for themselves. Some contubernia quickly picked out their decani, and some contubernia had to fight it out among themselves to decide.
[TL Note: Keeping in line with the Roman legion ranks, I translated small groups as contubernia, which were squads of about eight to ten that shared a tent.]
The fighting continued in the valley when the sound of a whip suddenly cracked at the valley exit.
An angry shout came from the valley exit. “You worms! To think that you started fighting among yourselves? Huh?!”
The fighting suddenly came to a stop in Evil Men Valley. Then, everyone turned their heads to look.
A few black-clad men slowly brought a shackled Gao Xianzhi in, each of them holding an umbrella.
Gao Xianzhi’s clothes appeared tattered. He looked to be in an incredibly sorry state. However, he managed to survive.
Another cycle ended.
The group of evil men showed unsightly expressions. This meant that another cycle would begin.
“Gather!” the leading black-clad man shouted.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes as he made his way over.
All the evil men stood in line as the black-clad men undid Gao Xianzhi’s shackles.
“The alpha series evil man from the previous cycle, step out!” the black-clad man holding the whip ordered coldly.
Gu Hai raised his eyebrows. Then, he stepped forward together with Scar.
Crack!
That black-clad man suddenly lashed Scar. “Get back. None of your business!”
Scar moved back slowly.
The leading black-clad man looked at Gu Hai. Then, he s.h.i.+fted his gaze to Gao Xianzhi. “You two managed to shoot saber qi from your palms. What technique is that?”
Gu Hai could tell that this leading black-clad man was the one who repeatedly whipped him previously.
Clearly, Gao Xianzhi had used the move that Gu Hai used to create a reversal to great effect.
Even the black-clad man felt tempted by it. This was a technique that could be used to preserve one’s life.
Gao Xianzhi showed an unsightly expression. However, Gu Hai said gravely, “That is a secret of my sect!”
“Your sect? You still care about your sect in this place? Teach me the technique, and I can keep you from being selected for half a year,” the whip-bearing, black-clad man sneered.
Gu Hai looked around the crowd and frowned slightly. Then, he said, “That technique is not difficult. It is very easy to learn. Furthermore, it can very easily be broken. When I say broken, I mean that it would no longer be effective. Are you sure you want me to teach you now, in front of so many people?”
“Oh? Easy to learn? Easy to break?” The whip-bearing, black-clad man frowned.
“That’s why it is a secret. If it leaks, it would be useless!” Gu Hai nodded.
The whip-bearing, black-clad man stared at Gu Hai, remaining silent for a while before laughing, “Hahahahaha! A secret technique? It looks like it’s just a joke. Humph! Let’s go!”
“Yes!” the group of black-clad men answered.
The group of black-clad men immediately abandoned Gao Xianzhi and left.
“Milord! That whip-bearing, black-clad man will definitely return,” Gao Xianzhi said worriedly.
“Of course. Otherwise, I would not have laid that trap for him,” Gu Hai said in a cold voice.
“Oh? What will you do when he returns?” Gao Xianzhi asked in surprise.
The heavy rain continued pouring, and Gu Hai slowly made his way back to the cave.
Gao Xianzhi did not receive an answer. However, he saw the surrounding evil men parting respectfully, opening a path for Gu Hai. This scene stunned him.
All the evil men followed, heading to a nearby cave. Furthermore, it seemed like they took Gu Hai as their leader from how they stood and walked.
“What happened in the few days that I was not here?” Gao Xianzhi asked Chen Tianshan in puzzlement.
“Heaven Legate, you have missed a great battle!” Chen Tianshan replied with a smile.
Gao Xianzhi appeared even more confused.
“Greetings, Heaven Legate!” a large number of evil men immediately saluted Gao Xianzhi.
Gao Xianzhi’s expression changed; he had apparently guessed something. Then, he looked towards Gu Hai incredulously.
After arriving at the cave entrance, Gu Hai looked up at the sky.
“Half a month ago, the beast arena stopped operating when there was heavy rain. Today, this happened again. This is indeed a heaven-sent opportunity!” Gu Hai said with narrowed eyes.
“Milord, what should we do now?” Scar asked.
“Tonight will determine whether we can remove the mask or not!” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!”
——
The whip-bearing, black-clad man led his subordinates away. After issuing some instructions, he dismissed them. Then, he headed back to Evil Men Valley alone.
Guards stood outside of Evil Men Valley. The whip-bearing, black-clad man did not say anything. Instead, he went to a nearby place to take cover from the rain and waited.
“That secret technique is easy to learn? Once it is leaked, it is easily broken? That does not matter. As long as it is not leaked, who can break it? After forcing him to teach me the technique, I’ll just kill the two of them. After that, I will be the only one with the secret technique,” the whip-bearing, black-clad man sneered.
Even after late night arrived, the heavy rain continued.
Given the torrential rain, the guards were in no mood to patrol Evil Men Valley. Instead, they enjoyed themselves at a hall by the side.
However, the whip-bearing, black-clad man headed into the valley silently.
Not only did the top of the valley have a blue light barrier, but there was also one at the entrance of the valley. Hence, even though the evil men knew where the exit was, they did not dare to get close lest their heads explode.
After the whip-bearing, black-clad man stepped into the valley, he started searching around.
The evil men had scattered all over the place, hiding from the rain in twos or threes.
“Hey, he is here?” The whip-bearing, black-clad man immediately found Gu Hai and Gao Xianzhi.
The two were hiding from the rain under a tree.
Crack!
The whip-bearing, black-clad man cracked his whip and walked over c.o.c.kily.
“Brat, I’m here again!” The whip-bearing, black-clad man looked at Gu Hai coldly.
Gu Hai had his eyes closed while seated cross-legged. Now, he slowly opened his eyes and raised his head to look at the whip-bearing, black-clad man.
“Why are you back?” Gu Hai asked.
“Tell me that secret technique. Otherwise, I will make sure that you two wish for death!” The whip-bearing, black-clad man walked over slowly with a cold smile.
The black-clad man approached slowly, taking measured steps and treading on a thick layer of leaves.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.
“What’s wrong? Did you not hear me? Why are you—” the whip-bearing, black-clad man said in a cold voice. However, before he could finish, the leaves under him suddenly exploded.
Buzz! Buzz!
Two ropes, already tied in loops, suddenly appeared from under the black-clad man’s feet as if someone had yanked them.
The two loops immediately caught the black-clad man’s legs.
“What?” the black-clad man cried out.
Bang!
A strong force came from the two ropes, pulling in opposite directions, compelling the whip-bearing, black-clad man to perform a split.
“You are seeking death!” the black-clad man said coldly, strong Veritable Energy immediately erupting.
The black-clad man managed to gain a bit of play on the two ropes.
Bang!
However, the force on the other end of the ropes was too strong. The other side managed to recover and pull the ropes taut again in the blink of an eye.
“How can this be?” the black-clad man cried out in fear.
The black-clad man was about to advance to the Golden Core Realm. He could bring out incredible strength when using his Veritable Energy. How could an ordinary person overwhelm him?
One ordinary person? No. Hundreds of evil men were pulling hard on the other end of each rope. They looked like they were engaging in a game of tug-of-war with the lone black-clad man.
A peak Innate Realm cultivator? Such a person might be strong, but he was alone.
There were more than one thousand evil men here, pulling his legs apart with their full effort. Could the black-clad man match that?
“You…you are all rebelling!” the black-clad man immediately cried out, noticing the strangeness.
Bang!
Suddenly, a person jumped down the tree and placed a looped rope around the black-clad man’s neck.
Rumble…!
Several hundred evil men immediately charged over and pulled on the third rope. The black-clad man used his Veritable Energy to protect his neck. However, the force was too strong. How could he resist the force from a few hundred men?
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! You are all seeking death! Ummhh! Ummhh!” After the strong force tightened around his neck, the black-clad man could no longer speak.
Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+
Another two ropes flew over and caught his hands.
Now, the black-clad man’s limbs were pulled apart from each other.
The black-clad man infused his body full of Veritable Energy. In his horror, his hat fell off, revealing a purple face with a twisted expression.
A peak Innate Realm cultivator possessed incredible strength. When they used their Veritable Energy, the evil men would be no match for that. However, with the black-clad man’s limbs restrained and three thousand evil men working together, he could not fight back.
“Alright. That’s enough force. If we pull any harder, we will tear him apart,” Gu Hai said indifferently.
“Yes!” the surrounding evil men answered in chorus.
All the evil men answered together?
The black-clad man’s expression changed dramatically.
They are rebelling. They are rebelling. The evil men are all rebelling!
The black-clad man wanted to shout. However, his neck felt like it would break soon. How could he even speak?f????e??ov?l.???
Gu Hai stood up slowly and walked over to the black-clad man. Then, he stepped on the black-clad man’s face.
“Remember what I said at the beast arena?” Gu Hai sneered.
At that time, the black-clad man had whipped Gu Hai, taunting Gu Hai to kill him. Gu Hai had replied with “I will!”
When the black-clad man remembered this, his expression changed further. How could he have imagined that Gu Hai could organize all the evil men? Right now, it would be easy for Gu Hai to kill him.
The fear of death caused the black-clad man to lose control of his bladder. He wanted to beg for mercy but could not speak. He could only tremble.
“Ha!” Gu Hai revealed a faintly disdainful sneer as though he considered pitting himself against such a person too embarra.s.sing.
This torture continued for another two hours.
“Milord, he has fainted,” Gao Xianzhi whispered.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.
“Bring him to the cave and interrogate him! Prevent him from shouting!” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” the group of evil men answered.
“He has weapons. We should cripple him first!” Scar took the initiative to make a suggestion.
These evil men were not kind souls. They also hated the black-clad men to the bone. If not for wanting to interrogate this black-clad man for the way to remove the mask, they would have cut him into tiny pieces alive. They could not consider whether the treatment was humane or not.
As for the interrogation, Gu Hai did not need to do it personally.
There were people of all sorts of talents among the three thousand-odd evil men. There was a handful of people who were skilled in interrogation. All the evil men wished they could do it, not wanting to let any detail slip by.
When the whip-bearing, black-clad man woke up, his mind crumbled, allowing the evil men to obtain all the information easily.
“Milord, we completed the interrogation. However, there’s bad news!” Gao Xianzhi said with an unsightly expression.
“Oh?” Gu Hai prompted with misgivings.
“He said that our masks are a type of enchanted treasure. The Great Feng Mafia Family disciples only know how to put it on but not remove it. Only Don Li Wei knows how to remove it,” Gao Xianzhi reported with an unsightly expression.
Gu Hai’s face sank.
All the evil men looked at Gu Hai. When they heard this, all their hearts turned cold.
“Continue grilling him, extract everything that he knows, every single detail about the Great Feng Mafia Family. Get someone to work on recording all the information. I also want to know whom the Great Feng Mafia Family has connections with. Continue interrogating him and record it all!” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” all the evil men answered.
Right now, Gu Hai was the pillar of the evil men, the means of their escape.
The evil men continued interrogating the black-clad man. Only Gao Xianzhi remained behind.
“Milord, this subordinate has something that I’m not sure if I should tell you or not.”
“Oh?” Gu Hai looked in question at Gao Xianzhi.
“It has nothing to do with our current situation. However, I saw the First Song Sect Master on my first day in the beast arena,” Gao Xianzhi said after taking a deep breath.
“The First Song Sect Master stayed at the beast arena every day. The Great Feng Mafia Family Don should have been there as well, right?” Gu Hai nodded.
“Yes. The Great Feng Mafia Family Don came occasionally. However, a group of black-cloaked people appeared on my last day,” Gao Xianzhi said gravely.
“A group of black-cloaked people?”
“Yes. Although the leader was cloaked, I could tell that it was an old woman with a walking stick. The First Song Sect Master stood up to greet that leader, behaving extremely respectfully. The Great Feng Mafia Family Don also rushed over, also behaving extremely respectfully,” Gao Xianzhi said gravely.
Gu Hai nodded and thought deeply about this.