Zhao Yusheng was utterly determined to kill Lei Shenbao, but with only one night to prepare, the plan wasn’t entirely thorough.

Even though he could guess that Lei Shenbao knew Yang Sheng and the others were stationed up in the mountains, he was still worried about an unseen third party lying in ambush.

He hadn’t expected Lei Shenbao to use poison to such an extreme degree.

With time so short, Zhao Yusheng wasn’t confident he could eliminate every single source of poison.

He and his brothers split up to act, hoping only to minimize the casualties as much as possible.

On one mountain slope, a number of guards had begun heading downhill, while the remaining few were just about to light a fire when a sudden gust of wind swept through.

A man in white robes stood on a tree branch, fixing his gaze on the people crouched beside a pile of dry branches.

The guards, eyes nearly forced shut by the wind, immediately stood up warily, looking toward where it had come from.

“You — who are you?” A guard, catching sight of the white-robed man’s eyes, was so frightened his words came out stammering.

“You…”

Before another guard could finish speaking, the white-robed man leaned forward and dropped down.

He extended his palm and swept out a gust of palm force.

All five guards were flung into the air at once, slamming into tree trunks and roots, every one of them coughing up blood, dead on the spot.

Standing there, Jian Yi’s robes, which had billowed up, gradually settled back down.

The black energy in his eyes slowly dissipated along with the dark gust that had emanated from his palm.

Jian Yi glanced down at his own palm, his thick brows knitting, then leapt forward and continued on.

By the time Zhao Yusheng arrived, Yang Sheng happened to be passing by with his group.

The two men, upon meeting, looked at each other, then looked at the guards lying on the ground and the specially made “medicine furnace” beside them.

“Yang Sheng, what’s going on?” Zhao Yusheng asked curiously.

“What’s going on?” Yang Sheng was equally baffled. “We didn’t kill this man — we just got here ourselves.”

“How’s Jiu’er? Is she all right?”

“We got word that Lei Shenbao would be releasing poison fog in the mountains, so we came up here. As for Jiu’er’s situation, I don’t know yet,” Zhao Yusheng said, already moving forward.

“Hurry down the mountain — there are a thousand guards down there, I’m worried they can’t hold out much longer.”

With the “medicine furnace” destroyed, Zhao Yusheng felt somewhat relieved.

To ensure the other brothers could get down the mountain safely, he had to keep moving forward.

“All right, take care of yourself!” Yang Sheng moved off as well.

The other brothers hurried to follow in his footsteps.

Inside the tent, Feng Jiu’er and Qiao Mu had just finished dealing with Lei Shenbao when Yu Jingfeng lifted the tent flap.

When Yu Jingfeng entered, the bound Lei Shenbao still lay on the ground.

The only difference now was that the tendons in his hands and feet had all been severed.

Feng Jiu’er’s technique was unlike that of an ordinary person — at least Lei Shenbao hadn’t lost too much blood.

But the searing pain had been enough to knock him unconscious.

“Yu Jingfeng, you’ve come at just the right time.” Feng Jiu’er clapped her hands and looked up at him.

“Give him a thorough search, so he doesn’t get the chance to release any more poison gas later.”

Being a man — and not even a handsome one, quite ugly really — Feng Jiu’er truly couldn’t bring herself to do the search herself.

“Be careful. He can’t exert any strength right now, and I’ve sealed his meridians, but I can’t be sure how much poison he’s carrying on him.”

“Be very careful! Don’t get hurt.”

“Yes, Young Miss Jiu’er,” Yu Jingfeng nodded and went over.

Young Miss Jiu’er really was something — far more approachable than His Highness the Prince.

Even if Young Miss Jiu’er hadn’t said anything, he would have been extremely careful anyway.

Having served beside Di Wu Ya for so long, if Yu Jingfeng were the careless type, he wouldn’t know how many times over he’d have died by now.

Still, Feng Jiu’er’s words of caution warmed him all the same.

Feng Jiu’er took hold of the pale-faced Qiao Mu, and the two sat down to one side.

“Don’t move!” Feng Jiu’er gave Qiao Mu a push, turning her so her back faced her.

“Jiu’er, I’m fine.” Qiao Mu turned back around.

Feng Jiu’er pushed her again, this time with a bit more force.

Before Qiao Mu could refuse, Feng Jiu’er extended both hands, pressing her palms against Qiao Mu’s back.

A stream of true energy flowed from Feng Jiu’er’s palms into Qiao Mu’s back, and Qiao Mu closed her eyes in relief.

As Yu Jingfeng prepared to strip Lei Shenbao’s clothes for the search, he couldn’t help glancing over.

Seeing both Qiao Mu and Feng Jiu’er with their eyes closed, he set to work with his large hands without hesitation.

A mere fifty guards weren’t worth Yu Jingfeng’s concern.

When he’d come in, he’d only knocked down a few — the rest had been left to his brothers.

By the time Yu Jingfeng carried one body out, fifty corpses lay on the ground.

But by now, what they faced was no longer just these few bodies.

The thousand guards in the forest had all emerged, surrounding the tent in layers.

Yu Jingfeng threw Lei Shenbao to the ground with a thud, showing not the slightest mercy.

“Release our master!” One of the guards stepped forward.

“What right do you have to bargain with me?” Yu Jingfeng asked coldly.

He had to stall for time.

The enemy had a thousand men; they had only six. The odds weren’t in their favor.

“You think you can escape?” the man sneered.

“Why couldn’t we?” Yu Jingfeng kicked the man on the ground.

Lei Shenbao felt the pain again and woke up.

“Ow!”

He really was in pain — pain all over his body!

Having confirmed Lei Shenbao had no capacity to resist, Yu Jingfeng deliberately released the seal on his meridians.

A man like this deserved to taste real pain.

Lei Shenbao groaned and lifted his head to look. “No! You must save us.”

“If I die, no one can cure you of the poison in your bodies. You have to save me.”

Lei Shenbao no longer cared about his dignity — staying alive mattered most now.

He deeply regretted it now — why had he been so greedy for a pretty face?

Without his life, even beauty wouldn’t be his to enjoy — he’d brought this on himself!

Just who exactly was this woman, Long Jiu’er, to have such formidable ability?

Lei Shenbao truly regretted it now. Did he not know the state of his own body?

Damn that beauty — how could she bring herself to deal him such a heavy blow?

“Master, don’t talk like that — we’ll definitely save you.” The man looked at his master.

He’d only taken one step forward when Yu Jingfeng’s cold blade came to rest against Lei Shenbao’s throat.

“Take one more step, and don’t blame me for what happens.”

“Don’t!” Lei Shenbao tried to dodge, only to find that every movement brought unbearable pain.

“Good sir! Let’s talk this over properly.”

“How much is Long Ying paying you? I’ll double it — let me go.”

“Triple, quadruple, tenfold — how about it?”

“Gold, fertile land, fine horses, beautiful women — whatever I have, I’ll… split it with you, half and half.”

“Let me go, and I’ll let you walk tall across the entire Feng Clan territory.”

“Why would I need to walk tall there?” Yu Jingfeng shot Lei Shenbao a look. “Although…”

Suddenly, his brow lifted.

“If you can give me a million taels of silver, I’ll consider letting you go.”

“Really?” Lei Shenbao let out a heavy breath of relief. “A million taels, no problem. Let me go, and I’ll get it to you right away.”

“In that case, you could give even more, couldn’t you?” Yu Jingfeng’s eyes gleamed with greed.

“Two million taels of silver, gathered within a single day, and I won’t kill you!”

Yu Jingfeng: *I might not kill you myself, but as for my men — that’s not up to me.*