Slaying demons and eliminating evil, a martial saint among mortals.

"After receiving the mission, we actually took action against the target once."

"We lost several brothers trying to kill him, but we still managed to keep him alive."

After hearing this, Zhang Erniu's expression did not soften at all.

"What does your death have to do with me?"

"Since you've taken the blood oath, it means you've accepted the mission."

"Once you accept the mission, you should kill the person."

"The target is still alive, so what makes you think the mission is complete?"

The man in black shook his head slightly.

"You're still in such a hurry; I haven't finished speaking yet."

"Mainly because our boss personally spoke up, she's saved the target's life."

"Since the boss has already spoken, how dare we subordinates continue?"

Zhang Erniu was stunned when he heard this.

The leader of Yanyu Tower?

Why would someone like that step forward to protect Qin Lie?

How long has Qin Lie been a member of the Demon Suppression Division?

How come even the leader of the Misty Rain Pavilion is related to him?

Thinking of this, Zhang Erniu immediately felt intense jealousy.

It's Qin Lie again!

Not only has he gained cultivation and the identity of the Demon Suppression Division, but now even the leader of the Misty Rain Pavilion is willing to step in to protect him.

Now even the leader of the Misty Rain Pavilion is willing to protect him.

Why does all the good things happen to Qin Lie?

However, Zhang Erniu had not completely lost his mind.

He looked at the man in black in front of him, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

"Since you are not prepared to continue killing Qin Lie, then let's just drop this matter."

"You've already taken the blood oath, and I won't be coming here again."

"Pretend that what happened tonight never happened."

After saying that, Zhang Erniu didn't care how awkward his actions were.

He braced himself on the ground with both hands, turned around, and crawled out of the City God Temple.

The man in black stood still, not immediately stopping them.

He just smacked his lips lightly.

"It's too late to say you've never seen me."

"As you just said, the blood oath has been taken by Yanyu Tower, which means that this task has been accepted by Yanyu Tower."

"But Yanyu Tower must ensure the success of every mission. Since we can't kill the target now, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you."

Zhang Erniu's hands, which were bracing himself on the ground, suddenly stopped. He then slowly turned his head, his face filled with barely suppressed fear.

"What do you mean by that?"

The man in black raised his hand, and a thin, silvery-white needle appeared at his fingertips.

The moonlight fell on the tip of a needle, revealing a tiny, cold glint.

"The meaning is very simple."

"Since we can't eliminate the assassination target, we'll have to eliminate the employer."

The color drained from Zhang Erniu's face quickly.

"Does your Misty Rain Pavilion lack integrity?"

"I hired you to kill someone with a blood oath, and you failed to kill the target, fine, but now you're trying to kill your employer?"

"If word gets out, what reputation will Yanyu Tower have left?"

The man in black chuckled twice after hearing this.

"What you said makes sense. If this gets out, it will definitely affect the reputation of Yanyu Tower."

He paused for a moment at this point.

"But the prerequisite is that this matter can get out."

Zhang Erniu's lips began to tremble uncontrollably; he certainly understood the meaning of those words.

As long as he's dead, no one will know what happened tonight.

The dead cannot speak, nor can they send messages out.

Seeing that the man in black was about to make a move, Zhang Erniu quickly begged for mercy.

"I swear!"

"I won't say a word about what happened tonight!"

"Please, spare my life."

"I promise I will never mention Yanyu Tower again, nor will I tell anyone that I have seen you."

The man in black shook his head helplessly.

"A living person's guarantee is of little use."

"They might agree to keep quiet today, but they could tell everything tomorrow just to save their own lives."

"Therefore, I have more faith in the dead."

As he spoke, he had already started walking towards Zhang Erniu.

Zhang Erniu braced himself on the ground with both hands and kept moving backward.

However, he couldn't put any weight on his legs, making it very difficult for him to move.

The man in black walked slowly, but quickly arrived in front of him.

"Actually, you have to blame yourself for this."

"If you stay at home obediently and don't come to check on the situation, we really have no way of confirming who the employer is."

"But you still came."

"You delivered yourself to me, so don't blame me after you die. Blame yourself for being too greedy."

The man in black stopped in front of Zhang Erniu, his silver needles already raised.

"Don't worry, I'm known for my speed, so you won't suffer for too long."

Dizziness is normal.

As soon as he finished speaking, the man in black flicked his wrist forward, and the silver needle pierced directly into Zhang Erniu's forehead.

Just as the needle was about to fall, a pebble suddenly flew in through the broken window.

clang!

The pebble struck the man in black's wrist, causing his arm to snap to one side.

The silver needle did not pierce Zhang Erniu.

"stop!"

A furious shout came from the side of the City God Temple.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Lie climbed into the temple through the broken window.

Having listened in the shadows for so long, he had already figured out what was going on.

Zhang Erniu hired Yanyulou to assassinate someone using a blood-written invitation.

After the assassination attempt by Yanyulou failed, they dared not disobey their boss's orders to continue.

In order to maintain their reputation for never making a mistake, they planned to kill their employer, Zhang Erniu.

When Zhang Erniu saw Qin Lie, his body froze completely.

"Qin...Qin Lie..."

It was clear that Qin Lie had overheard their conversation.

Qin Lie ignored Zhang Erniu.

From the moment he entered the City God Temple, his gaze remained fixed on the man in black.

"Is this how Yanyu Tower does business?"

"They accepted the employer's blood-written invitation, failed to complete the task, and now they want to kill the employer to silence them?"

The man in black didn't speak, but stood there and looked Qin Lie up and down a few times.

Finally, their gaze settled on Qin Lie's waist, or more precisely, on the Snow-Shattering Blade.

"With the cultivation of a peak seventh rank and the Snow-Shattering Blade hanging at your waist, it seems you must be Qin Lie."

Qin Lie paused slightly upon hearing this.

It's not surprising that the other party could see his level of cultivation.

But the Snow-Shattering Blade had only just fallen into his hands, and not many people knew about it.

Do you know me?

The man in black did not answer.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a booklet, and casually tossed it at Qin Lie.

Qin Lie raised his hand and caught it.

The moment I looked down and saw the booklet, I froze on the spot.

A pitch-black cover.

Dark red stitching.

There was also a chilling aura emanating from the booklet.

He had seen this booklet countless times.

Isn't this the Soul Sealing Book that Xu Qinghe usually carries?

Qin Lie suddenly looked up at the man in black.

"Why are you in your possession of the Soul Sealing Scroll? What did you do to Xu Qinghe?"

The man in black looked at Qin Lie with a hint of interest in his eyes.

"It's good that you know the Soul Sealing Book; that way, I won't have to explain my origins again."

Qin Lie gripped the Soul Sealing Scroll tightly.

He quickly suppressed his earlier worries.

After Xu Qinghe entered the red-eyed state, her cultivation level was so high that it was impossible for anyone to see through her.

She could even forcibly suppress the Black Bone Demon within Pei Jinghan's body for a period of time.

People like that are not likely to get into trouble.

The Soul Sealing Scroll is now in the hands of the man in black, which is more likely because Xu Qinghe gave it to him voluntarily.

Thinking of this, Qin Lie looked at the man in black.

"What is your relationship with Xu Qinghe?"

The man in black shook his head.

"I have nothing to do with her."

All I know is that she and I were both working for the boss.

Upon hearing this, Qin Lie immediately pictured Xu Qinghe's eyes turning red.

A significant change will occur in one's personality.

He enjoys killing.

They rarely consider the consequences when they do things.

Could it be that Xu Qinghe, in her red-eyed state, is also a member of the Misty Rain Pavilion?

Or is it that Xu Qinghe, in her normal state, also knew about the Misty Rain Pavilion?

As soon as these two thoughts popped into his head, Qin Lie suppressed them.

Now is not the time to think about these things.

He glanced at Zhang Erniu, who was still lying on the ground, and then looked back at the man in black.

"Even if you and Xu Qinghe are working for the same person, it doesn't explain why you would kill Zhang Erniu."

"If the assassination attempt fails, you can either return the blood oath or cancel the mission."

"Killing the employer outright—what kind of rule is that?"

The man in black was visibly stunned upon hearing this.

Qin Lie saw that momentary pause very clearly.

The next moment, the man in black burst out laughing.

At first, it was just a soft chuckle, but soon the laughter grew louder and louder.

In the end, she even reached out and covered her stomach, her shoulders shaking incessantly.

Qin Lie frowned.

"What are you laughing at?"

The man in black tried hard to control himself and not laugh too loudly.

"You're quite an interesting person."

"Get this guy, and we'll pay you to kill him."

"Now that I'm going to kill him to silence him, you're actually standing up for him?"

After saying that, he laughed again.

"The relationship between the two of you is indeed interesting."

Qin Lie frowned even more deeply.

"What did you say?"

The man in black raised his hand and wiped away the tears of laughter from the corner of his eyes.

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

He raised his hand and pointed to Zhang Erniu behind Qin Lie.

"The cripple behind you."

"He came to our Misty Rain Pavilion with the blood-written invitation, asking us to kill you."

"I'll kill you!"

Qin Lie listened to the man in black with some disbelief.

Now that he thought about it, he remembered the conversation between Zhang Erniu and the other man earlier.

I've already taken action once, and lost several brothers.

Wasn't that the assassination attempt we encountered in the teahouse before heading to Duanfeng Pass?

Qin Lie was still wondering why someone would hire someone to kill him when he had only been in this world for a short time and had not offended anyone.

Afterwards, Qin Lie thought about many things and suspected everyone, but he never suspected Zhang Erniu.

Qin Lie placed his hand on the Snow-Shattering Blade, then turned to look at Zhang Erniu.

"Did you really do this?"