The Second Pseudonym

Every hair on Wang Teng's body instantly stood on end.

He was at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, yet someone had managed to sneak up on him completely unnoticed?!

"Who is it?!"

Wang Teng reacted extremely fast. Without even looking up, he immediately summoned his protective spirit shield while his entire body rapidly retreated backward.

It had to be said that as a true disciple of a major sect, his combat instincts were exceptionally high.

If it had been an ordinary sneak attack, this retreat would have opened up a safe distance.

What a pity.

The person he encountered was Gu Yang.

Right on the inevitable path of Wang Teng's retreat.

The air distorted without any warning.

A wisp of dark golden flame, only the size of a fingernail, floated there quietly, as if it had been waiting for thousands of years.

Wang Teng's back crashed into that wisp of flame without any defense.

Sizzle—

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

Only a faint sound, like boiling oil splashing onto ice.

Wang Teng's proud protective spirit aura, in the face of that dark golden wisp of flame, was like snow under the scorching sun, instantly melting away to form a large hole.

Immediately after, the flame drilled into the back of his heart.

"Uh..."

Wang Teng's rapidly retreating figure suddenly stiffened.

He lowered his head, looking at his chest in disbelief.

There was no wound there.

But he felt his heart, lungs, and meridians become... "empty" in an instant.

It wasn't pain.

But disappearance.

They had been instantly vaporized by extreme heat, so fast that even his pain receptors didn't have time to transmit a signal.

"You..."

Wang Teng opened his mouth, wanting to turn around and see exactly who it was.

His eyes still held the lust and brutality from the previous moment, but now there was only endless bewilderment and fear.

He, Wang Teng, a favored son of heaven who had toyed with countless female cultivators and even planned to use this opportunity to control the Holy Maiden of the Hehuan Sect to skyrocket to success... how could he die here?

Die at the hands of someone whose face he hadn't even seen?

But his neck had only turned halfway when the light in his eyes rapidly dimmed.

Thud.

This young body, which had been so full of vigor just moments ago, fell stiffly into the muddy water.

And at the moment he fell.

A ball of dark golden flame violently erupted from his body, instantly swallowing his corpse.

In just two breaths.

Only a pile of black ash and a few magical artifacts emitting a burnt smell remained on the ground.

An instant kill.

Inside the ruined temple, a dead silence fell once again.

Only the splashing sound of the rain outside the temple continued to wash over this filthy world.

Su Wanyin widened her eyes, watching this scene.

She even forgot to breathe.

Dead?

That true disciple of the Shanhe Sect, the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Wang Teng... just died like that?

He couldn't even take a single move from that mysterious person?

"Tap, tap, tap."

Steady footsteps came from the shadows.

A foot wearing a black multi-layered cloth shoe avoided the mud on the ground and stopped next to the pile that used to be "Wang Teng."

Su Wanyin's body trembled violently as she instinctively shrank back.

Her charming peach-blossom eyes were now filled with terror and resolve. The torn sleeve she used to cover the exposed skin on her chest was clutched tightly in her hands, her knuckles turning white.

"Who are you..."

Her voice trembled, yet it carried the fierce desperation of a cornered beast.

The newcomer did not answer immediately.

A flash of lightning tore through the night sky, its pale light illuminating the face of the person at the door.

It was not some extraordinarily handsome young genius, nor a hideous old evil cultivator.

It was the face of an ordinary, unremarkable middle-aged man, the kind you wouldn't be able to pick out in a crowd.

He had some fine lines around his eyes, slightly dark skin, a short beard, and wore a washed-out gray robe.

Except for those eyes.

Su Wanyin was stunned.

Those eyes were too clean.

They lacked the naked lust of the one-eyed brute from earlier, and the greed hidden beneath Wang Teng's gentle disguise.

They were as calm as a dry well. Looking at her, a scantily clad beauty with natural charm, was like looking at a rock or a tree.

Gu Yang's true appearance could not be exposed, and the Scarface alias he used to save Su Wanyin last time could no longer be used, so he had to switch to a new, unremarkable alias.

Wearing this disguised face named Passerby A, Gu Yang bent down and skillfully picked up the storage bag on the ground, Wang Teng's relic.

He weighed the bag in his hand and swept it with his divine sense. Seeing the messy assortment of knockout drops, torture devices, and a dozen or so recording stones containing obscene scenes inside, he frowned slightly, a flash of disgust in his eyes. "Truly a beast, his death is not to be pitied."

He muttered to himself, and with a casual squeeze, several recording stones turned to dust in his palm.

He even conveniently picked up the weapons dropped by the rogue cultivators. His movements were fluid and natural, revealing a sense of frugal living.

After finishing all this, he finally turned around, his gaze sweeping lightly over Su Wanyin in the corner.

His eyes passed over her faintly visible snowy cleavage and long legs without stopping for a moment, finally settling on her pale little face.

"Miss, where are you heading?"

His voice was flat, without any hint of emotional fluctuation.

Su Wanyin's tense nerves did not relax because of this sentence.

In the cultivation world, the more harmless and honest a person seemed, the more they killed without blinking an eye.

She bit the tip of her tongue, using the pain to force herself to stay awake. The evil fire burning within her body was making her vision start to blur.

"Hehuan Sect... Su Wanyin."

She announced her affiliation.

This was a massive gamble.

If he were a righteous defender of the path, hearing the words Hehuan Sect would surely prompt him to eradicate evil and defend the Dao.

If he were an evil cultivator, hearing this name might make him fear the Hehuan Sect's revenge, or perhaps... make him even more excited.

"I want to return to my sect."

Su Wanyin stared fixedly into Gu Yang's eyes, secretly gripping a poison needle in her hand meant to destroy her own meridians.

"If Senior could... be magnanimous, the Hehuan Sect will surely reward you generously."

Hearing this, Gu Yang raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Hehuan Sect?"

His tone carried a trace of surprise, then he shook his head, a self-deprecating smile curving the corner of his mouth.

"So it's a demoness from a demonic sect."

"No wonder you attracted so many mad bees and crazy butterflies in this desolate wilderness."

Su Wanyin's heart turned cold. Her fingers clamped down hard, the poison needle about to pierce her acupoint.

However.

Gu Yang just waved his hand casually and turned to walk toward the temple door.

"I am but a rogue cultivator, just intervening at the sight of injustice."

"Since Miss is from a demonic sect, our paths are different, and we have nothing to discuss."

After saying that, he actually prepared to step into the rain.

There was no taking advantage of her misfortune.

There was no forcing her into depravity.

He couldn't even be bothered to ask a single question about the so-called "generous reward."

Su Wanyin was stunned.

The poison needle stopped half an inch from her skin, unable to pierce any further.

This man... was really just passing by?

Seeing that gray figure about to disappear into the vast curtain of rain, an extremely absurd feeling welled up in Su Wanyin's heart.

In this world, is there really a man who is not lustful?

Or is it that her body is currently so wretched that she isn't even qualified to arouse someone's interest?

"Wait!"

Su Wanyin called out subconsciously. Her voice was hoarse, carrying a trace of pleading that even she herself didn't notice.