Chapter 26: The Righteous Path’s Must‑Kill List! Entering Great Qian Imperial City!
In the shabby room of the tavern,
Lin Yi scolded the innkeeper with enough compensation to send him away.
Then the two sat on the floor of the room, before them lay five horribly battered bodies discarded on the ground.
“Lin Yi, I’ve got to criticize you — you killed two of them outright. How am I supposed to interrogate now?”
Lin Yi’s cheeks reddened.
“I didn’t expect Brother Gu to want to interrogate them… I overdid it.”
“I’ve done this enough times—at least I held back a bit, so we can question the remaining two.”
Lin Yi glanced at the three he and Gu Fan had captured.
One was nailed to the floor, unable to move, only able to wail.
One had both legs completely gone, the lower body sliced clean off.
The last was smashed into minced flesh—looking far worse off than if he’d just died instantly.
Gu Fan let out a cruel, mocking chuckle, then addressed the three remaining:
“Speak now—how did you learn of my whereabouts?”
“Heh heh! Gu Fan, if you’ve got the guts, kill me! Even if you kill us, you’ll never know who’s behind this!”
The man missing his legs still had bravado in his threat.
Gu Fan sighed, then raised his foot and stomped down hard.
There came a sickening ‘plop’—the defiant man’s skull caved in, splattering on the floor.
“In this day and age, people even beg for death? I don’t need to prove I’ve got guts by killing him—what a bizarre attitude!”
Gu Fan’s gaze turned to the final two.
At that moment, the man whose upper body had been destroyed grovelled swiftly:
“Okay! Okay! We planted informers in the Great Qian Empire. We only came because we got word!”
Before the words even finished, another punch sent him to the afterlife.
Lin Yi looked at Gu Fan, puzzled.
“He really thinks I’m an idiot? Such crude flattery!”
He then turned to the last man.
Glued by branches to the floor, that disciple saw his two comrades die. He immediately abandoned all pride.
Desperately, he shouted at Gu Fan:
“I’ll speak, I’ll speak! If I talk, will you spare me?”
Gu Fan smiled and nodded.
“I guarantee not to kill you.”
The man glowed with hopeful anticipation.
“He’s a disciple from your sect. He happened to take the same Immortal Boat as you. After seeing you disembark mid‑journey, he immediately contacted us!”
Gu Fan nodded—this was the answer he’d expected.
“What’s his name?”
“We really don’t know… we only got the message and came. We’ve never met him.”
Gu Fan nodded again, and didn’t press further.
They were on the same Immortal Boat.
Once he checked the passenger list after returning, he’d know.
At worst, he’d kill him too.
Anyone who plots against him must pay the price.
Then he glanced at Lin Yi and gave a single look.
Lin Yi immediately understood.
A flash of gray light swept through the room.
The final disciple, too, became headless in an instant.
“Just because I didn’t kill you doesn’t mean Lin Yi won’t.”
Lin Yi felt thrilled by how perfectly he and Gu Fan worked together.
That single glance deciding a life—it felt incredibly cool.
Seeing Lin Yi inexplicably excited, Gu Fan couldn’t help but grumble:
“Let’s go! Hurry up and hit the road—who knows how many more are chasing after me!”
“I’m here, Brother Gu! You don’t even need to call me; just glance at me and I’ll know to follow!”
“…”
…
On the border of the Great Qian Empire,
Gu Fan punched a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator right in front of him, killing him instantly.
He swallowed the Du (Living Soul) in one gulp and began refining it.
Meanwhile, Lin Yi also dispatched the final two Qi Gathering Realm weaklings.
“Brother Gu, these are already the fifth wave of pursuers. Do you think we should stick around the border a bit longer? Once we enter the Imperial territory, they might give up.”
Gu Fan rolled his eyes.
Was this guy grinding mobs?
“Did Elder Zhu Yang not mention any time limit for the mission?”
Lin Yi’s expression froze—he had really forgotten.
Just these few days of following Gu Fan, he had already killed more people than in the past year.
No wonder he’d completely forgotten his master’s task.
“I think Master said... the scroll must be delivered within seven days.”
Gu Fan estimated the time.
Seven days—should still be enough.
All along the way, assassins kept appearing in an unending stream.
He had also learned some things from them.
Apparently, he had been placed on some kind of “Righteous Path Must-Kill List.”
What puzzled Gu Fan, though, was that the strongest cultivator who had come after him so far was only at the late Spirit Sea Realm.
The rest were basically just there to die.
Sometimes Gu Fan didn’t even need to move—Lin Yi alone handled them all.
“Alright, let’s go. If we waste more time, we won’t make it.”
Lin Yi still seemed reluctant, but he couldn’t afford to mess up his master’s mission.
He clapped the dust off his hands and followed Gu Fan toward the heart of the Great Qian Empire.
…
Two days later, Great Qian Imperial City.
A small teahouse was bustling with patrons at its peak hour.
On the stage, a storyteller was passionately narrating while guests filled every table below.
“And so, these two Demonic Path Twin Stars slaughtered their way from Great Qian’s border to the inner provinces! Righteous cultivators ambushed them repeatedly, yet none could stop them. Rumor has it they’ve already entered the Imperial City, and have ranked in the top ten of the Righteous Path’s Must-Kill List!”
Someone from below laughed and argued:
“Sounds like nonsense to me. The Great Qian border is ten thousand miles away from our capital. How could they have survived that whole chase and still reached here safely?”
“Exactly. Couldn’t the righteous sects have sent some real experts?”
At that moment, the old man on stage slapped the stone table, stroked his white beard, and said:
“Foolish! Do you think sects like Shangqing Sect wouldn’t have thought of that? The true experts are otherwise occupied! Don’t forget, right now in the capital…”
As he spoke, the old man pointed upwards mysteriously.
The audience below began murmuring.
“No wonder… so the Twin Stars aren’t that scary after all. The righteous sect experts haven’t even made a move yet!”
“Yeah. But now the feud is set. For sure, some righteous geniuses will come forward to deal with them.”
“Wonder where they are in the capital now… wouldn’t it be funny if they were listening right here in this teahouse? Hahaha!”
In one corner of the teahouse, a black and a white figure sat listening intently.
“Brother Gu, what did that old guy mean when he pointed to the sky?”
“How would I know? Probably something big. Didn’t you hear them say the real experts are too busy to deal with us? Seems like the ones we’ve killed so far were all trash.”
Lin Yi sipped his tea and asked again:
“So what do we do now? The scroll has to be handed over to the Second Prince. Not sure if it’s easy to sneak into the imperial palace of Great Qian.”
“No rush, no rush. There’s still time. Let’s do something more important first.”
“What important thing?”
Gu Fan finished the tea in his cup.
“After being hunted for so long, don’t you think it’s time we claimed a bit of interest?”
Having spent these days with Gu Fan, Lin Yi had a pretty good understanding of him by now.
The moment Gu Fan said that, Lin Yi instantly guessed what was coming.
“What’s the plan, Brother Gu?”
His face even lit up with excitement.
Gu Fan stood up and walked out, chuckling:
“I remember Shangqing Sect has a base here in the capital, doesn’t it?”
“Seems like it.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
…