Watching the blood arrow rapidly disappear out of sight, Mo Qingkuang's lips curled into a smile. "So easy to fool, saved me the trouble of killing him myself."
"This might cause trouble for Xu Kong, and we need to be careful too," Mo Fan nodded, acknowledging that Mo Qingkuang had handled it well.
After all, Taishan King was still young. Despite Mo Qingkuang's poor acting, he believed it.
However, the Sinister Hall was always extremely secretive. Apart from themselves, no one knew their true identities.
So, Taishan King's suspicion was understandable. Mo Qingkuang didn't say much, merely guiding Taishan King's thoughts. Taishan King filled in the gaps himself with a story that convinced him.
Thus, before dying, he risked his life, even self-destructing to send a message to his organization, warning them of the trap set to lure and kill them.
As a result, with the Sinister Hall's capabilities, Xu Kong would soon be exposed and face their endless retaliation.
Of course, Mo Qingkuang wouldn't fare much better. Taishan King had died at his hands, and the Sinister Hall's rule was that once they accepted a commission, they would complete it, even if it meant all of them dying.
Thus, Mo Qingkuang was also destined to die, and the pressure he would face next would be no less than that of Xu Kong.
Raising his hand, Mo Qingkuang retrieved Taishan King's spatial ring from the bloodied mess. Using his true qi, he cleaned off the blood and asked Mo Fan to help erase the soul imprint on it.
He delved his mind into the ring, and what he found shocked him deeply.
The spatial ring had over ten cubic meters of space, filled with all sorts of rare herbs, techniques, and spiritual stones, piled up like trash.
Taishan King was a Great-Grandmaster, after all.
Mo Qingkuang couldn't help but sigh. Truly, crime pays. These assassins' wealth exceeded the entire Mo family's accumulation over hundreds of years.
Roughly estimating, Mo Qingkuang realized he had struck it rich this time. There were nearly a hundred valuable herbs of grade four or higher, seven or eight high-grade spiritual stones, over a hundred mid-grade spiritual stones, and countless low-grade ones, numbering at least three hundred thousand.
There were also various techniques and martial skills, likely looted from Taishan King's targets, with the lesser ones discarded.
Among them, the most valuable were a Heavenly-grade technique 'Grave Resentment Art.' a Heavenly-rank low-level martial skill 'Piercing Cloud Arrow,' and an Earth-rank skill 'Shadow Chasing Arrow.'
There was also a basic technique, 'Hundred Explanations of Archery,' its pages yellowed from frequent use.
These were probably Taishan King's own practice materials.
Of course, the most valuable item was the spatial ring with over ten cubic meters of space, far superior to the one Zheng Tao had given Mo Qingkuang.
Happily transferring his belongings to the new spatial ring, Mo Qingkuang smiled at the still ample space.
He stored the longbow and quiver in the ring, paused briefly, then allowed Mo Fan to disguise him.
He wasn't skilled in archery. Even if he wanted to learn now, he didn't have much time, so he had to put it aside for now.
However, recalling Taishan King's attack method, Mo Qingkuang, also possessing the Wind Spiritual Body, thought this combat style of shooting arrows might suit him well.
Being able to harass from several miles away and use his wind attribute's superior speed to hit and run would also maximize his safety.
Moreover, the wind attribute's acceleration effect and its sharpness, second only to metal, could add significant damage to his arrows.
With just this thought, Mo Qingkuang fell in love with this martial art, deciding to find time to practice it diligently.
…
While Mo Qingkuang was disguising himself, the blood arrow that Taishan King had launched at the cost of his life sped across thousands of miles and pierced into a secluded mountain hollow.
At first glance, this mountain hollow appeared ordinary, but in reality, at the special entrance below the slope, there was an extremely eerie underground palace.
The world did not know that this underground palace was the headquarters of the Sinister Hall!
Green ghostly flames flickered on the oil lamps in the hall, immersing the entire palace in a sinister and terrifying atmosphere.
Inside the hall, there were two rows of ten thrones, with nine of them occupied at this moment. Only the seventh throne was empty.
The nine figures were all draped in black robes, their hoods covering their entire bodies, making it impossible to see their faces.
"Boss! What did you call us for? Is there a new mission?" A youthful voice from the tenth seat asked.
From the main seat, an old, hoarse voice slowly responded, "Taishan King failed."
"Taishan King failed?" The hall was filled with astonishment.
"His target this time was just a first-rank grandmaster! Because he was a spiritual body, we specifically assigned the Taishan King to the task. How could he fail? It's impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Yanluo King's gruff voice was full of disbelief.
"Indeed, it's impossible. Taishan King is an eighth-rank Great-Grandmaster. Forget a first-rank grandmaster, even other grandmasters are no match for him! I don't believe it!" The eighth seat, Dushi King, also expressed doubt.
Originally, the target being a grandmaster meant the task should have been Dushi King's, but because Mo Qingkuang was a spirit body, the group decided to let Taishan King handle it to ensure success.
Dushi King had complained about this, wanting to prove that he could defeat even a spirit body and perfectly complete the mission.
However, he hadn't expected Qin Guang King to summon them to announce such news.
After a long silence, Qin Guang King raised his hand and took out an oil lamp. This was the life lamp of the Ten Kings of the Sinister Hall. If one of them fell, the flame inside the lamp would extinguish.
Now, the lamp with only one burner had its flame extinguished. Everyone recognized it as Taishan King's life lamp.
After a moment of silence, Yanluo King said, "This is the first time the Sinister Hall has failed. I will go personally! We must avenge and preserve the Sinister Hall's reputation."
As assassins, their blood ran cold. In just a moment, they calmed down, accepted the reality, and began planning their response.
Qin Guang King nodded, "There's no rush to decide. First, look at this."
He produced an arrow made of congealed blood, "This is the information Taishan King sent back before his death, even at the cost of self-destruction."
He snapped his fingers, and a ghostly green flame ignited from his fingertips, placed under the blood arrow that Taishan King had sent back at the cost of his life.
As the eerie green flame burned, the blood arrow began to change, slowly floating into the air and emitting a bright red glow.
Gradually, the blood arrow melted, twisted, and deformed.
Finally, four characters formed in the air: "This job is a trap."