Chapter Twenty: Did I Dig Up Your Ancestors’ Graves?

Su Jian gave a slight smile. “I find myself rather interested in your life, Senior Sister. Would you be willing to part with it?”

By his calculations, the time for the Blood Toad Gu’s effect to manifest was nearly upon them.

It was already deep into the night.

According to Gao Zhengde, the night before, Su Henli had begun her cultivation practice around this very hour.

His control over the dose of the Purple Pole Elixir had, in the end, been just a touch lacking.

If only the onset had arrived a bit sooner, it would have been perfectly timed.

Suddenly, a cold glint flickered in Su Henli’s eyes. Her voice dropped low. “In that case, dear Junior Brother, why don’t you tell me where the real Vajra Ring is?”

The speed of her change in expression was astonishing.

Su Jian continued to stall for time. “Isn’t it already in your hand?”

Meanwhile, the Greater Teleportation Talisman was clutched in his palm from start to finish—should circumstances shift, he could vanish in an instant.

Besides, he still had his value alive. Until Su Henli confirmed whether the Vajra Ring in her hand was genuine, she would not risk killing him.

Su Henli’s tone turned sinister. “Stop pretending to be clueless. That talisman alone is hardly enough to rely on.”

“As the saying goes, those who know how to adapt are the wise. For the sake of our shared sect, I won’t make things difficult for you. Otherwise, I wonder how many of the hundred tortures of Lingzhou Prison you could endure. I truly am curious—how much can a cultivator’s endurance really take?”

Su Jian pondered briefly, then accused her, “If you truly cared for the bond of fellow disciples, you wouldn’t have colluded with the Alliance of Righteousness to plot against Master, leading to the massacre of thousands at Biyou Divine Palace. If I were to yield to you, that would surely be my swift end.”

He was genuinely curious about the reasons behind all this. Seizing the opportunity, he tried to provoke her with words, hoping to glean something from her reaction.

At his words, Su Henli’s composure suddenly shattered. Her eyes blazed with hatred. “What do you know! He deserved to die! The fact that he didn’t die by my hand was too kind a fate. I wish I could strip the soul from that old villain Chen Luo, devour his flesh, and wipe his existence from the world!”

Su Jian was momentarily stunned, feeling as if he’d just stumbled upon a shocking revelation.

Such bitter resentment toward her own master? Had he dug up her ancestors’ graves?

Zhao Qianxue, too, was surprised; she had known nothing of this.

Su Jian couldn’t help but press on, “What did he do to you? Did he… did he lust after you?”

Seeing Su Henli’s look of assured victory, Su Jian was sincerely happy for her—if only because it gave him more time to delay.

It’s true what they say: villains talk themselves to death.

Otherwise, even if she couldn’t kill him, she could at least force him to waste his Greater Teleportation Talisman.

Su Henli shot Su Jian a frosty glance. “That’s none of your concern. You’d best tell the truth. I’ll give you three more breaths.”

She had no habit of sharing her secrets with outsiders.

Su Jian crossed his arms, unhurried. “Time’s about up. Maybe not even three breaths remain.”

Su Henli was bewildered by this. Had he been frightened into madness, spouting nonsense?

But in the next instant, her face drained of color, sweat beading across her skin. She looked even worse than the Blade King had before. Agonizing pain stabbed through her core.

Her features contorted in terror. “What have you… done to me? Damn you!”

“Xi Wang… help me… kill them!”

No wonder he’d seemed so calm all along. She’d thought it was only because of the talisman—never imagining he had such a deadly card up his sleeve.

In mere moments, Su Henli’s cultivation plummeted, her power gnawed away by the Blood Toad Gu, falling to the mid Nascent Soul stage.

Yet Su Jian felt no urge to explain himself, even considering finishing her off.

But on second thought, with her cultivation still lingering at the Nascent Soul stage, he abandoned the idea.

In any case, under the parasite’s relentless erosion, her fate was sealed.

In a few hours, her core would collapse completely.

The true torment was not in dying, but in experiencing one’s cultivation ebb away, falling from lofty heights to mere mortality.

At this moment, Xi Wang’s expression was thunderous as he gazed at the collapsed, helpless Su Henli. His heart ached with every beat.

Despite her desperate, pleading gaze, he remained unmoved.

Su Jian maintained a high level of vigilance—he hadn’t forgotten about Xi Wang, Su Henli’s loyal hound. Should he make a move, the talisman in Su Jian’s hand would send him away at a moment’s notice.

He no longer expected Zhao Qianxue to be able to match Xi Wang in combat.

Yet Xi Wang’s demeanor was odd—he showed no intent to avenge Su Henli, his eyes half closed in apparent indifference.

Such calm was unnatural.

A bad feeling crept over Su Jian. He was forced to abandon his previous strategy. In a lightning-fast move, he lunged at Xi Wang, striking first with the Greater Teleportation Talisman he had prepared.

“Off you go!”

A subtle ripple of space sounded without warning.

Xi Wang struggled with all his might, but was utterly unable to resist the talisman’s power. In a blink, his figure vanished before their eyes.

“Damn it! Just a little more and… this grudge…”

These were Xi Wang’s last words, cut off as he disappeared.

Su Jian paused, puzzled. “A little more and what?”

But it no longer mattered. Everything was unfolding as he had anticipated.

Everything was going unexpectedly smoothly.

It all felt somewhat unreal to Su Jian.

Zhao Qianxue stared in shock—Su Jian had never mentioned any of this beforehand.

It all seemed simple, but she could scarcely imagine the difficulty.

In her joy, Zhao Qianxue couldn’t help but throw her arms around Su Jian in a big embrace.

But he gently pushed her away, his expression grave. “Mistress, I’m afraid things aren’t so simple. There’s something very wrong with her current state.”

Zhao Qianxue glanced at Su Henli. Her once flawless skin had withered, her body shriveling, her dark hair turning to silver, aging visibly before their eyes.

She was bewildered. “Isn’t this your doing?”

Su Jian frowned deeply. “It is, and it isn’t. The Blood Toad Gu I planted in her should take hours to fully manifest, but it’s only been a short while…”