Chapter 319: Intervention
All the other bear fiends were driven mad with rage at the sight of their fallen leader, and they threw themselves at Chu Qiguang with vindictive fury. However, the other fiends weren't as loyal to Jin Yue and had already been thoroughly intimidated.
Having established his authority by killing Jin Yue, Chu Qiguang saw no need to prolong the battle. He activated his Ring of Ignorance, releasing demonic tainting in all directions.
All the fiends present were caught within its range and collapsed to the ground, howling in agony.
Ning Chigong stood outside the range of the demonic tainting, watching in utter astonishment as Chu Qiguang slowly returned to his original form.
What has he done to all these fiends? And what were those fireballs and earthen walls? Is he a Dao Comprehension-state cultivator? Not only that, but the martial arts he displayed at the end are clearly far beyond anything a fourth-state martial artist can pull off!
All of a sudden, Ning Chigong was snapped out of his thoughts by the sensation of a firm hand pressing down on his shoulder.
He turned and discovered Chu Qiguang standing right beside him, watching him with an indifferent expression. Ning Chigong could only stare back at him in bewilderment.
When did he get here?! I didn't notice him at all! If he wanted to kill me, I would already be dead!
An overwhelming sense of fear and powerlessness instantly arose in Ning Chigong's heart. At that moment, his life was completely in someone else's hands, and every breath he took could be his last.
"Remember what you're feeling right now and reflect on it before you think about doing anything stupid," Chu Qiguang said.
Ning Chigong gulped nervously as Chu Qiguang patted him on the shoulder and continued, "I'll leave these fiends to you. Detain them and take them back to Earth Gate Fort."
With that, Chu Qiguang began making his way down the mountain, leaving the deeply shaken Ning Chigong behind.
Instead of immediately following Chu Qiguang down the mountain, Zhang Jitian approached Ning Chigong and said, "You're the one who captured these fiends. Master Chu doesn't know anything about this. Understood?"
Ning Chigong nodded reflexively. It was only after Zhang Jitian had also left that a realization began to dawn on him.
Did Chu Qiguang deliberately tip me off so I would come here to detain these fiends for him? But why is he hiding his true power, and why did he reveal it to me?
All of a sudden, it occurred to him that the fireballs, the earthen walls, and the sludge clone were all abilities belonging to the demons Omniscient had captured back at the Daoist temple.
Another realization quickly followed.
Chu Qiguang was clearly using the Vajra Laws just now... Jun Li possesses the Vajra Laws, and he was also taken by Omniscient at the Daoist temple... Could Omniscient and Chu Qiguang be working together, or is Chu Qiguang also serving Omniscient? If Chu Qiguang can also use the abilities of those demons, does that mean he and Omniscient are members of the Tribulation Religion? Have they also mastered the Animitta Tribulation?
If that's the case, why did they help Bai Shihe in his battle against Li Yaofeng? And how did Chu Qiguang master the Vajra Laws to this extent in such a short time? This isn't even a matter of aptitude anymore. It's simply logistically impossible! Could he have already been cultivating the Vajra Laws for quite some time? Wouldn't that mean he already had ties to the Hunter Hand Faction?
The more Ning Chigong thought about the situation, the more his skin began to crawl. All of a sudden, he recalled Liu Yao's cryptic words from earlier.
Liu Yao definitely knows something! I have to ask him about this when I get back.
He temporarily set those thoughts aside and turned toward the incapacitated fiends with a troubled expression.
What am I going to do with all these fiends? If I kill them all, there will surely be retaliation, and the Ba Manor will be thrown into turmoil once again. No matter how powerful Chu Qiguang is, he can't possibly kill every fiend in Shu Province!
All of a sudden, a lithe and graceful silver figure entered his field of vision.
Omniscient appeared beside him like a streak of silver lightning, and said, "I'll take these fiends off your hands."
Before Ning Chigong could even react, a gentle strike from Omniscient's paw sent him flying.
"I am Omniscient! Come with me if you don't want to be killed by the Demon Vanquishing Department!" Omniscient declared.
By this point, some of the fiends had already begun to recover from the effects of the demonic tainting. They immediately flocked to Omniscient, who had become a household name following his exploits at the Daoist temple.
Ning Chigong had no idea what to make of the situation.
Omniscient is here to take the fiends? So he's not working with Chu Qiguang after all?
Ning Chigong was naturally powerless to resist Omniscient, so he could only return to Earth Gate Fort with the remaining fiends. Once there, he uneasily informed Chu Qiguang of Omniscient's intervention.
To his surprise, Chu Qiguang didn't blame him. Instead, he merely ordered the execution of the remaining fiends before issuing a proclamation throughout the manor.
"Surely that isn't a good idea," Ning Chigong objected with tightly furrowed brows. "Such a proclamation is bound to enrage all the fiends, and the peace in the Ba Manor will be disturbed again."
"Peace?" Chu Qiguang scoffed. "From what I've heard, people in the Ba Manor are attacked by fiends every day. You call that peace?"
"That's simply unavoidable," Ning Chigong argued. "It's impossible to eradicate all the fiends in the province, so we can only strive for relative peace. As long as the prominent clans in the manor remain safe and no one important reports us for failing in our duties, that's already the best we can hope for. The higher-ups are aware of the difficulties we face, and they know that casualties are inevitable. As long as we can ensure the survival of the right people, we'll be fine.
"The fiends are also aware of this, so they generally only attack villages and kill ordinary villagers to avoid provoking us. It's a tenuous balance, but it allows us to maintain relative peace. If we openly declare war on the fiends, the consequences will be swift and severe. If they retaliate and begin killing important people, then our entire Hundred-Man Commander Office will be punished."