Chapter 73 - Organized Action

Inside the Valley of Crooks after two days...

BOOM!

The dark sky brightened with flashes of lightning followed by peals of thunders, while a rainstorm wreaked havoc. The Valley of Crooks had already been reduced to a mire.

Having incorporated the criminals into his forces already, Gu Hai had changed his location to a clean place to stay. It was a small cave, but it could block the rainstorm.

However, at this moment, the Valley of Crooks was still locked in a tangled fight.

Having selected the four captains, Gu Hai had also finalized various lieutenants as well. Now, all that was left were the sergeants, which were now being decided by various groups among themselves. Some groups had very arbitrarily picked up their sergeants, and some groups had chosen to fight.

Inside the valley, the fight continued.

CRACK! Suddenly, the sound of whiplash came from the entrance of the valley.

"You bugs, are actually fighting among yourselves? Ah?" a furious berating immediately came from the entrance of the valley.

Having heard this, the fighting in the valley immediately stopped as everyone turned their heads together to look.

And saw Gao Xianzhi slowly being escorted by a couple black-robed men, each of them holding an umbrella.

Gao Xianzhi"s clothes were in shambles, he was in an extremely sorry state. Nonetheless, he had survived.

Another round was over.

An ugly look shrouded the face of criminals immediately. Was another round going to start?

"Gather up!" the black-robed leader shouted.

Gu Hai narrowed his eyes before walking over to the entrance slowly.

All the criminals lined up in a flash. Meanwhile, Gao Xianzhi had also been uncuffed.

"Last round"s A-1s, come out!" the black-robed man holding the whip ordered coldly.

Gu Hai"s eyebrows twitched as he slowly walked out with Scar.

CRACK! Scar was suddenly whipped. "You can go back, you are not needed!"

Scar slowly returned back.

The leading black-robed man looked at Gu Hai, and then, turned his gaze to Gao Xianzhi. "What is the secret technique you two have been using that allows you to fire qi blades from your palm?"

Upon hearing this voice, Gu Hai knew that this leading black-robed man was the very same man who had whipped him continuously last time.

Obviously, Gao Xianzhi had also used the very same move that Gu Hai had ultimately used to turn the tide. It was extremely effective.

Even the black-robed men were drooling over it. After all, it was a life-saving secret technique!

Gao Xianzhi"s face immediately turned ugly. Gu Hai, on the other hand, reported in an earnest manner, "That"s my clan"s secret that cannot be divulged!"

"Your clan? With you being here, you still care about your clan? If you tell me your secret technique, I will not choose you for half a year," the black-robed man holding the whip said as a cold smile crept up on his lips.

Gu Hai glanced about at everyone before speaking, frowning slightly, "That secret technique is not that difficult, it is rather easy to learn, but also very easy to dispel. If divulged, it will be ineffective. Are you sure you want me to tell you in front of so many people?"

"Oh? Very easy to learn and can be dispelled easily?" the black-robed man holding the whip asked, frowning.

"Therefore, it cannot be pa.s.sed. If it spread, it will be useless!" Gu Hai nodded.

Staring at Gu Hai for a while, the black-robed man holding the whip remained silent for a while. "Hahahaha, cannot be divulged? Secret technique? It seems it is just a joke! Humph, let"s go!"

"Yes, sir!" the group of black-robed men obliged.

Leaving Gao Xianzhi behind, the group of black-robed quickly withdrew.

"My Lord! That man holding the whip will come back for sure," Gao Xianzhi said, clearly worried.

"But of course! Otherwise, I will not have tricked him!" stated Gu Hai coldly.

"Oh? But what are we going to do when he comes back?" asked Gao Xianzhi, surprised.

The rain kept pouring down. Gu Hai slowly started walking back towards the cave.

Gao Xianzhi didn"t get an answer. However, seeing the criminals respectfully giving way to Gu Hai at once, Gao Xianzhi was completely stupefied.

All the criminals followed together and walked to the vicinity of the cave. Furthermore, their at attention stance gave the impression that they would follow Gu Hai"s lead on everything.

"What the h.e.l.l happened over these few days I was not here?" Gao Xianzhi asked Chen Tianshan, perplexed.

"Heaven Company captain, you sure missed a great battle!" said Chen Tianshan as he broke into laughter.

"Greetings to Heaven Company captain!" Suddenly, a large number of criminals saluted Gao Xianzhi.

Gao Xianzhi"s expression flickered as if he had guessed something. He immediately gazed at Gu Hai in disbelief.

Having arrived at the entrance of the cave, Gu Hai raised his head, looking at the sky.

"Half a month ago, when it rained, the Colosseum was temporarily suspended! The same is true for today as well. It"s truly a heaven-sent opportunity!"Gu Hai said, narrowing his eyes.

"My Lord, what are we going to do now?" asked Scar.

"We will see if we can removed the mask or not tonight!" stated Gu Hai calmly.

"Yes, My Lord!"

---

Having left with a group of subordinates, the black-robed man with the whip explained a bit before the subordinates scattered. Thereafter, he returned alone back to the outside the Valley of Crooks.

There were guards outside the Valley of Crooks. The black-robed man also didn"t say anything and instead searched for a shelter nearby, where he waited.

"That secret skill is easy to learn? As long as it is leaked, it can be dispelled? It doesn"t matter. As long as it isn"t leaked, who can dispel it? After I have asked how it is cast, I will kill those two. Then, wouldn"t it only be me with the secret skill?" the black-robed man coldly laughed as he said.

It was late in the night, but the rain still continued.

Under the rainstorm, the Valley of Crooks guards were even less of a mood to patrol the Valley of Crooks, and were once again enjoying the inside of a palace.

At this moment, the black-robed man with the whip quietly started walking towards the valley.

Not only was there a blue screen atop the valley, there was one at the entrance as well. Therefore, even if the criminals knew it was the entrance, no one dared to step out, or their heads would explode.

Having entered the valley, that black-robed man"s gaze wandered around the valley, searching.

The criminals were scattered in all directions in groups of two or three, taking shelter from the rain.

"Well!? So you are there?" The black-robed holding the whip suddenly looked towards Gu Hai and Gao Xianzhi"s location.

The two were under a giant tree, taking shelter from the rain.

CRACK! The black-robed man lightly cracked his whip as he walked proudly over to Gu Hai and Gao Xianzhi.

"Kid, I am here again!" the black-robed man with the whip coldly smiled, looking at Gu Hai.

Gu Hai, who was sitting with his legs crossed, slowly opened his eyes before raising his head, looking at the black-robed man holding the whip.

"Why are you here again?" asked Gu Hai in a heavy tone.

"Impart me that secret technique! Otherwise, I will make you suffer to the point you can neither live nor die!" The man with the whip slowly started walking forward, a cold smile on his face.

Stepping on thick leaves, the man approached step by step.

Gu Hai merely narrowed his eyes.

"Well, kid, didn"t you hear me? Are you still not...!" the black-robed man with the whip said in a cold tone.

However, before he could finish speaking, the leaves underneath his feet suddenly exploded.
Suddenly, two ropes with circular loops emerged from underneath the black-robed man"s feet as if they had been fiercely pulled by someone.

The black-robed man"s feet were immediately caught.

"What?" the black-robed man cried out in surprise.

BANG!

Suddenly a huge force fiercely pulled on the two ropes, wrenching the legs of the whip wielder apart.

"Are you looking to die?" As the black-robed man shouted in a cold tone, a large amount of True Qi immediately broke out from his body, pulling back against the ropes.

BANG!

However, the strength on the other end of the ropes was simply too strong. In the blink of an eye, the ropes were pulled back again.

"How is this possible?" the black-robed man cried out, astounded. 

He was on the verge of entering the Golden Core Stage, and more importantly, he was using True Qi. How could he be caught by a mortal?

A mortal? No, there were hundreds of criminals fiercely pulling the ends of each rope. It was like a tug of war with a black-robed man in the middle.

As strong as the peak stage of the Xiantian Stage might be, he was all alone. Thousands of criminals were pulling his legs with everything they had, how could he still counter it?

"You...you want to rebel...!?" the black-robed man also discovered the oddity as he suddenly screamed out in shock.

BANG! Suddenly, a man jumped down from the tree. At the same time, another rope was placed around the black-robed man.

RUMBLE!

Suddenly, another batch of hundreds of criminals rushed out and started pulling on the third rope. In response, the black-robed man guarded his neck with his True Qi. However, the strength behind was rope was impossibly strong. Could he still contend against the power of hundreds of men?

"b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, do you want to die....!?" With his neck being pulled by a powerful strength, the black-robbed was soon unable to utter anything.

SWOOs.h.!.+ SWOOs.h.!.+

Another two ropes came flying, binding his hands immediately.

Swiftly, the Tong man"s limbs were being pulled to the point that his body made a "大" figure.

Even with True Qi around his body, the Tong man’s hat fell down in fear. His face was completely purple, and had an awful, distorted expression.

A peak stage Xiantian Stage cultivator was extremely powerful. With him having True Qi, the criminals could never contend with him. However, under the all-out effort of three thousand men, and with his hands and legs tied, he was simply not their match.

"Alright, that"s enough. If you pull with any more strength, his limbs willcome apart!" said Gu Hai calmly.

"Yes!" all the criminals immediately obliged.

All the criminals answered at the same time?

Having noticed this, the black-robed man"s countenance immediately changed. They are rebelling, all the criminals are rebelling!

The black-robed man wanted to yell an alarm, but with a noose around his neck that was being pulled to the point that his neck was about to break, how could he make even a wee bit of noise?

Gu Hai slowly stood up and walked to the front of the Tong man before stepping on his face.

"Do you still remember what I said to you in the Colosseum?" said Gu Hai, smiling coldly.

When the black-robed man was whipping Gu Hai, ridiculing Gu Hai to come and kill him, Gu Hai replied to him with an “I will!”

Thinking of this, the black-robed man"s face changed fiercely. How could he think that Gu Hai would be able to organize all the criminals? Now, killing him was as easy as turning his palm!

The premonition of death immediately caused the black-robed to lose control over his bodily functions. He wanted to beg for mercy, but he could not say anything. While quivering, he did all he could.

"Ha!" A disdainful and cold smile appeared on Gu Hai"s lips, as if quibbling with this kind of man was disgraceful for a man of his status.

This stalemate continued for two hours.

"My Lord, he is unconscious!" Gao Xianzhi notified him in a low voice.

Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.

"Take him inside the cave and torture him! Make sure you prevent him from shouting," ordered Gu Hai in a heavy tone.

"Yes!" answered the criminals.

"First, abolish his cultivation. And also, there are weapons on him!" Scar spoke up first.

None of the criminals were good-natured people. Not to mention, they hated the Golden Tong to the core. Had they not needed to torture him on how to remove the masks, the black-robed man would have long been hacked to pieces. Why would they even think of using humane methods?

As for how to torture, Gu Hai didn"t need to personally take up the matter.

There were all kinds of people among over three thousand criminals. The people with torture skills were a penny a dozen. Each and every one of them could not wait to torture him personally. They would not miss a single detail.

When the black-robed man woke up from his stupor, he was on the verge of having a breakdown.

Everything was tortured out of him very easily.

"My Lord, we have inquired clearly, but it"s bad news!" reported Gao Xianzhi. There was an ugly look on his face.

"Oh?" Gu Hai was confused.

"According to him, this mask is some kind of magical tool. The Golden Tong disciples can only put them on, they cannot remove them. Only Boss Li Wei in the Golden Tong knows how to remove them!" informed Gao Xianzhi with an ugly look on his face.

Gu Hai"s expression turned somber.

The congregation of criminals looked at Gu Hai. Having heard this information, everyone was struck with a chill.

"Continue to torture him, torture everything he knows out of him, including everything about the Golden Tong! Have someone record it carefully. Record everything, even who has what relation with whom. Continue questioning him!" ordered Gu Hai in a heavy tone.

"Yes!" obeyed the criminals.

At this moment, Gu Hai was the backbone of all the criminals; he needed to find the way to leave.

"My Lord, I want to tell My Lord something, but Your Subordinate doesn"t know whether I should report or not!"

"Oh?" Gu Hai looked at Gao Xianzhi, confused.

"It isn"t related to our predicament. The first day I went to the Colosseum, I saw the Song Jia Sect Chief!" said Gao Xianzhi, taking a deep breath.

"The Song Jia Sect Chief is in the Colosseum every day. The Golden Tong boss should also be there, right?" Gu Hai nodded.

"Yes, the Golden Tong boss came occasionally. However, on the last day before I returned, there was a group of black-robed men!" said Gao Xianzhi solemnly.

"A group of black-robed men?

"Yes! Although the one leading them was completely hidden behind black robe, I could tell that it was an old lady with a walking stick. The Song Jia Sect Chief got up to greet her, and in an extremely respectful manner at that. The Golden Tong boss also hastily came, and he too was extremely respectful!" described Gao Xianzhi somberly.

Gu Hai nodded as he was immersed in ruminations.