Martial Cultivator

The sword cultivator\'s face was pale. His lifeblood sword had been destroyed, leaving him gravely injured. Now, facing Chen Chao, he had no means left to defend himself.

Silent, the sword cultivator did not answer Chen Chao\'s question.

Chen Chao did not say anything further, he just pressed the saber\'s tip against the sword cultivator\'s chest. But, he did not pierce his heart, slowly dragging the blade downward, leaving a bloody wound that extended all the way down to his abdomen.

The sword cultivator immediately broke out in a cold sweat but clenched his teeth, refusing to say a word.

"A tough nut to crack."

Chen Chao muttered to himself. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he continued to carve a long, deep wound across the man\'s body.

Up and down, Chen Chao did not speak again for the next half an hour. He just kept making cuts on the sword cultivator\'s body.

"Chen Chao, since you\'re considered a martial artist, at least give me a quick death!"

The sword cultivator gritted his teeth, unable to endure the pain any longer. "You know even if I tell you the answer, it will still end in my death. So why bother forcing me like this?!"

Chen Chao asked curiously, "Why is it now that I\'m the one forcing you? When you all came to kill me, you didn\'t say you wanted to reason with me, nor did you think about whether you were forcing me."

Chen Chao stared at the sword cultivator in front of him, mocking, "You\'ve already said all the reasoning. So what am I supposed to say? Isn\'t the only thing left for me to speak with my saber?"

The sword cultivator\'s face turned pale, and he gritted his teeth without speaking.

Chen Chao nodded and smiled, "I really like tough guys like you. It\'s fine, there\'s still a long time before dawn. We\'ll take it slow. Either way, I\'m not in any rush."

For the next half an hour, Chen Chao really did not say a word. He simply continued making cuts on the sword cultivator\'s body over and over again.

At first, the sword cultivator was able to endure. But as time went on, he could no longer hold back and began screaming in agony. However, to Chen Chao\'s surprise, despite all the wounds he inflicted, the sword cultivator never revealed any useful information.

Soon, he was on the verge of death.

Chen Chao sighed, though he was not really surprised. In the end, he looked at the bloodied man and then, with one swift stroke, cut off his head.

Carrying the severed head, Chen Chao slowly stood up and walked over to the cultivator he had nailed to the beam earlier. Casually tossing the head aside, he kicked it into the rubble and then reached out to touch the blade\'s tip with his fingers, smiling as he looked at the cultivator in front of him.

The cultivator nailed to the beam had been watching as Chen Chao tormented the sword cultivator the entire time, his heart filled with lingering fear. In his eyes, Chen Chao was undoubtedly a demon from hell. Now, as he watched Chen Chao approach him, his face turned ashen with fear. If he were not nailed to the beam, he would have likely collapsed to the ground by now.

"To be honest, everything I did earlier was for you to see. I already knew that the guy over there wouldn\'t say anything. But as for you, I think you might be able to say a bit more. You\'ve seen it yourself, if you don\'t tell me, I guarantee your fate will be worse than his."

Chen Chao used the tip of his blade to part the cultivator\'s clothing, revealing his frail body. Chen Chao clicked his tongue and said, "You\'re quite fair."

"Just a bit thin, I don\'t know how much longer you can hold out."

Chen Chao\'s blade continued to glide over the cultivator’s skin, but he never applied enough force to cut deep.

The cultivator felt as if he were falling into an ice pit, his expression extremely grim as he trembled and said, "Just kill me."

Chen Chao remained unmoved.

After a moment, Chen Chao applied a little pressure, pushing the blade firmly against the cultivator\'s chest, and cutting through the skin. Blood began to seep out, and Chen Chao laughed, "It seems you don\'t quite like this scene. I\'ll help you out a little."

He tore off a strip of cloth and covered the cultivator\'s eyes, then said softly, "I\'ll give you one chance. If you don\'t take it, then don\'t blame me."

After saying this, Chen Chao did not speak again.

Time passed slowly, and before long, the cultivator spoke trembling with fear and trepidation, "I\'ll tell you, but I\'ll die too, and my family will be implicated!"

Chen Chao smiled and said, "It\'s all the same death. Don\'t you know which one is more painful? Moreover, you must understand that after tonight, everything holds endless possibilities. I assure you, as long as you tell me what I want to know, I\'ll let you go, and I\'ll never go back on my word."

"Really?"

Chen Chao smiled and replied, "It seems you don\'t have much of a choice."

"What do you want to know?"

The cultivator\'s face turned ashen, he could no longer endure this kind of pain and finally spoke up.

"Who wants to kill me?"

Chen Chao stared into his eyes, showing no emotion.

"Marquis Huainan, Song Ting."

After a moment of hesitation, the cultivator revealed the mastermind behind it all.

Chen Chao furrowed his brows slightly; he knew Marquis Huainan, Song Ting. The current dynasty had only been established for a little over a decade, and there were not many martial artists who had rendered great merits. The Great General had been conferred the title of Duke Yang before retiring, which was already the highest honor in this dynasty. Beneath that, only two marquises had been bestowed titles.

Marquis Zhongyong Zhang Yu, Marquis Huainan Song Ting. Both of these men had followed the Great Liang Emperor in raising the banner of rebellion and had made significant contributions in that great battle, which earned them their marquis titles. However, one of them, Song Ting, had long ago been stripped of many official positions because he allowed his son to commit murder. Aside from his title, he had almost no real power left. Over the past decade, he had faded from the sight of many important figures in the capital and was seen as someone who could only live out his years in peace.

Hearing Song Ting\'s name here surprised Chen Chao somewhat.

“How could he, without any power, possibly orchestrate such an assassination? Who else is involved?”

Since Song Ting had no real power, orchestrating this assassination would not be easy. At least at this moment, if someone wanted to assassinate Chen Chao not far from the Left Guard\'s office, they would need to ensure that the Left Guard hear nothing about this. Such a thing was not something that Marquis Huainan could accomplish.

“There are a few others, they are all old ministers who fought alongside His Majesty for the empire...”

Since the cultivator had already spoken, he decided to list out all these names in one go.

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes, he could probably guess why.

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