Senior sister, I'm going to control you.

Chapter 54 Human? A Standing Beast!

Black Wind Mountain, northwest.

Abandoned mine shaft.

Amidst the pile of rocks, a clump of half-withered thorns hangs, its branches stained with dried blood.

The flies buzzed around and wouldn't leave no matter how hard you tried to shoo them away.

A pair of Taoist couples from Black Wind Mountain were surrounded at the entrance of the mine.

The man is at level six in Qi cultivation, and the woman is at level five in Qi cultivation; they are leaning against the mine wall.

The man's chest had been stabbed with a sword sheath, and at least two of his ribs were broken. His breathing was laced with blood and foam.

The woman's hair was disheveled, she held a broken knife in front of her, and her eyes were red as if she had been up for three days and three nights.

One of their companions was lying on the ground, with a bloody hole in the back of his neck; he was already dead.

Song Qingfeng stood among several disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

He has the cultivation level of the eighth level of Qi Refining, but his brother is Song Qingshu, the number one disciple of the outer sect, invincible below the Foundation Establishment stage.

With this relationship in place, he has the final say among this group.

He placed the sword across his lap, speaking calmly and deliberately.

"Ask one more time."

"Have you seen anyone from the Blood Spirit Sect? A woman, at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining, who was injured."

"Fellow Daoist, I really don't have any." The man shook his head.

"You, a heretical cultivator, call us fellow Daoists?"

A disciple at the ninth level of Qi Refining next to him smashed down with his sword sheath.

Click.

My knee is broken.

The man knelt on one knee, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

"Stop!" the woman screamed and lunged at her.

But another disciple at the ninth level of Qi Refining grabbed his hair and swung him back, causing the back of his head to hit the mine wall with a dull thud.

The man, pinned to the ground, veins bulging, yelled, "Don't touch her!"

"We've never seen it before, we were just passing by..." The woman's voice trembled, her eyes brimming with tears.

Song Qingfeng didn't look at her.

"Passing by? Black Wind Mountain is dozens of miles from here. You're just passing by the mine?"

The man was pinned to the ground, forcing himself to answer.

"I'm not lying to you, we don't need to risk our lives for a Blood Spirit Sect disciple."

"Still being stubborn?"

Another disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect stepped on the man's fingers, used the tip of his sword to pry open the storage bag, and poured out several low-grade spirit stones, two useless talismans, and a short knife that couldn't even be ranked in the highest grade.

"So poor."

The one who stepped on the finger glanced down, moved the tip of his sword to the man's waistband, and flicked it.

The belt broke.

The woman charged forward like a madwoman, only to be slapped back.

Song Qingfeng just watched.

"I'll ask you one more time. Have you seen Zhao Ling?"

The man gritted his teeth and said no.

The sword tip pressed down another half inch.

The man screamed in agony.

The youngest disciple in the group, despite being at the ninth level of Qi Refining, was trembling in the hand holding his sword.

He was very talented and well protected, and never participated in any bloody battles.

"Senior Brother Song, they don't have the person we're looking for. Let them go."

Song Qingfeng turned around and glanced at him.

Another disciple at the peak of Qi Refining smiled and patted the younger disciple on the shoulder.

"You're new here, you don't understand yet."

Which of those bastards from Black Wind Mountain doesn't have a few lives on their hands?

When they were torturing and killing mortals, they stripped them naked, tied them to trees to feed to demonic beasts, and used living people as targets for sword practice. Did they ever think of sparing their lives then?

"But we are the Heavenly Sword Sect, how can we imitate them?"

"Even the Heavenly Sword Sect needs to eat!"

The one at the peak of Qi Refining chuckled: "Trading the heads of evil cultivators for spirit stones."

What can your sympathy buy? Will they come to you in your dreams and kowtow to you?

The young disciple opened his mouth, but then remained silent.

Taking advantage of the moment when they loosened their grip, the man struggled to his feet.

brush!

A flash of sword light pierced through the back of his neck, clean and swift.

His body slammed into the rubble, and blood slowly seeped out from below his neck.

"Ah! Ah! Mr. Lu...!" the woman screamed, her voice so shrill it could lift the roof off the mine shaft.

The young disciple, whose face had lost the last trace of color, trembled all over.

Song Qingfeng squatted down in front of the woman, speaking gently as if they were discussing something.

"Answer it one more time, and we'll let you go if you get it right."

The woman held the man's corpse, trembling violently.

"I don't know... I really don't know... Please..."

He stood up, dusted off his knees, and turned to walk out.

Behind me came a woman's cries, followed by the sound of a sword cutting through flesh, and then nothing.

The young disciple knelt at the entrance of the mine and dry heaved.

Song Qingfeng stood next to him, speaking as if he were asking what to have for dinner.

"The heads of people in Black Wind Mountain are worthless. Two heads together are only worth two hundred spirit stones, which is about the same as slaughtering two wild dogs."

"One Blood Spirit Sect member costs five hundred, which is more than the sum of two of them."

He patted the young disciple on the back of the head: "If you still can't bear it next time, give your share of spirit stones to someone else."

Others risk their lives for money, you trade your sympathy for someone else's life—you should think twice about it.

"Yes, Senior Brother." The young disciple nodded.

At that moment, someone shouted from deep within the mine tunnel.

"Senior Brother Song! There's blood here!"

"The bloodstains are fresh, not yet dry, and they're not from those two from Black Wind Mountain."

Song Qingfeng flashed away.

He dipped his finger in the water and smelled it. The remaining spiritual energy indicated that he was at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining, and he was seriously injured.

"It's a dead end inside, heh heh, chase after them!"

The five men immediately followed the trail of blood into the depths of the mine.

The mine tunnels became narrower and narrower, and the forks in the road became more and more numerous.

Song Qingfeng ordered his men to split up and block Zhao Ling, forcing her into an abandoned mining face.

Three sides are stone walls, one side is a mine tunnel, and it's a dead end.

When Song Qingfeng led the way in,

Zhao Ling was leaning against the innermost stone wall.

She covered the bleeding sword wound on her right arm with her left hand, while holding a short knife in her right hand.

The light from the tinderbox shone on her face; she was tall and slender, her shoulders covered in mineral dust.

His face was so cold that you couldn't tell he was in pain, but his forehead was covered in sweat, and his chest was heaving.

The disciple behind Song Qingfeng, who was at the eighth level of Qi Refining, sized up Zhao Ling's figure.

He whistled excitedly: "This one's good-looking. His head is valuable, and his corpse is valuable too."

The other one chuckled twice.

"What a waste of corpses, let's enjoy ourselves before we die."

Zhao Ling didn't reply.

His fingers tightened on the knife handle, his eyes were cold.

Song Qingfeng was one realm higher than her, and there were two Qi Refining Peak cultivators and two Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivators.

Even if we fight to the death, we can't win; we might as well drag someone down with us.

"Hmph, let's see where you run to."

Song Qingfeng drew his sword.

But Zhao Ling made the first move.

She had no way out but to charge forward.

The short sword was aimed at the inexperienced young disciple first; the blade grazed his ribs, and the man was startled and took two steps back.

Before he could change his move, Song Qingfeng's sword blocked his path.

The sword strike, imbued with the power of the eighth level of Qi Refining, crashed down.

The short sword bounced off by half an inch.

Zhao Ling's hand was throbbing painfully from the impact.

A powerful Qi Refining technique slashed from the side, but she barely dodged it, the sword tip grazing an old wound on her left upper arm.

Old wounds reopen, and new wounds pile up.

Just for a moment.

Zhao Ling was forced back into the corner of the stone wall, her back hitting the cold, hard rock surface, and gravel and dust fell down in a flurry.

She gripped the knife tighter, but the light in her eyes had dimmed.

If the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect were a pack of hungry wolves, then she was a wounded hare.

They could only endure the bullying and tearing, with no chance to fight back.

Song Qingfeng sneered: "If you're going to exchange a head for spirit stones, don't hurt her face."

The other one grinned lewdly.

He chimed in, "Let's capture them first."

When he said he had taken it down, another disciple next to him was already unbuckling his belt.

The metal buckle clicked open.

Song Qingfeng didn't turn around, as if he hadn't heard.

Zhao Ling's back was pressed against the stone wall, the tip of her knife pointing forward.

I lost too much blood, and my fingers are shaking uncontrollably.

Five male disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect formed a semi-circle.

Song Qingfeng's face also showed excitement.

"If that desperate strike you just delivered had landed on another Qi Refining Level 7 cultivator, you might have actually escaped."

"What a pity."

"Now it's our turn to torment you."