Chapter 144: The End of Money Gang

Jin Taishan, his tale was nothing short of a legend. This story happened even before Mo Jue was born. Jin Taishan was born a commoner, a mortal who was merely the son of a herb farmer.

He disappeared for ten years before reappearing in the Azure River Province. After that, he rose through the ranks among alchemists and became one of the best at only thirty years old, possessing Nascent Soul cultivation.

That was extremely young by cultivator standards.

Many believed he had stumbled upon a treasure trove of alchemy recipes or discovered a secret realm containing the inheritance of alchemists from the golden age. But no one was certain, and Jin Taishan never mentioned his life during those ten years to anyone.

The only thing Mo Jue knew was that Jin Taishan was righteous and loyal to a fault. He never betrayed anyone and never made false promises. His promises were always kept.

That was the reason Mo Jue respected him and kept his name deep within his list of doubts.

He even respected the man himself.

But now?

Now he wasn’t so sure. Did he truly know that old man well? Or was what the old man had shown merely a carefully crafted mask of reputation and righteousness?

At that moment, Fei Wuyan felt as though his heart was about to burst. It was the contract. He fell to the ground as blood seeped from his mouth. The pain was unbearable. His face turned red, and he could not even cry out or scream.

He looked at Mo Jue, silently begging him to end it.

Seeing Fei Wuyan’s state, Mo Jue nodded to the man with snake-like eyes.

Suddenly, the man struck. His arm extended unnaturally, and the attack was as fast as sound itself. The quick strike pierced through Fei Wuyan’s heart.

The pain Fei Wuyan felt vanished along with his consciousness as darkness consumed him.

“Thank… you…”

The man with reptilian eyes looked at his bloodied hand. A grotesque worm wriggled in his palm, struggling desperately to break free.

The reptilian-eyed man pierced his nail into the Gu worm, and it stopped wriggling. Its body went limp, as if it were dead.

“You’ve paralyzed it, Black Snake?” Mo Jue asked.

“Yes, my lord. This is a new type of Gu worm I have never seen before. It even seems to understand human language. I think it would help the Hidden Cloud Division understand more about Gu worms if we kept it alive,” Black Snake said matter-of-factly.

Looking at Black Snake, Mo Jue gave his instruction.

“Be careful with it. Give it no chance. If you are not certain you can contain it, kill it.”

“Yes, my lord.” With that, the Gu worm was immediately crushed into a bloody pulp.

This was in line with their sect’s modus operandi. Even though they were one of the prominent demonic path sects and a leading force, the nature of their business and the way the Thousand Treasure Pavilion acquired resources prevented them from delving too deeply into excessive demonic practices or darker paths.

Yes, the cultivators in their sect often possessed wild temperaments and bloodlust, and they made use of shadowy arts and blood rituals, but those were not much different from the cultivation resources that normal sects usually employed.

That was why they did not feel any heartache over the loss of this Gu worm. If it had been any other demonic path sect that delved deeper into darker arts, they would have immediately kept the Gu worm, consequences be damned.

Seeing that Fei Wuyan had already died, the chance of peacefully controlling the Money Gang had vanished.

“Black Snake,” Mo Jue called out. “Continue with Plan B. Take control of the Money Gang. Anyone who resists, kill them.”

“It will be done, my lord!” Black Snake cupped his fist and vanished. He immediately began executing Plan B. No matter what, the Sky-Severing Demon Valley needed to control the newly discovered alchemy treasure land, and they also needed to erase all traces of any mention of this treasure land to prevent it from being discovered by a third party.

As for the Golden Cauldron Sect, that was a matter for the future. Since this place was territory under the Sky-Severing Demon Valley’s jurisdiction, those from the righteous path had far less influence here. They could not do much. Otherwise, they would not have resorted to scheming and tried to disguise it as a normal transaction like this.

Now that Mo Jue thought about it, perhaps that fatty’s grandfather and father had been murdered in the secret realm rather than dying in an accident. It was too convenient.

But no matter what the truth was, it did not matter anymore. This treasure land belonged to his sect now. End of story.

That night, unknown to any mortal, the Money Gang that had terrorized them all their lives, and for some families across generations, suddenly ceased to exist.

They vanished overnight. Some became prey to higher beings, some were judged by heaven, and some celebrated, praying to their ancestors for watching over their descendants.

As for the cultivators and those in the know, they could not help but shudder. This traceless disappearance without sound or sight was the handiwork of the local tyrant, their ruler, the Sky-Severing Demon Valley.

“This should be the handiwork of the Hidden Cloud Division,” one mid-sized sect leader said to his people.

“Try to uncover why and how the Money Gang offended the Sky-Severing Demon Valley. We need to know so that we do not unknowingly step on their toes.”

“Yes, my lord!”

This scene played out among various forces and factions within the territory under the jurisdiction of the Sky-Severing Demon Valley. The answer they obtained from all their investigations was that the Money Gang had unknowingly scammed money from the friend of Lord Son-in-law Wei Chen.

This news caused all scammers, charlatans, and the forces supporting them to purge their own ranks, afraid that someone among them might unknowingly bring about the downfall of their faction.

As for Wei Chen, he did not know any of this. He had now become a figure feared by the denizens of Thousand Treasure City and by the forces under the jurisdiction of the Sky-Severing Demon Valley.

But even if he knew, he would not give a damn about it. At most, he would just shrug.

— A few days later —

Wei Chen was now standing atop a canyon in the western desert, west of Thousand Treasure City. He had borrowed the Thousand Treasure Hall’s flying ark to arrive here along with Max.

Max was now sniffing the air. The scent was faint, even for Max’s super-sensitive nose.

“Can you sniff them out?” Wei Chen asked his trusty dog.

“Grrr… wooo… awooo.” Max grumbled and shook his head. This was the nearest he could bring Wei Chen to the source of the scent from those assassins a few days ago.

“Don’t know what you’re saying, but I bet this is better than nothing,” Wei Chen said as he looked at the endless desert and the dried brown canyon on the far horizon.

If Wei Chen were to compare this place to anything, it would be like a super grand canyon filled with endless sand dunes. Speaking of his feeling, it was like he was standing on Arrakis, Yes…. that planet with lots of worms and folks who loved using knife fighting despite the fact that they were a spacefaring civilization.

“Man… will I see a dune worm here? Will they poop spice out?” Wei Chen muttered with a smirk, thinking about the funny memes about those folks who get high on worm poops.

Wei Chen looked back at the group from the Thousand Treasure Hall accompanying him. Some of them were merchants who thought he had come to investigate a new secret realm, while some were freelance warriors and mercenaries. Most of them, however, were from the Sky Severing Demon Valley Sword Division, whom Mo Xingyao had instructed to follow him here.

“Having a sugar mommy as a girlfriend is not that bad… I think,” Wei Chen muttered under his breath before he walked to the tent that the people who came with him had prepared.

He needed to establish contact with the underworld.

Within the tent, Wei Chen sat behind his desk and took out a large weisswurst he had prepared beforehand. He threw it to Max as a reward. Max immediately snatched it midair and lay down, eating it with great relish.

Seeing that his dog had been pacified, he established contact with the underworld using his broadcasting orb.

Wei Chen waited for a few seconds before the interface appeared in front of him.

But instead of Youqi, it was the adorable face of Youqi’s child.

“Oh! It’s you!” the child said, a bit excited.

“Err… can you call your mama over? I have something to report to her,” Wei Chen asked with a smile, trying to look as friendly as possible.

The child immediately responded, “Fourth Mama is very busy! You can report to me!”

“Huh?”

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