Chapter 460: Taking a Day Off to Update the Side Story

Zhou Qiong waved a hand. "It doesn't matter. Suppressing a Gold King takes barely any effort."

He stared at Su Mu, saying coolly, "Su Mu, was it? Dawn's Blade was indeed out of line first. But... if you hadn't deliberately hidden your realm and refused to hand over the healing potion, things would never have escalated to this point.

"You were a bit heavy-handed. Rest assured, however, I am a perfectly reasonable man. If you—"

"You talk too much." Su Mu wore an unchanging smile. It looked carefully sculpted, giving him the exquisite, unsettling appearance of a porcelain doll.

"Why bother with all these high-sounding excuses? A piece of trash standing on the moral high ground is still just a piece of trash."

Zhou Qiong's expression slowly turned icy. "Young man, when someone gives you a way out, you should take it. Do not think an injured Saint Grade is something the likes of you can handle."

"Self-awareness is a wonderful thing. It's a pity you lack it."

"You court death!" Zhou Qiong's eyes flashed with cold intent. He was just about to strike when the faint scent of sandalwood drifted into the room.

The moment they caught the scent, everyone's expressions changed drastically. They froze in place like stone statues, not daring to move a muscle.

"The divine abomination from the temple has returned. Don't move!" Chu Ying hissed in a panicked whisper.

Su Mu narrowed his eyes. The divine abomination from the temple?

The next moment, a figure seeped through the wall like a ghost. It was a man in tattered monk robes, his skin dark blue and shriveled as if drained of all blood.

The most striking detail, however, was that this monk had no head!

His neck looked as if it had been gnawed off by some savage beast. The head was completely gone, leaving a jagged stump of torn flesh and rolled skin. Dried black blood spread from the gruesome wound like a hideous spiderweb, trailing down his chest and clotting thickly on his robes.

Shoved abruptly into the stump of his neck was a burning stick of sandalwood incense. Its faint ember pulsed in the dim room, sending wisps of pale gray smoke curling upward to slowly fill the air.

The sandalwood scent they had smelled earlier came directly from the incense stuck in the Headless Monk's neck.

Upon seeing the Headless Monk, Zhou Qiong and his team turned deathly pale, holding their breath in absolute terror.

Without a head, the Headless Monk was seemingly blind and deaf. His only method of perceiving the outside world was the pale gray smoke drifting from the incense.

The smoke drifted through the room, coiling around the group like winding little snakes. The slightest movement from anyone would disturb it.

He wandered aimlessly, soon stopping right in front of Gong Cang. Staring at the Headless Monk practically pressing against him, Gong Cang didn't dare breathe. He clutched tightly at his caved-in chest, forcibly suppressing his pain so not a single drop of blood would fall.

The Headless Monk lingered in front of him for a moment before moving on, wandering freely around the room like an emperor inspecting his domain.

Everyone watched his movements in tense silence, praying desperately for the monster to leave. None of them dared make a sound.

"So this is the divine abomination from the temple?" a gentle voice suddenly broke the dead silence.

The team paled in horror, turning to stare at Su Mu as if they had just seen a ghost.

Standing nearby, Chu Ying fell into an utter panic, shooting desperate glares at Su Mu, signaling him to shut his mouth.

At Su Mu's words, the smoke lingering in front of him rippled slightly.

Swish!

The Headless Monk appeared in front of Su Mu in an instant, the burning stick of incense pointing right at his eyes.

"I'm a little curious. What happens if I pull this incense out?"

The others stared, their eyes splitting with rage. The myriad of expressions crossing their faces defied description—panic, sheer horror, raw fury...

They frantically screamed with their eyes: Absolutely do not pull it!

Squelch—!

Su Mu casually plucked the incense stick from the Headless Monk's neck. Sizzle... A small stream of black blood bubbled from the empty socket.

The Headless Monk instantly went limp, collapsing to the floor in a heap as if completely dead.

"Oh? It died just like that?" Su Mu asked, somewhat surprised.

"Look at what you've done!" Zhou Qiong roared in thunderous fury, his eyes bloodshot, looking as though he wanted to eat Su Mu alive.

"Do you have any idea what you've done!?" a Gold King cursed in blind panic. "Did you really think we were afraid of this Headless Monk? Did you think we couldn't handle him?

"What we're terrified of is the Carrion Buddha inside the temple! You killed one of its monks, and now it will definitely seek revenge! We're dead. We're all dead..."

The man's face contorted with absolute horror. For a mighty Gold King to be reduced to such a panicked mess, the sheer terror of the Carrion Buddha was obvious.

"I'm dead! I'm completely dead! The Carrion Buddha is going to kill me!"

Su Mu offered a slight smile. "Don't worry. You won't be."

The Gold King glared furiously at him. "Stop making empty boasts! The captain's wounds were caused by the Carrion Buddha! Even he couldn't defeat it, so what makes you think you can?"

Su Mu smiled and shook his head. "You misunderstood me. I meant that you won't live long enough for the Carrion Buddha to kill you. Because..."

He took a step forward, walking straight toward the Gold King. His right hand hung loose at his side, countless wisps of black baleful aura solidifying in his palm. The terrifying black glow devoured the very light around it.

"You're going to die right now."

Swish!

A long black spear formed from the baleful aura violently pierced through the Gold King's heart, pinning him to the wall.

"Ah!!" A shrill, miserable scream echoed through the room. His eyes splitting with rage, he continually spurted blood from his mouth. His vitality instantly scattered under the destructive force of the baleful aura.

The scream came to a sudden, dead halt.

This shocking turn of events left everyone dumbfounded. Nobody had expected Su Mu to attack another person during such a critical crisis. Was he truly not worried about the Carrion Buddha?

"You court death!" Zhou Qiong bellowed in rage. He clenched his fingers into a claw. The crackle of rushing electricity suddenly rang out from the empty air, and a bolt of blue lightning materialized in his grasp.

He gave a vicious swing, sending the blue lightning cleaving toward Su Mu like a divine sword meant to judge all creation.

Su Mu casually raised his eyes. Countless wisps of baleful aura coiled around his right hand like black snakes. With a gentle wave, as if swatting a fly, he easily shattered the blue lightning.

Zhou Qiong's pupils suddenly contracted. "You're not a Gold King! A Gold King could never shatter my lightning! Are you a Saint Grade as well?"

"What I am is entirely irrelevant. What matters is that I'd like to hear you continue reasoning with me," Su Mu smiled. "If you can provide a reason that satisfies me, perhaps... I might just spare your life."

Zhou Qiong's face turned incredibly ugly. He glared at Su Mu. "Do you really think I can't touch you? So what if you're a Saint Grade? You'd only be the weakest—"

Suddenly, the thunderous crash of collapsing buildings rang out outside. It sounded as if some gargantuan beast was moving through the ruins. Wherever it passed, the already fragile debris collapsed entirely.

The sickening stench of rotting flesh slowly drifted into the air.