Chapter 316 - 182: Give Me a Reason Not to Kill You

Chapter 316: Chapter 182: Give Me a Reason Not to Kill You

"Xiao Yunkai, what do you think you’re doing?!" Su Heng’s voice was a mixture of disbelief and fury. His eyes were wide as he stared at the knife in Xiao Yunkai’s hand. "Are you really betraying the Divine Martial Society? Wan Ze killed Brother Liu and Brother Tian! The Society will hunt him down and kill him! You—"

Su Heng never got to finish his sentence.

Xiao Yunkai lunged forward, much faster than Su Heng had expected.

He wrapped an arm around Su Heng’s back and, with the knife in his right hand, plunged it into Su Heng’s left breast.

"SQUELCH!"

The tip of the blade pierced skin, sliced through muscle, and slipped between two ribs, burying itself precisely in his heart.

Xiao Yunkai’s hand was trembling, but his grip on the knife never loosened.

He held Su Heng in his arms, their bodies pressed close—so close he could feel the heart in Su Heng’s chest beating against the tip of the blade.

One beat.

Two.

Three.

"SQUELCH—"

Xiao Yunkai yanked the knife out, then plunged it in again.

Su Heng’s eyes were bulging, his mouth agape as if he wanted to say something, but only a gurgling sound escaped his throat. His fingers clutched at Xiao Yunkai’s collar before slowly, bit by bit, going slack.

Xiao Yunkai felt the body in his arms grow heavy, as heavy as a sack of wet cement.

He let go, allowing Su Heng’s body to slide to the floor with a dull thud.

Xiao Yunkai stood up and looked down at Su Heng’s corpse, his face devoid of expression.

"We were ordered to investigate Brother Sun’s death, but we were ambushed and attacked by the Secret Palace. Brother Tian died to save us. Brother Su, may you have a safe journey."

After speaking, he turned to look at Zhou Hai, who was lying nearby with his eyes shut, supposedly unconscious.

Before he could take a step, Zhou Hai dropped the act and his eyes flew open.

He had been feigning unconsciousness. He’d been "awake" since the moment Su Heng was stabbed—or rather, he had never truly passed out in the first place.

"Junior Brother Xiao, wait!" Zhou Hai’s voice was shrill and urgent.

Xiao Yunkai watched him in silence, the knife hanging at his side, blood still dripping from its tip.

Zhou Hai’s gaze shifted from Xiao Yunkai’s face to Wan Ze.

He leaned against the wall, one hand clutching his bruised chest, the other propped on the floor as he tried to sit up straighter. Though his lips trembled, his voice was far steadier than Xiao Yunkai’s. "I, Zhou Hai, admit defeat. I am willing to surrender along with Junior Brother Xiao! I beg you, Mr. Wan, to spare my life."

Without waiting for Wan Ze’s reply, he reached out and snatched the fruit knife from Xiao Yunkai’s hand.

With swift movements, he brutally stabbed Su Heng’s corpse twice more.

"SHUK, SHUK—"

Two clean, decisive thrusts.

After stabbing the body, Zhou Hai threw the knife to the ground. It hit the floor with a sharp CLANG. He then raised his head, his eyes pleading as he looked at Wan Ze.

Wan Ze glanced at the two of them, his expression unchanging.

"We’ll deal with you two later."

Xiao Yunkai and Zhou Hai both let out a simultaneous sigh of relief, but neither dared to let it show.

The two of them stood rooted to the spot, perfectly still.

Xiao Yunkai’s hand was still trembling slightly. He hid it behind his back, clenching it into a fist and digging his nails into his palm, using the pain to force himself to calm down.

Zhou Hai leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. His chest heaved violently, each breath ragged like the wheezing of a bellows.

Wan Ze paid them no more mind.

He crouched down and began to search the bodies.

Wan Ze searched through the pockets of the scar-faced man but found nothing besides a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, a set of keys, and a few hundred in cash.

No Martial Skills, no secret manuals, nothing of any value.

Next was Su Heng.

Wan Ze rolled him over from the pool of blood created by Xiao Yunkai’s stabbing and searched him. The three holes in his chest were still oozing blood, gluing his clothes to his skin. A soft RIPPING sound was heard as Wan Ze tore the fabric away. In his pocket was a leather wallet containing a few Bank Cards and an ID card. Nothing else.

Then he moved to Tian Guipu’s corpse, looking down at the young man who wasn’t much older than himself... His eyes were still open, his mouth still agape, his expression frozen in a look of bitter unwillingness.

Wan Ze crouched down and began to search the body.

Tian Guipu had more on him than the others: a leather wallet with a few cards and a small stack of cash; a communicator with a shattered but functional screen; and a set of keys with a small copper bell that made a faint JINGLE when shaken.

Then, his fingers brushed against something small.

Sewn into the lining of Tian Guipu’s inner pocket was a piece of Jade.

The piece of Jade was small, about the size of a thumb. It was smooth and warm to the touch, its color a mix of pale green and white, and it shone with a soft luster under the light. The Jade’s design was simple—an unadorned oval tablet with no carvings. Its edges were worn smooth, a clear sign it had been worn against the skin for a very long time.

Wan Ze held the Jade between his fingertips. It felt warm, yet with a subtle trace of coolness.

A flicker of light appeared before his eyes.

Stealing Celestial Secret successful!

[Tiger and Wolf Momentum +100%]

Zhou Hai proactively handed over everything he had on him, which amounted to a wad of cash.

Wan Ze took it without ceremony and walked over to Xiao Yunkai.

Xiao Yunkai stood there, his body as stiff as a board.

Seeing Wan Ze approach, Xiao Yunkai’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He, too, hastily emptied his pockets.

A wallet, a set of keys, a pen, and a handkerchief.

He held the items in his cupped hands and presented them to Wan Ze with a subservient posture.

Wan Ze glanced at the items but didn’t take them. His gaze fell upon Xiao Yunkai’s wrist.

A red string was tied around it, and on the string was a small pendant. It was impossible to tell what the pendant was made of. It was dark in color, like a stone that had been worn smooth.

Xiao Yunkai noticed his gaze and his expression faltered. His voice held a careful, pleading tone. "Mr. Wan, my mother left this for me before she passed away... It’s nothing valuable, just a keepsake."

Wan Ze said nothing, simply reaching out and pulling the pendant off Xiao Yunkai’s wrist.

The pendant landed in Wan Ze’s palm. It was heavy, much heavier than Tian Guipu’s piece of Jade.

He looked down at it.

The pendant’s shape was odd. It didn’t look like a typical piece of jewelry, but more like a fragment of something. Its edges were irregular, and its surface was covered in fine lines, like cracks from weathering.

Its material seemed to be somewhere between jade and stone. It was neither warm nor cool to the touch, and holding it gave him an indescribable sensation.

His fingertip twitched, and he touched the surface of the pendant.

The data box in his field of vision suddenly jumped.

[Spiritual Form +100%]

Wan Ze’s pupils contracted slightly.

’Spiritual Form!’

He rubbed the surface of the pendant, feeling the slight resistance as the fine lines passed over his fingertip.

His expression remained unchanged. He turned and tossed the pendant back to Xiao Yunkai.

Xiao Yunkai fumbled to catch the pendant, his fingers clenching it tightly as if afraid it would fly away again.

He glanced down at the pendant to confirm it wasn’t damaged, then carefully tied it back onto his wrist. He wrapped the red string around his wrist bone twice and secured it with a dead knot.

Wan Ze, his back to him, had already walked away.

But his peripheral vision remained fixed on the data box.

’Spiritual Form!’

’Spiritual Form again!’