Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

It didn’t take long for the empty area to be filled with a few dozen people. These people were the supervisors of the workers. They knew martial arts, but most of them were below the Qi Activation level, hovering only at the Physical Realm. If these supervisors were buckets of water, then some of them were a little half-filled and the other half were only a little over half-filled.

“Who else isn’t here?” Gu Suihan was sitting in front of everyone, enjoying a shoulder massage from Taohua as he gently tapped his finger on the table laid out in front of him.

“Sir, Manager Wang isn’t here yet,” said a middle-aged man politely after scanning the crowd. He stood next to Gu Suihan with his head bent and his body slightly bowed.

“How many managers are there in total?” asked Gu Suihan in a perfectly calm voice.

“Three, sir.” The calmer Gu Suihan seemed, the tenser the middle-aged man felt. Others might think that Gu Suihan was easygoing, but he knew better.

Judging from the way Gu Suihan carried himself and the attitude he exuded, it was clear that this young man didn’t really care about this mission at all. Also, the frosty glint that appeared in his disdainful stare unsettled the middle-aged man.

These were good enough reasons for the middle-aged man to be scared of Gu Suihan, so he was extra careful with the way he talked and the things he did.

“I want the other two managers to step forward. The rest of you, line up behind them according to your ranks.”

Gu Suihan patted Taohua’s hand to signal to her that she could leave. Then, he got up and looked down at the messy bunch in front of him with a frown.

It was unfortunate that there were always some people in the world who thought that there was safety in numbers, or power in being with the majority, even when it was not the right choice to make. Almost nobody cared about what Gu Suihan just said and they even looked at him with a mocking look in their eyes.

The middle-aged man next to Gu Suihan looked embarrassed by their behavior and yelled, “Why are all of you just standing around? Hurry up and get into position!” He quickly ran to stand right in front of the crowd to face Gu Suihan, since he was one of the managers.

Unfortunately for him, only a few listened to him and got in line behind the middle-aged man. The rest continued to whisper among themselves and cast disdainful looks at Gu Suihan.

“What’s your name?” Gu Suihan walked over to the middle-aged man with some interest.

“Sir, my name is Sun Miaozhi. I’m one of the managers,” replied the middle-aged man without hesitation.

“Are you from the country of Qingguo?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Very good. I’m very pleased with your behavior.” Gu Suihan patted Sun Miaozhi’s shoulder, then got him and those who lined up obediently behind him to stand to one side.

Gu Suihan turned to look at the rest of the crowd who were still standing in groups of twos and threes and suddenly smiled maliciously at them.

“So, did you think I’d let you off just because you’re in the majority?”

“Did you think I’d ease myself into my new position because I’m new? You think I’d give your current leaders some respect and leeway just because it’s my first time here?”

“Are you still thinking that you won’t be able to mine any more Spiritual Stones once it runs out?”

His words were met with complete silence. As the crowd became uneasy from his string of questions, they all instinctively glanced at another middle-aged man.

“I see you must be the other manager.” Gu Suihan smiled brightly before suddenly drawing his sword.

WOONG! The sound of his blade vibrating in the air suddenly drew a fearsome arc of gold sword Qi that measured several meters long.

At the same time, Gu Suihan walked through the crowd, turning his sword with each step. He was like a wolf among the sheep, a demon among the people. Each time his blade glinted, it meant that one person had been killed.

The whole place was filled with nothing but the sound of his sword slicing through bodies and their final dying cry.

“You…you’re actually killing all of us?!” The middle-aged barely managed to dodge Gu Suihan’s calm attack and started shrieking. His expression was one of horror and his body kept trembling.

“I’m not just killing the people here. I’m going to kill everyone in your family.” Gu Suihan smiled at the man as he turned his sword and it sliced neatly across another man’s throat, causing blood to spurt.

In a matter of seconds, the entire place had fallen completely silent. Gu Suihan had pierced his sword in between the eyes of that middle-aged manager and destroyed his soul completely, so the manager did not even have the chance to reincarnate.

“Round up the families of those who have died and bring them here. Every single member. I don’t care if they’re too old to get out of bed or if they’re newborns who can’t even open their eyes. Bring them all here. I’m sure you can do this. If they resist, just wait for me to come back and deal with them.”

Gu Suihan flicked Questioning Heaven slightly to remove all the bloodstains, then placed the sword back in its sheath after he had given Sun Miaozhi and the rest of the survivors those instructions. He then walked off with Taohua.

“By the way, regarding the last manager who didn’t even turn up. If he doesn’t have a good explanation for his absence, I’m sure you know what to do. Once you settle that, there will only be one manager around here,” his voice quietly wafted into the ears of the dazed Sun Miaozhi.

A chilly breeze blew past, which made Sun Miaozhi and the rest shiver as they stared at the carnage before them in a daze. Their faces were pale and they gulped loudly as they gazed upon the dozens of dead bodies that were dried up like skeletons on the ground.

“What a vicious man,” said Sun Miaozhi with a trembling voice. Everyone around him nodded vigorously. Their hearts were still pounding in fear.

Even though they could be considered cultivators as well, none of them had ever witnessed such a violent scene before. Ordinary folks always treated them with respect as cultivators, and that was about it. They never even dreamed about becoming a cultivator who killed so swiftly and even wiped out clans with a word.

“Wh-what do we do? Manager Sun, what should we do?” asked one of them with a pale face and trembling legs.

“What else can we do?” Sun Miaozhi had a bitter smile on his face. “We just have to do what he told us to. As he said, if those people resist, then we can just leave them alone and he’ll deal with them. We just need to go through the motion and get a few unimportant people out here. We can’t deal with everyone else by ourselves.”

---

“Young master, where are we going?” asked Taohua as she snuggled in Gu Suihan’s arms.

“We’re going to Qingguo. Did you think killing all those people was the end of the matter? I’m going over to settle some matters so that nothing goes wrong.” Gu Suihan’s gaze hardened as he glanced casually at the clouds beneath them from time to time, admiring the beautiful scenery he could see between the fluffy clouds.

Several ordinary people screamed and shouted as Gu Suihan and Taohua seemed to descend from the sky and land on the solid city wall that was at least 30 meters high.

“Who are you?” A general shouted at the two on the wall with a bronze spear in his hand as he motioned to the other soldiers behind him to surround their intruders.

But when the general saw that Gu Suihan didn’t seem bothered by him at all, he felt an uneasiness inside. He suppressed it and said in a grim voice, “Esteemed Dao Master, is there a reason why you have come here?”

“I’m from the Seven Kill Sect. We have a mine within the boundaries of your country and I’m the disciple sent to watch over it.” Gu Suihan smiled and put his hands up to show that he wasn’t here with any ill intentions. “I’ve come to speak to your king. Please tell him that I am here.”

The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. They were so glad that Gu Suihan wasn’t here to create any trouble, because there was no way ordinary people could fight a cultivator off. They would all just end up dead.

The general took a close look at the disciple token that Gu Suihan handed to him, then returned it to Gu Suihan politely with both hands, before turning to his subordinates. “You! Go and report this to the palace.”

“Yes, sir!” The soldier left his weapon behind and ran in at top speed.

The general smiled politely at Gu Suihan, then motioned to the crowd that had gathered to go their own way. After that, he led Gu Suihan toward the palace.

“Dao Master, His Majesty would like to meet you,” said the soldier after running back to Gu Suihan.

“General Wang, I shall take my leave now.” Gu Suihan placed one palm over the other fist and bid the general farewell after a nice chat during their walk.

After that, he brought Taohua swiftly towards the palace. He was in quite a hurry to clarify some things, and dealing with the relatives of those he killed earlier was just part of it.

“Sir, are you the Dao Master from the Seven Kill Sect?” a eunuch stopped Gu Suihan outside the grand and opulent palace.

“That is correct,” said Gu Suihan with a smile as he let go of his hand around Taohua’s waist.

“This lady over here…” The eunuch looked at Taohua as though he had been placed in a difficult position.

“She can wait outside. I can go in by myself.” Gu Suihan didn’t want to make life difficult for the eunuch, so he allowed Taohua to wait outside while he went into the tightly shut palace with the eunuch.

After entering the palace, he saw candlelight flickering above the purple and copper lamps in the shape of a crane. A gigantic bronze incense burner with an intricate pattern gave off a large amount of faintly sweet-smelling smoke that could really energize a person.

The main hall was surrounded by eight red pillars wide enough to require three persons to hug each one. Several ancient beasts were carved into the pillar in all sorts of poses. Some were authoritative, some were threatening, and others looked vicious. Their poses were so life-like, it was as if these carvings were actually alive.

A stern-faced middle-aged man wearing a yellow robe was right in the center, looking calmly at Gu Suihan standing at the door. An invisible pressure filled the entire hall and the eunuch who had led Gu Suihan in was already lying prostrate on the floor in fear.