I Have 10 Equipment Slots-Chapter 57 - 51: Was It Cao Handing

"I surrender!"

"Sir, spare my life! Spare me, sir, I’ll tell you everything!"

Wu Qingzhou struggled to his feet, propping himself up with his sword in one hand. Covered in filth, he swayed and shouted, "The one who gave me your route and ordered me to attack you was from the Prefecture City—the Patriarch of the Yang Family, Yang Shoulong."

"Even though Yang Shoulong wore a mask and cloak every time he visited, I secretly tailed and investigated him on multiple occasions. I’m certain it was him."

"From what I’ve seen, there’s someone else behind Yang Shoulong. He got the Treasure Pills and Spiritual Soldiers he gave me from another party."

"Is that so," Gu Zheng said, listening to the explanation as he slowly approached Wu Qingzhou.

"It’s true. Things have already come to this; I have no reason to lie to you, Sir," Wu Qingzhou sighed, his voice full of frustration. "If Yang Shoulong didn’t have something on me and threaten me into doing this, how would I ever dare to ambush you? Killing a Demon Suppression Guard is a grievous crime that makes an enemy of the Demon Slayer Bureau. Is there anyone in the Martial World who doesn’t know what the Bureau represents these days?"

"If you don’t believe me, Sir, I can go with you to the Prefecture City and confront him. That Yang Shoulong has a death wish, plotting to murder a Demon Suppression Guard, but I still want to live."

Wu Qingzhou’s expression was sincere, utterly devoid of shame as he declared with conviction, "As long as you are willing, Sir, from this day forward, I will be nothing more than a dog at your feet! I’ll strike wherever you point. I’ll bite whoever you tell me to bite..."

SWISH!

A sharp whistle cut through the air. A bolt of Powerful Qi, as swift and ephemeral as lightning, shot from Gu Zheng’s fingertip, piercing Wu Qingzhou’s torso near his left waist. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"SPURT—"

Blood blossomed in the air. Wu Qingzhou swayed, his words cut off abruptly. At the same time, his entire body was like a balloon pricked with a dozen small holes, hissing as streams of white mist spewed out from it.

The mist was thick, saturated with a rich, vital essence and a Divine Wondrous fluctuation.

As the energy leaked out of him, Wu Qingzhou’s face visibly paled and withered. He was reduced to skin and bones, swaying unsteadily, his eyes growing dim and lifeless as most of his hair fell out.

"You..."

Forcing his eyes wide as his Essence, Qi, and Spirit rapidly drained away, Wu Qingzhou glared at the approaching Gu Zheng, his gaze filled with utter disbelief.

"You want to ask how I saw through your act, don’t you?" Gu Zheng said calmly.

Wu Qingzhou trembled all over. Struggling to stay upright, he forced out a single word, "...Correct!"

"Your Secret Technique for concealing your aura and gathering your power is quite impressive. You secretly condense all your strength to a single point right in front of your enemy, preparing for one explosive burst."

Gu Zheng said calmly, "What a pity... Was it Cao Handing who put you up to this?"

"It was—No, you..." Wu Qingzhou’s pupils suddenly dilated. His chest heaved, a breath catching in his throat, but his rapidly draining Essence, Qi, and Spirit had sapped every last ounce of strength from his body.

He fought desperately to hold on, to question, to deny, to unleash his power.

But he was powerless to stop the drain on his Vitality. He couldn’t even manage a final flash of life. And just like that, right before Gu Zheng’s eyes, with a final hissing sound, his body went limp and collapsed to the ground. He had become a dried-out corpse, all his hair gone, his skin stretched taut over his bones.

His Essence, Qi, and Spirit had been completely depleted, taking all his Vitality with them.

’Such a terrifying Secret Technique... I wonder where Wu Qingzhou got it?’

That’s right.

Wu Qingzhou’s sincere act and constant pledges of loyalty had just been a ploy to stall for time.

In reality, the moment Gu Zheng sensed the threat, he had quickly allocated more points to his Spirit, raising it to 72. Then, while playing along with Wu Qingzhou, he sensed the fluctuations in the man’s aura, waiting for the right moment to spring his sudden question.

Was it Cao Handing who put him up to this?

Put him up to what?

To ambush and kill Gu Zheng’s party of six!

In other words, the mysterious person behind Wu Qingzhou was Cao Handing!

Gu Zheng had found Cao Handing, the Demon Slayer Bureau’s Hundred Households stationed at Qi Yun Mountain, to be strange from their very first meeting.

As for this ambush, it would have been impossible for anyone to know their route and mission details without a certain level of authority within the Demon Slayer Bureau.

It was just as Tao Liu and Zhang Boshong had wondered: how had the news of Chen Zhizhen’s betrayal leaked?

No one in their party had mentioned it to an outsider.

Except for when Yan Hongxue had informed Cao Handing back on Qi Yun Mountain!

Of course, that alone didn’t prove Cao Handing was the mastermind.

It wasn’t until Ba Xingyu’s death and the subsequent ambush on Gu Zheng’s party.

Only then did the suspicion on Cao Handing intensify.

However, Gu Zheng still had no concrete proof before this.

This led to their game of stalling, which ended when Gu Zheng abruptly changed his line of questioning, and Wu Qingzhou took the bait.

Wu Qingzhou possessed an Alien Body Shadow.

Gu Zheng knew he couldn’t take him down easily, at least not yet.

That was why he’d pretended to negotiate a surrender from the start—to prevent Wu Qingzhou from committing suicide with poison hidden in his mouth.

As it turned out, Wu Qingzhou, as the Sect Leader of the Blood Drop Sect, had quite a few tricks up his sleeve.

Even after Gu Zheng had cut off one of his arms, he could still secretly gather his Essence, Qi, and Spirit to unleash his most powerful Secret Technique.

Unfortunately for him, Gu Zheng saw through his plan, seized the opportunity, and disrupted it directly.

Once his technique was disrupted, the backlash caused Wu Qingzhou’s own Vitality to drain away, killing him.

’If Wu Qingzhou had actually been allowed to finish gathering his power and unleash a Secret Technique with such a terrifying backlash, I would have had to unlock my Bronze Elephant Body.’

’No, I would have had to unlock my Bronze Elephant Body to one hundred percent!’

’The concentrated Essence, Qi, and Spirit of an Alien Body Shadow, unleashed at a single point... at close range, it might actually be able to kill someone in the Super Body Realm!’

Gu Zheng mused to himself.

"Mr. Gu!"

RUSTLE...

The sound of footsteps approached. Zhang Ning jogged over, calling out, "Mr. Gu, what happened? Did you get..."

Uh...

As he jogged closer and got a clear look at the dried corpse on the ground, the rest of his words died in his throat.

He gaped for a long moment before asking in astonishment, "Mr. Gu, how did Wu Laogou end up looking like this?"

"The result of using a Secret Technique and suffering from its backlash," Gu Zheng stated calmly.

"Huh?"

Zhang Ning was confused.

"It doesn’t matter. He already confessed who the mastermind is," Gu Zheng said calmly.

"Really?"

Hearing this, Zhang Ning’s spirits lifted. "Who? Who exactly wants us dead?"

Gu Zheng replied, "Someone named Dongji, from Dashun Prefecture City."

"Dongji? Dashun Prefecture City?" Zhang Ning frowned.

"I’m not sure of the specifics myself. We’ll find out when we find the person," Gu Zheng said calmly. "But you all shouldn’t get involved in this. I won’t be going, either. Wu Qingzhou said this Dongji is in the Super Body Realm. That’s a level we can’t hope to deal with."

"Super Body Realm?" Zhang Ning was stunned, his expression tense. "Then what do we do...?"

"Don’t worry. I know a friend who’s in the Super Body Realm. I plan on asking him for help," Gu Zheng said quietly.

"...Mr. Gu, you know someone in the Super Body Realm?" Zhang Ning blinked.

"Yes," Gu Zheng said evenly. "Tao Liu and Xue have both met him."

It was only natural for Zhang Ning to be suspicious.

The mastermind was a Super Body Realm expert, and just by coincidence, Gu Zheng happened to know a friend in the Super Body Realm who was willing to help.

How could it be so coincidental?

But Gu Zheng did indeed have such a "friend," one whom Yan Hongxue, An Xiaoxue, and Tao Liu had all met.

And Cao Handing was, in fact, in the Super Body Realm.

The reason Gu Zheng didn’t reveal the truth was that he knew Yan Hongxue and Cao Handing had an unusually close relationship.

That’s right. Gu Zheng suspected that Yan Hongxue might be involved as well!