I Have 10 Equipment Slots-Chapter 58 - 52: Sect Annihilation

The sun hung high in the sky, its brilliant golden rays blanketing the earth.

WHOOSH~

A refreshing mountain breeze rustled by.

Deep within the endless sea of bamboo, however, the thick stench of blood filled the air.

A morning of slaughter had left the Blood Drop Sect’s Main Altar littered with corpses. Blood flowed in streams, dyeing the soil red.

Facing an encirclement by fifteen hundred County Soldiers, not a single one of the nearly two hundred Blood Drop Sect members escaped. All of them were dead.

This included Grand Elder Meng Yeshang, who fell with regret in the bamboo forest at the hands of Zhang Boshong and Zhang Ning.

There might still be many Blood Drop Sect members out in the world, but they were of no consequence.

Their Sect Leader, elders, and the Main Altar’s elite forces were all wiped out. The century-old Blood Drop Sect was thus annihilated.

The Blood Drop Sect was gone, but they had left a great deal behind.

Food, weapons, fabrics, medicine, jewelry, gold, silver, and copper coins...

After a century of accumulation, there were several chests of silver ingots alone.

Gu Zheng had the right to keep half of these things.

The other half had to be turned over to the Demon Slayer Bureau, so that portion was separated out first.

From the half he kept, Gu Zheng directly gave the goods like food, weapons, and fabrics to the City Defense Armies of the three counties, letting them take it back as a reward.

The three Captains leading the troops were immensely grateful.

Converted into silver taels, these items were worth at least four to five thousand taels.

Food, in particular, was seeing price hikes everywhere.

The climatic anomalies from the Celestial Change had all but wiped out the autumn harvests everywhere.

For now, every bit of food eaten was a bit less they had. As for newly planted crops, there was no telling how long it would be until the next harvest.

Gu Zheng’s reward was extremely practical.

Upon hearing the news, the County Soldiers were ecstatic and went about digging pits and burying corpses with great enthusiasm.

After giving away the supplies that were inconvenient to carry, Gu Zheng discussed with Yan Hongxue, Zhang Ning, and the others, and they decided to split the remainder equally.

However, the Half-Spiritual Soldiers used by Wu Qingzhou and Meng Yeshang—a saber and a sword—had to be taken back to the Demon Slayer Bureau headquarters, exchanged for merit points, and then split six ways.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair to give them to any single person.

As for the Treasure Pills that allowed Wu Qingzhou, Yan Song, and two others to break their limits and advance their realms, they searched several times but couldn’t find any that were left.

This meant either Wu Qingzhou had hidden the Treasure Pills somewhere else, or they had already consumed them all.

Tao Liu, Zhang Ning, and An Xiaoxue were very disappointed.

Gu Zheng, however, remained calm.

"There are no Treasure Pills, but this bottle of Awakening Liquid isn’t bad either." Yan Hongxue held a glazed bottle about a dozen centimeters tall. Her eyes lit up as she peered through the translucent blue glass at the shimmering liquid inside, which seemed to be flecked with starlight.

"Awakening Liquid?"

Hearing this, Zhang Ning asked curiously, "Does this Awakening Liquid have any special uses?"

"Of course it has its uses. It can be taken orally or applied externally," Yan Hongxue explained. "Taken orally, it can increase one’s Spiritual Power. The improvement is slow, but there are no side effects. It’s also remarkably effective for conditions like soul loss, brain ailments, and the like."

"And when applied externally to the eyes, it allows one to see Evil Spirits, Wandering Souls, and other such Spirit Bodies!"

"When applied externally, there are also no side effects, and it causes no harm to the eyes whatsoever."

"Not bad at all." After hearing this, Zhang Ning’s expression turned serious. "It seems this bottle of Awakening Liquid is our greatest prize."

"I wonder where Wu Qingzhou got it?" An Xiaoxue added.

"From the mastermind behind the scenes, of course," Tao Liu said casually.

"Not necessarily," Yan Hongxue murmured. She looked at Gu Zheng and asked, "Mr. Gu, should we exchange this bottle of Awakening Liquid for merit points too?"

"No, let’s keep it for now."

Gu Zheng mused, "According to our intelligence, the situation over in Daping County is very complicated. The Awakening Liquid might come in handy."

"Alright."

Yan Hongxue nodded, placed the bottle into a wooden box with a secure fastener, and stored it safely.

Tao Liu, Zhang Ning, An Xiaoxue, and Zhang Boshong naturally had no objections.

After being busy for half the morning, once they were sure nothing was missed, everyone finally left Cyan Bamboo Mountain.

The fifteen hundred County Soldiers from the three counties happily returned to their respective towns, escorting carts full of food and weapons.

Gu Zheng’s group of six also split into two parties. Tao Liu, An Xiaoxue, and Zhang Ning escorted the spoils of war back to Fengzhou State City first.

Meanwhile, Gu Zheng, Zhang Boshong, and Yan Hongxue continued on toward Qiayu Prefecture and Daping County.

...

"Old Tao, does Boss Gu really have a friend in the Super Body Realm?"

On the road, Zhang Ning rode his horse beside Tao Liu and asked curiously, "The Super Body Realm isn’t something you see every day."

"What good would it do me to lie to you?" Old Tao shot him a look and said irritably, "Boss Gu’s Super Body Realm friend is from a Noble Family. You’re not unaware of the power of the Noble Families, are you?"

"From a Noble Family?"

Zhang Ning was stunned, but then understanding dawned on him. "No wonder. No wonder Boss Gu told us not to get any more involved and not to report it to Command Headquarters. A Demon Suppression Guard colluding with Demon Fiends might not affect other Government Offices much, but for our Demon Slayer Bureau, it’s not just a simple loss of face. It’s a scandal. If word got out, the negative impact would be immeasurable."

"Leaving it for someone from a Noble Family to handle is different. Not only will the follow-up be more flexible, but it also won’t leave behind any future troubles."

"You missed one point," Old Tao said calmly. "Reporting it to Command Headquarters would definitely alert the enemy!"

"Right, right." Zhang Ning’s mind spun as he realized the problem. "Chen Zhizhen isn’t the only one in the Demon Slayer Bureau colluding with Demon Fiends. To say that Command Headquarters doesn’t know they exist? Absolutely impossible!"

"Since Command Headquarters knows but hasn’t launched an investigation and caused a major uproar, it can only mean one thing: these people are hidden very deep!"

"Now that we’ve come to their attention..."

"Wrong again," Old Tao interrupted once more. "Small fries like us would, at most, be noticed by one or two people at the bottom. Otherwise, we would have been murdered back in Fengzhou City. Just like Ba Xingyu, they used some little trick to make him die ’reasonably’ in his bed!"

Zhang Ning was silent.

It was true. The way Ba Xingyu had died was indeed bizarre.

But it also indirectly proved that the mastermind’s power was limited.

"Chen Zhizhen’s accomplices can’t be that numerous."

Old Tao continued his analysis, "Once Mr. Gu’s Super Body friend drags out the mastermind and eliminates them, these accomplices will be exposed. They’ll either run or be killed. When that time comes, we’ll still be small fries. Those big shots won’t have time to bother with us."

Zhang Ning was silent.

"Even though what you’re saying is true, it’s still a bit depressing to think about," Zhang Ning sighed.

"Isn’t the most important thing the fact that these big shots have mush for brains? Demon Fiends are everywhere, yet they’re still caught up in all sorts of conspiracies, constantly scheming for their own benefit, betraying the imperial court and betraying the common people!"

An Xiaoxue couldn’t help but curse, "Colluding with Demon Fiends, treating human lives like grass... why don’t all those bastards just go and die!"

Hearing this, Zhang Ning fell silent, and Old Tao fell silent too.

They also wanted to know why.

Why, when the Celestial Change had brought Demon Fiends into the world, were their own people still fighting each other?

...

...

「Night.」

「Yuqing County.」

Inside an inn in the county seat. This was the first county in Qiayu Prefecture after passing through Dashun Prefecture.

Gu Zheng’s figure flickered, leaving behind an afterimage that transformed into "Gu Zheng" to stand guard in the room.

The real Gu Zheng then tapped his toes, silently darted out the open window, and vanished into the darkness.

「At the same time.」

In a small courtyard of a civilian house on the outskirts of the Gu Mansion in Qingshi County, Zhang Meiyuan walked out of his room, closed the door securely, and with a single leap, vaulted onto the roof and sped away out of the city.

The direction and specific location both men were heading toward were one and the same.

It was the county seat where Qi Yun Mountain was located—the residence of Cao Handing!