Chapter 252: The Great Deception

Chapter 252: The Great Deception

"Lord!!!"

The disciples of Evernight Valley cried out in unison, but their movements didn't slow down at all.

Their lord had ordered them to retreat immediately, no matter what, without looking back.

Now, he had even risked his life to carve out an escape route for them. Though they witnessed the Night Lord being reduced to a rain of blood, they didn't dare pause for even a moment.

Amid the layers of illusions, in an instant, a small group of shadow envoys had already fled.

Su Mo just landed, but he frowned slightly, instinctively looking at the back of his hand.

Suddenly, his expression changed, and he snapped his head up and shouted:

"Don't let a single one escape!!"

The disciples of the righteous sects nodded vigorously, without showing any surprise.

This was a fierce man who had pursued the Night Lord, beating him mercilessly until he was reduced to a rain of blood. Of course, he would aim to annihilate his enemies completely.

However, the sight of Su Mo brutally reducing the Night Lord to a rain of blood was utterly shocking!

So much so that the righteous disciples present were momentarily paralyzed, forgetting to move.

They felt as if a mountain that had weighed them down for years had suddenly disappeared, leaving them in a daze.

Only when they heard his words did they snap out of it, but by then, it was too late.

The people of Evernight Valley, with their extraordinary agility in the darkness, were truly remarkable.

There were so many of them that even a small group numbered over a hundred. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into shadows, scattering in all directions.

In the brief moment the others were stunned, dozens had already disappeared.

They immediately gave chase, but were unable to stop the rest.

It wasn't that they didn't try hard, but the enemy was simply too fast and too numerous.

Although they had the advantage in numbers, their lightness skills were no match for those of Evernight Valley, especially since they were all shadow envoys.

Su Mo caught up with a few, killing them on the spot, but that was all.

By this point, catching up with these shadows of the night was almost as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

Frowning deeply, he looked at the remaining members of Evernight Valley and sighed.

Without further thought, he plunged into the crowd, unleashing a massacre.

The encirclement closed once more, and the disciples of Evernight Valley fought back desperately.

In the despair of the Night Lord's death, their fighting spirit surged momentarily before completely collapsing.

Only those from the Seven Ghost Shadows continued to resist stubbornly.

Su Mo glanced over and saw Duan Song fighting one of them alone, overwhelming his opponent.

Once the shadows became visible, the flaws in Evernight Valley's martial arts were exposed.

They themselves are the weak points.

The other shadow envoys were either being jointly attacked or overwhelmed by the experts on their side.

In the blink of an eye, some lay dead, while others were wounded.

However, even the wounded were unlikely to survive. The Evernight Valley truly lived up to its reputation as a demonic sect, leaving no room for mercy.

Even when victory seemed certain, they had taken poison beforehand.

At the slightest hint of failure, they would immediately activate the poison, ensuring they left no witnesses.

Su Mo, seeing this, lifted his gaze and locked onto a member of the Seven Ghost Shadows engaged in combat with Wei Ziyi.

Wei Ziyi teamed up with a woman from the Cold Moon Palace, their swords slicing through the air.

Just as they were about to overpower him, a figure flashed, and Su Mo appeared.

With a single grab of the Great Open Yang Scattering Palm, even at full strength, the Seven Ghost Shadows member might not have dodged Su Mo's grasp.

In an instant, Su Mo had him by the throat. Seeing it was Su Mo, his expression changed drastically.

Wei Ziyi's expression also shifted dramatically:

"You, Su Mo, how dare you..."

She was about to stomp her feet and argue with Su Mo about their hard-fought battle and the thrill of finally defeating a strong foe.

But then, he abruptly cut her off, which was utterly infuriating!

However, as she spoke, she suddenly remembered her cold and aloof persona, so she swallowed the rest of her words.

She could only curse Su Mo in her heart, thinking how utterly detestable he was.

The older woman from the Cold Moon Palace beside her shot Wei Ziyi a puzzled glance.

She even began to wonder if Wei Ziyi had been possessed by the Youquan Cult's Soul Seizing Command.

Such sudden and erratic behavior was truly perplexing.

Su Mo had no time to explain to Wei Ziyi. He reached into his robe, pulled out a pill, and shoved it straight into the Seven Ghost Shadows member's mouth.

"What did you just give me?"

The Seven Ghost Shadows member's expression twisted in shock. He wasn't afraid of Su Mo poisoning him; now that he was in enemy hands, death was inevitable.

Poison would only fulfill his wish.

But if it was some kind of universal antidote, that would be a problem.

Su Mo, however, couldn't be bothered to respond. He sealed the man's acupoints, casually tossed him aside, and went to grab another member of the Seven Ghost Shadows.

These people's martial arts were naturally advanced, so even at this point, a few were still resisting.

The Night Lord's final command before his death was for them to fight and retreat, giving the shadow envoys more opportunities to escape.

Thus, they were determined to fight until they were completely incapacitated.

However, at this moment, seeing Su Mo approaching, the second Seven Ghost Shadows member was resolute.

Unable to wait for the poison to take effect, he simply slapped his own forehead with a palm and died on the spot.

Su Mo was stunned: "Was that really necessary?"

A bunch of cultists, each sacrificing themselves for righteousness, seemed a bit off, didn’t it?

Seeing this, the rest knew escape was hopeless.

In moments, they all took their own lives, and in just a short while, the bustling Liuyin City fell silent.

Only the Seven Ghost Shadows member, who had been incapacitated by Su Mo and thrown to the ground, wishing to end his life but too weak, and attempting to activate the poison to end his life, but to little avail, was still alive.

Realizing the pill Su Mo had given him was odd, despair filled his eyes.

He seemed utterly alone...

Looking up, he saw Su Mo had already approached him, and he gave a bitter smile:

"Do your worst. If I utter another word, consider me your slave."

Su Mo sighed: "Was that really necessary? Your Evernight Valley commits heinous crimes, and the Night Lord isn’t exactly benevolent. Is he really worth your loyalty?"

"What do you know?"

Hearing this, the man looked up at Su Mo and laughed heartily:

"How can a sparrow understand the ambition of a swan! My lord..."

Then, he seemed to recall the Night Lord was dead, and he suddenly burst into tears:

"How could you grasp my lord's ambition? You... you monster!!"

"..."

This is just crazy!

Su Mo was nearly speechless. A demon from Evernight Valley calling someone else a demon?

What the hell is going on?

"Mo'er."

At this moment, Duan Song and others also arrived. He glanced at Su Mo:

"Why bother with him? If he wants to die, let him."

Su Mo shook his head:

"We know of Evernight Valley, but do you know its location, Uncle Duan?"

"This?"

Duan Song was stunned, instinctively wanting to scratch his head, but feeling the current situation was inappropriate, he then said seriously:

"We know the general direction of Evernight Valley, but its exact location remains unknown.

"For years, the three cults have held the east of Tianqu City, blocking it, doing their best. How could we know more?"

There were also some things Duan Song chose not to mention, given the circumstances.

Over the years, the orthodox sects have indeed sent people to secretly infiltrate the territories of the cult.

They blended in among them, attempting to disguise themselves as cult disciples to gather information.

It would have been ideal if they could infiltrate the headquarters of these three cults.

Unfortunately, the actions of the cult are entirely different from those of the orthodox.

The disciples sent over were either too righteous, making them stand out among the cult disciples and easily detected, leading to their noble sacrifice.

Or they completely fell into the ways of the cult, instead leaking significant information about the orthodox sects... truly taking everyone by surprise.

Although sending disciples to act as spies in the cult's territories has been done by various sects, the results have been far from satisfactory, and mentioning it now would be out of place.

Su Mo nodded:

"That's right, we have no idea where Evernight Valley is located.

"Even if we manage to kill the Night Lord today, if we can't completely eradicate Evernight Valley, soon there will be a second Night Lord, a third Night Lord...

"We cannot allow this cancer to take root in the Eastern Wilderness; it must be completely eradicated."

Duan Song and the others nodded in agreement, acknowledging that Su Mo made a valid point.

The captive we have now must be interrogated to find out the location of Evernight Valley, and using the Night Lord's death as an opportunity to launch a joint attack would be the best course of action.

However, the Seven Ghost Shadows burst into hearty laughter:

"You want to know where Evernight Valley is? Hahaha... that's utterly ridiculous. The location of Evernight Valley is a closely guarded secret.

"In the world today, apart from our lord, only the ferryman knows.

"We come and go with the ferryman's escort; with your skills, you likely can't even locate the ferryman, let alone Evernight Valley!"

"..."

Su Mo and the others were taken aback. Does Evernight Valley hold such secrets?

They automatically turned to Duan Song, only to find that he was also at a loss.

Su Mo realized he was seeking answers from someone equally clueless; given the current situation, the orthodox sects' knowledge of Evernight Valley is likely limited to what Evernight Valley has revealed.

The deepest secrets hidden within are probably beyond their comprehension.

Su Mo furrowed his brow, his mind racing through one scenario after another.

But there was no time for deep thought at the moment, so he immediately said to Duan Song:

"This individual must be closely monitored; do not be negligent."

"Rest assured."

Duan Song nodded, then glanced at Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan immediately said, "I will personally oversee his custody."

"Thank you, Elder."

Although Su Mo didn't know who Lu Yuan was, seeing that he was slightly younger than Duan Song and didn't seem to be a 32nd generation disciple, he addressed him as Elder.

Lu Yuan was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, "Mo'er, no need to stand on ceremony. Now you've done a tremendous service for our eastern factions in East City.

"Once word of this spreads through East City, our Purple Sun Sect disciples will all have something to be proud of."

Hearing this, the disciples from other factions were at a loss for words but couldn't help but admire Su Mo's tactics.

To have beaten the Night Lord to death was both awe-inspiring and terrifying.

While they were talking, Master Red Cloud and his companions arrived to greet them.

Su Mo seized the moment to introduce Master Red Cloud to the eastern factions in East City and mentioned his intention to build a temple outside Tianqu City.

Hearing this, everyone realized they were in the presence of Master Red Cloud himself.

Immediately, there was another round of polite pleasantries.

Originally, they had opened the city gates to lure the Evernight Valley forces into a trap. Although they outnumbered the enemy, there were too many shadow envoys, each a master in their own right. The Seven Ghost Shadows were all enigmatic and formidable.

In comparison, they nearly let these demons slip away.

Master Red Cloud and his group arrived in the nick of time. Seeing the Evernight Valley demons about to flee, they immediately intervened to stop them.

In the heat of battle, there was no time for introductions, but they knew these sinister-looking monks were not to be underestimated.

There had been speculation before, but now it was confirmed.

Tonight, with Master Red Cloud and his allies fighting alongside them, and with Su Mo's influence, everything fell into place.

Afterward, everyone regrouped and, led by Su Mo, launched an attack on the Phantom Forest.

However, along the way, Wei Ziyi's expression as she looked at Su Mo always seemed a bit off.

She felt... as if this man had something weighing on his mind?

...

...

Around 5 a.m., east of Qingxiu Mountain, a figure clad in black leaped and bounded.

Occasionally glancing back at the now-distant Qingxiu Mountain City, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Looking around, he found a secluded spot to pause for a moment.

But just as he steadied himself, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble.

With a slight frown, he reached up and removed the gold-threaded black mask, revealing a pale, smooth face.

His lips were razor-thin, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

The blood was a vivid red, not from old internal injuries but from fresh wounds that kept appearing within his body.

Seeing this, his expression changed.

He immediately took a deep breath, sat cross-legged, and with a movement of his hands, his internal energy surged.

After raising it to his chest, he suddenly opened his eyes and spat out another mouthful of blood.

"What kind of fist technique is this? To have inflicted injuries on all five of this lord's organs!?"

This person was none other than the Night Lord!

Ever since he fled all the way to Liuyin City, he had already realized that the escape plan was right before his eyes.

The Eternal Night Demon Record he cultivated was bizarre and unfathomable.

Among its countless secret techniques, the 'Stealing Heaven and Exchanging the Sun' method was the best way to cheat death.

However, previously when he used this move, he always employed shadows.

He replaced his true body with a human skin shadow, allowing him to escape Su Mo's grasp twice.

But this time, with Youquan Cult disciples present, the replacement he used was a shadow envoy.

When Su Mo's barrage of fists rained down on him, kicking up dust, it was the perfect opportunity.

After executing this move, he used the Eternal Night Demon Record to shift all the shadows around him onto the shadow envoy.

Forcing the shadow envoy to pretend to defend.

Ultimately, it was destroyed by Su Mo's strike.

He had anticipated that with the 'Night Lord' dead, the disciples of the eastern factions of East City would be overjoyed.

There would be a brief moment of shocked silence.

Even Su Mo wouldn't immediately notice the oddity.

That was the best opportunity for his escape.

So... he had already given orders in advance.

Instructing the shadow envoys to leave first, without hesitation.

With the shadow envoys scattering in all directions, the disciples of the eastern factions of East City would inevitably be thrown into chaos.

Then, he had the Seven Ghost Shadows engage in a fighting retreat, delaying Su Mo and his companions.

He even took a hit from Su Mo to ensure the shadow envoys could break through.

Though he anticipated that Su Mo wouldn't strike with full force, and while the damage was significant, the 'Eternal Darkness' technique softened the blow, preventing a fatal injury.

Even if Su Mo had doubts afterward, he couldn't confirm them.

The cunning involved was truly unfathomable, a strategy fraught with peril.

However, with Su Mo relentlessly pursuing, even a gamble had to be attempted.

In the end, he managed to seize this narrow escape.

But now, the internal injuries left the Night Lord in deep distress.

The Seven Injuries Fist used by Su Mo directly targeted the internal organs, with seven types of martial energy entering his body.

Despite using the 'Eternal Darkness' technique to shift as much of the martial energy into the darkness as possible.

He still couldn't withstand the build-up of damage from countless strikes.

Now, the internal injuries to his organs were nearing the point of being beyond repair.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he finally took a deep breath and extended his hand, quickly tapping several key acupoints on his chest, arms, and waist.

With each tap, his complexion grew paler.

After tapping a total of five corresponding acupoints, he finally let out a long sigh.

He finally managed to stop the relentless bleeding.

But when he looked down at his current state, he couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh:

"Decades of painstaking cultivation have allowed me to deduce the eighth level of the Eternal Night Demon Record...

"Yet, I never imagined that a single battle would nearly ruin everything.

"Su Mo... Su Mo!!"

Hatred flared in his eyes.

The Eternal Night Demon Record, the supreme martial art of Evernight Valley, originally had seven levels.

Although the Night Lord was a genius, having already reached the peak of the seventh level, there were even rumors that he aimed to push this martial art to an unprecedented tenth level.

But... such things are often easier said than accomplished.

Over the years, despite the Night Lord's talent and his efforts to collect rare techniques and learn from others, he had only managed to develop the eighth level.

Even so, with the eighth level of the Eternal Night Demon Record, he considered himself the foremost martial artist in the Eastern Wilderness.

Who could have imagined that he would encounter Su Mo today?

A young man with such fearsome martial skills!

Now, his internal injuries were extremely severe, with his internal organs nearly shattered.

He barely managed to stabilize himself using the Eternal Night Demon Record he had painstakingly cultivated.

However, this meant that his internal energy was temporarily locked.

Moreover, this was not a long-term solution.

Forcing himself to maintain his condition with internal energy was akin to drinking poison to quench thirst—his injuries remained, and if he didn't return to Evernight Valley in time to seek a way to heal, delaying would only result in certain death.

If he recklessly used his internal energy, a small amount might be manageable, but too much... would still trigger a relapse of his injuries.

Once the injuries erupted, it would be like a tidal wave, impossible to stop, and he would truly die on the spot.

A once-great figure of the demonic path, now brought to such a pitiful state by a single misstep—how could he not harbor hatred?

But he clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and refused to let anger consume him.

The more dire the situation, the more he realized that losing his composure would spell certain doom.

Now, the most urgent matter was to consider whether Su Mo would detect his feigned death and escape...

If Su Mo remained unaware, his subsequent actions would undoubtedly be more convenient.

As long as he could recover from these injuries, he might still accomplish great things.

But if he knew, it would require a different approach.

Therefore, it's still necessary to probe how much Su Mo knows.

However, all this can only be considered after he returns to Evernight Valley.

He immediately turned over and instinctively wanted to use his light-footed technique, but after lifting his foot, he came to his senses and had to make his way through the mountains on foot.

Every so often, branches and thorns tore his clothes and scratched his skin, leaving him bloodied.

Unwittingly, long sighs echoed through the silent night, reverberating in the valley, filled with desolation.