"Ha! They think we're easy targets, just a dish on their table!"
Alex shook his head with a sunny smile, but to Er Gouzi and Brother Lang, it looked like the grin of a demon, making them shrink back in fear. They knew this smiling figure was the same person who had poisoned them earlier, and his smiling face while killing was far more terrifying than a blank expression.
"Please spare us, master! We were forced into this. Have mercy and let us go!" Er Gouzi, the man with triangular eyes, kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy. Brother Lang, too, wore a look of desperate fear.
"Shut up!" Alex snapped at Er Gouzi, then slowly crouched down, tapping Brother Lang's pale face with the cold blade of the knife. "Your boss sent you to kill me, and now you want me to let you go? Don't you think you should leave something behind?"
"Master, whatever you need… as long as I have it… I'll give it to you!" Brother Lang said, trying to sound obsequious, though a flicker of hatred glinted in his eyes. He had already vowed that if he survived this, he would seek revenge on Qin San and annihilate the damned Teng family. He wouldn't let these people, especially the two young ones, go unpunished.
Alex's cold gaze didn't miss the malice in Brother Lang's eyes. He knew exactly what Brother Lang was thinking but didn't care.
"You certainly have something I want," Alex said, his tiger-like eyes locking onto Brother Lang's. "Give me all the inner strength techniques you know." Alex was cautious; Brother Lang's earlier knife skills hinted he might have something valuable.
Teng Qingshan and Teng Yongfan exchanged glances, their faces revealing both surprise and excitement. However, Teng Qingshan felt a bit uneasy about the situation.
"Well…" Brother Lang hesitated, "The techniques I know were given to me by Li Dalaiye. If I leak them, it will…" Though he didn't finish the sentence, everyone understood the implied threat. Revealing such valuable resources would surely result in severe consequences.
"Is that really the only one?" Alex noticed a slight twitch in Brother Lang's right cheek, suspecting he was hiding something. He pressed further, "Tell me about the other technique. The one with the knife."
Brother Lang's eyes flicked to his knife involuntarily, confirming Alex's suspicion. "Knife manual!" Alex said sharply, his guess striking home.
"I'll tell you, but you have to let me go," Brother Lang said, his resolve breaking under the intense scrutiny from both Alex and Teng Qingshan.
"Agreed," Alex nodded. To reassure Brother Lang, he added, "Not just me, we all swear. If the knife manual is genuine, we'll let you go."
Brother Lang's face lit up with hope, and he insisted, "Swear it, all of you!"
"I, Teng Qinghu, swear that if the knife manual is genuine, I will let him go today. If I break this oath, may I suffer the consequences." Alex said earnestly, giving Teng Qingshan and the hesitant Teng Yongfan a look, prompting them to swear as well.
"Good!" Brother Lang relaxed, knowing the binding nature of oaths in this world.
"This knife manual is called 'Meteor Knife,'" Brother Lang began, explaining its key points. He dared not lie, knowing that these inner strength users could detect falsehoods. He retrieved a worn, yellowed booklet from a hidden pocket, its contents clearly valuable.
Alex's expression was one of surprise. "Ding!" A notification sounded in his mind, "You have acquired the skill 'Meteor Knife' (Partial). Only the first third of the first level is available. Can be cultivated to the peak of the second tier. Learning it increases personal strategy by 0.01%."
[Meteor Knife]
Type: Internal and External Cultivation (Internal strength combined with knife techniques)
Quality: A-level (Five stars, partial)
Note: Skill is unverified, usable only in this world, cannot be taken to the main god space.
Verification cost: 300 points, one iron medal
"Ding!" The system alert chimed again, "Database entry for 'Meteor Knife' (Partial) successful."
"This technique… it's from the Gui Yuan Sect…" Alex's mind raced, recalling the details from the novel "Nine Cauldrons." The "Meteor Knife" was one of the Gui Yuan Sect's two heavenly-level secret manuals, created by a void realm expert with the potential to break into the innate realm.
Alex couldn't understand how this valuable manual had ended up with a small-time thug like Brother Lang, but he decided it wasn't worth worrying about now.
"Master, may I go now?" Brother Lang asked, holding out the tattered booklet.
"You may leave," Alex said, flipping through the booklet before dismissing Brother Lang with a wave.
"Thank you, master! Thank you!" Brother Lang, clutching his injured arm, staggered toward the road, eager to escape.
"Brother Lang, take me with you… Brother Lang! Lang! Lang!" Er Gouzi called after him, but Brother Lang, eager to save his own skin, didn't look back. He only managed a few steps before collapsing to the ground.
"I said I'd let you go, but I didn't say I'd give you the antidote," Alex said, closing the booklet and handing it to Teng Yongfan. Drawing the Coldblade from the ground, he swung it towards Er Gouzi.
"You…" Er Gouzi started to protest, but the blade slashed through the air, and his words died in his throat as he collapsed, eyes wide open, lifeless.