After a night of harrowing experiences, the sky gradually brightened, and the sun slowly rose from the horizon.
A figure hurried through the woods, glancing back from time to time as if worried about betraying some guilt.
Not until he crossed the dense forest did the figure breathe a sigh of relief, and just as he was about to continue on his way, a voice suddenly called out.
"Brother Sun, why leave so early in the morning without saying goodbye? I haven't even seen you off yet."
Su Jie was leaning against an ancient tree with a smile that was not quite a smile, watching the figure.
This person was none other than Sun Zhihai, a teammate of Su Jie's.
Startled by Su Jie's sudden appearance, Sun Zhihai, unsure where he had slipped up, nervously said, "Brother Su, I was just..."
"Just what, wanting to run off to Meng Dongge to snitch and then sell us out to earn a place in their team, right?"
Su Jie tugged at his sleeve, releasing large swarms of Yin Fire Blood Bees and Silver Winged Golden Line Cicadas that buzzed into flight.
Seeing Su Jie's serious move, Sun Zhihai's face changed dramatically, realizing he had been found out, and cursed, "Are you an idiot? We have so few people, even if we bring in the Alien Ghost, we'll still have to fight it out with Meng Dongge's remaining forces. With one old and one disabled, relying on just you, how can we defeat them? My approach is the wise one; what's wrong with wanting to live?"
"You're not wrong. The problem is, you're too weak."
Su Jie waved his hand majestically, and the Yin Fire Blood Bees in the sky lifted their tails, sending streaks of fire raining down.
Sun Zhihai reached into his chest and pulled out a Golden Vortex Talisman to use.
The air wavered slightly, and the incoming streaks of fire were deflected to either side, burning two narrow strips of white earth over ten meters long.
Following the fire streaks were several Silver Winged Golden Line Cicadas flying at subsonic speeds.
These small insects dealt physical attacks and couldn't be deflected.
At the critical moment, a green lizard crawled out from Sun Zhihai's chest, spraying a stream of dark green poison smoke, which was his Lifebound poisonous insect.
Regrettably, this poison smoke was useless against the Silver Winged Golden Line Cicadas.
Several streaks of gold and silver light easily skirted the poison smoke in front and slashed through from behind, puncturing holes the size of ping-pong balls through Sun Zhihai's shoulder, chest, and thigh, clean through to the other side.
Sun Zhihai fell to the ground screaming, looking at Su Jie incredulously:
"You're only at the Third Level of the Yunling Realm like me, how can you control so many poisonous insects?"
Su Jie, receiving a boost from the spiritual power of the thousand-hand centipede, had more robust spiritual power than the average disciple and could control a greater number of poisonous insects.
"I told you, you're too weak. You often nourish your Life Poisonous Insect with blood, leaving your own spiritual power severely lacking. Aside from your Life Poisonous Insect, you haven't cultivated any other insects at all, not even qualifying as a Gu Master."
Su Jie shook his head, stepped forward to check the items on Sun Zhihai but regretfully found nothing valuable.
He was much poorer than Su Jie; that Golden Vortex Talisman was probably his entire fortune.
"Tsk, you're so poor; the only thing of value was the Golden Vortex Talisman you used, leaving only enough to give my Xiao Qian an extra meal."
With a sigh, Su Jie reluctantly withdrew, throwing the green lizard on the ground to the Thousand-Handed Centipede for its enjoyment.
The centipede, which hadn't exerted itself just moments before, now voraciously ate the other's poisonous insect.
The centipede's shell was shiny and black; it was already feasting greatly on Blue Star and on the brink of upgrading.
Today, fed with numerous insects by Su Jie, it was clear that the time for its Second Spiritual Refining upgrade was in the next few days.
As his Lifebound poisonous insect was eaten and their lifeblood connection severed, Sun Zhihai's inner spiritual power became chaotic and collapsed, his eyes filled with terror, and he couldn't stop begging for mercy while vomiting blood, "Brother Su, I'm willing to join you against Meng Dongge, I know I was wrong, truly I do."
"Sorry, you are no longer of any value."
Su Jie stood up, his palm pressing down slightly.
Dozens of Yin Fire Blood Bees came flapping their wings, and amidst Sun Zhihai's desperate screams, streaks of fire engulfed him, lighting him up into a human torch.
Minutes later, only a charred corpse remained on the scene.
The wind blew, scattering the burned remnants up into the air, spreading them far and wide, and quickly, no trace was left.
.......
At the North Peak Wooden House, Su Jie pushed the door and entered.
Gu Weonian had already returned, and upon seeing him, said, "Brother Su, the deed is done. I used the excuse of seeking advice on how to counter the Alien Ghost to plant the Gentiana around Meng Dongge and their wooden houses."
"Good, what we need now is time, waiting for the arrival of the Alien Ghost. Let's hope our luck isn't too bad."
Su Jie nodded slightly; he had known about Gu Weonian's actions since the moths he used for surveillance were always watching.
"Is everything taken care of?"
Chen Yun, who was sitting to the side, asked with difficulty, clearly enduring the pain in her body.
"It's been handled, the last of the dangers has been eliminated."
"That's good, now we have no reservations left."
Gu Weonian listened to the exchange between Su Jie and Chen Yun with a puzzled face. It took him a long while to ask, "Brother Sun, why is there no sign of Brother Sun?"
Su Jie smiled and said, "You're talking about Brother Sun? Right now, he should be personally fertilizing the wild grasses. Brother Gu, if you want to find him, I can take you there. You might even find a trace of him."
"No, no, no need."
Gu Weonian's voice trembled, and he had already understood the situation.
Su Jie patted Gu Weonian on the shoulder and said, "Some people aren't with us, and instead think of stabbing their brothers in the back, then they can only be asked to die first. Brother Gu, no need to be nervous, I would never be so ruthless and heartless with true comrades."
"Of course, I'm one of us. I did everything you told me to, to the letter."
Gu Weonian felt uneasy, and sweat dripped down his temples.
He couldn't believe that Su Jie, who appeared harmless, was actually the most ruthless of them all.
His methods against enemies were one thing, but the way he dealt with his own people was just as decisive, surpassing Gu's imagination.
"It seems that Brother Gu has misunderstood me! Never mind that, Brother Gu, just remember one thing, I, Su Jie… am a good person."
Su Jie emphasized this point as if it were of great importance, although he killed people, set fires, and destroyed corpses, he still considered himself a good person.
Gu Weonian: "..."
He had never seen a "good person" quite like Su Jie and was at a loss for words for the moment.
He had even doubted whether Su Jie was a qualified Demon Cultivator, but now, it seemed there was no one more suited to the role than him.
"I believe you, you're an absolutely good person."
Chen Yun, who was sitting aside, nodded seriously, affirming Su Jie's words with solemn certainty.
For Chen Yun, Su Jie was willing to avenge her, and that made him a good person.
Whether the means were extreme or not, it didn't matter.
"In the next few days, Brother Gu, you're responsible for patrolling around our station, Chen Yun, you should just recuperate and try to regain some combat strength. I'll keep a close watch over Meng Dongge's side, and I'll immediately notify you both if there's any stir."
After the jokes, Su Jie conveyed the final arrangements.
Everything was ready; now all that was missing was the east wind. It all depended on whether the Alien Ghost would give them the courtesy of showing up.