Gu Yuan brushed past me and first walked over to Huang Fuqiang. His innate aura of a king completely overshadowed Huang Fuqiang's meager celestial aura.
Huang Fuqiang knelt on the ground, trembling. "This little immortal was momentarily muddled. Please spare my life, Third Master."
Lihua, who had her hand on his neck, pressed a bit harder. He let out a series of frightened groans, his voice quivering.
"The Third Master saw through your impure motives long ago. With your little tricks, you still want to scheme against the Third Master. You're still too inexperienced."
"It's this little immortal's fault. I was also driven by circumstances. Please be merciful and spare my life."
Huang Fuqiang was as disheveled as he had been arrogant before.
It turned out that Gu Yuan had already noticed something was wrong with this guy when they were at his cousin's gravesite.
He didn't expose him because he wanted to see what dirty tricks he was up to. So he asked Lihua to pretend to be his cousin and infiltrate their group to find out the situation.
Actually, when Gu Yuan and Huang Fuqiang entered the inn, Gu Yuan already knew there must be a conspiracy inside. He was determined to get rid of the Zombie King.
So he played along and barged in. Huang Fuqiang duly released the Zombie King. I more or less knew what happened next. Gu Yuan's magic power grew stronger in the face of a powerful opponent.
He absorbed all the Zombie King's firepower. Coupled with his own powerful magic power, he was able to control the Infernal Flames, instantly incinerating the cobweb woven by the Golden Silk and seizing the Zombie King's corpse pill.
As for Madam Ma and the others, they had already been subdued by Lihua when Huang Fuqiang was blustering at Gu Yuan.
Hearing Gu Yuan's strategy of luring the enemy in, Huang Fuqiang couldn't help but shake his head. He thought his plan was flawless, but there was still a loophole. He underestimated Gu Yuan's ability to judge people.
"Who is behind you?" Gu Yuan looked down at Huang Fuqiang from above. His cold eyes were like a steel blade, piercing directly into Huang Fuqiang's chest. If he lied, he would surely die on the spot without any chance to argue.
At this moment, Huang Fuqiang didn't dare to lie.
"How did the Third Master know that someone was behind me?" Huang Fuqiang knelt on the ground, still wanting to know the reason before he died.
"The Golden Silk Cobweb and probing the heart lock of my disciple. How could a mere Earth Immortal like you achieve this? There must be someone behind the scenes."
"Haha, it was still my oversight. But if I didn't use these immortal artifacts, how could I have captured you?"
"My patience is limited." Gu Yuan didn't want to waste any more words with him.
"Third Master, whether I say it or not, I'm doomed. How about you take me into your sect? I'll tell you everything."
What a shameless guy. Was this like asking for amnesty when he couldn't win?
Even if Gu Yuan agreed, I would never accept him.
Gu Yuan wasn't in a hurry. His eyes were full of contempt, and the corner of his mouth curled slightly. That smile gave an eerie feeling as if an evil spirit had possessed him.
"I heard that there are more than a dozen people in your family. Are they living well?"
I didn't expect Gu Yuan to be so straightforward when threatening someone. His identity was so ambiguous, neither completely good nor completely bad, resembling both an immortal and a demon.
Hearing this, Huang Fuqiang's eyes widened in horror.
"Please spare my family. They know nothing."
Seeing that Gu Yuan was too lazy to talk to him, Lihua quickly took over and asked, "Hurry up and say it. The Third Master doesn't have time to waste on you."
"I'll say. Actually, it's an Upper Immortal from the Celestial Realm..." Just as he was halfway through his words, a thunderbolt suddenly struck from the sky and hit Huang Fuqiang right on the head.
In an instant, he reverted to his original form, turning into a completely charred weasel. The electric current on his body burned through his fur, emitting a pungent smell of burning.
The thunderbolt was so powerful that it directly scattered his soul.
It was really a turn of events. The cobweb failed to electrocute me, but he was electrocuted to death by the thunder.
Gu Yuan wasn't surprised. It seemed that he had already guessed this outcome.
Lihua was so scared that she was stunned. Since the weasel was so close to her, she almost got involved.
When she came to her senses, she kicked the weasel and cursed at it.
While Lihua was still kicking it, I accidentally noticed a blue bead. "Wait, Lihua."
I quickly stepped forward and picked up the blue bead.
Then I took out the one that Jixiang had lost from my pocket. The two beads were exactly the same in texture and pattern. They were clearly from the same person.
I gave the two beads to Lihua and asked her to give them to Gu Yuan for me.
Lihua pretended to be helpless and asked, "Why don't you give them to him yourself?"
I whispered back, "I'm scared. And why didn't you tell me about your plan? I almost lost my immortal connection with Gu Yuan."
"I was also given the order at the last minute. There wasn't time to tell you."
Lihua took the beads from my hand and gave them to Gu Yuan.
Gu Yuan didn't even look at them. He asked Lihua to keep them first, then said to Lihua, "Madam Ma is also deeply sinful and doesn't have much time left. Now we can give her daughter a chance to live. Ask her if she's willing to exchange."
What Gu Yuan meant by giving his cousin a chance to live was actually to let Madam Ma swallow the Zombie King's corpse pill. It was said that the Zombie King's corpse pill could exchange or extend lives. If she agreed to exchange her lifespan for her daughter's, it could be considered as accumulating good deeds in the underworld, and she could also get a chance of reincarnation.
Madam Ma did these absurd things because she loved her daughter too much. Unexpectedly, she immediately agreed.
Since his cousin had already been buried, the grave had to be reopened. Madam Ma took a look at her dead daughter and resolutely swallowed the corpse pill.
Her soul left her body, and only then did Gu Yuan release his cousin's soul.
The mother and daughter finally hugged each other. Finally, his cousin's soul returned to her body.
His cousin watched as all her relatives passed away.
She was extremely sad. A clear tear slid down her cheek. This tear was a pure tear of sadness. The moment it fell, it flew into my necklace.
Now there were already four tears collected in my necklace. But for some reason, I couldn't be happy at all. I always felt that something bad would happen after all these things were collected.
The next second, his cousin walked up to me and hugged me tightly, crying uncontrollably.
...
After everything was settled, on the way home, Gu Yuan remained silent. My heart was pounding like crazy, no less nervous than when he was fighting the Zombie King.
He didn't say a word, and I didn't dare to either. It wasn't until we got home and I saw that my parents were safe and sound that I threw myself into my mother's arms and cried.
My mother was frightened when she saw me like this. She quickly asked me what was wrong. I was afraid she would worry, so I didn't explain much. I just felt so good to have them around.
My mother gently patted my back and said, "You should thank Gu Yuan. If it weren't for him, our whole family would have died. So you must treat him well from now on, okay?"
"Don't worry, Mom. I know."
"It's getting late. You should go to bed early. You must be exhausted. We can talk about anything tomorrow."
With that, my mother pushed me back into the bedroom. Gu Yuan was taking a shower in the bathroom at the moment.
My back was facing the door. Suddenly, I heard his footsteps as he walked out of the bathroom. My heart was pounding like a deer. Then there was a sound of the door closing.
I immediately put on an obsequious smile. "Gu Yuan, I was wrong. I underestimated your ability. Don't be angry, okay?"