Chapter 207: Turmoil in the Jianghu
What the three said was in line with maximizing the interests of the sects present.

By encircling and suppressing the remaining remnants, we can not only eliminate the threat, but also seize the Eight Great Skills. Why wouldn't we do it?
Zhang Tianshi's hesitant look caught the attention of the Wang family's Patriarch. Seeing that he was undecided, he invited him:

"Tianshi, can we move over and talk?"

Zhang Jingqing couldn't see through this person's intentions and was full of worries. His intuition told the old man that it might be news related to the traitor, but due to the presence of many people, the other party was not convenient to say it directly. Did he want to save some face for the Tianshi Mansion?
"Okay, then I'll trouble Boss Wang to lead the way."

"Everyone, you guys discuss it first. The Heavenly Master and I will be back soon."

The head of the Wang family said goodbye to everyone and before leaving, he did not forget to glance at his old friend, hinting to the head of the Lu family to deal with the celebrities present.

After a while, in the study, the head of the Wang family did not dare to be arrogant. He first bowed to the Heavenly Master and then said politely:

"Master, please decide for yourself whether what I am going to say next is true or false. Please don't take your anger out on me."

Zhang Jingqing's eyes narrowed, and he prepared himself mentally: "Boss Wang, just say what you want to say. I am not incapable of distinguishing right from wrong."

"Come, please sit down."

While the head of the Wang family was helping the Taoist priest to sit down and pour tea, he reported the situation truthfully:
"There were too many people here. Hey, the Tianshi Mansion has been a Taoist sect for thousands of years. I'm afraid that if I tell you, it will damage your reputation."

"Oh? Boss Wang, I appreciate it."

Zhang Jingqing appeared calm on the surface, but he felt something was wrong deep down. He was sure that it was Zhang Huaiyi who had caused the trouble again, and he was secretly annoyed.

The head of the Wang family no longer kept the secret, smiled slightly, and told the news he had received from Feng Tianyang.

"Master, did you know that before the demon leader led these demons to comprehend the extraordinary skills, he said that the traitor who leaked the secret of the thirty-six brothers' oath of brotherhood was present at the time?"

"You also attended the Lu family's meeting at that time. You must have known that the information about the Lu family came from a short guy, right? And their source of information was even earlier than Xiaozhan's."

At this point, Zhang Jingqing knew what he meant and asked:
"In your opinion, could the traitor among my disciples be the culprit behind this calamity?"

"Don't dare."

Seeing the old man's face turn pale and his tone was cold, the head of the Wang family smiled awkwardly and changed his words:

"Except Zhang Huaiyi, the traitor of Tiangongtang is also a suspect. The traitor is probably between these two. I hope that Master Tian will understand. I have no intention of deceiving you."

"Boss Wang, you called me here because you are worried that I might be protecting a traitor among your disciples, and you are not willing to take action?"

"Yes, I am ashamed, Master. We are in a dilemma. We don't know what your attitude is. If you kill Zhang Huaiyi, it will ruin our relationship. It will be more trouble than gain."

The head of the Wang family said earnestly:

"But, if we really catch him and don't execute him, even if I am willing to hand that bastard over to you to deal with, if you want to save his life, how will everyone in the alliance look at you and me?"

Zhang Jingqing was silent, feeling a headache. He could foresee that the emergence of the Eight Wonders would bring chaos to the martial arts world and countless extraordinary people would fight each other. What if Zhang Huaiyi was really the man behind the scenes? As a master, would he ignore the Tianshi Mansion and protect him on his own?

He has done his best to repay his old friend for his upbringing over the past twenty years.

For the sake of so-called extraordinary skills, he abandoned the Tianshi Mansion. At this point, Zhang Jingqing no longer had the idea of ​​protecting this traitor.

In the torment of every second that seemed like an eternity, the head of the Wang family finally got a reply.

"Life and death are up to fate."

"Boss Wang, the traitor's cultivation is really strong. The people you send over there must be careful."

Zhang Jingqing made it very clear that he was unable to intervene and did not want to intervene. He did not forcibly change the agreement made during the meeting with the Lu family because of the emergence of the Qi body source.

The disciples of Tianshi Temple who went down the mountain to fight against the Japanese died one after another. If Zhang Huaiyi's matter led to the death of the few disciples in the temple, this would be a price the old man could not afford.

instantly.

The head of the Wang family and the Taoist priest returned to the scene of the decision. Everyone had finished talking and reached a consensus to kill the escaped thieves completely.

The interrogation meeting ended, and Feng Tianyang was detained in the Wang family's dungeon, awaiting his fate. Other sects also rushed out, fearing that if they were a second late, the Eight Great Skills would be used by others first.

In just one day, with all the forces of various factions out, the news spread all over the country.

The Eight Great Skills were also said to be miraculous, especially the Double-Handed Hands, Six-Storage Immortal Thief, and Qi Body Origin, which attracted the most attention from the world, and they searched for them like crazy.

Not only the famous and upright sects, but even Quan Xing and some evil cults got involved. In addition, under Gu Qi'an's deliberate creation of chaos, the Japanese aliens and the "Deep Sea" organization also heard the news and took action.

In various provinces, traces of the thieves were gradually revealed, and they were chased and forced to flee thousands of miles away.

Unlike the decisions made by the leaders of other sects, Zhang Jingqing no longer had the extra energy to pay attention to Zhang Huaiyi's life or death.

He realized that a bloody battle was quietly approaching, and he just wanted to call back the two disciples who had gone down the mountain as soon as possible, so he went to the small inn to inquire about the news, and then went to the Lu family to borrow their informants scattered around, hoping to meet Zhang Zhiwei and Tian Jinzhong and convey his master's order accurately: they must return to the mountain and must not be mired in the quagmire of disputes again.

Zhang Zhiwei, the only successor to the next Heavenly Master.

Tian Jinzhong is the last good talent in the sect.

The worst case scenario is that they all encounter accidents, in which case the inheritance of the Tianshi Mansion will be directly cut off.

Zhang Jingqing was restless for several days. As his two disciples had not returned yet, he was filled with depression, but he didn't know who to talk to.

On the 21st day of the seventh lunar month, after several days of pursuit, the Wang and Lu families united and sent elite troops to search Zheng Zibu's hometown, but returned empty-handed. Later, they captured Zheng Zibu, who was covered in wounds, in a town near Jiangning Province.

Long before them, several groups of strange people had found Zheng Zibu who possessed the Tongtian Talisman. After continuous chasing and fighting, he was already exhausted and was soon imprisoned in a dungeon of a certain stronghold.

The sharp iron spike pierced through his scapula and Zheng Zibu was suspended in the air. His upper body was covered in blood and the tendons in his elbow joints were broken beyond recognition.

In order to prevent him from escaping, an elder of the Wang family even ordered that the bones of his knees be dug out.

"Say or not?"

"Hand over the Tongtian Scroll!!!"

The incessant sounds of whipping and lashing echoed in the dark and damp dungeon.

Zheng Zibu endured the humiliation and tried to delay time. At the same time, he knew that if he leaked the secret, death would be waiting for him.

Soon, the Lu family felt that the efficiency was too slow, so they took out their boning knives, dipped them in salt water, and threatened openly:

"You won't tell me? Then I'll chop off all ten of your toes."

"Soon it will be ten fingers, two ears, eyes, tongue, nose, some of which are your chance to enjoy."

"You know what? Even if we cut you into a human pig, no one will come to trouble us. Tsk tsk tsk, what a pity, no one can save you."

After saying that, he didn't even give Zheng Zibu a chance to think, and took the initiative to act, deciding to use torture to destroy the other party's psychological defenses, which would make it much easier to interrogate him later.

"Puchi!" The sharp boning knife inserted deep into the gap between the toe bones. As the executioner slowly exerted force with his wrist, a broken toe was cut off and blood gushed out.

"what!!!"

A shrill scream suddenly rang out, Zheng Zibu's eyes were bloodshot, and the intense pain almost made him dizzy. For a moment, he wavered in his thoughts, but immediately held himself back.

Immediately afterwards, another red-hot iron was branded directly on Zheng Zibu's chest, leaving his flesh and blood charred and blurred. The pain was so severe that he almost broke his teeth, but he still couldn't suppress the wailing that instinctively came out of his throat.

"Why waste time? Shangqing Sect and the young master of the Lu family are too busy to come and save you. As for your friends, I think they have been arrested by now. I advise you to know the situation and give up as soon as possible."

"My art of torture is pretty good. My great grandfather worked in the prisons of the Qing Dynasty for most of his life. Does he know about Lingchi?"

"He can make thousands of cuts on a criminal, peel off his skin and break his tendons, and even keep him alive for a day or two."

"My craftsmanship is rather crude, barely half as good as his. I guess you can only make over a thousand cuts, which is the limit."

The man from the Lu family who was in charge of the execution spoke calmly, as if he was chatting with an old friend. He cut off several of Zheng Zibu's toes with a smile on his face.

"By the way, friends of the Wang family, you can bring my gadgets over here."

"?"

Zheng Zibu, who was tortured beyond recognition, had blurred vision and could barely see an old man holding a hideous centipede and bringing it close to his ear.

"This is a poisonous insect I tamed. It can be considered a means of torturing people."

"It has been hungry for a few days. When you put it in, it will bite through your eardrum and eat your brain. It should taste good. Why don't you try it?"

The man from the Lu family waved his hand, signaling the people from the Wang family to take action.

"No"

"No, I'll tell you."

Zheng Zibu gave up his last remaining delusion. He was shivering all over and his lips turned purple. He really couldn't bear it any longer.

"Is it?"

"Since you are willing to cooperate, it will save us from wasting any more time."

The Lu family executioner showed a relieved smile and ordered others to put Zheng Zibu down. The doctor present immediately stopped the bleeding and bandaged his wound.

The old man of the Wang family also changed his fierce attitude, ordered people to bring food and a pot of wine, and said with a dagger hidden in his smile:

"My dear friend, I apologize for my negligence before."

"As long as you are willing to hand over the Tongtian Scroll, my Wang and Lu families will protect you. Who in the world dares to take your life?"

Zheng Zibu was still in shock. He was pale and half lying down, barely breathing. He spoke with difficulty, "Can you really protect me?"

"What a joke! This is so easy, it's not that difficult."

The old man of the Wang family stroked his beard and laughed, looking down at the prisoners at his feet, and said loudly:
"We will protect you if we say so. We will keep our word. We have already protected Feng Tianyang, so why should we care about you?"

The Lu family man also had the same attitude. He put away the torture instruments and smiled happily:

"Forget it, just have a good rest tonight, and don't let me down tomorrow morning."

The Wang and Lu families came only for the unique skills. As for Zheng Zibu's life, it was dispensable in their eyes. If they knew what was good for them, they would just let him go.

(End of this chapter)