Chapter 1173: Ruthless and Cruel
Ding Tianhua returned to Tongyou City with the Death God Pendant as per Huo Laoban's instructions. He rushed back as quickly as he had come, but his mood was entirely different. When he arrived, his emotions had been somewhat complicated, even feeling a loss of face, as he was seeking rescue, not out sightseeing. It was a bit embarrassing. But his mood on the return journey was completely different—it was quite pleasant, and his heart was filled with longing.
He especially adored the Death God Pendant Huo Laoban had given him; he simply couldn't put it down. This was because the Death God Pendant not only contained immense energy, capable of turning the tide at a crucial moment, but most importantly, it had been given to him for free by Huo Laoban, who hadn't asked for anything in return.
How could Ding Tianhua not be happy to receive such a treasure for free? Yet, he had no idea that the Death God Pendant Huo Laoban had given him for free was, in fact, nothing more than a soul-reaping talisman, far from any magical item capable of turning the tide. It was tragic that he was still reveling in his self-satisfaction.
After returning to Tongyou City, Ding Tianhua, following Huo Laoban's instructions, proactively sought assistance from Yang Haoran. He hadn't done so before because he hadn't wanted to; on one hand, he disdained asking Yang Haoran for help, and on the other, it was due to their differing stances. He knew Huo Laoban and Yang Haoran were not on the same side, and he was aligned with Huo Laoban, not Yang Haoran. Thus, when the Tongyou City Underworld Division faced the fierce onslaught of the Spirit Masters, the first person he thought of seeking aid from wasn't Yang Haoran, but Huo Laoban.
However, Huo Laoban's sole purpose in having Ding Tianhua proactively seek Yang Haoran's help this time was to further increase the likelihood of Yang Haoran personally coming to Tongyou City. Although Huo Laoban believed Yang Haoran would come in person even without this, doing so offered only benefits and no drawbacks, so they were naturally willing to proceed.
To achieve their goal, Ding Tianhua's plea for help on the Underworld Iron Tome was meticulous. Ding Tianhua himself wasn't a meticulous person, but under Huo Laoban's behind-the-scenes manipulation, his plea appeared very carefully crafted.
In addition to proactively requesting aid from Yang Haoran, Ding Tianhua, at Huo Laoban's behest, also paid a considerable price to invite some forces from outside the Underworld Division. One purpose of this was to resist the Spirit Masters' attacks, while the other, and comparatively more crucial, was to mislead Yang Haoran.
As for the other Emissaries of Death who came to support the Underworld Division, they were not even within Huo Laoban and Ding Tianhua's consideration, because Huo Laoban knew from the start that even if Emissaries of Death came to assist, their numbers would be few, and thus their arrival would not affect the final outcome.
Although these techniques bought Ding Tianhua some reprieve, he still couldn't defeat Cold Yue with them, and Yang Haoran still hadn't appeared. At that moment, Ding Tianhua couldn't help but wonder if Huo Laoban's analysis had been flawed. Given the dire situation, Yang Haoran still hadn't shown up—was he not coming at all?
As these thoughts arose, Ding Tianhua began to regret his actions, regretting that he shouldn't have listened to Huo Laoban. Especially at the final crucial moment, when his life was nearly lost to Cold Yue, his regret was more intense than ever before. He even prepared to use the Death God Pendant Huo Laoban had given him.
Huo Laoban had said that this Death God Pendant possessed the power to turn the tide, and facing the threat of death, he no longer cared about anything else. He decided to use this Death God Pendant to change the situation. At that time, he still believed that the Death God Pendant Huo Laoban had given him had the ability to turn the tide.
However, just as he was about to activate the Death God Pendant, Yang Haoran appeared.
The moment Yang Haoran appeared, Ding Tianhua's heart surged with excitement. This excitement stemmed partly from his being saved, and partly from the realization that Huo Laoban's analysis was correct—Yang Haoran had indeed come. Since Huo Laoban could predict even this with such accuracy, then Yang Haoran's death in Tongyou City was surely a foregone conclusion. As long as they followed Huo Laoban's plan, nothing could go wrong.
The thought of occupying the position of Guardian of the Ninth District after Yang Haoran's death made his heart pound with excitement.
As for whether he should thank Yang Haoran for saving his life at such a critical moment, pulling him back from the brink of death, he hadn't considered it at all. His only consideration was that after Yang Haoran's death, the position of Guardian of the Ninth District would belong to Ding Tianhua.
After the great battle in Tongyou City concluded, Ding Tianhua immediately used a Communication Talisman to inform Huo Laoban of the situation in Tongyou City. Huo Laoban promptly formulated a plan based on the circumstances, which led to Ding Tianhua preparing a grand array in advance and luring Yang Haoran into it.
Yang Haoran gazed at Ding Tianhua's corpse, a pensive expression on his face. Through his Ghost Eye, he had gleaned a wealth of information. Especially with his current abilities, the Ghost Eye's power was even greater; not only could he perceive the target's life experiences and conversations with others, but he could also discern their inner thoughts at the time, and the speed of this retrieval was astonishing.
It was precisely because of this that he was able to extract a significant amount of useful information from Ding Tianhua's soul in just a short while.
However, some information remained beyond the Ghost Eye's reach, such as the inner thoughts and actions of those who had interacted with the target.
Thus, when Ding Tianhua interacted with Huo Laoban, the Ghost Eye couldn't possibly know Huo Laoban's true intentions. This required Yang Haoran to combine the information he'd gained from Ding Tianhua with his understanding of Huo Laoban's character to make a judgment and analysis.
That Huo Laoban wanted to kill him was beyond doubt. However, whether Ding Tianhua could assume the Guardian's position after his death was, in Yang Haoran's view, almost zero. If Luo Yao had intended to promote Ding Tianhua, he would have done so long ago, not waited until now. Therefore, even if Yang Haoran died, the position of Guardian of the Ninth District would not fall to Ding Tianhua.
As for why Huo Laoban spoke to Ding Tianhua this way, Yang Haoran saw it as nothing more than Huo Laoban painting a pretty picture for Ding Tianhua, his purpose self-evident: to make Ding Tianhua willingly go against him, the Guardian.
If Ding Tianhua, under Huo Laoban's orchestration, had truly managed to kill him, then Huo Laoban would undoubtedly have countless explanations regarding the Guardian position. Even if the Guardian's seat didn't fall to Ding Tianhua, Huo Laoban would certainly find numerous excuses to fool him. With Huo Laoban's cunning, that fool Ding Tianhua would not only believe him but even be immensely grateful.
If Ding Tianhua, under Huo Laoban's orchestration, failed to kill him, then the problem of dealing with a Guardian would cease to exist, and Huo Laoban's attitude towards Ding Tianhua would undoubtedly change.
As it turned out, Ding Tianhua indeed failed to kill him. As for why Ding Tianhua displayed such pain when he finally used the Death God Pendant, and even failed to preserve his soul, Yang Haoran also had a theory regarding this matter.
In Yang Haoran's view, Huo Laoban had prepared for both eventualities from the very beginning: one plan for if Ding Tianhua succeeded, and another for if he failed.
He believed Huo Laoban had never intended anything good when he gifted Ding Tianhua the Death God Pendant for free. The pendant's main function wasn't to allow Ding Tianhua to boost his strength and turn the tide at the last moment; rather, it was to claim Ding Tianhua's life, or more precisely, to make his soul scatter and dissipate.
The reason Huo Laoban would do this was actually quite simple: he wanted to completely silence Ding Tianhua, preventing the conspiracy to assassinate a Guardian from being exposed. To truly silence someone, merely killing them isn't enough; one must make their soul scatter and dissipate. Only then would that person never be able to speak again.
From Ding Tianhua's memories, Yang Haoran learned that before Ding Tianhua made his move against him, Huo Laoban had repeatedly instructed him that the Death God Pendant should only be used when Ding Tianhua was no longer a match for Yang Haoran—that is, it had to be saved for the very last resort. This way, it would not only catch Yang Haoran off guard, but also, by using the Death God Pendant when his power was almost exhausted, the power amplification gained would be greater, thus increasing the chance of successfully killing Yang Haoran.
Why Huo Laoban repeatedly emphasized this point to Ding Tianhua wasn't apparent before Ding Tianhua used the Death God Pendant. After all, whether the Death God Pendant truly needed to be used as Huo Laoban described to unleash its full power was something no one but Huo Laoban himself would know. However, considering this in light of the strange changes that occurred after Ding Tianhua used the Death God Pendant, it strongly suggested that Huo Laoban's repeated emphasis had a sinister underlying purpose.
Yang Haoran believed that when Ding Tianhua used the Death God Pendant, it indicated that Ding Tianhua was at the end of his rope, and simultaneously, it was Huo Laoban's moment to abandon him. Huo Laoban knew that under those circumstances, Ding Tianhua could no longer kill Yang Haoran, so he simply used this method to silence him, making Ding Tianhua shut his mouth forever.
"Heh heh, a well-played trick. Now that Ding Tianhua's soul has scattered and dissipated, even if I learned something from Ding Tianhua's mouth, or saw something from his soul through my Ghost Eye, there's no evidence. If I pressed the issue, you could simply deny everything, and even taking it to the Great Emperor wouldn't be very effective. However, while the method is clever, it's a bit too cruel. To not even spare your own people. . . truly something you'd do."
Yang Haoran looked at Ding Tianhua's corpse and spoke with a faint smile. After saying this, he gently shook his head and continued.
"Perhaps from the very beginning, Ding Tianhua wasn't considered one of your own, merely a usable pawn. Now that this pawn has lost its value, you naturally discard it. There's just one thing I don't quite understand: why didn't you show up in person and seize this opportunity to join forces with Ding Tianhua to eliminate me?"
Considering this question, Yang Haoran pondered for a moment, and a guess formed in his mind.
In his opinion, Huo Laoban's reason for not appearing in person was likely out of consideration for Great Emperor Luo Yao. If Huo Laoban had shown up himself, the nature of the matter would have completely changed. If any rumors leaked, or if Yang Haoran had managed to escape by employing some special means, then as long as he reported it to Luo Yao, Huo Laoban would be in serious trouble.
Conversely, as long as Huo Laoban didn't appear in person, even if Yang Haoran knew the full story, he couldn't stir up much trouble without evidence. Although Huo Laoban couldn't entirely avoid the difficulties caused by this incident, not appearing in person was certainly easier than doing so.
Of course, these were merely Yang Haoran's unilateral conjectures; he couldn't be entirely certain. Perhaps Huo Laoban or his people were currently hidden in the shadows, observing his every move, waiting for the optimal moment to deliver a fatal blow. All of this was possible.
In truth, had Yang Haoran not reacted quickly enough this time, promptly acting to shatter the Death God Pendant for Ding Tianhua, he wouldn't even have had time to kill Ding Tianhua and extract his soul. Ding Tianhua's soul would have already scattered and dissipated. If that had truly happened, then Yang Haoran would have had no way of obtaining a large amount of useful information, nor could he have analyzed and conjectured based on any acquired information to clearly understand what exactly had transpired.
In Yang Haoran's view, what Huo Laoban truly wanted was for Ding Tianhua's soul to instantly scatter and dissipate after using the Death God Pendant, thereby minimizing trouble for him. It was just that in the end, he hadn't succeeded.
Should he immediately report this matter to Great Emperor Luo Yao? Yang Haoran stood still, pondering for a moment, then dismissed the idea.
Luo Yao had only recently become Great Emperor, and was bogged down with various trifles. Not only did he have to constantly guard against the Spirit Masters attacking the Jingling Continent Underworld Division, but he also had to deal with internal issues. After all, among his nine Guardians, only three had been personally promoted by him; the other six were his former peers, and had even contended with him for the position of Great Emperor. After he became Great Emperor, three of them had even openly defied him.
Dealing with these problems was already giving Luo Yao a severe headache. If Yang Haoran were to add more trouble at this juncture, it was highly probable that he wouldn't gain any justice, but instead, invite a lot of trouble upon himself.
Another point was extremely important: both Huo Laoban and Yang Haoran had been personally promoted by Luo Yao. In other words, both of them were Luo Yao's people. Given the current situation of their Jingling Continent Underworld Division, even if Huo Laoban had done something against the Underworld Division's rules, Luo Yao might not necessarily punish him severely. Once Huo Laoban was punished, Luo Yao's faction would lose one of their own, which might give others an opportunity. Luo Yao would certainly not do something that amounted to cutting off his own arm.
Of course, Yang Haoran merely wasn't planning to report this matter to Luo Yao immediately; it didn't mean he would remain silent about it forever. If a suitable opportunity arose—at least one he deemed suitable—he would certainly still report the matter to Luo Yao to solidify his own position and prevent himself from becoming passive.
Having made his decision, Yang Haoran no longer dwelled on the matter. He summoned a fire talisman and ignited Ding Tianhua's corpse. Under the talisman's power, Ding Tianhua's body swiftly turned to ash.
Immediately after, he found the blood-red array disk that Ding Tianhua had discarded. Since Ding Tianhua had thrown it away, it indicated that the array disk was definitely no longer capable of exerting the grand array's full power; otherwise, Ding Tianhua wouldn't have abandoned it.
However, Yang Haoran's purpose in finding the blood-red array disk now wasn't to immediately unleash the grand array's power. He simply wanted to see if he could use the array disk to summon the hidden formation flags located here. If he couldn't summon them, even sensing the precise location of all the formation flags would suffice, as he could then retrieve these hidden flags one by one by sensing them.
He wanted to collect these formation flags for one reason: to ensure this set of flags remained complete. As for the shattered array disk, he would find a way to have it repaired by professionals later.
He didn't know what this formation was called, but he was well aware of its power. Therefore, if he could successfully repair this array disk, he would gain another powerful set of formation flags. If it couldn't be repaired, he wouldn't suffer any loss.
After finding the blood-red array disk, Yang Haoran cautiously injected Spirit Power into it, hoping to manipulate the disk to retrieve the formation flags. Since the array disk already had cracks, he dared not use too much Spirit Power, fearing the disk wouldn't withstand it.
Yet, even though he was very careful, and the Spirit Power he injected into the array disk was pitifully small, he still couldn't save the blood-red array disk. The moment Spirit Power entered it, the blood-red array disk immediately emitted cracking sounds, more fissures appeared, and then it completely shattered in his palm.
When the array disk completely shattered, the restrictive barrier shrouding the area also dissipated. Because the blood-red array disk was already damaged, the restrictive barrier here couldn't have lasted much longer anyway. With the array disk now utterly destroyed, the barrier naturally couldn't continue to exist.
Looking at the completely shattered blood-red array disk in his hand, Yang Haoran smiled and shook his head. He had originally intended to find an opportunity to repair the blood-red array disk, but now he completely gave up on this powerful formation, casting aside the several pieces of the blood-red array disk in his hand.
Yang Haoran patted non-existent dust from his hands, then his gaze swept around, and finally, he smiled faintly.
"Heh heh, is anyone else coming out for a round or two? If not, I'm leaving. This was a good opportunity; once missed, who knows how long it'll be until such a chance arises again."
Yang Haoran spoke with a faint smile, but the surroundings remained silent. Other than collapsed buildings and traces of battle, there was nothing.
After waiting for a moment, and still finding no movement in the surroundings, Yang Haoran finally smiled, tore open space, and departed the area.
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