Zhao Shuning moved her hand gently again.
The leading man regained his ability to speak.
"Who are you, sir?"
"You want to kill me, but you don't know who I am?" Zhao Shuning replied with a sarcastic smile.
She continued, "I bet you don't even know the identity of the man in the inn or why you're supposed to kill him. Am I right?"
"We're just following orders," the man answered.
"Whose orders?"
"I can't tell you."
"You've got some backbone," Zhao Shuning said as she slowly stood up and walked towards them.
She just stared at them, and their heads began to ache. The pain grew more intense with each passing moment. They felt the woman's spiritual energy forcefully invading their minds, disregarding their will.
They could sense the direction of her spiritual energy, and it was clearly heading towards their spiritual roots!
Spiritual roots were of utmost importance to cultivators.
"Don't be afraid, everyone. Although she's an alchemist, it must be exhausting for her to manipulate so much spiritual energy at once. If we fight back with all our might, we can surely defeat a woman," the leading man commanded. His spiritual energy was the strongest among them, so he was still able to maintain his composure and give orders.
Zhao Shuning smiled when she heard this.
"How ridiculous," she said.
The next moment, her spiritual energy, which had been moving slowly, suddenly accelerated tenfold.
On Zhao Shuning's face, there was not a trace of exhaustion, not even a single bead of sweat.
Zhao Shuning always felt that her power was just the tip of the iceberg. She knew that there were always people more powerful than herself.
But these young men in front of her clearly didn't understand the meaning of humility.
Just as Zhao Shuning's spiritual energy was about to reach their spiritual roots, it suddenly stopped.
The men across from her all turned pale and their hands and feet trembled.
Who was this woman? And why was she targeting them, insignificant people?
"Think carefully. Is there anything you want to tell me?"
The dozens of men looked at each other but didn't dare to speak.
They knew that if they offended that lord, they would still die. It was better to keep their mouths shut and maintain their reputation as loyal servants.
"You won't say anything?"
"If cultivators can't tell right from wrong and blindly kill for money without considering the morality of their orders, then what's the point of keeping their spiritual roots? They'll only use them to do evil," Zhao Shuning said.
"Senior!"
"Senior! You're a powerful person. Why are you targeting us, insignificant people? If you kill us, how are you any different from the people we serve?"
Zhao Shuning smiled, tilting her body forward slightly. Her smile was bright and beautiful, but there was no warmth in it.
"Who said I was going to kill you?"
"Even if you don't kill us, we won't betray our master," the man replied.
Zhao Shuning didn't seem to care. If the mastermind behind this was so easily betrayed, he wouldn't have been able to maintain his power in Cangwu Kingdom for so many years.
"Fine. If you don't want to say anything, then don't."
The men let out a sigh of relief. They thought that these so - called seniors were too bound by the concept of "justice." With just a few words, they could change the senior's mind. No matter how powerful this woman was, she wouldn't be able to achieve great things.
The moon rose.
Zhao Shuning stretched out her right hand. The moon seemed to be in her palm. She looked like a cold and lonely fairy in the palace of the moon, beautiful beyond words.
Her clothes also turned crescent - white.
A faint smile appeared in Zhao Shuning's cold eyes, but there was no warmth in it. She closed her right hand, and the dozens of men felt a sharp pain in their heads, followed by a continuous ringing in their ears.
In a short while, the pain disappeared without a trace.
Zhao Shuning was on top of the tall tower. Then she left. Before leaving, she even escorted the men safely to the ground.
When Zhao Shuning left, the men were stunned, as if they had been greatly frightened. Apart from them, no one knew what had happened or what the woman had said to them.
When Zhao Shuning returned to the inn, Luo Qiu had already brought the previous man to their room.
It had to be said that since Luo Qiu had absorbed Luo Feiyan's consciousness before she was born, she understood Zhao Shuning's thoughts very well. Sometimes, they only needed to look at each other to understand each other completely.
Just like this time.
"Miss, I've brought the man. He's badly injured but has rested for a while," Luo Qiu reported.
"What about Lord Hang?"
"He cursed and chased after the mysterious cultivator who kidnapped the man," Luo Qiu replied.
"How cute," Zhao Shuning said with a smile.
Luo Qiu was stunned. What was cute about Hang Tiezhu?
"I'm talking about you. You came up with this plan to escape. Instead of just kidnapping the man directly, you were careful and cautious. Your method may be a bit rough, but it's really cute," Zhao Shuning explained.
Luo Qiu blushed.
"Miss—"
"Alright, I'll go and see how this man is doing," Zhao Shuning said as she walked forward.
Luo Qiu removed the spiritual energy shield around the man.
When the man saw them, he quickly sat up and looked at them warily.
"What do you want?"
"What do we want? Do you think we're going to kill you?" Luo Qiu retorted.
The man quickly knelt down and explained, "Please forgive me, ladies. I'm not a swindler. I'm from Shuiyunsheng. I came to Huadu to expand our gang's branch. The abductions of women, robberies, and child - abductions in Huadu were definitely not done by us."
"I know. You're just scapegoats," Zhao Shuning said.
"How do you know, lady?"
Zhao Shuning didn't answer. When she invaded the minds of the black - clothed men in the Shengxi Tower, she had obtained some fragmented memories. These despicable deeds were done by those men, and they had just been framed.
"Where are the other members of Shuiyunsheng?"
There shouldn't be just him.
"They're all dead," the man replied.
"All of them?"
"They were all killed by the officers for various reasons. When they surrounded and attacked us, we couldn't even speak. We just had to bear the blame," the man said sadly.
"You're really pitiful," Zhao Shuning said.
"Lady, do you believe me?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
The man showed a look of helplessness and smiled bitterly. "No one believes me. They even think that all the members of Shuiyunsheng are despicable and shameless. Aren't you afraid that I'm lying to you, lady?"
After all, Shuiyunsheng had a bad reputation in Huadu.
"Is it the king's order?"
"Probably not. The king has secretly saved some members of Shuiyunsheng several times," the man replied.
"You should rest first. I'll handle this matter," Zhao Shuning said.
"You, lady?"
"If you were really a despicable and shameless person, Xie An wouldn't have given you the Shuiyunsheng token," Zhao Shuning said.
"Lady, no, senior, you know our gang leader?"
"Get some rest early," Zhao Shuning said without answering or denying. The answer was obvious.
After leaving the room, Zhao Shuning and Luo Qiu went to the next room. Fortunately, they had booked two rooms when they came.
"Miss, what about those men?"
"I let them go," Zhao Shuning replied.
"If you don't pull out the weeds by the roots, they'll grow back in the spring, Miss," Luo Qiu said.
"I'm keeping them alive to send a message back. They don't deserve to die," Zhao Shuning said meaningfully. Luo Qiu didn't dare to ask further.
On top of the tall tower, when Zhao Shuning let them go, she told them to tell their master that if he had the guts, he could come and seek revenge on her.
"I'm An Susu from the Eastern Swamp Wilderness. If you want revenge, come and find me," this was the last thing she said to them.
And before that, Zhao Shuning had completely crippled their spiritual roots.
They would never be able to do evil again.
Grow back in the spring? They would become like rats on the street, hated by everyone.