Catching Monsters

Chapter 451 I'm going to keep that bastard here.
A bamboo forest located 30 li north of the city of Chongshan County.

Xie Yifeng followed behind Qin Hong, stepping lightly onto a bamboo stalk.

Qin Hong, with his hands behind his back, looked at Xie Yifeng and slowly said, "Xie Yifeng, with your strength, if you are willing to serve our court, His Majesty will grant you whatever you want."

"I remember that seven years ago, our Tongyou Guard contacted you, hoping to recruit you, but you refused because you were so devoted to the sword and had no interest in joining any faction."

"But now, you've sided with Wang Longzhi and his group, and you want to rebel with them."

"Are you from the Tongyou Guard?" Xie Yifeng asked, standing above with his hands behind his back. A gentle breeze blew, and bamboo leaves on the ground danced in the air.

Xie Yifeng slowly said, "Among cultivators, there are very few who are willing to serve the Zhou Dynasty court like you. If you want to reach a higher realm, you must abandon these desires and attachments to power."

Upon hearing this, Qin Hong laughed and slowly said, "Then I would like to experience your swordsmanship."

In an instant, Qin Hong attacked Xie Yifeng. His palm transformed into sharp claws, unlike those of a human, but more like those of a dragon.

Seeing this, Xie Yifeng narrowed his eyes slightly, his face darkening: "Unorthodox methods."

Xie Yifeng pinched his finger sword with his right hand, and the finger sword shook gently. The seven flying swords beside him flew towards Qin Hong at an extremely fast speed.

The seven longswords were incredibly fast, flying towards Qin Hong from all directions. Each sword carried immense power, and if one were to be struck by one of these swords, the victim would likely be either killed or seriously injured.

Clang clang clang.

Qin Hong used his dragon claws to quickly knock down the three swords in front of him, and at the same time, the sound of swords whistling came from behind him.

Two long swords instantly pierced towards his back.

Xie Yifeng also revealed a faint smile, but soon he realized something was wrong. The two swords that attacked Qin Hong from behind were actually knocked away.

The back of Qin Hong's clothes had been torn.

His back was covered with golden dragon scales.

These dragon scales easily blocked Xie Yifeng's two longswords.

Xie Yifeng also realized that something was wrong with this person. This guy was not a monster, but had somehow managed to perfectly transfer the dragon claws and scales to his own body through some crooked means.

And the most important thing is.

The dragon scales and claws on his body were definitely not items belonging to ordinary dragon demons.

Even an ordinary demonic dragon couldn't withstand Xie Yifeng's sword strike.

"To become stronger, you're willing to transform yourself into something neither human nor demon," Xie Yifeng said coldly, his voice tinged with disdain for Qin Hong.

Qin Hong snorted coldly, waved his arm, and quickly arrived in front of Xie Yifeng.

Xie Yifeng raised his hand, and the seven swords instantly flew back, merging into one.

"Heaven and Earth Sword Technique!"

Xie Yifeng raised his hands and slowly lowered them.

Seven longswords circled continuously in mid-air, unleashing powerful sword energy.

The sword slashed down with a thunderous roar.

In an instant, the sword energy left nothing but barren land, leaving a crater two miles long and two meters deep in the ground.

The green bamboo in the bamboo forest was broken and bent by this shockwave.

Qin Hong certainly didn't dare to take Xie Yifeng's sword head-on. Did he really think the reputation of the Sword God was a joke?
He dodged the main force of the sword strike with incredible speed.

Xie Yifeng narrowed his eyes and looked at Qin Hong, saying, "What? Not serious yet? Aren't you afraid of dying by my sword?"

Qin Hong smiled faintly but did not reply.

Soon, Xie Yifeng's face darkened, realizing something was wrong: "A diversionary tactic!"

After saying that, he was about to leave when Qin Hong patted the bamboo leaves scattered on his body and said, "It's been so long, Wang Longzhi and Xiao Min'er should have been captured by my men by now."

"It's too late for you to go back."

"Thank you, Sword God. We can have a proper talk now, right?"

Xie Yifeng's face darkened, and he took a deep breath, saying, "You call yourself a top expert, yet you resort to such methods?"

"Sword God Xie, you've praised the wrong person. I'm just an old eunuch with no ties to me, how could I be a top expert?" Qin Hong narrowed his eyes: "My master instructed me to retrieve the Imperial Seal, so naturally I must complete the task assigned by my master."

"Let's go back to Chongshan County first."

Xie Yifeng's face was gloomy. He suddenly made another move. He knew that if he went back like this, without any leverage, he would be at the mercy of others.

I need to at least get Qin Hong under control before I can have any leverage in negotiations.

This time, he held back, spitting out a mouthful of blood essence and spraying it onto the seven swords.

In an instant, the seven swords merged into one once again, transforming into a sharp longsword shimmering with seven-colored light under the influence of the essence blood.

After Xie Yifeng raised his hand and grasped the sword, he flashed and instantly appeared next to Qin Hong, slashing with the sword.

Qin Hong hurriedly raised his hand to block, and the skin on his arm instantly turned into dragon scales.

But this time, it couldn't be stopped.

With a soft "plop," the dragon scales were slashed through by the longsword.

Qin Hong's pupils contracted slightly: "Are you serious?"

After saying that, Qin Hong no longer held back. A dragon's roar erupted from his body, a powerful dragon's cry that instantly forced Xie Yifeng back several steps.

Qin Hong waved his palms and attacked Xie Yifeng instantly. With each attack, a dragon's roar accompanied Qin Hong's body.

The bamboo leaves fluttered, shaken by the powerful magic, flying up and falling like a rain of bamboo leaves.

The two continued to fight amidst the rain of bamboo leaves, their voices echoing like dragons' roars and flashing swords.

Both of them were considered top experts in the first rank realm, yet their fight was evenly matched.

As Qin Hong made his move, he said, "Sword God Xie, neither of us has the will to fight to the death, and our strengths are roughly equal, so why are you so insistent?"

"I'll go back to Chongshan County first."

After saying that, Qin Hong stopped fighting. Both of them knew that fighting like this would not yield any results.

For experts like them, unless it's a life-or-death struggle, it's hard to determine the winner. Watching Qin Hong turn and leave, Xie Yifeng could only sigh deeply, grip his long sword tightly, hesitate for a moment, and then quickly followed.

……

Inside the government office in Chongshan County, in the same study, Xiao Min'er and Wang Longzhi were sitting, but neither of them dared to move around recklessly.

Because there is another person in the room.

A middle-aged man with a long scar on his face.

Although the middle-aged man was far less powerful than Xie Yifeng and Qin Hong, he was still someone the two of them could not handle.

"Don't be nervous, you two. As long as you don't try to escape, I won't do anything to you." The middle-aged man, named Gao Yu, smiled and appeared honest and simple.

However, the presence of several corpses of soldiers and guards lying at the entrance to the study was enough to show that this person was not as kind as he appeared.

Soon, footsteps sounded outside the door; Qin Hong had arrived.

"Eunuch Qin, you've finally arrived. What about that Sword God? Did you take care of him?" Gao Yu quickly stood up when he saw Eunuch Qin return. "If that's the case, then it's simple. Torture those two. If they don't reveal the whereabouts of the Imperial Seal, kill them."

Qin Hong chuckled, and soon, the voice of Sword God Xie Yifeng came from behind him: "If you kill the two of them, you two will not be able to leave Chongshan County."

Xie Yifeng soon followed into the study.

Upon seeing this, Wang Longzhi quickly called out, "Master."

At the same time, Gao Yu had already sat down between him and Xiao Min'er, holding two daggers to their necks: "I said, you two better not move around recklessly, or my hand might slip."

Xiao Min'er appeared unusually calm. She looked up at Qin Hong and said, "You're here for the Imperial Seal?"

"I can give you the things."

With his hands behind his back, Qin Hong smiled faintly and said, "It's not just the Imperial Seal, but also His Highness the Sixth Prince. Since I'm already here, I should naturally invite His Highness the Sixth Prince back."

After saying this, Qin Hong turned to Xie Yifeng and said, "Give me the Imperial Seal and the Sixth Prince, and we will leave this place immediately."

Xie Yifeng, with his hands behind his back, said calmly, "The Sixth Prince Xiao Jingqi is dead. He was chopped into mincemeat and fed to the dogs. If you really want him, you'll have to take those dogs back with you."

Upon hearing this, Qin Hong's pupils contracted slightly, and then he said, "Do you think I would easily believe such words?"

“I killed him with my own hands, believe it or not, he’s already dead.” Xie Yifeng said, looking at Xiao Min’er: “I can give you the Imperial Seal, but you have to guarantee their safety.”

Qin Hong stood there, lost in thought. His main purpose for this trip was to obtain the Imperial Seal of the State.

As for the sixth prince, Xiao Jingqi, His Majesty had specifically instructed him before the departure that it would be best to bring the sixth prince back with him.

"Bring the things here." Qin Hong said calmly, "I, Qin Hong, keep my word."

Xie Yifeng's gaze fell on Xiao Min'er. Seeing Xiao Min'er nod slightly, he turned around and went to his residence to retrieve the Imperial Seal of the State, which had been hidden very well.

Not long after, the Imperial Seal of the State was brought back.

Xie Yifeng was quite straightforward and didn't waste any words, directly tossing over the Imperial Seal of the State.

He was confident that if Qin Hong went back on his word, he would fight desperately and make sure the old eunuch didn't get away unscathed.

After obtaining the Imperial Seal of the State, Qin Hong was not in a hurry. Instead, he carefully examined and inspected it.

Qin Hong was extremely senior, having served as the late emperor's personal eunuch during the reign of the previous emperor. Naturally, he had seen the Imperial Seal of the State and could distinguish between the genuine and fake seals.

After careful inspection, it was confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the item.

He waved to Gao Yu, who then released the two people who had been restrained.

"Let's go." Qin Hong kept his word and did not harm Wang Longzhi and the other two. He quickly left the place with Gao Yu.

After leaving the study, Gao Yu felt a little regretful and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Eunuch, why didn't you take these two lives and eliminate His Majesty's biggest threat?"

"Xie Yifeng is quite capable. If he really kills someone, it will be a fight to the death. In a desperate struggle, I'm afraid we'll both be severely injured."

"I'm not afraid of a lose-lose situation, but I'm afraid the Imperial Seal of the State will not be able to be sent back to the capital."

"Since our purpose in coming here is to obtain the Imperial Seal of the State, we should just do our job well."

The two quickly left the place, while Wang Longzhi, who remained in the study, slowly stood up after they had gone some distance and said urgently, "Master, hurry and chase after them! We can't let them take the Imperial Seal of the State away."

"What's the rush?" Xie Yifeng's gaze fell on Xiao Min'er. Seeing that Xiao Min'er wasn't in a hurry, he knew that Xiao Min'er must have something on her mind.

Sure enough, Xiao Min'er slowly stood up, went to her desk, wrote a passage on the Xuan paper, and then said, "Have people spread this matter throughout the Zhou Kingdom."

"What is this?" Xie Yifeng stepped forward, glanced at it, and his expression changed drastically. He stared at Xiao Min'er in disbelief: "This, this..."

It says that the Imperial Seal of the State contains a map of the last sacred tomb, and whoever obtains the Imperial Seal of the State can find the sacred tomb.

Xie Yifeng took a deep breath, his eyes brightening slightly, and said to his disciple, "See? You should learn more from Xiao girl. Spreading rumors like this will probably cause trouble for the Zhou court from all sides."

Xiao Min'er shook her head and said seriously to Xie Yifeng, "Senior Xie, this is not a rumor, but the biggest secret of our Zhou Kingdom's royal family."

"The Imperial Seal of the State truly contains the whereabouts of the Sacred Tomb."

Upon hearing this, Xie Yifeng's expression froze, and he gasped in shock. That was the Sacred Tomb.

This is a place that powerful individuals like them, who have already reached the first-grade realm, dream of visiting.

I never imagined that this thing had been in my possession all along.

Xie Yifeng's eyes were bloodshot as he said, "I'll go and stop that bastard!"

After saying that, he instantly disappeared from the study, flew away on his sword, and chased after them outside.

"Min'er, you should have told my master about this sooner." Wang Longzhi was clearly only now learning about it.

Xiao Min'er glared at Wang Longzhi and slowly said, "If we had told Senior Xie Yifeng earlier, would he still have been interested in helping you fight for the world? He would probably have just gone to look for the Holy Tomb."

At this point, Xiao Min'er sighed slightly. Although the Imperial Seal of the State was taken back by the Zhou Dynasty, it was not necessarily a bad thing.

If Senior Xie Yifeng wants to go to the Sacred Tomb, he must help them conquer the capital of Zhou.

Even other experts might join them in order to obtain the Imperial Seal of the State.

Xiao Min'er sat calmly at the table and wrote another letter, saying, "Time is of the essence. The rebels can't hold out any longer, and the Zhou court is already planning to take action against us."

"Have someone deliver this letter to the Demon Spirit Cult as quickly as possible."

(End of this chapter)