Chapter 84: Information

“Huh? You’re saying Tie Shan isn’t dead yet?”

Just over ten minutes later, after bringing his men back to the sealed-off estate, Chen Chong was about to carefully inspect the manor’s condition when he saw the skinny, monkey-like Zhang Long rush into the estate and report some news to him.

“Yes, when we dragged Tie Shan out to hang him up earlier, we found he still had a breath left.”

Zhang Long’s dark, thin face was full of eager smiles as he said quickly,

“Chief, I thought Tie Shan might know a lot of Blood General’s secrets and could be useful to you, so I came specially to ask. What do you think…?”

In truth, Zhang Long was feeling very anxious at that moment. After all, he had been present when Li Bao and Chen Chong clashed, and he couldn’t be sure if Chen Chong had mentally blacklisted him. Naturally, he wanted to prove himself desperately.

“You’re quite thoughtful.”

Inside the magnificent and lavish mansion hall, Chen Chong looked Zhang Long up and down with a faint, unreadable smile. Then, a thought suddenly struck him, and he seemed to remember something.

“You did well. Where is he? Bring him to me.”

“Alright, I’ll go right away!” Zhang Long responded and darted out quickly.

What Chen Chong had suddenly recalled was something he had almost overlooked: Blood General’s spy in Dawn Gathering Place, Qiao Jun.

Back when he didn’t have much strength, he had already thought about using others’ power to overthrow the base for revenge. Now that he possessed strength fully comparable to a Transcendent, he naturally wanted to carry out his bloody vengeance with his own hands!

Therefore, Qiao Jun, as the spy, was exceptionally important. He was key to Chen Chong’s upcoming plans and schemes against the base. He had to find a way to make contact and thus grasp Dawn Gathering Place’s plans. But now that Blood General was dead, the only way to learn how to contact Qiao Jun was clearly from the mouth of his trusted aide, Tie Shan.

In less than ten minutes, Zhang Long personally pushed a cart carrying Tie Shan, whose body was covered in blood and barely breathing, to the estate entrance and into the main hall.

“Chief, I’ll be right at the door. Just call if you need me.” After pushing the cart into the mansion hall, Zhang Long tactfully withdrew immediately without Chen Chong having to say more.

Chen Chong glanced briefly at the cart before him. The originally tall and large Tie Shan now lay limply on the cart, his bones broken in who knows how many places, with streams of blood occasionally flowing from his seven facial orifices. He looked utterly miserable.

The fact that he hadn’t completely died under Chen Chong’s full-force punch showed that Tie Shan’s physique and vitality were indeed superior to those of Awakeners like Li Bao.

“Urgh… urgh…”

At that moment, lying on the cart, Tie Shan made weak sounds from his throat. As if sensing something, he slowly and laboriously opened his eyes, and Chen Chong’s face came into his blurry vision.

The instant he saw Chen Chong’s face, although Tie Shan couldn’t move his body, his pupils suddenly dilated. Short, sharp syllables came from his throat, as if he had seen something unbelievable. “You, you…!”

“What about me?”

Chen Chong laughed heartily.

“Tie Shan, look at where you are. You passed out and missed a lot. Do you know that your master was beaten to death by me, and then hung up for public display?”

“No… imposs… ible…”

As if struck by five thunderbolts, Tie Shan trembled all over. Summoning all his strength to turn his neck, he scanned the familiar hall of Blood General’s mansion, and his eyes gradually turned to hopeless, dead ashes.

“Gen… General…”

He finally confirmed that this was indeed Blood General’s mansion hall, a place he knew all too well. And the fact that Chen Chong was here so brazenly proved that Blood General had, just as Chen Chong said, met his end!

This also meant that he, Tie Shan, had completely lost any hope of survival.

“Never… imagined…”

As the unbelievable truth truly sunk in, it felt as if something in his heart had completely collapsed. Tie Shan coughed violently, and because his internal organs were shattered, large amounts of blood gushed from his mouth.

“How… how could this be? You were clearly just…”

“Is this matter really so hard to believe?”

Chen Chong sneered mercilessly.

“Those who kill will be killed. Too bad his fist wasn’t as big as mine, so of course he had to die!”

“You’re… right. Since it’s come to this, I accept defeat.”

Tie Shan let out an extremely weak, miserable laugh. His eyes were lifeless, staring vacantly at the ceiling, and his mouth moved slightly as he said,

“Someone like you probably won’t let me go, right? Kill me! Give me a swift end!”

“Oh? You have some backbone.”

Surprised that Tie Shan wasn’t begging for mercy but was so straightforward, Chen Chong stared at Tie Shan’s despairing, ashen face and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not impossible to give you a swift end. Tell me, how did Blood General contact Qiao Jun? When will Dawn Gathering Place attack the base?”

“You… want to be the mantis stalking the cicada too?”

Tie Shan’s expression was numb, his chest heaving rapidly. He could clearly feel the tidal wave of intense pain and the wrecked state of his body. Wanting only a quick death, he spoke directly.

“The General and I met… met Qiao Jun yesterday. He only told us that Dawn Gathering Place was already preparing, and it should be a matter of days before they act. There’s… there’s an abandoned service area less than fifty kilometers from Dawn Gathering Place… If Qiao Jun has any intelligence, he’ll hide it under the hole in the far right corner of the second floor. You just need to check once a day to see if there’s anything… This… you can ask my men to confirm this…”

It would happen in a matter of days?

Turning the thought over in his mind, Chen Chong immediately called Zhang Long from outside and told him to bring a few of Tie Shan’s former subordinates to verify the information. Moments later, it was confirmed without a doubt—Tie Shan hadn’t lied.

Walking back into the hall, Chen Chong nodded with satisfaction. “Tie Shan, do you have anything else to say about Blood General? He’s already dead; keeping his secrets serves no purpose. If you have any valuable information for me, I can give you a dignified death and let you be buried in peace.”

“Heh… heh… Do you think… someone like the General would reveal his secrets to others?”

Tie Shan gasped rapidly. Thanks to his powerful vitality, he wouldn’t die immediately, but the intense pain twisted his face terribly.

“The… the only thing I know is that the General originally didn’t seem to be a survivor from here, but came from some large gathering place, and his background was very mysterious. Other than that, I know nothing…”

Blood General came from some large gathering place?

Chen Chong frowned. No matter how mysterious a dead man’s origins were, it had nothing to do with him. Having already gotten the information he wanted most and asked about the details of contacting Qiao Jun, he immediately looked at Tie Shan.

“In that case, be on your way.”

Bang!

The next instant, Tie Shan’s eyes widened, and Chen Chong’s heavy fist struck his forehead like lightning, killing him on the spot.

Slowly raising his head, Chen Chong’s gaze seemed to pierce through layers of obstacles, staring straight in a certain direction, and a fierce, bloodthirsty smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Diris… Are you ready yet?”