Only I am Venerable

Just as Qin Li had predicted, the human Martial Artist acted completely normal, giving the Great Witch Master no reason to suspect anything was amiss.

The five human Martial Artists spent over two hours searching every single house, but they found no valuable clues.

The old, ugly Great Witch Master’s brow was tightly furrowed. Based on his senses and his tracking of the scent, he was certain that the two audacious outsiders who had killed a Divine Beast were hiding somewhere in this very village, and that they had somehow avoided the five searchers!

This wasn’t just a matter of the Great Witch Master’s confidence. His Spiritual Power had been tracking the five men the entire time, and he would have detected even the slightest emotional fluctuation. Even if these five human slaves had wanted to feign ignorance, they could not have escaped the Great Witch Master’s notice!

This was the fundamental reason the Great Witch Master dared to send humans to search for their own kind. He considered himself an expert on humanity, believing he understood them better than they understood themselves. Human emotions were the most complex of any living creature, and their thoughts were the most difficult to guess.

But for that very reason, humans also had more tells. Their changing emotions produced distinct spiritual fluctuations—surprise, anger, excitement, shock... all these feelings manifested in different ways.

The Great Witch Master had studied these fluctuations thoroughly over the years. Therefore, he refused to believe that any human could pull a fast one right under his nose.

The five human Martial Artists approached with their heads bowed to give their report, their hearts pounding with anxiety. They hadn’t found the intruders. Knowing the savage nature of these beasts, they would likely face severe punishment.

A short, ugly creature walked directly toward the five human Martial Artists. In truth, this scrawny, withered thing was just a paper tiger, borrowing the Great Witch Master’s authority. Its own strength was less than that of these five humans, but because it was the Great Witch Master’s trusted lackey, all the humans feared it. Even most of the Spirit Beasts were afraid of it.

This creature, named Be, possessed an extraordinary intellect. Many of the Great Witch Master’s strategies against the humans were its invention. Its cunning was so great it put many humans to shame.

The Great Witch Master treated it as his right-hand man, an indispensable aide he took with him everywhere.

"You five ugly... and wretched humans," the gaunt, hideous Be said with a cruel sneer. "You have failed the task assigned by the Great Witch Master. I declare that all five of you... will have your hearts torn out tonight!"

"Alright, stop trying to scare them. I still have a use for them," the Great Witch Master interjected.

The Great Witch Master then turned to the gray-robed man who had first encountered Qin Li and asked in a low voice, "Field Mouse, tell me again. What did those two humans look like?"

The gray-robed man named Field Mouse’s mouth twitched, as if he hated speaking the human tongue. He answered awkwardly, "Great Witch Master, the two humans, a man and a woman, were both hideously ugly. The man wasn’t too old, and the woman was younger than him."

The Great Witch Master frowned. ’Looks like there’s no hope of getting a decent description of the two humans from this one,’ he thought.

’They’re clearly here, so why can’t I sense them?’ The Great Witch Master grew increasingly uneasy. ’Could it be that humans have really invaded from the outside? What do they want? To rescue the humans here?’

At that thought, the Great Witch Master snorted coldly to himself. His two eyes, one large and one small, darted over to the five human Martial Artists. He then asked the stick-thin Be, "What was that you just said... about how to execute these five humans?"

"Great Witch Master, these five failed the glorious mission you entrusted to them. They deserve to be executed. Tearing out their hearts will do just fine. For Martial Artists of their caliber, their hearts should be quite delicious!" Be said, licking its lips as if savoring a fond memory.

Except for the Martial Artist who had been beaten earlier, the other four men’s faces filled with a mixture of fury and despair. They gritted their teeth, looking like they were about to snap.

"Don’t move!" the Martial Artist who had been struck by Be barked in a low voice. "Do you want to get everyone else killed?"

"Dammit, when will this hell ever end? None of us will survive if this keeps up! It’s death either way, so I’d rather die fighting! All this talk about tearing out hearts... Tear out my ass! You piece of trash, if you’ve got the guts, fight me one-on-one! See if I don’t beat the shit out of you!"

One of the human Martial Artists could no longer hold back. He stepped forward, pointed at the skeletal, hideous Be, and let loose a torrent of curses.

The Martial Artist’s aura erupted with formidable might, scaring the scrawny Be so much that it scrambled behind the Great Witch Master. Its voice became shrill with rage. "They’re rebelling! They’re actually rebelling! Great Witch Master, look! These wretched, ugly ghouls, they’re trying to start an uprising!"

The Great Witch Master let out a few cold chuckles. "He wants to die? Then grant him his wish. You go fight him."

"I... I..." Be shrank back and whispered, "Great Witch Master... as you know, my intellect is superior, but my martial prowess... my martial prowess is not!"

"I told you to fight, so fight! What are you afraid of? Am I not here?" the Great Witch Master said dismissively, flicking his braided hair.

The scrawny Be froze for a moment, then, as if realizing something, a vicious grin spread across its face. It sneered at the human Martial Artist who had cursed it. "Fine. Very fine. You think I’m really afraid of you? Hmph. You want a quick death? I’m not going to give you that satisfaction! You wretched thing! All of you humans deserve to die! Now let’s see... how should I torture you?"

As Be spoke, it slowly advanced on the human Martial Artist. Suddenly, its body blurred into an afterimage as it lunged forward, fingers curled into a claw, striking for the man’s heart.

"I still prefer eating human hearts. They’re the most delicious things in the world, hehe!"

The human Martial Artist was enraged. Bare-handed, he unleashed a fierce surge of Power at the scrawny Be. But unfortunately, the blow, powerful enough to shatter stone, was like punching cotton—it vanished into thin air without a trace!

Giving up all hope, the man turned and cursed at the Great Witch Master, "You savage beast! Sooner or later, you’ll die a death far worse than mine!" With that, the human Martial Artist raised his hand to strike his own Celestial Spirit!

Just as his palm was a hand’s breadth from his own forehead, his body bizarrely froze, as if he were fixed in place. He began cursing again. "You old beast! You’ll meet a terrible end! Don’t think all humans are as weak as us! Didn’t outsiders just get in today? And they even killed one of you beasts! HAHAHAHA! I’m so damn happy! Even though I wasn’t the one who did it, I feel like I’ve broken even! The humans that you, you old beast, can’t even find will surely skin you alive and grind your bones to dust! HAHAHA! Come on! Kill me! It’s perfect! I want to see what color my own heart is! I’ll be waiting for you pack of savage beasts in the underworld!"

"Shut up!" The approaching Be slapped the human Martial Artist viciously across the face, knocking out all the teeth on one side. The man’s face swelled up instantly, but his eyes remained locked in a death glare on the Great Witch Master.

For some reason, the Great Witch Master felt a chill run down his spine, a sensation he had never experienced before. This was by no means a good omen. Today, the invasion of outsiders had cost them a powerful comrade, giving these humans a glimpse of hope. The rebellious blood that had always run in their veins was starting to burn hot again.

’I have to find those two damned humans as soon as possible and kill them. I must kill them!’ he thought. ’First, I’ll use this human as bait. Hopefully, it will lure those two out.’

As long as they revealed themselves because they couldn’t bear to watch, the Great Witch Master was confident he could kill them both!

The Great Witch Master suddenly roared, "Kill him! Eat his heart! Damned humans!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

The hideously ugly transformed Spirit Beasts beside the Great Witch Master joined in, letting out frenzied, agitated roars and howls.

Inside the nearby room, Shangguan Shiyu watched Qin Li anxiously, grinding her teeth so hard they might shatter. She sent a telepathic message to him, "These beasts! I have to slaughter every last one of them!"

Qin Li was also filled with rage. He knew perfectly well that the best course of action was to wait for the group to leave and then slowly make their move. But watching a fellow human Martial Artist have his heart torn out and eaten by a Spirit Beast... the feeling was unbearable!

Be’s intellect was indeed exceptional. It instantly understood the Great Witch Master’s intention. With a vicious grin and a loud RIP, it tore the human Martial Artist’s shirt to shreds, revealing his muscular torso.

Be cackled. "Not bad. I’ve rarely had the chance to eat the heart of a Martial Artist of your caliber. But in the days to come, I think I’ll be eating many more! You shouldn’t have provoked the Great Witch Master. Did you really think two ugly outsiders could save you all? That’s impossible! Look, I’m about to tear out your heart, but your own kind... those other ugly humans... they don’t dare show their faces! HAHAHA!"

"Dream on! Trying to use me as bait? If you’re going to eat me, then eat me! Get it over with! Stop dawdling, you beast!"

Seeing its plan exposed, Be wasn’t angered. It bared its teeth. "Fine!" It thrust its claw viciously toward the human Martial Artist’s chest. The man was tough enough not to even blink, his eyes fixed on Be in a death stare.

BANG!

Be’s body was sent flying. One of the men standing next to the captured Martial Artist had launched a successful sneak attack. He was just about to follow up and finish Be off when the Great Witch Master, reacting in a fit of rage, smashed him into a bloody mist with a single punch!

The Martial Artist’s punch had left Be spewing blood, its chest caved in. It gurgled indistinctly, "Great Witch Master, leave these wretched, ugly humans for me! I want to dig out all their hearts!"

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