baoyu133. con

Chapter 264

Crossing over a gigantic gate, what came into view was a vast square paved with stone slabs.

On the square, there were many killers wearing black tight-fitting combat suits and carrying weapons on their backs.

These black-clad people were of varying ages, wearing identical skull masks, high ponytails at the back of their heads, and carrying all sorts of weapons on their backs, making them look energetic and vigorous.

On either side of the square were many wooden stakes and sandbags for martial arts practice, as well as many pieces of training equipment that Lin Zaozao didn't recognize.

In this solemn place, those killers were not practicing martial arts, but rather—doing business.

Listening to the hawking voices of the killers in the square, Lin Zaozao's eyes were almost bulging out in surprise.

She turned her head to look at Gu Shan, pointing at the hawking killers in the square, and asked in disbelief, "Gu Shan, this place, is it the Eighteen Floors?"

"Yes! This is the outermost part of the Eighteen Floors. The core of the Eighteen Floors is deep inside," Gu Shan said obediently while pulling Lin Zaozao's hand and pointing to the layers of buildings in the distance.

Looking up at the layered buildings, Lin Zaozao could only sum it up with a simple thought: Magnificent, truly magnificent!

If these people weren't wearing tight combat suits, carrying lethal weapons on their backs, and wearing skull masks on their faces, Lin Zaozao would have thought this vast complex of buildings was a prosperous small town.

But Gu Shan is an assassin, isn't he? Where did he get so much money to build such a magnificent complex?

When Lin Zaozao expressed her doubts to Gu Shan, he turned his head to look at her, and seeing that she really didn't understand, he then pouted and said, "Zaozao, this place was originally a small town called Fu Chi.

But the people living here were not killers, but rather masters in forging weapons.

Those blacksmiths, although highly skilled in martial arts, had always lived in seclusion.

Years ago, the Female Emperor of Canglan Country and the Female Emperor of Fengshuo Country accidentally discovered this place. They took advantage of the situation and poisoned the wells of Fu Chi town with slow-acting toxins.

By the time the people here realized it, it was too late. Under the effects of the slow-acting poisons, everyone in the town had lost the ability to move.

Then, Canglan and Fengshuo took the opportunity to capture those skilled weapon forgers and started massacring the ordinary civilians and children in Fu Chi.

Zaozao, back then, my father was the best weapon forger and a top-level martial arts master in Fu Chi town.

My wish was to grow up and become an outstanding weapon forger like my father, forging the sharpest blade.

But ever since the soldiers of Canglan and Fengshuo set foot here, everyone's life was forced to change.

The Female Emperor of Canglan captured all the people she could, and killed those she couldn't capture.

Wherever the iron cavalry of Canglan and Fengshuo trod, there were flames and cries of anguish.

The once prosperous Fu Chi town turned into a living hell in an instant.

But that day was just the beginning of the nightmare.

Zaozao, I and the survivors of Fu Chi town were all thrown into the Purgatory Valley by the two Female Emperors of Canglan and Fengshuo.

You know what the Purgatory Valley is. My companions, family, and close friends who had always been by my side... they all lost their lives there.

Seeing the people around me die one by one, I also wanted to give up at one point, but my parents insisted that I must live on.

They told me before they died that no matter how painful it was to live, I must survive.

Only by living could I avenge the people of Fu Chi town.

From that day on, I struggled to live, fighting to survive. I practiced day and night following the secret manual my father left me before he died.

Even when I was thrown into the Poison Pond, the Pit of Ten Thousand Snakes, or the cages with wild beasts.

Although life was worse than death, Zaozao, I still survived...

After surviving, I deliberately suppressed my emotions and became a soulless puppet, the sharpest blade in the hands of the Female Emperors of Canglan and Fengshuo.

On the day I became a blade, after familiarizing myself with the routes in and out of the Purgatory Valley, I led the puppets who trained with me and we escaped from the Purgatory Valley together.

After escaping the Purgatory Valley, we had nowhere to go, so we could only return to our former homeland and hide underground, eking out an existence.

Waiting for the day when we could find an opportunity to return to the Purgatory Valley and avenge our loved ones.

But when we gradually grew stronger and found the opportunity to return to the Purgatory Valley, what we saw were new batches of children being subjected to the same cruel methods by the Witchers and higher-ups of the Purgatory Valley, being thrown into the Poison Pond, the Pit of Ten Thousand Snakes, and the cages with wild beasts.

Zaozao, hearing the cries of those children, we didn't seek revenge. Instead, we seized the opportunity to rescue all those we could from the Purgatory Valley.

And so, day by day, the people we rescued became more and more numerous, and this place became more and more lively.

But Zaozao, over the years, among those we rescued from the Purgatory Valley were not only healthy people, but also little poisoned people like Da Bao, and soulless puppets without emotions.

More and more of those poisoned people and puppets were rescued, but their minds were not clear, they were essentially killing machines.

Fearing they would cause trouble if they came out, I had to forcibly confine them in the underground forges of Fu Chi.

The Fu Chi underground forges originally had eighteen levels, each representing the skill level of the blacksmiths.

But now, each level represents the level of danger posed by the poisoned people and puppets.

Zaozao, after so many years, all eighteen underground levels have been occupied by those poisoned people and puppets.

If I continue rescuing more, I'll have nowhere to place them.

But I cannot stop rescuing them, because each of those poisoned people and puppets has family members.

Their families are all hoping that they will regain their senses every day.

Day after day, the pressure on me grew greater, and the hatred in the hearts of those living in Fu Chi deepened.

In the end, we changed Fu Chi to the Eighteen Floors.

The Eighteen Floors represent eighteen kinds of ordeals.

All of us harbor deep resentment in our hearts. So we vowed that until we avenge our grievances, no one in the Eighteen Floors can show their true face.

For the Eighteen Floors to function, we need money for food, clothing, housing, and transportation. So I led the people of the Eighteen Floors to start robbing corrupt officials and evil bureaucrats in the martial world.

Later, when we became bolder, we started stealing from the national treasuries of Canglan and Fengshuo.

After stealing for so long, we realized..."

"You realized that the richest person in this world was not the Female Emperors of Canglan and Fengshuo, but Ruo Qiu, right?" Little Xibei said with a light laugh.

"Correct, I stole from many people's private vaults, but discovered that Ruo Qiu's vault had the most treasures," Gu Shan said honestly.

"So then you started clinging to Ruo Qiu?"

"Master Ye Yi, we had a mutual arrangement," Gu Shan retorted coldly.

"All right! If you say it was a mutual arrangement, then it was a mutual arrangement. But I noticed that later on, you were only taking money and wealth from Ruo Qiu, not doing any work for him, and you would often threaten him, threatening to throw him into the Male Wind Pavilion at the slightest provocation."

"If he doesn't look for me, why should I go out of my way to help him? Besides, he's naturally weak, so I can't help but criticize him a bit.

He's so weak, I offered to teach him martial arts, but he was too busy trying to make money. He's pathetically weak, yet he still has such a disrespectful mouth. What's wrong with me threatening him a little?"

Gu Shan said with an air of self-righteousness.

"Alright, alright, you're right. Gu Shan, won't you invite us to take a look inside the Eighteen Floors?" Ye Yi asked in a gentle voice, standing by Lin Zaozao's side.

"Sure, let's go in now."

Gu Shan glanced at the others, then took Lin Zaozao's hand and headed toward the square.

But before he could take a few steps, he abruptly stopped, turning to face Lin Zaozao.

Just as expected...

The next second...

"Zaozao, kiss~ hug~ hold me high~"

"Sure, no problem."

Lin Zaozao effortlessly kissed Gu Shan, then hugged him around the waist and carried him forward.

And the group that had been following behind them all wore an expression of being utterly unfazed.

During these past few days of traveling, due to Xi Luo's curse, the Demon Sovereign Gu Shan had been acting like a spoiled little girl and making these whiny demands countless times.

They had gone from shocked and amused at first, to now being completely numb to it.

If he wants to kiss and hug, let him kiss and hug!

After all, his wife willingly indulges him, so what say did they have in the matter?

They were already used to it, but the assassin vendors who were hawking their wares in the square were stunned when they witnessed this scene.

A girl with a doll-like face was carrying a tall, well-built man in her arms, striding forward.

That alone would have been enough to raise eyebrows, but the man she was carrying was their lord of the Eighteen Floors!

The Demon Sovereign was known to be cold and ruthless. Normally, anyone who got too close to him could feel the suffocating killing intent radiating from his body.

Yet here he was, this normally cold and ruthless man, cradled in a young girl's embrace, acting all petulant and spoiled.

If their eyes weren't deceiving them, then their minds must be playing tricks.

Yes, they must be going insane, which was causing them to see things.

There's no way the person being carried like a child could be the lord of their Eighteen Floors!

Their lord was known for being brilliant and dashing! How could he possibly be this whiny, clingy person?

So the assassin vendors in the square shook their heads vigorously, then lowered their gazes and resumed hawking their wares.

Only this time, their calls came out broken and disjointed, sounding utterly bizarre.

Thus, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, the eccentric husband and wife pair of Lin Zaozao and Gu Shan strutted out of the square.

As soon as they were out of sight, Gu Shan patted Lin Zaozao's shoulder, signaling for her to put him down.

"What's wrong?"

"Zaozao, that's enough, I can walk on my own from here."

"Alright then!"

After setting Gu Shan down, he took Lin Zaozao's hand and they continued walking forward.

Since the Eighteen Floors was built into the mountain, they had to walk uphill.

Along the way, except for the bustling atmosphere she sensed in the square, Lin Zaozao only felt a suffocating aura of death.