Mysterious mirror hanging high

Chapter 1019 Punishment Based on the Mind

"Uh... well then."

Guo Tingshu glanced at the shopkeeper, then at Jing Yu, looking somewhat embarrassed, but he still nodded reluctantly and rushed ahead of Jing Yu to follow the shopkeeper into the backyard.

The so-called "backyard" of this shop is actually a secluded "secret realm" independent of the real world. The interior space is vast, almost as large as the cave realm of an ordinary cultivator, making it perfect for storing various goods.

Because this secret realm is isolated from the real world, it can also be said that... this is an excellent place to kill and bury corpses.

Throughout the journey, Guo Tingshu looked conflicted, repeatedly confirming the safety of the journey with the shopkeeper and hinting that the shopkeeper might "change his mind."

But later, the shopkeeper's impatient expression grew stronger and stronger, and in the end he even stopped paying attention to the boy in the felt hat's incessant chatter and just flew away in silence.

Not long after, the innkeeper led the two of them at breakneck speed and soon landed in a valley.

Passing through a barely perceptible barrier, Jing Yu raised an eyebrow slightly: "What a natural barrier..."

Upon seeing the two enter the formation, the shopkeeper's last trace of feigned respect vanished instantly, replaced by undisguised greed and ruthlessness.

He took a few steps back and clapped his hands forcefully, the sound echoing through the valley:

"Distinguished guests, we have arrived! This place has excellent feng shui... and is also full of spiritual energy, making it a perfect burial ground for you two!"

As he finished speaking, the obscure array patterns on all sides of the valley suddenly lit up with a faint light, and the space slightly distorted, forming an invisible cage.

At the same time, two blazing beams of light shot out from the depths of the valley and instantly landed in front of the shopkeeper, revealing his figure.

The newcomers were two burly, ferocious-looking cultivators. One had a scarred face, while the other had a pair of triangular eyes. Both were dressed in dark red tight-fitting clothes, and their bodies were shrouded in a murderous aura, indicating that they had killed many people. Judging from their cultivation level, they were both at the mid-stage of the Cave Heaven realm.

The moment the two appeared, their eyes were fixed on Jing Yu and Guo Tingshu, as if they were looking at two lambs to the slaughter, making no attempt to hide their malice and murderous intent.

"My lords, it's these two blind fools who saw through my trickery and won't let it go."

The shopkeeper pointed at Jing Yu and his companion, his tone both obsequious and provocative: "We urge you two gentlemen to clean them up. As per the old rules, you two will take the lion's share of the treasures and spiritual resources on them!"

The scarred-faced cultivator licked his lips, chuckled, and said in a hoarse voice, "Two early-stage Cave Heaven cultivators? Not bad. Kid, it's just that you have too good eyesight but bad luck."

The cultivator with the triangular eyes said in a sinister tone, "Scarface, stop talking nonsense and get rid of him as soon as possible, lest things get complicated."

The two were clearly used to committing murder and robbery. They worked together seamlessly, and before the words were even finished, they had already launched their attack simultaneously!

The scarred-faced cultivator let out a low roar, his body surging with blood-red light. His right fist condensed into a hideous crimson ghost head phantom, emitting a shrill shriek as it lunged straight at Guo Tingshu's face.

This supernatural power looks ruthless, not only is its force fierce, but it also contains filthy blood energy that corrodes the body, making it an authentic demonic supernatural power.

The triangular-eyed cultivator circled to the side, making a grasping motion with one hand. A huge, eerie green claw appeared in the sky, hissing softly, clearly containing potent poison, and aimed directly at Guo Tingshu, who was blocking his way.

The two men, one in front and one on the side, one fierce and the other insidious, worked together seamlessly, instantly sealing off all of Guo Tingshu's escape routes. Their killing intent was chilling and unrestrained.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Guo Tingshu simply stood quietly in place. Faced with this combined attack, which was enough to kill an ordinary early-stage cultivator of the Cave Heaven Realm, there was no panic on his face, only a faint, almost pitying, helplessness.

He sighed softly.

Just before the crimson demon head and the eerie green venomous claws were about to touch his body—

"Fuck!"

On Guo Tingshu's body surface, there was no sign of any true essence erupting, but suddenly two completely different bolts of lightning burst forth!

A dazzling white light, as radiant as the sun, filled with pure yang energy that could ward off evil and cleanse the universe!

A dark and deep abyss, as black as ink, yet exuding an aura of utter yin and gentleness that annihilates life!

The two bolts of lightning, one white and one black, were not activated by him, but seemed to leap out of his body "naturally." Their timing was perfect, arriving first even though they came later, and precisely met the crimson ghost head and the eerie green poisonous claws.

The terrifying crimson ghost head, upon being touched by the white yang lightning, was completely devoured and purified by the pure yang lightning, along with the scarred-faced cultivator behind it, before it could even utter a scream.

The scarred-faced cultivator only had time to reveal a hint of utter horror before his entire body, along with his inner cave, disintegrated inch by inch in the blazing white lightning, turning into the finest ashes, leaving not even a trace of his remnant soul behind.

On the other side, pitch-black thunder silently swept over the eerie green claws.

The foul-smelling, highly poisonous claws instantly froze and stiffened, then shattered into black ice crystals.

The venomous monk's sinister expression was instantly replaced by boundless fear. He wanted to escape, but found that even his thoughts seemed to be frozen by the chilling lightning.

Black lightning spread upwards, and wherever it passed, his physical body, magical power, and even his soul and consciousness were quickly "extinguished" and completely returned to nothingness, leaving not a trace.

In the valley, the fierce killing intent and violent spiritual energy fluctuations suddenly disappeared.

Only two faint, rapidly dissipating afterimages of thunder remained.

The shopkeeper's sinister smile froze completely, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, trembling uncontrollably.

He opened his mouth wide, but could not utter a sound. He could only watch helplessly as the two powerful mid-stage Cave Heaven cultivators in his eyes disappeared from the world like stains that had been wiped away.

"Two...two distinguished guests..."

He was greeted by a hazy, gray light.

With a mere flick of his Xuan Guang, the Nascent Soul Manager was instantly reduced to nothingness.

Guo Tingshu stood there, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, it all turned into a sigh.

Jing Yu, who had just killed the Nascent Soul cultivator, twitched his lips and looked at Guo Tingshu with a sneer:

"Big Fool Tree, have you lost your mind? You can clearly hear that this person has bad intentions and is thinking of killing and robbing, so why do you still obediently follow him into the trap?"

Faced with Jing Yu's somewhat sarcastic questioning, Guo Tingshu remained calm, though a touch of solemnity appeared between his brows.

He said helplessly:

"That shopkeeper did indeed have evil intentions; that's for sure."

"When evil thoughts arise, it may just be a momentary act of greed. When evil thoughts disappear, a sliver of conscience may lead to self-reflection. There is a vast chasm between the arising of evil thoughts and the actual act of killing."

"Some people cross the cliff by a moment's hesitation, while others pull back when they reach the edge."

Guo Tingshu paused, his voice lowering slightly:

"The shopkeeper led us into the trap, and I kept reminding him along the way, hoping that he would suddenly realize his mistake at the last moment. Even if his evil thoughts were burning like oil on a raging fire, as long as that hand has not been truly raised and that knife has not been truly brought down, I cannot be sure that he will kill someone."

"If we strike first now, wouldn't we be punishing this person for a crime they didn't commit?"