On the ground, Xiao Hu carefully observed Meng Hao. In his youth, he was naive and innocent, but after joining the Reliance Sect, and experiencing many unimaginable hardships, his heart had become as hard as iron. Especially after leaving the Reliance Sect, the number of people who had died by his hand was not small.
At this moment, staring into Meng Hao's eyes, Xiao Hu gradually understood that the other party truly did not know about recent events.
"Currently, the entire Cultivation World of this Zhao Kingdom is searching for Senior Brother Meng. The three great sects have jointly issued a bounty, and many cultivators have split up to search for you," Xiao Hu hesitated, then slowly said.
Meng Hao's expression remained unchanged, showing no discernible shift. He stood in mid-air, looking down at Xiao Hu, not uttering a single word.
"The bounty from the three great sects isn't to kill Senior Brother Meng. They have a special request: you can be crippled, you can be injured, but you must not die." Xiao Hu continued to stare at Meng Hao's face, his thoughts unknown, as he slowly spoke.
"If you continue to spout nonsense, don't blame me for not remembering our past sentiments." Meng Hao's expression remained the same, he merely spoke these words indifferently.
These words, falling into Xiao Hu's ears, caused him to retreat two steps, his expression changing, as he suddenly spoke.
"Does Senior Brother Meng still remember Martial Uncle Shangguan from our sect? Two months ago, he surrounded three counties below Mount Daqing, setting up the most horrific grand formation in the mortal world, intending to refine the mortals in those three counties alive to forge Foundation Establishment Blood Pills. This matter has been ongoing for two months. My appearance here is also because I wanted to rush to Mount Daqing. My cultivation is no match for Shangguan Tu, I only want to rescue my parents!"
As Xiao Hu spoke, his hands were tightly clenched.
Hearing this, Meng Hao was stunned, but immediately thereafter, a surge of anger suddenly erupted from the depths of his heart, his mind roared, causing his entire being to radiate an uncontrollable, intense killing intent. He immediately understood that this Shangguan Tu was not after any blood pills, but wanted to lure him out.
His expression darkened to the extreme.
"This matter involves the mortals of three counties. Shangguan Tu did such a thing, and yet no one in the Cultivation World of this Zhao Kingdom stopped him? They even believed those words about Foundation Establishment?" Meng Hao coldly enunciated each word.
"It is rumored that Shangguan Tu is about to reach Foundation Establishment, so he is using the lives of the common people in the three counties of Mount Daqing, where auspicious signs were rumored to have appeared before, to refine Blood Soul Pills.
If it were in the past, the three great sects would absolutely not have allowed this to happen, but now the three great sects covet the secluded cultivation spot of the Old Ancestor of Reliance Mountain, searching all over Zhao Kingdom for Senior Brother, having no time to manage this matter, nor wanting to add more trouble. Moreover, this Shangguan Tu is not an ordinary individual; I have investigated, and he is a descendant of the Tianhe Pavilion. And I once heard that the three great sects actually intervened, but in the end, for some unknown reason, they stopped paying attention."
Meng Hao was silent. A moment later, he smiled, but that smile was as cold as ice. A wave of killing intent, which Meng Hao felt surpassed the killing intent he had when he wanted to kill Wang Tengfei, or when he wanted to kill Ding Xin, surged forth. But under his control, this killing intent quickly condensed, becoming dense, causing the Dan Sea within Meng Hao's body to roar. This intense feeling had truly never occurred in his twenty-one years of life.
Shangguan Xiu suddenly turned around and looked towards Mount Daqing. He flicked his right sleeve. Xiao Hu’s expression immediately changed, and his body uncontrollably flew up, landing on Meng Hao’s treasured fan.
“Senior Brother Meng, what is the meaning of this?” Xiao Hu asked urgently, his breathing ragged.
“I’m taking you to Mount Daqing. If what you said is true, then so be it. But if it’s false, then from now on, you won’t have to worry about others coveting your treasures.” Meng Hao said, and the treasured fan quickly flew away.
Xiao Hu remained silent, standing on Meng Hao’s treasured fan, his eyes filled with a complex expression. But that complexity quickly vanished, replaced by determination.
Not long after, Mount Daqing appeared in sight. Meng Hao did not immediately descend; instead, the treasured fan flashed with light and landed on the ground. At this moment, the entire sky and land ahead were covered by a pale red halo. Outside this halo, it seemed that every thousand li, a black-robed cultivator sat cross-legged.
There were more than ten of these cultivators, seemingly acting as formation flags for a grand formation, encircling Mount Daqing and the three counties within it.
From a distance, it could be seen that someone was sitting cross-legged on Mount Daqing.
It was even clearer that the three counties at the foot of the mountain were completely silent, with streaks of bloody qi emanating from them.
The killing intent in Meng Hao’s eyes grew stronger. He took a deep breath and untied Xiao Hu.
“When I call your name, you must act.” Meng Hao said slowly, then began to walk. In the wind, his silhouette looked desolate, yet utterly cold, as if icy qi was emanating from him.
“Wang Youcai isn’t dead.” Xiao Hu suddenly said. Meng Hao, however, paid no attention and quickened his pace.
Xiao Hu watched Meng Hao disappear, then silently sat down cross-legged, sighing inwardly. He had not only investigated Shangguan Xiu but also Meng Hao, knowing that Meng Hao had no relatives in Yun Jie County and that Shangguan Xiu had set up the blood formation here because of Meng Hao.
“Senior Brother Meng, I want to rescue my parents. If you can survive this time, then in the future, I, Xiao Hu, will owe you a favor.” Xiao Hu quietly raised his head, his eyes full of complexity.
Meng Hao quickly rushed towards the bloody halo. Xiao Hu’s cunning was good, and his demeanor was good; he seemed to show no flaws. But after all, Xiao Hu was still too young, and Meng Hao had been intelligent since childhood. Although he lacked scholarly talent, his mind had experienced what happened at the Mount Echelon Sect and many other events. How could he not realize the other party’s objective?
But he could not help but go. That place was Yun Jie County. Even though he no longer had relatives there, it was his home, his childhood memories, a beautiful place in his life.
And at this moment, Shangguan Xiu was so utterly heartless. It was as if everything had touched Meng Hao’s reverse scale. He truly wanted to kill Shangguan Xiu, to the extreme.
Even if this journey was fraught with mortal danger, even if he knew it was Shangguan Xiu’s trap, Meng Hao understood that a man in this world has some things that, even knowing they are perilous, he must still do.
If he were afraid, if he hesitated, he would not be worthy of being a man in this life.
His killing intent had never been as fierce as it was today, and his murderous heart had never been as world-shaking as it was now. It was not something that could be dispelled by killing just one person; he had to kill all those who had set up this bloody formation to vent it all.
“I, Meng Hao, have cultivated until now and have personally killed fewer than ten people. It’s not that I can’t kill; it’s that I don’t want to kill.”