Chapter 665: Greedy Heart Never Dies

Xie Juncong's heart and gallbladder had been removed by He Jiaqing, yet he was still alive. He Jiaqing kept him barely clinging to life, forcing him to watch as over twenty members of the Ghost Hand Sect were killed.

These twenty-plus individuals were not ordinary gang members; they were the Ghost Hand Sect's strongest fighters, its very foundation and backbone. Now, these same twenty-plus people had instantly become corpses strewn across the floor beneath the conference table, but Xie Juncong couldn't even be bothered to glance at them.

He Jiaqing leaned close to Xie Juncong's ear and whispered, "Old Xie, the Ghost Hand Sect is finished just like that. Don't you feel any heartache?"

Xie Juncong didn't want to hear He Jiaqing speak. All he could think about now was how to save himself. Even with his heart and gallbladder gone, as long as Xie Juncong had a breath left, he would find a way to survive.

He Jiaqing placed Xie Juncong in a chair in the conference room and chuckled, "Back then, you tricked many young cultivators from the Dao Sect to join Laughing Thousand Hands, transforming living people into his literal hands. You committed so many heinous acts for Laughing Thousand Hands, wasn't it all to protect the Ghost Hand Sect? Now that the Ghost Hand Sect is gone, what's the point of you living?"

"How can you say it's pointless?" Laughing Thousand Hands' voice echoed into the conference room.

He Jiaqing stood up.

Laughing Thousand Hands slowly appeared beside Xie Juncong and inserted a heart into Xie Juncong's body from his back. He Jiaqing looked down and realized the heart in his hand was gone. Xie Juncong gasped for a moment and then slowly began to recover.

What kind of technique was this? He Jiaqing wasn't surprised that Laughing Thousand Hands could steal Xie Juncong's heart back. But when Xie Juncong's heart was stolen by He Jiaqing, its blood vessels were severed. Could Laughing Thousand Hands somehow reattach those vessels for Xie Juncong?

Laughing Thousand Hands walked through the conference room, looking at the corpses on the floor, and sighed, "Old Xie, this person, his talent is lacking, and his actions are ineffective. To say he's loyal is pure nonsense. Loyal to whom? To me? Or to the Ghost Hand Sect? It's all absurd. There's no one in this world truly loyal to the Ghost Hand Sect.

In Puluo Province, if someone cuts down a Three Heroes Sect disciple, even an ordinary grunt, by the next day, the Three Heroes Sect's Bronze Seal will surely lead people to seek revenge. Have you ever seen anyone in the Ghost Hand Sect avenge a fellow member? Junior pincer steals things to honor senior pincer, senior pincer steals things to honor elder pincer. If you don't offer tribute, they'll trip you up tomorrow, and attack you the day after.

The Ghost Hand Sect is a bunch like that. No one helps their peers; they are all harmful to each other. Who could care about such a gang? Who could feel for them? They squat under this eaves just to live well and enjoy life. If they can't even live, how could Old Xie still care about the Ghost Hand Sect?"

He Jiaqing nodded and said, "Ancestor, you speak well. Since the Ghost Hand Sect is useless, and you don't care that I destroyed them, why did you still come here to save them?"

"I never intended to save them. I came here purely for you!" Laughing Thousand Hands smiled. "Little rascal, to draw you out, I was willing to sacrifice the entire Ghost Hand Sect. Isn't that a big enough gesture?"

He Jiaqing shook his head and said, "How is this a gesture for me? Ancestor, you've honored us with your presence. Wasn't it for the introductory medicinal powder formula?"

Laughing Thousand Hands shook his head repeatedly. "Little rascal, your tricks might fool Xie Juncong, but they can't fool me. You think if I give you a steel-reinforced bamboo, you can decipher the formula? If the formula were that easy to obtain, would the Peddler have put so much effort into it back then? You used this trick to lure out the Ghost Hand Sect, and then use the Ghost Hand Sect to lure me out. I'm fulfilling your wish now; I'm here. See, my sincerity is enough, isn't it? Come with me!"

He Jiaqing frowned, "You're that determined to turn me into your hand?"

Laughing Thousand Hands nodded sincerely. "I do. I truly do. I've taken so many disciples, but none of them are as useful as you!"

He Jiaqing lit a cigarette and took a puff. "So much time has passed. You must have acquired quite a few hands by now, right?"

Laughing Thousand Hands rotated his wrist. "Indeed, I've found quite a few. Some hands are quite useful, but there's always a slight discomfort using them because their bloodline isn't the same as mine."

He Jiaqing chuckled. "Ancestor, never mind the bloodline. Just make do with what you have. My life isn't easy for you to take. If you keep pursuing this, I fear your old life might not be safe either."

Laughing Thousand Hands burst into laughter. "Rascal, you talk a big game, but you're incompetent. You want to take my life? I'm right here. Take it. Do you dare to make a move?"

With that, Laughing Thousand Hands calmly watched He Jiaqing. He Jiaqing said nothing.

Laughing Thousand Hands chuckled and sighed. "Rascal, are you scared? I value your talent, but I truly despise your nature. You ask why you chose the Rogue Cultivation path? Because you're greedy. There's no thief in this world who isn't greedy. But you don't understand what greed truly is. Protecting your He family's capital, is that greed? Using your cunning to bring down the Lu family, is that greed? Establishing the Brotherhood Alliance and running many businesses in Puluo Province, do you think that's greed? Being a thief isn't that simple. You're far from it."

He Jiaqing earnestly asked, "Ancestor, please tell your disciple, how exactly should one be greedy, how exactly should one be a thief?"

Laughing Thousand Hands pulled up a chair and sat opposite He Jiaqing. "It's rare for us two to gather like this. I'll tell you what greed is, and what a thief is. In Puluo Province, there aren't many people older than the Peddler. I'm one of them. When the Peddler first established the Dao Sect, the first path was the Food Cultivation, because people need to eat. The second path was the Joy Cultivation, because once people are full, they need to do proper business. The third path is our Rogue Cultivation. Do you know why?"

He Jiaqing pondered for a moment, then slightly shook his head.

Laughing Thousand Hands explained, "Because our Dao Sect has many members, and because people in this world are very greedy. When they see others having food and work, but don't want to earn it themselves, they'll think about stealing! Our Dao Sect disciples are all over the world. You don't necessarily have to apply medicinal powder, join the Dao Sect, and pickpocket on the street to be called a Rogue Cultivation disciple. Workers cutting corners, that's Rogue Cultivation. Officials embezzling funds, that's even more Rogue Cultivation. Merchants squeezing sellers first, then deceiving buyers, profiting from both ends—those are the pinnacles of our Rogue Cultivation. What benefits has the Defense Office sent from other provinces brought to Puluo Province over the years? Yet they collect a full bowl and overflowing ladle here in Puluo Province—that's an example of Rogue Cultivation.

Rascal, you say you're greedy, but what have you been greedy for? I told you to go steal a medicinal powder formula from the Peddler, and you cowered, not daring to act. Ai Qiandao told you to steal some boundary-breaking methods from Zhou Badou, and it scared you out of your wits, making you intentionally cause a huge commotion, all just to create an opportunity to escape for yourself. Granny Ku and Old Locomotive wanted you to steal the position of Puluo Master, and the path was laid out for you, but you didn't dare to walk it. You have the heart of a thief, but no courage. What great things can you accomplish? I truly can't understand why they value you. You must still have many useful things on you that I haven't discovered yet."

He Jiaqing also pulled up a chair and sat down. "No wonder Ancestor values me so much; it turns out you think I'm still useful. But Ancestor shouldn't look down on me so much. I am indeed timid, perhaps because I value my life too much."

Laughing Thousand Hands chuckled twice. "I also value my life. Valuing life itself isn't wrong, but if you only think about preserving your life and dare not do anything, then what's the point of living? After finishing a task, if we win, we can enjoy the blessings; if we lose, we can endure the suffering. Only then are we worthy of the Rogue Cultivation realm.

Your ancestor here, I've never held back when I wanted something. The Peddler hit me three times, and each time he struck to kill. You should know what kind of person the Peddler is. No one in Puluo Province can withstand his methods, yet did he kill me? I escaped death from his hands three times. Just ask who else in Puluo Province can do that? The Foolish City Lord, Sun Tiecheng, is a ruthless man—vicious in his methods and dark in his thoughts. Innumerable masters have died at his hands. You ask how many people in Puluo Province dare to cross him? I dare! I've stolen from him five times, succeeded three times, and been caught twice. One of those times, I truly almost died at his hands, but I was just a hair's breadth away; I still didn't die.

Old Xu, the Metal Cultivator, seems honest, but he's kind-faced and cruel-hearted. How many important figures has he killed with a spoon and a bucket? But I'm not afraid of him; I still steal from him without fail. When Madman Locomotive goes berserk, mountains shake and the earth trembles. Even the Peddler sometimes has to hide from him. But I don't hide; I've collected many good things from him. The Heavenly Man dares to contend with the Peddler, and I've also managed to 'acquire' many good things from the Heavenly Man.

I've stolen from every prominent figure in Puluo Province. As long as they can't kill me, when we meet again in a few days, I'll still dare to look for treasures on them! That's what greed is. Do you understand now?"

As he spoke, the cigarette was finished, and the ring on He Jiaqing's finger turned halfway.

"I don't understand, Ancestor. I truly don't understand why you like to gamble with your life so much. Is your life worthless?"

Laughing Thousand Hands burst into laughter. "Because I'm a thief! All thieves are like this: they remember what they gain, but not the blows they take! That's the essence of our Dao Sect!"

He Jiaqing also smiled. "Ancestor is right. I truly admire you."

As he spoke, the ring on his finger turned another half circle.

Laughing Thousand Hands stood up and said, "It's not just you who admires me; many people in Puluo Province admire me. Take Granny Ku, for instance; she possesses the Heavenly Convergence technique, which is quite remarkable, yet she has also suffered losses against me. Granny Ku, step out and speak fairly. I haven't lied about this, have I?"

He knew Granny Ku was there!

The moment he finished speaking, Laughing Thousand Hands lunged at He Jiaqing. Back then, Laughing Thousand Hands only had his two original hands, and he had reservations when attacking, so He Jiaqing was actually able to dodge him. But now that Laughing Thousand Hands had many hands, he attacked without restraint, so fast that He Jiaqing couldn't even see afterimages, only barely dodging relying on his Rogue Cultivation foundation.

After more than a dozen moves, Laughing Thousand Hands forced He Jiaqing into a desperate situation. The slowly congealing blood on the ground stuck to the soles of He Jiaqing's shoes. As He Jiaqing was about to fall, Laughing Thousand Hands didn't rush to take his life but instead took the ring from his hand.

"Little rascal, trying to outsmart your ancestor, afraid you couldn't lure me out, so you hid Granny Ku in the Quick-sand Land," Laughing Thousand Hands said, holding He Jiaqing's ring and examining its mechanism. He guessed correctly. In Puluo Province, "Quick-sand Land" referred to a hidden dimension. Fearing that Laughing Thousand Hands wouldn't come, Granny Ku had indeed hidden herself in a hidden dimension, but she hadn't expected Laughing Thousand Hands to have the eyesight to see through it.

Laughing Thousand Hands said to He Jiaqing, "This Quick-sand Land is slightly inferior to the Unnamed Place. If it were the Unnamed Place, I truly wouldn't be able to find her. But for Quick-sand Land, I can still discern many traces. This Quick-sand Land has a lock on its door. Now that you don't have the mechanism, let's see how Granny Ku gets out!"

Laughing Thousand Hands had guessed everything correctly. This hidden dimension within the film company had a natural lock that could only be opened from the outside using a mechanism, which involved turning the ring three times. Now He Jiaqing's ring had only been turned twice before Laughing Thousand Hands took it. What could be done?

Laughing Thousand Hands charged at He Jiaqing again.

Qian Sangxue, sitting by the conference table, gripped a ring and turned it three times. Just as Laughing Thousand Hands' fingertips were about to touch He Jiaqing, Granny Ku suddenly appeared and tore off a piece of her right thumbnail. Seeing this piece of nail, Laughing Thousand Hands quickly retracted his hand, but it was too late. His fingertips burst, blood gushing out. The flesh of his right hand rapidly peeled away, starting from his index finger and spreading to his wrist, causing unbearable pain. The agony made Laughing Thousand Hands tremble.

Laughing Thousand Hands unhesitatingly chopped off the hand. Since it wasn't his original body's hand, he didn't feel much regret. But he was very curious about one thing: how had Granny Ku gotten out?

"Because of you?" Laughing Thousand Hands looked at Qian Sangxue, stole her ring, but Qian Sangxue remained expressionless. "Impossible, that thing on your hand doesn't look like a mechanism!" Laughing Thousand Hands meticulously examined Qian Sangxue's ring, convinced it was just ordinary jewelry. This time, he was mistaken. He Jiaqing had made more than one key; he carried one himself, and Qian Sangxue also had one.

He Jiaqing said, "Ancestor, you once said that you looked down on all my other methods, but you found the way I made this ring passable."

Laughing Thousand Hands leaped, seemingly intending to escape. Granny Ku stabbed herself in the leg, and Laughing Thousand Hands' right lower leg detached from his knee.

"Granny Ku, you are truly ruthless!" Laughing Thousand Hands extended his foot and kicked the detached leg towards He Jiaqing. The severed leg opened its five digits in mid-air, transforming into a hand, which directly clawed at He Jiaqing's face.

How could a leg turn into a hand? Rogue Cultivation technique: "Stealing Beams and Replacing Pillars." Laughing Thousand Hands was too fast; He Jiaqing didn't even see the timing of his attack.

He Jiaqing used his folding fan to shred the severed hand. Laughing Thousand Hands' fingertips trembled, and he moved to pluck He Jiaqing's heart and liver again. Granny Ku traced her fingertip across her arm, and the flesh of Laughing Thousand Hands' right hand peeled away, leaving only white bone. Granny Ku traced her fingertip across her cheek, and Laughing Thousand Hands' facial skin peeled off, revealing his skull. Granny Ku then traced her fingertip across her forehead, and Laughing Thousand Hands' skull cap lifted, but no brain matter was revealed. Hidden within Laughing Thousand Hands' skull was a hand. This hand leaped out of the skull to grab He Jiaqing.

Laughing Thousand Hands' entire being scattered onto the ground, with hundreds of hands crawling everywhere, besieging only He Jiaqing, but not harming Granny Ku in the slightest.

"Don't always pick on the youngster, Old Pincer Xiao. Show me what you've got!" Granny Ku sensed Laughing Thousand Hands' location and poked herself in the eye.

"What's the point of going after you? You have the Heavenly Convergence technique; the more you suffer, the stronger you become. Attacking you is just bringing trouble upon myself." Laughing Thousand Hands, squatting on the chandelier, had an eyeball fall from its socket. This eyeball also transformed into a hand and scuttled over to grab He Jiaqing.

"To use 'Stealing Beams and Replacing Pillars' to this extent, you're probably the only one in this world!" Granny Ku exclaimed, pulling out a bitter vegetable from her pocket, putting it in her mouth, and chewing twice.

With just those two chews, Granny Ku vomited. This vegetable was meticulously cultivated by her, and it was indeed too bitter. Granny Ku experienced one part of the bitterness, but Laughing Thousand Hands' suffering was amplified, feeling three parts of it. He couldn't help but vomit by the wall, unable to straighten up for a long time.

He Jiaqing seized the opportunity to grope Laughing Thousand Hands' body and pulled out half of a lung from Laughing Thousand Hands' back. With "Plucking Heart and Taking Gallbladder," he could extract more than just hearts and gallbladders; He Jiaqing could steal any internal organ through the flesh.

After pulling out one lung, He Jiaqing prepared to extract the remaining half. Just as he was about to act, He Jiaqing's brows relaxed, his body loosened, and he couldn't help but let out a laugh. With his laugh, his technique slowed slightly. What he pulled out of Laughing Thousand Hands' body was not a lung, but a hand. This hand tightly gripped He Jiaqing's hand, and with a forceful pull, extracted the tendons from He Jiaqing's hand. He Jiaqing's right hand immediately went limp, dangling like a noodle.

"Alright, stealing one of your tendons today is enough to break even!" Laughing Thousand Hands leaped onto the wall, intending to escape, but suddenly saw an incision open on his stomach. Laughing Thousand Hands looked at Granny Ku, who held a knife and stabbed it into her own stomach.

Laughing Thousand Hands spat out a mouthful of blood, then turned back to Granny Ku and said, "Granny Ku, are you really that ruthless? Is it necessary?"

Granny Ku chuckled, "I'd like to ask you, is it necessary? Is it necessary to take such a huge risk for one He Jiaqing?"

Laughing Thousand Hands sighed, "I just wanted to test how useful a person favored by you and Old Locomotive truly is."

Granny Ku shook her head, "Unfortunately, you won't need to."

Laughing Thousand Hands wanted to gamble one more time; he wanted to find a hand to replace himself. But in intense pain, he found it difficult to perform his technique. He intentionally leaned back and sighed deeply, as if utterly despairing, then burst into laughter, hoping to make Granny Ku laugh along with him. For some inexplicable twist of fate, two candles fell from the chandelier above, and one of them landed directly in Laughing Thousand Hands' mouth.

Fortune Cultivation technique: "Sudden Disaster and Fortune."

Laughing Thousand Hands choked on the candle, his laughter abruptly stopping, unable to use his Laughing Cultivation technique. Granny Ku picked up the other candle and inserted it into her own stomach, setting all her internal organs ablaze.

"What a Granny Ku!" Laughing Thousand Hands exclaimed with a sigh, then burst into flames and was reduced to ashes.

He Jiaqing exhaled a long breath, feeling a great weight lifted from his mind, and turned to bow in thanks to Granny Ku.

Granny Ku chuckled, "Not bad. Today, you truly dared to act, letting me see some of your abilities. I ask you, what do you intend to do at the Soda Kiln?"

He Jiaqing replied, "There's an entrance to the Inner Province there."

"What do you intend to do in the Inner Province?"

"I want to rescue Senior Locomotive."

Granny Ku stared closely at He Jiaqing. "Are those words true?"

He Jiaqing nodded. "Absolutely true."

"At least you still have some conscience," Granny Ku nodded, though she still found his words somewhat unbelievable.

Hands were scattered across the conference room floor. Granny Ku picked one up and examined it closely. "This hand is quite special, different from the others. It doesn't look like a living person's hand."

He Jiaqing scrutinized it for a moment and said, "This must have been made by an Artisan Cultivator."

"This doesn't seem like the craftsmanship of Puluo Province." Granny Ku removed the candle from her wound, then with a wave of her hand, burned all of Laughing Thousand Hands' scattered hands on the floor to ashes.

He Jiaqing felt a pang of regret; those hands would have been very useful to him.

Granny Ku asked He Jiaqing, "You took half of Laughing Thousand Hands' lung earlier. Where did you hide it?"

He Jiaqing flicked his sleeve, about to produce the lung, but Granny Ku waved her hand and said, "If you find it useful, keep it for yourself. What will you do about your right hand?"

He Jiaqing's right arm had its tendons extracted by Laughing Thousand Hands, making recovery quite difficult. The Peddler did have ointment for regrowing tendons, but He Jiaqing dared not seek him out. Granny Ku likely also had a solution, but her eccentric nature meant she might not be willing to help if directly asked.

There was another path, one He Jiaqing had taken before: "It seems I can only go to the Three-Headed Fork Intermittent Mountain and try my luck." He had grown back a severed hand by going to Three-Headed Fork previously. His words sounded quite pitiful, and He Jiaqing had hoped Granny Ku might offer to help him. To his surprise, Granny Ku said, "That's good too. A bit of experience at Three-Headed Fork might even lead to some improvement."

Granny Ku left, and He Jiaqing sighed repeatedly. After sighing, he had to quickly get to serious business.

The battle just now had been fierce, but the commotion was minimal, and no one else in the company building noticed. He Jiaqing lifted the barely conscious Xie Juncong. "Go back to the Ghost Hand Sect, call all the senior and junior pincers, and tell them the head has changed. It's now Qian Sangxue."

Xie Juncong nodded.

He Jiaqing added, "Once you're back, act immediately. Don't wander around. Wherever you go, I'll find you."

Xie Juncong laboriously stood up and walked out of the film company. The two lookouts, one by the door and one by the roadside, were still standing outside. Seeing their boss emerge, the two men rushed forward. "Boss, was it handled?"

"Yes," Xie Juncong nodded slightly.

"Boss, where are the other brothers?"

Xie Juncong waved his hand, signaling them not to ask further. Seeing Xie Juncong struggling to walk, the two lookouts quickly helped him back to the Ghost Hand Sect's old lair.

He Jiaqing escorted Qian Sangxue back to her bedroom, then returned to the conference room to move the bodies of the Rogue Cultivators back to his own bedroom. After cleaning the conference room, He Jiaqing returned to his bedroom and placed half of Laughing Thousand Hands' lung on the table. He put on a forward cap, pulled a wire from it, and connected it to a storage battery. He then took a magnet and held it in his mouth.

With everything ready, He Jiaqing turned on the switch on the forward cap, and his body began to convulse violently. Ten minutes later, He Jiaqing turned off the switch, spat out the magnet, and coughed on the floor for a long time. Laughing Thousand Hands' lung was gone, whereabouts unknown. He Jiaqing lay on the ground, coughing for a while longer, and coughed up two Profound Essence Pills.

"Good stuff, really good stuff!" He Jiaqing exclaimed with a sigh and walked towards the corpse of a Rogue Cultivator. In He Jiaqing's impression, this Rogue Cultivator's cultivation was not low. While refining Profound Essence Pills was impossible for him, crafting a few Golden Essence Pills should be easily within his grasp.

Xie Juncong returned to the Ghost Hand Sect's old residence, rested for a moment, then arranged for people to quickly prepare a banquet. He was going to yield the Sect Master position to Qian Sangxue. He couldn't be vague about this matter; he knew his life was in He Jiaqing's hands.

The two lookouts, tired from guarding all night, went home to rest. The one who had been guarding the door arrived at his dwelling. As soon as he lay down, he suddenly felt an itch on his scalp. He scratched twice, and suddenly his scalp split open. A hand emerged from inside his skull.