It was obvious that since this woman was willing to pay such a high price, the 'egg' she spoke of must be an extremely important treasure, perhaps even one that the Immortal Sect itself needed.
Influenced by the resentment in his mind, Feng Yang needed to kill the man from the Immortal Sect as soon as possible to survive. The Zhu family's 'egg' might be the key to making contact with the Immortal Sect.
Although he had initially planned to sneak out of the Zhu residence for fear of the earthworms, Feng Yang decided to stay after realizing the 'egg's' importance. Although he has no idea what the hell this egg is.
He continued to observe the situation below.
Despite the woman's promise to 'bring the person to the Immortal Sect,' no one present stepped forward with an answer. Feng Yang guessed that everyone in the Zhu residence, including Zhu Hao, genuinely didn't know the 'egg's' whereabouts.
After all, Zhu Hao's father, the wealthy merchant, had been killed right before Feng Yang's eyes, likely without a chance for final words.
Seeing that she couldn't learn the 'egg's' location, a ruthless look flashed across the woman's face.
She let out another strange cry.
Upon hearing it, the earthworms around them began crawling wildly across the ground. The insects moved swiftly, and within mere dozens of seconds, they had overwhelmed nearly half of the people in the courtyard.
As the slaughter expanded, a servant from the Zhu household finally intervened.
It was unclear where the servant had obtained a long knife, but with two light swings, he cleanly sliced an earthworm in half as it lunged at him.
The woman's eyes showed surprise. "Hmm? You... you've already reached the 'Transformation Realm'?" she asked.
For a servant to possess the strength of a Transformation Realm martial artist was highly unusual. Even a struggling martial artist at that level wouldn't work as a mere servant, unless they had ulterior motives.
Watching this, Feng Yang realized the Immortal Sect wasn't the only force hiding in the Zhu mansion searching for the 'egg.'
Once the Transformation Realm martial artist was exposed, almost all the earthworms crawled toward him. The woman, no fool, knew she had to deal with this new threat first.
The martial artist, adept at assessing situations, tried to reason with her: "Wait a minute! You don't need to deal with me now, do you? I haven't affected you in any way!"
The woman remained silent, continuing to direct the earthworms to close in on him.
Growing desperate, the martial artist spoke rapidly, "You really don't need to do this. I give up, let me go, and I'll help you find that 'egg,' okay?"
Even with his pleading, the woman remained unmoved.
As the earthworms drew nearer, the martial artist's face hardened with resolve. Brandishing his long sword, he shouted, "Even if I die, I won't let you get away with this!"
Then, he suddenly leaped toward the courtyard wall, intending to escape.
This was a logical move for a Transformation Realm martial artist. Although the earthworms were troublesome in number, they couldn't stop him if he was determined to flee.
Yet, the woman showed no panic upon seeing him escape.
Feng Yang guessed she must have set a trap around the courtyard.
Sure enough, just as the martial artist was about to clear the wall, he shuddered violently in mid-air as if electrocuted. At that instant, a pale, transparent shield of light flickered around him.
Feng Yang was all too familiar with this white light barrier. Apart from himself, he had never seen anyone pass directly through one.
Unlike the barrier he had seen in Lingang Village, however, the one in the Zhu family compound seemed to be a one-time use item. After stopping the martial artist, it dimmed and soon vanished entirely.
Perhaps due to his Transformation Realm strength, the martial artist didn't die immediately upon contact with the barrier. He lay on the ground, convulsing from the electrocution, but his eyes remained open, he was still conscious.
Seizing the opportunity, the woman let out another long howl. Under her command, the nearby earthworms swarmed the injured martial artist.
Overwhelmed and unable to resist, he was quickly consumed by the swarm and fell silent.
With the expert dealt with, the woman turned her attention back to Zhu Hao and smiled coldly. "Well? It's been so long, have you made up your mind?"
"I really don't know where that 'egg' you're talking about is!" Zhu Hao replied, his face filled with despair.
The woman responded with a sharp whistle, and the earthworms surged into the crowd once more.
In an instant, the Zhu mansion's courtyard became a scene of carnage, blood and flesh flying everywhere. To ordinary people, the earthworms were like tigers among sheep. In a short time, eight or nine out of ten people present lay dead; the survivors were all Zhu Hao's blood relatives.
The gruesome deaths and the hellish scene deepened the despair on Zhu Hao's face.
In desperation, he drew a pitch-black, silkworm-cocoon-like object from his pocket.
"Is that thing the 'egg'?"
A hint of joy finally appeared on the woman's face. To avoid any accidents, she didn't rush to grab it but threatened him instead: "Throw that thing over here, and I'll let you go."
Zhu Hao, however, seemed not to hear her. As if making an agonizing decision, he closed his eyes, placed the 'egg' in his hand into his mouth, and swallowed it whole.