Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Sure enough, in an instant, the crowd that had been mobbing Zhao Yu scattered like startled birds.
Once the crowd dispersed, panic-stricken expressions surfaced on the faces of many people.
And upon closer inspection, those who hadn't known what was going on were thoroughly shocked.
Zhao Yu lay on the ground, stripped of all clothing,***, his face bruised and swollen, covered in blood — he was dead.
"How… how did this happen? He's… he's dead just like that?"
Many of those who had beaten Zhao Yu were terrified. They clearly hadn't hit that hard, and Zhao Yu was a sixth-grade Martial Emperor after all — how could he have died so easily?
Of course, they had no idea that despite Zhao Yu's outwardly unremarkable appearance, he had actually been gravely injured. Even a first-grade Martial Emperor's blows would have been too much for him to endure, let alone the fact that among those who had attacked him were third-grade, fourth-grade, and even sixth-grade Martial Emperors.
Facing such a brutal beating from so many people, there was no way Zhao Yu could have survived. It would have been strange if he hadn't died.
However, at this moment, Chu Feng let out a cold smile. The truth was… he had already restrained Zhao Yu and could have easily made him commit suicide in public. But Chu Feng hadn't done that — he had wanted Zhao Yu to be beaten to death by the crowd.
With Zhao Yu dying under everyone's watchful eyes like this, it would not only free Chu Feng from responsibility, but also make enemies of the Heavenly Dao Palace. After all, the old monsters who had attacked Zhao Yu were a force not to be underestimated.
They were formidable in their own right, and their lifespans were nearing their end — with death not far off, they had nothing to fear.
And who was the most dangerous? Those who feared nothing were the most dangerous.
"Who did it?! Who killed our Heavenly Dao Palace's elder?!"
At that moment, a Heavenly Dao Palace elder suddenly bellowed. No matter what, Zhao Yu had been their presiding elder, and having a presiding elder beaten to death — there was absolutely no way they could simply let it go.
But the strongest elder present from the Heavenly Dao Palace, Elder Yue Ling, remained silent. He was still seething over the humiliation Zhao Yu had subjected him to earlier.
Of course… he had no idea that those words hadn't been spoken by Zhao Yu at all, but by Chu Feng.
If he knew the truth, he would probably be even angrier — but unfortunately, he would never learn it.
"Hmph, he was so greedy, eating over a thousand peaches by himself. Even his death is well deserved."
"Exactly. An ordinary person would die from eating just ten peaches, and he ate over a thousand. It'd be stranger if he didn't die. In my opinion, he wasn't beaten to death — he was poisoned to death by the peaches."
"That's right. No matter what map there might be, no single person could possibly eat over a thousand peaches. And everyone saw it — from the moment we first laid eyes on Zhao Yu, he was arrogant and irrational, completely out of his mind. He was already poisoned by then, just hadn't died yet."
In an instant, everyone who had previously laid hands on Zhao Yu began shifting the blame, dumping Zhao Yu's death squarely on the fact that he had eaten over a thousand peaches.
And at that point, the Heavenly Dao Palace had no recourse. Nearly every powerful figure present had struck Zhao Yu at least once — if they tried to hold anyone accountable, they'd never get through them all and would only end up offending them all. There was really no point in making so many old monsters their enemies over someone already dead.
The Heavenly Dao Palace was completely at a loss for what to do.
"Serves him right. Dead… dead and buried is where he belongs." At this moment, Wang Qiang spat on the ground, utterly delighted by Zhao Yu's death.
"What did you say?!" Upon hearing this, the already frustrated members of the Heavenly Dao Palace turned their furious gazes toward Wang Qiang.