The deafening roar was like a bolt from the blue, shaking everyone on the street into a state of shock.
For a moment, the entire Ghost Market fell into an eerie silence.
The people kneeling on the street stared blankly at the 'Immortal' falling from the sky, seemingly unable to believe the scene before their eyes.
The Immortal Elder who was achieving Ascension was actually struck down by thunder... Could this be Heavenly Punishment?
This was certainly not Heavenly Punishment!
Su Wuming, who had been standing beside his cousin, saw clearly that what struck Yin Shilang down was the 'Truth' in his cousin's hand!
But with Su Wuming's current IQ, he still couldn't figure out why this thing possessed such power.
He only knew that Su Haoming had simply raised it, and a flash of fire erupted from the tip of the refined iron, striking down the so-called Immortal overhead like thunder!
Sensing the gazes of the people around him mixed with astonishment, shock, and awe, Su Haoming, who had been quite smug just moments ago, immediately began to regret it.
He had acted impulsively and fired at Yin Shilang; he felt satisfied, but the consequences that followed were no joke...
There was no choice; who told that guy to be so arrogant? And not only was he arrogant, but he was also floating about ten meters high, moving as slowly as a crawl—a perfect target. Anyone would have been unable to resist, right?
Su Haoming first comforted himself, then his mind raced as he thought about the next countermeasure.
The next second, he suddenly turned, knelt on the ground, spread his arms under his cousin Su Wuming's bewildered gaze, and shouted fanatically:
"The wicked Daoist is immoral, falsely claiming Ascension! The Immortal has manifested divine power and delivered Heavenly Punishment!"
"Older brother! General Lu! A true Immortal has manifested divine power!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the people on the street were drawn over.
"The Immortal has manifested divine power and delivered Heavenly Punishment!"
"The Immortal has manifested divine power! The Immortal has manifested divine power!"
The eyes of the crowd gradually grew fanatic, and they all got up, surging toward the residence, seemingly intending to enter and pay respects to the True Immortal.
They had just been kneeling and worshipping Yin Shilang who was 'Ascending,' only knowing the loud noise originated from this direction, and they hadn't seen Su Haoming fire the weapon.
Taking advantage of this information gap, Su Haoming shifted the sound of the gunshot toward the residence behind him. The uninformed masses, seeing his actions, naturally assumed that the deity enshrined in the residence had manifested divine power.
The crowd rushed over frantically, performing the full kowtow ritual before even getting close.
Su Wuming felt a jolt in his heart, quickly pulling his cousin away, and whispered, "What are you doing?"
Su Haoming didn't reply, just turned to Lu Lingfeng and said, "General Lu, what are you waiting for? The wicked Daoist has been struck down by the Immortal; hurry up and arrest him!"
"..."
Lu Lingfeng finally snapped back to his senses.
He glanced at Su Haoming with a complex expression, then gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and rushed toward the direction where Yin Shilang had fallen, leading the other three Jinwu Guards.
Seeing this, Su Haoming breathed a sigh of relief and quickly whispered, "Older brother, let's slip away in this chaos!"
Although Su Wuming had many questions, given the current situation, he could only go along with it.
...
...
Not long after, the three master and servants of the Su Family finally escaped the Ghost Market and returned to the County Lieutenant's residence.
After entering the room, Su Wuming exchanged a look with Su Qian.
The latter nodded slightly, glanced worriedly at the young master, then turned and exited the room, closing the door, and stood guard in the courtyard.
Seeing this, Su Haoming knew it was time to lay his cards on the table.
Indeed, looking at his cousin whose expression was calm, Su Wuming’s face became complex:
"Su Haoming, do you know what you have done?"
"Of course," Su Haoming said with a smile. "I saved you."
This statement wasn't just referring to what had just happened.
According to Big Shot Lin Yu, in the near future, Uncle Qian would die at the hands of that Yin Shilang.
The reason Su Haoming fired at Yin Shilang, besides acting on impulse, was also because he had been worried about this future.
But this kind of thing couldn't be told to Su Wuming, so he could understand his older cousin's reaction.
Su Wuming frowned and whispered, "Although I don't know how you obtained it, an innocent man is not guilty of possessing a treasure, but possessing such a great weapon, how dare you show it off in front of Lu Lingfeng?"
"He is from the Fan Yang Lu Clan and is the Crown Prince's man. Who knows what he might do?"
"If Yin Shilang runs away, I can catch him again, but now that you've used this thing, how can I cover for you?!"
"Yansheng, you had better give me a reasonable explanation, otherwise, I will have no choice but to send you back to your hometown and live a low-profile life, never concerning myself with worldly affairs again..."
Yansheng was Su Haoming's childhood name, derived from the time he grasped an inkstone during the *zhuazhou* ceremony.
Su Wuming had always called him that, but as he grew into adulthood in recent years, Su Wuming changed the address, usually only calling him by his childhood name when they were alone.
"It's not that exaggerated!" Su Haoming said with a smile. "Older brother, you underestimate your own wisdom too much and overestimate the IQ of those Jinwu Guards, don't you?"
"Do you think they can think as deeply as you?"
Su Wuming shook his head and said slowly, "Caution is best in all matters."
Su Haoming smiled, "When I fired the weapon, I confirmed it. The only one who saw me fire was you, older brother; they only heard the gunshot. As long as I make up some random excuse, hiding it from them won't be a problem."
Su Wuming frowned, "Gun?"
Su Haoming explained, "Not that kind of spear, but a firearm."
"Firearm?"
Su Wuming blurted out immediately, "Could it be related to gunpowder?"
Su Haoming was slightly surprised, then praised, "As expected of older brother!"
Gunpowder had already appeared in the Tang Dynasty. The *Dan Jing* written by the Medicine King Sun Simiao contained the earliest records of gunpowder. This substance was accidentally obtained during the alchemists' refining process, which is why some people gave it the name 'fire *medicine*.'
Su Wuming had studied medical classics extensively for case investigations and autopsies, and the *Dan Jing* was a required read.
Coupled with the fact that he was closest to Su Haoming at the time and clearly smelled the scent of sulfur, it wasn't strange that he connected the firearm with gunpowder.
Su Wuming frowned, "But I still don't understand, what is the principle behind this thing..."
Su Haoming smiled, "If we talk about the principle, it's quite simple. Does older brother know about blowguns?"
Su Wuming nodded, "Of course, I know."
Su Haoming explained, "A blowgun uses air to propel an arrow; this thing works on the same principle, only it replaces the air with the explosive force of gunpowder to propel an object heavier than an arrow."
"Of course, while this sounds simple, achieving it is not so easy..."
Su Wuming nodded thoughtfully.
He could imagine that if an explosive force propelled an arrow, it would indeed result in a more powerful weapon than a blowgun.
However, manufacturing such a weapon must be extremely difficult. At least in Su Wuming's understanding, the blacksmiths of the Tang Dynasty could never create something that perfectly utilized explosive force.
"How did you obtain it?"
Su Wuming asked this crucial question.
Su Haoming thought for a moment and whispered, "Do you remember what I said when I was little?"
Su Wuming frowned, "Are you referring to the matter of the Immortal bestowing knowledge?"
After speaking, without waiting for a reply, he shook his head, "The talk of Immortals is vague and ethereal. I didn't believe it back then, and I still don't believe it now!"
Su Haoming said helplessly, "If you don't believe in Immortals, you should at least believe in the bestowing of knowledge, right? Otherwise, how do you explain all that knowledge I suddenly possess?"
"..."
Su Wuming fell into contemplation, and after a long pause, slowly nodded, "I believe that!"
Su Haoming hadn't held out much hope, so he was quite surprised to hear this.
Su Wuming said calmly, "Teacher once said that there are no Ghost Gods in this world, only people who pretend to be gods and ghosts."
"Therefore, what you learned in childhood must have been secretly taught by an Expert!"
"Although I don't know where this Expert is hiding or how they managed to evade Teacher's personal guards to teach you night after night, this knowledge that understands the world cannot be faked."
Su Haoming was speechless, "So you believed it all along?"
Su Wuming shook his head, "Not me, but Teacher. I didn't actually believe it back then, but Teacher firmly believed that an Expert was behind you. The reason he refused to take you as a disciple back then was out of respect for that Expert..."
"Wait!"
Su Haoming's eyes widened in disbelief, "You mean, Lord Di refused to take me as a disciple back then because he thought I already had a master?"
Su Wuming looked at him strangely, "Of course. You were an unprecedented child prodigy in the Su Family when you were young. If not for this reason, why would Teacher refuse to take you as a disciple?"
"..."
Su Haoming stared blankly at his cousin.
He had suffered a huge loss this time!