Our belongings?
The Aiyou Grass belonged to them?
That made sense. The theft of the Aiyou Grass had long since become common knowledge. It should have appeared on the black market, yet it had vanished without a trace, leaving everyone who had suffered through a wasted trip burning with deep resentment toward that petty thief.
It seemed this man in black belonged to the black market, which explained why he had only appeared upon hearing the mention of the Aiyou Grass.
“You dare to play me for a fool…” the man in black said in a deep voice, eyeing the three people present with an intensely foul temper. “I’ll make you pay dearly!”
With a ferocious expression as though he intended to chop them into mincemeat, Beisi shifted slightly to shield Chi Qiqi behind him. Glancing at the man’s face, Beisi raised a brow lightly this time, the disguise technique showed a tiny bit of improvement.
Sensing the provocation, the man in black realized this person hadn’t been bluffed by his display and still dared to stare at him so arrogantly.
Just as he was about to speak, something flashed past his eyes. When he focused his gaze, his eyes widened instantly, his fierce glare transforming into sudden astonishment and a guilty conscience as his voice trembled and stuttered: “Mas—mas—master…”
Little Beisi poked his head out briefly, gave the man in black a faint glance, and then retreated back into his master’s body.
That primordial soul was too familiar; how could he not recognize it?
Then, catching sight of the ordinary-looking sword blocking his path, the man in black completely changed his expression. A dull ache rippled through every bone in his body as he was instantly reminded of the countless days and nights he had spent being suppressed and beaten black and blue by that very sword.
With a rigid neck, the man in black finally mustered the courage to lift his head carefully, locking eyes with that familiar yet terrifyingly unfamiliar gaze. No wonder getting a coffin-face vibe from him felt so like old times.
His heart gave a violent lurch. Did I just… actually dare to bluster in front of him and issue threats? My life must be getting too short.
He took a tiny, imperceptible step back. Seeing Beisi shoot him a warning look, he swiftly swallowed the form of address that had nearly slipped past his lips and substituted it with: “Who is this?”
Seeing this massive brute turn into a quail for no apparent reason, Yu Fengyao felt her momentum plummet. Why did he suddenly look somewhat cowardly?
Just as Chi Qiqi poked his head out, the man in black had already resumed his usual expression. Strange, why does this man in black suddenly feel a bit off?
Realizing his hasty cover-up made little sense, the man in black scrambled for an excuse in his mind. Fortunately, his martial brother tossed him a lifeline: “The He clan stole it.”
Hearing this, he immediately furrowed his brow, fixed his fierce glare onto Yu Fengyao, and muttered critically, “I just heard you trying to cover for the He clan. It seems… you have deep ties with them. Was it you who orchestrated this?”
Yu Fengyao: “…”
Abandoning all principles with zero hesitation, this man in black had switched sides just like that?
She froze for a second before the realization struck her: could these people actually be in cahoots? Were they just putting on an act of acting like strangers?
Right now, she stood no chance of winning against them, especially since they held evidence she knew nothing about.
The commotion downstairs was growing louder. The yellow-robed man had died without a single exchange of blows, and the strength of this black-robed man was equally unfathomable.
Yu Fengyao found herself in a deeply (thorny) situation. As the saying goes, a wise person submits to circumstances; her top priority right now was to cut her losses and completely distance the Fengling Sect from the mess.
Decisive by nature, she made her choice and declared, “The He clan falls under the jurisdiction of the Fengling Sect, so ties certainly exist. However, the sect had no prior knowledge of these atrocities.”
Seeing that the group no longer intended to block her path, Yu Fengyao understood their underlying meaning, though profound reluctance lingered in her heart. Glancing back, she saw that the remaining five Fengling Sect disciples were all battered and bruised the backlash from the shattered array had heavily damaged their internal cultivation and caused agonizing pain in their meridians.
Yu Fengyao finally stepped across the threshold, walking over to the railing. Not far away sat the storyteller, still whimpering and crying, while people downstairs were busy reading through the scattered books.
The storyteller knew at a glance that the crisis had passed. The next second, Yu Fengyao cleared her throat and spoke up.
“Everyone.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, yet driven by profound cultivation, it carried effortlessly into the ears of every single person downstairs.
The people below looked upward, some with suspicion and others with wariness. The young woman standing above was tall, striking, and possessed a deeply memorable visage, yet not a single person present recognized her.
Who was this?
Yu Fengyao revealed her identity: “I am Yu Fengyao, daughter of the Fengling Sect’s sect leader.”
The crowd fell into an instantaneous, stunned silence.
No one dared to impersonate the sect leader’s daughter of the Fengling Sect, as provoking that formidable sect was a massive headache, let alone making such a claim in broad daylight under the scrutiny of hundreds.
Consequently, not a soul questioned the authenticity of her identity.
“Regarding the He clan, the Fengling Sect will conduct a thorough investigation and provide everyone with an account. As for this…”
Yu Fengyao cast her gaze toward the storyteller, intentionally accentuating the word “child,” and continued, “Though I know not how he came into possession of these records, he was already injured prior to handing them over to us.”
Hearing this, the storyteller wanted nothing more than to laugh out loud. What utter nonsense.
He caught himself just before a chuckle escaped, hastily clutching his chest and doubling over into a ragged, heart-wrenching fit of coughing, letting out a series of exaggerated hacks while spitting fake blood onto the floor. Stealing a quick upward glance, he noticed Yu Fengyao’s expression had darkened even further.
Indignant, Yu Fengyao turned her gaze back downward and stated in a deep voice, “It is entirely normal to speak incoherently after sustaining severe injuries—after all, children say the darndest things. Please grant the Fengling Sect some time, and we will surely uncover the absolute truth.”
Whether the crowd believed her or not remained a mystery to the storyteller, but he was once again hard-pressed to hold back his laughter.
Being forced to “clarify” things against her own will this proud young miss had taken a colossal tumble today, and she must be boiling with suppressed fury inside.
Without lingering to gauge the reactions below, Yu Fengyao turned to the three individuals and said, “Your objectives have been achieved.”
Though outwardly calm, she burned with bitter humiliation inside. She had already resolved to report this humiliation directly to her father the moment she returned to the Fengling Sect; she simply couldn’t swallow this grievance!
Beisi sheathed his sword with a clean motion. “Since that is the case, Miss Yu, please have the goodness to revoke the wanted posters as well.”
Taking everything they could get.
Yu Fengyao clenched her teeth. “Very well.”
Seemingly satisfied, Beisi added, “In that case, we won’t disturb Miss Yu any further.”
Descending the stairs meant subjecting themselves to the scrutiny of the crowd. Moreover, since the wanted posters hadn’t been officially rescinded yet, they had no desire to be gawked at like exotic beasts. Besides, climbing back in through a window wasn’t exactly dignified either.
Beisi gestured toward the window, and Chi Qiqi nodded in agreement. To bypass any unnecessary trouble, the two husbands chose to take their leave and exit the exact same way they had arrived, right before the eyes of everyone on the second floor.
The storyteller watched them leave in utter bewilderment. Did they seriously forget there’s still me here? How could they heartlessly abandon me in a den of wolves?
Seizing a moment when no one was paying attention, he hunched his back and began scuttling away on tiptoe. Just as he was about to brush past Yu Fengyao, fate grabbed him once more by the back of the collar, yanking his feet completely off the floor as he was hoisted up like a helpless little chick.
He had been bold as brass when he had backup, but now that his two protectors had vanished, leaving him as a battered old man on the brink of death, he knew better than to play hardball.
The man in black swung him around, forcing him to meet those unsettling, whites-heavy eyes. The captor demanded: “Are you with them?”
The storyteller trembled in sheer terror. Is this guy an enemy or an ally?
However, the man in black seemingly had zero interest in waiting for an answer, hoisting him even higher into the air as though winding up to hurl him like a sack of garbage.
Before the storyteller could process what was happening, he found himself airborne, describing a wide arc over the balcony while the surrounding crowd gasped in astonishment. Accompanied by the cheerful shout of “Off you go!” from the man in black, he sailed gracefully across the open space outside the window and landed smoothly on his feet, stumbling slightly before steadying himself right in front of Beisi and Chi Qiqi.
Having finished tossing him, the black-robed man patted his hands together and paused briefly to wonder if he’d thrown him a bit too hard—the guy looked injured, after all. But remembering how his martial brother frequently hurled him across entire mountain ranges, he instantly felt at ease. This level of turbulence is basically just splashing water.
Over on their side, the moment the storyteller’s feet touched the ground, blood welled up in his throat. Before he could recover, Beisi and Chi Qiqi instinctively took a step back in synchronized disgust.
What kind of decent person delivers people like they’re cargo? the storyteller thought, coughing up a mouthful of blood with a half-dead expression.
However, curiosity quickly overrode his suffering. He wiped his mouth and asked, “Since we still hold leverage, why not strike while the iron is hot and completely expose them?”
“Aside from those books,” Beisi replied, “we didn’t have any other physical evidence on hand.”
Comprehension dawned upon the storyteller. They were just bluffing! They gambled on whether Yu Fengyao would dare call their bluff about possessing further proof. And clearly, panic had completely unhinged Yu Fengyao, leaving her zero composure to test the truth of their claims.
All warfare is based on deception.
Chi Qiqi had already guessed as much, a warm sense of satisfaction blooming in his chest. As expected of the man I fancy—he’s brilliant.
Catching his dao companion’s subtle emotional shift, Beisi glanced back tenderly. Qiqi’s earlier scheme of using their own momentum to break the array was already ingenious beyond measure.
Watching the two of them engage in yet another round of silent “eye-contact flirting” that practically generated visible sparks, the storyteller felt an un-seasonable urge to find himself a romantic partner as well.
With outsiders present, Beisi reined in his affectionate gaze though the fact that his hand remained firmly interlocked with Chi Qiqi’s somewhat undermined his restraint.
Beisi offered an explanation: “The Fengling Sect has long since colluded with the He clan. Exposing them with our current status as stray cultivators would merely treat the symptoms rather than the root cause.”
A colossal tree with deep roots like the Fengling Sect could never be easily toppled by a few wandering cultivators. Allowing them to suffer a setback today was entirely due to the young miss’s inexperience, combined with perfect timing and positioning. Had one of the truly cunning elders of the Fengling Sect been present, today’s trap would never have succeeded.
Of course, this applied solely to cultivators without power or backing.
Beisi chose to keep his subsequent plans to himself. Simply revealing his true identity as the chief disciple of the Kunhan Sect would be more than enough to give the Fengling Sect an agonizing headache, making the task of gathering evidence infinitely simpler.
As the folk saying goes: if you spot a single cockroach in the kitchen, it means the infestation behind the walls has already multiplied into the thousands. What was visible on the surface was merely the tip of the iceberg.
It seemed the Fengling Sect had committed a mountain of misdeeds; the He clan incident was merely the first one to be dragged into the light.
The storyteller nodded in solemn agreement, though his sharp eyes suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure in black stepping out from the distance behind Beisi.
Isn’t that the maniac who just threw me like a sack of potatoes?