Willow Alley.
A run-down courtyard-style residence built of clay.
Su Yi and Feng Xiaofeng sat on the stone steps, each holding jars of wine as they drank and chatted away.
Feng Xiaoran was crouched not far away, holding a blade of grass and teasing the crickets.
They’d already taken A-Fei home.?Huang Qianjun, meanwhile, had gone out to purchase a residence.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Su, you really are different than before,” sighed Feng Xiaofeng.?Even now, he found it hard to stay calm when he recalled everything he witnessed at the House of Prosperity.
Even someone as strong as Chen Jinlong had no choice but to kneel and lower his head.
Even those with backgrounds as lofty as Nian Yunqiao and Yan Chengrong died; Su Yi killed them just like that.
Even the likes of Madam Cuiyun and Elder Li were not enough to shake Su Yi’s calm composure or affect his unrestrained air!
It would be a stretch, but Feng Xiaofeng could still just barely explain this as the authority of the Purple Jade Token.
It was only after Zhou Zhili’s group arrived that Feng Xiaofeng fully realized that his Senior Apprentice Brother Su was no longer the person he’d once known so well!?Su Yi’s prestige was so great that even Martial Dao Grandmasters needed to take the initiative to ingratiate themselves to him!
“I might very well have changed, but I haven’t forgotten who my friends are, nor have I forgotten my enemies.” Su Yi took a sip of wine, then said lightly.
Feng Xiaofeng nodded, then said with an air of self-mockery, “Earlier, I was worried that if you sought revenge, you’d be no different from an egg throwing itself against a rock. It seems I worried for nothing.”
Su Yi patted him on the shoulder and smiled. “It’s fine. Never mind all that. Tomorrow morning, we’ll switch locations, and I’ll help your legs recover. While I’m at it, I’ll help Xiaoran cultivate.”
“You’re going to treat his legs?” Feng Xiaoran was the first to get excited. She dashed up to Su Yi and said, “Big Brother Su Yi, can you really fix my big brother’s legs?”
The girl’s lustrous eyes shone with anticipation.
Feng Xiaofeng was dazed, but great waves coursed through his heart.
“It’s just a couple broken bones. Even a Martial Dao Grandmaster could fix them easily, so it naturally won’t pose a problem for me,” said Su Yi.
His tone was rather boastful. Anyone else who heard him would lively have chastised Su Yi for his wanton arrogance.
But Feng Xiaoran was instead overcome with delight. “That’s amazing!”
Feng Xiaofeng, however, couldn’t help but say, “Senior Apprentice Brother Su, if it’s trouble, whatever you do, don’t push yourself. I….”
Su Yi smiled drily. “Don’t overthink this. You’ll know tomorrow.”
“Big Brother Su Yi, thank you!” Feng Xiaoran suddenly took a deep breath, then bowed low at the waist. Her innocent little face was utterly serious. “When I grow up, I’ll be sure to treat you well for the rest of my life!”
Su Yi turned his head to look at Feng Xiaofeng. He laughed, “See? Even Xiaoran trusts me. What do you have to worry about?”
Feng Xiaofeng smiled bitterly and scratched his head.?He felt as if everything that happened tonight wasn’t quite real, as if this were just some kind of dream. He was afraid he’d wake up and all of it would disappear.
……
Meanwhile, beneath the same night sky.
Li Moyun walked alone through the bustling city streets. Despite his lively surroundings, his heart felt an indescribable chill.
He’d personally witnessed Su Yi leaving the House of Prosperity not long ago, alive and in one piece. He simply got into his carriage and rode away.
Li Moyun tried asking around the House of Prosperity to learn what had happened, only to make a terrifying discovery: all word of the incident on the ninth floor had been sealed completely!
But more than that, what caught him completely off guard was that Madam Cuiyun then showed up leading a group of strangers and, in a tone that left no room for disobedience, “invited” him to a private room.
A man who called himself Zhang Duo had expressionlessly warned him not to leak a single word of what happened there that night. Or else, they’d kill him and rip the entire Li Family up by the roots!
At the time, Li Moyun only felt wronged and aggrieved. He felt a bellyful of anger and confusion.
He didn’t even know what had happened in the Mountain and River Palace. How could he possibly leak anything?
But he couldn’t afford to overlook such a threat.
Because Madam Cuiyun told him that anyone who spoke about what happened would die. There were no exceptions; even she herself wasn’t exempt.
This chilled Li Moyun to the core, and by the time he left the House of Prosperity, he felt as if his soul had left his body.
Don’t tell me that after Chen Jinlong and the others went to the Mountain and Sea Palace, Su Yi killed them all?
How lofty is Madam Cuiyun? Yet even her lips have been sealed. She’s been left with no choice but to obey. Isn’t that a bit overly terrifying?
Su Yi… Su Yi…. Just how many secrets are you hiding?
As he made his way back, countless scattered thoughts raced through Li Moyun’s mind. He was bewildered and uneasy.
In the past, when he faced Su Yi, Li Moyun thought himself the number-one figure of Guangling City’s younger generation. He thought nothing of Su Yi, the live-in son-in-law and the waste without a cultivation.
More than that, because of Wen Lingzhao, Li Moyun even planned to assassinate Su Yi from the shadows. Then, he could pursue Wen Lingzhao openly.
But Li Moyun would never have guessed that Su Yi was actually a well-hidden expert, a real tough customer!
On the second day of the second lunar month, Su Yi, the live-in son-in-law, single-handedly dominated the Dragon’s Gate Banquet, spreading his name across both banks of the Great Azure.
Just a few days later, the daughter of the Yuan Family, one of the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital’s peak-level clans, honored Su Yi as a distinguished guest!
And tonight, this live-in son-in-law appeared at the prefectural capital’s House of Prosperity. Madam Cuiyun saw fit to greet him personally, and he got to dine in the Mountain and River Palace on the restaurant’s ninth floor.
But more than that, it was because of Su Yi that word of what happened tonight was sealed?upon pain?of death. ｂｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕．𝚘𝚛𝚐
To the point that even he, Li Moyun, someone who hadn’t even been directly involved, received the most cold-blooded, harsh warnings and threats imaginable!?It was simply unbelievable!
To Li Moyun, this string of incidents was like one gut punch after another.?Even now, he felt indescribably lost.?Going forward… Should I really continue to oppose someone as dangerous as Su Yi?
Suddenly, he heard a burst of laughter in the distance. Li Moyun unwittingly glanced toward it, then caught sight of a familiar, beautiful figure.
She wore a long, pale yellow dress, and her hair was up in a bun. Her waist was slender, her brow like jade, her skin fair as snow, her features bright and beautiful. From head to toe, she emanated a pure, vibrant, energetic air.
Beneath the lamplight, she looked like an immortal beauty straight out of a painting. Her every change of expression, regardless of whether she frowned or smiled, was beautiful and moving.
She was accompanied by a group of other girls, but all of them paled in comparison to her; she was like a pearl amidst the rubble!
They chatted away amongst themselves, gradually fading into the distance. Who knew how much attention her peerless good looks drew as she passed by?
“Wen Lingxue!”?Li Moyun was briefly stunned. Then, he recalled that not long ago, the head of Blueriver Sword Manor had personally arranged for Wen Lingxue to enter Blueriver Sword Manor to cultivate. But that wasn’t all; he even broke the rules and allowed her directly into the inner sect.
This too had stirred up enormous waves.
But at the same time, it resulted in many rumors. People said that?Wen?Lingxue had gotten in purely by relying on her big sister, and that with her cultivation, she was in no way worthy of the inner sect.?There was even an inner sect disciple who called her out and challenged her to a duel.
The result…
Wen LIngxue trounced them in just three moves.
It was this battle that made Wen Lingxue famous, and it proved her skill. The rumors surrounding her unusual admission vanished into thin air.?By now, Wen Lingxue had already become a prominent figure of the inner sect.
It wasn’t just because her cultivation was exceptional; it was also because she was a peerless beauty of her generation, with good looks that stood out of any crowd. She looked like an immortal beauty straight out of a painting, and her female sectmates paled by comparison.
Finally, Li Moyun let out a long sigh.
He suddenly recalled that Su Yi, the live-in son-in-law, didn’t just have an aloof, peerlessly beautiful ice queen for a wife; rumor had it that?Wen?Lingxue was on good terms with her brother-in-law too….
The more he thought, the more stifled Li Moyun he felt. He could barely take it.
……
Spring Jade Alley.
The Black Tiger Gang’s lair.
When the gang leader saw the corpses sprawled across the floor,?even he?couldn’t help but gasp. He felt a chill in his hands and feet.
The gang’s backbone, its most important members, had practically all been wiped out!
When he heard what had happened from some of his surviving subordinates, Lu Quan’s face filled with utter disbelief.?“You’re saying all of this happened because we grabbed some girl living in Willow Alley?”
Willow Alley was home to the lowest rungs of Cloudriver Prefectural Capital’s society, the poorest of the poor!?All of them eked out a humble existence. They were paltry as ants. Ordinarily, even if someone went in and killed them all, it would barely stir up any waves.
Yet now, the Black Tiger Gang had suffered such enormous casualties after kidnapping a single little girl. Lu Quan found it hard to take in all at once.
“Have you determined the identity of the culprit?” asked Lu Quan a while later, his face ashen.
His nearby subordinates all shook their heads.?One of them said hesitantly, “Boss, to the best of our knowledge, the girl’s older brother was once an outer sect disciple of Blueriver Sword Manor.”
Lu Quan’s expression instantly changed.
When he saw his boss was angry, the man who’d spoken up hurriedly continued, “Please Boss, don’t be angry! Her brother has long since become nothing but a worthless cripple, and half a year ago, Blueriver Sword Manor kicked him out. He has no power or authority to speak of; he’s worse off than even most ordinary civilians.”
“Investigate!” said Lu Quan, suddenly uncertain. “You must uncover who has made contact with the Feng Siblings recently. There is absolutely no way we can just let this grudge go. Once we get to the bottom of this, I’ll pay Esteemed Elder Wu Tianhao a visit and request his assistance!”
Wu Tianhao.
He was the hegemon of the southwestern district’s underground. Many gangs saw him as their number one, and he was famous among the lawless.
“Yes, sir.” The Black Tiger Gang members voiced their assent and rubbed their hands together excitedly.
“Remember, we’re just looking for information! Whatever you do, don’t alert the culprit!” Lu Quan still couldn’t relax, so he gave them another reminder.
Whoever had done this, they’d singlehandedly left the Black Tiger Gang in tatters. They couldn’t possibly be ordinary.?Lu Quan wasn’t stupid; there was no way he’d choose to meet this person head-on.
……
Morning the next day.
The core strip of the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital’s southwestern district.
Huang Qianjun drove a carriage carrying Su Yi and the Feng siblings. After several twists and turns, they entered a street called?Bottlegourd?Alley.
“Bottlegourd” was a homophone for “fortune and longevity.”
The residents were all wealthy, and they hailed from prominent backgrounds.
Last night, Huang Qianjun had tossed out thirty thousand taels of silver to purchase a sizable residence here.
The residence was made of pale blue brick with black tile roofs. A bamboo forest blotted out much of the sun over the residence’s five wings. Each was fully furnished.
Pomegranate, jujube, and apricot trees had been transplanted into the courtyard. Each was over thirty years old. They were tall and lush, and their leaves rustled in the breeze.
In addition, there was a vegetable garden, a stone well, flower beds, vines growing along the walls, and fish and lotus ponds. The landscape was exquisite, and it was perfectly secluded and tranquil.
When he saw this beautiful scenery, Su Yi couldn’t help but nod. “This will do quite nicely.”
Huang Qianjun had been waiting on tenterhooks for Su Yi’s reaction, and he inwardly sighed in relief.
I’m just glad I didn’t do all that work last night in vain!