Chapter 21: The City Lord’s Deception and a Swift End

“So, you weren’t fully aware of the specific situation regarding the rogue cultivators within Great Chu at first?”

Having exited the City Lord’s Mansion, Hua Yan immediately posed the question.

“Then why were three experts like yourselves dispatched as a team?”

“Ahem… Actually, Daoist Yun was originally leading the team alone, accompanied by two ordinary disciples. Daoist Lin and I volunteered to be reassigned here.”

Qu Linglong cleared her throat, giving a casual chuckle.

“As for me, the market in Great Chu hasn’t been very prosperous these past few centuries, so I thought I’d seize this mission as an opportunity to conduct some market research. And Daoist Lin, well…”

She looked at Lin Qianqian with a hint of teasing.

“I, I’m here because Xiao Li is in this area… I thought that with the sect sending out a mission, I might, might just get to see them…”

With cheeks slightly flushed, the green-haired immortal gently tugged at her braid, her voice faint with a touch of embarrassment as she explained.

“By the way, ‘Xiao Li’ is their current partner. They’re a rogue cultivator, quite mysterious in their ways, and always seem busy, so they don’t have much time to meet with Daoist Lin.”

Qu Linglong shook her head.

“If you ask me, you’ve probably encountered another one of those wicked women trying to trick you out of spirit stones… It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Xiao Li isn’t like that at all!”

Lin Qianqian immediately retorted, her voice rising several octaves. “They’re just genuinely a bit busy! They’re always so kind to me every time we meet, and we often communicate using transmission talismans!”

“Ah, yes, yes, as long as you’re happy, Daoist Lin.”

Qu Linglong nodded perfunctorily.

Hua Yan watched the two bickering figures before her, her emotions complex.

‘So, these are the reasons they tagged along with Yun Xueshang? And because of them, I can’t directly target Yun Xueshang, forced to wander all over eastern Great Chu with them?’

‘No wonder when I inquired at the Heavenly Garment Pavilion, I didn’t hear of so many rogue cultivators causing trouble…’

“Next, should we leave Fulong City and investigate the incident location the City Lord mentioned?”

Yun Xueshang, who had been standing silently aside, suddenly spoke softly.

“No hurry.”

Qu Linglong turned her head. “We’ll go to the Star Luo Hall first. After gathering their intelligence, we’ll make a decision.”

***

Within a private room that night, several figures gathered around a round table. Before each person lay a steaming plate of Fulong City’s specialty, Frost Ridge Beef Dumplings, white mist curling upwards.

“So, even the Star Luo Hall has no further information?”

Hua Yan frowned.

The Star Luo Hall was renowned for its intelligence network spanning the entire Divine Land, claiming no secret in the world could elude their grasp.

In truth, apart from sects focused on commerce like the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, most immortal sects rarely concerned themselves with mundane worldly affairs.

When disciples descended the mountains, the intelligence from the Star Luo Hall became especially crucial.

Yet, when the group visited the Fulong City branch of the Star Luo Hall earlier that day, the information they purchased was largely identical to what the City Lord had stated and what Hua Yan had learned at the Heavenly Garment Pavilion.

‘Could it be that there truly aren’t many rogue cultivators causing trouble in Great Chu?’

‘Wouldn’t that mean… I could soon bring Yun Xueshang back to the valley?’

Hua Yan’s mind immediately became active.

“Then we shall set off tomorrow at once to eradicate the evil!”

She immediately brightened, declaring loudly.

“No, Mother, we can’t leave yet. The Fulong City Lord is lying to you.”

Hua Xiangrong buried her small head beside her, gobbling down a large dumpling with an indistinct mumble.

“?”

“Girl, what do you mean by that?”

Hua Yan paused, turning to her daughter, momentarily failing to grasp her meaning.

“I mean, the Fulong City Lord is a bad person. He’s deceiving you.”

The pink-haired girl lifted her head, her eyes bright and clear as she gazed at Hua Yan, unblinking.

“I saw everything. He’s going to pack up and escape before dawn tomorrow. If you want to catch the bad guy, Mother, you have to go tonight. It’ll be too late if you wait.”

***

In the dead of night, the City Lord’s Mansion remained brightly lit, yet it lacked the bustling activity of the day.

Within the sprawling residence, only a plump figure clad in brocade robes frantically rummaged through rooms, consumed by anxiety.

‘Did they betray us and expose us?’

‘No, they definitely don’t want to be exposed right now; there’s no reason for them to do that…’

He quickly shook his head forcefully, suppressing his chaotic thoughts, and his rummaging intensified.

‘The most urgent task is to quickly dispose of all evidence. I absolutely cannot leave any incriminating traces! I must leave the city immediately and report back!’

He directly crushed some items with spiritual energy, while others he hastily stuffed into his storage bag. Zhang Lide’s figure shot up, preparing to dart out of the room—

‘Wait, something feels off…’

He had clearly passed through the vermillion-lacquered door, yet the floor beneath his feet and the surrounding furnishings were still those of the room he had just left.

‘This isn’t good!’

He abruptly burst through the window, flipping onto the corridor.

However, this normally narrow wooden corridor had inexplicably become wide and long, its winding turns crisscrossing yet interconnected, while the surrounding space exuded an indescribably eerie quality—

He was trapped within an octagonal wooden box constructed entirely of corridors.

‘What kind of technique is this? Mechanism arts? Is it the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion?!’

Zhang Lide flipped his hand, drawing out an ancient, large saber with a silver-wrapped hilt. He swung his arm, slashing furiously.

The immense spiritual energy of a Nascent Soul-stage cultivator, imbued with biting ice and snow, instantly sent wood chips flying from the corridor’s pillars.

“Daoist Qu! I am an official appointed by the Great Chu imperial court! For your Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion to trespass into the City Lord’s Mansion at night without cause, are you declaring war on the Great Chu imperial court?!”

“We merely received intelligence suggesting that City Lord Zhang is involved with rogue cultivators, hence our night visit; there was no intention to offend.”

Qu Linglong’s voice echoed from all directions, making it impossible to pinpoint her location. “As long as the City Lord cooperates with the investigation, we naturally won’t make things difficult.”

Before her voice faded, the corridors that Zhang Lide had damaged instantly restored themselves, slowly pressing in on his position.

“You immediately used mechanism arts to trap me, and you still dare to say you weren’t trying to fight?!”

Zhang Lide let out a heavy snort, his slightly plump figure rising into the air. Several cold lights spun from the large saber in his hand, striking directly at the floor beneath him!

A thunderous boom!

Ice frost saber energy exploded, carving a deep, dark hole in the floor. He leaped into it without hesitation—

But the bottom of the hole was still a corridor. Layer upon layer, endless.

“We originally didn’t wish to directly engage the City Lord, but unfortunately, upon our visit tonight, only the City Lord was in the mansion, and their actions were so suspicious.”

Qu Linglong’s voice, like a shadow, carried a hint of ease.

“In that case, we’ll just have to ask the City Lord to stay for now, and then we can reassess.”

Swish, swish, swish!

As her voice fell, the corridors, like living entities, rushed towards him with the sound of tearing wind, crashing down.

“Qu Linglong! Don’t push your luck too far!”

Zhang Lide swung his saber to block, his round, plump face flushed crimson, veins bulging on his forehead.

“And what if I do?”

The attacks were relentless.

‘Damn it! What in the world are these mechanism arts?! Why can’t I break them?!’

No matter if he slashed upwards or attacked downwards, the crisscrossing corridors seemed endless, impossible to break through.

‘The others haven’t even shown themselves… I absolutely cannot be exhausted to death by this shorty from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion first!’

‘I’ll risk it all!’

“Roar—!”

Zhang Lide roared skyward, his eyes instantly turning blood-red. Simultaneously, his body swelled several times over; his already somewhat stout frame now became as massive as a mountain of flesh, a strange red glow faintly emanating from beneath his skin, pervading a thick, bloody stench.

“Break for me!”

The blade of his saber also transformed from gleaming silver to an eerie crimson. With a furious roar, a dark-red, crescent-shaped slash, far more powerful than before, tore through the air with terrifying might.

This saber wave didn’t send wood chips flying as before; instead, it carried a ‘sizzling’ corrosive sound. Wherever it passed, the stacked layers of corridors were corroded into charred ruins, disintegrating inch by inch.

Ding, ding, ding, ding—!

Innumerable azure sword lights, appearing from an unknown source, rained down like a sudden storm, completely nullifying the dark-red saber wave.

“What?!”

Zhang Lide’s pupils contracted sharply.

Almost simultaneously, the space around him abruptly tightened. The corridors from all directions converged, leaving only a narrow passage directly in front, barely wide enough for one person to pass.

Immediately after, a white sword light, like a meteor streaking across the sky, pierced straight towards his face!

‘No good! I can’t dodge it!’

A soft ‘thud’.

Blood splattered. Zhang Lide’s head rolled to the ground, his eyes wide open, his face frozen in an expression of incredulous horror.