Chapter 74 – Sudden Change

The atmosphere in the military camp was tense, but order was beginning to be restored. He Yuntian followed the contract bond he shared with the White Tiger to the training grounds, and what he saw nearly made him gnash his teeth in fury.

The White Tiger lay collapsed on the ground, its four limbs shackled with iron chains, a long gash running across its back, fresh blood staining more than half of its white fur red!

He fixed his gaze on the small, dark-robed young figure standing sword in hand, and without a second thought, launched a devastating strike.

“Wildfire Scorching the Plain!”

Flames swept forward!

Zhan Changfeng cast a sideways glance, pressing two fingers along the flat of the blade, and a cold, yin chill spiraled up from thin air, forming an invisible wall that blocked the tongues of fire.

Her sword emerged, and wherever the cold light passed, every flame was extinguished. She didn’t even need to look — one sword strike after another, each aimed precisely at the concealed He Yuntian.

He Yuntian’s face drained of color in shock. Had the Concealment Talisman failed?!

A sword stroke sliced through his collar, drawing a line of blood. He Yuntian leapt and dodged, pinching out a talisman. “Vine Bind!”

Several vines as thick as a wrist tore through the air, weaving into a net that enclosed Zhan Changfeng at the center, threatening to coil her into a cocoon.

Zhan Changfeng cut off a section, but the severed ends immediately sprouted new vines with wild, unceasing growth.

Then let’s see whether your growth is faster, or my sword is faster. Zhan Changfeng shifted her sword technique, and her next strikes swept like a gale scattering remnant clouds — phantom after phantom, a thousand rays of sword light!

So fast!

Baili, a fellow swordsman, was transfixed, his hands instinctively tracing along, but his hands could not keep up with his eyes, and his eyes could not keep up with her speed!

He had long heard that Crown Prince Changsheng was skilled with the sword, but he had never imagined the swordsmanship would be this extraordinary. Thinking of her age again, he exhaled in disbelief — she was simply beyond human.

This is a born swordswoman!

In an instant, a hundred sword strokes flew, and the vines were severed into fragments. In that very same instant, the sword tip came to rest against He Yuntian’s throat.

Death hovered at the edge of his consciousness, and He Yuntian could not suppress a shudder. Staring into those eyes that resembled a bottomless abyss, an irrepressible dread rose within him.

A drop of blood seeped from He Yuntian’s throat, and as his Adam’s apple shifted with a swallow, even more blood trickled out. He Yuntian struggled to maintain his composure. “I am an elite disciple of the Gentleman’s Court. My life tablet is kept at the Sacrifice Grounds. If anything happens to me, the Gentleman’s Court will not stand idle. Besides, you’ve already made an enemy of the Gongsun Clan — do you really want to provoke the Gentleman’s Court as well?!”

“I’ve already made an enemy of the Gongsun Clan. Do you think I’d fear making one more?” Zhan Changfeng wasn’t unwilling to thrust the sword forward — she simply couldn’t. A powerful killing intent was locking onto her.

“I recall I warned you this place was not peaceful. And yet you saw fit to meddle. Are you aware that intruding into a military stronghold and breaking out a prisoner are offenses for which I could cut you down on the spot, and no one could say a word against it? Does the Gentleman’s Court not understand even this much?”

He Yuntian glanced at the whimpering White Tiger, fully aware this was no time to act on impulse. “Yue Lanshan and I share a bond of friendship. I could not stand by and watch her die. I resorted to this desperate measure with no other recourse. I ask fellow Daoist to forgive me.”

“With a single word of forgiveness, do you think you can wipe away the casualties among the brothers in this camp, or erase the humiliation of military law being trampled upon?” Zhan Changfeng said, her expression impassive. “You think far too highly of yourself.”

“Then what do you intend to do?!” He Yuntian blazed with fury. If his beautiful master hadn’t fallen into her slumber, who would let this person order him around!

“Hopelessly obstinate.” Zhan Changfeng’s eyes lifted. “Soul Suppression.”

He Yuntian’s mind suddenly began to cloud over. He no longer wished to think of anything, could no longer recall anything, drifting in a haze where past and present blurred into nothing.

Soul Suppression was her third soul technique, acquired after the Soul-Searching Technique and the Mirror-Seal Soul-Mark. She had not yet grown fully accustomed to using it, and her spirit felt somewhat drained.

“Take him away and keep him under watch.” As He Yuntian was led off, that oppressive killing intent also vanished.

People with powerful backers are truly troublesome.

Zhan Changfeng felt a rare sensation of stifled frustration, which caused the aura surrounding her to plummet to an icy chill. Baili, who had been quietly stepping forward to discuss swordsmanship, silently pulled his foot back and went with the other Prenatal realm cultivators to patrol the camp.

“Reporting~” A young soldier came running, dropping to one knee. “Your Highness, disaster — Zou Tingwei is dead!”

“What happened?” Zhan Changfeng asked as she walked toward the interrogation room.

“During the chaos just now, someone slipped into the interrogation room and shattered Zou Tingwei’s heart meridian. By the time Lord Zero discovered it, it was already too late.”

“And on Yue Kun’s end?”

“No incidents so far.”

A soldier lifted the curtain of the interrogation room, and the smell of blood wafted out.

Zou Tingwei was still bound to the cross, but he was utterly still — no sign of life remained.

“This subordinate failed in his duty of supervision. I ask Your Highness to punish me!” Zero-Two stepped forward to confess his fault, his heart heavy. He knew Zou Tingwei was an Overseer of the Bureau of Patrol and a person of significant standing. Even if he had been colluding with the Gongsun Clan, the Bureau of Patrol would not allow its own Overseer to die at another’s hands without consequence.

“When he died, were all of you inside?”

“No. Fearing this chaos was something the Gongsun Clan had stirred up to rescue him, we left only me to guard inside while the others surrounded the tent from outside.”

“How did you discover he was dead?”

Zero-Two hesitated. “This subordinate only saw him cough up a mouthful of blood, then his head drooped. Upon examining his body, I found a palm print on his chest. As for anything else… this subordinate is ashamed — I do not know who killed him.”

“Ah, right — this subordinate now recalls that the tent curtain was once lifted by the wind.” His expression shifted as he turned to look at the curtain.

The tent curtain weighed at least three kilograms. Lifted by the wind?

“After this matter is concluded, go to the punishment hall and receive your penalty yourself.” Zhan Changfeng swept her long sword upward, and a six-sided crystal stone fell from the top of the tent.

Hmm, Gongsun Long’s things do have their uses after all.

“You need not concern yourself with this matter any further. Prepare to take over the Prefect’s Mansion and the Governor’s Mansion, and bring Huangzhou under our control as swiftly as possible.”

“Yes.”

Zou Tingwei had been one of the Gongsun Clan’s threads — now that this thread had been in her grasp, the Gongsun Clan faced potential exposure to the Bureau of Patrol, so of course they would act to protect themselves.

But the Gongsun Clan was ruthless as well — rather than rescue him, they killed him outright to silence him.

However, based on her deductions, the Jingyu Guard would not have had time to travel from the imperial capital to here upon receiving word. And it was not realistic to say the Gongsun Clan already had people stationed in Huangzhou — otherwise, Yue Kun would not have needed to rely on a hidden agent inside the Bureau of Patrol for help.

Therefore, the person who had immediately learned of Zou Tingwei’s capture and taken the corresponding action was, in all likelihood, also someone from the Bureau of Patrol.

The Gongsun Clan had another mole within the Bureau of Patrol.

Who was that person?

Neither Gongsun Long’s memories nor the Second Elder Yue’s memories contained any trace of this individual, and even Zou Tingwei’s confession had yielded nothing.

Hidden so deeply — one could not afford to be unwary.

The following day.

Cui Gu received the intelligence from Lin Zhao and found himself somewhat unable to believe it. “You’re saying the Prenatal realm cultivators on that side are all local, and none of them are on the mansion’s supervision registry?”

“That’s right. They are not yet aware of Xiaohan Town’s existence.”

Cui Gu scratched his chin. This made things more complicated — it wasn’t a matter of ordering the army to release people, but of asking the army to release people.

“But,” Lin Zhao said, “Crown Prince Changsheng has visited Xiaohan Town. According to my investigation, she also went to Ghost City and exchanged an Arrow Token.”

“Hmm.” Cui Gu felt a bit more emboldened. “Since one chooses to enter the world of cultivation, why concern oneself with mundane affairs? Using martial force to violate prohibitions is not permitted even for a Crown Prince — let alone given that the Yin Dynasty’s realm is no more.”

Though he said as much, Cui Gu still followed proper protocol and sent a formal calling card — only with an extraordinarily imposing manner, appearing entirely as though he had come to hold someone accountable.

(End of Chapter)