Walking out of the Lin family courtyard, the sun hung high in the sky. Although the sunlight was bright and warm, a bead of sweat still slid down Lu Zheng’s temple.
Thank goodness I’m a professional actor!
In the next instant, the sweat evaporated. Lu Zheng turned to Qi Fengyun. “We set off this afternoon?”
Qi Fengyun nodded. “Go to the carriage house, rent a carriage, and leave this afternoon.”
Lu Zheng thought for a moment. “Shall we swing by the Huangfu residence first?”
Qi Fengyun patted Lu Zheng’s shoulder and shook his head. “I’ve already got eyes on him. Once he leaves the city, he can go wherever he likes.”
Since they had to keep up appearances, the two went straight to the carriage house, rented a carriage, returned to the inn, loaded the five jars of wine onto it, then Lu Zheng helped Qi Fengyun aboard. With a crack of the driver’s whip, the carriage slowly rolled out through the west gate.
…
The carriage travelled steadily along the official road. Qi Fengyun calmly poured himself a cup from one of the wine jars and sipped it slowly.
They had now left Wanfu County, so there was no need to be so cautious when speaking.
“Will he come after us?” Lu Zheng asked.
“As long as suspicion takes root, he won’t be able to sit still,” Qi Fengyun replied.
“Won’t he check the Huangfu house first?”
“The Huangfu family has no enemies, and there are too many people there to silence everyone. If he struck, he would immediately expose himself. What if his son’s death had nothing to do with them? He would have made a terrible mistake.”
“Tsk, always talking about wiping out entire families!”
Lu Zheng rubbed his chin. “He’s badly injured now. Might he be too scared to show himself? After all, his son was one thing, but two great guardians and a wolf demon under his command also vanished in the Great Jing territory.”
Qi Fengyun stroked his beard and smiled. “The question is, does he know those incidents are connected?”
“He’ll still be cautious, surely.”
“That depends on how much importance he places on you,” Qi Fengyun said with a laugh.
“So he’ll definitely come looking for me first?” Lu Zheng remained a little doubtful.
“Of course. He’s already here.” Qi Fengyun set down his cup.
“Hm?” Lu Zheng’s eyes flashed, and he immediately fell silent.
“It seems he doesn’t rate you very highly. Even gravely injured, he dares to make a move.” Qi Fengyun chuckled.
Lu Zheng sighed helplessly. “His son only had two hundred years of cultivation. Even if I could kill him, it doesn’t prove I’m particularly strong.”
“Isn’t that perfect?” Qi Fengyun smiled, then his eyes gleamed. “Here he comes.”
The next moment, Lu Zheng felt a shocking surge of demonic qi descending from above.
Lu Zheng was startled. “He’s so certain I’m the one who killed his son that he attacks directly?”
He had assumed Leng Li would first disguise himself as Li Ling to test the waters.
Qi Fengyun’s expression turned icy. “Back in the Northern Domain, this wolf demon never treated humans as people. The Huangfu family is right here in Wanfu County; any slip-up would give him away. If something happens to you on the road, even if it has nothing to do with him, what does killing one more disciple of the White Cloud Temple matter?”
In the next instant, Qi Fengyun’s sword qi soared into the sky, instantly shattering the carriage roof as he shot upwards towards the dark clouds.
“A sword cultivator!”
A shocked cry came from the heavens, then the clouds immediately tried to flee north.
“You came, so don’t think you can just leave. Is the Great Jing Empire a place you can enter and exit at will?”
Qi Fengyun rose into the air. His sword light stretched hundreds of zhang, cleaving the dark clouds in two and revealing the figure of Li Ling, who was actually Leng Li.
“It’s you!” Leng Li’s eyes narrowed, his face twisting ferociously. “You knew all along?”
“Go ask your son down below.” Qi Fengyun replied calmly. A white sword pellet hovered above his head and, in the blink of an eye, released over a hundred sword qi strands, each dozens of zhang long, surrounding Leng Li on all sides.
Leng Li sucked in a cold breath. He had no intention of crossing swords with Qi Fengyun and immediately turned to flee.
Yet the next moment, four towering dragon-like auras rose around him. Chu Jin and the other three had already formed an array, sealing the surrounding void.
Leng Li stared in stunned disbelief, unable to comprehend how the enemy had discovered him.
“Did you use the Mysterious Turtle Shell from the Imperial Observatory?” Leng Li asked incredulously.
The Mysterious Turtle Shell was a supreme divination treasure, famous for leaving nothing uncalculated, but it consumed the diviner’s lifespan. Leng Li did not believe he was worth an Imperial Observatory elder burning lifespan to hunt him down.
Shocked or not, his movements did not slow. He had escaped pursuers in the Northern Domain before; he could escape again now.
At worst, he would flee to the Southern Border!
Leng Li glanced sideways, casting a cold look at Lu Zheng who had stepped down from the carriage, then flickered and charged south.
However…
“Chichichi!”
The sound of sword qi slicing through the void rang out. Every strand seemed capable of tearing space itself. Qi Fengyun’s sword qi made Leng Li’s expression change drastically.
“Hu!”
Beside the carriage, Lu Zheng let out a breath of relief and patted the shoulder of the terrified driver. “Don’t worry, they’re with the court.”
“Y-y-yes, my lord, you must protect this humble one!”
“Don’t misunderstand, I’m not with the court.”
Driver: ???
Up in the sky, Leng Li was completely surrounded by endless sword qi. His face contorted savagely, but he had no desire to tangle with Qi Fengyun and the others. He spun, whipped up a tornado of black wind, and shot straight south.
Blocking the southern route stood an elderly man in tall hat and thin belt, dressed in magnificent purple robes. As the gale bore down on him, he lightly tapped the spot between his brows. A spiritual storm, like a hurricane, burst from that point, growing from small to enormous until it pierced heaven and earth, meeting the oncoming wind head-on.
The next moment, a streak of crimson appeared within the black wind enveloping Leng Li. In an instant, a pillar of blood qi shot skywards.
“Essence blood?”
Sacrificing a tail of blood qi, he extinguished a large swathe of surrounding sword qi. Another burst of blood qi smashed straight through the spiritual storm ahead.
Leng Li’s aura surged. In one breath, he was about to break through the encirclement formed by Chu Jin’s group.
“Sou!”
A soft sound rang out. A three-chi sword qi descended from the heavens and instantly pierced the black wind shielding him.
Lu Zheng saw clearly: at the centre of that three-chi sword qi was only a single white sword pellet.
“Puh!”
Leng Li spewed a mouthful of blood. The momentum he had just gathered collapsed instantly. Seeing the sword pellet about to pierce his forehead, he let out a furious roar.
In broad daylight, a full moon suddenly appeared. Moonlight shone down and froze the sword pellet for a single instant.
The next moment, Leng Li vanished. In his place stood an enormous wolf nearly three zhang long.
“Awooo!”
The giant wolf howled madly. Endless blood qi seeped from its fur. Moonlight poured down, penetrating the array that locked the void. Wind sprang up beneath its paws, and in the next instant it prepared to flee the battlefield.
“Break!”
How could Qi Fengyun allow Leng Li to escape? A flash of green crossed his face. The sword pellet that had been momentarily frozen by moonlight exploded with boundless sword qi, instantly breaking free. It vanished in a flash, then pierced through the wolf’s protective demonic power and buried itself in its spine.
“Awooo!”
The giant wolf let out a mournful cry. Its body suddenly halted in mid-air, then plummeted uncontrollably downwards.
“Boom!”
The giant wolf crashed to the ground.
Less than ten zhang from Lu Zheng.
