Chapter 58: Elder Guo Reappears in the Jianghu

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Elder Guo Reappears in the Jianghu

"Hm? That’s not right!"

"What ’miss’?"

"Whose miss?"

"Where did this miss come from?"

"I’ve been alive for over thirty years, and I’ve never known a second ’miss’ in my life..."

He muttered to himself while pinching his chin, his voice just loud enough for Lu Feifei to hear.

Her dark expression instantly cleared, like clouds giving way to sunshine. The corners of her lips curled up unconsciously, a smile she couldn’t hide twinkling in her eyes.

Lu Feifei shot the still-muttering Zhao Yang a look that was half feigned anger and half amusement, letting out a haughty "Hmph!"

"What are you muttering about? Hurry up and knock."

"Oh!"

Zhao Yang responded belatedly, seemingly unaware he had just walked a tightrope between life and death.

He obediently raised his hand and knocked.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

CREAK~

The door opened to reveal a dashing young man. He looked at the two people at the door.

"Junior Brother Zhao, Junior Sister Lu, what can I do for you?"

"It’s like this, Senior Brother Wu..."

Seemingly aware that her boyfriend wasn’t good with words, Lu Feifei took the initiative to speak with Senior Brother Wu.

To the side, watching Lu Feifei talk with Senior Brother Wu, Zhao Yang—who had successfully dodged a bullet—secretly sighed in relief.

He quietly wiped the cold sweat from his brow.

’Good thing I reacted quickly!’

...

「Prince Jing’s Residence」

Night had quietly enveloped all of Lingzhou City. For no particular reason, Su Han—who had ultimately decided against flying over to smash Gao Qiuqiu with a brick—gazed out the window at the night sky. He stroked his chin in thought for a moment, then opened the door and walked out of his room.

Suppressing his aura completely, he soared into the air with a flutter of his robes, silently flying away from Prince Jing’s Residence.

Outside the walls of the Beggar Gang Lingzhou Sub-Branch, formerly the Liu Family Mansion.

It was the same slightly low wall, the same familiar, secluded alley.

A group of six people approached from a distance, walking into the alley without a sound.

"Fang Wen, this is just the farce of a few clowns. Did you really need to summon so many of us?"

Standing outside the low wall, a fat man in blue clothes looked at the young man in green robes ahead of them, his face showing a hint of disdain.

"Yan Zhengping, before you speak, could you please try using that pig brain of yours for a moment?

Clowns?

Yesterday, our group tricked that fool from the Celestial Demon Sect into being our guinea pig. He went into this mansion and didn’t come out all night, then he snuck back to the Celestial Demon Sect’s headquarters at the crack of dawn.

If nothing was going on in there, do you think that fool wouldn’t have come looking for us?"

"Fang Wen, who the fuck are you calling a pig brain!"

"If the shoe fits."

"You... Fang Wen, are you looking for a fight?"

"Afraid of you? People from my Dao Yuan Sect fear nothing. I’m just worried you’ll go home crying after I beat your face into a pulp."

"Fang Wen, don’t you look down on me! Don’t think I’m afraid of you just because your cultivation is a little higher than mine. People from my Taiyin Sect never back down."

"Enough!"

Seeing the two were about to come to blows, a young man in black robes stepped between them.

"Yan Zhengping, I don’t mean to pick on you, but you really should use your brain more.

Think about it. If it wasn’t necessary, would all of us have shown up here together?"

After saying his piece to Yan Zhengping, the black-robed youth turned and shot a glare at Fang Wen.

"And you, Fang Wen. We’re just talking. Why resort to personal attacks?

You can’t just call people what they look like, can you?"

Fang Wen: "..."

Yan Zhengping: "..."

’You’re the one who looks like a pig! Your whole family looks like pigs!

If I thought I could beat you, I’d have decked you already.’

"Alright, alright, that’s enough from everyone."

The only woman in the group broke the tense atmosphere.

"Fang Wen, I understand that your Dao Yuan Sect and the Taiyin Sect have never gotten along, but we have important business right now. This is not the time for you two to be fighting."

"Amitabha Buddha."

A large, bald monk put his palms together and chanted the Buddha’s name.

"Patrons, did we not come here to uncover the Beggar Gang’s secrets?

Patron Zhao Yang of the Celestial Demon Sect came here aggressively, but no news was heard from him all night. The next morning, he quietly returned to the Celestial Demon Sect’s gathering place.

That very afternoon, news spread that all the disciples of the Celestial Demon Sect were working overtime to build an Intercontinental Teleportation Array.

Shouldn’t our main priority today be to investigate the connection between these events?"

"Monk Huiming is right. Let’s put aside our internal grievances for today and first investigate what secrets this so-called Beggar Gang is hiding."

After speaking, the group jumped over the low wall one by one, entering the Beggar Gang Lingzhou Sub-Branch.

"Amitabha Buddha. First, let’s find the location of the Beggar Gang’s Lingzhou Sub-Branch Squad Leader.

If this Beggar Gang Lingzhou Sub-Branch has any secrets, they most likely revolve around him."

Monk Huiming’s words earned nods of agreement from the others.

"Although Zhao Yang returned safely and seemed unharmed,

it’s an indisputable fact that he didn’t return for a whole night. Everyone, be careful. We can’t afford to get tripped up by something stu—"

Before the black-robed youth could finish, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. His whole body felt drunk, and his consciousness descended into a state of chaotic confusion."

His companions, hearing his words cut off mid-sentence, all looked at him curiously.

When they did, they saw the black-robed youth’s eyes were glazed over, as if his Heart Spirit had been stolen.

At the back of his head... a large lump was swelling, and it was bleeding nonstop.

They were shocked!

Everyone was shocked!

What was going on?

How did he get that huge lump on the back of his head? And why was it bleeding?

’We didn’t see him get hurt.’

Just as they were about to ask, a longsword suddenly appeared in the black-robed youth’s hand.

The moment the sword was in his grasp, the black-robed man turned the blade and stabbed straight at Fang Wen, who was closest to him.

The sudden change was so abrupt that it caught Fang Wen completely off guard.

Although he instantly focused his mind and dodged quickly to the side, the black-robed man’s sword still pierced his left shoulder.

"Sun Jianyuan, are you fucking insane?!"

Seeing the black-robed man pierce his left shoulder, pull out the sword without hesitation, and slash at him again,

Fang Wen—whose cultivation was already weaker than Sun Jianyuan’s and was now injured—dodged frantically while roaring in anger.

However... Sun Jianyuan seemed completely oblivious to Fang Wen’s curses.

Seeing that Fang Wen had dodged to a safe distance, he turned his blade and attacked Yan Zhengping, who had been secretly gloating over Fang Wen’s injury.

"Watch out!"

The only woman in the group had quick eyes and fast hands. She shoved Yan Zhengping aside and blocked Sun Jianyuan’s attack with her own longsword.

"Let’s attack together and subdue Sun Jianyuan! Something’s wrong with him."

The others had also noticed Sun Jianyuan’s strange behavior. It was as if he had suddenly gone mad, attacking anyone who stood near him, no matter who they were.

Knowing that if they didn’t cooperate now, they would just be picked off one by one by Sun Jianyuan, they all chose to act in unison.

Blades flashed and Buddhist light shone.

From Sun Jianyuan’s sudden sword draw to injure Fang Wen, to the group joining forces to subdue him, only two breaths’ time had passed.

Staring at Sun Jianyuan, his cultivation sealed, crumpled on the ground but still looking ready to attack at any moment, everyone was dumbfounded.

"This... What’s wrong with him?

I’ve heard the Sword Sect has a legendary ’Sword Lunatic,’ but I’ve never heard that it’s contagious."

Looking at Sun Jianyuan, who seemed to have gone completely insane and was lost in a state of chaos, the chubby Yan Zhengping took the opportunity to get revenge for the ’calling people what they look like’ insult.

Hearing this, the others exchanged glances, their mouths twitching involuntarily.

’Say that... when he’s conscious and see if he doesn’t hack you to death.’

As the group fell silent, the more observant Xia Nan’s gaze fell upon a brick lying quietly on the ground nearby.

"Does... any of you remember seeing a brick here when we came in?"

They all shook their heads. Who, after jumping over someone’s wall, would bother to check if there were bricks at their feet?

Xia Nan looked at the Brick, then at the large, bleeding lump on the back of Sun Jianyuan’s head, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

"Wa—"

Suddenly, Fang Wen cried out in alarm, but... before the warning could fully leave his lips, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed powerlessly to the ground.

The others subconsciously turned at the sound, only to see a blur before they, too, followed in Fang Wen’s footsteps, one after another.

Hand raised, weapon ready... poised less than an inch from the back of Xia Nan’s head, Su Han paused. He thought for a moment and decided against being rough with a beautiful woman.

With a flick of his eyes, he changed into a new, unfamiliar face, his demeanor instantly switching back to the superior air of "Elder Guo Jing," the persona he had used to fool Zhao Yang.

Watching Xia Nan, who had already reacted and subconsciously taken several steps back to create distance, now staring at him with a wary expression, Su Han revealed a profound and mysterious smile.

"From the Supreme Sect? Your Supreme Foundation Establishment Method is quite well-practiced."

Xia Nan: "..."