Chapter 208: News Blackout

Liang Yifan said, "From what I know, someone saw Lu Bai take his mother into the Four Seas Pavilion during the day. Afterward, only Lu Bai came out. If the Wang woman is staying in the Four Seas Pavilion, it will be difficult for us to arrest her."

"The Four Seas Pavilion?"

Wu Lan’s expression turned grim.

Even if the Wang woman were at the Evil Extermination Bureau, he could still take her away in the name of apprehending a criminal.

But if she’s in the Four Seas Pavilion...

Yu Weifeng asked tentatively, "Should we ask the Marquis to step in and have a word with that Shopkeeper Chu?"

Wu Lan shook his head. "The Old Master is getting on in years. Don’t tell him about Ziyan’s murder for now. We’ll talk after we’ve captured Lu Bai and his mother!"

You two, mobilize our men at once and bring that Lu Bai back to me! He must not be allowed to leave the borders of Jing State! Also, go inform the Fujiao Gang. Tell them not to just sit around—get out there and find him!

Even if you have to turn the state upside down, you will find that Lu Bai for me!

I’m taking men to the Four Seas Pavilion now to demand they hand her over!"

Wu Lan looked at the few government soldiers at the door and said in a low voice, "Summon all of them for me. The Marquis’s Mansion has sheltered them long enough. It’s time they earned their keep!"

"As you command!"

The few government soldiers quickly dispersed.

Marquis Jingzhong’s Mansion sheltered many wanted criminals from the Shi and Mo Countries, most of whom were vicious desperados.

There were six True Master Martial Dao alone.

As for Inner Martial Artists and Innate Martial Artists, there were over a hundred of them in total.

Liang Yifan coughed lightly. "Crown Prince, this matter of ours is spreading. If it causes a storm throughout the city and reaches the Capital City, I fear it will be difficult to handle, won’t it?"

"Do I have to teach you how to handle this?"

Wu Lan, still reeling from the pain of losing his son, was irritable. His tone was harsh as he ordered, "Lock down Wangjiang Tower and destroy that writing! Immediately detain everyone who saw those words, lock them in the dungeons for now, and suppress the news!"

"I sent men to deal with the writing immediately, but..."

Liang Yifan hesitated for a moment before saying, "This incident has attracted too much attention. The news spread like wildfire and is already out. I’m afraid it’s beyond our control."

If Lu Bai had merely written those words at Wangjiang Tower, it would have been easy to suppress the news.

But Lu Bai killed someone first.

And that someone was the young master of Marquis Jingzhong’s Mansion!

Two shocking events, happening together, stirred up a hornet’s nest and began to spread at a terrifying speed.

One person told ten, and ten told a hundred.

If they were all arrested, the State Mansion’s prisons wouldn’t be able to hold them all.

"What do you mean, ’beyond our control’?"

A vicious glint flashed in Wu Lan’s eyes. He said coldly, "Publicly arrest a few people discussing this matter, charge them with spreading rumors, and execute them to make an example!

Post notices immediately! Say that Lu Bai is a spy from another country, spreading malicious lies and fabricating stories. Anyone who dares to spread this matter further will be charged with the same crime!"

Liang Yifan looked troubled, but he still nodded.

Such drastic measures were a double-edged sword.

It might be effective, or it might backfire.

The desperados from the Shi and Mo Countries quickly gathered within the Marquis’s Mansion.

Wu Lan led this group out of the Marquis’s Mansion and headed straight for the Four Seas Pavilion.

Liang Yifan and Yu Weifeng returned to their own residences to gather their men.

「At the same time.」

At the residence of the Third-Grade Marquis, Li Qian.

Li Qian’s family and the cultivators from Danding Temple had just finished their meal and were chatting and sipping tea in the courtyard.

Just then, a guard ran in from the courtyard, panicked and out of breath, his face filled with shock.

"My lord, something terrible has happened outside!"

The guard swallowed hard and said, "Lu Bai of the Evil Extermination Bureau killed the young master of Marquis Jingzhong’s Mansion, Wu Ziyan, at Wangjiang Tower!"

"Ah!"

Everyone present turned pale with shock upon hearing this.

"Is Young Master Lu alright?"

Li Yue’er asked anxiously, her expression tense.

"Lu Bai’s whereabouts are unknown, but..."

The guard wore a strange expression and glanced at True Master Dan Ding beside him, hesitating to speak.

True Master Dan Ding noticed the guard’s gaze and immediately stood up. "Marquis, we will take our leave so you can talk."

With such a major incident at Marquis Jingzhong’s Mansion, he was just about to head over and see what was happening.

"There’s no need."

Li Qian waved his hand slightly. "Whatever it is, you can speak freely."

The guard hesitated briefly before roughly describing the words Lu Bai had written on Wangjiang Tower.

The courtyard fell into a deathly silence.

Marquis Jingzhong’s Mansion, the Governor of Jingzhou, the Demon Suppression Envoy, and the Fujiao Gang conspired with the Demon Sect to refine Human Pills!

The matter was simply too horrifying.

In the eight hundred years since the founding of the Wu Dynasty, nothing like this had ever happened.

Li Qian’s brows knitted tightly.

He had an excellent impression of Lu Bai, but he still held some doubts about this accusation and couldn’t be certain of its truth.

Li Yue’er, however, suddenly stood up. Staring fixedly at True Master Dan Ding, her eyes slightly red, she couldn’t help but demand, "Observatory Master, why?"

On the other side, True Master Dan Ding’s face had already turned extremely ugly after hearing the guard’s report.

This affair was not a glorious one.

And now, Lu Bai had mercilessly exposed it to the public.

Although True Master Dan Ding was the Sect Leader of Danding Temple, Li Yue’er felt no affection for him.

On the contrary, Xue Chen was Li Yue’er’s master.

The bond between master and disciple was much deeper.

Therefore, when Li Yue’er heard that True Master Dan Ding knew the cause of her master’s death but hadn’t told them the truth or avenged him, she found it truly hard to accept.

The few Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators said nothing.

But their expressions weren’t pleasant either.

Even though Li Yue’er was only a Third-Generation Disciple and was questioning the Observatory Master—a clear act of insubordination—none of them spoke up to stop her.

Xue Chen had been True Master Dan Ding’s most prized disciple and the Sect’s most promising one.

For a single Demon Sect elixir, True Master Dan Ding had been willing to compromise.

’True Master Dan Ding might just as easily sacrifice one of us for some other reason.’

"I..."

Faced with Li Yue’er’s questioning, True Master Dan Ding was about to scold her loudly.

But when he saw Li Qian next to him, his gaze as sharp as a torch, the words died in his throat.

This was, after all, someone else’s territory.

For a moment, True Master Dan Ding was flustered. He explained, "Yue’er, I was also deeply grieved by Xue Chen’s death. But when a person dies, their light is extinguished. Our opponents are powers like Marquis Jingzhong, the Governor of Jingzhou, and the Demon Suppression Bureau. How could I possibly take revenge?

"My compromise was for the future of Danding Temple..."

As the words left True Master Dan Ding’s mouth, even he didn’t seem to believe them, and his voice trailed off, growing weaker.

Li Qian had originally been half-convinced, half-skeptical about the matter.

But seeing True Master Dan Ding’s reaction, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

"Yue’er will not be returning to Danding Temple to cultivate."

Li Qian said slowly, "True Master Dan Ding, since you have already sided with Marquis Jingzhong’s Mansion, I’m afraid my humble Third-Grade Marquis’s Mansion cannot accommodate a great figure like you. Please, leave."

He was kicking them out.

True Master Dan Ding’s expression was ugly, shifting several times before he rose to his feet in anger. He gave Li Qian a cupped-fist salute and turned to leave.

The few Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators from Danding Temple hesitated for a moment before following him.

’Lu Bai, you’ve ruined me!’

As True Master Dan Ding left the Li Mansion, his face was hideous as he spoke with hatred.