Whenever the Alliance Leader’s Manor hosted guests from famous sects, plaques bearing each sect’s name would be hung outside their assigned residences. The higher a sect’s standing in the martial world, the larger and more lavish the residence they were given. Because of this, Pavilion Master Liu quickly found the courtyard where the Secret Sect was staying.
He did not barge in recklessly. Instead, he quietly slipped outside and listened in.
Pavilion Master Liu was a martial artist, and at that a Grandmaster-level expert. His hearing was far keener than that of ordinary people. As long as the speakers were not hiding inside a sealed chamber, he could usually hear conversations taking place in the main hall.
“Father-in-law,” a voice said. “This Iron Luo Bamboo was something I specially had people search for. It can help increase your cultivation. With it, advancing to the Martial King realm will be just around the corner.”
Pavilion Master Liu recognized the voice at once. There was no doubt. It belonged to Chen Gai, the son of Sect Master Chen, and the man Pavilion Master Liu had already internally acknowledged as his future son-in-law.
Yet Chen Gai was calling Sect Master Jiang of the Secret Sect Father-in-law.
Then what, exactly, did that make him?
What angered him even more was that when Chen Gai arrived at the Alliance Leader’s Manor, he had not brought any gift for him, an elder. Instead, Pavilion Master Liu himself had given Chen Gai a fine weapon.
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Sect Master Jiang reacted quickly, shoving Chen Gai aside and blocking the palm strike for him.
When Chen Gai saw that it was Pavilion Master Liu, his legs went weak. With a thud, he collapsed onto the floor.
“L-L-Liu Uncle… y-you… how did you end up here?”
Pavilion Master Liu snorted coldly. “This ‘old thing’ is not worthy of being your uncle.”
Chen Gai’s face instantly turned deathly pale. “Y-you… you heard what I said?”
Pavilion Master Liu drew his sword and pointed it at Chen Gai. “Today, I formally announce that your engagement to my daughter is annulled. From this day forth, the Wushen Pavilion will be sworn enemies with your Zhaotian Sect and the Secret Sect.”
Chen Gai’s face went even paler. “Liu Uncle, please listen to my explanation!”
“There’s nothing left to explain.”
Pavilion Master Liu shoved Sect Master Jiang aside and thrust his sword toward Chen Gai.
Chen Gai hurriedly dodged, but the blade still sliced open his arm.
“Ahhh!”
Chen Gai screamed miserably.
Sect Master Chen, who had rushed over from behind, shouted angrily, “Liu Wei! If you dare kill my son, I’ll slaughter your entire family!”
“Rest assured,” Pavilion Master Liu snorted coldly. “I won’t kill him.”
Though furious, Pavilion Master Liu remained calm. He was not foolish enough to kill Chen Gai in front of both Sect Master Chen and Sect Master Jiang. His earlier attack had merely been meant to scare him.
Sheathing his sword, Pavilion Master Liu turned and left.
Sect Master Chen quickly went forward to help his son up. “Gai’er, are you alright?”
Chen Gai checked his arm. “It’s just a scratch.”
He had truly been terrified just now. He had thought Pavilion Master Liu was really going to kill him.
Sect Master Jiang instructed his men to fetch a physician to bandage Chen Gai’s wound, then frowned and asked Sect Master Chen, “How did Liu Wei find out about our affair?”
Suppressing his anger, Sect Master Chen replied, “Earlier, when I was discussing the marriage with Liu Wei, some shameless woman suddenly exposed everything on the spot.”
“There aren’t many people who know about this,” Sect Master Jiang said grimly. “Who exactly leaked it?”
The two of them mentally reviewed everyone who knew the truth, but still could not figure out who had betrayed them.
And yet, that very “traitor” was like a shit-stirring stick, poking at secrets everywhere. Anyone who wanted to do evil, or had done evil in the past, would find their secrets dragged into the open.
【Attention, ladies of the Pleasure Palace. Heavenly Calamity Valley and Blood Cloud Sect are secretly joining forces to annihilate your Pleasure Palace and drain your cultivation to increase their own power.】
“What?! Heavenly Calamity Valley and Blood Cloud Sect have joined forces?”
The members of the Pleasure Palace were both shocked and furious.
“I knew it! Those two sects have been getting far too close lately. Something was definitely wrong!”
“They actually dared to set their sights on us!”
“Our Pleasure Palace is not easy to bully.”
The Pleasure Palace’s courtesans were entangled with major sects everywhere. A few whispered words on their pillows would be enough to mobilize powerful allies.
【Master of the Gold-Silver Manor, your money house was burned down by people from the Baocai Manor because you stole their business.】
The manor master, who had been calmly drinking tea, smashed his teacup in rage. “I knew it was them! Ever since our money house burned down, most of our clients have gone straight to Baocai Manor!”
The Second Master of Gold-Silver Manor sneered. “If they show no mercy, don’t blame us for being ruthless. They burned our money house, so we’ll burn their silver manor. Let’s see who’s fiercer.”
“Good. I’ll send people to handle it immediately.”
【Monks of Baluo Temple, the one who stole your relics is at the martial arts tournament. It is Jin Yangzi, the Master of the Five Elements Temple. Go find him at once.】
The monks who had been meditating froze in disbelief.
“Jin Yangzi stole our relics? That can’t be true, can it?”
“It might be. Back when the relics were stolen, he was the most enthusiastic about helping us search. Perhaps that was to divert suspicion.”
“Thinking about it now, his reaction back then was rather abnormal.”
The monks suddenly could no longer sit still.
【The relics are hidden in his crotch.】
“What?! He actually hid our sacred relics in such a filthy place?! This is an unforgivable insult to Buddhism!”
“Jin Yangzi! Since you don’t put our Baluo Temple in your eyes, then we’ll show you that even monks who eat vegetarian meals are not to be trifled with!”
In an instant, a mass of monks turned red-eyed and surged out of the courtyard like a flood, charging toward the Five Elements Temple’s residence.
Yang Bo and Xu Cheng turned their heads to look at the furious monks rushing past them, their faces filled with confusion.
They noticed that every time they passed a residence, curses would erupt from inside, or people would storm out, looking ready to settle scores.
After walking only a short distance, the entire area had descended into chaos, chickens flying and dogs barking. A place that had once been quiet was now louder and more chaotic than the roughest districts. Many martial artists had already started fighting before the tournament even began.
Yang Bo frowned. “What’s going on? Why is everyone fighting?”
Xu Cheng was equally puzzled. “Did they agree on a time to fight or something?”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
At the same time, in the eastern guest quarters, the Jinyiwei who had just settled in stood gripping the hilts of their sabers, faces tense as they watched martial artists flying through the air and battling fiercely.
Captain Liu frowned. “Are they sparring?”
Kan Chaoyan tilted his head to look up. “That looks like they’re trying to kill each other. Doesn’t seem like sparring.”
“Forget them,” Captain Liu said, rubbing his temples. “We’re not here to arrest them. As long as they don’t provoke us, we’ll leave them alone. Let’s hurry and find Mu Nanjin. If we don’t find her, my heart starts beating faster every half hour, and that’s purely because I’m panicking.”
“Hahaha.”
Everyone couldn’t help but laugh.
Kan Chaoyan smiled and said, “That little girl, look away for even a moment and something could happen to her. Rest for a bit, then search the area and see if you can find her.”
“Yes.”
But by the time they started searching, Mu Nanjin had already led Yang Bo and the others on a small loop around the western guest quarters.
As they prepared to head back, a commotion suddenly erupted at the mountain’s exit.
Mu Nanjin turned around and saw the people at the path voluntarily parting to create a passage for someone coming up from below.
Then, a pitch-black horse clad head to toe in dazzling gold appeared before them.
Mu Nanjin: “……”
Wasn’t that Heitan?
However, what drew the most attention was not the horse’s golden gear, but the young man carrying the horse on his back.
Everyone stared in shock.
They were certain they weren’t seeing things.
The horse really was being carried.
Someone recognized the man and exclaimed, “Isn’t that the Freak Thief, Thousand-Handed Bandit?”
“It really is him! Hey, why isn’t Thousand-Handed Bandit riding the horse? Why is he carrying it instead?”
“He probably stole some senior’s horse, got caught by the owner, and was forced to carry it up here.”
“Serves him right.”
Thousand-Handed Bandit paid them no mind and instead mocked himself. “I really do deserve it. I stole an ancestor horse. I only wanted to ride it to travel, but who knew it would end up riding me instead?”
“Hahaha!”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Someone said, “Couldn’t you just abandon it by the roadside and walk? Or sell it?”
“He must be unwilling to part with that golden gear.”
“You could strip the gear first and then sell the horse.”
Thousand-Handed Bandit sighed helplessly. “I tried all of that. When it wouldn’t follow me, I thought about stripping its gear to sell, but before I even touched the saddle, it kicked me hard. My chest still hurts.”
He pulled open his collar. “Look. The hoofprint’s still there.”
Sure enough, a clear hoofprint was stamped on his chest.
“After that kick, I got angry and swore I wouldn’t leave without stripping its gear,” he said bitterly. “But then…” He looked like he was about to cry. “I got kicked several more times, two to the back and one straight to the ass. I won’t show you those.”
The crowd laughed again.
“Then what happened?”
“After that…” Thousand-Handed Bandit looked like he wanted to die. “I decided to return it to its owner, but the owner was gone. I couldn’t find them. Such a beautiful horse, yet the owner didn’t even bother searching or leaving someone behind. I had no choice but to abandon it where I stole it, but it stuck to me. No matter how I dumped it on the roadside, it could always find me.”
Someone laughed. “Why didn’t you use lightness skill to escape?”
“I did! I fled at top speed,” Thousand-Handed Bandit said, exhaling deeply. “But it still found me. I’m certain it’s become a spirit.”
“Hahaha!”
“When we reached Licheng, I decided to sell it,” he continued miserably. “But at the horse market, it injured the buyer and made me pay a huge sum of silver, then it released all the horses. Everyone came after me for compensation. I had to run, and it ran with me. When we reached the foot of the Alliance Leader’s Manor mountain, it refused to move and insisted I carry it up. And now you see how things turned out.”
The horse was taller than him, so he couldn’t fully carry it. Its front hooves rested on his shoulders, dumping all its weight onto him.
Thousand-Handed Bandit turned his head toward Heitan. “We’ve reached where we’re staying. Can you get down now?”
“Snort, snort.”
Heitan snorted unhappily before finally lowering its front hooves.
“What a beautiful horse. Its owner must be incredibly wealthy or noble.”
“And Thousand-Handed Bandit dared steal it. He’s not afraid of the owner coming after him?”
“If Thousand-Handed Bandit knew fear, he wouldn’t dare steal everything under the sun.”
Hearing the praise, Heitan struck a pose, then spotted Mu Nanjin standing behind the crowd.
Its eyes lit up instantly. But when it remembered that Mu Nanjin hadn’t waited for it in the village, it grew unhappy again, turning its head and sticking close behind Thousand-Handed Bandit.
Mu Nanjin: “……”
Looks like this horse needed coaxing again.
Thousand-Handed Bandit pointed at the people fighting. “Has the martial arts tournament started?”
“Not yet,” someone replied.
“Then why are they fighting?”
It was obvious the fighters were serious. Some were already covered in cuts.
“We don’t know either,” the man said. “Some families that were clearly on good terms suddenly turned on each other. It’s extremely strange.”
“Someone’s already gone to invite the Alliance Leader.”
Two hours later, the Alliance Leader arrived with his disciples. Seeing that over twenty sects were involved, he hurriedly shouted, “Everyone, stop! Stop at once!”
No one paid him any attention. They were all too busy fighting.
The Alliance Leader’s face darkened. Taking a deep breath, he roared with inner force, “All of you, stop!”
The powerful soundwave forced the fighters back. Some were unwilling to give up and tried to charge again.
The Alliance Leader shouted again, even louder, “Stop!”
Suppressing their anger, everyone retreated.
The Alliance Leader stepped forward and asked, “The tournament hasn’t even begun. Why are you fighting?”
Jin Yangzi, Master of the Five Elements Temple, pointed angrily at the monks of Baluo Temple. “They attacked first, accusing us of stealing their relics. When their relics were lost, we even helped search for them. Now they accuse us. Truly kindness repaid with ingratitude!”
The Alliance Leader turned to the monks. “Abbot, is this true?”
“Yes,” the Abbot admitted. “The relics are on them. If they don’t hand them over, we can only search them.”
The Alliance Leader frowned. “Didn’t you previously believe the relics were likely stolen by Thousand-Handed Bandit? How do you now know they’re on them?”
“Someone told us.”
Jin Yangzi snapped, “Someone told you, and you believed it? Then tell us, who told you, that you trusted them so completely?”
The Abbot fell silent.
They had been so enraged upon hearing the relics were hidden in someone’s crotch that they had acted impulsively. Thinking about it now, they realized they had attacked without verifying the truth. It was indeed their fault.
“Whether they’re on you or not, one search will tell.”
An elder from Baluo Temple suddenly struck from behind Jin Yangzi, using a vicious Monkey Steals the Peach move aimed straight at his crotch.
Rip!
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Three relics fell out of Jin Yangzi’s pants.
The world fell completely silent.
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