Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Escaping from the Capital

Lying in the Shadow Courtyard was a tightly-bound daoist.

The daoist opened his eyes and found himself lying by the corner of a room. He immediately lost his temper and cursed under his breath while trying to free himself from his ropes.

“What lousy place is this? Why did they make a move on me for no reason? Those people are audacious! If they know I’m a cultivator, they’d kneel before me and call me grandpa! Luckily, no one will know about this. If others learn that I was knocked out by a mortal… Goddamnit! I don’t think anyone will believe me even if I share it with them!”

“I believe you,” a voice sounded.

The daoist was startled. He turned over and saw a young man looking at him with a smile.

“How long have you been there?” The daoist was shaken up. He couldn’t believe that he didn’t sense the young man’s presence. How could this be possible?

Cultivators had extremely sharp senses, not to mention that he was a fifth stage Ki Refinement cultivator. He should be considered a top-notch expert here!

“I have been here all this while.” Fang Chen smiled. “How should I address you?”

“Were you the one who attacked me? What do you want?” The daoist looked at Fang Chen with wintry eyes.

Just then, a bolt of lightning blasted a deep hole right next to the daoist’s leg, causing the daoist to shudder in fright. He stared at Fang Chen in disbelief. “You… are a cultivator?”

“How should I address you?” Fang Chen asked once more.

“I am Ming Jing,” Ming Jing hesitantly replied.

“Li Daoye said that you’re after his life. Is that true?”

“You’re in cahoots with him!” Ming Jing finally understood why he had been knocked out.

“Li Daoye is going to do something for me. If possible, I’d like to resolve the grudge between the two of you,” Fang Chen said.

“Grudge? What grudge? Ah, I get it! That brat is spouting nonsense again!” Ming Jing widened his eyes in fury. “I am an elder of the Eight Trigrams Sect, and Li Daoye is our young master. His father found a partner for him and hoped that he could marry into the woman’s clan, but that brat escaped. I’m here to drag him back to fulfill the marriage!”

“I see…” Fang Chen nodded in realization. “But Li Daoye has offended the Blood Spirit Cult. Will he bring trouble to your Eight Trigrams Sect if he returns like that?”

“W-what?! …Ah, there has been a misunderstanding. The person I’m looking for is Li Baoye, not Li Daoye. I must have gotten to the wrong place. I’ll take my leave right now!” Ming Jing clasped his fist and anxiously tried to leave.

“You might bump into a Blood Spirit Cultist if you leave like that,” Fang Chen said.

Ming Jing’s footsteps halted. He slowly turned around and asked with eyes filled with horror, “There… are Blood Spirit Cultists here?”

Fang Chen nodded. “They are intending to forge Blood Spirit Divine Pills here. Li Daoye bumped into them by coincidence and even killed one of their cultivators…”

“Sss!” Ming Jing gasped. His body trembled nonstop. “I really don’t know any Li Daoye. I have nothing to do with him or the Eight Trigrams Sect at all!”

“When Li Daoye killed the Blood Spirit Cultist, he said something along the lines of having an elder in his sect to back him—Ming Jing or something, I believe. The Blood Spirit Cult’s lackey should have heard it loud and clear,” Fang Chen said.

“Where’s he right now? Is he hiding somewhere safe? Can you bring me there to seek refuge too?” Ming Jing asked with a ghastly pale face.

“The place he’s at isn’t safe… but if you don’t mind, I can arrange for you to stay at an inn first. It’s unlikely that the Blood Spirit Cult will come knocking at your door yet. I’ll find an opportunity for you to meet Li Daoye. You can bring him back then,” Fang Chen said.

“I’ll be counting on you.” Ming Jing nodded in gratitude.

A few people silently appeared to take Ming Jing away and check him into an inn, but as soon as they left, Ming Jing secretly kept his luggage and fled from the capital.

Those people returned to the Shadow Courtyard and reported to Fang Chen, “Young master, the daoist has escaped from the capital.”

“I doubt he’ll return anytime soon.” Fang Chen smiled. He waved his hand and said, “You may leave now.”

While Fang Chen was making his way back to the Fang Manor, he bumped into Xu Ge and Huangfu Jie. He smiled at the latter and said, “It’s been a while, Huangfu Jie. Have you made any advancements in your martial cultivation over the years?”

“War God Fang, I have reached pinnacle Ki Control after five years of hard work,” Huangfu Jie proudly replied.

He hadn’t reached Ki Manifestation despite being older than Fang Chen, but putting Fang Chen aside, his talent was definitely top-notch across Great Xia.

“You prefer to stay in the south. What brings you to the capital?” Fang Chen asked.

“Something huge has happened. I came here today to seek War God Fang’s advice. It’d be best if you could dispatch some of your top investigators to the south,” Huangfu Jie said grimly.

“Tell me about it,” Fang Chen replied.

“One of the Four Great Sects of our southern region, the Heavensword Mountain Villa, has been massacred overnight. The deceased have been reduced to withered corpses, as if they have died for many years, but its young master was still drinking and sparring with me just a few days prior to the incident,” Huangfu Jie said with a suppressed voice.

“Something is really weird about this matter. Even our Profound Saber Sect doesn’t have the strength to wipe out the Heavensword Mountain Villa in a single night, let alone leave them in such a bizarre state.

“Shortly after, a few other minor sects were massacred too. Only a handful of disciples who happened to be out of the sect when the massacre happened escaped the ordeal.

“This incident plunged our southern region into turmoil. The Valiant Defenders there were unable to find the culprit either. Many people have turned their fingers to our Profound Saber Sect, saying that we’re the ones rocking the boat. If we don’t get to the bottom of this matter, even the Valiant Defenders might make a move on us soon.”

“You mentioned withered corpses?” Fang Chen’s face darkened.

“Yes, withered corpses. I saw it with my own eyes!” Huangfu Jie nodded.

Xu Ge’s eyebrows shot up. He already had an idea what was going on.

“A while back, Master Xu Hui told Qin Dong that his Senior Bei had temporarily headed elsewhere to attend to some matters, and he brought the others with him. My guess is that Senior Bei is the leader of the Blood Spirit Cultists stationed here.

“It could be possible that they passed by the southern region on their way back, so they conveniently absorbed the blood essence of the martial artists there to further their cultivation. Alternatively, it could also be the doing of another Blood Spirit Cultist returning in advance.

“Regardless, it’s almost certain that the Blood Spirit Cultists are the culprit behind the deaths happening in the southern region. I’ll have the Court of Great Brilliance send some rectifiers and constables to the southern region with you,” Fang Chen said.

“Thank you, War God Fang!” Huangfu Jie clasped his fist and expressed his gratitude. “If it’s convenient, I’d actually like to ask War God Fang to make a personal trip there. I’m much more confident in your ability to crack cases.”

“I’ll head there after dealing with Longdu,” Fang Chen replied with a nod.

“That’s great!” Huangfu Jie was overjoyed.

He was confident that Fang Chen could crack this case.