Chapter 63: Be Careful, The Opponent Is Tricky
“Here, I promised you a banner yesterday, so I brought it over.”
Constable Wei flaunted the banner on the street, purposefully displaying it. The banner read, “Acting Righteously, Promoting Virtue,” attracting quite a crowd.
The two constables hung the banner on the wall directly opposite the entrance of the main hall, making it very conspicuous.
Originally, there were two specters skewering in the main hall, but Lu Yang had them move to the backyard earlier to avoid being seen.
Lu Yang brought over three cups of tea, casually asking, “Did you manage to get anything out of those foolish thieves yesterday? Where are those outsiders from, daring to challenge the renowned Iron-faced Constable?”
“Ah, don’t mention it, got nothing out of them,” Constable Wei said, gulping down the tea made with boiling water.
His Foundation Building stage throat wasn’t bothered by the scalding heat.
“Why is that?”“The thieves lacked resolve and confessed under intimidation. Just when they were about to reveal why a group of cultivators came to Yanjiang County, they were killed by an unknown assassin. Nine poisoned cow hair needles were found in their necks, causing instant death. The room was sealed, and it’s unclear how the assassin got in.”
“At that moment, I instinctively went outside to look for the assassin but found nothing. Later, I realized the assassin must possess some shadow-related spell, hiding in the shadows in advance. As soon as we began questioning, he killed them, and while I ran outside, he escaped through the shadows.”
“If I had blocked the door then, the assassin wouldn’t have escaped. I regret being too angry at the time to consider this!” Constable Wei said, frustratedly drinking the tea meant for the other two constables as well.
The two constables looked puzzled at Constable Wei; they hadn’t even had a sip.
Lu Yang saw off the angry Constable Wei and the two unlucky constables who didn’t get to drink anything.
Meng Jingzhou transmitted, “According to yesterday’s plan, are we killing Qin Yuanhao?”
After returning last night, Lu Yang shared what he saw. Knowing the location of Yanjiang Rudder, Qin Yuanhao no longer needed to live.
The three made a plan overnight to ambush Qin Yuanhao.
Specifically, it was a discussion between Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, with Barbarian Bone listening in.
“No rush, I’ve got a new idea, let’s prepare a bit more.”
…
A man in a black robe lightly knocked on Qin Yuanhao’s door, waiting a long while without anyone answering.
The black-robed man just waited.
Finally, the front door opened, but no one was there, as if the door opened automatically.
The door opened wide, like the gaping maw of a demon, ready to swallow the ignorant.
The black-robed man walked calmly into the mansion. As soon as he entered, the door slammed shut and bolted, locking the black-robed man inside.
The black-robed man took out a bone token, announcing loudly, “Is Senior Qin Yuanhao present? I am here on behalf of my master to pay a visit.”
“So it’s one of Brother Tiger’s specters.”
The voice came from behind the specter. Qin Yuanhao appeared suddenly, with the specter not noticing from which direction Qin Yuanhao had come, as if he appeared out of thin air.
“What do you want?”
“My master has thought it over and agrees with what you said. It’s good to lean on a big tree for shade. He wants to join Yanjiang Rudder but has some concerns and would like to invite you to Song Mountain for a discussion.”
Qin Yuanhao looked at the specter with interest: “Oh, I thought Brother Hu had no intention of joining Yanjiang Rudder since he hadn’t replied.”
The specter smiled awkwardly: “My master takes a long time to make decisions.”
Qin Yuanhao’s expression changed, and he grabbed the specter by the neck: “Dare to play tricks in front of me? Tell me, who sent you? With Brother Hu’s personality, how could he possibly take the initiative to join Yanjiang Rudder!”
The specter was terrified and kept denying anyone sent him.
Qin Yuanhao increased the strength in his hand, causing the specter to nearly faint before finally telling the truth.
“A few days ago, several reckless cultivators entered Song Mountain and accidentally discovered my master’s whereabouts. My master killed them and found, while going through their belongings, that they belonged to a notable sect with Golden Core stage elders.”
“My master was worried about Golden Core cultivators coming after him and got scared. Remembering your invitation, Senior Qin, he convinced the lady master and decided to join Yanjiang Rudder, sending me to invite you to discuss the details.”
Getting the answer he wanted, Qin Yuanhao casually threw the specter aside: “That’s more like it.”
No longer suspecting the specter, Qin Yuanhao followed him to Song Mountain.
“Senior Qin, my master is waiting for you just ahead,” the specter said respectfully. “My master prefers not to have eavesdroppers. Please, go ahead.”
Qin Yuanhao ignored the specter and walked on alone.
The forest was dense and quiet, seemingly untouched for a long time. The distant chirping of birds added a serene feel to the woods.
A four-meter-long tiger demon was seated ahead, with two cups of tea on a stone table, ready to entertain guests.
Qin Yuanhao unconsciously let down his guard, quickening his pace.
Suddenly, his cultivation technique automatically activated, forming a thin membrane around him, blocking an unseen attack and leaving only a shallow cut on his neck.
“Ambush!”
With his vast experience, Qin Yuanhao quickly retreated, noticing a nearly invisible thin line at neck height stretched across the air.
“This noodle is quite useful, almost took his head off.”
A voice gleefully spoke from a tree to Qin Yuanhao’s right, belonging to Meng Jingzhou.
What Qin Yuanhao saw wasn’t a thin line but a dragon beard noodle that Lu Yang had bought from the cafeteria.
As described by the brother who sold the noodles, this type of noodle kills invisibly, ideal for ambushes.
If not for Qin Yuanhao’s unique cultivation technique, which automatically defended him, his head would have been severed.
“You dare to ambush me!” Qin Yuanhao glared at the tiger demon, realizing this was not a meeting to discuss joining Yanjiang Rudder, but a trap from the start!
But the tiger demon had already vanished. Qin Yuanhao felt the ground beneath him soften, and a sword aimed at his groin struck.
Luckily, Qin Yuanhao reacted swiftly, colliding his knee with the sword, diverting it and protecting himself.
Realizing the situation was dire, he turned to flee.
Unprepared and against a well-prepared opponent, how could he fight?
“It must be fellow demons!” Qin Yuanhao was certain, that the sword strike was too malicious for the righteous path.
Barbarian Bone had been waiting behind for a long time, swinging a tree to smash Qin Yuanhao, sending him flying far away.
“Hmm, why didn’t that feel right?” Barbarian Bone was puzzled, feeling as if he had hit paper, even though he had clearly struck the opponent.
Qin Yuanhao flew a great distance but remained unharmed and imposing.
“Be careful, his cultivation technique is very strange!” Barbarian Bone loudly warned.
“If you wish to defeat me, train for another 100 years!” (TL Note: hehe Technoblade reference. The correct translation is more like “You little ones think you can deal with me? You’re a hundred years too early!”) Qin Yuanhao laughed, confident no one could catch him if they didn’t understand the true function of his technique.
Lu Yang calmly leaped into the air, using his identity jade token towards Qin Yuanhao and commanded: “Capture!”
Qin Yuanhao was stunned, not understanding what happened. The jade token looked like an unusual storage ring, but storage rings couldn’t capture him.
Qin Yuanhao noticed the strange looks from Lu Yang and the others.
He slowly looked down to find himself naked, his clothes gone without a trace.
Qin Yuanhao’s clothes were stored in the jade token, leaving him shivering in his underwear in mid-air.
“Damn, the weird ones are you guys!”