Chapter 248: Chapter 139: Removing the Thorn (Part 3)
He recalled going to the Wutai Sect’s Foreign Affairs Hall last month. He’d tried to leverage the favor earned from Ye Rong’er’s sacrifice to recommend a disciple from a branch family for the Inner Courtyard, but the Steward had rejected him without a shred of mercy, leaving no room for negotiation.
The immense humiliation, intertwined with the pain of losing his daughter, nearly drove him mad.
’Famous and righteous sect... Bullshit! They’re cold-blooded! Heartless! Rong’Er died a mysterious death guarding the Fishery for them, and this is how they treat the family of someone who served them so well?’
Ye Zhenshan gritted his teeth. ’That Chen Qing... he came back alive, and as the Chief Disciple, no less. If Rong’Er were still here, she might have been able to break through to the Mid-stage Embracing Pill Power.’
’Those idiots from the Law Enforcement Hall... They closed the case without a proper investigation!’
Seeing his Patriarch in such a state, Ye Zhong quickly reminded him, "My lord, you’re drunk... Please, rest for a while..."
Who was Chen Qing!?
He was the Chief Disciple of the Cyan Wood Institute. And as for the Wutai Sect’s Law Enforcement Hall, it was the very sword of the sect.
Ye Zhenshan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Before the behemoth that was the Wutai Sect, the Ye Family was nothing more than an ant.
He could vent his grievances here in the privacy of the painting boat, and that was that.
But if his words were to reach the ears of anyone from the Wutai Sect, it would spell a catastrophic disaster.
Ye Zhenshan said with a blank expression, "Have Li Yue arrange it."
"Yes... Yes, My Lord. Please wait a moment. This old servant will see to it at once."
Ye Zhong sighed inwardly, bowing as he accepted the order.
The very instant Ye Zhong turned his back to Ye Zhenshan and reached for the cabin’s door curtain—
A bone-chilling, icy aura descended without any warning!
Though Ye Zhenshan was drunk, his Cultivation at the Mid-stage Embracing Pill Power remained.
’Not good!’
Ye Zhenshan felt a cold chill shoot from the base of his spine to the top of his skull. His mind went blank for a second, then filled with absolute terror!
Acting on pure instinct, he erupted with all the True Qi in his body. Like a startled rabbit, he threw himself frantically toward the back wall of the cabin!
A clap of thunder from a silent sky!
At the exact moment Ye Zhenshan threw himself backward—
WHIZZ! WHIZZ! WHIZZ!
Three sharp whistles, so faint they were almost completely masked by the sound of the rain, tore through the air!
Three streaks of black light, like deadly lightning tearing through the night, pierced the boat’s thick wooden window frame and shot into the cabin with unerring accuracy!
PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!
The two guards standing near the cabin door didn’t even have time to react before their heads suddenly exploded like ripe watermelons!
A spray of red and white, mixed with rain and splinters of wood, instantly coated the entire cabin door!
The third Flying Needle, however, grazed Ye Zhenshan’s scalp and flew past, embedding itself deep in the cabin wall behind him and leaving only a small hole.
THUD!
The sound of the bodies hitting the floor and the stench of blood instantly filled the air.
"AAAAHH—!"
Ye Zhong, scared out of his wits by the sudden, bloody scene, let out a piercing shriek.
But the shriek was cut off halfway!
A ghost-like figure had already appeared inside the cabin the moment the window frame shattered!
It was none other than the disguised Chen Qing!
He paid no mind to Ye Zhong, who had collapsed to the floor in terror. His icy gaze locked onto Ye Zhenshan, who was still reeling from the shock, his back against the cabin wall.
With a flick of his wrist, several more streaks of black light shot out!
This time, the targets were Ye Zhenshan’s throat, heart, and Dantian!
Gripped by mortal fear, Ye Zhenshan ripped a Jade Pendant from his waist and held it in front of his chest, desperately twisting his body at the critical moment.
TINK! PFFT!
The Jade Pendant was instantly shattered by a Flying Needle!
Another Flying Needle grazed his arm, kicking up a spray of blood!
But the two most fatal needles, aimed at his heart and Dantian, were partially blocked by a piece of form-fitting inner armor that suddenly pulsed with a faint light.
’Inner armor?’
Chen Qing’s eyes turned cold. Moving like a bolt of lightning, he closed the distance in an instant!
His fingers formed a claw, letting out a sharp screech as they tore through the air, aimed straight for Ye Zhenshan’s neck!
Fueled by the potent True Qi of his Mid-stage Embracing Pill Power, the attack was terrifyingly powerful!
Ye Zhenshan hastily raised a palm to block, but his Heart and Spirit were in turmoil and his True Qi circulated sluggishly. How could he possibly defend against Chen Qing’s long-prepared, decisive strike?
CRACK!
A sickening crunch of breaking bone echoed in the cabin.
Ye Zhenshan’s arm was crushed by Chen Qing’s claw!
Chen Qing’s momentum didn’t falter. His hand clamped around Ye Zhenshan’s throat like an iron pincer!
Ye Zhenshan’s eyes bulged, filled with absolute terror and disbelief.
He stared intently at the unfamiliar face before him, as if trying to discern something.
Chen Qing’s expression was utterly devoid of emotion. With a sudden exertion of force from his fingers—
CRACK!
The sound of his throat being crushed was sickeningly clear.
The light in Ye Zhenshan’s eyes instantly extinguished, and his body limply collapsed.
Even in death, he never recognized his killer, nor did he understand the root cause of the disaster that had claimed his life.
Without even looking at the corpse on the floor, Chen Qing turned and flicked his fingertip.
PFFT!
A bloody hole instantly appeared between the eyebrows of the steward, Ye Zhong, who was still slumped on the floor. He died without so much as a whimper.
On the top floor of the painting boat, nothing remained but the sound of raindrops pattering on the canopy and the thick stench of blood.
Chen Qing deftly patted down Ye Zhenshan’s body, quickly finding a coin purse and a few silver notes. A quick count showed it was about four or five hundred silver taels.
His gaze fell on the form-fitting soft armor on Ye Zhenshan’s corpse—it was the very thing that had blocked the two fatal needles.
’A Lower-Grade Treasure Artifact, this inner armor. Better than nothing.’
Chen Qing peeled it off, rolled it up, and stuffed it inside his robes.
He then quickly scanned the cabin, confirming there were no more survivors or missed valuables.
Then, he took out a small, specially made Porcelain Bottle from his robes and splashed the viscous black liquid inside on the curtains, carpet, and corpses in the cabin.
This was Fierce Fire Oil, which ignites on contact with fire and cannot be extinguished by water.
Once he was finished, Chen Qing walked to the window. A wisp of crimson Li Huo True Qi flicked from his fingertip, landing precisely on the areas doused in Fierce Fire Oil.
FWOOM!
Flames instantly erupted, greedily devouring everything as they spread with terrifying speed.
Chen Qing leaped out the window and melted into the vast, rainy night. With a few bounds, he vanished into the darkness of the lakeshore, as if he had never been there at all.
Behind him, the Moon Embracing Painting Boat burned fiercely in the downpour, the firelight reaching for the sky.
Back in his small courtyard, Chen Qing removed his disguise and changed out of his soaked clothes.
He placed the looted silver notes and the blood-stained Treasure Armor on the table.
There weren’t many silver notes, only a few hundred taels.
He picked up the Treasure Armor and examined it carefully. The material was tough and cool to the touch. It was indeed a Lower-Grade Treasure Artifact. Although it was somewhat damaged, it should still be worth some silver taels.
’Plus the lower-grade Treasure Armor that Wu Manqing gave me before...’
Chen Qing remembered the Inner Armor Wu Manqing had given him. He later obtained the Azure Wave Profound Flood Dragon Armor, so he’d kept that first piece of Treasure Armor without using it.
’Two lower-grade Treasure Armors... If I sell them, I should be able to get seventy or eighty thousand silver taels back.’
This money would be just enough to cover the deficit from purchasing the Bone Transformation Pill and also help prepare for his future Cultivation.
The sound of rain continued, and the small courtyard was peaceful.
Chen Qing looked at the Treasure Armor on the table, his eyes perfectly calm.
’The Ye Family... that thorn has finally been pulled.’
....
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