Chapter 46: Revenge

"Come, this is the magic tool." Zhang Siche held Pei Ye's wrist and touched it to his own stomach.

Pei Ye touched a belly.

Then, this belly collapsed.

Pei Ye stared at Zhang Siche with wide eyes.

"Shh!"

Under the belly was a warm abdominal cavity; this was an unimaginable serious injury, the abdomen almost smashed to pieces, only covered by a piece of skin as a disguise.

Pei Ye found it hard to understand how he could talk and laugh normally and fight through three rounds with such an injury.

From this bloody abdominal cavity, Pei Ye took out a small iron talisman.

"I will transmit True Qi to you again; when the time comes, just inject it, and it can be activated." Zhang Siche guided the True Qi over by holding his wrist, "Once this talisman is activated, no one can hurt you for at least ten breaths."

"But I must tell you a cruel fact." He added with some shame, "Because we said before, the more people you bring, the longer the preparation time for 【Lingming Illuminates the World, Floating Dust Without Restraint】, so Zhu Gaoyang might not necessarily have time to take you along; at that time, you can only rely on this magic tool to run away in the chaos yourself."

Pei Ye nodded, expressing his sincere gratitude.

Originally, he hadn't expected that he could be saved by a

With this magical artifact, Pei Ye officially abandoned his bizarre idea of feigning death and planned to coordinate with Zhu Gaoyang's attack to escape.

"Very soon now," he sighed.

"Indeed. So we must tell it quickly." Zhang Siche patted his shoulder, "We've only reached the tenth chapter; the rest will have to be summarized."

……

The next day, the prefecture court opened. Li Zhang sat in the center, Xi Wu Chou pushed the scholar to stand to one side, and Gao Muzhen lay limp on the ground, looking at Li Zhang with a deathly pale face.

The trial was very smooth; with both human witnesses and physical evidence gathered, even though Gao Muzhen wailed in pain, cursed, and made threats, he could not block the "Execute" order that flew down from the bench.

It goes without saying that the scholar wept and thanked him profusely; Li Zhang even retrieved the bright pearl and returned it to the scholar.

The bright pearl remained pure and brilliant, but to the scholar, seeing this object now only brought back memories of the person, and after another bout of weeping, he insisted on gifting the pearl to Xi Wu Chou.

A day later, Gao Muzhen was beheaded at the street corner as a public warning. For the sake of the Prince's reputation, his identity was still not publicized, but neither Xi Wu Chou nor the scholar cared about these minor details.

Xi Wu Chou comforted the scholar, saying he would introduce him to a divine physician to heal his fingers, and urged him not to abandon his aspirations but to continue striving for an official career.

The scholar nodded through his tears.

The two parted ways there; the scholar returned to the town, while Xi Wu Chou built a hut in the nearby mountains to settle his mind and prepare for breaking through his realm.

Letting go of worldly thoughts, Xi Wu Chou indulged in nature every day, searching for that trace of transcendence amidst the lakes and mountains.

Four or five days later, Xi Wu Chou had reached the realm of following his heart's desires. At this point, he no longer needed to deliberately avoid the world, but simply followed his inner thoughts and acted as he pleased.

Sometimes he danced with his sword on a mountain peak in a rainy night, sometimes he helped an old farmer hoe the fields at dusk; sometimes he got dead drunk at a tavern for a night, and sometimes he fished on the lake for a day.

This day, Xi Wu Chou suddenly missed his old friend who had been buried in the southwestern mountain city nine years ago, and naturally thought of the scholar, so he brought roasted chicken and wine to find the scholar for a chat.

Arriving at Kuiju Town, he went straight to the small courtyard at the edge of town, but after calling out several times, no one answered. Pushing the door open, the courtyard was empty.

Just as he was about to leave to search elsewhere, he was suddenly grabbed by the leg by an old man who cried, "Benefactor! I've finally waited for you!"

It turned out this old man was the scholar's father-in-law, who said that a few days ago, several people had come and kidnapped the scholar. Those people had no accent, wore plain clothes, and even after reporting it to the authorities, there had been no news.

Xi Wu Chou immediately took on the matter, bringing out the skills he had when he served at the Immortal Terrace, carefully searching for clues and questioning the local authorities, until finally, every thread pointed vaguely toward the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion.

This was somewhat puzzling; could the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion be so petty as to take revenge on a common scholar?

But regardless, since there was a lead, Xi Wu Chou headed straight for Yin City.

Upon entering Yin City, he first rushed to the prefecture office to find Li Zhang. As soon as he stated the matter, he saw Li Zhang's face turn pale.

Xi Wu Chou pressed him, but Li Zhang only stammered, telling him to go to the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion to ask.

Back when he was handling cases at the Immortal Terrace, Xi Wu Chou never allowed people before him to know the inside story yet stammer and conceal it. It was the same now; he drew his sword and asked Li Zhang not to ruin their friendship.

Li Zhang still begged him to go to the Prince's Mansion. Xi Wu Chou stopped talking, sliced off his right ear with one sword stroke, and asked again.

Just as he hadn't realized the Prince of Zhenbei's tendency to protect his own back then, Li Zhang hadn't expected that this elegant young master—who was so aloof, refined, and dashing at the Qilin Tower in the Divine Capital—could be so sharp and ruthless. He collapsed on the ground, clutching his ear, and confessed everything.

It turned out there was no other illegitimate son at all, and the Prince of Zhenbei had never let the matter go.

After the trial and before the beheading, Gao Muzhen had been swapped; the person beheaded at the execution ground was already someone else in disguise.

The rest goes without saying: after Gao Muzhen escaped death, he remembered the scholar's scathing insults and, burning with rage, captured him to vent his anger.

Three days had already passed, and the scholar was likely in grave danger.

Xi Wu Chou kicked Li Zhang to the ground and flew straight toward the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion.

To be honest, this behavior was not wise, because he was on the verge of a breakthrough. If he just waited another ten days or half a month to step into the Heavenly Tower, he could come to the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion for revenge then, and even if the Prince of Zhenbei himself were present, he wouldn't offend him for the sake of an illegitimate son.

And even if the worst happened and the revenge failed, he could still retreat unscathed.

However, like a heron pecking at a snake, he only advanced and never retreated. The frustration of the scholar's unknown fate and being toyed with by others was stifled in his heart; if Xi Wu Chou were willing to choose avoidance for the sake of self-preservation, he wouldn't be who he was.

At this moment, the sun was high in the sky, and people were coming and going on the street. In full view of everyone, Xi Wu Chou no longer gave any face and kicked down the plaque that read "Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion."

He then charged straight inside. Anyone who came to block his path was dealt with in one sword stroke. Although there were hundreds of elite guards and countless experts in the mansion, they were all swept aside, like a dragon entering a school of shrimp.

……

Zhang Siche stood up.

"Alright, I can't tell the rest," he sighed.

Another round had finished, and only four people remained in the grotto. Pei Ye and Zhang Siche each fought one match, and then they entered the final battle.

Pei Ye patted his wrist, wanting to return the energy he had borrowed, but Zhang Siche smiled and refused: "You'd better worry about yourself."

After saying this, he strode out.

Sure enough, in less than a moment, the black-robed person came to take Pei Ye and the last remaining person away. Clearly, the winners on that side would not return to the grotto but would wait at the venue for the final battle.

Pei Ye arrived at the venue and was somewhat surprised to find that there was still only one black-robed person around, while Zhang Siche was leaning to the side, watching him with a smile.

Is the Candle World Sect so confident in this place? Are they not afraid that Zhang Siche and I will join forces to take out the black-robed person and run away?