Chapter 83: Hoodwinking, Equipment Overwhelming, the Marquis Heir is Fierce (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"Saint Envoy, have you been getting used to life in Tongzhou lately?"

County Magistrate Wang arrived at the Saint Envoy's residence.

"It is acceptable." The Saint Envoy nodded, then asked impatiently: "Helmsman Wang, is there news from the Saintess?"

"Not yet." County Magistrate Wang shook his head, then said: "I have come to see the Saint Envoy today because I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?" The Saint Envoy raised a hand to signal for him to speak.

County Magistrate Wang spoke with a calm expression, using words he had organized in advance, "It is a matter of official business. A few days ago, the County Government and the Jing'an Guard joined forces to capture a major criminal. This person is involved with a big figure, and there may be experts coming to break them out of prison tonight, so I hope the Saint Envoy can offer assistance."

Upon hearing this, the Saint Envoy frowned slightly and pondered in silence.

County Magistrate Wang hurriedly added: "If this case can be successfully resolved, I will also be able to share in the credit."

"Since I am idle anyway, I might as well stretch my muscles." Hearing this, the Saint Envoy agreed.

County Magistrate Wang was overjoyed, "Many thanks for your help, Saint Envoy."

"Helmsman Wang, there is no need for such formalities. As members of the same Holy Sect, we should naturally help one another." The Saint Envoy shook his head dismissively, then asked: "In what capacity shall I provide this assistance tonight?"

"I have already informed Pei Shaoqing in advance that I would invite two experts from the Jiang Hu to help tonight. When the time comes, you and I shall appear masked, and we can retreat once we have captured those attempting to break into the prison." County Magistrate Wang blurted out the answer.

The Saint Envoy nodded slightly, "It is good that Helmsman Wang has made all the arrangements. However, you must remember that we must not use the martial arts of the Holy Sect tonight, so as to avoid complications."

"The Saint Envoy is indeed thoughtful; I shall keep it in mind." County Magistrate Wang bowed deeply.

His heart was filled with shame.

To think that he would actually deceive the Saint Envoy, a backbone of the Holy Sect, for the sake of Pei Shaoqing, that lackey of the imperial court.

Pei Shaoqing inciting one man to deceive another—is this not a form of cuckoldry?

While County Magistrate Wang was hoodwinking the Saint Envoy.

Pei Shaoqing had also finished his preparations on his end.

Night finally descended amidst the waiting.

The first watch, nothing happened.

The second watch, nothing happened.

The third watch, a sudden change occurred.

Four figures with black cloth masks leaped like bats across the rooftops, landing together outside the Jing'an Guard prison.

"Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!"

The next second, accompanied by heavy and rapid footsteps, a large number of Jing'an Guards holding weapons and Broken Gang Crossbows surged out from all directions, surrounding them tightly.

"Fire!"

Pei Shaoqing did not waste words and gave the order.

Dozens of crossbow bolts were fired in unison in an instant.

Commander Zhou shouted: "Take them out first."

As his voice fell, he leaped into the air, preparing to unleash his might, but a long spear came piercing through the air.

He dodged it by a hair's breadth, and then saw a man in purple robes, also masked, arrive through the air; the long spear flew into his hand.

Commander Zhou's expression turned grave: "Roaming Dragon Realm."

He then turned and prepared to run without hesitation.

It was not that he could not win, but that it was unnecessary; after all, the Marquis Heir had said that if the situation was impossible, his own survival was the priority.

"Stay!" The Saint Envoy roared, the long spear left his hand again, and he followed closely behind, charging out.

Below, Pei Shaoqing drew his Mo Tan and charged toward the nearest masked man, taking the lead.

That person stepped back and slashed straight down with his blade.

"Clang!"

His blade was easily severed by Mo Tan.

"What!" The masked man was shocked. Seeing that Pei Shaoqing had already reached him, he could only face the enemy with his broken blade.

Pei Shaoqing's sword technique was swift and fierce, attacking only and not defending.

The masked man, thinking he had discovered a flaw in his defense, took the cost of a sword strike to his shoulder, and his broken blade slashed down onto Pei Shaoqing's chest.

But it only left a tiny mark on his robe, not even opening a cut.

Seeing this, the masked man's eyes widened again.

The next second, the sword Pei Shaoqing had thrust into his shoulder vibrated gently, breaking bone as it emerged, the blade slicing through half of his shoulder blade horizontally; blood gushed out like a fountain.

The masked man's body collapsed with a crash, and with eyes full of despair and unwillingness, he squeezed out a single sentence: "Damn it!"

The sword he used was a divine weapon that could cut through iron like mud.

The robe he wore was comparable to golden-thread Inner Armor.

He was covered in treasures; how was he supposed to fight?

It wasn't that his strength was inferior to others, he had simply lost due to his equipment; his death could not have been more frustrating.

He died with his eyes wide open! Truly, he died with his eyes wide open!

This was the first time Pei Shaoqing had fought someone personally since taking office, and he truly experienced the massive boost that good equipment brought to one's strength; he felt incredibly satisfied.

This feeling was just like a "pay-to-win" tycoon in a game easily crushing a "grinder" who had a higher level than himself.

He let out a loud shout: "Everyone back off! Let me handle this!"

He felt that he was invincible among those of the same realm.

The masked Old Wang and the group of Jing'an Guards instantly withdrew from the battlefield, leaving the remaining two to Pei Shaoqing.

Pei Shaoqing brandished Mo Tan and killed his way toward the two.

So cool! Awesome!

………………………

The three Sanyin Nu had long been secretly relocated in advance by the Jing'an Guard; the moment Yan Sichen and his men entered one of the households, a signal arrow instantly soared into the sky.

"Whiz!" "Bang!"

"Young Master!" The two guards immediately looked toward him.

Yan Sichen withdrew his gaze from the signal arrow blooming in the air and said with resentment, "I didn't expect Pei Shaoqing to have even calculated this in advance. Let's go."

How did I never notice this guy had such a brain back in the Capital? Could it be that he was just pretending?

"Where do you think you're going?" Liu Yuheng, Zhao Zhilan, and Ye Hanshuang drifted over, followed by more than ten Jing'an Guards.

Yan Sichen looked at Liu Yuheng, "I didn't expect Pei Shaoqing to actually send you here? The people I sent to the prison are also Roaming Dragon Realm experts; if you go to save him now, you might still make it in time."

Liu Yuheng did not respond, only raising her sword to charge and kill.

Seeing this, Yan Sichen secretly cursed, thinking it bad; it seemed Pei Shaoqing still held trump cards he didn't know about.

Then he must take advantage of the moment Commander Zhou was holding back Pei Shaoqing's trump card to escape from Liu Yuheng's hands.

The six of them fought from the ground to the roof, then back down to the ground; sword Qi crisscrossed and true Qi shot everywhere, gravel and roof tiles flew, and smoke and dust filled the air—it was truly intense.

Seeing that both guards had already fallen into a disadvantage.

Yan Sichen knew he could not drag this out any longer.

"This all should end now."

He looked at Liu Yuheng and said, then the aura on his body suddenly surged, permeated by a burst of eerie black mist; his black kerchief shattered into scraps, strange scars appeared on his face, and the veins on his neck bulged.

Seeing this, Liu Yuheng's expression became grave.

"Vile woman, you still want to stop me? Keep dreaming!"

Yan Sichen roared and rose from the ground.

Liu Yuheng raised her sword to charge up, but the longsword in her hand was snapped by his punch, and she was sent flying backward by the force.

Although Yan Sichen held the upper hand, he did not linger in the fight, instead turning directly to flee rapidly toward outside the city.

By the time Liu Yuheng steadied her figure, only a vague back could be seen, so she abandoned the idea of pursuit.

Instead, she attempted to capture the two guards alive.

But to her surprise, the two guards who had been fighting Ye Hanshuang and Zhao Zhilan saw their Marquis Heir flee and cleanly and decisively committed suicide with their blades.

This caught Zhao Zhilan and Ye Hanshuang off guard.

The two women looked at Liu Yuheng in unison.

Liu Yuheng said, "They were all death soldiers; they feared they wouldn't be able to withstand interrogation after being captured, so they simply killed themselves."

Then she turned her head to look at Ye Hanshuang and said softly, "Miss Ye, you go protect those three women; Lan'er and I will go help the Young Master's side."

Ye Hanshuang nodded gently in silence.

When Liu Yuheng arrived, Commander Zhou and the Saint Envoy were fighting intensely; both sides were already wounded and their internal energy was more than half exhausted, yet they were still evenly matched.

And Liu Yuheng's arrival directly broke the balance.

The situation turned into two against one.

Commander Zhou was unable to support the situation alone and was forced back step by step.

Just as he blocked a spear strike from the Saint Envoy, he was struck flying by a tricky palm from Liu Yuheng, his body slamming heavily into a wall, causing the wall to collapse and smoke and dust to rise.

He stumbled to his feet from the ruins.

Blood was continuously trickling from the corners of his mouth.

"Surrender and you shall not die," Pei Shaoqing said concisely.

Commander Zhou looked around, then let out two loud laughs and suddenly raised his hand to strike his own crown.

Liu Yuheng had not expected that a dignified Roaming Dragon Realm expert would actually commit suicide; it was simply too late to stop him.

Blood flowed from Commander Zhou's seven orifices, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Hateful!" Pei Shaoqing's face was dark.

The Saint Envoy and Wang Xianling exchanged a glance, the two of them unobtrusively retreating into the crowd, then quietly departing.

Pei Shaoqing pretended not to see them, walked to Liu Yuheng's side, and asked, "Was Yan Sichen captured?"

"This concubine's skills were inferior, and I let him escape; I ask the Young Master to punish me," Liu Yuheng said, lowering her head.

"If he ran, then let him run; given his background, it's normal for him to have some life-saving trump cards," Pei Shaoqing was not too disappointed by this, looking at Commander Zhou's corpse and sighing, "It is a pity we couldn't capture him alive."

"It is this concubine's incompetence," Liu Yuheng said.

"Don't blame yourself, Madam; when a Roaming Dragon Realm expert is determined to die, how could you stop him?" Pei Shaoqing shook his head, feeling somewhat moved, "Yan Sichen's method of controlling his subordinates is not bad; even Roaming Dragon experts are willing to repay him with their lives."

Damn it, I'm suddenly a little envious of this prick.

"The Young Master has shown great kindness to the Iron Sword Sect; this concubine is also willing to do the same," Liu Yuheng said in a soft, gentle voice.

Pei Shaoqing turned his head to look at her; whether it was true or false, the words sounded pleasant, so he laughed twice and said, "I couldn't bear to let Madam meet an untimely end; how would I answer to Sect Leader Gongsun then?"

"I believe my husband is the same as me, willing to repay the Young Master's great kindness with our lives," Liu Yuheng said with a face full of sincerity.

"I will certainly not fail Sect Leader Gongsun and Madam," Pei Shaoqing said with a look of being moved, turning his head to look at Chen Zhongyi and saying, "Clean this place up."

"Yes, My Lord," Chen Zhongyi replied with a cupped-fist salute.

Leaving the cleanup to his subordinates, Pei Shaoqing took Liu Yuheng and Zhao Zhilan and headed back first.

………………………

After leaving the city, Yan Sichen did not flee, but instead dispersed the eerie aura all over his body and re-entered the city.

He walked down the street with a face as gloomy as water.

Pei Shaoqing's mockery today had caused him to lose his composure completely.

He had ambition, and he did indeed live every day in the fear of potentially being deposed, which was why he had not hesitated to cooperate with a ghost and act under the other party's instigation.

He had searched the entire Shu region to gather 49 Sanyin Nu, and now he was only short of these 3 in Tongzhou.

Wang Wu had fallen into Pei Shaoqing's hands.

He no longer had that much time to go elsewhere to search for Sanyin Nu, so he had to take these three women back before the matter was completely exposed.

As for what to do if he were caught while making a sudden return?

If he could not live with boundless glory.

Then he would rather die in this Tongzhou City today.

"Pei Shaoqing, this Marquis Heir will risk it all on this one gamble; I do not believe this is also within your calculations."

Suddenly, he felt something, turned his head, and discovered a black cat crouching on the roof staring at him.

"Little beast, what are you looking at? Get lost!"

Yan Sichen's face was full of ferocity; right now, even a dog passing by on the road might get kicked twice by him.

"Meow~"

The black cat turned and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

(End of this chapter)