Chapter 243: Miss Shu

The decadent pleasures of Triple Link City were suddenly halted.

The profligate heirs of the Twelve Executor Families, the wayward scions of all vassal forces, those wantonly indulgent men and women—once the Twelve Executor Families jointly issued the martial law order, everyone obediently returned home.

Throughout Triple Link City, battalions of elite cultivators in gold armor and variously colored cloaks patrolled back and forth, each with an extremely grim expression.

All outsiders who had entered Triple Link City in the past month were thoroughly interrogated.

Especially those outside experts of the Life Pool Realm, they were directly 'invited' to the Golden Pyramid, where the Elders and veterans of the Twelve Executor Families would ask them to tea and chat, interrogating their every move these days.

Wu Tie and Jin Mancang hid in the small building; the original owner of that small building, one of the young men among those dozen or so men and women, was actually a branch descendant of the Phoenix Clan—although a branch, his grandfather was an Elder of the Phoenix Clan.

Jin Mancang actually mastered the Soul-Control Secret Art.

Using medicines, acupuncture, and techniques, Jin Mancang implanted a perfect psychological suggestion in those dozen or so men and women, and Wu Tie and Jin Mancang thus transformed into that young lady's personal steward and personal manservant.

The joint search by the Twelve Executor Families was extremely strict, but with a close grandson of a Phoenix Clan Elder stepping forward, no one suspected Wu Tie and Jin Mancang.

The two sat peacefully in the small building, quietly watching the shifting winds and clouds within the city.

Those forced to stay indoors, unable to indulge their pleasures, the profligate heirs happily spread the gossip they had gathered.

Thus, within less than half a day after the martial law was imposed on Triple Link City, everyone knew that a batch of the Twelve Executor Families' most noble direct descendants—princes and princesses—had gone missing.

More precisely, they had been kidnapped.

The great families joined forces to investigate, and they immediately discovered that, before this batch of clansmen was abducted, five or six other families had already seen a batch of their own clansmen disappear for several days without word.

Someone is targeting Triple Link City!

Someone is targeting the Twelve Executor Families of Triple Link City!

Gradually, rumors spread throughout Triple Link City.

Some said it was the destroyed Great Peacock Dynasty returning for revenge.

Others said a powerful enemy had taken a fancy to Triple Link City's foundations, and their spies had infiltrated the city.

Still others claimed internal strife had erupted among the Twelve Executor Families, with several clans forming an alliance, secretly eliminating rivals to gain greater power for their own family and clear obstacles to control more territory.

Next came a vivid rumor, as if witnessed firsthand—that the Bodhi Clan's expedition to the Black Serpent Domain had failed, precisely because several hostile families had covertly obstructed them, causing the entire 20,000-strong elite army to be wiped out.

The spreader of the rumor swore to everyone: 'If it weren't for internal strife among the Twelve Executor Families, with the Bodhi Clan's strength, which major domain or force nearby could possibly annihilate their 20,000 elite troops in one fell swoop?'

Amid the sky‑filling rumors flying about, the grand auction officially opened in Triple Link City's largest merchant guild, the Twelve Heavenly Palaces.

Within Triple Link City, those who had been cooped up for three days and nights, unable to indulge, now bursting with repressed lust, the young ladies and gentlemen all primped and preened, each a graceful jade tree in the wind or a flourishing blossom, as they left their homes.

Tens of thousands of elite cultivators in Triple Link City stood ready; gold‑armored cultivators appeared on every street and alley, while in the sky higher‑level cultivators hovered in the clouds, surveilling all around.

Beside the young ladies and gentlemen of the great families, there now accompanied them stern‑looking experts as guards.

All the maids and attendants of the Twelve Heavenly Palaces were also replaced by stern‑looking cultivators, every entry and exit passage guarded to the point of being impenetrable.

It was obvious that three consecutive days of city‑wide lockdown and martial law had found no trace of the enemy; the high‑levels of the Twelve Executor Families changed tactics, unwilling to spare their own scions as bait, letting them show themselves to lure the foe.

If the enemy truly aimed at the Twelve Executor Families themselves, they believed that with so many scions gathered at the Twelve Heavenly Palaces, the hidden foe would certainly make a move.

Outside the Twelve Heavenly Palaces, Wu Tie and Jin Mancang followed closely behind Feng Hua, step for step, entering the gorgeously gilded pavilion.

Originally, this Twelve Heavenly Palaces was named the Peacock Heavenly Palace; it was the treasure basin and money‑sinking pit controlled by the royal family of the Great Peacock Dynasty. After the dynasty fell, no single one of the Twelve Executor Families could monopolize the Peacock Heavenly Palace, so they simply joined forces to hold it, and the pavilion's name was changed to Twelve Heavenly Palaces.

The Twelve Heavenly Palaces occupy a vast area, with winding corridors and overlapping pavilions; the interior décor is extravagantly luxurious, everywhere glittering with jewels, everywhere scattered with precious gems, its arrangement truly like a peacock's tail feathers, so splendid it could almost blind the eye.

Following the Phoenix Clan branch descendant Feng Hua, Wu Tie and Jin Mancang walked down a corridor inlaid with various gemstones, arriving at a vast hall.

The hall is shaped like a sea bowl; a round platform in the center can hold thousands, while the surrounding walls have three tiers of nearly a hundred large and small private rooms from bottom to top.

The open‑style private rooms have railings on three sides, allowing free communication between them.

Some private rooms already had occupants; a few frivolous‑looking young men and women stood by the railings, looking down from above on the guests in the hall's platform, bearing an air of lofty arrogance.

Others, somewhat older, laughed and greeted the occupants of neighboring rooms, raising their voices to exchange the various news of recent days in Triple Link City.

Whether intentionally or not, some people loudly voiced their various speculations, thus releasing a new wave of rumors in broad daylight.

Feng Hua wore a smile as he led Wu Tie and the two of them into a large private room.

Inside the private room sat a dozen or so haughty young men and women; a few stern‑looking middle‑aged cultivators stood to the side, with dozens of attendants waiting on them.

Upon seeing Feng Hua enter, the youth who appeared to be the eldest rose, nodded at Feng Hua, and said, 'Hua junior, you've come—take a seat.'

Feng Hua smiled and greeted each of the dozen or so young men and women in turn; from his address, these youths were all direct‑bloodline members of the Phoenix Clan.

However, unlike Feng Hua's branch line, these young men and women here are all descendants of the clan head's main line; their status, standing, and the regard they receive far surpass that of a branch descendant like Feng Hua by a considerable margin.

After the greetings, Feng Hua took a seat with a pleasant smile at the outermost spot nearby.

From start to finish, nobody gave Wu Tie and Jin Mancang more than a glance; two mere Chonglou Realm cultivators were not worth the attention of these Phoenix Clan ladies and gentlemen.

Feng Hua, smiling, said to the eldest youth in an affectionate tone: 'Ming brother, it seems the ancestors are favoring you more and more… besides, the Phoenix Guard has been assigned to you; from now on, I'll ask you to look after me, Ming brother.'

Feng Ming chuckled, glanced at the two middle‑aged men in the room whose auras were deepest, with faint red firelight flickering in their hair, and said unhurriedly: 'One is beloved by the ancestors… as for the other, well, putting it bluntly it's not pleasant to say, but the elder brother… likely something has happened to him.'

Feng Hua and the others simultaneously showed a subtle smile.

Wu Tie and Jin Mancang also began to laugh.

'These days, everyone just needs to be careful.' Feng Ming adopted the posture of the foremost among them, feigning calm as he said: 'I've heard the Elders say that perhaps someone blind has set their sights on Triple Link City.'

'Before, it was the elder brother and his group who met trouble… next, maybe it'll be us—who can say for sure?'

'No need to put ourselves on display… of course, occasions like today, where the whole city of Triple Link City is mobilized for a grand spectacle, are perfectly fine.' Feng Ming slightly jutting his chin, deliberately showing off his knowledge.

Feng Hua and the others intentionally flattered, laying on the praise thick and fast, making Feng Ming feel quite pleased.

He waved his hand with a laugh: 'Some say it's the Great Peacock royal clan returning for revenge? No, no—everyone knows the Great Peacock royal clan… aside from those few immortals, the rest are utter trash.'

With a sly smile, Feng Ming said leisurely: 'As for what's reliably known, the only surviving remnant of the Great Peacock Dynasty still at large is Ge Moluo alone. Him? It's not that I look down on him—give him another hundred years and he still couldn't move a single blade of grass in Triple Link City.'

A strikingly alluring Phoenix Clan maiden suddenly asked blankly: 'But, Ming brother, what if those few immortals of the Great Peacock Clan actually came back?'

The private room fell suddenly silent.

Not only the room they were in, but even several neighboring private rooms fell deathly quiet.

The maiden, still unaware of the situation, continued to speak blankly: 'Back then, the ancestors with great difficulty lured those few old monsters into that perilous place; over the years they may have died or may not have… but back then they indeed brought not a few experts of the Great Peacock Clan inside.'

The maiden, face pale with fright, said: 'Imagine, if those old monsters brought people back… the Great Peacock Clan's Great Peacock Ming Wang Sutra can overcome our Twelve Executor Families' Twelve Aspects Sutra; a single old monster could at least contend with the combined ancestors of five or six of our families…'

Feng Ming suddenly stood up and slapped the girl hard across the face.

He gritted his teeth, moved close to the girl, and snarled in a low voice: "If you weren't born of the same mother as me... I would strangle you with my own hands... you stupid woman, could you say such things here?"

The girl stared blankly at Feng Ming, still not understanding what had happened.

All she knew was that she had been beaten!

Spoiled and pampered since childhood, with no one daring to lay a finger on her... she had been beaten!

Two streams of hot tears burst out with a "pfft", and the girl screamed at the top of her lungs: "Waa... even Dad wouldn't dare lay a hand on me... Feng Ming..."

Feng Ming gritted his teeth, punched the girl hard on the back of the head, and knocked her out cold without hesitation.

"Damn it, I, Feng Ming, am so smart—how could I have such a stupid sister? When I get back I'll definitely ask my mother how this stupid woman could possibly be my father's child?" Feng Ming cursed lowly, looking embarrassed, then waved his hand fiercely.

"Sending her back, really..."

Two cultivators hurried over, grabbed the girl in one swoop, and hurriedly carried her out of the private room.

Feng Ming, embarrassed, cupped his hands toward the young masters of the great clans standing up in the left and right private rooms: "Sorry, sorry, my sister is stupid beyond belief—anyone interested in her, hurry up and come propose; I'll take charge, give her a larger dowry, and get her married off quickly..."

Several of the great clan scions who had been looking over here burst out laughing.

From a private room far away came an extremely sharp, fluctuating voice whose source was impossible to pinpoint.

"Feng Ming, who would dare take charge of your precious little sister?"

"She's not even old enough... this year alone she's taken abortion pills twice... heh, marry her? You'd just be bringing home a woman to support?"

Wu Tie and Jin Mancang's mouths curled up at the same time.

That remark was a bit cutting to the heart.

These scions of the great clans are playing wildly crazy, but aren't we all like that?

Everyone cares about face; to expose these shameful acts so openly... the speaker must surely have a great grudge against Feng Ming in daily life.

Feng Ming's eyes instantly bloodshot, he stared fixedly at those private rooms in the distance, over and over, veins bulging on his forehead, ready to roll up his sleeves and fight at any moment.

In the main hall below, several people who loved chaos took the opportunity to stir up trouble.

"Feng Ming... if I were you, I couldn't stand it!"

"That's right—no matter whether you're really your father's son... you can't even be sure you are... but at least you share the same mother, and that's absolutely certain."

"A sister born of the same mother, being bullied like this... can't tolerate it, be a man, go on!"

"Is your Phoenix Guard just for show? Go on, beat up those scumbags in the private rooms—don't let any of them off, what are you afraid of? Go on!"

Everyone around burst into laughter, some clapping and stomping, filling the main hall with a lively atmosphere.

Suddenly, the entire main hall fell silent in an instant.

It was as if an invisible hand had instantly smoothed out all the noise in the main hall.

Many people raised their heads, looking toward a private room above where Wu Tie and the others were.

Wu Tie also turned his head and saw that, in a private room more than three zhang high above, behind the railing of a very spacious booth, a girl dressed in black, with a head of green hair shining like a cluster of green light, her skin almost translucently white, stood there silently.

The girl said nothing, merely narrowing her eyes as she stared down at the thousands of guests attending the auction below.

An invisible aura, like a cold icy current, spread from the girl's body, making everyone's throats tighten in waves, as if no one dared to speak.

"Watch your mouth... you all have sisters and mothers." The girl softly scolded: "Who wouldn't want to get rid of that trouble-making tongue? I can help you cut it off."

Those who had just been stirring up trouble downstairs all lowered their heads, none daring to meet the girl's gaze.

"Yo, miss, you've got quite the presence—may I ask which family you're from... who you are?"

In the private room next to the girl's, Xuan Zhu appeared, smiling broadly, surrounded by a group of cultivators.

"Bodhi clan, Mu Tu." The black-clad girl gave Xuan Zhu a cold glance, stepped back two steps, sat down in her seat, and then remained silent and motionless.