Chapter 189

Everyone heard and couldn't help but be delighted.

The Divination Palace is famed for divination, Qimen Dunjia, sorcery, and restrictions; dealing with Heng Xian will be easy.

Jiang Ruoyan hurriedly asked, "How many people came from the Divination Palace, and who is leading them?"

The true disciple replied, "About fifty or sixty people, and the leader is Senior Sister Lingling Xiao."

Let's go out to greet them.

Everyone rose and headed out; as they reached the gate, a group of men and women in yin-yang robes entered.

The leader was a petite, lovely girl in an airy tassel robe, with big, watery eyes full of spirit; she smiled and said, "Fellow senior brothers and sisters, nice to see you again!"

Everyone clasped their fists and said, "Junior Sister Lingling Xiao!"

Lingling Xiao giggled, "No need for formalities; have you caught Heng Xian?"

Jiang Ruoyan said, "Heng Xian is very cunning; we're at a loss; please, Junior Sister, devise a plan."

"Oh?" Lingling Xiao laughed, "What more strategy is needed? When I came, I passed by the Hao family and saw a notice on their gate reading 'Heng Xian is here; disciples of the fourteen sects, please enter.'"

"They are so open-minded; why don't you all go in?"

Everyone exchanged glances, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Still, Si Tu Nan Fei lightly shook his fan and said, "We've only just arrived; Heng Xian's behavior is abnormal, and our spiritual sense can't discern him, so we must be cautious; we are currently discussing strategies."

Junior Sister's arrival is perfect; why not help us divine a hexagram to see what Heng Xian intends?

Lingling Xiao waved her sleeves and said, "Easy; just watch me cast a spell!"

Saying that, everyone returned to the main hall.

Lingling Xiao used a cinnabar brush to draw an eight-trigram pattern on the ground, placed eighteen ancient copper coins as the boundary, then chanted a spell and scattered thirty-two tortoise shells.

The tortoise shells spun, and suddenly a misty spiritual energy rose around.

"Jia Dun Kun Yin..."

Lingling Xiao sat cross-legged to the side, formed hand seals, and kept muttering.

……

The Hao family mansion was filled with a solemn atmosphere.

Each member of the Hao family had a pale face, anxious and uneasy.

After all, being stared at by thousands of those "Ma Ye" types is unbearable.

Meanwhile, Hao Gou and Sun Liuzi, under Heng Xian's arrangement, were placing some strange items.

Heng Xian, meanwhile, took Gou Dan and wandered around aimlessly.

In the adjacent room, the monkey sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed cultivating, when suddenly he opened his eyes, gave a cold snort, and his body trembled slightly.

With him as the center, he violently whipped out a fierce sword qi.

The sword qi quickly filled the room, then swept toward the entire Hao family mansion.

Immediately, the monkey looked outside and said, "Heng Xian, someone is scheming; fortunately my cultivation is low, so I managed to bluff my way through; when will we strike?"

Heng Xian in the courtyard blinked his eyes and replied, "Wait a bit longer; let them get anxious first."

……

In the main hall of the town elder's house.

The tortoise shells in the cinnabar formation gradually stopped, and Lingling Xiao suddenly opened her eyes.

Seeing this, everyone hurriedly asked, "How?"

Lingling Xiao slightly furrowed her brows, waved her hand to collect all the tortoise shells, stood up and said, "The situation is unclear; it's hard to say what there is, or… perhaps nothing at all; maybe Heng Xian is just playing an empty city ploy?"

Ye Hongxue shook his head and said, "The empty city ploy is meant to scare off opponents; we obviously couldn't be scared off, unless Heng Xian truly has a death-wish and wants to play around before dying."

Jiang Ruoyan said, "We scanned with our spiritual sense, yet we still see nothing; we can't even locate Heng Xian, which is very strange!"

Just as his words fell, another true disciple ran in from outside, saying, "The notice posted in front of the Hao family gate has changed!"

"What changed?" Huo Yuanqing asked.

That true disciple hesitated, "The fourteen sects are nothing but… wine sacks and rice bags!"

The hall fell silent.

A group of people's faces showed a slight stagnation.

It's not that they were very angry; everyone present were outstanding and exceptionally wise, so they wouldn't fly into a rage over a couple of provoking words.

It's just that it's indeed quite embarrassing.

Tianming Heshang clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha, more talk is useless; send someone to attack first and we'll see!"

Jiang Ruoyan asked, "Who will go?"

Ye Hongxue furrowed his brows and said, "I'll go!"

Everyone clasped their fists and said, "We will cover for Junior Brother/Sister Ye!"

……

In the Hao family mansion.

Heng Xian, strolling with Gou Dan, glanced outside, finally stopped his steps, looked at Hao Gou and Sun Liuzi who had finished their tasks, and said, "Alright, you can take the Hao family out through the back gate; remember, when you go out, cry and wail, cursing me Heng Xian as a demon, saying I forced you!"

Hao Gou and Sun Liuzi hurriedly knelt down and said, "We dare not…"

"Not daring also must dare!" Heng Xian laughed, threw over two Storage Bags, "If you want to preserve your lives, you must do this; these two Storage Bags contain your payment—spirit crystals and cultivation methods; it's not in vain that we've known each other; scram!"

Hao Gou and the two of them instantly burst into tears; during this time together, even though Heng Xian was being hunted by the fourteen great sects, they still felt Heng Xian was not a bad person.

After receiving the Storage Bags, they kowtowed several times, then wiped their eyes and turned to leave.

Soon, the entire Hao family left the residence empty.

Heng Xian glanced outside again, patted Gou Dan's head, and said, "Remember what I taught you, scare him!"

Saying that, he walked back into the house.

At this moment, the surroundings of the Hao Family Manor were tightly surrounded by disciples from various sects.

Hao Gou's family and Sun Liushi had just left the residence when they were seized and taken away.

Strong killing intent from all directions rushed straight into the courtyard.

Outside the main gate, elders of the Fourteen Sects and experts from the Earth Ranking had gathered.

Ye Hongxue took a deep breath, lifted his foot, and walked toward the gate.

Upon reaching the gate, he paused slightly, reached out, and tore off the paper notice that read 'The Fourteen Sects are nothing but wine sacks and rice bags.'

There was no reaction.

He reached out and pushed the door.

"Creak——"

The gate opened, emitting a harsh scraping sound.

Ye Hongxue stepped back slightly, his expression composed.

"Clang——"

Those behind him, magical and spiritual artifacts, flew out half a foot.

"Whoo——"

A gust of wind blew, sweeping up dust and grass scraps in the courtyard.

Not a single person was present, nor any sign of mechanisms.

Ye Hongxue shook his head, lightly pressed the sword hilt, and stepped inside.

Step by step……

When he reached the central courtyard, there was still no one around, like a deserted residence.

Ye Hongxue paused, glanced around, passed through the central courtyard, and entered the second courtyard.

Just as he stepped into the courtyard, a 'pop' sound came from beside him.

"Clang——"

Ye Hongxue's nerves tensed; he jerked in surprise, half of his magical artifact sword flew out, and he looked over.

He saw that it was an artificial hill, which had been cleanly split into two halves at the middle, the top half fallen to the ground, as if sliced by a sword.

Ye Hongxue immediately projected his spiritual sense, scanning wildly.

The spiritual sense of a cultivator at the Yuan Dan Initial Realm can at least perceive the general situation within a radius of one or two hundred li.

But the Hao Family Manor gave him a strange feeling—there was actually… nothing at all.

No one was nearby, and he could not tell where the magical artifact that cut the artificial hill came from.

So why was the artificial hill neatly cut in half?

Could there be a swordmaster hiding in the shadows?

Ye Hongxue possesses extraordinary talent, with the bloodline of an ancient unicorn rhinoceros; he broke through to the Yuan Dan Initial Realm at twenty‑nine, an age at which most sects see breakthroughs to the Primordial Dan Realm around fifty, making him a genuine genius!

But a genius is not unafraid of death; he fears more a half‑dead state that harms his foundation. His reason for coming in is purely a matter of personality.

Thus, in an instant, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, he took a deep breath, and shouted sternly toward the surroundings: 'Heng Xian, you are grossly treasonous, consorting with demons, harming your fellow disciples and masters, having already committed heinous sins—why skulk about? Come out!'

Also, that swordsman wielding blade and sword is quite impressive!

Having said that, his spiritual sense went into a frenzied scan, wishing to inspect even the mouse holes of the entire residence.

Yet still there was no one, and no one paid any heed; the whole courtyard remained silent.

Ye Hongxue fell silent for a moment, then continued forward.

Just as he left that side, behind the broken artificial hill, a cloth bearing a talisman to conceal spiritual sense was lifted; Gou Dan, grinning with delight, seized the cloth and ran off at full speed.

(End of chapter)