Right before the punch would kill Su Bancheng, a blast of clear, righteous light appeared in front of him and blocked Ye Qing’s fist force.

“Wangsun! Kill him!” Su Bancheng exclaimed in excitement when he realized what happened.

“We need to go.”

However, instead of attacking Ye Qing, the clear, righteous light swept him away and took off to the distance instead.

“Wangsun? Why are we running away?” A puzzled Su Bancheng asked.

His answer came just a second later. Countless bloody beams descended like the rain straight at Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng.

Chu Wangsun swung his sleeve and summoned a powerful gale that scattered the bloody beams into nothing. It was only a brief distraction, but it was enough for several silhouettes to catch up to him and Su Bancheng and surround them from all sides. “Surrender the Ten Directions Stupa, Chu Wangsun, and I may yet allow you to live!”

“I don’t have the Ten Directions Stupa. How many more times must I repeat myself until you would believe me, North Duke?” Chu Wangsun asked.

“If you do not have it, then why are you running away?” The North Duke asked with an ugly expression.

“Why wouldn’t I run when you are trying to capture me without even trying to distinguish between right and wrong?” Chu Wangsun retorted in an indifferent voice.

“If you really are innocent, then you wouldn’t have minded me performing a search on you.” The North Duke said coldly, “If you are the one who took the Ten Directions Stupa, surrender it now, and I will pretend as if none of this has ever happened. If not, then allow me to search you to confirm your innocence. If I find nothing, then I would naturally allow you to leave, no?”

Chu Wangsun replied, “You are being unreasonable, Duke.”

“Unreasonable?” The North Duke sneered. “You’re the ones who intruded into my territory and coveted my treasure. Forget searching you, it would be perfectly within my right to kill you! Surrender now while I’m still being polite, or don’t blame me for what happens next!”

“I beseech you to see the truth, North Duke. We really don’t have the Ten Directions Stupa.”

By now, Su Bancheng had more or less figured out the story between the North Duke and Chu Wangsun. Clearly, the North Duke did not obtain the Ten Directions Stupa and believed that it was in their possession.

“He’s the one who took the Ten Directions Stupa.” Su Bancheng abruptly looked at Ye Qing and declared, “That’s why he tried to kill me; to silence me.”

The North Duke and his subordinates immediately turned to look at Ye Qing. They had witnessed the young man trying to kill Su Bancheng just now, so it seemed like Su Bancheng was telling the truth.

“Would you believe me if I said that I tried to kill the sonuvabitch not because of the Ten Directions Stupa, but because he tried to take what’s mine like the petty thief he is?” Ye Qing said with a shrug.

The North Duke’s eyes might have been on Chu Wangsun this whole time, but Ye Qing knew that his senses were also locked onto him. That was why he hadn’t tried to run away.

Besides, running away now would “prove” that Su Bancheng was right and pit the North Duke against him. It wasn’t worth it to say the least.

Finally, he really didn’t have the Ten Directions Stupa. Why should he bear the blame and consequences of a crime he didn’t commit?

Su Bancheng’s face darkened at the insults Ye Qing hurled at him. He grunted, “Hmph! You think you can talk your way out of this? I saw you putting away the Ten Directions Stupa with my own eyes!”

“Are you stupid? If I really did take the Ten Directions Stupa, I would have run away at first notice. I wouldn’t have wasted a single second on you.”

Ye Qing shot Su Bancheng a scornful glance before looking at the North Duke and said sincerely, “You are a wise man, North Duke. I’m sure you can distinguish who is telling the truth, and who is lying through their teeth. Of course, I am willing to do anything you ask to prove my innocence.” Ꞧ�

“Very good.” The North Duke turned his gaze back to Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng. “He agreed. What about you two?”

Chu Wangsun remained silent for a moment before replying, “Fine. you may investigate our Nature’s Shells and storage artifacts.”

“That is not enough,” North Duke declared. “I need to investigate your mind and headspace as well.”

“Must you push us so, North Duke?” Chu Wangsun’s tone visibly turned colder.

“You don’t have the right to negotiate,” the North Duke uttered just as coldly.

“The fact we’re speaking with you at all is benevolence already, Chu Wangsun. Do you really think we won’t take action against you just because you’re the disciple of the Chief Libationist?”

When Chu Wangsun’s silence stretched, Ding Buren uttered with a murderous look, “You forget that this is the North Sea; the domain of the North Duke Office. Surrender now while we are still feeling generous, or don’t blame us for what comes next!”

Ding Buren made a grab for Chu Wangsun.

“Get lost.”

Chu Wangsun swung his sleeve and unleashed a gust of force. He only meant to stop Ding Buren from approaching him, but…

“Pwack! You—!”

Ding Buren spat out a mouthful of blood and flew back like a cannonball.

“What?”

Chu Wangsun was confused to say the least, so much so that he even forgot to withdraw his hand. His earlier gesture was just to stop Ding Buren from getting close, and he did not put any real strength in it at all. After all, now wasn’t the right time to go to war against the North Duke. If Su Bancheng was unhurt, then he would not have feared the North Duke or his men. However, his companion was seriously injured, and he himself had used up quite a bit of mind during his time in the Ten Directions Stupa. On the other hand, the North Duke had the numbers advantage. Naturally, he was quite wary of the man and did not wish to resort to violence unless he had absolutely no choice.

Of course, the North Duke was just as wary of Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng despite the fact that the upper hand was in his hand. Neither Chu Wangsun nor Su Bancheng were ordinary people. One of them was the disciple of the Chief Libationist of the Jixia Academy of Chu, and the other the chief disciple of the Qing Emperor, a Sage of Chu. Killing them would incur consequences that even the North Duke would find difficult to bear.

Both sides were wary of each other. That was precisely why there was room for negotiation.

Although it looked like the North Duke was giving Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng no quarter, the fact was that they weren’t yet at the point where a fight to the death was the only option. There was still room for negotiation.

That was why Chu Wangsun had never planned on harming the North Duke or his men, at least not yet. Naturally, Ding Buren fell under this category.

However, he never imagined that the light contact would send Ding Buren flying. It was ludicrous. To make a comparison, Ding Buren’s “injury” was more ridiculous than a swindler faking a broken bone after being bumped by an old lady.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“How dare you, Chu Wangsun!”

“We gave you face, and you give us the boot? Die!”

Outraged, several people who were close to Ding Buren launched themselves at Chu Wangsun.

“It’s a misunderstanding! Please, listen to me.”

Chu Wangsun tried to defend himself as he blocked their attacks, but it was already too late.

“You have all the time in the world to explain after you’re my captive.”

First, his prize was nowhere to be found. Now, even the turtles trapped in a jar were looking down on him. Unable to restrain his anger any longer, the North Duke commanded, “All units, capture them.”

The North Duke Consort, Lu Daoweng and more stopped hesitating. They all charged toward Chu Wangsun.

The two sides were locked in battle. No one noticed a dark glint flashing in Ye Qing’s eyes.

Chu Wangsun was strong, but the North Duke outnumbered him many to one. As if that wasn’t enough, he had to protect Su Bancheng as well. It wasn’t long before he fell into a disadvantage.

“I’ll only repeat this one more time. We don’t have the Ten Directions Stupa!”

After pushing his attackers away with a torrent of true qi, Chu Wangsun said emotionlessly, “Don’t think we are meek just because we are polite.”

The North Duke retorted, “I don’t want things to turn out like this either. You’re the one who forced my hand.”

“Very well then.”

Chu Wangsun’s eyes turned steely after confirming that there was no longer any hope for a peaceful resolution. He summoned a bamboo ruler to his hand.

The ruler had a traditional design and was about seven inches long. The seal scripts, “Benevolence”, “Justice”, “Propriety”, “Wisdom”, and “Fidelity” were engraved on its surface. It looked like nothing special.

“The Sages say this: Benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and fidelity are the Five Common Ways.”

Chu Wangsun chanted, and the ordinary-looking ruler began shining with the light of sagely virtue. “Hence, those without fidelity may not stand, those without wisdom may not survive, those without propriety may not live, those without justice are shunned by the earth, and those without benevolence are shunned by the heavens.”

Having said that, Chu Wangsun made a tapping motion with the ruler.