Chapter 126: The Wrath of the Young Lady

When Elder Cangxing saw Wenren Mo in front of the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts again, he frowned angrily. "You again?"

Xu Hongqiu had already instructed that they could use heavy force against this man if he were to come over to bother her again. Elder Cangxing had beaten Wenren Mo up pretty badly the last time he came by, but that still wasn't enough to keep him away.

"Esteemed senior!" Wenren Mo shouted with his hands raised. "I have important evidence that can help you figure out what’s really going on behind the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts!"

"What evidence?" Elder Cangxing asked.

He gathered power in his palm, ready to strike Wenren Mo if he were to say something wrong. Elder Cangxing wasn't as friendly to everyone as he had been to Di Nufeng.

"It's definitely important physical evidence. I want to present it to Miss Xu in person," Wenren Mo said with a smile. "Please inform her of this."

Elder Cangxing considered it for a moment and ultimately ordered his subordinate to inform Xu Hongqiu. After a while, the messenger returned and invited Wenren Mo upstairs. Wenren Mo finally got his wish to sit face-to-face with Xu Hongqiu.

Xu Hongqiu was extremely annoyed by Wenren Mo's pursuit of her.

As the daughter of the Whale Gang's chief, Xu Hongqiu had a high status. Moreover, she was beautiful and had a high cultivation level. There was no shortage of people like Wenren Mo trying to get close to her.

At first, Xu Hongqiu would turn them down politely with kind words, but she quickly found that was useless. These people saw her kindness as encouragement for them to pursue her even more relentlessly. Then when she tried being a little fierce and shouted at them to stop, they liked that even more than when she was kind to them.

Some of them would even plead, “Oh, elder sister, please hit me...”

Of course, Xu Hongqiu complied with such requests, but she wouldn't do it personally. Instead, she would let the irate Elder Cangxing take action on her behalf.

Xu Hongqiu's expression remained as icy as ever while looking at Wenren Mo.

"I heard you want to hand over important evidence about the internal affairs of the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts?" Xu Hongqiu asked.

"That's right," Wenren Mo answered.

Unexpectedly, Wenren Mo showed little emotion despite sitting face-to-face with Xu Hongqiu. He just nodded gently and then casually placed the accounts ledger, which he'd obtained in exchange for a valuable item, on the table.

Xu Hongqiu flipped through the ledger, and her gaze wavered. The content of the ledger could indeed completely answer her questions about what was going on behind the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts. She was surprised to find that Wenren Mo hadn't merely told her empty words.

After a long while, Xu Hongqiu looked up at Wenren Mo and questioned, "Where did you get this from?"

Wenren Mo smiled and replied, "I have a wide circle of friends. A friend of mine was aware of my feelings for you. He searched for it and gave it to me."

"Which friend? And how did he get it? Can you tell me more in detail?"

"He didn't provide any specific details. Anyway, it was a friend from the Mount Shu Sect. I'm guessing that he just chanced upon it—"

Before finishing what he had to say, Wenren Mo noticed a sudden change in Xu Hongqiu's expression.

"Chu Liang...?" Xu Hongqiu uttered hesitantly.

It was unlikely there were many members of the Mount Shu Sect present in Taotie City, so Xu Hongqiu immediately thought of that teacher-disciple duo.

"Do you know him too, Miss Xu?" Wenren Mo asked in return.

He thought that Xu Hongqiu's reaction was a bit strange. It seemed there was something that had happened between Chu Liang and Xu Hongqiu that he didn't know about...

"So, it is indeed him," Xu Hongqiu concluded.

She pondered for a moment with knitted brows.

Xu Hongqiu fell into deep contemplation about why Chu Liang had chosen to hand the ledger over to her through Wenren Mo, instead of giving it to her himself when he came by with Di Nufeng. The ledger would have immediately sent Xun Nanling to death!

Nevertheless, it didn't take long for Xu Hongqiu to figure it out. Chu Liang had done it intentionally!

If he had presented this item during his visit to seek justice, it would have undoubtedly exposed Xun Nanling's crimes and given him a way out through suicide. Most of all, Xu Hongqiu wouldn't have protected Xu Nangling!

It was very likely that Xu Hongqiu would have killed Xun Nanling to deliver justice to the teacher-disciple duo. She would have done right by Di Nufeng and Chu Liang as well as cleansed the Whale Gang of corruption.

However, if that had happened, Di Nufeng and Chu Liang wouldn't have been able to blackmail Xu Hongqiu...

Xun Nanling wouldn't have had any value as a guilty man. If Xu Nanling were innocent, then Xu Hongqiu needed to protect him. To do that, she had to give Di Nufeng and Chu Liang a fifth-realm demonic beast.

Then once it seemed like the matter had passed, they could present the ledger to Xu Hongqiu. Xun Nanling's death was sealed as long as Xu Hongqiu saw the ledger in the end.

Chu Liang had undoubtedly taken his revenge, and the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts had ultimately given away a fifth-realm demon beast for nothing.

"Chu Liang..." Xu Hongqiu muttered Chu Liang's name with conflicting emotions.

Chu Liang had helped Xu Hongqiu root out the traitor in her gang, resolving the problems involving the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts. However... Xu Hongqiu didn't feel totally happy about the result.

Wenren Mo couldn't help but blink in surprise while watching Xu Hongqiu say Chu Liang's name twice.

In an attempt to take credit for acquiring the ledger, Wenren Mo said, "Regardless of how Brother Chu obtained it, I paid a high price to get this ledger. The valuable item I gave him—"

"What?" Xu Hongqiu was startled yet again. "You gave him a valuable item in exchange for this ledger?"

"That's right. After all, how could I expect him to give it to me for free..."

Xu Hongqiu had initially thought that Chu Liang had found an acquaintance to deliver the evidence because he had finished blackmailing the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts. Yet, it turned out that he had actually gotten a valuable item in exchange for this evidence too.

Chu Liang had a grudge against Xun Nanling, so the ledger was something he would have wanted to hand over to Xu Hongqiu no matter what. This meant Chu Liang had managed to achieve his goal and even profit from it.

This is ridiculous...

Xu Hongqiu recalled the scene from the day before when she sent the teacher-disciple duo off from the store... Now, she thought that they seemed just like a ferocious tiger and a crafty little fox!

The young lady of the Whale Gang clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth.

With nostrils flaring in rage, Xu Hongqiu uttered two words, "Chu Liang...!!"

...

"

Achoo... Achoo... Achoo!

"

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Chu Liang sneezed three times in a row and rubbed his nose, looking puzzledly into the distance.

Then he turned and entered the First-Rate Sword Hut. He didn't see Di Nufeng around, so he went to the front hall to look for Xu Sui.

Chu Liang asked Xu Sui, "Elder Brother Xu, do you know where my teacher is?"

"Esteemed Senior Di Nufeng..." Xu Sui answered with a slightly amused expression. “She's having a duel with the

Golden-Furred Hou on the rear mountain."

"

Huh?

"

She's having a duel with the Golden-Furred Hou...? And how's that going to end up?

Chu Liang hurried to the rear mountain, but he didn't make it in time to see the battle. Instead, he witnessed the scene of a gentle teacher and an obedient Hou.

Chu Liang watched as Di Nufeng raised her hand and instructed the Hou with a bright smile, "Let's shake hands. That's right. Now, the left hand! Come here... Sit! Roll over!"

Up ahead, a massive creature, over one zhang tall, was currently rolling around like a golden ball of fur at Di Nufeng's every command. The Golden-Furred Hou had large bumps all over its head, but it wore a fawning grin on its face. The Hou looked extremely silly when it smiled, especially with that exceptionally large head.

"Esteemed Teacher, what are you doing?" Chu Liang asked as he approached.

"I'm just bonding with it," Di Nufeng answered with a smile. "Those guys from the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts weren't lying; this little thing is pretty docile."

Chu Liang pursed his lips. "..."

Upon recalling how the "little thing" had been chewing on iron chains earlier, Chu Liang felt he'd been blinded by his prejudice this whole time. It seemed that the people from the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts truly hadn't lied to them.

The Hou usually had very close relations with their owners and their owners’ families, and they were not aggressive toward strangers. However, when confronted with malicious foes, the Hou would unleash an intense desire to fight. The main reason they would do that was to protect their master, as the Hou themselves feared nothing.

The pressure that Di Nufeng unleashed the day before had caused the Golden-Furred Hou to mistake her for an enemy. That was why it had been very hostile and had a great desire to fight her.

Despite that... after Di Nufeng's patient bonding session earlier, the Golden-Furred Hou now acknowledged her as its master.

What enemy? This is my dear master!

If Master asks me to spin around, then I must spin twice for her!

Raar, raar, raar!

Just as Chu Liang and the two "ferocious beasts" were having a great time together on the rear mountain, a deafening explosion that seemed to rip through the air rang out from the direction of the thatched grass hut.

Boom—

A pillar of qi soared upward, piercing through the clear sky and heading straight for the Ninth Heaven. With an unparalleled momentum, the pillar of qi shook the world wherever it went.

There's sword qi soaring toward the heavens!

Of course, Chu Liang knew what this meant.

"The sword's complete?!"