Chapter 659: Let Me Handle This (II)

Nangong Residence.

Night had fallen, casting a dim veil over Jiuguan City. Beneath the gray sky, the city’s crumbling walls and desolate streets looked even more run-down. Yet, in stark contrast, the Nangong Residence stood tall and grand. Large red lanterns hung inside and out, bathing the imposing mansion in warm, flickering light.

Chu Liang and Ling Ao approached the outer wall.

Chu Liang turned to Lin Bei and said, “Stay outside and cover us. We’ll head in and take a look.”

“Got it.” Lin Bei patted his chest confidently. “I’m good at this. Be careful in there.”

Having worked alongside Chu Liang countless times, Lin Bei was no stranger to lookout duty. It had become second nature to him—a role he filled without complaint.

After giving instructions, Chu Liang and Ling Ao leapt over the high walls.

In truth, Chu Liang could have transformed into wind for a quieter, swifter entry, but that would mean leaving Ling Ao behind. Since he had asked Ling Ao to assist, denying him the chance to prove himself felt would not be very nice. And so, Chu Liang decided to accommodate him.

Besides, with Ling Ao’s sixth-realm physical cultivation, his movements were nearly as fast as the wind. The difference in speed wasn’t significant enough to matter.

With two soft swishes, they slipped over the high wall, landing quietly in the rear courtyard of the Nangong Residence.

“They set up an enchanted formation here, be careful,” Chu Liang warned.

Ling Ao had already sensed something was amiss. While he was in mid-air, he twisted his body and glided over the open space, landing silently.

The two navigated the grounds with ease, slipping past all surveillance until they arrived at a courtyard packed with dozens of black carriages. The cloth covering the carriages obscured many streams of qi, which seemed to belong to humans.

“The qi feels quite weak,” Chu Liang muttered puzzledly. “They don’t seem like cultivators—certainly not anyone capable of attacking a city.”

Suspicious of who the people might be, Chu Liang swiftly darted forward and carefully lifted the cloth for a closer look.

Underneath the black cloth, several women were bound tightly inside the carriage. Their faces were pale and gaunt, appearing extremely weak.

As the cloth lifted, one woman gasped in fear and cried out, “Ah!”

The sharp cry pierced the quiet night, instantly alerting the guards.

“Who’s there?” a voice barked.

A squad of black-clad men rushed in from beyond the courtyard wall.

Just as Chu Liang was about to make his move, Ling Ao sprang forward with a shout.

“Let me handle this!”

In an instant, he lunged at the incoming guards, fists and feet moving in a blur.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

In mere moments, the entire squad of martial artists was sent sprawling, bones snapping as cries of pain echoed through the courtyard with each strike.

And that was Ling Ao holding back. With his current strength, ending their lives would have required little more than a flick of his finger.

However, the ruckus drew the attention of a truly powerful cultivator.

A sharp gust of wind signaled the arrival of a man in a bright red robe, drifting down gracefully from the rooftop. Four young women in colorful robes followed closely behind, each wielding a sword.

“How dare you trespass in the house of Nangong, you brazen thieves!” the red-robed man snapped. His pale face seemed ageless, and his piercing eyes gleamed with an unsettling light.

With a swift push of his palms, a dark cloud of blood erupted, surging forward with murderous intent.

“I’ll handle him!” Ling Ao stepped forward. “You take care of the girls!”

Sensing the red-robed man’s cultivation surpassed his own, Ling Ao feared Chu Liang might be at a disadvantage. Without hesitation, he took the initiative, ready to face the greater threat head-on.

Chu Liang hesitated briefly. But as Ling Ao had already rushed forward, Chu Liang chose not to stop him and instead turned his focus to the four sword-wielding girls.

The girls drew their swords in unison, chanting in sharp harmony. In an instant, their blades shimmered, and the swordlights merged into a single dazzling beam, casting disorienting reflections. Moments later, crimson light bloomed, unfurling like flowers in full blossom.

“An illusion technique?” Chu Liang muttered, blinking. He exhaled softly and whispered, “Disperse.”

Boom.

A gust of wind burst from Chu Liang, rippling outward and striking the four girls with force. They were sent flying, crashing to the ground where they lay unconscious.

The difference in strength was overwhelming—no amount of numbers could bridge the gap.

Ling Ao’s side, however, wasn’t so easy.

The red-robed man attacked with the cultivation at the peak of the sixth realm. The pool of blood before him twisted and transformed into nine red and pink skulls. Their terrifying ghastly forms opened their mouths wide, relentlessly lunging at Ling Ao with clawing ferocity.

Ling Ao’s attacks were relentless, but eight of the crimson skulls circled protectively around the red-robed man. Each time Ling Ao charged, he crashed into the swirling skulls. Upon impact, they burst into plumes of red mist that seeped into the air.

Inhaling the mist clouded his mind and unsettled his spirit, sapping his will to fight.

Ling Ao’s weakness had always been his soul. In mere moments, the mist affected his body several times and he was almost injured.

For a moment, he was in great danger.

Chu Liang observed the battle for a moment longer before calmly saying, “I’d better help you.”

“You...” Ling Ao began, wanting to protest, but the thick mist clouded his senses, making his escape nearly impossible. Defeat seemed inevitable. “Be careful! His mist is power—”

Boom!

Before Ling Ao could finish, a bolt of violet-gold lightning streaked down from the sky. It struck the red-robed man with such force that he was slammed into the ground, unable to resist.

Golden lightning crackled and flickered, and as the last sparks faded, Chu Liang stood with his foot pressed firmly on the man’s chest.

In the blink of an eye, Chu Liang had descended with the full power of the Dragon God’s thunder, defeating the enemy with a single, decisive strike.

The divine thunder ripped through all flashy tricks with ease, shattering illusions and dispelling enchanted mist in an instant.

“This...” Ling Ao stared in shock, stunned for a long moment before speaking. “Your cultivation...”

What just happened? The enemy I struggled so hard against... is now on the ground with you standing on his chest?

Ling Ao hadn’t gotten a good look at what happened.

“Yeah.” Chu Liang sighed. “My cultivation... I’ve really fallen behind these past six years.”

“...” Ling Ao felt a heaviness in his chest, as if something were lodged there, desperate to be let out.

Even if he didn’t fully understand what had just happened, one truth became glaringly obvious—he had once again underestimated Chu Liang. Chu Liang’s strength had grown far beyond his own, and the gap between them now seemed even wider than it had been six years ago.

Ling Ao recalled his earlier pity for Chu Liang, and a wave of embarrassment washed over him. He wished his hair were long enough to cover his entire face.

“Forget that. Let’s ask him about the rebels of Mount Mang,” Chu Liang said casually, giving the red-robed man a light kick. “Stop pretending to be dead. Talk!”

“Ah! Spare me, young hero...” the red-robed man pleaded. But his eyes flickered with confusion. “Rebels of Mount Mang? What are you talking about?”

“The rebels of Mount Mang, of course. You don’t know them?” Chu Liang asked. “They’re planning to attack the city, and today you just happened to smuggle people in. You’re saying you have nothing to do with them?”

“I don’t know anything about that. These are just weak women I bought from disaster-stricken areas. I wanted them to cultivate and serve as cauldrons,” the red-robed man whimpered under Chu Liang’s foot. “What does this have to do with the rebels of Mount Mang?”

“You’re Nangong Zhi?” Chu Liang suddenly recalled.

Chu Liang recalled something he had heard before—among the chancellor’s Sixteen-Faction Alliance, there was a sect known as the Fish Water Sect. This sect had a notorious practice of having women cultivate special techniques and then harvesting the womens’ yin energy to nourish their yang energy and enhance their own cultivation.

Since the sect relied on others to cultivate, periodically harvesting their energy—much like Chu Liang and his Large-Headed Dolls—Chu Liang had taken a particular interest in their practices.

It was said in the capital that Nangong Zhi earned the chancellor’s favor with this technique. Now, the chancellor’s residence housed hundreds of women, all serving as cultivation cauldrons.

After an entire year of cultivation, the women retained less than thirty percent of their gains. The rest was harvested. Since any woman with a talent in cultivation would never willingly do such things, the sect had to purchase daughters from impoverished families.

However, the laws of the Yu Dynasty forbade human trafficking. This might explain why Nangong Zhi was acting in secret.

With that realization, Chu Liang recognized the man’s identity—he was the leader of the Fish Water Sect.

Understanding this, another question surfaced.

If this had nothing to do with the rebels of Mount Mang, then where did those rebels of Mount Mang go?

...

Jiangnan, Wu'an City.

The moonlight bathed the streets of the city, as clear and serene as a pool of still water.

Suddenly, shadows darted across the streets, their dark forms cast like predatory sharks gliding through water. One after another, more figures followed—hundreds emerged from all directions.

“Move quickly,” ordered a gaunt young man, his sharp blade glinting in the light. “The Imperial Supervisory Bureau is still keeping a close watch on Mount Mang. Once we are done with this mission, we will be able to eat well for a long time!”

In the darkness of the night, the first cry of agony soon echoed!