"Don't panic. There are no enemy attacks. I was merely testing my blade just now."
A calm voice rang out, followed by Su Chen's figure emerging from the darkness.
Seeing that it was Su Chen, Captain Xing finally let out a sigh of relief and sheathed his blade.
"All right, disperse." After waving away the other Imperial Guardsmen, Captain Xing followed Su Chen to his room.
The moment he entered, Captain Xing froze.
The room was already a complete mess.
The tables, chairs, and benches had long been shredded into splinters by the storm of blade intent. Both windows had vanished, while the floor and walls were covered in deep blade marks.
"Su Chen..." Captain Xing turned to Su Chen and asked uncertainly, "Are you sure you were only testing your blade? Not fighting someone?"
Su Chen chuckled. "My blade technique improved somewhat just now. I failed to suppress it for a moment, and the blade intent erupted."
Hearing this, Captain Xing's mouth twitched again.
He could not stop himself from grumbling inwardly.
Listen to that. Is that even something a human would say? His blade technique improved, and he lost control for a moment? So it was unintentional? If he did it on purpose, would one slash be enough to overturn my entire command post?
Of course, Captain Xing only dared to think such words. He would never dare say them to Su Chen's face.
After grumbling to himself for a while, Captain Xing looked around again. "Well, Su Chen, this room is unlivable now. Let's change rooms."
Seeing this, Su Chen felt a little embarrassed. "I've caused you trouble."
Unexpectedly, Captain Xing grinned. "Su Chen, you haven't caused me trouble. You've done me a huge favor."
Confusion flashed through Su Chen's eyes. He looked at Captain Xing, waiting for an explanation.
Captain Xing pointed at the ruined room and smiled. "The command post suffered a natural disaster, and most of the rooms were destroyed. It wouldn't be excessive for me to ask my superiors for some money to repair it, would it?"
"Besides, I keep Hengnan County safe and put in plenty of effort every day. Now that I need silver, it wouldn't be excessive to ask the wealthy families in the county to contribute some, would it?"
With that, he looked at Su Chen again. "Su Chen, you've delivered a perfect excuse right into my hands."
Listening to Captain Xing speak so eloquently, Su Chen was already completely dumbfounded.
After a long while, he raised his right hand and gave Captain Xing a thumbs-up. "Fine. You people really know how to make money."
Afterward, Su Chen followed Captain Xing to a new room and settled in.
Once he had arranged new accommodations for Su Chen, Captain Xing prepared to take his leave.
Su Chen suddenly recalled the aphrodisiac true qi he had just cultivated.
So, while Captain Xing was not paying attention, he secretly sent a thread of aphrodisiac true qi into Captain Xing's body.
That night, Captain Xing felt feverish all over and could not fall asleep.
His spear had never been so firm as it was that night.
He ended up soaking in cold baths eight times before the feeling eased slightly.
In the end, he did not even dare leave the tub. That night, he fell asleep in it.
After a night of rest, dawn arrived the next day. The sky had yet to fully brighten and still retained a trace of darkness.
Su Chen and Captain Xing had already set out for Hengyang City.
Seeing Captain Xing's exhausted face, as though he had not slept all night and had been completely drained, Su Chen smiled to himself. He now understood that the aphrodisiac true qi was remarkably effective.
"Not bad. Those one hundred Martial Arts Points weren't wasted."
At the same time, within Hengyang City.
After traveling all night, the little nun Yi Lin finally brought the unconscious Linghu Chong over safely.
"First, I need to find Master and the others to treat Senior Brother Linghu." Yi Lin muttered to herself before heading toward Liu Manor with Linghu Chong.
Within Liu Manor was a separate courtyard specially arranged by Liu Zhengfeng to receive visiting friends from the martial world.
At that moment, experts from several of the Five Great Sword Sects—the Mount Hua Sect, Mount Hengshan Sect, and Mount Tai Sect—were gathered in that courtyard.
The one who had come from Mount Hengshan this time was Yi Lin's Master, Abbess Dingyi.
Abbess Dingyi's face was filled with anger as she glared at Yue Buqun and his group from the Mount Hua Sect.
"Yue Buqun, there are reports that your fine disciple Linghu Chong joined that lecherous thief Tian Boguang in abducting my disciple Yi Lin."
"You must give me an explanation. If anything has happened to my disciple, the Mount Hengshan Sect and your Mount Hua Sect will have a reckoning."
Facing the furious Abbess Dingyi, Yue Buqun still maintained the appearance of a refined gentleman.
"Abbess, the matter has not yet been clarified. It would be better not to draw conclusions too soon."
"The Five Great Sword Sects are connected by a common spirit. Though there are five sects, we can still be considered one family. My eldest disciple may be rather unruly in his conduct, but he would not be unable to distinguish right from wrong. There must be some misunderstanding here."
Daoist Tianmen, the head of Mount Tai Sect, and Liu Zhengfeng also tried to persuade her from the side.
"Yes, Abbess. There must be some misunderstanding."
"Senior Brother Yue's disciple surely is not that kind of vile person."
"Hmph. It had better be so." Abbess Dingyi snorted coldly, fiercely flicked her sleeve, then turned away without another word.
The atmosphere immediately turned somewhat cold.
Just then, a servant from Liu Manor came to report.
"Master, there is a young nun outside. She says she is a disciple of the Mount Hengshan Sect and wishes to enter the manor to find her Master."
"It must be Yi Lin." Delight appeared on Abbess Dingyi's face, and she immediately headed outside.
Yue Buqun, Liu Zhengfeng, and the other experts of the Five Great Sword Sects followed close behind, heading out of the manor as well.
The instant she arrived outside, Abbess Dingyi saw Yi Lin waiting at the gate.
She immediately stepped forward and examined Yi Lin from head to toe. Only after confirming that Yi Lin had not been harmed did she finally sigh in relief.
By then, Yue Buqun and the others had also come outside.
At a glance, Yue Buqun saw the unconscious Linghu Chong behind Yi Lin, his body covered in wounds.
"Chong'er!" Yue Buqun cried out, hurrying forward to inspect Linghu Chong's injuries.
"Martial Uncle Yue, you must save Senior Brother Linghu. He was injured by Tian Boguang while protecting me." Yi Lin's voice carried a hint of tears.
But Yue Buqun had no mind to respond. He was wholly focused on sending true qi into Linghu Chong to heal him.
After hearing Yi Lin's words, Abbess Dingyi also understood what had happened.
It seemed she had misunderstood the matter.
Linghu Chong had not abducted her disciple. On the contrary, he had protected Yi Lin.
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Abbess Dingyi's face.
"Senior Brother Yue, I..."
Yue Buqun waved his hand. "We can talk later. Let me wake Chong'er first."
Fortunately, most of Linghu Chong's injuries were superficial. Under Yue Buqun's treatment, he quickly regained consciousness.
Seeing this, everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.
Only then did they have the mood to ask about what had happened the night before.
"Yi Lin, tell us. What exactly happened yesterday?" Abbess Dingyi asked.
Yi Lin nodded, a reminiscent look appearing in her eyes.
"Master, this is what happened..."
Afterward, Yi Lin recounted everything: how Tian Boguang had abducted her, how Linghu Chong had fought Tian Boguang to save her, and how a Nameless Swordsman had slain Tian Boguang.
After hearing Yi Lin's account, Yue Buqun and the others were already plunged into profound shock.
Before you continue