Trouble Brewing

As he passed a raised mound of earth, Ling Yun lifted his foot and kicked it.

"Ow! Which bastard—"

Zhang Mu suddenly sprang out of the dirt mound, clutching his backside as he looked around. But when he saw Ling Yun's gloomy gaze, he immediately swallowed the rest of his words.

"Hehe... so it's Brother Ling..."

"Right, where's that Evil Spirit? You must have already wiped it out, Brother Ling!" Zhang Mu glanced around, trying to change the subject.

Ling Yun, however, paid him no heed. He merely stared at him with dark, inscrutable eyes, as though lost in thought.

Under Ling Yun's icy stare, Zhang Mu swallowed, and his voice gradually weakened.

Thoughts of silencing a witness, slaughtering the donkey once the millstone was removed, and all manner of similar horrors flashed through his mind.

At that thought, Zhang Mu shuddered all over. With a thud, he dropped to his knees, wrapped his arms around Ling Yun's leg, and began to wail:

"Brother Ling—no, Lord Ling! I have an eighty-year-old mother above me and a six-year-old child below me. Please show mercy and spare me."

"I swear that everything I saw tonight will rot in my belly. I'll never breathe a word of it."

"If I break this oath, I—"

Ling Yun looked at Zhang Mu, smeared with tears and snot, and his face darkened.

Who knew what this guy was thinking? When had he ever said he wanted to kill him?

He had merely been thinking about Fang Yuan and could not be bothered to pay Zhang Mu any attention.

After all, the matter of the Zhang family could not stay hidden for long. If he were the only one left alive, every eye would fall upon him. But with a second person to share the pressure, things would undoubtedly be much easier.

Even if he were exposed, he did not particularly care. At worst, he could simply leave Cloud City. Still, fewer troubles were always better.

Seeing the fellow sniveling and sobbing, Ling Yun raised his foot and kicked him away.

Yet Zhang Mu thought Ling Yun was about to strike, so he threw himself back at him, crying and shouting.

A flash of impatience crossed Ling Yun's eyes. Should I just kill this guy outright?

At that moment, Zhang Mu frantically pulled a stack of silver notes from his robes and respectfully offered them up.

"Lord Ling, I snatched these from the Zhao family during the chaos. Please accept them with a smile."

Ling Yun stared at the silver notes in silence for a moment, then quietly tucked them into his robes. He forced out a "kind" smile. "If anyone asks about this later, you know what to say, right?"

Zhang Mu's face lit up at once. Knowing his life had been spared, he scrambled to his feet and said without blinking:

"Rest assured, Lord Ling. I understand. Tonight, we were guarding the Ancestral Hall when an Evil Spirit suddenly invaded. Though we fought to the death, in the end..."

Ling Yun's expression turned strange as he listened to the man spin an endless tale. He had nearly been convinced himself that tonight had truly unfolded that way.

Seeing Zhang Mu still unsatisfied, Ling Yun patted his shoulder and gave him a meaningful look.

This fellow... perhaps he was a talent after all!

He then turned and headed for the exit. As he passed the enormous fire pit, Ling Yun struck it with a backhanded palm.

As the flames gradually swallowed the entire cave, Ling Yun's eyes remained calm, though no one knew what he was thinking.

Zhang Mu stood off to one side, sneaking glances at Ling Yun from time to time. For some reason, he recalled the expression Ling Yun wore when the sow his family had raised, Little Flower, died.

Fortunately, Ling Yun could not read minds. Otherwise, the sea of fire might have gained another lost soul.

The next day, as the sun rose, all of Cloud City was thrown into an uproar.

"Hey, have you heard? The Deng Family was attacked by an Evil Spirit. Several hundred people, servants included, all perished in the flames!"

"I heard ages ago. They say the government offices were surrounded by people first thing this morning, all demanding an explanation!"

"What about the Evil Spirit? Was it killed?"

"Anyway, the official notice says some important figure took action and killed it."

"Ha, and you believe that? My eighth aunt's second brother-in-law's younger aunt's eldest nephew works for the authorities. According to inside information, a vicious Evil Spirit came this time. The entire Deng Family, along with several thousand people across more than a dozen nearby streets, were swallowed alive!"

"Really? I live on the street opposite the Deng Family. Why am I fine?"

"Uh... my wife made soup at home. Brothers, I'll stop chatting now..."

"..."

It had to be said that although communications in this world were backward, rumors often spread with astonishing speed.

From the moment someone noticed something unusual at the Deng Family that morning, less than half a day had passed before the news spread through every street and alley of Cloud City.

For a time, everyone feared for their own safety, terrified that they would be next.

The wealthy and powerful great families in particular had even begun fleeing toward the outer city.

Had the authorities not promptly issued a lockdown order—anyone who crossed the boundary would be killed without mercy—Cloud City would likely have already collapsed into chaos.

Meanwhile, within Black Tiger Martial Hall, a special interrogation was underway.

Bang!

A dark-faced man in a flying-fish uniform slammed his palm onto the wooden table before him. The force of the blow instantly shattered the teapot and other items on its surface.

"Do you think I'd believe the nonsense you two are spouting?"

Before him, Ling Yun and Zhang Mu stood with their heads lowered. Faced with his furious rebuke, their expressions were numb, as though they had heard nothing.

Their attitude made the veins on the dark-faced man's forehead bulge. He grabbed a teacup from beside him, ready to smash it down.

From the other side, Ma Ruhu calmly drove in another knife. "Lord Fei, that teapot you smashed earlier was made of mystic pottery. Together with the jade cup in your hand... they're worth one hundred taels of silver in total."

"You! You!" His voice was not loud, but the damage was clearly immense. Lord Fei instantly broke down, his entire face turning even darker with rage.

But he knew he could do nothing to Ma Ruhu. He immediately turned back to Ling Yun and Zhang Mu, saying in a grim tone, "You two are keeping your mouths shut now, are you? Just wait until I throw you into the dungeon—"

Before he could finish, Ma Ruhu waved a hand and cut him off.

He stepped forward, looking down at the dark-faced man from above.

"Lord Fei, you've gone too far."

"Just because we call you 'my lord,' do you really think you're some kind of big shot?"

"My Black Tiger Martial Hall people are not for your government lackeys to meddle with!"

"When all is said and done, you're simply too incompetent to find the culprit, so you want to dump the shit basin on our heads?"

Ma Ruhu's words were utterly merciless, leaving the other man not the slightest scrap of face.

The dark-faced man was rebuked until his face went red, then white, then green. He nearly coughed up blood.

Just then, a calm voice sounded from outside the room. "If he isn't qualified, then are we?"

As the words fell, the tightly shut doors were violently shoved open, and several figures dressed in black mystic robes filed inside.

Seeing them, Ma Ruhu's expression finally changed. Through gritted teeth, he forced out three words: "Demon Suppression Division!"