Going to the Deng Family

Seeing that no one was moved, Steward Deng frowned on the platform. He glanced at Ma Ruhu, who was watching the show from the side, his eyes shifting as he said calmly:

"Captain Ma, has the Deng Family ever shorted your martial hall even a single coin of its usual offerings?"

"But what happened today is truly disappointing."

"In that case, I can only return and truthfully report this to the family head, so he may carefully consider whether we should continue cooperating with your martial hall in the future."

"You should also know that, in Cloud City today, Black Tiger Martial Hall is not the only martial hall seeking to befriend the Deng Family!"

His words alternated between carrot and stick, making Ma Ruhu's eyelids twitch. Yet without a doubt, they had struck right at his sore spot.

After all, if a martial hall wanted to grow, it could not do without the support of these Lineages. After hesitating for a moment, just as Ma Ruhu was about to say something, he saw a young man step out from the crowd and speak calmly:

"Count me in."

As his words fell, the martial hall disciples around him scattered, revealing Ling Yun standing in the middle with an indifferent expression.

"This kid?"

Ma Ruhu was somewhat surprised as well. He stared at Ling Yun for a long while before remembering that he seemed to have someone like this under his command.

It was no wonder he reacted that way. After all, an ordinary disciple with middling talent was hardly conspicuous in the entire martial hall.

At this point, perhaps because someone had taken the lead, or perhaps because they felt they could not possibly be that unlucky, two more people quickly stepped forward. One of them was even a formal disciple.

"Anyone else?" Ma Ruhu's gaze swept over the crowd. Wherever it passed, everyone lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

Left with no choice, Ma Ruhu could only personally pick two more people.

Needless to say, they were both ordinary disciples with no backing.

Thus, this barely assembled team of five left the martial hall under the pitying gazes of the other disciples, following Steward Zheng.

They traveled without a word. By the time the group hurriedly reached the Deng Family, the sun was already high in the sky.

To their surprise, the Deng Family was not as deserted as they had expected. Instead, mourners came and went in an unbroken stream.

It was as though last night's Evil Spirit attack had not affected the place at all.

Inside a hastily erected bamboo shed, several Taoist priests stepped through strange paces while constantly scattering spirit money, chanting and warbling something under their breath.

All around them, sons and grandsons in mourning clothes knelt across the ground. Wails, gongs, and sing-song chants intertwined, making the scene appear exceptionally lively.

Ling Yun frowned as he watched the scene before him. Something felt wrong, but he could not put his finger on it for the moment.

Before he could examine it closely, Steward Deng was already urging them onward.

Soon, he led them to a side room.

"You may rest properly during the day."

"But you may only stay here. If you cause any trouble, you cannot bear the consequences."

"As for food, someone will bring it later."

After saying that, he did not wait for their response and hurried away without looking back.

Once he had left, the group exchanged glances before pushing open the door and entering the room.

Inside, they all remained silent. No one seemed inclined to speak.

After a while, the sole formal disciple suddenly stood up and began inspecting the room. From time to time, he knocked here and there or pressed his ear to the walls.

His series of strange actions left the others utterly bewildered. If it were not broad daylight, they might have suspected that he had been possessed by an Evil Spirit.

After making a full circuit of the room, he finally let out a breath of relief and stopped his peculiar behavior.

Seeing the puzzled looks on the others' faces, he chuckled lightly. "I am Zhang Mu. There were too many eyes and ears around earlier, so it was inconvenient to say anything."

"I imagine all of you have many doubts about this mission as well, don't you?"

After speaking, his gaze suddenly shifted toward Ling Yun at the side.

Hearing this, the other three also looked over curiously.

Faced with their stares, Ling Yun remained calm and showed no intention of responding.

Zhang Mu did not mind. He explained on his own, "First, as we came here just now, I noticed that the Deng Family's guards were exceptionally tight. There were no shortage of servants and guards coming and going."

"They clearly have such strength, yet they insist on looking for people from martial halls outside. That is rather thought-provoking."

"Most importantly, they have no requirements for strength at all. They do not even mind ordinary martial artists who have yet to formally enter the sect."

His words made the other three lower their heads somewhat awkwardly. Clearly, they were the ordinary martial artists Zhang Mu had mentioned.

But Zhang Mu paid no heed to what they thought and continued:

"Furthermore, the atmosphere throughout the Deng Family is quite strange. Even if members of the Deng Family are filial enough to fear no threat from Evil Spirits, are all those outsiders not afraid either?"

"Unless news of the Evil Spirit's appearance was never spread at all—or there was never any so-called Evil Spirit to begin with!"

"No Evil Spirit?"

Hearing that, the group was shocked by his idea.

But someone quickly voiced a doubt. "That can't be right. If there was no Evil Spirit, then how did those five people before..."

"Heh heh."

Before he could finish, Zhang Mu's cold laugh cut him off. Staring at the speaker, he asked in a strange tone, "You are Wang Ziyuan, right? You speak of an Evil Spirit, but have you ever seen one with your own eyes?"

"Besides, there was not even a corpse. They said it was burned, yet I did not smell the slightest scorched stench. Surely they did not deliberately haul the bodies elsewhere in the middle of the night?"

Wang Ziyuan scratched his head awkwardly, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

As for the brothers Da Niu and Er Niu, they looked even more lost.

These two had originally been unlucky fellows forced into coming by Ma Ruhu. After hearing Zhang Mu's words, they became even more at a loss.

Da Niu immediately said in a muffled voice, "Brother Zhang, just say what you mean. The two of us will listen to you."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ziyuan hurriedly nodded in agreement.

A smile flashed through Zhang Mu's eyes. "I do not mean anything else by saying all this. I merely want everyone to stay vigilant."

"After all, as your senior brother, I have a responsibility to look after your safety."

His words moved the three of them deeply, and for a time the atmosphere was exceedingly harmonious.

Ling Yun glanced at Zhang Mu, who was being flattered by the others and wearing every bit the face of a good old fellow, but inwardly he remained unconvinced.

This fellow had seemed to say a great deal earlier, but in truth, they were all vague and intangible conjectures. With a little thought, one could find plenty of holes in his words.

Ling Yun did not know what this man was trying to pull, but as long as he did not get dragged into it, he could not be bothered to interfere.

Otherwise...

Ling Yun's face was cold as he slowly closed his eyes.

Time flew by, and darkness soon fell.

Knock, knock.

Accompanied by a knock on the door, a woman's voice rang out from outside. "Steward Deng sent me to inform you all that the time has come."