Why Can't Bai Enjoy Himself for Once?

Why Can't Bai Enjoy Himself for Once?

Zheng Haihan shook his head and sighed, looking somewhat helpless.

Then his figure blurred, and he appeared directly a hundred feet away. The afterimage left behind only slowly faded after a breath, like the moon reflected in water or flowers seen in a mirror.

After shifting several times as though teleporting, Zheng Haihan blocked the only path Su Leng Huan could take to escape. He raised a hand and casually slapped downward at her.

Su Leng Huan had nowhere left to run and could only fight back with all her might.

Her eyes widened, and her clothes stirred despite the lack of wind. Her True Essence erupted in full, surging out of her body without the slightest reservation and condensing into her strongest sword strike.

"Clang—!"

Sword light suddenly burst forth. The wind and snow turned bitterly cold, and the area within a dozen yards seemed to transform into a world of ice and snow.

The cold wind howled, the ice and snow pierced to the bone, and all things froze into frost.

Even an Innate Master would likely be frozen solid in an instant, their vitality extinguished.

Facing Su Leng Huan's desperate strike, Zheng Haihan's expression remained as calm as ever. He still pressed down with his palm as casually as before.

With a crisp crack, Su Leng Huan's frost-cold Sword Qi was shattered by Zheng Haihan's palm. Frost scattered through the air, stripped of even the slightest killing power.

Then Zheng Haihan's palm landed steadily against Su Leng Huan's chest.

"Pfft—!"

After taking the blow, Su Leng Huan sprayed blood from her mouth and nose. The longsword flew from her hand, and she helplessly fell from midair.

After crashing heavily to the ground, Su Leng Huan spat out another mouthful of blood. She no longer even had the strength to struggle to her feet.

One move.

Just one move.

Su Leng Huan, a Grandmaster, had been severely wounded and defeated.

The Imperial Guard in the villa watched Zheng Haihan display his might. Their eyes burned with excitement, and their faces were filled with awe. This was the might of a Grandmaster!

Only Bai Yan's expression remained calm, without the slightest ripple in his eyes.

Wasn't this only to be expected?

Though a Grandmaster and a Grandmaster were separated by only one major realm, the difference in their strength was as vast as clouds and mud.

If Zheng Haihan had needed a second move to deal with Su Leng Huan, Bai Yan would instead have looked down on him.

"Take her down."

Zheng Haihan landed lightly and issued his order.

Two Brigade Leaders rushed forward, hurriedly pressing Su Leng Huan to the ground. They immediately dislocated her jaw to prevent her from hiding poison in her mouth and killing herself.

Putting chains and shackles on her was not enough. The two men also produced several large needles and stabbed them into the major acupoints around Su Leng Huan's body, sealing her meridians and preventing her from circulating her energy.

"If you ask me, we should just cripple her martial arts. Why go to all this trouble?"

Seeing this, Bai Yan could not help speaking up.

He had always done things this way before. Whenever he captured someone alive during a mission, he would cripple their dantian and qi sea.

Once their martial arts were crippled, everything would be settled, and there would be no need to fear them escaping.

"It's different."

Zheng Haihan shook his head and explained from the side:

"This person is the Heavenly Gang Hall Master of the Demonic Cult. She must be carrying some major secrets."

"Keeping her martial arts intact means leaving her a sliver of hope. Only then will there be a chance of prying open her mouth."

Bai Yan nodded when he heard this, understanding Zheng Haihan's meaning.

To a Martial World expert, martial arts were everything—more important than life itself.

Crippling their martial arts was equivalent to taking away everything. Even if they survived afterward, they would be worse off than a dog, suffering a fate worse than death.

As long as her martial arts remained, Su Leng Huan would have something to live for.

And that sliver of hope was the opportunity for the Imperial Guard to pry information from her.

Wanting to die was easy. Wanting to live, however, meant bringing something to exchange.

"Men, search the estate. Dig three feet into the ground at Yiping Villa for me. Don't let a single clue slip through!"

At Zheng Haihan's command, hundreds of Imperial Guard immediately scattered and began searching the estate with practiced efficiency.

Bai Yan took Ren Hong and Li Kaiyao's two squads straight to Xiao Yiping's side room.

With a bang, the door was violently smashed open.

Bai Yan led the men inside and immediately saw a small red sandalwood table. On it sat a tea set, a wine set, and a chessboard.

Neither the tea set nor the wine set was ordinary. Both were fine porcelain from the imperial kilns.

The chessboard had been carved from carefully selected Golden Silk Nanmu.

The Jadestone Chess Pieces and gold-lacquered chess case, placed together, radiated an astonishingly noble air.

That single set of objects was worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.

That bastard really knows how to enjoy himself. The quality of his life is who knows how many times higher than mine.

Bai Yan grumbled inwardly, filled with envy, then looked around.

Various famous calligraphy pieces and ink-wash landscape paintings hung on all four walls.

He did not know much about calligraphy and painting, but judging from the skill of the works and the seals in their inscriptions, he knew they were worth a great deal.

Wooden stands stood in the four corners of the room, each holding a pot of orchids.

He did not know the variety, but the flowers were dazzlingly beautiful. A faint fragrance drifted from them, filling the room with floating perfume.

To be fair, although Xiao Yiping's martial arts were nothing special, his taste was certainly impeccable.

Bai Yan almost wanted to get himself a set.

He and Ye Lingdang were about to marry. They could not keep living in their old little courtyard, so they had to buy a large residence. Naturally, the furnishings and decorations could not be lacking either. Life had to be made a little more comfortable.

"Search carefully! Don't overlook any nook or cranny!"

Bai Yan's expression turned stern as he ordered in a deep voice:

"And take all these antiques, calligraphy, and paintings back with us. There may be some confidential letters hidden inside them. I must inspect them thoroughly!"

"Yes!"

The Imperial Guard answered in unison and immediately began searching the estate.

Their movements were extremely practiced. Clearly, searching estates was something they did often. Bai Yan did not need to explain the process at all; every one of them was an expert.

This sort of thing needed no teaching. Even the few newcomers who had never done it before quickly learned after following the old hands around for a while.

Bai Yan nodded in satisfaction. They're all diligent, capable subordinates.

All the antiques, calligraphy, and paintings were removed from the walls, registered, and catalogued. The floor tiles were lifted one by one, while the beams were searched inch by inch.

The surrounding walls were knocked on as well, to confirm whether there were any hidden doors inside.

Bai Yan sat leisurely beside the small red sandalwood table, playing with the chess set made of Golden Silk Nanmu and jade.

He admitted it: he was coveting it. He had taken a liking to this chess set.

Bai Yan had always liked playing chess, mainly because he had learned a few moves in his previous life.

As it happened, Ye Lingdang also liked playing chess.

It was a shared hobby between the two of them.

Taking this chessboard home would be highly beneficial for deepening their marital bond.

It could be called an essential treasure for any household.

As for lining his own pockets—

What a joke. He was a proper Imperial Guard Hundred-Man Commander, risking his life every day. What was wrong with playing a few games of chess and enjoying himself?

Searching estates was originally one of the Imperial Guard's avenues for making money.

Wasn't it perfectly reasonable to casually take a little spoils during the search?

As long as they did not go too far, Zheng Haihan would turn a blind eye.

After all, who would complain about having too much money? Zheng Haihan was not left without a share, either.

From the Battalion Commander, Deputy Battalion Commander, and Hundred-Man Commander, down to the Probationary Hundred-Man Commander, Brigade Leader, Squad Leader, and even the strongmen, everyone in the Imperial Guard had a share.

"My lord, I found a secret chamber!"

Li Kaiyao's shout suddenly came from outside the courtyard, immediately startling everyone.

Bai Yan rose and walked outside. He saw Li Kaiyao standing with two Imperial Guard before a flower bed.

The flower bed had split open down the middle, revealing a hidden passage leading straight underground.

Looking at the entrance to the secret chamber, Bai Yan's lips curled slightly.

"These two Demonic Cult leaders are rather interesting. They knew enough to put the entrance to the secret chamber outside."

Ordinarily, secret chambers were of the utmost importance, hiding their owner's most central secrets.

People who built secret chambers usually placed the entrance in their own rooms. That was the only way they could feel secure.

Just like Bai Yan's father, Bai Lizheng—the entrance to his secret chamber was also in his side room.

But placing the entrance outside, in an inconspicuous flower bed, made it easy to overlook.

Once most people finished searching the rooms during an estate seizure, they would no longer pay much attention to the things outside. This was precisely an exploitation of human habitual thinking.

Put simply, it was darkness beneath the lamp. It was much the same as Bai Yan hiding the Demonic Cult treasure map beneath a floor tile.

"My lord, I'll take men down to have a look!"

Without a second word, Li Kaiyao immediately stepped forward.

If they discovered some Demonic Cult secret, it would be a glorious opportunity to earn merit!

"My lord, I'll go too!"

Unwilling to fall behind, Ren Hong hurriedly competed for the task.

He had already been one step slower in finding the secret chamber. This time, no matter what, he could not lag behind again.

"All right, stop fighting over it. I'll lead the team myself."