City Lord

"Stop! I have a lead!"

You Su shouted, halting everyone's movements.

"I've met Uncle-Master He before."

A flicker of surprise crossed Wu Cheng's eyes. He carefully studied You Su's expression and asked, "When did you meet him?"

"On the twelfth of August."

Wu Cheng crossed his arms over his chest and began to think.

Today was the seventeenth of August.

Since Uncle-Master He was often alone, it was perfectly normal for him to be unseen from time to time, so the exact time of his disappearance could not be determined. However, it could roughly be inferred to have occurred between the tenth and thirteenth, because someone had still seen him on the ninth. You Su had casually blurted out a date right within that range. Could it be that he really had a lead?

Contrary to what You Su had guessed, although the Sky Guard Sect usually left Uncle-Master He to his own devices, they had taken his disappearance extremely seriously this time. The sect master of the Sky Guard Sect—in other words, Wu Cheng's master—had launched a thorough investigation. After several days without results, Wu Cheng and the others had come here merely to abuse their authority to disgust You Su. They had never expected to make a genuine discovery.

"I'm warning you. Giving false testimony is a serious crime punishable by imprisonment in the Immortal Prison." Wu Cheng widened his eyes and stared fixedly at You Su.

You Su ignored him. He turned and said softly to Ji Lingruo, "Junior Sister, go back to your room and rest. I have some things to discuss with them."

Ji Lingruo was just about to refuse when You Su caught her delicate hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. His hand was broad and powerful, making her instinctively want to trust him. She could only bite her lower lip, giving You Su a concerned yet reproachful look before glaring angrily at the group and retreating to her room.

Wu Ping watched the girl's graceful figure all the way, practically drooling.

Only after Ji Lingruo closed the door did You Su speak. "At the hour of Chen on the twelfth of August, I went out to buy breakfast. On my way back, I met Uncle-Master He on West Willow Road."

"How could a blind man like you be certain it was Uncle-Master He? Did the two of you speak?"

"No. But Uncle-Master He has been a helpless imbecile for years. His entire body reeks of urine and feces, and there's also the medicinal scent of Awakening Spirit Grass. Such a distinctive smell exists nowhere else in all of Chuyun City."

"Do you have witnesses?"

"Anyone on Breakfast Street can testify."

"I'm asking for witnesses who can prove you met Uncle-Master He!" Wu Cheng's voice rang out like he was interrogating a criminal.

You Su glanced at Wu Cheng and laughed in exasperation. "Wu Cheng, I think you should know better than I do that the only people who would take that road besides me are you."

By "you," he naturally meant the young cultivators who often blocked You Su on that desolate road where scarcely anyone passed.

"What do you mean!" Wu Cheng roared, his hand already resting on the sword at his waist.

"I mean nothing. If you doubt the truth of my words, you can ask a Truth-telling Master from the sacred mountain to test me." You Su answered calmly.

Even if the Sky Guard Sect truly managed to invite one of those revered Truth-telling Masters, You Su would not fear it in the slightest, because every word he had spoken was true.

Wu Ping stamped his foot nearby. "You Su, I think you're just bluffing! If you really saw that fool on the twelfth, then why did nobody see him on the tenth or eleventh? Before his disappearance, you alone saw him in such a remote place. Taken together, doesn't that make you the most suspicious person?"

Wu Cheng gave his younger brother an approving look. Wu Ping noticed it, and his expression grew smug as well.

"Then let me ask you, Wu Ping. Since even you know that admitting I met Uncle-Master He would make me suspicious, why would I admit it?"

"How would I know?"

"Fine. Then tell me, what was Uncle-Master He's cultivation?"

"Spirit Platform Realm perfection, of course."

"I only broke through to the Spirit Platform Realm recently. Do you think I could defeat Uncle-Master He at Spirit Platform Realm perfection?"

"How could that be possible? Even if Uncle-Master He is an imbecile, he still isn't someone a cowering turtle like you could beat." Wu Ping rolled his eyes.

"Indeed. Then let me ask you this: does anyone in this city bear a grudge against Uncle-Master He?"

"He's a fool, and he has powerful cultivation. Everyone is afraid to avoid him. Who would make an enemy of him?"

"If that's the case, then who would harm him?"

"Who would harm him? No one would!" Wu Ping was puzzled by the question as well. He scratched his head and muttered to himself, "Then how did Uncle-Master He die?"

"Since no one in the city had any reason to harm him, that means the killer came from elsewhere. Instead of investigating who has entered and left recently at the city gates, why are you searching my place?"

"Of course we're here to disgust you!" Wu Ping answered very straightforwardly, delighted that he had easily answered every one of You Su's questions. He thought himself remarkably clever.

Seeing his younger brother looking like a fool being led around by the nose, Wu Cheng felt a deep frustration at his failure to live up to expectations. He cut him off harshly:

"Enough! You Su, if your conscience is truly clear, why have you stopped us from searching your Household again and again? No matter how much you argue, we'll have our answer once we finish searching!"

"Wu Cheng, are you really going to push things this far?" You Su's voice was cold, ringing like a chill sword-song.

You Su truly did not want to make matters worse. His only thought was to send these outsiders, clinging like dog-skin plasters, packing as quickly as possible. Otherwise, given his temperament, he would never have voluntarily admitted that he had met Uncle-Master He.

And the rooms belonging to his junior sister and Mistress were absolute forbidden ground. Even if he had to drag this sickly body into battle until it was exhausted, he would never let them take a single step inside. He was not afraid of becoming the enemy of the whole world; he was only afraid that he still lacked the strength to deal with it all.

Wu Cheng let out a cold laugh, completely disregarding the threat in You Su's voice. What he hated most was the look in You Su's eyes at that moment, as if he regarded everything beneath him.

He was the prodigy who had made a name for himself in Chuyun City at a young age, the future in which the sect had placed its hopes. Before long, he would set foot on the sacred mountain and leave his name there. Everyone should look at him with admiration and envy—even a blind man like You Su!

"Search everywhere except that woman's room!"

At Wu Cheng's command, everyone began moving again.

Water jars, clothes racks, and wooden tables were all overturned onto the floor, filling the room with chaotic clatter. They rummaged through everything within reach like bandits who had stormed into a village.

A fat cultivator reached the doorway of the main hall and leered obscenely. "I heard this blind man also has a Mistress who never leaves the house. Today, I'll have to see what kind of breathtaking beauty she is!"

He imagined the flavor of those mature women at the Spring Fragrance Brothel and impatiently moved forward to push open the door.

In the next instant, both his palms fell to the ground, as easily as leaves blown from a tree. He was scared so badly that his guts nearly split apart. He tried to staunch the blood gushing from his severed wrists, but he no longer had any palms to use.

Wu Cheng felt no anger at the miserable state of his subordinate. Instead, he revealed a satisfied smile.

At last, at long last, he had forced this blind man to act!

He drew his precious sword, inlaid with gold and jade, licked the corner of his mouth, and shot toward You Su at astonishing speed.

Just then, the wind and clouds abruptly changed. A mighty pressure descended from the heavens. Wu Ping and a group of outer-sect cultivators were forced straight to their knees, their faces contorted in pain. Even You Su and Wu Cheng could only stop where they stood and circulate their qi to resist.

"All of you, stop!"

An old man with crane-white hair, an aged face, and a stooped back slowly walked in through the shabby gate, his face full of fury.

You Su remembered that voice. It belonged to City Lord Liu, who had governed Chuyun City for more than sixty years—and who his master had called an old good-hearted man.