Rescuing the Former Marchioness

Lin Yun heard a sob and immediately stopped in his tracks. His ears twitched, and he quickly pinpointed the source.

It was coming from beneath his feet.

Lin Yun realized there must be a secret chamber. He scanned his surroundings and soon discovered a door handle hidden in a patch of grass.

Lin Yun opened the secret door. The Skeletal Bone Dragon had granted him the ability to see in the dark, so he moved forward cautiously.

As he stepped deeper into the secret chamber, Lin Yun heard the sound of slapping, accompanied by a woman's sobbing and struggling.

Lin Yun felt a jolt of alarm. He lowered his footsteps and crept closer.

Upon getting closer, he witnessed a scene too hideous to behold.

A burly man, his body covered in hair as long as a finger joint, was pinning a woman down, beating her while hurling insults.

Good heavens, Lin Yun thought as he watched. The aura the man was inadvertently leaking already surpassed that of Chu Zhengzhang back in the day. Lin Yun knew he could not act rashly.

A wisp of black Soul Power condensed on Lin Yun's forehead and then quietly settled into his palm.

It formed a small sphere. Lin Yun flicked his finger, and the ball of spiritual energy, concentrated with the power of fear, flew toward the man and instantly submerged into his body.

The man froze instantly, then collapsed headfirst onto the ground.

Lin Yun rushed forward, covered the woman's mouth, shook out a burlap sack, stuffed her inside, and immediately slipped out of the secret chamber.

About five minutes later, the entire Earl's Mansion was in an uproar. Lin Yun's strike had been perfectly timed; the man had been completely off guard, and the non-soul-power-based fear energy had struck his heart directly.

It had shocked his heart into a momentary spasm, causing an instant loss of consciousness.

This process was a form of instinctive human shock, but how effective it was on a Soul Master depended entirely on the individual's level.

Lin Yun breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he hadn't tried to run outside; he had simply retreated to the kitchen and hidden the woman in a pile of animal bones.

The burly man, now dressed, searched the mansion thoroughly. Because the pile of bones was too foul-smelling and Lin Yun was just a cook with no Soul Power, he only received a few slaps before the man stopped digging deeper.

After the Earl finished searching the mansion, he happened to discover a hole in the courtyard wall and immediately led his men in pursuit.

It wasn't until the middle of the night, after the Earl returned in frustration, that Lin Yun carried the sack containing the woman back to the inn.

Zhang Lexuan had already gone to bed. Hearing Lin Yun's knock, she opened the door to find him panting, his face marked with several red slap prints. Her eyes turned red instantly.

"Who hit you? Just for this, I'm going to raze that Earl's Mansion to the ground tonight."

Lin Yun hurriedly stopped the furious Zhang Lexuan, shook out the sack to reveal the unconscious woman, and casually grabbed a quilt to wrap her in.

"I saved a woman who was being held captive. Let's ask her about the situation first."

After a night of torment, the woman had passed out. Lin Yun fed her a bowl of sugar water, and when she opened her eyes, she screamed.

"Who are you?"

Lin Yun said gently, "I am a friend of Feng Chuxin."

Feng Chuxin was Chu Zhengzhang's original name. He had only changed it to Chu Zhengzhang after joining the Holy Spirit Cult, intending to signify the destruction of all the hypocritical righteous paths.

Upon hearing this name, the woman trembled all over. She reached out to grab Lin Yun's hem and said excitedly, "You are Chuxin's friend? Where is Chuxin? How is he? Is he alright?"

Lin Yun looked troubled. He lowered his head, hesitated for a long time, then took a deep breath and said calmly, "He is dead."

The woman collapsed onto the floor, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from her lips.

Lin Yun reached out to support her, fed her another spoonful of sugar water, and continued, "He died for his beliefs. You could say he died for a cause. He was a hero, at least in my eyes. Now, please tell us what happened so we can help you take revenge."

Lin Yun spoke to the woman. Although her eyes remained hollow, her emotions clearly calmed down.

The three of them were silent for a while before the woman began to speak. Her account matched what Chu Zhengzhang had said and the information Wang Dong had obtained from the Clear Sky Sect, though the details were much more harrowing.

As for Chu Zhengzhang's sister, she had suffered the worst. The Earl had tried to use her to curry favor with a prince. She had used the last of her remaining Soul Power to snap her ropes, pulled out a hairpin, blinded one of the prince's son's eyes, and was subsequently thrown into a pot and stewed.

Lin Yun was alright, but Zhang Lexuan, having no mental preparation, nearly vomited on the spot, her face turning green with rage.

Lin Yun did not participate in what followed. In Zhang Lexuan's words, it was not suitable for Lin Yun to see, for fear he would have nightmares.

However, the matter did not have a perfect ending. After watching the Inner Court's inspection team execute the Earl's family, the former Countess set fire to the Earl's Mansion and committed suicide in the flames.

Looking at the letter Zhang Lexuan had sent him, Lin Yun couldn't help but sigh. Nearby, Wang Dong, who was doing handstands to train his arm strength, looked at Lin Yun in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Yun folded the letter, shook his head at Wang Dong, and looked toward the distant Flying Star City.

"After the next match, it's the knockout stage, right?"

Wang Dong nodded and asked, puzzled, "What about it?"

"I remember there's a one or two-day break between the knockout stage and this round-robin tournament."

Wang Dong looked at Lin Yun and said.

"That's right, and since we're in the same tournament, we'll get it even earlier—about three days of vacation."

Lin Yun nodded and took a deep breath, speaking as if to himself.

"That should be enough; it won't affect your rankings."

Wang Dong looked at Lin Yun, puzzled, and said considerately.

"It's fine, I've started practicing now too. Taking first place is a sure thing."

Lin Yun rolled his eyes at Wang Dong and retorted.

"I'm almost embarrassed to call you out on that. You only said that because I told you yesterday you could skip a match so I could go up and vent some frustration, and you ended up sleeping for a full day and night straight through."

Wang Dong coughed in embarrassment and said to Lin Yun.

"Hehe, don't be mad. I'll go pour you some water."

Lin Yun found the remaining matches of the round-robin tournament quite easy to play. After all, as a Soul Elder himself, unless he ran into a team that also had a Soul Elder, there was truly no suspense in these matches.

Lin Yun arrived at Flying Star City and returned to the grave where Chu Zhengzhang was buried.

Lin Yun dug a few new pits and buried the ashes of Chu Zhengzhang's mother, father, and sister, then asked Electrolux.

"With them like this, are their souls together now?"

Electrolux's remnant soul felt a sense of melancholy regarding the situation of this family and spoke indifferently...