Rescuing the Former Marquis's Wife

Lin Yun heard a sound of sobbing and stopped at once. His ears twitched as he quickly pinpointed its source.

It was coming from beneath his feet.

Lin Yun immediately realized there was a hidden room. He looked around and soon spotted a door handle 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, and he made his way inside.

Step by step, he headed deeper into the hidden room. Then he heard the sound of slaps, accompanied by a woman's sobbing and struggling.

Lin Yun's heart jolted. He slowed his steps and crept closer.

When he got nearer, he saw a scene too awful to look at.

A burly man, covered in hair as long as a finger joint, was pinning a woman down, beating and humiliating her.

Good heavens. Watching this, Lin Yun could tell that even the aura casually leaking from the man surpassed Chu Zhengzhang's back then. He naturally couldn't act rashly.

A wisp of black Soul Power gathered at Lin Yun's brow, then silently settled into his palm.

It condensed into a small orb. Lin Yun flicked a finger, sending the orb of spiritual energy, infused with the power of fear, flying toward the man. It instantly sank into his body.

The man stiffened, then toppled to the ground.

Lin Yun rushed over, covered the woman's mouth, shook open a burlap sack, stuffed her inside, and slipped out of the hidden room with her.

About five minutes later, the entire Earl's Mansion erupted in chaos. Lin Yun's attack had caught the man completely off guard. He had sent non-Soul Power fear energy into the man's heart.

It had jolted the man's heart into a momentary spasm, causing him to lose consciousness for an instant.

This was a natural human fainting response, but how effective it was on a Soul Master depended on the Soul Master's level.

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

By then, the man had gotten dressed and thoroughly searched the mansion. The bone pile stank so badly, and Lin Yun was just a cook without any Soul Power, so after a few slaps, the man didn't bother digging any deeper.

After searching the estate, the Earl happened to find a hole in the courtyard wall. He immediately led his people outside in pursuit.

It wasn't until late that night, after the Earl returned empty-handed, that Lin Yun carried the woman back to the inn in the sack.

Zhang Lexuan had already gone to bed. When she heard Lin Yun knock, she opened the door and saw him panting, with several red handprints on his face. Her eyes reddened at once.

"Who hit you? That's enough. Tonight, we'll flatten the Earl's Mansion."

Lin Yun hurriedly stopped the furious Zhang Lexuan, shook open the sack, and revealed the unconscious woman inside. He grabbed a quilt and wrapped it around her.

"I rescued a woman who was being held captive. Let's find out what happened before we do anything."

After a whole night of torment, the woman had passed out. Lin Yun fed her a bowl of sugar water. When she opened her eyes, she let out a shriek.

"Who are you?"

Lin Yun spoke gently.

"I'm a friend of Feng Chuxin."

Feng Chuxin was Chu Zhengzhang's original name. He had changed it to Chu Zhengzhang after joining the Holy Spirit Cult. He had chosen that name to mean wiping out all the sanctimonious righteous factions.

At the name, the woman trembled all over. She grabbed Lin Yun's clothes, overcome with emotion.

"You're Chuxin's friend? Where is Chuxin? How is he? Is he all right?"

Lin Yun looked troubled. He lowered his head and hesitated for a long while before taking a deep breath and speaking calmly.

"He's dead."

The woman dropped to the floor and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

Lin Yun helped her up and gave her another mouthful of sugar water, then continued.

"He died for his beliefs. You could say he died for a worthy cause. He was a hero, at least in my eyes. Now, please tell us what happened so we can help you get revenge."

Lin Yun spoke to the woman. Though her eyes were still dull, his words had clearly calmed her down.

The three of them fell silent for a while. Then the woman began to speak. Her account matched what Chu Zhengzhang had said and what Wang Dong had learned from the Clear Sky Sect's investigation, though she provided more detail.

As for Chu Zhengzhang's older sister, she had suffered the worst of all. The Earl had sent her to ingratiate himself with a prince. Using the last traces of Soul Power in her body, she had snapped her bonds, pulled out a hairpin, and stabbed out one of the prince's son's eyes. Then they had thrown her into a pot and cooked her alive.

Lin Yun was all right, but Zhang Lexuan hadn't been prepared for any of it and nearly threw up. Her face turned green with rage.

Lin Yun didn't take part in what happened afterward. As Zhang Lexuan put it, it wasn't something Lin Yun should see, lest he have nightmares.

But the matter didn't end with a perfect conclusion. After watching the Inner Court's Inspection Corps wipe out the Earl's family, the former Earl's wife set fire to the Earl's Mansion and burned herself alive.

Lin Yun looked at the letter Zhang Lexuan had sent him and couldn't help sighing. Nearby, Wang Dong was upside down, balancing on her hands as she trained her arm strength. She looked at Lin Yun in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Yun folded the letter and shook his head at Wang Dong, gazing toward Flying Star City in the distance.

"After the next match, we'll be in the knockout rounds, right?"

Wang Dong nodded and asked, puzzled,

"What's wrong?"

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

Wang Dong looked at Lin Yun.

"That's right. And since we're in the same competition, our break will start a little earlier. We should have about three days off."

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

"That should be enough. It won't affect either of your rankings."

Wang Dong looked at Lin Yun, then said considerately,

"It's fine. I've started practicing now, too. I'll take first place, easy."

Lin Yun rolled his eyes at Wang Dong.

"I'd hate to point it out, but yesterday I said you could sit out one match while I went on to blow off some steam. You took that to mean you could sleep for a whole day and night—you practically slept your ass off."

Wang Dong coughed awkwardly and said to Lin Yun,

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

The remaining round-robin matches were easy for Lin Yun. After all, he was a Soul Elder too. Unless they faced a team with a Soul Elder, the matches had no suspense at all.

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

Lin Yun dug several new pits and buried the ashes of Chu Zhengzhang's mother, father, and older sister in them. At the same time, he asked Electrolux,

"Are their souls together now?"

Electrolux's remnant soul felt deeply moved by what had happened to the family and answered calmly...