Turmoil

Bibi Dong's slender brows lifted slightly.

The one who could have dealt with Tang Hao so cleanly and decisively, almost like a slaughter, clearly wasn't from the Worship Hall...

Even in his heavily wounded state, Tang Hao was no opponent an ordinary Titled Douluo could handle.

What's more, outside Spirit Hall, there were only a handful of Titled Douluos known by name.

They simply lacked both the strength and the reason to slaughter Tang Hao like that.

"A... nameless Titled Douluo powerhouse? Or some kind of unknown method?" she murmured to herself.

A moment later, a cold glint flashed in her eyes. "Spread this news, especially to those sects that keep their heads down and hide their tracks."

"I want to see whether those remnants of the Clear Sky Sect, and the people who were once close to Tang Hao, can resist the urge to show themselves."

"After that..." Bibi Dong's gaze wandered for a moment. "...Find the culprit who killed Tang Hao and try to win them over. See if they can be of use to me."

"Yes! This subordinate understands!" Yue Guan acknowledged the order, rose, and hurried away.

Two days later, at a residence in western Nuoding City.

Zhao Linchuan had just pushed open the vermilion gate when the sight before him stopped him in his tracks.

Across the spacious bluestone courtyard lay seven or eight people, neatly bound hand and foot, with cloth stuffed in their mouths.

There were men and women among them, dressed in all sorts of clothes. Some looked like merchants, others like adventurers, and one even wore the padded armor of a Nuoding City guard.

At that moment, they were like lambs awaiting slaughter. All they could manage were muffled "mmphs," their eyes filled with terror and confusion.

From the Soul Power fluctuations faintly radiating from them, though forcibly suppressed, it was clear that every last one was a Soul Master. Their cultivation ranged from Soul Grandmaster to Soul King.

Yue Shen and Yan Fei walked out of the main hall side by side. Seeing Zhao Linchuan, they both bowed slightly. "Young Master."

Zhao Linchuan nodded and glanced over the row of "rice dumplings" on the ground. "What happened? Did we open a dumpling shop?"

Yue Shen stepped forward and explained, "Young Master, this is what happened..."

She gave a concise account of the situation.

The Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao, had met a strange death outside Nuoding City. As Spirit Hall deliberately spread the news, the intelligence networks of the various powers soon learned of it.

For a time, all sides dispatched spies, flooding into this once-unremarkable little city to uncover the truth—or at least get their hands on the latest intelligence.

And at the residence Zhao Linchuan had purchased, the two high-ranking Soul Masters of mysterious origins naturally became prime targets for investigation.

The spies had used all sorts of methods. Some had snuck in at night, others had disguised themselves as deliverymen, and some had kept watch from a nearby rooftop for days...

Unfortunately for them, they were up against Yue Shen and Yan Fei.

The two women were skilled in Yin-Yang arts, and Yue Shen's spiritual power was so formidable it was practically monstrous.

The methods that seemed clever to ordinary people, even ordinary Soul Masters, were child's play before them.

In just a day, the spies from the various powers had all fallen into their hands without realizing it, convinced they were well hidden. They were easily subdued and bound into their current state.

Tsk, I left in a hurry back then and forgot to grind Tang Hao to dust and clean up the scene. Zhao Linchuan grumbled inwardly, a little annoyed.

He walked up to a spy dressed in coarse cloth, whose gaze was more defiant than the others', and nudged him with the tip of his foot. "Is anyone here from the Clear Sky Sect?"

Yan Fei answered from the side, "There's one. That's him."

She pointed to a sullen, middle-aged man. "Based on our preliminary questioning, the Clear Sky Sect's higher-ups were furious, but seem more concerned about the Soul Bone Tang Hao lost. Their order was to 'retrieve the sect's inherited Soul Bone.' As for revenge... they didn't emphasize it publicly."

"Oh? They mentioned the Soul Bone but not revenge?"

Zhao Linchuan rubbed his chin, a glint of understanding in his eyes.

It seemed that after keeping their gates shut for so many years, the Clear Sky Sect was no monolith. Their feelings toward Tang Hao—a "sinner" who had once brought disaster upon the sect—were probably complicated.

The Soul Bone was a tangible treasure, while revenge might invite powerful enemies all over again.

He paced back and forth a few times, then suddenly looked at Yue Shen and asked:

"Yue Shen, can your abilities control these people?"

"Not just simple suggestions, but something more... lasting."

Hearing this, Yue Shen's cool face showed a confident, faint smile. "I can. What would you like me to do, Young Master?"

Zhao Linchuan stopped, the corner of his mouth curling with calculation. "Send them all back."

"Send them back?" Yue Shen and Yan Fei both looked surprised.

"That's right."

Zhao Linchuan explained, "Plant a suggestion in their minds: the owner of this residence is just a young master from some secluded clan, out traveling. He has an eccentric temperament, likes his peace and quiet, and is accompanied by two capable guards. He has nothing to do with Tang Hao's death and simply happened to settle here."

"When they return, have them report everything as usual and say that all is normal here, so there's no need to keep an eye on this place."

He paused, then continued, "At the same time, give them a deeper instruction: have them return to their respective powers and act as they normally would. But deep down, they'll feel an 'instinctive goodwill and protectiveness' toward us."

"And in the future, if they hear anything that might harm us, or any intelligence of value, they'll 'act on a strange impulse' and pass it along by the safest means possible."

Yue Shen's eyes lit up with admiration. "Young Master, this is a brilliant plan. It will ease everyone's suspicions for now and spare us the constant disturbance, while also planting these spies among them. They may not reach the most confidential information, but they'll be more than enough for advance warnings and ordinary intelligence gathering."

"Exactly." Zhao Linchuan nodded. "Can you do it?"

"Easily." Yue Shen smiled with confidence and stepped forward to stand before the spies.

The blue light in her eyes suddenly deepened, like two tiny, frigid moons.

She raised her right hand and flicked her fingers. Several hair-thin streams of blue light shot out, sinking precisely into the spies' brows.

Their bodies trembled. The terror and struggle in their eyes quickly faded, replaced by confusion. Then their gazes cleared again, though there seemed to be a touch of emptiness behind them.

Next, Yue Shen moved her fingers again. The ropes binding them snapped all at once, as if sliced by invisible blades.

The spies got to their feet and stretched their limbs. They glanced at one another, but there was no longer any hostility or sense of solidarity in their eyes—only the calm of people who had completed their task.

They didn't look at Zhao Linchuan and the others. Instead, like well-trained soldiers, they walked neatly to the wall, vaulted over it, and disappeared from the courtyard without a sound, as if they had never been there.

"The Yin-Yang School's methods truly are unfathomably wondrous."

Looking at the now-empty courtyard, Zhao Linchuan offered his sincere praise. "With your temperaments and abilities, even without me, given enough time, the two of you would surely stir up a storm across Douluo Continent. You're clearly no ordinary fish trapped in a pond."

Yue Shen and Yan Fei lowered their heads slightly. "You flatter us, Young Master."

(Please keep reading. The Nuoding City arc won't be very long; it should wrap up in around twenty chapters.)

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