Night Battle

The Xiao Clan's three elders planned to sneak closer under cover of darkness before launching a surprise attack to draw attention.

They had underestimated Jia Lie Bi's caution.

"Enemy!"

A figure suddenly burst out from an inconspicuous haystack, attacking with a spear while shouting at the top of his lungs.

Rip!

Third Elder's sleeve was sliced open. Fortunately, his battle qi gauze armor blocked the blade, preventing him from being cut.

Second Elder and First Elder were discovered one after another.

The Jia Lie Clan's elders immediately sprang into action, rushing toward three different locations.

Jia Lie Bi stood quietly outside the house where Wang Teng was staying, accompanied by a group of guards.

"Useless trash!" Xiao Zhan cursed inwardly from the rooftop.

I still overestimated those three old fools who only know how to throw their weight around at home.

Though Xiao Zhan grumbled, he did not stop moving. He rose from the rooftop and, after several leaps, approached the surrounded house.

"Fire!" The guards' captain raised a hand and pointed.

The guards drew their bowstrings into full moons, their cold arrowheads aimed at the dark figure in midair.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The arrows tore through the wind with piercing shrieks.

Facing the dense rain of arrows, Xiao Zhan's battle qi surged from within his body and burst outward, forming a suit of armor condensed from battle qi.

The sharp arrows struck it and sent ripples across its surface before falling to the ground one after another.

A Da Dou Shi?

Knowing ordinary arrows could hardly break through, Jia Lie Bi ordered, "Leave him to me."

Bang!

He stomped the ground and shot into the air, his five fingers curled into claws as he swiped at the dark figure overhead.

Xiao Zhan was forced to meet the attack.

Their fists and claws collided, and in the span of a few breaths, they exchanged more than a dozen moves.

After landing at the same time, fury appeared on Jia Lie Bi's face. "You old dog, Xiao Zhan! You came all this way, yet you still dare not show your face?"

Xiao Zhan said nothing. He crushed the green bricks beneath his feet and kicked up a mass of fragments, sending them shooting forward.

Jia Lie Bi was unharmed, but the guards were all badly injured and fell to the ground, unable to rise.

"With how familiar we are with each other, do you think I cannot recognize you just because you refuse to admit it?" Jia Lie Bi said coldly. "Since you dared come here today, you can stay!"

Before his words had even faded, he lunged at Xiao Zhan, swinging both hands and sending several green blades flying.

Xiao Zhan clenched both hands into fists. Battle qi gathered around them, and the faint outline of an enraged lion's head formed over his fists.

The two became locked in fierce combat, neither able to gain the upper hand for the moment.

Jia Lie Bi was not worried in the slightest. This was the Jia Lie Clan, his home ground. As long as he stalled Xiao Zhan, that was enough.

Xiao Zhan, on the other hand, was far less composed. His gaze repeatedly flicked toward the locations of the three elders.

Those three had shouted bold slogans, but their strength could not keep up.

They had promised to hold off the guards for him, but in reality, they could not even get near that house.

The plan had failed.

The situation is hopeless. Xiao Zhan threw a punch accompanied by a lion's roar, forcing Jia Lie Bi back. Then he retreated and squeezed out a single word. "Retreat!"

The three elders were quite good at judging the situation.

Realizing that things were completely different from what they had expected, they heard the order and had no intention of making pointless sacrifices. They promptly turned and withdrew.

Jia Lie Bi seized a bow, leaped onto the roof, nocked an arrow, and fired.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A layer of green light covered the arrows. Once they left the string, they seemed to ride the wind, streaking through the air at terrifying speed and leaving trails of green radiance behind them.

Third Elder was leaping across the rooftops when his back suddenly tightened, and a nameless dread rose in his heart.

He instinctively turned his head and saw a streak of green light racing toward him, aimed directly at the center of his back.

It was so fast that he had no chance to dodge.

Not far away, Xiao Zhan, First Elder, and Second Elder all saw the scene. Their hearts burned with anxiety, yet there was nothing they could do to help.

At the critical moment, a flash of white light flickered through the void and swallowed the arrow.

The suffocating sense of oppression vanished. Third Elder was drenched in sweat as he hurriedly fled for his life.

The Jia Lie Clan members wanted to pursue, but Jia Lie Bi shouted to stop them.

"Do not let them trick us with a diversion." As he descended from the rooftop, a trace of regret flashed across his face.

After rearranging the guards, Jia Lie Bi circled the house where Wang Teng was staying and confirmed that the doors and windows were intact. Even so, he remained uneasy.

He knocked on the door. Only after receiving Wang Teng's impatient reply did he let out a soft breath.

"After something like that happened, he can still sleep." Jia Lie Bi secretly rejoiced.

This showed that Master Wang Teng trusted the Jia Lie Clan deeply and had entrusted his safety entirely to them.

After this incident, the Jia Lie Clan had likely succeeded in clinging to Master Wang Teng's thigh.

Jia Lie Bi felt that the effort he had put in these past few days—setting aside the dignity of a clan chief to personally receive and protect Wang Teng—had finally paid off.

Little did he know that Wang Teng, lying on the bed just beyond the door, had not thought so much about it.

After all, if the Xiao Clan truly wanted to kill him, Jia Lie Bi would not be able to stop them even if the entire Jia Lie Clan joined forces.

But if Yao Lao did not act, then even if the Xiao Clan came, they would have come for nothing.

As for what if Yao Lao really did come?

Wang Teng was not afraid. He had long since prepared for it.

If that really happens, I'll call out Wind Venerable's name and mention Starfall Pavilion. I'll say that when I was young, Wind Venerable happened to pass by, took notice of my talent, and once said he would accept me as his disciple.

The reason he did not take me directly to Starfall Pavilion was that Wind Venerable had been busy searching for someone, while I was still too young.

So he told me to wait until I grew up, then find a way to go to the Central Plains and seek him out.

Wind Venerable was Yao Chen's close friend. If he mentioned Wind Venerable searching for someone, Yao Chen would certainly know whom Wind Venerable had been looking for.

Based on that alone, Yao Chen would not only refrain from killing him—he might even treat him better than Xiao Yan.

Unfortunately, Wang Teng slept until dawn, and the carefully prepared words never came in handy.

When he got up, Wang Teng frowned in confusion.

Why had Yao Chen not come? Had Xiao Yan not asked him for help?

Xiao Clan.

Xiao Yan walked out of the room looking exhausted, with specks of blood staining his clothes.

Last night, with Yao Lao's help, the four members of the Xiao Clan had successfully withdrawn.

However, during the earlier battle, all three elders had suffered minor injuries to varying degrees.

Since this matter could not be known by others, Xiao Yan had been called over to tend to their wounds.

Though he had witnessed everything, he still pretended not to know anything while applying medicine and asked a few questions.

Xiao Zhan took the opportunity to recount everything that had happened, while also fiercely berating the three elders.

"Father must have enjoyed himself this time." Recalling the uncontrollable upward curl of Xiao Zhan's lips when he left, Xiao Yan could not help smiling as well.

Returning to his quarters, Xiao Yan locked the door to keep that crazy woman Xiao Yu from barging in. He took off his bloodstained clothes and climbed into a tub of cold water.

The chill in the water seeped into his pores, and dense goosebumps rose across his skin.

Xiao Yan leaned his head against the edge of the wooden tub and stared sorrowfully at the ceiling, lost in thought.

"Are you wondering why this old man was willing to help the first two times, yet refused this time?" Yao Lao floated in midair, looking down at him.

"I was indeed a little curious." Xiao Yan nodded. "Teacher, were you afraid I would become dependent on you?"

"That is only part of the reason." Yao Lao smiled.

Xiao Yan asked in confusion, "What is the other part?"

He knew that although his teacher appeared to be in a soul state, his strength was terrifying. If he truly wanted to destroy the Jia Lie Clan, he could do so with the flick of a finger.

Yet his teacher had not volunteered to act against Liu Xi; Xiao Yan had needed to request it himself.

As for killing Jia Lie Nu, that had been to put Xiao Yan at ease and let him leave Wu Tan City for training without any lingering concerns.