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Clearwind City, Eternal Celebration Tower.

The largest restaurant in Clearwind City was a Song Household property. Today, Eternal Celebration Tower was even livelier than usual. Every seat below the third floor was occupied, and the waiters hurried back and forth through the crowds.

Today was a day of great celebration for the Song Household. Song Huaijin, the eldest son of the third generation, had broken through to Lan Blood, and so they had laid out a banquet in their own restaurant to entertain friends and guests from all directions.

Young Master Song had achieved success at a young age. He was presently moving between the floors, raising cups and exchanging drinks with friends he knew well.

Outside the restaurant, Yang Yi sat upright in a tea shop, sipping tea.

It had to be said that Shen Qian's hidden arrangements were quite effective. The few of them had slipped silently into the city, and after waiting only two days, they had encountered such a fine opportunity.

Lü E and the others had already infiltrated Eternal Celebration Tower. They only needed to wait for the right moment to abduct Song Huaijin.

Since this was Yang Yi's first mission, they had left him behind to provide support.

At this moment, three streets away from Eternal Celebration Tower, a refined middle-aged man with a jade-like bearing ascended another tall building. Before long, he reached its highest point.

Someone was already standing there with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance. Hearing the movement, he turned around, and his expression changed slightly at once. "Qiao Junche!"

Qiao Junche smiled faintly. "Brother Liu, it has been a long time."

This Brother Liu, standing with his hands behind his back, was none other than the Liu Yanqing whom Lü E had mentioned before.

"Why are you here?" Liu Yanqing asked in a low voice. Then he reacted and swiftly looked toward Eternal Celebration Tower. "The Qiao Household is making its move!"

"Brother Liu, I advise you not to make too much of a commotion. They are merely some Lan Blood cultivators. What does it matter if you let them toss about as they please?"

Liu Yanqing's expression turned livid, his blood and qi faintly surging. "What if I insist on making some noise?"

The jade-like man licked his lips, and his eyes brightened considerably. "Then I am afraid I will have to beat you to death right here! It would be difficult to explain things to Old Master Liu afterward."

Liu Yanqing's expression shifted repeatedly before he finally withdrew his blood and qi. "Hmph. Do you think the Qiao Household is certain to win?"

Just then, a tremendous boom suddenly erupted from Eternal Celebration Tower. Immediately afterward, waves of formidable blood and qi burst forth. Screams and the sounds of fighting came from within, while someone shouted, "Don't let a single one of them escape!"

"Ha ha ha!" Liu Yanqing suddenly threw back his head and laughed, as though everything before had merely been an act. "Since they knew your Qiao Household would come sooner or later, how could they possibly have made no preparations?"

Qiao Junche took a step and arrived beside Liu Yanqing. Looking toward Eternal Celebration Tower, he said gravely, "Song Huaijin did not enter Lan Blood. This was a trap?"

"That is right! This news was merely a smokescreen they released."

"No, that is not right. Where did their families get so many Lan Blood cultivators?"

Qiao Junche had possessed True Blood for many years. With only a slight sense of the situation, he knew roughly what was happening over there. The three families of Clearwind City could have at most six Lan Blood cultivators. Even if they had all been lying in ambush there, the number of Lan Blood cultivators on the other side still exceeded that figure.

As he spoke, he already had the answer. He abruptly turned to Liu Yanqing. "That old undead bastard from Shadow Tower interfered?"

If so, then this situation was extremely unfavorable.

Amid the panting crowds, Yang Yi swiftly headed toward the city gate.

When he heard the commotion from within Eternal Celebration Tower, he had not gone to rescue them. Instead, he had withdrawn at once, because according to the original plan, Lü E and the others were to quietly abduct the eldest son of the Song Household's third generation. They could then use him to threaten the Song Household and dismantle it from within.

There was no reason for such a huge disturbance to break out.

Now that matters had come to light, even if he rashly charged in, he would only expose himself.

In fact, almost as soon as he left the tea shop, Lü E and the others had already fought their way out of Eternal Celebration Tower and fled for their lives. Under those circumstances, it would have been foolish for him to enter.

The mission had failed cleanly and decisively. Yang Yi did not know what entanglements lay behind it, since he had not grasped much intelligence. But judging from the situation at Eternal Celebration Tower just now, it was obvious that their side's five people had fallen into an ambush.

And they had been badly outnumbered.

He could see the city gate in the distance, but after only one glance, he inwardly cursed his luck. The gate had already been shut, with many skilled fighters stationed on both sides, each holding a sharp weapon.

Even atop the city wall, figures moved in dense clusters.

This was troublesome. Those people could not block his path, but neither could he hope to open the city gate in a short time. When entering the city, he had deliberately observed it. This gate was extremely thick and heavy; once locked shut, even he would need to spend some effort to open it.

He could only go over the city wall.

The wall stood ten zhang tall, its surface sheer and vertical without any place to gain a foothold. Moreover, the people atop it did not look like pushovers.

Yang Yi vaguely spotted the longbows in their hands.

He could not help stopping. If he forced his way through under these circumstances, then should he fail to break through, he would only expose his identity for nothing.

On the contrary, if he simply lay low, there was a high chance he could remain safe and sound. From beginning to end, he had never been exposed. All he needed was to hide for a day or two before leaving.

The city gate could not remain sealed forever.

Just as he was thinking this, a sudden clatter sounded not far away. He turned to look and saw Qin Siniang racing desperately over the rooftops from behind. A blood mist coiled around her calves; she had clearly used some movement technique, and her speed was astonishing.

But someone was pursuing her from behind, not much slower than she was, clinging to her like a disease lodged in the bone.

And Qin Siniang was injured.

She happened to be breaking out in this direction. From the rooftop, she saw the arrangements at the city gate from afar, and despair immediately appeared on her face.

Yang Yi could sense the danger there; naturally, she could see it as well.

Just as she was about to change directions, a familiar voice suddenly called from below, "Siniang!"

Qin Siniang looked down and discovered it was Yang Yi. At that moment, Yang Yi had already begun exerting force, running toward the city gate with his blood and qi faintly surging, wind rising beneath his feet.

"You foolish brat!" Qin Siniang cursed. Yang Yi could have ignored her completely. By speaking now, he had already drawn the attention of the pursuer behind her and could no longer stay out of it.

"Siniang, help me!" Yang Yi said as he stomped both feet against the ground and leaped fiercely upward.

Qin Siniang was exceedingly clever. In an instant, she understood exactly what Yang Yi intended. She immediately shook open the long whip in her hand and sent it forward, just as she had outside Qiao'an City that day, wrapping it precisely around Yang Yi's waist.

"Go!" With a sharp flick of her wrist, the long whip suddenly went taut. As blood and qi erupted fiercely around her, a powerful force was imparted to Yang Yi.

Suspended in midair with nowhere to borrow force, Yang Yi was flung by her whip and immediately shot toward the city wall like a cannonball leaving its barrel, thundering through the air.

"Loose the arrows, quickly!" someone shouted from atop the city wall. In an instant, arrows rained down like a storm.

Not only that, many of those gathered beneath the city gate hurled flying knives, darts, locust stones, and other projectiles toward Yang Yi.

Though most of the attacks missed, the scene was still exceedingly perilous. Qin Siniang's heart nearly rose into her throat.

With a boom...

As scarlet light erupted, Yang Yi's entire body was enveloped within it. From a distance, it looked as though a blood-red great bell had descended around him, wrapping him up tightly.

Mountain Suppression!

He had successfully cultivated this defensive technique, taken from the Qiao Household Martial Hall, before entering the Yin-Yang Pool. Today was the first time he had displayed it before others.

Its effect was excellent. As blood and qi flowed, it formed solid protection. The many attacks that struck his body could not pierce through it at all and were all knocked aside.

In the span of a single breath, Yang Yi landed on the city wall with an imposing momentum.