Setting Each Other Up (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, Everyone)

Despite his hedonistic lifestyle, Hu Chaohui still retained his instincts as a "Spirit Communion" Martial Grandmaster. Faced with a sudden punch, he jerked his water pipe upwards, turning the pipe into a heavy hammer to block the fist shrouded in Nether Darkness.

At the same time, he used the momentum of his half-lying position on the bed to slide down, tensed his right leg, and kicked out with a thud.

But his pipe and his right leg landed in empty space. The punch, which seemed very close to him, was actually a full ten feet away and was still moving forward.

In his haste, Hu Chaohui misjudged the distance between the two sides, as if he were being deceived by a hallucination.

After kicking into empty space with his right foot, he felt a sudden tightness in his chest, used his back and waist to forcefully roll to the left side of the bed, and threw away the hookah.

The fist, now shrouded in Nether Darkness, changed from pounding to smashing, like the beating of a drum.

It came tail after tail, giving Hu Chaohui no chance to catch his breath.

Just as Hu Chaohui turned over, he saw the fist come crashing down, silent and terrifying.

He frantically strained his waist and abdomen, his body springing upwards, his right fist lashing out as he roared out a single word:

"Retreat!"

In an instant, the space inside the room surged and churned, transforming into a near-tangible storm that followed Hu Chaohui's fist as it struck the attacker, attempting to push him backward. But the fierce and savage storm collapsed the moment it touched the Nether Darkness fist, vanishing without a trace, like rivers flowing into the sea, failing to stir up any waves.

Puff!

Hu Chaohui's fist collided with the fist covered in Nether Darkness. He immediately felt his vast and boundless True Qi surging into a bottomless pit, without any echo, unable to fill the other party, as if he had become a part of that Nether Darkness.

The internal True Qi within him continued to surge uncontrollably, causing him pain in his meridians and acupoints.

"Returning Ruins!"

Hu Chaohui's eyes narrowed as he remembered the world-renowned "Returning Ruins Divine Art".

Although he had never encountered anyone from the Returning Ruins Sect, this experience was almost identical to the terrifying nature of the "Returning Ruins Divine Art" circulating in the martial arts world.

According to those rumors in the martial arts world, if he did not act decisively and break free before being deeply trapped in the "Returning Ruins," not only would his own true True Qi be completely devoured, strengthening the opponent's power, but his flesh, spirit, consciousness, and soul would also become nourishment for the enemy.

Whoosh! A violent gust of wind blew from the side, shaking the heavy wooden bed to its knees and sending Hu Chaohui flying sideways, no longer making contact with his fists.

As the bed, draped in red gauze, collapsed, Hu Chaohui's favorite concubine, still reeling from the Lightning Flash- fast exchange, screamed in terrified terror.

This left the members of the Treading the Sea Gang in the courtyard looking at each other in confusion before they realized what was happening and rushed to their aid.

Noticing the commotion, Hu Chaohui steadied himself with the help of the wind, then stood firmly on his feet, shouting, "Kill!"

With that shout, he twisted his waist and swayed his back, throwing out his right fist at the Nether Darkness fist that was hot on his heels.

Throughout the room, the energy surged, transforming into towering "waves" ten feet high, crashing against the attacker from all directions and hindering his possible escape.

These tsunami-like waves will not come into contact with the opponent's hands and mouth, effectively preventing a "Returning Ruins".

Just then, the fist covered in Nether Darkness opened its five fingers.

As soon as those illusory waves of energy approached, they silently disappeared into the Nether Darkness, pushing it deeper and deeper, as if embracing the gradually becoming clearer figure.

Immediately afterwards, the remaining shockwaves and Hu Chaohui's True Qi were swallowed up by the Nether Darkness, allowing the slowly brightening figure to merge with heaven and earth, becoming the ruler of this realm, lofty and majestic, overlooking all directions.

Seeing this scene, Hu Chaohui's mind went blank.

He Huo Ran remembered the cave he had discovered in the Southern Sea, which contained a mural depicting the former Southern Sea God Bu Ting Huyu, "acting on behalf of Heaven," and a similar phantom appeared above him.

"Emperor..." Hu Chaohui's mind was taken aback, and he was so disoriented that he couldn't even pull back his fist and dodge.

The Nether Darkness hand pressed down on his fist, pushing it towards his chest.

With a cracking sound of breaking ribs, Hu Chaohui was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the wall, cracking it, and spitting blood. A cold, deep voice immediately rang in his ears:

"Do less of what is immoral and unethical."

Bang! The door and windows of the room were smashed open, and members of the Treading the Sea Gang rushed to the rescue.

The figure in the gray robe in front of Hu Chaohui stopped lingering, took a step back, and disappeared into the Nether Darkness shadows.

What he left in the eyes of Hu Chaohui and many of his gang members was a mask:

Jade-colored base, Peach Blossom Red Makeup.

The Jade Maiden Mask? Hu Chaohui, who had narrowly escaped death, suddenly remembered Huo Minglou, the "Pure Altar Dragon King" of the Returning Ruins Sect, who had been killed earlier that day.

The other party also encountered a mysterious person wearing Jade Maiden Mask.

Why does the Returning Ruins Sect want to kill me? And why are they wearing the Jade Maiden Mask...? A flood of questions welled up in Hu Chaohui's mind.

Before the Hu Residence's Martial Grandmaster and the Martial Prohibition Bureau could react, Ding Songyan used "Establishing the Six Harmonies" to distract the members of the Treading the Sea Gang, quickly escaped the room, and then used "Return All Things to One" to erase his traces, Concealment in Plants and Trees, and quietly fled the mansion.

Today, he mostly used the martial arts of the "Book of Returning to Silence," initially choosing "Return All Things to One" as his first choice in combat, and deliberately misleading his target into believing it was the "Returning Ruins Divine Art." In fact, with the move of turning his fist into a palm, he had enough opportunity to kill Hu Chaohui, but this was not because the "Book of Returning to Silence" was powerful, but because the leader of the Treading the Sea Gang had inexplicably had his spirit taken away, as if he had suffered a crushing defeat in a battle of wits.

Ding Songyan felt something was amiss, so he deliberately held back, planning to meet her again in his dreams some time later to find out the truth. After all, Twelfth Madam only wanted a lesson, not to be killed.

"At that time, I was in the Heavenly Mind state, empowered by ' Return All Things to One,' merging the surrounding energy into myself, making him think I was Great Grandmaster and get scared? But it shouldn't have gone that far, right? I didn't plant any mental flaws beforehand..." Ding Songyan as he left Yongjin Street and headed towards Golden Pool Lake.

He took a long detour before returning to the Cheap Wine Shop and sneaking into the Main Room.

"I have fulfilled my mission." Ding Songyan returned the unused sword to Twelfth Madam Luo.

Twelfth Madam Luo was practicing calligraphy at her desk when she looked up and said:

"It went very smoothly."

"Hu Chaohui has become addicted to wine and women, his ambition is gone, and he is no longer as brave as he used to be. In fact, I had the opportunity to kill him, but he acted a bit strangely, and I was also curious about the ' Essentials of the Heavenly Mandate,' so I spared his life for the time being." Ding Songyan did not hide anything.

"Curious..." Twelfth Madam Luo was amused by Ding Songyan's affected manner.

Since Ding Songyan didn't bring up what the "strangeness" was, she didn't ask.

North City, Martial Prohibition Bureau. Yi Beiwang heard his subordinates report:

"Junior Minister, Hu Chaohui of the Treading the Sea Gang was attacked and nearly killed within three moves. The attacker was wearing Jade Maiden Mask."

"The Jade Maiden Mask?" Yi Beiwang's expression hardened. "Is it the woman who killed Huo Minglou this afternoon?"

"Hu Chaohui didn't see clearly, but thought it looked more like a man." The Martial Prohibition Bureau member opposite paused and said, "Hu Chaohui also suspected that the other party was a member of the Returning Ruins Sect, as his Martial Arts were very similar to the ' Returning Ruins Divine Art '."

"The Returning Ruins Sect? They're retaliating?" Yi Beiwang frowned slightly. "They suspect the woman who killed Huo Minglou is connected to the Treading the Sea Gang?"

"I don't know. Hu Chaohui himself doesn't know either. He's not lying," the subordinate of the Martial Prohibition Bureau said truthfully.

Yi Beiwang pressed on, asking:

What else did Hu Chaohui say?

"He said that person could seize the energy of heaven and earth for his own use, as if the Heavenly Celestial Emperor had descended. Later, because the members of the Treading the Sea Gang arrived in time, fearing that his identity would be exposed, he chose to flee, thus failing to succeed," the Martial Prohibition Bureau member replied.

As if the Celestial Emperor had descended, a man appeared, seemingly... Yi Beiwang's eyes suddenly gleamed brightly:

Did anyone see whether the "Golden Boy" who killed Sun Feiyang was a man or a woman?

"It's a man..." The member of the Martial Prohibition Bureau opposite him stopped mid-sentence. He hesitated for a moment before saying:

"The ' Golden Boy ' who broke through the Hidden Truth Immortal Realm of the Ou Luwen is confirmed to be male, but the servants only saw a Facial Mask the ' Golden Boy ' who killed Sun Feiyang, so they are unsure whether he is male or female."

Yi Beiwang remained silent for a while before saying:

"This ' Golden Boy ' may not be that ' Golden Boy,' just as this ' Jade Maiden ' is not that ' Jade Maiden.' This is the Returning Ruins Sect deliberately hinting at us. Otherwise, given their style of doing things, they wouldn't have given up the opportunity to kill Hu Chaohui out of fear of their identities being exposed."

If one were not greedy, one would not be a heretic of the Returning Ruins Sect.

"Junior Minister, do you mean that the ' Golden Boy ' who killed Sun Feiyang is likely a woman?" a member of the Martial Prohibition Bureau asked in surprise.

Yi Beiwang nodded gently:

"It's possible that the woman who killed Huo Minglou wore the ' Golden Boy ' Facial Mask to mislead us."

The most suspicious is:

"Ji Hanyi 'Nine-Evil Witch '."

Ding Songyan plans to wear the "Jade Maiden" mask for a couple of days and do something else, hoping that busybodies will see this as an opportunity to follow suit and completely muddy the waters. However, in doing so, the original meaning of the "Golden Boy and Jade Maiden" symbolism will no longer be present, and it will be difficult to symbolize anything anymore.

Ding Songyan couldn't help but wonder if this was one of the goals Demoness Ji wanted to achieve.

After bidding farewell to Twelfth Madam Luo, he carried the Cold Shadow Sword back to the Side Courtyard of the Prince's Residence's Mansion, glancing at the Watchtower not far away along the way.

"In the eyes of those on Watchtower, I've spent another half the night at Twelfth Madam..."

"I don't know when, but Twelfth Madam has also been caught in the crossfire..."

"I'm the one who ruined her reputation the most..."

"I did all this to conceal my whereabouts and to obtain the martial arts techniques..."

"However, if I associate with several women, my Little Sister will probably think I'm naturally promiscuous and won't have any deep, unforgettable relationships..."

"Although I don't know if she was just trying to scare me or if she really meant it when she said she wanted to Severing Worldly Ties, it sounded quite frightening..."

Upon entering the room, Ding Songyan looked around in the dim light of the night before lighting the Oil Lamp and quickly washing up.

In the quiet of the night, he had just slipped into his comfortable bed when he Huo Ran caught a whiff of a fragrance as delicate and sweet as orchids and musk. The subtle scents either pierced his heart or floated into his mind.

Ding Songyan's body stiffened instantly. A voice, seemingly mocking yet not quite, rang in his ears:

"Second brother, you've done a great job."

P. S.: Wishing everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival and a joyous reunion with your families!