Min Ning stared in terror at the twenty-one corpses on the ground.
That man was already covered in blood. Even the torrential rain could not wash him clean.
Saber in hand, he slowly approached.
Min Ning's fingers trembled with fear.
It seemed he might slash again at any moment, adding another corpse to the ground.
[Grudge Yin-Yang Art: beginner proficiency attained. Of two hundred and sixteen years of foreign true qi, thirty percent can be absorbed, yielding seventy-two years of true qi. Reward for Min Ning's negative emotions: three years of true qi.]
Chen Yi stopped, slowly lowered Yin Tingxue, and said evenly:
"Take her back to my home."
Min Ning was dazed for a moment. Instinctively, she reached out, took Yin Tingxue, and hoisted her onto her back.
Chen Yi looked at her coldly and left her with a warning:
"If I don't find her at home, you know what will happen..."
A chill instantly ran down Min Ning's spine.
After a long while, she could only nod.
Chen Yi wiped the blood from his saber, turned, and left.
The Eastern Depot headquarters.
Many more corpses lay on the ground, their blood almost covering the entire drill ground.
At the center of the fighting, Xue Youge faced the Demonic Cult elder head-on.
The Demonic Cult elder was skilled in unarmed combat. He dodged a strike, stepped forward swiftly, and drove both palms into Xue Youge's chest. He abruptly unleashed his strength, activating the Great Star-Absorbing Art as true qi surged.
The Eastern Depot director stumbled back two steps. Beneath his python robe, his soft silk armor shattered from the inside out, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Though he possessed the Copper Bone Art, the Demonic Cult elder was employing deftly applied force.
Xue Youge continued darting backward, trying to gain enough distance to wield his long saber, but the Demonic Cult's Discipline Elder pressed him at every step.
One advanced and the other retreated, until their fight carried them into the main hall of the Eastern Depot offices.
Apart from the two of them, the hall was empty.
At last, Xue Youge reached the wall and could retreat no farther. The Discipline Elder advanced with steps tracing the stars, pressing one palm toward him with the other braced against its back.
Just as the Discipline Elder unleashed his force, Xue Youge planted his left foot against the wall behind him. With a roar, he pushed off the wall and thrust his blade forward, prepared to trade a crippling injury for his opponent's life.
The Discipline Elder flinched despite himself and stepped back. Xue Youge seized the opening and blasted him away.
Xue Youge was about to bring his long saber into play when the Discipline Elder sensed danger. Circulating true qi throughout his body, he reversed his retreat and thrust a palm forward like a flood dragon.
The saber had only gathered half its force when it struck the palm head-on and lodged in the bone.
The Discipline Elder roared and struck with his other palm, attacking with both hands in a desperate bid for survival.
The force of his palms was fierce. In that split second, Xue Youge realized he could no longer escape unscathed. Unless he seized this opportunity, he might die on the spot. When enemies met on a narrow path, the brave prevailed. Xue Youge raised his arm to block the blow head-on. His bones shattered inch by inch, crippling the arm, while his true qi erupted and his blade thundered between the bones.
The Discipline Elder's pupils contracted sharply. The blade severed his arm and cleaved into his chest along with the bone and flesh. Blood sprayed from his lips, and strength gradually left his body.
Xue Youge gasped for breath. Agonizing pain surged from his ruined arm, drawing repeated hisses from him. He looked at the fallen Demonic Cult elder with a cold smile.
Holding his saber in his good hand, he moved to slit the Discipline Elder's throat.
The Discipline Elder had lost all hope when something suddenly flashed through the shadows among the hall's rafters.
His eyes widened with unrestrained delight.
Xue Youge faltered slightly, confusion showing on his face.
Then a sharp pain struck his back.
Caught completely off guard, Xue Youge spat blood as a blade pierced through him from behind.
A young man stepped out of the shadows. He had hidden in the hall earlier, and now he held Xue Youge with one hand and the Demonic Cult elder with the other.
"We shall surely restore... the World of Ignorance."
The Demonic Cult elder spoke in a daze.
Then his true qi left his body.
The Demonic Cult elder's true qi, combined with Chen Yi's own-nearly two hundred years of true qi-poured into Xue Youge's body.
Director Xue's eyes bulged. His meridians burst inch by inch as he stared at Chen Yi in disbelief.
That terrified gaze seemed to ask why...
They were both Grand Secretary Lin's men...
This man had yielded to the Eastern Depot not long ago...
Seemingly guessing Director Xue's thoughts, the man slowly drew out his saber.
He smiled and patted Director Xue's face with the back of the blade.
"You thought killing me would take no effort. I can't match you there, Director. Killing you takes a little effort."
Xue Youge, director of the Eastern Depot, turned deathly pale and breathed his last in terror.
Chen Yi sheathed his saber and surveyed the blood-soaked hall. When the Demonic Cult members had stormed inside, they had killed several of the Eastern Depot's servants and maids.
He casually found a corpse of a similar build and dressed it in a Demonic Cult member's clothes.
This would be the "Demonic Cult Holy Maiden."
The sound of hoofbeats came from outside.
The Western Depot had arrived with reinforcements.
Seizing the opportunity, Chen Yi mustered his true qi and loudly proclaimed to those fighting on the drill ground:
"Director Xue slew the Demonic Cult elder and sacrificed himself for righteousness, dying valiantly in battle!"
"Honor to the director!
Brothers of the Eastern Depot, avenge him!"
Countless blades flashed.
The Eastern Depot drill ground rang with battle cries honoring the director's righteousness.
Wu Qingsheng, director of the Western Depot, strode into the Eastern Depot's main hall, his expression as cold as iron.
With the Western Depot's arrival, the battle became completely one-sided. The Demonic Cult members either died or fled.
The Bright-Dark Divine Sect's many years of preparations in Capital City vanished in the course of this battle.
The Eastern Depot had suffered badly as well.
After a brief tally, Song Tong, the Eastern Depot's deputy director and acting head, discovered that nearly a third of its manpower had been lost.
In one alley alone... twenty-one men had been killed by a Demonic Cult expert.
Wu Qingsheng surveyed the hall and asked gravely:
"Where is Hundred Household Chen?"
At his words, the Eastern Depot agents parted to either side, revealing Chen Yi kneeling on the floor with his head bowed. Though he said nothing, he seemed entirely absorbed in mourning Director Xue.
At the sight, some of Wu Qingsheng's imposing air faded.
"Your subordinate is here."
There was even a trace of grief in that calm voice.
Chen Yi slowly rose.
Hearing his grief, the Eastern Depot agents looked at their director's corpse on the floor and could not help being moved.
Wu Qingsheng wanted to say something, but sensing the sorrowful atmosphere, he ultimately held his tongue.
Chen Yi drew a deep breath and lamented sorrowfully:
"How righteous the director of the Eastern Depot was.
We both served the court. I clung to life and feared death, yet he was willing to sacrifice himself for a greater cause."
His words deepened the sorrow in the hall.
Several Eastern Depot chief constables choked up. They wanted to say something but ultimately stopped themselves.
Wu Qingsheng stood silently nearby. After hesitating for a long time, he finally took the initiative to ask:
"Hundred Household Chen, what exactly happened here...
How were you the first from the Western Depot to arrive?"
When the Western Depot learned that something had happened at the Eastern Depot, they initially assumed it could handle the situation itself and did not rush to intervene. Only when the fighting reached a stalemate did Wu Qingsheng lead reinforcements over.
Director Wu's slow response had indeed involved an intention to weaken the Eastern Depot by watching the two sides fight. He simply had not expected its director, Xue Youge, to die.
That man had been a Fifth Grade expert! Even in the capital, such experts could be counted on one hand.
Yet when the Western Depot set out, Chen Yi was nowhere to be found. Wu Qingsheng had only heard from Zeng Chief Constable, who knew Chen Yi well, that Hundred Household Chen had already gone to reinforce the Western Depot.
Now, seeing Chen Yi in the Eastern Depot's hall, Wu Qingsheng could not help feeling somewhat suspicious. After all, Li Hundred Household had pressured Chen Yi on Xue Youge's behalf not long ago.
Chen Yi drew a deep breath, turned his face, and swept a glance over Wu Qingsheng before saying coldly:
"Director Wu, are you suggesting I had a hand in this?"
His words were so confrontational that Wu Qingsheng instinctively denied it:
"That is... a rash thing to say."
Chen Yi merely laughed coldly.
"Director Wu, never mind that my martial skills are meager and far inferior to Director Xue's.
There is something you don't know. That day, Li Hundred Household privately gave me the Copper Bone Art as a token of brotherhood between the Eastern Depot and ours. Li Hundred Household can attest to this."
Hearing this, Wu Qingsheng turned his gaze toward Li Hundred Household.
The latter nodded and said:
"That is indeed true."
Chen Yi ignored Wu Qingsheng behind him and walked straight toward Li Hundred Household.
"Director Xue wrote that book, so he was, in a sense, a teacher to me.
Having received this art, how could I have sabotaged him? Besides, Director Xue and I belonged to the same branch!"
As Chen Yi spoke, his voice rose higher and higher, full of accusation.
Several other Eastern Depot agents also looked sympathetically at Chen Yi before turning toward Wu Qingsheng.
Following Chen Yi's words, Wu Qingsheng could not help thinking the matter through. He found that, no matter how he looked at it, Chen Yi had no reason to interfere.
"Hundred Household Chen, it seems I misjudged you."
Wu Qingsheng cupped his hands, sounding somewhat apologetic.
Rather than press his advantage, Chen Yi also cupped his hands and said in grief and indignation:
"I only hate my own helplessness, that I failed to save Director Xue."
"Director Xue willingly went to his death for the entire Eastern Depot. I hope you will report such righteousness truthfully, Director."
"And the brothers of the Eastern Depot fought with their lives on the line, fearless of death just like Director Xue. I hope you will not conceal their contributions."
Those words immediately brought everyone in the Eastern Depot over to his side.
The Eastern Depot men present kept casting earnest looks at Wu Qingsheng. Under so many stares, even he could not help feeling his scalp prickle.
In the end, he could only say:
"I will certainly report everything truthfully and spare no words."
Before you continue