Chapter 147: Chapter 147
Uphold the righteous path!
Slay the wicked!
Xiao Wu’s words rang like struck iron. Song Huatang’s lone eye blazed. He rose to his feet.
“Well said!”
“Demonic fiends who refine the living into pills deserve death a thousand times over. Brother Xiao Wu — count me in without reservation!”
Xiao Wen followed immediately, chest squared.
“Elder Brother, I’m willing too!”
Beside them, Luo Tangyin paused, then lifted her gaze to Xiao Wu.
“The Luo clan and the Bai family are linked by marriage. But I, Luo Tangyin, as an individual, will do what I can.”
One after another, voices of support filled the room, and Xiao Wu’s expression brightened. The atmosphere in the private room heated in an instant.
But cooler heads remained. Han Li sat still as a pine, and when the others had finished speaking, he poured cold water into the boiling pot.
“Brother Xiao, the Bai family is powerful. With Bai Qingcang behind them, the few of us alone cannot withstand a Transforming Strength master’s reprisal. But since you’ve gathered us here, you must have a plan?”
“Indeed — Brother Han’s mind is sharp, his thinking thorough.”
Xiao Wu smiled and nodded, a glint of mockery entering his eyes.
“The martial heart has always demanded moving forward without looking back. But these great-family types sit in their high seats too long and grow timid — hesitant, fearful, clinging to life. Take that Bai Jixia. The man fell into my hands and knew full well he was a dead man walking, yet he still tried to sell out his masters to save his skin — spilled every last detail of the Bai family’s affairs.”
Xiao Wu turned to face the room, drew a deep breath, and spoke.
“According to him, Bai Qingcang — that old ghost — will personally travel to Guangwu Commandery in early August to visit a friend and discuss the Dao. Five days at the shortest, seven at the longest. The Bai estate will be left without its dragon.”
The instant the words landed, every pair of eyes in the room blazed.
Song Huatang’s voice was actually trembling.
“Heaven-sent!”
“Exactly!”
Xiao Wu nodded, his gaze burning, his tone ringing like hammered steel.
“With Bai Qingcang gone, we strike together — cut down his direct line, massacre the clan, and then make public every piece of evidence that the Bai family colluded with Chenjian Wu to butcher innocents and refine human pills!”
Here, Xiao Wu’s eyes filled with killing intent.
“When that happens, the Bai family won’t have a leg to stand on in Changyun. Forget reprisal — Bai Qingcang had better start worrying about how to stay alive!”
“Good!”
Song Huatang slapped the table, his hoarse voice charged with excitement.
“The plan is sound. I’ll take the vanguard.”
Ji Ning broke his silence, following at once. “Since Brother Xiao Wu has made up his mind, Ji Ning will stand beside you.”
Han Li’s expression remained placid as still water. He offered two words.
“Count me in.”
Shen Xiuhan met Xiao Wu’s gaze and shook his head with a smile.
“What Brother Xiao doesn’t know is that the Bai family’s third son, Bai Fufeng, tried to abduct my little sister some time ago. That debt is long overdue.”
“Ha ha — good!”
Xiao Wu laughed. Without a moment’s hesitation, he declared: “In that case, Bai Fufeng is yours to settle personally!”
Seeing the room united, Wang Lin’s face showed a trace of difficulty. He smiled wryly.
“Brother Xiao, the thing is…”
“Brother Wang Lin, say no more.”
Xiao Wu raised a hand, cutting him off. His gaze was frank as a mirror.
“I know you’re bound by military duty. I didn’t call you here to fight — there’s another matter I’d like to discuss.”
Sensing the two had private business, Han Li, Ji Ning, and the others took their cue. They clasped their fists and excused themselves.
Xiao Wen lifted the bamboo curtain, and the group filed out.
Shen Xiuhan left the restaurant, parted ways with Ji Ning and Han Li at the street corner, and walked alone toward Mei Hall.
His steps were steady, but inside, his mind churned like a tide.
The Bai family affair cut too deep. A storm was coming. He had to build his strength as fast as possible.
But the pills he still had on hand were no longer as effective for a Hidden Strength cultivator as they’d been during Manifest Strength.
Fortunately… the two vials of pills recovered from Tian Ping’an might prove immensely useful.
…
The Bai Estate.
A secret chamber in the rear courtyard.
A single candle-flame flickered, casting Bai Qingcang’s sinister features in wavering light.
The old monster’s face was dark and shifting. His voice scraped like a cracked gong, echoing through the chamber.
“Jixia is dead.”
“A capable man with Hidden Strength — struck down in broad daylight, along with three Manifest Strength fighters and dozens of trained guards. Every last one left as a corpse on the lake road, and the surrounding traces wiped clean… Heh. Quite the operation. It seems someone intends to move against our Bai family.”
He spoke in a rasp, fury simmering beneath every word.
An invisible wave of force radiated from his person — a cold wind that made the candle-flame shiver.
Below, the Bai family’s household head, Bai Benji, stood with hands at his sides. His brow was furrowed tight. After a moment, he spoke in a low voice.
“Father, Jing’er and I, together with Chenjian Wu’s Luo Juncheng, spent days investigating. We couldn’t turn up a single thread. In all of Changyun, only one house could have pulled this off.”
Bai Qingcang’s gaze settled, boring downward.
“The Wang family…”
“Correct.”
Bai Benji’s teeth clenched. The words ground out from deep in his throat.
“That Wang Zhidao has been growing more brazen by the day. Not only poaching our inner-city business, but reaching into the outer city as well. That so-called Raging Waves — nine chances out of ten, it’s the Wang family’s dog.”
Bai Qingcang slowly closed his eyes. His withered hand rested on the arm of his chair, one bony knuckle tapping — a slow, muffled rhythm.
“Wang Zhidao… let him enjoy himself for a few more days.”
Then, abruptly, his eyes opened. A flash of ruthless resolve cut through their depths.
“Once this old man visits Elder Liu of the Yin-Fiend School in Guangwu Commandery… hmph!”
The cold snort carried an air of ironclad confidence.
Bai Benji’s frame jolted. Light blazed in his eyes.
The Yin-Fiend School!
One of Guangwu Commandery’s two colossi!
Guangwu bordered the State of Yue, and Yue was the stronghold of one of the three great demonic sects — the Celestial-Fiend Demonic Sect.
It was the Celestial-Fiend Demonic Sect’s covert backing that had allowed the Yin-Fiend School to take root in Qi territory.
In recent years, the Yin-Fiend School had been looking to expand across Cangzhou’s commanderies and counties — planting branch halls and sub-altars, building strength.
Bai Qingcang had long been scheming in secret, planning to offer up Changyun County as the site for a Yin-Fiend School branch altar.
The Yin-Fiend School’s master was formidable. Under him: four great elders, eight guardians, sixteen branch-altar masters — and as for incense masters and hall masters, the numbers were beyond counting. Experts abounded.
Setting aside everything else, in top-tier combat power alone, the school was no weaker than the Longxiang Army.
With the Yin-Fiend School as their backer… even against the Wang family and the Longxiang Army, what did the Bai family have to fear?
But —
A thread of worry crept across Bai Benji’s brow. He spoke carefully.
“Father, if we truly throw in with the Yin-Fiend School, won’t they…”
Catching his son’s hesitation, Bai Qingcang sneered.
“You’re worried they’ll take the nest for themselves — send their own people to push us out of the core?”
“Exactly…”
Bai Benji bit down.
“The Yin-Fiend School is powerful, but by reputation they rule with an iron fist — harsh on their subordinates. I fear…”
“No need for concern.”
Bai Qingcang let out a low, heh-heh chuckle. He spread his right palm. A wisp of grey-white force materialized — dense with the aura of death — hovering between his fingers, radiating a pulse that set the heart racing.
“That’s—”
Bai Benji’s gaze trembled. Recognition struck, and his pupils contracted sharply. The words burst from him.
“Force!”
“The Nine-Abyss Yin-Sunflower Palm’s palm-force… Father — you’ve reached Transforming Strength Perfection!”