Chapter 67: Chapter 67
The mood inside the carriage remained pleasant.
Teacups clinked, and somehow the conversation drifted to the subject of Zhaixing Sect’s prodigies.
“If you ask me, among all the Senior Brothers of the inner gate, Zhang Jiuyang is the most brilliant by far!”
The Ma youth fluttered his folding fan, bobbing his head as he spoke.
“Not even twenty-three and he’d already broken through to Hidden Strength and entered the inner gate. That kind of talent — it’s not an exaggeration to call him the foremost genius in all of Wuji Academy!”
“Senior Brother Zhang is impressive, certainly, but I’d argue Chief Disciple Zuo is a cut above.”
The Wen youth took a measured sip of hot tea and offered an unhurried rebuttal.
“Chief Disciple Zuo didn’t break through to Hidden Strength until he was nearly twenty-eight, true. But the moment he entered the inner gate, he was like a dragon plunging into the sea. His cultivation surged from behind, overtaking not only his peers but even many of his seniors. Two years ago, he shattered the Transforming Strength barrier and became the youngest Chief Disciple among the inner gate’s four great halls.”
“Tch, that’s where you’ve got it wrong…”
The Ma youth snapped his fan shut and tapped it lightly against his palm, putting on an air of mystery.
“Do any of you know… why Chief Disciple Zuo broke through to Transforming Strength and rose to Chief Disciple in just a few short years?”
Both Ji sisters perked up at this, setting down their teacups.
The Wen youth pursed his lips dismissively. “Natural talent and ability, obviously. What else could there be?”
“Heh heh — that’s exactly it, something else!”
The Ma youth grinned, cast a theatrical glance around the carriage, and dropped his voice.
“Rumor has it… Chief Disciple Zuo once had a blood sister — his own mother’s daughter. Years ago, she was abducted by criminals, violated, and murdered.”
“When the news reached Chief Disciple Zuo, he was devastated beyond measure. His entire temperament changed. He swore a blood oath to slaughter every last member of the family responsible.”
He paused deliberately at this point, letting the suspense build before continuing.
“To that end, he threw caution to the wind — risking qi deviation and madness — and forced himself into seclusion to break through. And against all odds, driven by that desperate, do-or-die resolve… he actually succeeded!”
“What? Is that really true?”
Ji Yao gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. Her apricot eyes went perfectly round, brimming with shock.
“Chief Disciple Zuo… went through something so terrible?”
“Most likely it’s true.”
Young Master Ma let out a sigh.
“I had people look into it specifically. Chief Disciple Zuo hails from Shitan County in Guangwu Commandery. Sure enough, several years ago, the third young lady of the local Zuo gentry was indeed defiled and brutally killed by criminals…”
Ji Xue lowered her lashes and said nothing, her slender fingers tracing the rim of her teacup. Whatever she was thinking, she kept to herself.
Ji Yao bit her lip, a flush of indignation coloring her small face. She murmured softly, “Those criminals… were they ever brought to justice?”
Young Master Ma saw the worry on her face and felt a prick of irritation at himself for running his mouth — he’d gone and made the beauty’s heart ache for another man. He wrapped up the topic in a hurry.
“That, I couldn’t find out. The Zuo family keeps the matter tightly under wraps, and nothing more can be learned from outside.”
“…”
Shitan County…
The third young lady of the Zuo family…
Abducted, violated, and murdered…
Beyond the carriage curtain, Shen Xiuhan’s gaze sharpened. Something stirred suddenly in the depths of his memory.
But before he could chase the thought further — everything changed in an instant.
CRACK!
From the dense forest alongside the road, a young woman in her twenties burst into the open.
She wore a silk dress, torn ragged by thorns and brambles, bloodstains seeping through the fabric at her chest. Her comely face was twisted with panic.
“Good sirs, please save me!”
She threw herself in front of the carriage, weeping and wailing, her voice a picture of piteous distress.
“There are bandits up ahead — they’ve raided my carriage! I beg you, please, take me along for a stretch! I’ll repay you handsomely afterward!”
Geng Weizhi frowned slightly and instinctively glanced at Shen Xiuhan.
Shen Xiuhan said nothing. His cold eyes swept over her from head to toe.
“What’s going on out there?”
The brocade curtain lifted at one corner, revealing Young Master Ma’s mildly annoyed face.
“Young master, some ma’am is blocking the road. Says she wants a ride.”
Geng Weizhi reported honestly.
The woman had been tilting her face upward in a perfect pose of rain-drenched beauty — the very picture of someone who begged to be pitied.
Then the word “ma’am” hit her ears, and the corner of her mouth twitched. She nearly broke character.
“Blocking the road?”
Young Master Ma raised an eyebrow, glanced down — and his eyes went wide.
Beneath her tattered skirt, tantalizing expanses of fair skin peeked out in a way that seemed half-accidental, half-deliberate. Paired with that pitiful face, it was enough to stir a man’s sympathy — and then some.
Gulp.
Young Master Ma’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
“Very well. As the saying goes, saving a life is a deed of infinite merit. Let this young la—”
“Hold on!”
Ji Xue swept the curtain aside with a pale hand, her willowy brows drawn tight. Her voice was cool and cutting.
“Don’t invite trouble. We’re in the middle of nowhere — not a village in sight. Send her on her way. We need to reach Linshui Wharf before dark.”
The Wen youth’s voice followed in agreement.
“Brother Ma, it does feel odd out here in the wilds. Let’s listen to the Second Young Lady and get moving.”
Young Master Ma’s expression soured, but he held his tongue.
Ji Xue clearly had no interest in prolonging the encounter, and pushing the matter further would only make him a nuisance.
“The carriage is full. There’s nothing we can do.”
Shen Xiuhan finally spoke, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.
“If you’re looking for safety, follow the road we came from back the way it runs. Within an hour, you’ll reach a village where you can take shelter. But we can’t carry you.”
He threw a glance at Geng Weizhi.
Geng Weizhi understood at once and snapped the reins.
“Hya!”
The draft horse let out a long whinny, its hooves digging in to surge past the woman.
“Erniang, looks like your honey trap didn’t work on this lot!”
“Didn’t work? She got called ‘ma’am’ by the driver boy — ha ha ha!”
Two raucous peals of laughter erupted from deep within the forest.
Leaves rustled and shook.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Seven or eight figures bristling with killing intent burst from the trees and landed square in the middle of the road, blocking every path forward.
The woman who had seemed so fragile and pitiful a moment ago transformed in an instant. Every trace of vulnerability vanished.
She straightened her back, eyes cold as a viper’s, and fixed Geng Weizhi with a venomous stare.
“Blind little whelp,” she hissed. “I’m going to rip your heart out and eat it.”
SWISH!
A flick of her pale wrist, and two long, slender spikes slid from her sleeves, glinting with frigid light.
Geng Weizhi’s face drained of color. His steel saber rang free of its sheath as he threw himself in front of the driver’s bench.
By now, even a fool could see that these people meant business.
But one person, apparently, thought otherwise.
Young Master Ma’s eyes lit up as though heaven itself had handed him an opportunity.
He’d been stewing all through the earlier conversation — Senior Brother Zuo had stolen his thunder. Then the roadside incident had cost him further face. His frustration had been building with nowhere to go.
Now here were bandits — obviously after money. Wasn’t this the perfect moment to play the hero and rescue the beauties?
Young Master Ma flung open the curtain and planted himself grandly on the carriage shaft. He called out in a ringing voice:
“Hold, good fellows!”
“I am Ma Jinghang, eldest son of the Ma Trading House of Changyun County, and a disciple of Zhaixing Sect’s own Wuji Academy! The road of the jianghu is long — might I ask you gentlemen to show me a little courtesy…”
“Show you courtesy?”
The wiry man shouldered his way to the front, arms folded across his chest. A mocking sneer curled at the corner of his mouth.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?”