Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Valiant Defenders

“Lord Yuan, why are you oppressing a blind old woman like me? What have I done wrong?!” Madam Wu continued to struggle.

Fang Chen sneered. “A blind person wouldn’t keep looking around. Xu Ge, pluck out whatever is in her eyes.”

“Yes, young master.”

The grinning Xu Ge fumbled around Madam Wu’s eyes before pulling out two white, murky pieces. Beneath those white, murky pieces were a pair of brilliant eyes that clearly didn’t belong to a blind person.

Yuan Yu and Fang Zhixue were stumped.

Yuan Zhuang’s expression stiffened. His face reddened in shame, as he couldn’t believe that a rectifier like him had been taken for a fool!

“Young master, it’s skin shaved from a fish’s eye. It’s a common street trick,” Xu Ge mocked.

Madam Wu’s expression tensed up. She vigilantly eyed her surroundings as she searched for an opportunity to slip away from Xu Ge. Needless to say, she looked nowhere as sickly as she did earlier.

Of course, it was no easy feat to escape from the hands of a pinnacle Ki Explosion martial artist.

Xu Ge grabbed Madam Wu by her neck and asked, “You’ll be here until the young master permits you to leave. Try to escape, and I’ll break your leg.”

“Tell me where did the missing siblings go,” Fang Chen calmly asked.

Many emotions flickered across Madam Wu’s face. In the end, she sheepishly replied, “I don’t know. I only occupied this house because it was empty.”

“Speak the truth,” Fang Chen said. “It has been a long time since anyone stayed here. Why did you leave this house empty if you’re looking for a place to stay?”

Madam Wu hadn’t expected Fang Chen to see through that too. Her face continued to flicker in uncertainty.

“Lie again, and I’ll drag you to the Court of Great Brilliance. By then, I’ll make sure to spit out everything that you know,” Yuan Zhuang sneered.

“Lord Yuan, I’ll speak the truth!” Seeing how things were getting serious, Madam Wu dared not to hide the truth and quickly explained the matter.

She was a conman. She would look for empty houses, pretend to be the relative, and find a chance to sell them out. A few years back, she learned that this house was empty, so she bribed the neighbors and occupied the house under the pretext of being the siblings’ blind mother.

“You’re wasting my time.” Fang Chen was starting to lose his patience. “You don’t have to speak if you don’t want to. Take her with us.”

“Wait, wait! I’ll speak, I’ll speak!” Madam Wu anxiously waved her hand. “There’s more to this matter. Someone approached me, telling me there’s no one residing in the house and I should occupy it. However, he had a request—he wanted me to pretend to be the siblings’ mother in front of the officials.”

Yuan Zhuang’s face darkened. This meant there was more to the siblings’ disappearances, or else the person behind this wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to deter them.

“Who’s that person?” Fang Chen asked.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know! I had no choice but to do his bidding. He said he’d kill me if I don’t follow his orders. I’m just a conman; I’d die if I go against that kind of people!” Madam Wu cried. “Milord, please have mercy and let me off this once. I’ll never do it again!”

Fang Chen turned his gaze to Grandpa Lu and asked, “What about you? Who got you here?”

“Who are you?” Grandpa Lu glared at Fang Chen. “You shouldn’t get involved in this if you know what’s better for you. My backing is not someone you can trifle with!”

“Audacious! How dare a Court of Great Brilliance’s rectifier overstep his boundary? Is it not enough for you to capture criminals in the inner city that you want to stick a foot into the outer city’s business too?” a middle-aged man suddenly arrived with a group of people and began bellowing.

Grandpa Lu’s eyes lit up. “Lord Xu, I’m here!”

Fang Chen looked at the people who had just arrived.

There people wore red uniforms and tall headgears, and they carried a sword on their waists. There was only one group of people who dressed like that in Great Xia’s capital—the Valiant Defenders.

The Valiant Defenders was a post that the incumbent emperor created just ten years ago. They comprised elites picked from the military and sects, and their members were deployed all over Great Xia.

The Valiant Defenders had an independent command chain. They were only accountable to their superior, so they didn’t have to obey high-ranking officials from the other departments. This had led to them being extremely domineering and unreasonable.

Due to that, very few people dared to offend the Valiant Defenders.

There were two barracks for the Valiant Defenders in Great Xia’s capital—one in the inner city, and one in the outer city.

This was Great Xia’s capital, after all, so the Valiant Defenders in the inner city kept a low profile and only did what was expected of them. It was rare for them to interfere with the affairs of the other departments.

It was a different story for the outer city though. The Valiant Defenders in the outer city patrolled the streets all day long and interfered in everything. Their words carried more weight than anyone else!

“So it’s Lord Xu,” Yuan Zhuang clasped his fist and greeted with a perfunctory smile.

The other party coldly eyed Yuan Zhuang. “Yuan Zhuang, I remember telling you a few years back that you have to inform our barracks if you have something to do in the outer city. I heard you brought someone here to beat up innocent civilians. Is this true?”

“Innocent civilians? Are you talking about these people?” Yuan Zhuang pointed at Grandpa Lu on the ground. “If he’s an innocent civilian, I’d be a saint.”

“Hmph, I won’t waste my breath on you. We’ll get to the bottom of this in the barracks. Men, apprehend them!” Lord Xu said with a grand wave of his hand.

The Valiant Defenders charged forward and surrounded them.

Seeing this, Xu Ge stepped in front of Fang Chen and coldly eyed the Valiant Defenders. “My young master isn’t going anywhere.”

“Audacious!”

The Valiant Defenders drew their swords and coldly eyed Xu Ge. Murderous intent suffused this little house.

“Lord Xu, be careful! This man is Windcloud Sword Xu Ge. I was subdued by him in a moment of carelessness,” Grandpa Lu exclaimed.

“Windcloud Sword Xu Ge?” Lord Xu frowned. “A wandering pugilist like you dares to kick up a fuss in the capital? Do you think that you can oppose the Valiant Defenders just because you’re a pinnacle Ki Explosion martial artist?”

“Lord Xu, you’re a Valiant Defenders’ centurion, right?” Fang Chen glanced at Lord Xu’s waist token and asked.

Lord Xu eyed Fang Chen. For some reason, he found the latter oddly familiar.

“A Valiant Defenders’ centurion is of the same rank as a Court of Great Brilliance’s rectifier, but you show no respect for your peer. The first thing you want to do upon arriving at the scene is to arrest your peer. Aren’t you Valiant Defenders being too domineering?” Fang Chen shook his head.

“You have no right to criticize the Valiant Defenders!” Lord Xu sneered. “Which clan are you from? Stay in the inner city if you have nothing better to do!”

“Lord Xu, it looks like you have stayed in the outer city for too long if you don’t even recognize War supreme-ruler Fang! I’m really worried for you if your eyes are this bad,” Yuan Zhuang remarked with a sigh.

War supreme-ruler Fang?!

Lord Xu, as well as Grandpa Lu and his lackeys, trembled in horror. All of them reflexively turned to Fang Chen with eyes of disbelief. Madam Wu, whom Xu Ge had been holding up from the start to the end, nearly collapsed on the ground.