Book 13: Chapter 19
Afraid of copping another attack, the guard captain replied, “This one searched high and low with his brothers immediately after lowering the doors.”
“And?”
“We did not find anything else after speaking to you. This one presumes,” the guard captain looked up without moving his head, “he must have escaped from the prison.”
“And did you continue searching? Tell me which places you’ve searched.”
It was hard to fault Yan Jiangnan for feeling uneasy as he knew his fate was in Ming Feizhen’s hands, especially when he could see the guards’ doubts; he could see the guard captain visually auditing Ming Feizhen. It was only fair for them to be suspicious when everything was Wu Ping’s one-sided story, not to mention the complete absence of any evidence. There were all these strange happenings, yet they couldn’t find any traces? Everything happened only to those in the dungeon. Furthermore, the prisoner was still confined. Nevertheless, there was one thing they were unaware of.
Because Ming Feizhen “unintentionally” revealed his control over the dungeon, n.o.body questioned Wu Ping’s tattered clothing, the blood on his face and the blood around the place. In other words, the target of their suspicions was Wu Ping. They were following the steps Ming Feizhen wanted to them to follow.
“n.o.body appeared after the eight doors were lowered… Did anyone in charge of the doors say anything?”
“Um… Sir Zero told us to notify him directly if anything happened. Otherwise, we are to inform Young Master Ouyang or Mr. Lang. Right now…”
“Out with it. You’re just worried about bearing the blame, aren’t you? When it comes down to it, we leaders will be the ones who are questioned. If you’re in trouble, so am I. We will bear all the blame, right, Brother Yan?”
“H-huh? Y-yeah,” stuttered Yan Jiangnan, slow to catch up with the pace of play. “We will bear all the blame. Tell us without withholding anything.”
The guard captain had no authority to lower the eight doors, so there was no way he could bear the ramifications. Regardless of whether there was an intruder or not, stepping across his boundaries would incur a penalty. Therefore, he bobbed his head confidently this time. “The fifth and seventh door guards have sent signals to rush over here and then put our minds together to come up with a plan.”
“The fifth… If my memory serves, the leader of the fifth door should be Elder Lianhua, right?”
“Yes, it is very rea.s.suring to have her on our side.”
The elder of an unorthodox sect was best known for her unique internal energy and fighting style.
“By the sounds of it, she needs some more time?”
“Yes, she is on her way, but it will take a while longer to open the sixth door. That being said, the leader of the seventh door has arrived.”
While Yan Jiangnan’s concern flitted his face as he looked to Ming Feizhen, Ming Feizhen just asked, “Uhm, so… who is guarding the seventh door?”
“Me, hahaha.” The burly man with the deep voice was incredibly short in stature, but his qinggong abilities propelled him extremely fast whilst making it appear effortless. The ruler of Guanhu Island, Yuan Kou, was a man who was intimidating without needing to purposely act intimidating. Upon meeting Ming Feizhen, he c.o.c.kily extended a hand at Ming Feizhen. “Lame!”
Yan Jiangnan instinctively moved to stop them from fighting, but the pain from his lower back stopped him dead in his tracks.
When it seemed as though his face would be splattered, Ming Feizhen rolled his shoulder, catching Yuan Kou’s hand on his shoulder.
“Hahaha, Wu Ping, you brag about your prowess with a sword, yet look at you now, ahaha,” said Yuan Kou, patting Ming Feizhen on the shoulder three times.
Despite the pain, Ming Feizhen bore with it.
“Your internal injuries are this serious?” Yuan Kou exclaimed.
Beads of sweat formed on Yan Jiangnan’s forehead because Yuan Kou could’ve easily killed both of them without breaking a sweat.
Speaking through his clenched teeth, Ming Feizhen expressed, “Brother Yuan, your ‘Crus.h.i.+ng Hands’ skill is one of Shaolin’s most advanced skills. I cannot withstand many blows from you.”
Yuan Kou was obsessed with martial arts, so he felt as though he was in paradise when in the presence of so many adepts. Unfortunately, Ouyang Xiucai and Lang Qing were levels above him. Two of Fiends’ Genesis’ stars were Jiang Chen’s subordinates, or Tian Gou would’ve been a fun opponent. The Yan brothers and the Guxian Deities couple fought as pairs, so Yuan Kou was always outnumbered, and that wasn’t fun to him. Therefore, Yuan Kou liked to spar with Wu Ping. For the record, Yuan Kou’s idea of sparring was what he just did, approaching and suddenly uncorking an attack.
“Hahaha, even though you like to act tough, you’ve finally admitted my ‘Crus.h.i.+ng Hands’ skill is formidable. That being said, don’t undermine yourself. You’re also quite strong. Let’s spar again once you’ve recovered.” Yuan Kou and Wu Ping barely edged out wins against each other or sparred to draws. Hence, Yuan Kou was ecstatic to hear Wu Ping admit he was inferior.
“I’m signed up.” If Ming Feizhen’s real face was visible, everyone would think he was a brand new sheet of paper. Nonetheless, he was glad to have gotten through it.
“Master Yuan, you have been careless. You let the brat fool you.”
Ming Feizhen inwardly cursed. The old lady who spoke out had a hunched over posture, a head of white hair and plenty of wrinkles to convincingly tell someone she was eighty even if she tried to say otherwise, but Ming Feizhen definitely didn’t want to see her.