Chapter 352 - 215: Noble Family

Chapter 352: Chapter 215: Noble Family

The sun gradually rose, casting its light on Xie Yuan and stretching his long, slanted shadow across the ridge of the field.

Xie Yuan looked at the alarmed and uncertain, staff-wielding old man opposite him and snorted coldly.

"Abducting people, oppressing the masses, causing the tragic deaths of the innocent, and destroying countless families! Your crimes are so heinous, everyone has the right to execute you!"

Hearing this, a derisive look appeared on the old man’s face.

"For that reason alone, you dare to provoke us? How naive!"

"That reason is enough! There will always be people in this world who won’t stand by and watch you commit evil, regardless of your background."

Xie Yuan said seriously.

When he was in Yunzhao, he had personally witnessed the immense harm that collusion between local officials and martial arts sects could cause. Countless commoners and merchants had already been forcibly annexed by the Vajra Sect. And the situation in Yunzhao was nowhere near as rotten as it was here in Wu River; at least there, the County Magistrate and the Longteng Escort Agency provided a counterbalance.

But now in Wu River, everyone from top to bottom was under the thumb of a single shadowy force. They abducted people as they pleased and silenced witnesses with fire as they saw fit. The local populace had no one to turn to for help and could only passively accept their fate.

Moreover, Xie Yuan couldn’t stand such extreme evils as human trafficking, especially of women and children, no matter which life he was in. So many once-happy families were torn apart, their members dead or scattered, because of it!

This operation had grown into a major power, and Xie Yuan could not tolerate it. He didn’t care how powerful the family backing them was; he had to intervene today.

He was already a wanted man who had offended the authorities, so he wasn’t afraid of offending a powerful family as well. At worst, he could go back to being Zhang Mountain and hide in the Sword Sect.

Since he was punishing evil and upholding justice, he figured Li Xingtuo definitely wouldn’t refuse to shelter him over this. On the contrary, he would likely be praised for it.

Xie Yuan had a backer now, so to speak. Besides, the partner fighting alongside him also had no fear of powerful families—in fact, she was arguably the one young woman who feared them the least.

He pointed at the old man and shouted coldly:

"So you’re that Mr. Qian? So secretive, not even daring to state your name and affiliation. All your hints, overt and covert, just point to some great family, don’t they?

"The Yao of Jinling, or the Qian of Yongyang? Have the thousand-year-old families become so shameful they can’t show their faces in public now!"

The old man’s expression darkened slightly, and he said slowly:

"Since you know so much, you shouldn’t be so reckless. What’s happening here is critical. If you ruin things, I’m afraid you will pay the price, no matter which family’s disciple you are."

Xie Yuan sneered.

"So cryptic. You talk too much nonsense. Enough. Once I capture you, I’ll interrogate you until the truth comes out and see just what kind of dirty business you’re up to!"

He flicked his Long Sword, which transformed into a flash of white light, blanketing the old man like a dense fog.

Almost simultaneously, Situ Qin plucked her zither strings from behind him. An invisible Qi Force, starting later but arriving first, shot toward Mr. Qian.

The old man’s expression turned grim as he raised his iron staff. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

As if wielding a force of ten thousand tons, he moved with immense effort, stirring up a gale on the flat ground that blocked Situ Qin’s musical arrows and blew away Xie Yuan’s cloud of mist.

Xie Yuan’s expression grew solemn. Seeing that Mr. Qian seemed to be preparing an ultimate move, he fully activated his Golden Bell Shield. A great golden bell seemed to materialize upside down around him, protecting him completely.

The old man lifted his iron staff above his head. His Blood Qi swirled around him like a cyclone, creating ripples that exploded outward but never broke. It completely blocked Situ Qin’s continuous barrage of sonic attacks.

He built up his momentum to its peak, let out a furious roar, and suddenly slammed the iron staff down. The force was like Mount Tai crashing from above!

Xie Yuan felt that this strike was unavoidable. His face serious, the Long Sword in his hand instantly shortened and widened, transforming into a large xuanhua axe. Grasping it with both hands, he let out a sharp cry and surged forward against the tide, cleaving out a black halo of light to meet the attack head-on!

The gale-wreathed iron staff and the black-glowing great axe met. However, there was no earth-shattering explosion; instead, they simply repelled each other, flying far apart.

Xie Yuan was taken by surprise. To his astonishment, the imposing Mr. Qian used the momentum to suddenly retreat at explosive speed, instantly accelerating as he fled back toward the manor!

’That seemingly unstoppable heavy strike was just a feint to cover his retreat?’

Xie Yuan cursed the cunning old scoundrel inwardly. He’d never seen someone build up such immense momentum just to run away. He lifted his leg, executed the Cloud Dragon Step, and shot off in pursuit.

Situ Qin’s hands flew across her zither, its strings vibrating rapidly as she unleashed one invisible Qi Arrow after another at Mr. Qian.

However, the Qi Force stirred up by Mr. Qian’s staff strike had all wrapped around his own body. Not a single trace had been infused into the staff; instead, it had become a flawless, 360-degree defense, just like the Golden Bell Shield.

’Who would have thought that it was actually a defensive move meant for retreating?’

Situ Qin’s delicate brows knitted together. She put away her zither and followed not far behind Xie Yuan, also chasing after them toward the manor.

One after the other, the two of them tailed Mr. Qian. Although they were gradually closing the distance, his sudden escape using the clash’s momentum had carried him a great distance in a single breath. He entered the manor before they could catch up.

The manor gates then slammed shut with a BANG.

Seeing this, Xie Yuan didn’t break his stride. He stomped hard on the front steps, leaped high into the air, and, shimmering with golden light, vaulted directly over the wall.

"WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—"

The moment Xie Yuan’s figure appeared atop the wall, a heavy shower of arrows shot up from below!

Xie Yuan’s expression flickered. The accuracy of these arrows was not low, and they were full of force, all fired from heavy bows. They sealed off the space around him and his path forward, leaving him no room to dodge.

Clearly, the squad of archers below was no weaker than an elite military unit! This volley of arrows could instantly kill an ordinary expert.

But Xie Yuan, naturally, was not afraid.

The arrow shower was difficult to dodge, but he hadn’t planned on dodging anyway. The golden light around him flared brightly, blocking every single long arrow outside his Golden Bell Shield, which rang out with a TING TING TING.

Xie Yuan landed steadily in the midst of the archers. The Hundred-Change Profound Weapon in his hand once again took the form of the Moon-Cleaving Great Axe, and he immediately swept it around in a full circle.