White-Robed Chief

“Ahem!” The sound of someone clearing their throat broke through her reverie. When she heard Zhao Dahe’s voice, she quickly asked, “Young Master Zhao, am I inside the formation now?”

“Yes.” Chu Li’s voice echoed from above her as if it was coming from the horizon.

“What should I do to get out of it?” Yue Ru asked.

Chu Li sounded like he was smiling when he replied, “You can try to explore around and see if you can break out of it.”

“Okay!” Yue Ru leaped into the air and quickly glided toward where Chu Li’s voice seemed to be coming from. However, she began to fall halfway through; she could not bring herself to go any higher as her body grew increasingly heavier. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not get rid of that sense of heaviness and failed to leap back up into the air.

She then proceeded to climb up the huge mountain again, but after a while, she realized that her efforts were futile. So, she adopted a different approach and decided to retrace her steps. However, when she turned around and took a look behind her, a boundless white mist was now blocking her vision, preventing her from finding the path that led downhill.

She was determined not to be misled by this illusion. Hence, she continued to walk downward despite not being able to see or find the path ahead.

Chu Li’s voice spoke, “If I were to place a few knives there, you would’ve been killed by now.”

Yue Ru stopped and turned to the side. Instantly, Chu Li’s voice came echoing once more. “You’ve died again.”

Yue Ru pursed her red lips and thought about it for a moment. Then, she performed the Light-body Technique and tried to move toward the mountain peak again.

Chu Li said, “You’re going around in circles right now. You’ve been circling the hall for more than ten times.”

Yue Ru huffed and asked, “Well then, what are the ways to rupture a formation?”

Chu Li shook his head and replied, “For those who don’t understand formations, they can only use brute force and try to hit it in one particular direction. However, the power of a formation comes from the void power, and human strength is incredibly small and weak compared to it. Only an Enlightened Master would stand a chance to succeed.”

“Is there no other way then?” Yue Ru asked.

“If you wish to rupture a formation, unless you’re a formation master yourself and can find the entrance of the formation, you have no other choice but to rely on brute force,” Chu Li replied. “It’s almost impossible to set up a formation that’s perfect and flawless. Whenever there’s a flaw, the power in the formation won’t be able to flow very smoothly, so it’s possible to rupture it by force. Therefore, it depends on each person’s luck. If they’re lucky, there may be a bigger flaw in the formation. If they’re not, the flaw in the formation will be barely noticeable. In that case, it’ll be very hard to rupture the formation.”

There would usually be too many variables in the surrounding environment, so it would be almost impossible to fit a formation perfectly within its surroundings, which would always lead to an error margin.

“What about this formation then?”

“This is a very small formation, and we’ve used enough jade artifacts to set it up, so the flaw in this formation is very small. It’ll be very difficult to rupture it by force,” Chu Li said. “Let’s get you out now!”

He stepped into the formation and quickly pulled Yue Ru out from it.

The scene before her eyes changed rapidly and Yue Ru suddenly found herself standing in the main hall on the first floor of the Phoenix Goddess Brothel again. Although the huge mountain she saw just now had been an illusion, she recalled how real it had felt to her and was convinced that everything she had experienced earlier had not been false.

When Chu Li read her thoughts, he explained, “The power of the formation can influence the five senses. Not only will you be able to see the illusion with your eyes, but you can also touch it with your hands. That’s why you feel like it’s real and can’t differentiate reality from illusion. This is just like the Buddhist teaching about the five senses being an obstacle.”

“I’m certain they won’t be able to escape this!” Yue Ru seemed to have recovered her spirits.

With this formation, those guys would not be able to get away once they entered this place!

Chu Li laughed and said, “They might not even dare to enter this formation, so don’t get your hopes up too high.”

If those people were sharp-witted enough, they should be able to sense the danger here and would not dare to step foot inside.

Yue Ru replied, “I’ll go and tell Master about this.”

…

At dawn, Chu Li went to Nine Star Tower.

He arrived very early in the morning, so he did manage to get a table beside the window. After ordering a few dishes, he took a sip of wine and slowly savored its taste.

The culinary skills of Nine Star Tower’s chefs were truly superb. It was not because of Roaring Tiger Clan’s reputation that this place had managed to become the most famous restaurant in Gale City, but rather, the people here had genuine talent and skills.

He was halfway through his meal when he noticed Yang Ying walking up the stairs lightheartedly. However, the moment she saw that Chu Li was there, she halted her footsteps and immediately turned around to leave.

Chu Li raised his voice and called out, “Miss Yang!”

Everyone turned their gaze to Yang Ying.

Under their gaze, Yang Ying pressed her lips tightly together and threw Chu Li a glare before she walked angrily over to his table. She then sat down across him. “Why did you call me? I’m trying to avoid you right now!”

Chu Li laughed. “You can still stay another day?”

“I suppose so.” Yang Ying huffed and said, “After trying all the other restaurants, the food here is still the best. Please just avoid me for two more days. I’ll be leaving soon. From now on, let’s just mind our own business!”

Chu Li chuckled and asked, “Do you know what has been going on with the Church of the Bloody Garment?”

“The Church of the Bloody Garment?” Yang Ying looked blank for a moment. Then, she tilted her head to the side and thought about it. “I believe I’ve heard people talking about it before.”

“Isn’t Roaring Tiger Clan going to offer some help?” Chu Li asked.

Yang Ying replied, “Well, they’re planning to watch the fun and see what’ll happen to the Phoenix Goddess Brothel. So, of course, they won’t be offering any help. It’ll be good if they don’t try to make the situation worse!”

She was filled with indignation as she spoke.

Chu Li chuckled and asked, “Aren’t the three sects supposed to be allies? Why aren’t the others offering any help at such a crucial moment?”

“They’re only allies when they’re going up against the Holy Church of Light. At other times, they’re rivals to each other.” Yang Ying let out a sharp sigh and waved a hand dismissively. “Forget it. I’m not going to trouble myself with such trivial matters. You should just look out for your sweetheart.”

Chu Li broke into laughter. “The person Miss Yue Ru likes is Young Master Lu.”

“And the person you like is Miss Yue Ru,” Yang Ying said with a scoff. “No one’s getting in anyone else’s way here, right?”

Chu Li replied, “Fine, let’s not talk about this. Let’s go back to the topic about the Church of the Bloody Garment instead. Now, once those people enter the city, aren’t they going to go around killing others? Is White Tiger Sect not going to intervene at all?”

“The disciples of the Church of the Bloody Garment are all crazy people, and there are only around twenty of them anyway. The sect won’t bother to intervene.” Yang Ying huffed and muttered, “Damn it. If they won’t do anything about this, I will!”

Chu Li raised his eyebrows at her. “If you intervene in this situation, you may get White Tiger Sect into huge trouble.”

“What’s there to be afraid of!” Yang Ying scoffed. “We, the disciples of White Tiger Sect are fully capable of dealing with troubles like this. We don’t fear of getting into trouble!”

Chu Li gave her a thumbs up. “Women are just as capable as men. You’re very admirable!”

Yang Ying scoffed and said, “You’re just trying to get me to help the Phoenix Goddess Brothel. I can see that you’re trying your best, but Miss Yue Ru may not appreciate your kind intentions.”

Chu Li chuckled. “There’s nothing I can do about that.”

“Fine. Seeing as you’re head-over-heels for her, I promise to lend a hand,” Yang Ying said.

Chu Li chuckled and replied, “You don’t have to do that. Otherwise, you might be punished for it. The Phoenix Goddess Brothel has already made preparations and they’re just waiting for those people to come right now.”

He did not care about what people thought of him. In any case, the strongest person would be the most respected one. As long as his martial arts skills were good enough, all would be well. If he had weak martial arts skills, he would be a laughing stock regardless of what he did. Anyway, he did not mind pretending to be someone who was infatuated with Miss Yue Ru. In fact, he found it rather fun.

“What kind of preparations?” Yang Ying huffed and said, “The Phoenix Goddess Brothel is the weakest one among the three clans. If Senior Bai wasn’t around, they won’t even stand a chance against Roaring Tiger Clan and Blazing Sun Clan!”

Chu Li shook his head. “Roaring Tiger Clan and Blazing Sun Clan can’t handle the Church of the Bloody Garment, but the Phoenix Goddess Brothel can.”

“That’s true.” Yang Ying nodded. “Roaring Tiger Clan and Blazing Sun Clan have both become cowards now. They don’t even have the nerve to come out and fight the Church of the Bloody Garment, but the Phoenix Goddess Brothel isn’t afraid at all. During crucial moments like this, it’s still better to depend on women!”

Chu Li started to laugh.

Yang Ying said, “The men of Gale City are too useless!”

Since she had been talking very loudly and carelessly, most of the people around them had heard her and were now throwing glares at her in distaste.

“Bang!” There was a sudden explosion of fireworks in the sky.

Chu Li glanced over. “It’s from the Phoenix Goddess Brothel!”

Through his Omniscient Mirror, he had noticed ten men in white were rushing toward the Phoenix Goddess Brothel earlier.

At the moment, it was very quiet at the Phoenix Goddess Brothel. Since the women there usually slept at midnight, dawn would be a time when they were sound asleep.

Among these white-clad men, two of them were middle-aged men while the other eight were young men. They were all far more spirited and full of vigor than ordinary people. They went past a wall and then broke open the front door of the Phoenix Goddess Brothel before they charged into the building.

Soon after, the fireworks exploded in the sky.