Just after the outward surge of Qi an old man could be seen standing on top of the compound gates. His back was slightly stooped, but he still possessed a bearing of authority.
“Disperse and I will let you all off. Otherwise, do not blame this old man for taking steps.” He shouted out at the crowd.
Xiulan could see the will of the mob creaking under the strain of the cultivator’s command. She needed to reignite their fervour. There was no turning back now, if the Bai clan was allowed to survive then there would be retribution.
She pulled Yen Wen’s arm and her lover responded with a nod. Xiulan gave a small signal to the nearest Golden Hand member, and they raised a cry, “he will kill us anyway. Better to die fighting!”
The old man scowled but merely flexed his Qi again, “If I was going to kill you I would have already.”
Another Golden Hand member shouted out, “he cannot kill us all. Even a cultivator of his strength is powerless against our numbers.”
A little more will power was being breathed into the crowd and the old man sensed the shift and sighed, “very well I suppose there is no other way.”
The old man jumped from the wall aiming to fall amongst the crowd. He gathered Qi into his feet clearly preparing some kind of area of affect combat technique. When he reached the peak of his jump a very surprising thing happened.
A bolt of strong qi in the form of an arrow streaked towards him. It was aimed at his heart, but the old man managed to twist a little and it took him in the shoulder instead. His own technique fell apart and instead of a devastating attack, he instead gracelessly crashed to the ground.
People managed to move out of the way and dust was flung into the air by his impact. The old man slowly rose to his feet coughing slightly and looked up to find his attacker.
Yen Wen was standing there with a bow had another arrow nocked. She raised her voice and said, “I will not let you hurt these people merely for protecting Xiulan. I am your opponent today.”
Yen Wen turned to the crowd and instructed, “I will handle him. The unconscionable Bai Clan must fall today, or they will retaliate against the city for the shame you have caused them today.”
Her words reminded the crowd of the stakes. They returned to trying to bash the compound doors down. The difference was that if before the mob was rioting in a state of pure hysteria now, they were sober. The Bai Clan could not be allowed to keep a foot hold in Temple Gorge.
The Old Man spat some blood onto the ground and said, “I did not think that that Long woman had any foundation establishment cultivators at her disposal. I could not sense you before but now it is clear. Where are you from? It cannot be a well-regarded sect in the Capital. Cheap shots like this arrow you put in my shoulder are not taught by any proper cultivation school.”
Yen Wen snorted and replied, “I am not a sect cultivator I am just a merchant’s guard, and your Bai clan threatened my charge.”
With the statement she raised her bow and quick as a blink loosed her arrow. The old man had been prepared and dodged to the left, but he had not removed the arrow from his shoulder.
Yen Wen materialized a rope of qi between the arrow in his flesh and her hand and with a precise tug pulled him back into the path of her second arrow. This time the shaft penetrated the soft flesh of the Old Man’s stomach blood pouring from the wound like water.
The Old Man pulled out both arrows from his wounds despite the extra damage their rough removal did. He could not allow Yen Wen to manipulate his movements.
Yen Wen loosed a third arrow but the Old Man successfully managed to dodge this time. The arrow buried itself into the compound wall instead.
Using the time between Yen Wen’s reloads the Old Man dashed at her, gathering Qi into his hands. His only hope was to deliver a devastating blow and end this quickly. He was losing too much blood to drag this fight out. Yen Wen dropped her bow and materialized another Qi rope between herself, and the arrow impaled in the compound wall. She used the rope to pull herself out of the Old Man’s path attempting to trip him as she moved from his path.
The Old Man avoided her trailing foot but was frustrated with the flighty woman. He shouted, “stand and face me you bitc…”
He did not notice the twins slipping behind him and both pricking him with poisoned needles. It was a similar poison to the one Xiulan had used on Zhao Yaozu just in a much stronger dose.
The Old Man crumpled to the ground and screamed as his cultivation ate itself. Yen Wen moved to his side and put him out of his misery.
Xiulan had wanted to help but the system’s requirements had kept her back. Instead, she had feigned nonchalance. One of her people had found a chair for her and she had been sitting down casually watching the exchange.
The mob had torn down the compound gates and were now ransacking the estate. Members of the Bai clan were slowly being isolated and dispatched by the throng of people.
Yen Wen returned to Xiulan’s side and picked Xiulan up. She placed her onto her own lap and joined Xiulan in observing the destruction.
“Some of the clan will likely escape. They might send for help from the Capital.” Said Yen Wen after a pause.
Xiulan shook her head and replied, “most of the core family will hide in that panic room Meirong told us about. We will wait for the riot to be over before we fetch them. Meirong can decide their ultimate fate. Nice fight by the way, foundation establishment suits you.”
Yen Wen shook her head and sighed, “I was lucky to land the first blow. He was much more experienced than me. This time can we just make money in peace for a while before we provoke new enemies.?”
Xiulan swatted playfully at Yen Wen and said in exasperation, “you make me sound like some king of war monger. I am a merchant first and foremost. All of these people have been coming after us I did not seek them out.”
Xiulan settled her head on Yen Wen’s shoulder and watched as a small fire in one of the buildings spread to the rest of the compound. Fire was usually a massive problem in the compact city, but the Bai Compound was too far removed from the rest of the city to spread further.
Xiulan mused, “I think after this we will have a time of relative quiet. Most people would move to the Capital straight away when they reached our cultivation but there is still money to be made in this city. The Capital will just be full of arrogant Sects and clans like the Bai Clan. We can use our influence in Temple gorge to make enough money to flourish. Besides we need to train everyone up to foundation establishment.”
Yen Wen kissed the back of Xiulan’s head and chuckled, “I cannot wait to see what ambitious plan you have next.”
They sat there in piece as they watched the Bai Clan burn to the ground. The people had brought food up from the combine and were sharing in a picnic as they too watched the flames.
SmithJuly Thank you for reading. If you are enjoining the story so far please consider joining my Patreon. The Patreon is five chapters ahead of the regular releases. There are also Patreon only bonus chapters. patreon.com/SmithJulyNovel
Just after the outward surge of Qi an old man could be seen standing on top of the compound gates. His back was slightly stooped, but he still possessed a bearing of authority.
“Disperse and I will let you all off. Otherwise, do not blame this old man for taking steps.” He shouted out at the crowd.
Xiulan could see the will of the mob creaking under the strain of the cultivator’s command. She needed to reignite their fervour. There was no turning back now, if the Bai clan was allowed to survive then there would be retribution.
She pulled Yen Wen’s arm and her lover responded with a nod. Xiulan gave a small signal to the nearest Golden Hand member, and they raised a cry, “he will kill us anyway. Better to die fighting!”
The old man scowled but merely flexed his Qi again, “If I was going to kill you I would have already.”
Another Golden Hand member shouted out, “he cannot kill us all. Even a cultivator of his strength is powerless against our numbers.”
A little more will power was being breathed into the crowd and the old man sensed the shift and sighed, “very well I suppose there is no other way.”
The old man jumped from the wall aiming to fall amongst the crowd. He gathered Qi into his feet clearly preparing some kind of area of affect combat technique. When he reached the peak of his jump a very surprising thing happened.
A bolt of strong qi in the form of an arrow streaked towards him. It was aimed at his heart, but the old man managed to twist a little and it took him in the shoulder instead. His own technique fell apart and instead of a devastating attack, he instead gracelessly crashed to the ground.
People managed to move out of the way and dust was flung into the air by his impact. The old man slowly rose to his feet coughing slightly and looked up to find his attacker.
Yen Wen was standing there with a bow had another arrow nocked. She raised her voice and said, “I will not let you hurt these people merely for protecting Xiulan. I am your opponent today.”
Yen Wen turned to the crowd and instructed, “I will handle him. The unconscionable Bai Clan must fall today, or they will retaliate against the city for the shame you have caused them today.”
Her words reminded the crowd of the stakes. They returned to trying to bash the compound doors down. The difference was that if before the mob was rioting in a state of pure hysteria now, they were sober. The Bai Clan could not be allowed to keep a foot hold in Temple Gorge.
The Old Man spat some blood onto the ground and said, “I did not think that that Long woman had any foundation establishment cultivators at her disposal. I could not sense you before but now it is clear. Where are you from? It cannot be a well-regarded sect in the Capital. Cheap shots like this arrow you put in my shoulder are not taught by any proper cultivation school.”
Yen Wen snorted and replied, “I am not a sect cultivator I am just a merchant’s guard, and your Bai clan threatened my charge.”
With the statement she raised her bow and quick as a blink loosed her arrow. The old man had been prepared and dodged to the left, but he had not removed the arrow from his shoulder.
Yen Wen materialized a rope of qi between the arrow in his flesh and her hand and with a precise tug pulled him back into the path of her second arrow. This time the shaft penetrated the soft flesh of the Old Man’s stomach blood pouring from the wound like water.
The Old Man pulled out both arrows from his wounds despite the extra damage their rough removal did. He could not allow Yen Wen to manipulate his movements.
Yen Wen loosed a third arrow but the Old Man successfully managed to dodge this time. The arrow buried itself into the compound wall instead.
Using the time between Yen Wen’s reloads the Old Man dashed at her, gathering Qi into his hands. His only hope was to deliver a devastating blow and end this quickly. He was losing too much blood to drag this fight out. Yen Wen dropped her bow and materialized another Qi rope between herself, and the arrow impaled in the compound wall. She used the rope to pull herself out of the Old Man’s path attempting to trip him as she moved from his path.
The Old Man avoided her trailing foot but was frustrated with the flighty woman. He shouted, “stand and face me you bitc…”
He did not notice the twins slipping behind him and both pricking him with poisoned needles. It was a similar poison to the one Xiulan had used on Zhao Yaozu just in a much stronger dose.
The Old Man crumpled to the ground and screamed as his cultivation ate itself. Yen Wen moved to his side and put him out of his misery.
Xiulan had wanted to help but the system’s requirements had kept her back. Instead, she had feigned nonchalance. One of her people had found a chair for her and she had been sitting down casually watching the exchange.
The mob had torn down the compound gates and were now ransacking the estate. Members of the Bai clan were slowly being isolated and dispatched by the throng of people.
Yen Wen returned to Xiulan’s side and picked Xiulan up. She placed her onto her own lap and joined Xiulan in observing the destruction.
“Some of the clan will likely escape. They might send for help from the Capital.” Said Yen Wen after a pause.
Xiulan shook her head and replied, “most of the core family will hide in that panic room Meirong told us about. We will wait for the riot to be over before we fetch them. Meirong can decide their ultimate fate. Nice fight by the way, foundation establishment suits you.”
Yen Wen shook her head and sighed, “I was lucky to land the first blow. He was much more experienced than me. This time can we just make money in peace for a while before we provoke new enemies.?”
Xiulan swatted playfully at Yen Wen and said in exasperation, “you make me sound like some king of war monger. I am a merchant first and foremost. All of these people have been coming after us I did not seek them out.”
Xiulan settled her head on Yen Wen’s shoulder and watched as a small fire in one of the buildings spread to the rest of the compound. Fire was usually a massive problem in the compact city, but the Bai Compound was too far removed from the rest of the city to spread further.
Xiulan mused, “I think after this we will have a time of relative quiet. Most people would move to the Capital straight away when they reached our cultivation but there is still money to be made in this city. The Capital will just be full of arrogant Sects and clans like the Bai Clan. We can use our influence in Temple gorge to make enough money to flourish. Besides we need to train everyone up to foundation establishment.”
Yen Wen kissed the back of Xiulan’s head and chuckled, “I cannot wait to see what ambitious plan you have next.”
They sat there in piece as they watched the Bai Clan burn to the ground. The people had brought food up from the combine and were sharing in a picnic as they too watched the flames.
SmithJuly Thank you for reading. If you are enjoining the story so far please consider joining my Patreon. The Patreon is five chapters ahead of the regular releases. There are also Patreon only bonus chapters. patreon.com/SmithJulyNovel
