Chapter 113: Taking Some Interest from You Isn't Too Much, Right?

Chapter 113: Collect Some Information from You, Not Too Much, Right?

When Chen Yi heard the sound, he paused, his mind racing.

Chen Yunfan? He hadn’t left?

No.

He had previously assumed Chen Yunfan had already departed; otherwise, the intelligence reward would not have appeared.

So he must have sensed something amiss and returned.

Chen Yi’s older brother was indeed a man with a keen nose and cautious as well.

As Chen Yi was pondering these thoughts, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Come on, turn around slowly."

"Let this lord take a look—who dares hide beneath my eyelids?"

Chen Yi rolled his eyes but said nothing.

His thoughts surged.

He flicked his wrist and hurled the porcelain bottle behind him.

Without checking his surroundings, he leaped out of the tavern.

Chen Yunfan looked at the porcelain bottle in his hand and sneered: "The same trick won’t work on this lord."

It was clear he hadn’t forgotten the time he was knocked unconscious by Pei Menglü’s poison bottle.

Thinking this, Chen Yunfan darted after him.

But just as he reached the window, he heard the sound of the porcelain bottle shattering, followed by a strange pink glow wafting through the air.

However, at this moment, Chen Yunfan was confident in his internal energy protection, unafraid of the poison, so he paid it little mind.

Staring at the distant figure, he leaped out as well.

Who would have thought that upon landing, his feet suddenly gave way as he was about to unleash his martial arts?

He stumbled two steps.

His eyes widened in shock, then he collapsed face-first, as if drunk.

*Thud.*

"What… what… what kind of ghostly trick is this?"

In his confused state, Chen Yunfan still couldn’t fathom it.

His mother’s ghost, what kind of poison is this? Even my internal energy protection couldn’t block it?

Now he’d be laughed to death by Chun Rong…

Upon hearing the sound, Chun Rong gasped and rushed over to check on him.

After confirming he was merely in a state of unconsciousness, she let out a breath of relief.

"Ning Rong, Niu Shan, come quickly and help!"

The two, one tall and one short, responded by running in, carrying Chen Yunfan on their shoulders.

Their movements, of course, drew the attention of the Magistrate’s Office, the City Guard, and the Xiao family’s retinue.

"What kind of person is there?!"

"Stop!"

Clearly, neither Chen Yi nor Chen Yunfan’s group could simply comply and stop.

"Chase them!"

Soon, the Magistrate’s Office, the City Guard, and several of the Xiao family’s personal guards all rushed out of Bai Caotang.

Shen Huatang had intended to follow but feared falling into a trap, so he remained inside Bai Caotang.

In the pursuit.

The tall, thin man carrying Chen Yunfan asked, "Lord, have you fallen victim to a poison again?"

"Probably."

Chun Rong was still puzzled.

She had clearly seen that the lord had not restrained his internal energy, yet he was still knocked unconscious by poison?

Chun Rong ran on, keeping an eye on the porcelain bottle that had just been taken from Chen Yunfan, thinking she’d have to find someone to study it later.

A poison capable of knocking down even a three-tier martial arts master was rare throughout the entire Wei Dynasty.

She then thought of the owner of the porcelain bottle and suddenly felt a headache coming on.

Just how many times had that person eavesdropped on her and Chen Yunfan’s conversation?

Thinking this, Chun Rong immediately ordered, "Ning Geng, go track down that wanderer who fled from the tavern—find him for sure."

"Understood."

Ning Rong nodded, handed Chen Yunfan over to the short, stout man, and his figure instantly turned into a shadow, fleeing in the direction of Chen Yi’s departure.

Chun Rong watched him disappear in the distance and let out a strange sigh.

Hope that person isn’t connected to Liu’s family.

If he was from Liu’s family in Shu Prefecture, the lord might face some troubles in Shu afterward.

But Ning Rong didn’t dwell on it.

He charged straight at the Magistrate’s Office and City Guard, along with the Xiao family’s personal guards.

"How dare you!"

Wang Liheng roared in anger, thrusting his long spear straight at him.

Ning Rong didn’t linger for a fight, smacked the spear away with a single palm, and bypassed several others, heading straight for Chen Yi’s location.

"Don’t run!"

The Magistrate’s Office mounted a horse and chased out, slashing with his blade.

Ning Rong ducked low, spotted the opponent, stomped his foot, and landed on the horse.

He then sent the Magistrate sprawling, riding off into the distance.

Wang Liheng, annoyed by the Magistrate and City Guard retreating, thought for a moment and led several personal guards in pursuit of Chun Rong and her companions.

Meanwhile, Chen Yi was fleeing swiftly as well.

But he dared not head toward the street in the East.

That direction led to the Governor’s Office, the Magistrate, and the Justice Department in Shu Prefecture.

Going that way would only bring more powerful opponents.

So after passing Bai Caotang, he turned north, weaving through alleyways.

In the meantime, he did not forget to fetch a piece of cloth to cover his face, lest he lose the adornments upon his visage while fleeing.

At that moment, the pursuers from the execution bureau and the city garrison, hindered by their horses, found themselves unable to proceed, while Liu Si Er and the others pressed close behind.

Yet as their pursuit continued, they soon realized that the speed of the man ahead’s movements far surpassed their own.

“Fourth Brother, if we keep this up, we’ll lose him.”

Liu Si Er offered no reply, flicking his long spear from his grasp into the earth.

Swoosh!

Chen Yitai dodged aside, only to witness a spear slicing through the air mere inches from his body, its tip driving straight into the wall at the alley’s end.

A slight twitch escaped his lips—Liu Si Er’s strike was indeed fierce. Yet it was clear that Chen had already reached the dead end.

Without hesitation, Chen Yitai pivoted on his heel, his palm gripping the spear’s shaft with practiced ease, and with a subtle twist, withdrew the weapon.

A strange sense of familiarity flooded his entire being.

“Phew…”

He exhaled slowly, turning halfway, his free hand still holding the spear as he faced the few members of the Xiao family’s guard and the distant execution bureau agents advancing toward him.

They were, after all, far easier to confront than Chen Yunfan.

Seeing this, Liu Si Er raised his hand, signaling the others to stay vigilant, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the dark-clad figure before them.

“Let me persuade you to surrender, or else your fate will only grow worse.”

Chen Yitai’s gravelly voice replied, “Try me.”

No sooner had his words faded than the night sky seemed to darken, thick clouds rapidly gathering overhead.

Then, a fine drizzle began to fall, stirred by a gust of wind that whirled through the alleyway.

The sound of the wind rustled Chen Yitai’s robes, making them flutter like dried leaves.

In the next instant, he moved.

A single step, his entire strength poured into it, shattered the cobblestones beneath his foot.

The spear soared like a dragon, its blade gleaming with icy light, aimed directly at Liu Si Er’s face.

“Bold spirit!”

Liu Si Er had fought alongside Commander Ding Yuan’s army for years, and now, facing this spear, his heart surged with fiery resolve rather than fear.

As his internal energy flowed through his body, he seized a spear from a nearby guard, thrusting it sideways to block the incoming strike.

Clang.

A sharp ringing echoed as Liu Si Er’s spear was pierced by the blade.

A wave of immense force coursed through his arm, hurling him backward with violent momentum.

His face twisted in shock, his feet scraping against the cobblestones with a grating sound as he came to a halt.

“You…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Chen Yitai’s spear continued its relentless assault, his wrist flicking the weapon with precise strikes, sending the remaining three armored soldiers flying.

Even without employing internal energy, Chen’s sheer strength was enough to knock the nine-grade cultivators unconscious.

Seeing this, Liu Si Er clenched his teeth and surged forward once more, thrusting his broken spear forward with a guttural shout, “Kill!”

Behind him, the remaining execution bureau officers and city garrison troops arrived in time, charging without pause.

At this sight, Chen Yitai’s eyes remained calm, his form slightly crouched, both hands gripping the spear’s end.

After a brief moment of gathering force, he pressed the tip of his foot down, launching himself like an arrow shot from a bow.

This time, he did not restrain his internal energy with the Wu Xing Xie Xi technique, but unleashed it fully, unrestricted.

Within his two great energy seas, his internal power coursed through every fiber of his body in an instant.

—The Falling Dragon Spear: Illuminating the Blue Mountain!

The spear passed, and the wind rose.

Around them, raindrops hung suspended in the air, motionless.

Only that spear, moving like slow but swift, glided effortlessly through the rain curtain, as if a gentle breeze caressing a blue mountain.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Yitai’s silhouette appeared behind them.

There, Liu Si Er and the others froze mid-charge, their momentum halted abruptly.

From the shadows, their eyes widened in disbelief.

“The spear… the spear path… how could eight grades achieve this?”

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Si Er’s left hand, still gripping the broken spear, twisted unnaturally, as though struck by immense force.

His entire body collapsed to the ground.

The others—city garrison and execution bureau—fared no better, though their injuries were less severe, lacking the audible crack of bone.

Chen Yitai glanced back, his eyes bright with clarity.

Once he assessed the situation, he steadied his internal energy, then brushed away the imprint on the spear with his sleeve.

“Having watched me for so long, you owe me some compensation. That should suffice, shouldn’t it?”

With that, he cast aside the spear, vaulted over a few households, and headed toward the Spring Lotus Garden.

Soon after, the rain intensified, drumming heavily upon Liu Si Er and the others.

Liu Si Er blinked awake, his eyes snapping open as he sat upright, a mouthful of blood spilling from his lips.

He slumped to the ground, every inch of him throbbing with pain.

Especially his left hand.

Gritting his teeth against the agony, he cradled his fractured left arm, struggling to his knees to survey the area.

Only after confirming that the man was gone and his companions unharmed did he slump against the wall and sit down.

His eyes burned with fury.

“Who was it?”

“A member of the Liu family? Someone from the Xiao clan? Or perhaps one of the major sects?”

Names flickered through his mind, each one dismissed in turn.

Not the Liu family—if they were involved, they would have attacked the Bian Cao Pavilion long ago, not merely watched from the sidelines.

Not the Xiao family either.

The Xiao family had few martial artists versed in gun techniques, and they were all aware of their identities.

After much thought, Liu Si Er surmised that the man was likely a member of another elite family from Shuzhou who had gone to Bai Caotang to keep watch.

"Good, good indeed!"

"Better yet, better stay hidden in the ditches forevermore!"

"Or else, the White Tiger Guard shall certainly track you down!"

As Liu Si Er pondered thus, he noticed a figure rushing toward the alley entrance, his spirit slackening, and he once again fell into a trance.

Not long after.

Ning Yu arrived.

He looked sternly at the fallen execution officers and others, his gaze settling on the long spear.

"Gun technique…"

(The chapter ends here.)