Chapter 291 - Zhu Danfeng

“What do you mean?”

The two youngsters were startled to be stopped by Xiao Chen. For a second, they stared at him wordlessly before one of them said to the other, as if woken up from a dream, “Let’s go, Senior. This man’s most likely mad.”

But before they could leave, Xiao Chen’s face darkened. “I repeat once more,” he growled, “Where is this Spirited Lingzhi you’ve spoken of!”

“What Lingzhi? You must have heard us wrongly.”

His face now blackened with rage, Xiao Chen hissed like a snake boring down on its prey, “So I’ll need to wring the truth out of you, I see…”

The pair of apprentices felt themselves trembling as Xiao Chen’s dark persona slowly took over. There was no way they would win against him in a fight. “YOU! WHO ARE YOU! ARE YOU INSANE!?” One of the boys screamed with fright.

But the commotion attracted some people who crowded around them. Realizing this, the other boy yelled at the top of his voice for the benefit of everyone listening, “Be careful now, the League has imposed a decree to ban all aggression and hostilities!”

The attempts of the two youngsters to draw in more people prevailed as the crowd grew larger and noisier that Xiao Chen immediately sensed two squads of Constables of the League turning around the corner and coming their way. Realizing that there was no way to interrogate them, he quietly left a magical mark on them that would allow him to track them.

“WHAT IS ALL THIS RUCKUS!”

One of the Constables boomed imperiously when they arrived. The two youngsters heaved sighs of relief. One of them jerked a finger at Xiao Chen. “This man is holding us from leaving for no reason. He’s no right to stop us!”

The captain of the squads of Constables was a surly man unhappy to be sent out on an errand on a cold and snowy day, and his day was no less sweet to have been faced with a matter so messy yet so trivial. With an irate scowl, he barked, “All right, all right! End of the show! Off with all of you or I’ll have you in jail for causing trouble! Disperse at once!”

“Heh heh heh, of course, dear Sirs! Of course! We’ll be on our way!” The two youngsters eyed Xiao Chen with contempt and walked to the end of the streets where they vanished into the mass of thronging passers-by.

“WAIT! YOU THERE, HALT!”

Another captain yelled at Xiao Chen just when he was leaving.

Xiao Chen spun around to face him. “Is there anything else?”

The captain studied him briefly, his fingers fishing for a notebook from his back pocket. “Your name and identification please!” He barked boorishly.

“Li Si, of the Tiancheng Sect,” Xiao Chen replied gruffly with a fake name.

The captain scribbled into his notebook while keeping his eyes still on Xiao Chen. After a heartbeat of staring quietly at him, he remarked coldly, “Very well. But be careful, you. Or I’ll have you locked up three months for causing trouble here!”

Xiao Chen merely responded with a curt nod and he trotted off into another alley. The trail of the magical mark he had left on the youngsters was still fresh, but they would not be for long and he had to catch up quickly.

With the trace of his magical mark growing weak, Xiao Chen pressed on his pursuit with as much speed as he could muster. But he slowed his pace to a walk whenever he encountered any patrolling Constables so that they would not grow suspicious of him.

The trail of the magical mark led him to a quiet and tranquil estate, which he finally arrived after almost a half hour’s journey.

The estate was far from the main arteries of the city, so the patrols rarely ventured this far. But Xiao Chen was certain that there was more than meets the eye with this residence, for he felt the emanating powers of many conjurers inside and even some with powers nearing the Nascent Soul Realm.

“WHO ARE YOU, SKULKING ABOUT HERE!”

A few other youngsters in red saw Xiao Chen when he was mulling on ways to infiltrate the estate. Before long, another trope of seven to eight men came out from inside, having heard the clamor outside.

The men immediately surrounded Xiao Chen, and he saw the same fiery insignia on their sleeves. “Where have I seen this emblem before,” Xiao Chen wondered and he remembered: Wan Gufeng. The old but strong conjurer of the Nascent Soul Realm whom he had encountered in the Forest of Illusory Moon was also from this school which the emblem belonged: the Order of the Divine Fire.

“I’m speaking to you!” One of them shouted at Xiao Chen, “Who are you and what are you snooping around here for!” They regarded Xiao Chen with unfriendly stares and gruff voices, as more and more disciples poured out through the door and surrounded him.

“What in the name of Heaven is happening out here! Why the noises!” An ancient voice boomed from inside.

An old man, dressed in flowing mottled-green robes stepped out of the entrance of the estate and Xiao Chen was quick to notice the four-leafed insignia on his garb that denoted his rank as a Tier Four Elixir King.

A flash of recognition flashed in his eyes when he saw Xiao Chen. “Ah? So it’s Young Xiao. How can I help you?” he asked politely, albeit with ice in his voice.

There was no way he would not be able to identify Xiao Chen following what happened in the Forest of Illusory Moon. He was none other than Zhu Danfeng, an Elixir King in service of the Order of the Divine Fire and the junior of Wan Gufeng.

But Xiao Chen did not answer him. He looked into the estate and saw an unconscious Zhiluan lying motionless on a table through an opened window. But this did not go unnoticed by Zhu Danfeng, who flailed his long, wide sleeves and magically commanded the windows to slam shut. “How can I help you, Young Xiao?” He repeated.

The awkward silence outside the estate was broken by the sounds of Xiao Chen cracking his knuckles. His eyes shone with a burning anger as he growled, “Release my friend.”

“Friend? What friend? Do you have any friends here?” Zhu Danfeng remarked icily, feigning ignorance.

The quiet street slowly became noisy with a bustling crowd curious to see what was going on. Xiao Chen stepped closer to Zhu Danfeng and hissed, “I’ll be frank. Release the Immortal Lingzhi!”

With the odds of numbers against him and the League’s decree to ban all forms of hostilities, Xiao Chen knew full well that the utter fallout now on the streets would only aggravate his chances in the next phase of the Immortal’s Sword Assembly.

Zhu Danfeng threw his head back and guffawed. “I see. So you’re referring to that Immortal Lingzhi. But it was something I harvested through great difficulty and toil. Why should I let you have it?”

The mob of the Order of Divine Fire bellowed in unison, expressing their succor readily, “Go away Xiao Chen! Others may fear you, but the Order of the Divine Fire will never cower before you! We will not allow you to come to steal or rob us!”

A pall of rage hung over Xiao Chen. Clearly, these people would never admit to abducting Zhiluan and they would insist that it belonged to them. And he could not barge into the estate to take Zhiluan. He would only be charged with the felony of theft if word of this reached the ears of the League.

“I’ll say this once. I have no intention of making enemies with the Order of the Divine Fire. But if you continue refusing my demands…”

“And what if I refuse!” Zhu Danfeng spat venomously, not allowing him to finish.

He might be weaker than Wan Gufeng who was his senior, but he nevertheless possessed powers nearing the Nascent Soul Realm, notwithstanding the greatly-respected standing of an Elixir King, and that lent weight to everything he said.

The murmurs from the people congregating to watch slowly proliferated into anxious and boisterous clamors. A voice rang from its midst, “Be careful, boy! The Constables are just mere minutes away now!”

“Then there’s no reason for any more delay!” Xiao Chen quipped with a roar and right under the eyes of everyone present, he bolted through the doors into the yard of the estate.

But Zhu Danfeng had already anticipated this. He sent a magic blow at Xiao Chen, who barely evaded the stroke. But the powerful magic bolt hurtled by, its massive force forcing Xiao Chen to leap away from the entrance with safety. Satisfied, the Elixir King waved his wrist and Zhiluan magically appeared in his hand.

It was breathing rapidly, its body weak and bloodied; the lingzhi plant on its head was missing and its severed stub was still bleeding, and a line of blood could easily be traced trickling from its neck.

Xiao Chen felt his eyes burning and his nostrils flaring. He slammed a blow at Zhu Danfeng, sending the magic blow straight at his face but another blow met his and a huge explosion, followed by the shockwave of eruption and scuds of dust and dirt tossed by the unnatural winds of the force. Hands clasped upon the ears of the many onlookers huddled around as a painful ring rumbled in their ears.

“EVERYONE, LOOK! This boy wishes to rob me! But I did not provoke this fight!” Zhu Danfeng’s voice thundered amidst the turbulence for the benefit of anyone still around.

He had intentionally conjured an unconscious and maimed Zhiluan to anger Xiao Chen and provoke him into striking first.

But blinded by rage, Xiao Chen sent another blow into two of Zhu Danfeng’s disciples, sending them reeling backward with blood belching from their mouths in jets.

“How could you, Xiao Chen! I’ve implored for mercy, yet your lust for blood knows no bounds!” Zhu Danfeng shrieked, doing his best to maintain a facade of a wronged man.

But Xiao Chen ignored him, casting a summoning spell that drew Zhiluan from the Elixir King’s grasp into his arms before he even knew it.

“Zhiluan! Zhiluan! Wake up!” Xiao Chen screamed. But there were no signs of life from the Immortal Lingzhi. He quickly examined the wound on its neck and deduced that it must have suffered a huge loss of blood. Before he could bridle his anger, it grew; so much that the atmosphere around him began to turn.

The onlookers and passers-by immediately realized the cruel and suffocating aura radiating from Xiao Chen and felt the murderous intent so strong that even the many students and acolytes of the Order seemed to snuggle closer to each other with fear.

The scent of blood and gore appalled even Zhu Danfeng who had not expected such an intense and strong aura from Xiao Chen. But he quickly recollected himself and a wicked smile curled on his lips.

“Unforgivable…” Xiao Chen growled. Darkness shrouded over his face that the mere utterance of the word sent shivers down the spines of everyone who had heard him as a menacing saber, its blade coated in the color of blood, materialized in his grasp.

Winds churned around him in resonance to his deadly aura that was bolstered especially by the appearance of the blood-red saber, howling incessantly like wraiths wailing in the night in despair.

“That’s the Blood Lotus Demon Blade! It really is Xiao Chen!”

The deep-red Blood Lotus Demon Blade was now the signature of Xiao Chen, and the very sight of it was enough for the crowd to disperse and scramble with panic and anarchy.

“DIE!” Xiao Chen thundered, swinging his blade and he sent the tens-of feet-long, scythe-like magic bolt at Zhu Danfeng and his students.

The blow crashed into them like a rock, shattering their ranks and some of them were tossed into the air like ragdolls. But Zhu Danfeng had erected a barrier with his True Energy to protect himself, although he staggered backward himself.

“Run, boy… The Constables of the League are coming…” Zhiluan breathed weakly before he fainted again.

He would have stayed to fight, but Xiao Chen knew how difficult an adversary the minions of the League could be. Gritting his teeth, he carried Zhiluan in his arms and was about to leave, when Zhu Danfeng noticed him. “XIAO CHEN! HOW DARE YOU WISH TO ESCAPE WHEN YOU’VE INJURED MY STUDENTS!” And he lunged at Xiao Chen.

As he pivoted to face his enemy, Xiao Chen swung his saber mercilessly at the figure of his enemy. The sheer force of his retaliation shocked the cobblestones on the ground that they shook and cracked, sending clouds of debris and dust into the air from which Zhu Danfeng emerged unscathed from. He was hardly trying to defeat Xiao Chen, merely trying to stall him.

And that was sufficient for the Constables of the League to make their arrival. The captain of the guards yelled a deafening “Stop!” and his lackeys immediately circled around Zhu Danfeng and Xiao Chen.