Xu Ziyan shook his head vigorously. Forget it. Those were minor matters. What mattered first was the demonic beast assault due in three days. He did not know the details and could not simply reveal what he knew. Fortunately, he remembered that the Jiang family had guarded the gate that was breached. If he kept a close eye on the Jiangs in advance, there should not be too much trouble.
Even the most secretive traitor would need time to damage the gate’s defensive formation. If his guess was right, the most likely plan was to tamper with its patterns late at night before the wedding. Then, when the attack began, damaging a single node would be enough to disable the gate completely, allowing the demonic beasts to pour into the city and slaughter its inhabitants.
Given the information available to him, that was as much as Xu Ziyan could deduce. He could not be sure things would unfold exactly that way. At the very least, he could remind the Jiang family patriarch and the other families to send more scouts into the forests outside Wuti City.
Night’s dark curtain covered the earth, while silver moonlight slowly washed over the sky.
Two shadowy figures crossed several corridors one behind the other before disappearing into the darkness beside an artificial rockery in the Jiang family’s rear garden.
“Here?”
“Mm.”
The two figures were naturally the Xu brothers. The important places in the Jiang estate were protected by defensive formations, but this rockery was clearly not among them.
Perhaps Jiang Tianxing had chosen the spot precisely because it seemed so unimportant, hiding the eldest young master with the Demon-Attracting Dao Body there. Whatever the reason, it made things easier for Xu Ziyan and his brother.
Xu Ziyan was not proficient in formations. The original Xu Ziyan had dismissed alchemy, talismans, and similar pursuits as unorthodox distractions, believing real strength came entirely from cultivation. Apart from the lightning techniques he practiced, he had known almost nothing about other disciplines.
Fortunately, after joining the Flowing Light Sect, Xu Zirong had shown an interest in practically everything, chiefly to conceal how much he already knew. Formations were no exception.
After a series of careful calculations, Xu Zirong quickly opened the outermost illusion formation.
A ripple passed through the air like water, exposing a cave entrance previously hidden by the formation. While Xu Ziyan was not looking, Xu Zirong quietly sent a large number of blood lice inside to scout ahead.
“A dead end?” Xu Zirong frowned faintly. The prison hidden behind this formation was actually empty?
He narrowed his eyes, wondering how his brother would react when he saw an empty cell. But that raised another question. He had scarcely been apart from Brother during the past few years, so who exactly had been imprisoned here?
Xu Ziyan went in first, as he had grown accustomed to doing. Xu Zirong did not compete for the lead. The passage led only to a small room, and his blood lice had already surveyed it. Unless the trap was far beyond anything the lice could detect, he would certainly notice it.
Entering the secret chamber inside the rockery, Xu Ziyan frowned at the empty little room.
Empty?
This was completely outside his expectations. The Jiang family’s eldest young master was not here?
Xu Ziyan swiftly went over the scattered clues again. He was certain the Jiang family demonic cultivator was the eldest young master Jiang Tianxing had hidden away. That young man’s Demon-Attracting Dao Body had triggered countless conflicts, and both righteous and demonic factions had pursued him.
Most astonishingly, the Jiang young master had somehow escaped despite all that pursuit. The last report of his whereabouts placed him on a small island in the outer seas, and that news had come seven or eight years later.
Xu Ziyan distinctly remembered hearing that the Jiang family’s young master had been discovered in a secret room in the Jiang residence. He did not know its precise location, but if Jiang Tianxing wanted to hide his own son from the family, there were only so many suitable places.
Coming from a prominent family himself, Xu Ziyan knew that even the most united clan had internal disagreements. If Jiang Tianxing had managed to keep the entire family ignorant, he would hardly have set up an elaborate fake prison just to arouse suspicion.
“Check the surroundings.” Xu Ziyan did not understand formations, but trusted Xu Zirong to point out any concealment array he found. Since Zirong had said nothing, the room was probably reasonably safe.
No formation, yet no prisoner. Xu Ziyan immediately thought of mechanical traps and secret passages. Cultivators were exceptionally sensitive to fluctuations of spiritual power, which meant a mechanism driven entirely by physical machinery might go unnoticed.
Hearing Brother’s explanation, Xu Zirong nodded thoughtfully and pretended to search the walls. In reality, he had already ordered the blood lice scattered nearby to investigate the cracks and gaps.
As he searched, he added another entry to his mental notebook: Brother’s way of thinking is surprisingly unusual sometimes!
“Brother, here.” With the help of the blood lice, the mechanism hidden in the wall was soon located. Xu Zirong moved closer while pretending to inspect the stonework, then “discovered” it with considerable delight.
“Good. Let’s open it.” Xu Ziyan added a reminder. “Be careful.”
Xu Zirong nodded and pressed firmly on the mechanism inside the wall.
Without a sound, a pitch-black opening appeared in the floor. Xu Zirong sent his blood lice down for another look, then nodded to Xu Ziyan.
Xu Ziyan knew his younger brother’s wood-element talent was highly effective for reconnaissance, so he jumped down without hesitation.
The passage was smooth and easy to traverse. It first sloped downward, then upward again. From Xu Ziyan’s estimates, they seemed to have passed beyond the boundaries of the Jiang estate.
“Who’s there?” A sharp shout rang out from the doorway ahead.
A handsome young man opened the door and stood at its threshold, regarding Xu Ziyan with an icy stare.
“Who are you? How did you get here?” A dangerous light glimmered in his narrow eyes, as though he would strike at the slightest wrong answer.
Xu Ziyan stopped and met his gaze. “The Jiang family’s eldest young master?”
Jiang Ying narrowed his eyes, an icy smile appearing on his lips. “So there are still people who know I exist?”
Xu Ziyan nodded calmly. “Yes. Not only do I know you exist, I know quite a few other things as well.”
“Heh… really?” Jiang Ying abruptly offered him an irresistibly charming smile, his already handsome features taking on a mesmerizing allure.
Xu Ziyan was briefly distracted. With a thunderous crack, a blood-red whip lashed toward Jiang Ying. Xu Zirong had absolutely no tolerance for anyone who tried to charm his brother and attacked immediately.
Seeing the two of them begin fighting, Xu Ziyan felt a headache coming on. His original plan had been to play the mysterious prophet and talk Jiang Ying into cooperating. But before he could begin, Zirong had already attacked.
Xu Ziyan’s plan had been ruined, and he was thoroughly annoyed. Yet Zirong had acted to protect him, so he could hardly blame him.
Silently looking up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, Xu Ziyan sighed, “Plans really can’t keep up with changes.” Then he joined Zirong in attacking Jiang Ying. Since the fight had already begun, they might as well beat him into listening first! ╮(╯▽╰)╭ Two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators attacking together were more than the middle-stage Jiang Ying could withstand. Moreover, having spent years locked up, Jiang Ying lacked real combat experience. After the time it took an incense stick to burn, blood vines had twisted around him like tangled rope and left him hanging upside down.
And that was only because Xu Ziyan and Xu Zirong were trying to keep quiet and had refrained from using powerful techniques. Otherwise, they could have subdued him in minutes.
Once bound, Jiang Ying’s expression changed in an instant. His earlier arrogant, wicked charm vanished, and he studied Xu Ziyan with perfect composure, as though the man defeated and suspended upside down were someone else entirely.
“What do you want?” Jiang Ying looked straight at Xu Ziyan. He could tell that Xu Ziyan was in charge, so naturally he addressed him.
“Hmm?” Xu Ziyan rubbed his chin in confusion, looking at this abruptly calm Jiang Ying.
Did someone just swap him out right in front of me? Was that outrageously seductive eldest young master an illusion? He’d only calmed down enough to hold a normal conversation, so why did it feel as though he’d become a different person?
“Well? What do you want me to do? But let me warn you: if you know I exist, you should also know that using me to threaten the Jiang family is completely pointless,” Jiang Ying said gravely.
“Actually, it’s not about what we want you to do. It’s about what you’re going to do for yourself,” Xu Ziyan said deliberately, leaving the meaning vague.
Jiang Ying regarded him silently, then laughed. This time the smile held none of his earlier allure. Instead, it was cold. “For myself?” He lowered his head to look at his tightly bound body. “What can I do? Look at the state I’m in. What exactly can I do?”
Xu Ziyan peered into the room beyond him, then nodded. “It is pretty miserable. But don’t you still have the Fang family’s eldest young master?”
Jiang Ying’s face changed abruptly. Although he struggled to control himself, alarm was plainly visible in his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Xu Ziyan merely shrugged. “I told you, I know a great many things. And that includes the relationship between you and Young Master Fang.”
Jiang Ying’s expression changed again. His composure vanished and his arrogant, provocative demeanor returned. “Who the hell are you?” he roared at Xu Ziyan.
Xu Ziyan rubbed his nose. “Would you believe me if I said I was just Passerby A?”
Jiang Ying almost spat out a mouthful of blood!
Some passerby! What sort of passerby broke his father’s formation, tracked him down, beat him half to death, and then brought up Fang Tianrui to torment him? If every passerby were this capable, how was anyone else supposed to live?
“In short, I’m here to tell you that the Jiang family is in danger right now. And Young Master Fang is in danger too,” Xu Ziyan said seriously.
For a moment, Jiang Ying’s expression twisted. Then he seemed to regain his calm. “How do you know?”