One couldn't prepare a defense against everything. Duanmu Qinghe could only feel the tightness of the chains. His entire body was already under complete control; he was totally bound. Don't mention using true qi to struggle free, even if he worked his hardest, that chain would only constrict tighter. There simply wasn't the slightest bit of slack.

He immediately knew that he couldn't escape, but his heart was very anxious. Once he was locked up in the Disciplinary Hall, he was sure to receive punishment. At that time, perhaps he'd have a layer of skin peeled off. Even losing his life was a possibility!

What was he going to do? What was he going to do?

After noticing that something was amiss, they'd already asked someone to inform the Ninth Prince Cang Yu. Why was there such a delay? Unexpectedly, no one had come!

The enforcement disciples of the Disciplinary Hall stood at the ready on the ground.

When the leader's gloomy face looked at Duanmu Qinghe, it was like he was looking at a dead man. His voice was extremely grim: "You've slain a fellow disciple. My Disciplinary Hall's enforcement disciples shall take you into custody for you to be dealt with at the Disciplinary Hall. Will you obey?"

Duanmu Qinghe took a deep breath and said all at once: "I didn't do it on purpose. He did it himself…"

Qinghe hadn't finished before the person from the Disciplinary Hall cut him off with a loud shout: "Absurd! At that time, you all were already being restricted for my enforcement disciples to arrive and mediate. Don't tell me that you didn't take his life? You clearly have a vicious nature and took the chance to act! I've seen many brutal disciples such as you. I'm afraid that you'll only be willing to confess after taking a round of punishment. There's no need for you to quibble. Everyone, take them back to the Disciplinary Hall!"

After speaking, everyone who'd been locked up were led in chains by several enforcers. In particular, Duanmu Qinghe was directly supervised by that leader, the enforcement captain. Apart from the legs being able to move, it was impossible to have any leeway of escape whatsoever.

Gu Zuo inwardly shook his head.

This was obviously planned! But there was nothing to do in the face of this brilliant scheme. A public display was a reportable matter, and it would be difficult to evade or escape the scheme!

It wasn't surprising that those Immortal Realm powerhouses had seriously warned them before they entered the sect. Sure enough, if inner sect disciples found outer sect disciples displeasing to the eye, there were plenty of ways to toy with them.

The current situation was that the one who could order the outer sect's enforcement disciples to put on this show was certainly the inner sect backer of You Jiong. Right now, it depended if Kang Wenhong's inner sect backer was willing to act for Duanmu Qinghe to escape… Moreover, when encountering such a public framing situation, even if that backer acted, they had to determine if they'd missed the key moment or if there was any room to maneuver.

Matters that changed were often fleeting.

Originally, Gu Zuo had thought that this farce would be over for the time being. Hadn't all of them been arrested? Although there were many spectators commenting, there was also no one who took the initiative. However, he never expected that just when Duanmu Qinghe was about to be dragged onto the back of the flying wild beast, a loud voice called out from the rear!

"Stop!" This voice was like a clap of thunder as it exploded out, "These are my Mingyue Pavillion's outer circle members. How can you all take them away without the barest sc.r.a.p of evidence? Release them to me!"

A dozen or so figures arrived with haste.

Gu Zuo saw that the leader was Kang Wenhong, and the ones following him included Cang Yu, Duanmu Qingrong, as well as other nominal disciples who came from the Cangyun Empire.

In addition, there were also some new faces that should've been people who were followers of Kang Wenhong.

They arrived in a rush, and there were even quite a few who sported some light injuries. It could be seen that they'd encountered some matter previously, which delayed their approach.

The one who'd just shouted for them to stop was Kang Wenhong.

His handsome face carried an intense fury, his footsteps produced gusts of wind, and his suppressive power was profound. After he got there, he directly extended a hand to s.n.a.t.c.h Duanmu Qinghe back!

Gu Zuo stared blankly.

— Xiantian martial artist?

Last time when they were on West Mountain, Kang Wenhong was clearly still perfected Houtian stage nine!

That enforcement captain was also a Xiantian stage one. Originally, he didn't place much importance on Kang Wenhong. Now that he discovered that his counterpart had taken away a person from his own hands, his face suddenly looked unsightly: "Kang Wenhong, are you challenging the rules of my Disciplinary Hall?!"

Kang Wenhong promptly injected his qi energy into the chains, breaking Duanmu Qinghe's locks. Afterwards, he faced the enforcement captain and solemnly said: "As far as I know, under a situation where there is no definitive proof, an enforcement squad cannot arrest common disciples, right? This kind of disturbance of yours really isn't in observance with the Disciplinary Hall's rules!"

The enforcement captain's voice was deep: "Duanmu Qinghe killed a fellow disciple. I saw it with my own eyes; everyone around here all saw this clearly. How can this still be a wrongful accusation? Kang Wenhong, you shouldn't make the mistake of obstructing how my Disciplinary Hall handles a case!"

Kang Wenhong sneered: "I've also heard that someone had run into it by himself, framing a fellow disciple instead. That side is guilty, and should be tied up and judged!"

"What a joke! Who in the world would be willing to throw their own life away?"

"Perhaps they weren't willing at first. However, if they received threats and were promised benefits even more important than their life, a person could be ordered to give up their life voluntarily!"

Two people opposed each other with equal harshness as they stuck to their own version, arguing endlessly.

Just then, Duanmu Qinghe had his justification interrupted halfway through. When it was Kang Wenhong's turn, there was a deadlock.

It was to the point that, because something seemed to be investigated, his valor occupied the winning side.

Gu Zuo silently withdrew.

To be honest, this made him feel a little scared.

It was better that he reduced his presence.

After the deadlock, Kang Wenhong would still win. After all, the Disciplinary Hall needed to always show justice and impartiality on the surface. If it was before Kang Wenhong arrived, they could've taken the people away without a hitch. But since they couldn't, wanting to take them away again wouldn't be so easy.

The enforcement captain left with some parting words: "We will properly collect evidence! You all will need to go to the Disciplinary Hall within three days to explain yourselves! Otherwise, you'll be punished even if you hadn't violated the sect rules!"

After he finished speaking, he led his squad of people and jumped onto the back of the flying wild beast, leaving without a backwards glance.

The enforcement squad's position was no small matter. Their influence was absolutely not ordinary. During this time, they made many spectating disciples feel stifled. It was only once they left that the hostile mood began to ease.

Duanmu Qinghe slowly exhaled. He knew that he almost suffered a huge torment. Maybe he could've been thrown away. Now it could finally be considered safe.

He bowed his head and said: "Senior Sect Brothers, I was too careless."

Cang Yu didn't say anything. Duanmu Qingrong said: "You need to be more careful in the future!"

At this time, Kang Wenhong's expression relaxed and he said: "It wasn't your fault. Even if you didn't do anything, they'd still watch you attentively and think of a way to make you mess up. At that time, you all saved me, causing those people to take notice. No matter what, I won't ever abandon you all. Rest a.s.sured, although Duanshui Hall is powerful, our Mingyue Pavilion isn't to be trifled with. You Jiong did wrong first, and justification is on our side. We don't need to be worried at all.

He continued: "Even in the inner sect, Senior Sect Sister Yuerong isn't inferior to Senior Sect Brother Li Duanshui. However, we'll really need to be more careful in the future. We mustn't be manipulated by others so easily… You all are already my Mingyue Pavilion's outer circle disciples. Once I've entered the inner sect and established myself, I can pull you guys into the inner circle. At that time, you won't be helpless any longer."

Duanmu Qinghe listened, so it was natural that he laid his worries to rest. The expressions of Cang Yu and the others also looked much better.

There were already inconveniences to saving a person, but there were also benefits. It was out of the question for them to voice any regrets.

On the contrary, the matter of joining the Mingyue Pavilion and becoming an inner circle disciple was worth their antic.i.p.ation.

The enforcement squad left, and the bustling scene dispersed.

Although Kang Wenhong had already compelled those people to leave, the matter of their confrontation still needed to be reported as quickly as possible to his higher-ups. This was also to prepare a response to what would happen later.

As such, they also prepared to depart.

But just as they were leaving, when Cang Yu and the others turned their heads, they saw Gu Zuo.

Gu Zuo: "…"

Why had he been discovered when he both hid in the tea shack and kept quiet?

After finding him, Cang Yu and them couldn't help but call out to him.

Besides, what was even more surprising to them was that they only saw Gu Zuo, this one person, here — If it was during normal times, even if Gongyi Tianheng wasn't present, there should've been Dragon One or Dragon Two on the scene. Wasn't it too dangerous to just have a pharmacist roam around by himself?

After that, Cang Yu shared a few words with Kang Wenhong.

After Kang Wenhong listened, he nodded his head and ordered a few people behind him to disperse. Then, he led Cang Yu, Duanmu Qingrong, and several Cangyun Empire people over to the vicinity of the tea shack.

Because Kang Wenhong was someone people were well acquainted with and that there were clear vestiges of the power struggle between the two sides, when they came over, some people who were originally drinking tea evacuated the shack and didn't intend on mingling.

However, Gu Zuo was aware that Cang Yu and them were coming over to find him, so he had no other option but to brace himself. He stood up and greeted them: "h.e.l.lo, everyone… I mean, senior sect brothers."

Kang Wenhong was actually very friendly. He recognized that this was one of the people who saved his life. Even though their statuses were as different as heaven and earth, his bearing was still very good: "What's Pharmacist Gu doing here alone?"

Gu Zuo forced a chuckle as he extended a hand to point towards the Lesser Martial PaG.o.da: "The young master has gone to challenge the paG.o.da. I was instructed to wait for him here."

Kang Wenhong understood in a flash: "So it's like this." He paused before saying, "We've let Pharmacist Gu see something unsightly just now… I wonder if anyone has recently come looking for you two? If necessary, please don't have any qualms about immediately telling me."

Gu Zuo thought about it and shook his head: "We haven't come across anything yet."

However, while his mind thought about it once more, he couldn't say for sure. Perhaps it just wasn't their turn yet.

Merely, this group of people coming over obviously wasn't just to say h.e.l.lo.

As soon as they saw that Gongyi Tianheng wasn't present and that it wasn't known when he'd come out, they simply told Gu Zuo the current situation since they still had some things to do.

It was mainly Cang Yu who gave the explanation: "Last time, after we brought Senior Sect Brother Kang back, we first went to the Mingyue Pavilion's upper floor to give a report…"

— After a rough sorting through, it was like this…

No matter if it was the outer sect or inner sect, both had many organized factions. The sect itself encouraged disciples to form powers, which fostered their administrative capabilities. This was to let them take over the sect's matters and make contributions.

Of course, the main powers that could be named were distributed within the inner sect. For example, Mingyue Pavilion and Duanshui Hall were both second-rate powers of the inner sect. Among them, Pavilion Master Hua Yuerong and Hall Master Li Duanshui were well-known inner sect disciples with countless followers.

Generally speaking, the inner sect's disciples could recruit some high-potential inner circle members from the outer sect in advance, just like Kang Wenhong. Inner circle members could also help the power by recommending some talents, which were precisely outer circle members. Once outer circle members pa.s.sed some tests, they could obtain full membership and become inner circle members. After becoming an inner circle member, so long as they entered the inner sect, they could get a backer. They wouldn't have to defenselessly struggle alone.

Kang Wenhong, as an outer sect-inner circle member of the Mingyue Pavilion, was moved by Cang Yu and others for saving his life. He received Cang Yu as an outer circle member, and even some of the nominal disciples were fighting over it. It was only because of the problem of their ident.i.ties that it couldn't be determined, and they could only exist as "secret outer circle members". Until they became outer sect disciples, they could become true outer circle members. If matters were settled in one go, they could immediately become inner circle members.

Cang Yu and the others were naturally very satisfied.

No matter what was said, this kind of reciprocation for saving someone exceeded its original value.

It was just that You Jiong wouldn't let them make connections so easily. That shameless peon would've promptly started playing dirty tricks the moment he returned — He thoroughly understood that Kang Wenhong wouldn't let him off. So since both sides had shed all pretenses, there wasn't any point in being overly cautious!

Thus, all manner of stumbling blocks had come.

Outer circle disciples often undertook business-related and resource-gathering missions. When moving about, there'd always be someone secretly setting an ambush to rob them. Even at certain times when they could obviously get things, the other side would rather ruin their chances of getting the goods than having the goods stolen. In addition, there were also some missions accepted in the sect that were also wrecked. The advancement of Cang Yu and other outer sect disciples were suppressed, where some managers who colluded in the outer sect made all kinds of trivial matters difficult for them.

After this was done several times, the outer circle disciples of the Mingyue Pavilion discovered their counterparts' sinister intentions. At that moment, that individual who was protecting the Mingyue Pavilion's inner circle Kang Wenhong confronted the person who protected You Jiong. For a short while, this kind of small confrontation didn't actually have any response. They could only rely on Kang Wenhong himself to resolve matters. Hence, Kang Wenhong also followed the script — Either making more preparations in advance or secretly dispatching his subordinates to cause trouble for the other party, dragging them down.

Gradually, after several back-and-forth's, because Kang Wenhong was open and honest, he only defended and didn't fall for any underhanded methods, still waiting for the result of his superior's confrontation. However, You Jiong didn't pay any particular attention to this. It wasn't known that he received his superior's hints, becoming even more brazen. At this time, he set up a situation.

You Jiong put out the news that he wanted to have a public match with Kang Wenhong. At first, Kang Wenhong thought that perhaps he wanted to carry out a conspiracy, but as he looked at the majority of manpower brought over, he ordered his subordinates to be careful and went to confront You Jiong.

Yet, Kang Wenhong never expected that You Jiong had brought along his own experts and ordered one of his unremarkable aides to contact the enforcement captain of the outer sect's Disciplinary Hall, who'd been long a.s.sociated with the Duanshui Hall. They schemed up a plan and coerced an outer sect disciple — Using the murder of his family and himself as a threat, and the meticulous nurturing his younger sister as a lure — In public view, he was ordered to use his own life to plot against Duanmu Qinghe…

Once Kang Wenhong became aware of this, he escaped with great difficulty after being obstructed from turning back again. He quickly had his subordinates go to investigate. As soon as he had a general understanding, he hurriedly came over to the rescue.

Everything in between was truly complicated.

Furthermore, in the end, what was the situation in the inner sect? Why did You Jiong not only refuse to curb his tendencies, but instead become even more severe? Kang Wenhong was unable to find out, but he could guess that the inner sect had matters that were even more important going on, which was breaking the equilibrium between each other.

Otherwise, when the strength of both side's powers were equal, the justified party should've been the one that deserved to occupy the winning side in a deadlock.

You Jiong's performance and his counterpart's performance were not very appropriate.

Indeed, it made people harbor suspicions.

Gu Zuo listened until he was dizzy, but he roughly knew that this wasn't the end of it.

Kang Wenhong probably had the idea that if Gongyi Tianheng wanted to, his group could also join the Mingyue Pavilion as repayment for a favor.

But having a clear understanding was just that. Gu Zuo wouldn't dare make decisions on his own.

Not to mention, could the likes of his big brother bend to someone else? Moreover, they had too many secrets. If they really joined some power, it might be even more troublesome.

Hence, Gu Zuo just chuckled, only saying that he would certainly bring those words to the young master.

Luckily, Kang Wenhong and the others didn't really think that Gu Zuo could act on behalf of his master — In fact, they treated him as a messenger and nothing more.

Cang Yu chatted a bit before cordially saying: "Still Pharmacist Gu, please ask Brother Tianheng to think it over." His mind was actually very troubled, "If You Jiong… Just don't forget about us."

It was only natural that Gu Zuo promptly nodded his head in agreement.

After talking about this heavy subject, everyone no longer continued.

Cang Yu laughingly asked: "I wonder which paG.o.da gate Brother Tianheng entered. Which floor has he challenged up to?"

Gu Zuo extended a hand and pointed: "The young master went into that paG.o.da gate…"

Once his finished talking, he looked over.

It was because there were many things happening one after another before that he hadn't been paying attention to his big brother's situation for a long while. He went to take a look right at this moment.

Afterwards, Gu Zuo blanked.

Because that paG.o.da pa.s.sage that had been activated was already at the tenth floor!

In other words, in that bit of time, had Gongyi Tianheng broken through to the place where Xiantian martial artists tempered themselves?

Kang Wenhong and the others saw this and were deeply amazed.

One needed to know that perfected Houtian stage nine martial artists were usually located at the ninth floor. Those capable of stumping Xiantian stage one martial artists and meeting the Xiantian stage nine master on the eight floor… In a similar fashion, each pa.s.sage was very difficult to pa.s.s through. Gongyi Tianheng's ability to enter the tenth floor this quickly showed that, in Xiantian Realm stage one, his strength wasn't just a clean-sweep, it was unconditionally one of the strongest!

Yet, Cang Yu wasn't surprised by the equivalent realmed Tianheng's valiance. What he was surprised of was that Gongyi Tianheng had actually broken though to the Xiantian Realm!

Yes, if one hadn't broken through to Xiantian, even though a perfected Houtian Realm stage nine could trade a few blows, the wall between the ninth and tenth floor wouldn't let a Houtian martial artist enter the next floor. And once they entered, they would certainly be Xiantian.

How long had it been…

Cang Yu's face couldn't help revealing a sardonic smile.

Previously, he was only slightly inferior to Gongyi Tianheng. Now, he'd already been left far behind.

Off to the side, Kang Wenhong noticed Cang Yu's unusual condition, and thought pensively.

He decided to ask Cang Yu in private. As for now, he didn't have much to say.

After watching for a moment, Kang Wenhong and the others wanted to stay for a while to accompany Gu Zuo until Gongyi Tianheng came out — After all, Gu Zuo was only a pharmacist who was "too weak to truss up a chicken". Them staying here to protect him was considered a kind intention.

But what they never expected was that, before they found another topic to talk with Gu Zuo about and probe Tianheng's strength, a nominal disciple scrambled over. He was gasping for breath with anxiety plastered across his face.

Puzzled, Kang Wenhong frowned and asked: "What's wrong?"

Their hearts were also a little heavy.

If it wasn't critical, it might be a.s.sumed that this disciple wouldn't have been this restless.

Sure enough, this nominal disciple urgently voiced: "Not good! Junior Sect Sister Yaomin has disappeared!"

Immediately, Kang Wenhong stood up. His body's aura suddenly rose dramatically and he shouted: "What did you say—"

Once Cang Yu heard this information about his biological younger sister, he was also alarmed: "This junior disciple, please tell me the details quickly!"

The nominal disciple said: "Originally, Junior Sect Sister Yaomin had been refining medicinal pills in the courtyard all along. But midway, she seemed to lack a medicinal herb. She walked out, wanting to purchase some and come back. This trip lasted several hours, but she never returned. And there weren't any traces of her entourage of perfected Houtian martial artists to be seen.

He continued: "At first, we didn't pay too much attention to this matter. But Junior Sect Sister Yaomin had been gone for too long, which made us feel that something was wrong. After that, we immediately went out to ask around before finding out that Junior Sect Sister Yaomin had really gone to Market Street. The fact was that she should've returned long ago…

"After searching all over, we could only have doubts. Moreover, after going through several investigations, we finally heard that someone saw a red-clothed woman being taken away and the martial artists beside her were all slain. Listening to the red-clothed woman's description, it was extremely similar to Junior Sect Sister Yaomin. And after the corpses of those slain martial artists were looked over by us, it was found that they really were our fellow disciples…"

It was just that those fellow disciples were nominal disciples whose strengths were rather high.

A string of words came down efficiently, and the whole sequence of events was spoken very clearly.

Gu Zuo listened to this, and his brows furrowed.

What kind of a person would take Princess Yaomin away? Did this mean that Princess Yaomin was still alive?

T/N: Happy holidays, everyone!

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