Chapter 1285: Brought Back Bound

Her hatred did not come only from having failed to withstand that slash. The wager itself had never been fair. She did not know what madness had possessed her to stand there and let someone hack at her with a saber.

What she hated even more was that, before accepting the strike, she had hesitated out of fear. That hesitation had drawn a look from her master—a look heavy with meaning. Her master had thought less of her for it, and all of that was because of this huge red-faced bastard in front of her.

She wanted nothing more than to smash that face to pulp.

Watching Hua Meiru lose control so completely, without the slightest concern for appearances, Huo Kong frowned. His gaze settled on Yuan Gang, who was being humiliated and slapped over and over yet had no way to fight back.

Since beginning cultivation, Huo Kong had never seen such a hard-boned man. Cultivators who entered from the outside world had to behave obediently here, much less an ordinary mortal.

As for whether the man before him could still be counted among ordinary mortals, Huo Kong himself was no longer certain. Leaving everything else aside, if he stood there and took Hua Meiru's attacks head-on, even he would find it hard to endure. Yet how many palms had Yuan Gang already taken from her? Or had Hua Meiru been holding back?

He was already wrapped like a zongzi, yet the one hand left exposed still clutched his saber in a death grip, trembling with fury.

His neck remained tightly bound. He seemed to want to roar, but all that came from his throat were hoarse, strangled sounds.

Huo Kong could feel the boundless unwillingness and unyielding rage in him, as though Yuan Gang wished he could burst apart the restraints and drag Hua Meiru into death with him.

But what use was all that unwillingness and defiance?

However hard his bones were, arriving here and still refusing to recognize the situation was simply asking for suffering.

Even so, Huo Kong was a man himself. Watching a grown man be slapped over and over by a woman in full view of everyone was becoming difficult to stomach.

He flashed down beside them and said flatly, "Hua Meiru, that's enough."

Hua Meiru finally stopped for the moment. She turned to him and sneered. "Didn't you say our private grudge had nothing to do with you? What, now you want to interfere?"

As she finished, she swung the back of her hand and delivered Yuan Gang another vicious slap, plainly doing it for Huo Kong to see.

That managed to stir Huo Kong's temper.

One brow lifted slightly. "I have no interest whatsoever in your private grievance. But this is Wentian City of Misty Pavilion, a place for handling the affairs beneath Heaven. It is not your home."

"Letting you vent for a while was already giving you face. Are you planning to make this endless?"

"I'll say it one last time. Enough."

"Take the man away. Once he's gone, if you can bear the consequences, you may deal with him however you please."

"But now... no... making... trouble... here!"

Anger flashed across Hua Meiru's face. She stepped forward.

Huo Kong's voice sank. "If you truly want to test Misty Pavilion's rules, I'll oblige you."

He raised one hand and released a signal.

Sharp whistles immediately rose from all directions.

Within moments, figures began flashing throughout Wentian City. Large numbers of Misty Pavilion personnel rushed over in answer to the alarm and directly surrounded Hua Meiru's group.

Some of them were serving members from Wushuang Sacred Land, but Wushuang was only one of the Nine Sacred Lands. Here, they were badly outnumbered.

Hua Meiru swept her gaze around the encirclement. In the end, she pointed at Huo Kong.

"Just you wait!"

Huo Kong frowned. "You thing that refuses the face it's given. Does throwing out empty threats for other people to hear accomplish anything?"

"Can you do anything to me?"

"Now get out. Immediately!"

Hua Meiru's face flushed red, then turned pale with fury. But after looking around at the situation, all she could do was spit out one resentful word.

"Go!"

Several flying mounts swept in. Hua Meiru's group leapt aboard and rose into the air.

She departed with hatred still burning in her chest.

Once they were gone, the people gathered at the scene dispersed as well. The inspectors from the eight sects shook their heads and sighed.

Quan Taifeng sighed. "This Yuan Gang insists on struggling so fiercely. Why put himself through it? Looks like with my Brother Niu gone, the people of Maolu Villa have lost their bearings too."

As far as Quan Taifeng was concerned, Niu Youdao had been quite a figure. To die in such an inexplicable way still struck him as a great pity.

Yan Li snorted. "That's not refusing to yield. That's stupidity."

He had originally intended to ask Yuan Gang about the situation at Zijin Cave outside. Who would have thought he would not even get a chance to speak before something like this happened?

The others felt much the same.

All of them thought Yuan Gang's behavior was extraordinarily stupid, the conduct of a reckless brute who had no sense of what mattered.

Perhaps every one of them knew that, after entering the Sacred Realm, sooner or later they would face some grim fate. Perhaps they all knew that once they had been used up, death might be waiting for them.

Even so, they still believed their present way of bending when necessary and standing tall when possible was the correct way to survive.

Yuan Gang's method of fighting desperately against everything was utterly different from all of theirs.

So in their eyes, he was a fool.

Huo Kong left with his hands clasped behind his back.

On the way, Yue Guangming, who followed behind him, suddenly called, "Sir."

Huo Kong turned his head.

Several more flying mounts had descended.

The man leading the newcomers was Hei Shi, Elder of Tianmo Sacred Land.

Huo Kong stopped and watched, uncertain why Hei Shi had suddenly come.

Hei Shi jumped down and strode directly toward him.

The moment he arrived, he stated his purpose plainly.

"By decree of Sacred Venerable Tianmo, I have come to take someone."

"Huo Kong, hand Yuan Gang over to me."

Huo Kong's eyes flickered. "Sacred Venerable Tianmo wants Yuan Gang taken to Tianmo Sacred Land?"

"Correct." Hei Shi stared at him. "Do you have an objection?"

"So long as matters are handled according to the rules, I have no objection." Huo Kong paused. "Unfortunately, you arrived one step too late. Someone has already taken him."

Hei Shi's voice sank. "Taken him? Who?"

"Hua Meiru. By decree of Sacred Venerable Wushuang, she took him away not long ago."

Hei Shi's expression shifted uncertainly, as though he did not entirely believe it.

He turned and ordered, "Go ask around."

Someone beside him immediately flashed away to find Tianmo Sacred Land's personnel stationed in the city and inquire into what had happened.

After a short wait, the man returned and whispered into Hei Shi's ear.

Hei Shi's expression darkened.

Without another word, he turned and barked, "We're leaving!"

He had come in haste and left just as quickly.

The group rose into the sky and vanished.

Yue Guangming watched them go. "Sir, if everyone behaves this way, how are we supposed to get anything done while we're rotating through Misty Pavilion?"

"Don't talk nonsense," Huo Kong said. "Misty Pavilion exists in the first place to handle affairs for the Nine Sacred Venerables."

Even so, his brow had begun to crease.

Yuan Gang had only just been brought in, and Hua Meiru had somehow arrived at exactly the right moment to take him away.

Hua Meiru bore a grudge against Yuan Gang. Her rushing over to seize him still made some sense.

But what did it mean that Hei Shi had also hurried over immediately afterward to take the same man?

What Huo Kong did not know was that Lü Wushuang had long intended to take Yuan Gang away once Qin finished transporting its troops.

Then Wu Chang suddenly contacted the others and said Yuan Gang should be brought in so they could find out what was going on.

No one objected.

All of them wanted to understand the matter, and Misty Pavilion was ordered to carry it out.

That, in turn, made it inconvenient for Lü Wushuang to bypass Misty Pavilion and act entirely on her own.

But Lü Wushuang had also sensed that something was wrong.

She suspected Wu Chang might have some other purpose, or perhaps that he too knew the secret of the Scorpion Emperor.

So she ordered her people to move first and seize Yuan Gang the moment he arrived.

Huo Kong knew none of what lay behind the affair.

But he could feel that something was unusual.

This Yuan Gang might not be nearly as simple as he seemed.

Yet Dayuan Sacred Land had shown no reaction at all.

After thinking it over, Huo Kong's unease deepened.

He abruptly quickened his pace back, intending to report the situation to Dayuan Sacred Land as quickly as possible.

...

Wushuang Sacred Land was as beautiful as a painted scroll.

Pavilions and halls dotted strange peaks and clear waters, the entire place resembling an immortal paradise.

Several flying mounts descended upon the dreamlike main peak.

Yuan Gang, wrapped as tightly as a zongzi, was carried into a magnificent palace of jade and carved stone.

After being thrown onto the floor, he still resembled a trapped beast.

Hoarse sounds came from his throat as he struggled violently against the restraints.

A short while later, Lü Wushuang walked gracefully from the rear of the spotless white main hall, like a slender lotus rising from clear water.

Her eyes fell upon Yuan Gang, bound so tightly on the floor.

Bloodstains were clearly visible across the material wrapped around him.

Seeing him continue to struggle, Lü Wushuang asked, "What happened?"

Hua Meiru cupped her hands. "Master, this dog actually dared resist your decree to take him away while we were in Wentian City."

"Without another word, he attacked me directly."

"This disciple had no choice but to capture him and bring him back."

Lü Wushuang glanced over the way Yuan Gang was bound.

"You brought him all the way back like this?"

"Master, it certainly doesn't look very dignified, but you don't know how strange this man is."

"On the way here, we saw him struggling without rest and tried using magic to seal his acupoints."

"But magical sealing had no effect whatsoever on his body."

"This disciple has never heard of such a thing in her life. It was the first time I had ever seen it."

"He kept struggling and resisting, and his brute strength is enormous. This disciple had no choice but to keep him bound all the way here."

Lü Wushuang looked surprised. "There is such a thing?"

She seemed unconvinced.

Walking slowly to Yuan Gang, she looked down at him and flicked several threads of magical force from her fingers.

Puff. Puff. Puff.

Yuan Gang's struggling body abruptly went slack.

He stopped moving.

"..."

Hua Meiru stared.

It worked?

Lü Wushuang noticed the look on her face.

Then, unexpectedly, she bent down herself and pressed one palm against Yuan Gang's bound body.

Using magic to examine him, she found that all the major acupoints had indeed been sealed. His meridians were constrained, leaving him incapable of moving even a finger.

After confirming it, Lü Wushuang straightened and gave Hua Meiru a meaningful look.

Hua Meiru understood immediately.

Was her master suspecting that she had deliberately abused him and then fabricated an excuse?

How had the seal suddenly worked?

Hua Meiru could hardly believe it.

She crouched down as well and pressed one hand against Yuan Gang, using magic to inspect his condition.

After confirming the situation, she remained speechless for quite a while.

He truly had been sealed.

She checked again.

Then again.

Only after repeatedly confirming it did she finally remove her hand from Yuan Gang, still reluctant to believe what she had found.

Standing, she cupped her hands. "Master's cultivation is profound and exquisite. This disciple is far from being able to compare."

Lü Wushuang said indifferently, "I merely sealed his acupoints with an ordinary method. It is nowhere near as extraordinary as you make it sound."

"This..."

Hua Meiru's face flushed red with urgency.

She hurriedly defended herself.

"Master, this disciple truly did not lie."

"I would never dare deceive you."

"If Master does not believe me, you can ask the others..."

"Enough." Lü Wushuang had no interest in listening further.

She waved one hand.

"Release him. I cannot question him properly like this."

"Yes!"

Hua Meiru was stifled with frustration, but she no longer dared argue.

She could only accept the order and signal the others to carry it out.

The line of people waiting nearby immediately stepped forward.

Each used magic to retrieve his or her Jade Silkworm Flying Stream.

One silk ribbon after another flowed back like drifting clouds and running water, withdrawing into their owners' sleeves.

Once the restraints were gone, Yuan Gang still lay motionless on the floor.

There were some things Lü Wushuang did not want unrelated people hearing.

She said to the others, "All of you withdraw."

Only after the others had left did Lü Wushuang look down at Yuan Gang.

"You didn't expect us to meet again so quickly, did you?"

Yuan Gang remained silent.

"I didn't seal your mute acupoint. There's no need to pretend you cannot speak."

She raised one hand slightly, signaling Hua Meiru to bring him upright.

Hua Meiru obeyed.

She grabbed Yuan Gang by the shoulder and hauled him up.

Finding him too tall, she kicked the back of his knee, intending to force him down onto his knees before Lü Wushuang.

But Yuan Gang's eyes suddenly flashed cold.

He drew a deep breath.

His chest swelled outward.

Then a rapid series of muffled pops burst from inside his body, one after another like strings of firecrackers.

[End of Chapter 1285]