Chapter 1319: You Dare Defy Me? Who Gave You the Nerve!

"Hmph, hmph!" The old, deep voice in the carriage gave a cold laugh. "As long as someone comes to us as a patient, my disciple and I treat illness and save lives. We do not concern ourselves with the rights and wrongs of the world, nor could we manage all the turmoil of these chaotic times if we tried. Once a patient is cured and leaves, whether they live or die afterward, whatever grudges they may have, we ask nothing. I have an eyewitness sitting on my carriage. I already know who was right and who was wrong. Yucang, first you relied on your power to bully others, and now you twist your tongue in sophistry. What a fine 'little lesson' you taught him. So I'll ask you only one thing now: are you releasing my disciple or not?"

Yucang's gaze flickered. He did want to release Wuxin, but with so many people watching, simply letting him go like this would leave Yucang unable to save face. He said calmly, "Since Brother Hei has come in person, naturally this is easy to discuss. I have treated your esteemed disciple well and not harmed a single hair on his head. Yet your people just injured mine. If you want me to release him, shouldn't there at least be some accounting?"

His reminder could hardly have been clearer. He was giving the Ghost Doctor a way down as well. I seized your people; your people injured mine. As long as the Ghost Doctor said they should let the matter rest on both sides, the accounts would be even, everyone would preserve face, and the affair could end there.

The old, deep voice in the carriage chuckled. "You were unreasonable first, yet you still demand an accounting from me. Worthy indeed of Qin's National Preceptor. At the very least, you should bring my disciple out and let me see whether he's alive or dead."

"Easy enough!" Yucang laughed heartily. His eyes lingered briefly on Zhu Jian and You Peipei before he glanced back. "Go. Invite Brother Hei's esteemed disciple out."

"Yes!" Guo Xingshan accepted the order and left.

Before long, Wuxin and Guo Man were brought out. Both had restrictions placed on them, and each was kept under close guard. Escape was out of the question.

Yucang gestured up and down at Wuxin. "Brother Hei, please look. Your esteemed disciple is completely unharmed."

The old, deep voice in the carriage slowly asked, "Wuxin, how is this world?"

No one understood the deeper meaning behind the question. Only Wuxin fell silent for a moment before cupping his hands. "Disciple greets Master. In answer to Master, the world has always been this way."

The voice inside the carriage sighed. "You still refuse to wake from your obsession."

Wuxin fell silent again.

Yucang suddenly smiled. "Brother Hei, you came with such a great show of force, yet you won't even show your face. You're so sparing with your own face, but expect me to hand over my people. Isn't that a little much?"

The old voice in the carriage said, "Wuxiang, your senior brother is out. Go bring him back."

"Yes!" The driver in the conical hat set down his whip, jumped from the carriage shaft, and walked forward at an unhurried pace.

Yan Baoru jumped down as well and walked beside him.

Seeing this, Yucang narrowed his eyes slightly. "Brother Hei, don't tell me you still intend to seize him by force?"

Wuxin and Guo Man were immediately dragged farther back. More guards closed around them, while blades were laid against their bodies. At the slightest mishap, their lives could be taken at once.

Dugu Jing and Guo Xingshan also stepped forward to either side of their master, each holding a Heavenly Sword Talisman ready in hand.

On both flanks, a row of archers formed a fan-shaped formation. Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows were nocked, their points aimed at Wuxiang and Yan Baoru.

From the treetop, the Sect Leaders of the three great sects and their companions looked down on the scene in the garden.

The group that had followed in from outside, along with the people who had climbed onto the surrounding buildings, were watching just as closely.

As the two continued advancing step by step, Yucang's expression darkened. He issued a severe warning. "Brother Hei, if your people dare come any closer, don't blame me for what happens!"

There was no reply from inside the carriage.

Wuxiang and Yan Baoru, however, stopped at the warning and faced Yucang and the hundred-odd men opposite them, as though the two of them alone intended to confront the entire group.

Yan Baoru stood with her sleeves hanging at her sides. Within them, her hands began a slight rotating motion.

Yucang's eyes suddenly shook. He felt the pressure in the surrounding air abruptly intensify and squeeze inward. His gaze snapped to Yan Baoru. He realized what kind of people the other side had brought, understood why they were so confident, and, more importantly, realized what they intended to do.

"Stop them!" he shouted. His body already felt mired in a bog, his reactions slowing.

He was hardly the only one. Dugu Jing and Guo Xingshan felt the same pressure. Startled, both directly activated their Heavenly Sword Talismans.

The archers in the fan-shaped formation heard the order and loosed their Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows with a chorus of hisses.

The vast power released by the two Heavenly Sword Talismans instantly tore apart Yan Baoru's control over the force of the surrounding space.

The moment the restraining pressure broke, Yucang flashed backward.

But Wuxiang moved in the same instant, taking advantage of the delay imposed on Dugu Jing and Guo Xingshan. He flashed straight between the two of them and lunged for Yucang.

The archers did not care that their own people were in the way. The Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows disintegrated into clouds of ox-hair needles, covering friend and foe alike.

Their own side possessed the antidote. As long as they did not fear the poison, what were a few needle punctures?

Wuxiang and Yan Baoru plainly ignored the threat of the Aura-Breaking Arrows as well. Wuxiang flashed away in one motion, while Yan Baoru retreated with her broad sleeves whipping around her, blocking countless ox-hair needles. Even so, at least a hundred needles struck her body.

She retreated quickly not because she feared the poisoned needles, but because she feared the Heavenly Sword Talismans Dugu Jing and Guo Xingshan had unleashed.

Yet the two men had no attention left for her. Their alarmed gazes were fixed on Wuxiang as he charged toward Yucang.

He was too fast, moving like a wisp of smoke or a phantom.

The expressions of the three Sect Leaders in the treetop changed sharply.

He truly was too fast. Yucang was caught completely off guard. In his haste, he thrust both palms forward and blasted a mass of radiant light at the oncoming figure.

Wuxiang's five fingers hooked like claws.

Boom!

A single claw tore through the radiant mass with shocking ease. Amid the bursting gale of qi, Yucang saw a black shadow pierce straight through to him. In the next instant, his throat tightened with such force that it felt ready to snap.

Who was this man? Could he be a Nascent Soul cultivator?

Yucang could feel that the other's cultivation was far too high. This was not strength an ordinary peak Golden Core cultivator could match. Once caught in the grip of someone with cultivation this powerful, his entire body was locked down and unable to move.

Dugu Jing and Guo Xingshan both swept their hands upward, directing the erupting sword-aura shadows from their Heavenly Sword Talismans toward the sky. They no longer dared attack the target, or Yucang would be the first to suffer.

Holding Yucang hostage, Wuxiang retreated at tremendous speed, passing directly between the two vast streams of Heavenly Sword Talisman power that neither man dared turn against him.

Yan Baoru, now guarding the carriage, used spiritual power to force the poisoned needles from her body.

Wuxiang flashed back beside the carriage as well, only now he had one additional person in his hand: Yucang, whose face was filled with stunned disbelief.

With one hand, Wuxiang held Yucang by a vital point. With the other, he caught the reins of the frightened horse.

From the moment the conflict began to this point, only the blink of an eye had passed.

The power released by Heavenly Sword Talismans could not last long, nor did Dugu Jing and Guo Xingshan possess the cultivation to keep that power under control indefinitely.

Their master was already in the enemy's hands, so they could not attack. They could only guide the energy upward with both hands.

Hum! Hum! Hum!

Deep, ear-shaking vibrations rolled above Fufang Garden. Two Heavenly Sword Talismans were wasted just like that.

Roof tiles and broken debris flew throughout the garden. Tiles spun away like leaves, while the spreading gale of qi made the Sect Leaders standing in the treetop sway as though tossed amid raging waves.

All three Sect Leaders stared at Wuxiang, suspicion and alarm flickering through their eyes. With strength this overwhelming, Yucang had been unable to resist him at all. Who exactly was this man? Could he truly be a Nascent Soul expert?

By all logic, that should have been impossible. If he truly were a Nascent Soul cultivator, he should not be showing himself so openly. The Nine Saints would never ignore it.

The three Sect Leaders quickly turned their attention to the large number of cultivators the Ghost Doctor had summoned and realized the situation was turning dangerous.

The Ghost Doctor had displayed such force the moment he acted. It was enough to awe everyone present. Those he had called here were bound to be shaken by it, and if the Ghost Doctor truly intended to make trouble, they would hardly dare refuse his orders. The Qi capital might genuinely descend into chaos.

Still mounted, Zhu Jian and You Peipei tightened their reins around their frightened horses, astonishment in their eyes. They had already known the driver was no ordinary man, but they had never imagined his strength could be this terrifying.

Yan Baoru's eyes flashed with the same uncertainty. Wuxin's junior brother possessed strength like this? If even the disciple was so formidable, then just how terrifying was the Ghost Doctor himself?

She had only followed instructions and cooperated. She had not known Wuxiang's true strength either.

The cultivators who had come to lend support or merely watch the commotion were equally shocked.

Xiaoyue Pavilion's side had fallen into disorder. Having already spent his Heavenly Sword Talisman, Dugu Jing flashed over, seized Wuxin, snatched up a sword, and pressed it to Wuxin's throat.

"Ghost Doctor, release him immediately!"

"Yucang, you wanted to see me? Are you certain you want to see me?" The old, deep voice sounded again from inside the carriage.

Unable to move, Yucang gritted his teeth. "Hei Li, do you truly intend to interfere in the struggles between the states?"

The voice inside replied, "Apart from putting great principles on people's heads to crush them, do you know how to do anything else?"

Yucang said, "Sneaking around and launching an ambush from the shadows. What kind of ability is that?"

"You wouldn't dare face him openly in single combat either!"

The carriage curtain shifted. One hand lifted it aside, and under the eyes of the entire crowd, a sloppily dressed old man appeared.

His hair was not tied in a topknot. Gray-white strands fell down his back, held by a single silk ribbon. Nothing about him looked particularly extraordinary.

This was the legendary Ghost Doctor?

Yucang stared at him, studying him. Everyone else was doing the same.

Guo Man, still held under guard, stared as well. Wuxin, however, showed a trace of shame. Because he had refused to listen, he had caused trouble and even forced his master to leave seclusion to clean up after him. As a disciple, he felt deeply unfilial.

The Sect Leaders of the three great sects exchanged glances. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Ghost Doctor was wearing a false face. He still had not shown his true appearance.

This was Yan Baoru's first time seeing the Ghost Doctor as well. She watched the old man jump down from the carriage and walk to Yucang.

Stopping directly in front of him, the Ghost Doctor said, "What was so important about seeing me? Now you've seen me. What can you do about it?"

Dugu Jing, still holding the hostage, shouted again, "Release him immediately!"

Smack!

The Ghost Doctor suddenly slapped Yucang hard across the face. Blood immediately seeped from Yucang's mouth and nose.

That slap left countless people staring in disbelief.

This was the Pavilion Master of Xiaoyue Pavilion and the National Preceptor of Qin, yet the Ghost Doctor had humiliated him publicly like this!

More than a few people felt cold sweat break out. Rumor said the Ghost Doctor was the sort who repaid every grudge. From the look of things, the rumor had not exaggerated at all.

"You dare!" Dugu Jing roared.

The Ghost Doctor seemed not to hear him. He only stared at Yucang.

Yucang's head had snapped aside from the blow. Furious, he forced it back around and began, "Ghost Doctor, today's—"

Smack!

Another slap cut him off.

The Ghost Doctor jabbed a finger against Yucang's forehead. "You ignorant dog who doesn't know the height of Heaven or the depth of Earth. Do you think this old man is someone you can see whenever you please? When this old man was already famous, you still didn't know where you were rolling around in the dirt. You dare defy me? Who gave you the nerve!"

Smack!

He raised his hand and delivered another heavy slap before the entire crowd.

[End of Chapter 1319]