The Foolish Agent

Chapter 40

Chaos reigned at the Prince's Palace. Everywhere were fragments of bricks and stones scattered by the "heavenly lightning." The constant sobbing of women, still reeling from the shock, could be heard everywhere. The women of the palace had lived in fear for ten days, their mental fortitude already pushed to its limit. The sudden "heavenly lightning" event the previous night had now completely broken them.

The Green Robe Cult members were equally exasperated. They had received orders from their leader to only confine the Prince of Ying's residence, forbidding them from harming anyone or taking advantage of the chaos. They were told to wait for a six-year-old Prince of Ying to appear. However, ten days passed, and instead of the prince, they were struck by "heavenly lightning." And this lightning struck nowhere but the very house where the Green Robe Cult members lived. Not only did they inexplicably lose dozens of brothers, but they also terrified dozens of the more timid ones.

Upon receiving the news, the leader of the Green Robe Sect sent another group of followers who had arrived in Jianzhou two days prior to participate in the dance competition. In order to stabilize morale, all the followers who had witnessed the unprecedented "heavenly calamity" of the previous night were also evacuated.

As a group of menacing men in black were whipping and directing the servants of the Prince's mansion to clear away the rubble and broken bricks in the courtyard, suddenly, a figure in flowing white robes, handsome and extraordinary, descended from the sky like a god, gracefully landing in the courtyard of the Prince's mansion.

The servants of the royal palace, who had been bullied for ten days, simultaneously stopped what they were doing and exclaimed in astonishment, "A god has descended to earth!"

The men in black didn't consider the newcomer a "god"; on the contrary, they sensed the aura of death emanating from him. One of the men in black, holding a bronze sword hilt, shouted at the newcomer:

"Who dares to trespass into the Prince's residence? Seize them!"

With a wave of his hand, dozens of men in black surrounded the newcomers.

The young man in white didn't even blink at the men in black surrounding him. He simply parted his thin lips, and a chilling, sinister voice, like a summons from hell, rang out:

"Hand over the people from last night and leave the palace! Otherwise, this day next year will be your death anniversary!"

Upon hearing this, the men in black surrounding him couldn't help but shiver.

The prince's servants instinctively retreated out of the fighting area. A major battle was about to unfold.

Suddenly, another figure appeared before everyone's eyes, also dressed in flowing white robes, but even more handsome—so handsome it could be described as sinister. With a single sweep of his phoenix eyes, his overwhelming aura instantly created an invisible pressure throughout the courtyard.

The man in black holding the bronze sword hilt immediately felt a chill run down his spine. He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm his trembling mind. Then he whistled into the mansion. Instantly, men in black from all over the mansion surged into the front courtyard like a tide, surrounding the two young men in white.

"Hmph! You're courting death!" Qingfeng snorted coldly, raised his right hand, and spun around once on the spot, instantly releasing a faint fragrance into the air.

Then a shout came from one of the men in black: "Oh no, sleeping powder!"

Instantly, a group of men in black fell to the ground. The remaining men in black all covered their noses and held their breath as they retreated.

At the same time, Xuanyuan's figure blurred, and he had already captured the black-clad man who had given the orders. A soft sword pressed against his neck, and he asked sharply:

Where are the people from last night?

Forced by Xuanyuan's imposing aura, the man in black blurted out, "They've been moved."

"Where did it go?" Qingfeng asked coldly.

"Northern Branch Altar".

One question was directed at the person who broke into the Prince's mansion last night, while the other was from someone who witnessed the "heavenly tribulation" last night. It was a completely nonsensical question, yet they both listened to it.

Xuanyuan sent a summons signal to the heavens for Longmen, and within moments, hundreds of people dressed in various styles surrounded the entire palace from the outside. At this time, the Longmen members, who had already infiltrated the household guards, took the opportunity to rescue the women imprisoned in the backyard.

Qingfeng and Xuanyuan frowned as they looked at the group of weeping women. Xuanyuan turned and ordered the people from Longmen to handle the aftermath. He and Qingfeng, carrying the leader of the Qingyi Sect, led the way to raid the Qingyi Sect's northern branch.

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Let's talk about Leng Jie next.

After leaving the main hall of the Long Mansion last night, she did indeed go back to her room and take a hot bath. While bathing, she considered the current situation. The situation inside the Wang Mansion was unclear; anyone who went in was like throwing meat buns to a dog—never to return. There was no doubt that it was heavily guarded by the Qingyi Sect, so much so that not even a fly could get in or out.

But she had something more important than rescuing the people inside: she had to enter the palace. That was to retrieve the memorial tablet of the first King of Ying; otherwise, she couldn't break the curse on Xiao Shiyu. If the curse on Xiao Shiyu couldn't be broken, then even rescuing his family seemed pointless.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck her, and she decided to solve this seemingly thorny problem in her own way. However, to avoid having her identity questioned, she had no choice but to avoid Qingfeng and the others and act alone.

Afterward, she began preparing her plan to enter the Prince's mansion and the necessary tools. Once everything was ready, she had Steward Wu send a bucket of hot water to Xuanyuan and the others' boudoir. Only after confirming that they had all gone back to their rooms to bathe did she quietly slip to the stables in the backyard and leave a letter for Qingfeng. She then tied cotton to the horse's hooves and, alone, rode through the cold winter night under the starry moon, braving the biting north wind, galloping towards Jianzhou City.

When she reached the city gate, it was past midnight. The gate was already tightly shut. She initially intended to let the horse return on its own, but then she thought that if things went smoothly, it could be done before dawn. Therefore, she tied the horse to a grove of poplar trees, intending to come back for it.

Using her light-footed skills, and relying on her memory of the location of the Prince's Mansion on the Jianzhou City map drawn by Xiao Shiyu that afternoon, she quickly found her destination. She flew around the outer wall of the mansion and found the backyard, which should have been occupied, deserted. However, a single-story house near the gate was bustling with activity, with the occasional sound of a man snoring and muttering emanating from it. Her sixth sense told her that the inhabitants there couldn't be the Prince's family; that left only the Qingyi Sect members.

So she buried the homemade explosives she had prepared in the corner of the house. Her plan was simply to make some noise, lure all the members of the Green Robe Cult here, and then she would sneak into the Prince's Mansion.

However, the detonation was far more powerful than she had anticipated. With a deafening roar, bricks and tiles shattered, and severed limbs flew everywhere. In an instant, the entire house was completely destroyed. Then came screams and cries of terror, and even she was momentarily stunned by the scene.

This was the first time she had made explosives using ancient materials. Because she didn't know if the properties of these materials were the same as modern ones, and she couldn't test their purity, she really went all out. This experiment proved that these ancient materials were in no way inferior to modern ones, and their purity was even more remarkable.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Leng Jie leaped into the Prince's mansion, but this mansion was truly enormous. Where was she supposed to find the ancestral hall? She wandered aimlessly through the chaotic mansion like a headless fly. She searched several courtyards, only to hear heart-wrenching screams and wailing everywhere. She couldn't understand why they were so agitated when the bomb had clearly killed their enemies. Moreover, they all seemed quite terrified, making it impossible for her to find anyone normal to ask them a question.

Finally, she found a woman crying and screaming in a backyard. Seeing that she was the most normal woman in the palace, Leng Jie stopped her, intending to ask where the ancestral hall was. But before she could finish her question, the woman suddenly screamed:

"Guards! Catch the assassin!"

Although the Prince's mansion was in chaos, the woman's high-decibel screams were not drowned out.

The members of the Green Robe Cult quickly rushed to the backyard upon hearing the commotion.

Leng Jie quickly pressed the woman's pressure points to put her to sleep, then threw smoke bombs around to avoid direct contact with them. She hid in the shadows and watched as the men in blue, filled with disgust, fought amongst themselves for a while before slipping out of the courtyard.

As dawn approached, she still hadn't found what she was looking for. Leng Jie returned to the front yard, and taking advantage of a moment when a man in black was off guard, she killed him from behind, changed into his clothes, and blended into the group of men in black. She then returned to the back yard, grabbed a servant, held a knife to his throat, and forced him to lead the way to the ancestral hall.

Upon inquiry, it turned out that the Ying family's ancestral hall wasn't located in the Prince's Mansion at all, but rather in the Shi family's old residence. This was because the Prince's Mansion was bestowed by the emperor, who also granted them the imperial surname Xuanyuan. The Shi family felt that while they were alive, they bore the surname Xuanyuan and served the emperor, but in death, their souls shouldn't be under the control of the imperial family. Therefore, they placed all their ancestral tablets in the Shi family's old residence, seeking peace for their souls.

Along the way, she told the servant about his master's recent situation. Of course, she didn't mention shrinking, only that his master's mansion had returned, and she also learned that the Green Robe Sect members hadn't harmed anyone in the mansion. Of course, by harm, he only meant no one had died; verbal or physical abuse didn't count.

After Leng Jie took the servant to the Shi family's old residence to retrieve the items, it was already broad daylight. She left the servant at the Shi family's old residence and then went outside the city to retrieve the horse.

But when she returned to Yanglin, she saw three horses and a burly man half-reclining beside them. The man even told her not to approach the horses. Her first thought was that Qingfeng had disobeyed her and followed her; her second thought was that this man was from Longmen and was responsible for watching the horses. However, even after she pulled out her Longmen token from her clothes, the man still didn't react.

Chapter Seventy-Seven: He is a Woman

When Leng Jie realized the man didn't recognize her badge, a flicker of surprise crossed her eyes. She didn't believe anyone would watch over someone else's horses for no reason. Ignoring the man's gruff warning, she walked straight to the horses. The horses seemed excited to see her; the two standing horses immediately moved closer to her. Only then did she notice the horrifying wounds on the horse lying on the ground in the middle.

Leng Jie's face suddenly darkened, and her two sharp eyes shot towards the man on the ground.

Who hurt my horse?

A cold, sharp voice suddenly rang out. The man on the ground felt a chill run down his spine. From the moment he saw the two horses approaching him, he knew this man was their owner. Seeing his refined and scholarly appearance, he assumed he would be easier to talk to than the two men before him. But the moment his expression changed, the murderous aura emanating from him far surpassed that of the previous two.

Good heavens! What kind of people has he messed with! He's filled with regret now. Why did he suddenly get greedy? Why did he have to get angry with a horse?

But Leng Jie wouldn't give him a chance to regret it, because she had already found the answer in his evasive eyes and the barbed whip beside him.

"Are you a bandit?"

The cold, questioning voice made the man nod unconsciously, then he suddenly realized what was happening and shook his head frantically.

"You're the one who hurt my horse, aren't you?"

The sudden softening of the voice did not relax the burly man; on the contrary, his only movable part of his body, his upper body, began to tremble uncontrollably. This was because the young master had already gripped the whip in his hand and was about to swing it at him.

"No, it wasn't me. I was just passing by. Those two young men in white asked me to watch their horses here."

"Really? They'd send a paralyzed man to look after these three priceless horses?" He narrowed his eyes and gave the man's legs a sharp look before continuing, "Or are they afraid you'll steal the horses, so they're crippling your legs?"

The burly man trembled even more violently, pleading pitifully:

"Even if it were me, I hurt your horse, and I was punished, wasn't I? Please be lenient and forgive me this once!"

"That depends on whether your whip is willing to spare you?"

Several shrill screams suddenly echoed from Yanglin Village.

Amidst the screams, several Longmen disciples, ordered to retrieve the horse, arrived. Upon seeing the jade pendant at Leng Jie's waist, they immediately stepped forward to pay their respects.

"Wu San and Wu Si greet the Third Sect Master! We have come to retrieve the horse on the Sect Master's orders."

Leng Jie threw away the whip in her hand and said to the two of them:

"Where is the sect leader now?"

Wu San and Wu Si eagerly recounted in detail, from beginning to end, the heroic deeds of their wise and mighty sect leader and a young man in white who fought against the Green Robe Sect in the Prince's Mansion.

Rescue someone? They wouldn't be trying to rescue her, would they? Frowning, Leng Jie had a bad feeling and asked urgently, "You said they went to the Green Robe Sect to rescue someone again? Who was captured by the Green Robe Sect?"

The two brothers exchanged a glance, and the third brother said, "We received a message from Elder Wu this morning saying that the Third Sect Master entered the city last night. However, we didn't see him with the Sect Master at the Prince's Mansion. We initially thought they had gone to find you, Third Sect Master. But now that we've seen you, we really don't know who the Sect Master and the others were rushing to rescue?"

Not knowing who to save? That meant they'd come looking for her. She couldn't help but curse inwardly: Do these two have no brains? Coming to the Green Robe Sect alone at a time like this? Did they really think the Green Robe Sect and the Prince's Mansion were so easy to break into? If she hadn't disrupted their defenses last night, they wouldn't even have been able to get into the Prince's Mansion. No, once they were in, they wouldn't have come out. Besides, if two people could take on the Green Robe Sect, why would they bother posting notices or holding martial arts tournaments? Did they think all those martial arts figures were pushovers? But despite her curses, she couldn't just watch them go to their deaths!

She then gave the two brothers a few instructions, asked for the location of the Green Robe Sect, and used the Shadow Shift Technique taught to her by Shang Ying to disappear from Yang Lin in the blink of an eye, like a gust of wind. The Wu brothers were left behind, exchanging bewildered glances. They hadn't realized their Third Sect Master was so powerful! However, they dared not delay and immediately went to carry out her instructions.

When Leng Jie arrived at the Qingyi Sect's territory in the north of the city, she didn't see the bloodbath she had expected. Although black-clad men lay scattered on the ground, seemingly poisoned by Qingfeng, a faint fragrance still lingered in the air. Qingfeng always liked to add spices when concocting poisons.

Leng Jie, once again dressed in the attire of the Green Robe Sect, swaggered into the sect's branch altar. A branch altar of the Green Robe Sect was far more magnificent and luxurious than the headquarters of the Dragon Gate. Ascending twelve wide stone steps, one reached a heavy, black gate. A large silver beast-shaped cup hung above it. The three powerful, gilded characters 'Green Robe Sect' on the lintel exuded an air of menace! Entering the gate, she followed the bluestone avenue, passing a bamboo grove completely out of place with the surrounding courtyard and climate, and then through a long corridor. Then she heard the sounds of clashing weapons. Leng Jie headed towards the direction of the fighting.

Just as she expected, Qingfeng and Xuanyuan were surrounded and attacked by four men wielding golden-hilted swords. Countless archers on the surrounding rooftops were also firing arrows at the six of them. Judging from the situation, if the four men fell, Qingfeng and Xuanyuan would also be doomed. No one could withstand countless swords raining down from all directions simultaneously!

With a quick, sharp eye, Leng Jie scanned her surroundings and immediately found a strategically advantageous position to hide in. While observing the situation, she pondered how to rescue them. Last time, she was able to rescue them from numerous assassins because of perfect timing, location, and her own advantage (darkness, the location of Longmen, a secret passage, and her smoke bombs). But now it was broad daylight, they were in their lair, and all the weapons she had prepared the night before had been used at the Prince's Mansion. She currently possessed no weapon capable of fighting off so many men in black.

Leng Jie couldn't help but complain again about Qingfeng and Xuanyuan for not heeding her advice. She told them not to come, but they insisted on following her. Fine, they'd come, but they even suspected she'd been captured by the Qingyi Sect. Honestly, why didn't they trust her abilities?

If they hadn't come after her, she would have already taken the items back to lift the curse on Xiao Shiyu. Once the curse was lifted, she believed that with his influence in Jianzhou and the support of the righteous figures in the martial arts world, dealing with the Qingyi Sect wouldn't be too difficult.

Just as Leng Jie was racking her brains, unable to find a solution, and the six people in the arena were exchanging blows and wielding swords, the situation suddenly and rapidly changed.

"Stop!" A deep, heavy voice came from where Leng Jie had just entered.

The fight in the arena suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

Then, a tall, slender man dressed entirely in black, wearing a black mask, a black satin robe, and black cloth boots, walked in along the bluestone path. What kind of attire is this! Completely shrouded in black from head to toe. If it were nighttime, he'd look like a faceless Black Impermanence. Leng Jie couldn't help but roll her eyes. This is the leader of the Green Robe Cult? Truly mysterious!

"Welcome, young master!" The four protectors of the Green Robe Sect clasped their fists and bowed to the newcomer.

So it was just the young master! Leng Jie was a little disappointed. If it were the sect leader, perhaps she could have used a strategy of capturing the king. As for the young master, judging from the lukewarm attitude of the four protectors towards him, he was clearly not important enough.

Black Impermanence raised his hand and said, "No need for such formalities, Guardians." He then turned his dark eyes to the two white-clad figures in the arena, a stark contrast to him. A deep voice then came from beneath his mask.

"Our Qingyi Sect and the Longmen Sect have always kept to themselves. We wonder why you two friends from Longmen have come uninvited, forcibly entering our Qingyi Sect and poisoning our members? If you, like those so-called righteous heroes, wish to uphold justice and punish those who seek to cause trouble, then please wait until after the martial arts tournament and come with us. At that time, our Qingyi Sect will certainly welcome you. However, we regret to inform you that we cannot receive you now. Please leave the antidote and return!"

Heavens, did the young master of Black Impermanence really say that? He doesn't seem as evil as she imagined. Leng Jie began to pray. She hoped that Xuanyuan and Qingfeng could use this as a stepping stone to turn back!

"Young Master! Think it over! Now..." The four protectors clearly questioned their young master's decision. Even the blind man could see that they now held the upper hand, so why not seize the opportunity to take down the Dragon Gate's leader? This would not only eliminate a formidable enemy but also serve as a warning to others. They couldn't understand what their young master, who usually ignored sect affairs, was planning.

Black Impermanence waved his hand to interrupt the protector, still keeping his gaze on the two men in white, waiting for their reply.

Qingfeng and Xuanyuan exchanged a glance, reaching a consensus. At the same time, they arrogantly glared at the young master of the Black Impermanence. Qingfeng said coldly, "Release the people you took from the Prince of Ying's mansion last night, and we'll leave the antidote and depart immediately. Otherwise, we'll fight to the death."

Someone from the Prince's Palace is missing? So they didn't risk their lives for her after all! A slight sense of disappointment washed over her. But that was for the best. Since they weren't there for her, she could only do her best to rescue them. If anything happened to them, she wouldn't feel guilty.

Black Impermanence turned his head and whispered a few words to a man in black beside him, then turned back and raised his voice to the two conspicuous white-clad men facing him:

"I think there might be some misunderstanding between the two of you. Our sect entered the Prince's residence to protect the Prince's family. Moreover, the Green Robe Sect did not take any members of the Prince's family from the residence last night."

Xuanyuan snorted coldly and mocked, "Hmph! I didn't know the Green Robe Sect, which specializes in killing, looting, and trading, had switched to the business of protecting homes and property. The Green Robe Sect member who brought us here just now said that the people from last night were moved here. Are you still trying to deny it?"

Hei Wuchang's expression was invisible, but his slightly stiffened body revealed the gathering chill emanating from him. However, in an instant, he regained his composure and said in a deep voice:

"I'm sure you two have heard about the lightning strike that happened at the Prince's mansion last night, right? My sect suffered heavy losses at the time and was too busy taking care of itself to do anything about it. How could we possibly take away the Prince's family members at that moment? Now that I'm telling you, there's no one here who's looking for. What do you plan to do?"

Xuanyuan felt that the man in black had no reason to lie; he clearly had the upper hand. He looked at Qingfeng, his eyes questioning him: what made him so certain that Wuming had been captured by the Green Robe Sect?