Volume 3, Chapter 332 – A Step Too Late

At that moment, inside Chi Residence.

Chi Jingwen was in the middle of a conversation with Wei Qingyu.

Lu Guan’s roar came from beyond the gates. Even through the formation, it sent a tremor through both of them.

They exchanged a glance, and in each other’s eyes they found the same shock and disbelief.

“Something happened in the city?!”

Chi Jingwen’s expression darkened.

An uneasy premonition stirred in his chest.

Wei Qingyu, meanwhile, was carefully watching Chi Jingwen’s reaction. She found that the shock on his face did not look feigned.

“The commandery city is protected by formations,” she said, “and there is a Sixth Realm cultivator stationed at the prefectural office. Who would dare cause trouble inside the city walls?”

On that point, Chi Jingwen was equally at a loss.

The last time anyone had dared stir up chaos inside the commandery city was over a decade ago, the night the Chi Family Ancestral Home caught fire.

Linking it to the string of troubles the Chi family had run into lately, he said coldly, “I’m afraid someone truly does not want the Chi family to have any peace.”

Wei Qingyu did not follow what he was implying.

She frowned slightly. “Let’s go and see for ourselves.”

…

The same commotion rippled through every corner of the prefectural city.

The Chi family was not the only prominent clan within Beihe Commandery’s prefectural city.

After Lu Guan’s voice had carried across the whole city, everyone knew that something was about to come crashing down on the Chi family.

Read on ΚatRеαdіnɡСаfе

Some sneered. Some looked on in fright. And more than a few were happy to watch, curious to see how this upstart family would handle the fallout.

Chi Xiyan’s expression had turned so dark it looked like it might drip.

As she led her people through the prefectural city at a near-run, she could feel the stares coming at her from every direction.

Demons and humans were mortal enemies.

Whether or not what Lu Guan had broadcast was true, the rumors about the Chi family would not die down anytime soon.

She had to find Lu Guan immediately and clear the Chi family’s name.

Song Shutao followed close behind Chi Xiyan. She could feel the aura around Chi Xiyan growing heavier and more suppressed with every step.

If something had truly happened to Lu Guan, the Chi family would be the ones in the most trouble.

Surely nothing had happened to him. He was a Sixth Realm sword cultivator.

And besides, who would be so brazen as to make a move against a sword sect disciple in the middle of the main district? And why target Lu Guan at all? And why now, of all times?

Song Shutao’s eyes lingered on Chi Xiyan’s back, and her chest tightened for no clear reason. She looked away quickly.

Chi Xiyan had her back turned and did not notice Song Shutao’s expression.

Song Shutao forced herself to stop thinking about it.

From what she knew of Chi Xiyan, she did not think her the sort of person who would do something like this.

And if Chi Xiyan really had done something, there would be no reason for her to rush over here so urgently with this many people to intercept Lu Guan.

In any case, the only thing that mattered right now was finding Lu Guan. There was no point thinking about the rest.

As long as he was unharmed, everything else could be sorted out.

Rеαԁ oո KatReαdiոgCαfe

With that thought, Song Shutao quickened her steps.

Escape techniques were prohibited within the commandery city.

Even moving as fast as they could on foot, Chi Xiyan and her group still took a fair amount of time to draw close to the city gate.

By the time they arrived, the street was already packed with onlookers.

Someone in the crowd recognized Chi Xiyan.

“Make way, make way! The Chi family is here!”

With the people at the center of the incident having shown up, the crowd parted for Chi Xiyan without a word.

Chi Xiyan walked through with a cold face, not saying a word, all too aware of the many eyes pressing in on her from all sides.

As the eldest miss of the Chi family, she was not accustomed to being stared at like some kind of spectacle. But there was no room to mind that now. She pushed through the crowd and pressed forward.

The prefectural office’s constables had already cordoned off the scene, laying down prohibition seals to keep anyone from approaching.

“Crime scene. Entry prohibited.”

Fully armed constables watched the arriving Chi family members with cold eyes.

“Miss Chi, please turn back.”

“The prefect is conducting his investigation inside. As one of the parties involved, the Chi family should recuse themselves.”

Chi Xiyan said nothing. Her gaze moved past the constables’ cordon and fixed on what lay beyond.

The scene looked like it had survived a brutal battle. The ground was covered in sword marks, dense and overlapping. The surrounding structures had partially collapsed, leaving rubble everywhere.

Past the fallen walls, deep within the wreckage, a body had been pinned to the ground.

Rеαd οո KatRеaԁinɡСαfе

Dark red blood had spread across the earth beneath it.

Lu Guan was dead.

Chi Xiyan’s heart sank.

Taken together with the message Lu Guan had broadcast across the city before his death, everyone would conclude that the Chi family was responsible.

Song Shutao took in the scene before her and felt shock cross her face.

Lu Guan had actually met his end.

She had not known him well, only crossing paths with him during the period she had been playing the role of Song Shixuan. But Lu Guan was the head disciple of the Lingxiao Sword Sect’s sect master, a Sixth Realm sword cultivator. His strength was nothing to dismiss.

Just who had managed to cut him down in the middle of a public street in so little time?

Could it really have been the Chi family?

Song Shutao glanced sideways at Chi Xiyan. The look on her face was equally terrible.

Was it you, Chi Xiyan?

Or is the face you’re showing right now just another performance for my benefit? Did you bring me along to find Lu Guan so you could use me, the young sect master, to help clear your own name?

She could not work it out.

She had been perfectly content staying home, and it was Song Shixuan, that rotten nephew of hers, who had called on her to help with what was supposed to be a small, simple errand. How had she ended up tangled in something this serious?

Song Shutao drew a slow breath and reminded herself of the role she was playing.

She stepped forward and produced the Lingxiao Sword Sect’s spirit tablet. “I am the young sect master of Lingxiao Sword Sect and the sect’s acting representative outside the mountain.”

“I believe I have the right to be informed of the situation.”

Reαd oո КαtReαdiոɡСаfe

A constable glanced at the spirit tablet in Song Shutao’s hand. “Ah, Young Sect Master Song.”

“The prefect is waiting inside.”

The constables dissolved the prohibition seal and opened a path for her.

Song Shutao walked through without expression.

One of the guards beside Chi Xiyan could not help himself. “First Miss, Young Master Song, he…”

Chi Xiyan raised a hand and cut him off. “Say no more. I know.”

She looked at the constables encircling the area and let out a quiet breath. “We came a step too late. There is nothing we can do now.”

“Since the prefect has sent constables to seal the scene, he will not allow the Chi family to have any further hand in this matter.”

She drew another slow breath, her expression grim. “And moreover, a Sixth Realm sword sect disciple has been cut down in the open streets of the commandery city.”

“Something like this… will not be left for a single city’s prefect to handle on his own.”

If it had been an ordinary sword sect disciple, perhaps. But the one who had died was a high-ranking Sixth Realm member of the sect.

A Sixth Realm cultivator was a cornerstone figure wherever they stood.

Whatever the final outcome of the investigation, every detail of this matter would be reported to the Human Empress without exception, for her to decide personally.

“Let’s go. Back to the residence.”

Chi Xiyan swept a glance around the crowd.

“Staying here any longer will only make us a spectacle.”