Chapter 580: Ambush (Two-in-One)

Different Domains used different modes of transportation—ships, planes, carriages—

Yan Jing had been to many places, but of all the vehicles he'd seen, the cars in Old Sin City had left the deepest impression.

Across the fragmented Domain of Old Sin City, unless one could personally travel through Space Rifts, they had to rely on those cars to get around.

He observed the incredibly luxurious sedan he was currently sitting in. From the leather seats to the interior trim, everything spoke to the vehicle's immense value.

Right now, they were traveling through a Space Rift. Thick clouds of Chaos fog surrounded them, yet the sedan's bright headlights carved a crystal-clear path forward.

This was no ordinary vehicle.

"How should I address you?"

Yan Jing asked the old butler in the driver's seat.

The old butler wore a perfectly tailored suit. His silver-white goatee was meticulously combed and neat, giving him an incredibly kind and benevolent appearance.

However, instead of a standard Monocle, a thumb-thick black camera lens was implanted directly into his right eyeball.

"Xiao Yi, this is old Mr. Chengfa. Just call him Grandpa Cheng," Wuhe quickly reminded Yan Jing, noticing his lack of recognition.

The old man chuckled. "It's completely normal for the young master not to know me. After all, he was still very young when he left the Family."

"For an old bag of bones like me, it's good enough just to remember others. I don't expect you young ones to remember me."

"My apologies, Grandpa Cheng."

Yan Jing apologized repeatedly. "I was just too young back then, and my memories of that time are a bit fuzzy."

"It's fine."

The old man's smile gradually faded, and the car fell silent once more.

Yan Jing glanced at the old man's face through the rearview mirror. Almost all traces of amusement were gone.

Clearly, this matter wasn't as trivial as the old man made it out to be.

In other words, the old man held a very high status within the Clan—at least higher than Yan Jing's current standing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten angry over being forgotten.

An experienced subordinate of lower status would never dare show displeasure toward someone of higher standing.

Or—there was another possibility—

Yan Jing turned to look at Wuhe. Seeing that Wuhe was still in a fairly good mood, he smiled helplessly.

His brother truly was exactly as he had described himself: clearly thick-nerved and oblivious, not the type to manage affairs.

Pushing the thought aside, Yan Jing turned away, propped his chin on his hand, and closed his eyes to rest.

In the rearview mirror, a gloomy gaze swept over the two passengers in the back seat through the black camera lens before quickly withdrawing.

An unknown amount of time passed until, with a sudden clunk, the car ground to a halt.

Wuhe blinked in surprise and looked toward Chengfa in the driver's seat. "Grandpa Cheng, what is—"

"We've broken down."

Chengfa's expression remained neutral. "You two young masters have been away from the Family for too long to know this, but our current situation isn't what it used to be. The subordinate Clans have consecutively produced Divine Envoys, yet no one from the young masters' generation is capable of carrying the banner."

"We will have to rely on you two."

He turned around and looked at Wuhe and Yi Ji in the back seat.

Wuhe secretly squeezed Yan Jing's hand before laughing. "Grandpa Cheng, you must be joking. My older brothers are all brilliant and talented. To say the Family needs to rely on us is utter nonsense."

Chengfa just smiled at that, neither confirming nor denying Wuhe's words.

He turned back around and opened the car door. "This car was just repaired a few days ago. There must be a lingering malfunction. I'll get out and take a look."

"Alright."

Wuhe nodded. It was only after Chengfa stepped out of the vehicle that he finally looked at Yan Jing, his expression grave. "Something isn't right, Xiao Yi. We might have to prepare to run."

Yan Jing blinked, his expression completely unfazed. "Okay," he said with a smile.

It seemed that after adventuring outside for so long, his brother had finally learned a thing or two.

Not long after Chengfa got out, an aura of Chaos quickly poured into the car through the open door.

"Grandpa Cheng, a fog is rolling in."

Yan Jing called out to warn the man outside.

"Mhm. It's fine, the fog is nothing to worry about. You two stay put in the car. I'll be right back."

Chengfa's voice drifted in from beyond the dense fog.

"Alright."

Yan Jing nodded.

The other side had made up their minds to make a move.

He looked out the car door at the thickening mist with perfect composure, forming a stark contrast to the tense Wuhe sitting beside him.

A few minutes later, Chengfa's pained voice suddenly cried out, "Who are you?!"

"Bang!" Immediately after, a terrifying explosion roared outside the fog. Through the exterior Video Cameras, Yan Jing and Wuhe both saw several figures dive into the mist and charge straight for their position.

"I'll take the left!"

Wuhe did not hesitate. He kicked open the left car door. The sound of several camera shutters echoed as a Scythe Blade materialized in his hands, slashing straight toward the figure in front of him.

"Hum—"

With a crisp hum, the figure abruptly dissolved into mist. Wuhe's expression darkened.

It wasn't a real body.

The enemy knew their Family's ultimate techniques and had deliberately used decoys to bait his attack.

Clearly, these attackers were extremely familiar with their Clan.

It was highly likely they were mortal enemies—

Or quite simply, their own people.

"Xiao Yi, don't use Freeze—"

"—!"

He immediately shouted to warn Yan Jing beside him, but when he turned his head, he was horrified to discover that the Chaos fog on Yan Jing's side had completely vanished.

Two figures were suspended in midair, tightly bound by grayish-white threads, their faces twisted in terror.

"You can kill yourselves."

Yan Jing smiled faintly. "I don't mind either way."

He reached out a hand. A stream of runic fragments radiating a thick soul aura rose from his palm, silently telling the assassins that committing suicide was entirely pointless.

For him, soul-searching was an incredibly simple task.

This ability came from Wen Xu's power.

After completing Wen Xu's life path, Yan Jing had found a time to assume control over it, acquiring Wen Xu's "Omniscience" ability.

It allowed him to comprehend all knowledge in this world and utilize it with ease.

Or rather, this ability had originally belonged to Yan Jing anyway.

Wen He had taken Yan Jing—who possessed one of Mu Tian's split souls—and wandered through the River of Time, teaching him everything.

As for Wen He, Yan Jing had chosen a different, far more mysterious ability.

Staring at the soul fragments in Yan Jing's palm, despair flooded the eyes of the two suspended assassins.

Beside them, Wuhe was overjoyed. He was just about to call for Yan Jing to help clear his side when, before he could even speak, the fog around him also dissipated.

The other assassins had retreated.

Upon seeing their comrades captured so effortlessly, they realized the situation was disastrous and abandoned the rest of the operation.

It was only then that Chengfa's figure "finally" appeared in a frantic rush. He ran to the driver's seat, looked at the two of them, and asked nervously, "Are the two young masters alright?"

"Grandpa Cheng, what exactly is—" Wuhe was about to explode with anger, but Yan Jing beside him smiled and interrupted. "We're fine, Grandpa Cheng. Are you alright?"

"Me? I'm fine, I'm completely fine—"

"That's good to hear. I heard you scream so loudly just now that I thought you were hurt," Yan Jing said with a smile.

Only then did Chengfa realize his mistake. He looked down at himself. Though his clothes were disheveled, the situation had shifted far faster than he expected, leaving him with no time to forge any obvious wounds.

He paused for a few seconds, then pulled up his clothes to reveal a massive, bloody gash, forcing a smile. "I did sustain some injuries, but it's nothing compared to the safety of the two young masters."

Wuhe didn't say a word. Anyone with eyes could see that the wound had just been fabricated on the spot.

Yet Yan Jing acted as if he saw nothing wrong. "As long as you're alright, that's enough. I've already caught the assassins; we just need to interrogate them."

"Let me handle it—"

Chengfa walked over to their rear car door, his expression turning grim. "I've spent my entire life specializing in penal methods. I'll make sure they suffer."

"No need."

At this point, Wuhe naturally wouldn't let Chengfa touch the two living witnesses. He immediately spoke up, "Xiao Yi has them under control. You should just focus on driving, Grandpa Cheng."

However, Chengfa acted as if he hadn't heard Wuhe's objection at all. He recklessly continued walking toward the two men bound by Yan Jing. "Fifth Young Master, you don't understand. Interrogation is a massive undertaking that requires true professionals. Furthermore, it must be done quickly. If they manage to commit suicide, things will become very troublesome."

"No need. I can soul-search."

Yan Jing smiled. "I won't trouble you."

"—How could I let you two dirty your hands? Let me do it." Chengfa completely ignored their words and directly reached out toward the two suspended figures. His strike was blindingly fast—it was clearly an attempt to silence them.

And he meant to silence them thoroughly.

At the very least, he had to destroy them enough that Yan Jing couldn't read their souls.

But Yan Jing's speed was faster. The threads hoisted the two men high into the air.

Chengfa stared at the two assassins ascending high out of reach, freezing in place with an incredibly ugly expression.

He turned around to look at Yan Jing and Wuhe, his eyes practically overflowing with restless anxiety.

"Young master, what is the meaning of this? This old man already said I would handle it."

"We just want to interrogate them ourselves."

Seeing that Chengfa was barely trying to maintain his disguise anymore, Wuhe dropped all pretenses and spoke coldly, "As you know, our Clan excels at interrogation."

With words reaching this point, Chengfa could finally find no more excuses.

He lowered his head, his voice icy. "Since that is the case, please do as you wish, young masters."

Wuhe hadn't lied.

The Fear Clan possessed an unparalleled, innate talent for interrogation. By applying just a slight amount of Fear, they extracted the identities, information, and motives of the attackers.

Moreover, there was no need for external recording equipment. Their own brains were perfect Video Cameras.

As long as they saw it, they could record all the information.

But none of that was the crux of the issue. The real key lay in the intel the attackers provided.

They hailed from Eerie Capital's largest assassin organization: Seven Deadly Sins.

They had come this time under strict orders to assassinate the two of them.

And the mastermind behind the curtain was allegedly someone from the Fear Clan itself.

An internal hit!

Although the assassins claimed that only higher-ups knew more inside details, this was already shocking enough. Yan Jing smiled at Chengfa. "You see, Grandpa Cheng? It seems we didn't do a bad job."

"The two young masters are highly capable."

Chengfa's face seemed to return to a state of calm as he raised his hands in acknowledgment.

Seeing that the assassins hadn't leaked any information directly implicating him, he slipped right back into the persona of a composed old butler and walked back toward the driver's seat.

It wasn't until everyone was back in the car that Chengfa finally spoke up, his tone cold. "You two young masters have been away for many years. I can understand your lack of trust in me, but I also hope you will show me some basic respect. I have served this Clan for over two hundred years."

"Is that so? We never said we didn't trust you, did we?"

Yan Jing smiled.

It was as if Chengfa had finally found the opening he was looking for.

His face darkened as he retorted, "You refused to let me participate in the interrogation precisely because you feared I was in league with them, and that I was trying to silence them!"

"You repeatedly questioned my injuries precisely because you thought I was completely unharmed, and that I deliberately chose not to save you two!"

"Heh, it truly chills the heart. Perhaps the two young masters have spent too much time wandering those barren wildlands and have completely forgotten our Clan's ancestral teachings of unity."

"It doesn't matter. I am merely an outsider, after all. It is perfectly reasonable for you two to think this way. I just hope the Master and Madam will be able to understand your mindset."

The more Chengfa spoke, the more agitated he became, layering his words with self-righteous indignation.

Clearly, the assassins' failure to expose him had given him a window to launch a counterattack and regain the upper hand.

However—

Just as Wuhe frowned, trying to think of how to respond, two figures entangled in Thorns suddenly dropped squarely onto the hood of the car.

Yan Jing smiled gently. "Grandpa Cheng, you said that Brother Wuhe and I misunderstood you. That might indeed be a misunderstanding. I just caught the remaining two who tried to run away. There should be someone who knows more of the inside story among them. Once we ask them, we'll know exactly what happened."

Both Wuhe and Chengfa stared at the two figures outside the windshield in absolute disbelief.

In the next second, Chengfa exploded into motion. A terrifying blast of palm force slammed toward the two figures outside as he roared furiously, "You've gone too far!!!"

He was completely abandoning the act. He intended to destroy the bodies and wipe out all evidence directly.

But—

Yan Jing reached out and gently pressed a hand on Chengfa's shoulder, smiling warmly. "Calm down, Grandpa Cheng."

"I told you, we just need to ask and we'll find out."

Chengfa snapped his head back in sheer terror, staring at the arm resting on his shoulder.

That wasn't an arm at all; it felt like a towering mountain peak violently suppressing him. Forget moving—in that instant, he felt as if even his very breaths were entirely under the other party's control.

"Ninth Tier. You are indeed quite powerful," Yan Jing praised with a smile. "Unfortunately, you aren't a physical combat type, and you've grown quite old."

Hearing the sheer nonchalance with which Yan Jing spoke of the Ninth Tier, Chengfa felt as though he had been plunged into a freezing abyss.

He didn't dare imagine what level the young man in the back seat had truly reached.

Under Wuhe's interrogation, the two figures finally confessed that Chengfa was their designated contact for the mission.

Chengfa's entire body shuddered. Trembling violently, he fell to his knees in the driver's seat. "Slander! This is slander! Young masters!!! This is blatant slander!!!"

Fear spread wantonly throughout the interior of the car, continuously stimulating Chengfa's nerves until it ultimately morphed into a wave of impotent fury.

However, as he looked at the utterly frigid expressions of Wuhe and Yi Ji, he knew that all his disguises were now useless. He could only beg for mercy incessantly. "I swear it's the truth, young masters. I've served the Clan for over two hundred years. It couldn't possibly be me—"

The Chengfa of this moment was like a completely different person compared to five minutes ago.

Wuhe looked at Yan Jing. "Xiao Yi, what do you think we should do? Why don't we take Cheng—take him back and let the Clan deal with him?"

Hearing Wuhe's suggestion, a sliver of hope sparked in Chengfa's heart.

As long as he could return to the Clan, relying on his status there and the people backing him, he would still have a chance to survive.

But in the very next second, Yan Jing's words sent him crashing right back into a freezing abyss.

"There's no need to go through all that trouble, brother. Since Grandpa Cheng says he's being framed, can't we just interrogate him too?"

"It's very simple."

Yan Jing narrowed his eyes, his smile entirely gentle.