Chapter 610: Fast Attack (Two-in-One)

"A spy!" As Yan Jing spoke, the atmosphere in the courtyard changed instantly.

Everyone's hearts tightened.

"This... this couldn't be true, right?"

Someone stepped forward, smiling to smooth things over.

"As you know, Pure Blood City has always held a high status across all the Domains."

"We all came here for a friendly exchange. How could any of us be spies?"

"Is that so?" Yan Jing shot the man a cold glance.

"Then why did I hear..."

"...that someone is spreading rumors about our Xue Family wanting to start the Domain War early?"

Weird energy bloomed around Yan Jing, suppressing the man so heavily he couldn't speak.

Invisible arrows materialized behind Yan Jing. The man panicked, stumbling backward in terror until he landed hard on his rear. "Such rumors."

Yan Jing retracted his gaze and looked at the others around him.

"I hope you will all stop spreading them."

"Our Xue Family's Blood War is a ritual that has existed since ancient times. It is the foundation of our clan."

"Furthermore, the Xue Family is a member of the Gods' Association. We would absolutely never do anything to violate its core principles."

"But... if someone wants to dismantle our Xue Family from the inside, or smear our name from the outside..."

"Then I can only say I'm sorry."

As he spoke, Yan Jing reached out, grabbing directly toward a figure in the crowd.

Everyone's vision blurred, and the next moment, they saw a slender silhouette pulled right in front of him.

"Urgh... ack..."

Yan Jing held a woman by the throat. Her body dangled in the air as she struggled wildly.

"This... this..."

Someone recognized her identity and hurriedly explained to Yan Jing that this woman could never be a spy.

She came from a prestigious noble family in the Eerie Capital. Since the Eerie Capital was currently a mess, they would never provoke the Xue Family at a time like this. But Yan Jing's eyes remained icy.

"Whether she is or not, we'll know once I ask."

After speaking, Yan Jing took a step forward while holding the woman, vanishing from everyone's sight.

Inside the room.

Yan Jing stared coldly at the woman.

The woman glared indignantly back at him.

Her gaze didn't just carry a bit of anger; looking deeper, one could even see a trace of resentment.

"Could you loosen your grip a little?"

Fear Bird rubbed her neck, looking at him reproachfully.

"I treasure this body very much, alright?"

Yan Jing was expressionless.

"Did you have fun playing around?"

"Who was playing around? I... I was carrying out my mission!" Fear Bird felt a bit guilty.

"Didn't you tell me to go undercover?"

"You should have sensed me a long time ago. Why didn't you contact me?" Yan Jing's expression was calm.

"I... I..."

Only an idiot would look for you on their own.

Fear Bird muttered inwardly.

She had been having way too much fun these past few days. Without Yan Jing's restraints, she could practically do whatever she wanted.

So much so that when she saw Yan Jing appear in the identity of the Xue Family Heir, she almost thought she was hallucinating from playing too hard. And the moment she confirmed it was really him, she felt as if she had fallen ill.

Truly ill. Her food lost its taste, her smile vanished, and she couldn't even sleep peacefully anymore.

"What stage is the Gods' Association at?"

Yan Jing asked.

"It's actually fine. They've just been gathering evidence of crimes." Seeing Yan Jing skip past her evasion, Fear Bird immediately spoke up.

"The Gods' Association is still quite particular about evidence. They want to confirm everything before making a final decision."

"But the Xue Family hasn't really invaded any other Domains yet, so they haven't made any major moves for now."

Yan Jing nodded.

"But I am about to make a major move."

"What are you planning?" Fear Bird asked warily.

If the man in front of her said he was going to make a major move, then it was likely going to be massive.

"Change to a different body."

Yan Jing said expressionlessly.

Fear Bird immediately realized something and shook her head frantically.

"No, no, no! You can't!"

She crossed her hands over her chest, terrified that Yan Jing would rip her out of Mo Yinling's body the very next second.

"I need a reason to strike."

Yan Jing's expression was calm.

"No... really, no... I'm begging you..."

Fear Bird bit her lower lip.

Suddenly, as if thinking of something, she blurted out:

"Right! There are others! There are the two who came with me! Catch them! Catch them instead!"

Yan Jing remained expressionless.

"You make the move, and I'll let you play around a little longer."

Fear Bird nodded madly. To avoid going back into the cage, she would do absolutely anything.

The crowd waited anxiously in the courtyard.

The two of them had been inside the room for a long time, yet not a single sound could be heard.

Just as everyone was guessing what had happened, a figure dashed out of the room, charging straight toward a twin-tailed girl in the crowd.

With a loud bang, the twin-tailed girl was slammed directly against the wall.

Everyone watched in shock as Mo Yinling—the same woman Yan Jing had just held captive—glared coldly at the twin-tailed girl.

"I have already explained the situation to the Heir Apparent. The one causing trouble and spreading rumors has been identified."

Tang Ran curled up in pain. She stared at Mo Yinling in disbelief, never expecting the woman to attack her. The two of them had barely interacted over the past few days.

"Have you lost your mind?"

Clutching her left arm, she stood up and glared at Mo Yinling.

Fear Bird sneered.

"I've already submitted all the evidence to the Heir Apparent."

Hearing this, Tang Ran jolted in shock.

Her heart turned cold; she truly couldn't tell if the other party was lying.

After all, she had indeed been gathering evidence of crimes these past few days. Since Mo Yinling was a colleague, Tang Ran had kept her guard completely down around her.

If Mo Yinling turned on her right now, she would definitely be dead.

This was the Xue Family's main headquarters, after all!

"You're full of shit!" Left with no other choice, she could only deny it to the death. She gritted her teeth and stared at her opponent.

"Have you just had it out for me this whole time? To actually slander me like this!"

"If you ask me, you're the real spy!!!"

"Heh heh." Light and shadows materialized in Fear Bird's hand. Soon, a series of images appeared before the crowd, clearly showing Tang Ran using a device to record videos.

"That's only because it's my first time in the Pure Blood Heavenly Kingdom! I was just recording the local customs of the Xue Family!!!"

Tang Ran stubbornly held her ground, absolutely refusing to admit she had anything to do with this matter.

"Yeah, you... you can't really tell much from this..."

"Right, right, right, there's definitely a misunderstanding here."

"Tang Ran is from the Gods' Association, isn't she? She wouldn't do something so detrimental to herself."

"Exactly. We should consider this more carefully."

"Right, we all know the Xue Family hasn't done anything. Since there's no evidence of any crimes, why would she bother recording?"

Within the crowd, several people spoke up to support her.

Some of them had also come under orders from the Gods' Association, while others had received instructions from their own Domains.

Seeing the situation rapidly deteriorating, they all stepped up to smooth things over, worried that if this fire kept burning, it would eventually reach them. But Fear Bird smiled coldly.

"Did I ever say this had anything to do with the Gods' Association?"

"I'm saying that Tang Ran, hailing from the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom, wants to secretly ruin Pure Blood City due to the years of conflict between Mechanical City and Pure Blood City."

"You want evidence? Is this enough?"

Immediately after, Fear Bird projected even more videos of Tang Ran.

"Do you still have anything to say?"

Fear Bird looked at the rest of the crowd.

"No, nothing at all."

"Who would have thought... To think Tang Ran was actually this kind of person!!!"

"Indeed! We misjudged her!"

The situation reversed in an instant.

Hearing that the established crime wouldn't implicate them, and seeing that Fear Bird's evidence was irrefutable, everyone immediately changed their tune.

"Since everyone agrees."

Yan Jing's expression remained calm.

"Then we will handle this according to the Xue Family's family law."

Tang Ran's face instantly drained of color. Without even thinking, she turned and bolted away.

But...

A longbow materialized in Yan Jing's hand.

A Silver White arrow appeared on the bowstring, and vortexes formed from weird energy bloomed around its tip.

Swish.

The arrow left the string, carving a Silver White arc of light through the air.

A split second later, Tang Ran let out a miserable shriek in midair. Her shoulder instantly transformed into a patch of Silver White as she plummeted from the sky.

"I will interrogate her thoroughly."

Yan Jing stepped out of the courtyard gate and spoke softly.

"You may all disperse."

Disperse?

The crowd stared at Yan Jing's disappearing back. The next moment, they scattered like startled birds and beasts.

Of course they'd disperse!

If they didn't, were they just waiting around to be caught?

Some even fled the Xue Family overnight, purely to avoid being caught in the crossfire and to bring the news back immediately.

And this...

...was precisely Yan Jing's goal.

Everyone would know that Tang Ran had been captured.

Both the motive and the evidence were present.

And so...

He now had his excuse to strike.

As for whether any other places would follow the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom...

As long as Tang Ran was in his hands, didn't he alone get the final say on how many spies there were?

There was only one flaw in doing things this way.

If his strength was lacking, problems would likely arise. He could be bitten back and suffer severe losses.

But...

That was a flaw in the plan, not in him.

"He's going to make a move!!!"

Xue Shi and the others were sprawled over the top of the wall. Even though the incident had ended a good while ago, they still hadn't fully digested what happened.

"Third Brother's move was absolutely brilliant."

Xue Yunhe praised.

"A fight's about to break out! And with the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom, no less." Xue Shi's face was flushed with excitement.

"I've been sick of that bitch Tang Ran for a long time. Third Brother did great."

"If a war breaks out, I'll lead the vanguard."

"The Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom won't be easy to deal with..." Xue Wan adjusted her glasses.

"That place is easy to defend and hard to attack. If they turtle up, we'll likely be dragged down and exhausted."

"He'll probably attack from the outer perimeter first..." Xue Rou pulled out a map, pointing from one side to the other.

"The Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom's territory is indeed the largest among all the Domains..."

"Do you guys think Third Brother chose them on purpose?"

"Their territory is so massive. If a direct fight breaks out, they're highly likely to abandon a portion of it."

"If that's the case, we have to launch a fast attack..." Xue Shi rubbed her chin.

"Should we head out right now and launch an offensive directly tomorrow morning?"

"Isn't that... a little too fast?"

Xue Wan blinked.

"We should wait for Third Brother to come back and discuss it."

"Alright, we'll wait for him to return."

The group simply waited at the entrance to Yan Jing's home.

But in the end, Yan Jing didn't show up. Instead, Xue Qiao arrived.

Xue Qiao signed a series of gestures to the group.

"What is he saying?" Xue Shi looked at the others.

Xue Rou furrowed her brows. She understood sign language, but... it seemed she couldn't quite comprehend what Xue Qiao was trying to say.

"Qiao'er says... the battle report has returned. We won a great victory."

"A great victory... a great victory..." Xue Shi blanked out for a moment, looking at the people beside her.

"What great victory?"

"Second Sister, you must be pretending. A great victory means..." Xue Yunhe paused halfway through his sentence, suddenly freezing up as well.

"Right, we haven't even started fighting yet. Where did a great victory come from?"

Xue Qiao gestured frantically again.

Xue Rou's eyes gradually glazed over.

"What's wrong? Speak!" Xue Shi was so anxious she wanted to bite someone.

"Qiao'er says... Qiao'er says..."

Xue Rou's eyes slowly widened, revealing traces of horror.

"He says Third Brother charged into the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom's Domain all by himself and has already conquered a third of the outer regions."

"Put down your weapons!"

Yan Jing's figure hovered in midair, a blood-red longbow gripped in his hand.

Before him lay a city composed entirely of mechanical devices, currently blazing with raging fires and billowing thick smoke.

Standing in front of the machinery was a group of people gripping industrial pliers, trembling uncontrollably.

Yan Jing shouted to the crowd with an expressionless face:

"Go home now. Everything here has nothing to do with you."

"This is not your nation; this is a nation of machinery. There is no need to risk your lives for these cold, lifeless things."

"The Xue Family will take over this place. The system will be rewritten, and you do not have the right to refuse."

Hearing this, the already shivering crowd immediately dropped their wrenches and pliers, turning around to flee into the city.

Most of them wore grayish-white work uniforms and hard hats, with ID badges hanging around their necks.

This was the true reality of most of the subordinate Domains under the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom.

These people were originally residents of the subordinate Domains. In the past, these Domains were just like the Chen Family's Stone Realm, possessing their own Pathways and ways of life.

But after the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom took over, they forcibly introduced machinery into these lands.

Under the rules of the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom, machines stood above flesh-and-blood life.

Thus, the original inhabitants of the Domains became machine workers dedicated to maintaining the machinery.

As the absolute bottom tier of the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom, the machine workers lived the most miserable lives. They earned the most meager wages while doing the most grueling labor. Their daily existence consisted of endlessly maintaining the machinery.

Inside every single one of their bodies was an implanted chip connected to the Central Mechanical.

The moment they violated a rule, they would be executed immediately.

But...

Yan Jing had already destroyed the Central Mechanical outright.

As a result, they had effectively been liberated.

Facing this Xue Family Heir, they, as ordinary people, had only stood in Yan Jing's way because of the chips coercing them.

Now that the restraints were gone, they naturally scurried back to their homes to hide.

More importantly, this wasn't the first city Yan Jing had taken down.

Many people had already received the news.

In the cities this Xue Family Heir had visited previously, he hadn't actively harmed a single resident.

Because of this, they naturally trusted the Heir Apparent's words.

Expressionless, Yan Jing tossed a Silver White iron ball onto the ground before speeding off toward the next city.

Just as he was about to arrive at the next city, he suddenly seemed to sense something. He raised his head and looked into the distance.

From far away, he saw a Silver White flash of light blinking over from the horizon.

With every blink, it traversed thousands of meters, as fast as a shooting star.

The very next second, that white light slammed directly into Yan Jing.