"Elder Sister Shao Ah. Come look!"
As she walked along the crowded market, Xue'Er turned around and shouted to a beautiful girl dressed in an elegant off-shoulder robe. The girl was looking around with curiosity, but immediately rushed over to Xue'Er when she heard the latter call her name.
Behind her, Qian'Er, Tai Ah, Wang Fang, and Wang Lian also came over to see what the fuss was about.
Tai Ah and Shao Ah were Zhao Fei's handmaidens, and Wang Fang and Wang Lian were Sikong Wuwei's handmaidens. All three masters had given their girls a few days off, insisting that they need not worry about their duties and to have fun in the capital city instead. Perhaps it was a form of compensation on their part for having worried these ladies for so many years.
That said, this highly populous capital city was as unbelievably huge as it was extravagant. It was not a place that the six ladies could fully enjoy to their hearts' content in just one or two days. What's more, considering it was such a hard-to-come-by opportunity, the ladies decided to make full use of their time here, heading off early every single morning and coming back late every single night as they fully immersed themselves in all that the capital city had to offer.
The ladies gathered together and looked towards an intricately-designed crystal fish tank. Slowly swimming around inside it was a group of fish which were almost bloated like balls. Their sheer cuteness immediately garnered the ladies' affection.
As the ladies surrounded the fish tank and pointed at the swimming creatures excitedly, a tall, thin man holding a fan swaggered by with around half a dozen escorts following behind him. The stall owners on both sides of the street immediately revealed frightened looks.
When the thin man passed by the ladies, he slightly raised an eyebrow at them, then sent an abrupt slap towards Qian'Er's supple buttocks; since she was staring at the fish tank, her upper body was already bent forward. The crisp sound of the slap quickly echoed throughout the area.
"AH!" Against this sudden assault, Qian'Er exclaimed in shock and quickly covered her butt. When the other ladies turned around, they watched as Qian'Er sent out a kick by reflex. Two of the thin man's escorts quickly stood in front of him to block Qian'Er's retaliation, but not only were they unable to protect their master, the three of them spat out a mouthful of blood and were sent flying altogether.
The trio crashed into a stall on the opposite end of the street and knocked down several fish tanks, spilling water everywhere and causing the different types of fish to flop around on the ground.
All three men were sprawled on the floor. The escort standing in front who'd taken the brunt of the attack was already dead in a pool of his own blood, while the other escort kept vomiting blood. As for the thin man, he felt a strong haziness in his mind, and vigorously shook his head to dispel the dizziness. If there weren't two other people standing in front of him just now, being a mortal, he would have surely died from the attack of an immortal cultivator like Qian'Er.
The other three escorts quickly helped the thin man up. Two of them even pointed to Qian'Er furiously and were about to retaliate. However, when they saw the three-petaled white lotus mark on her forehead, they were instantly dazed. Still, their fingers pointed at her furiously as they barked, "How dare you attack someone in the capital city of the Fifth Earthly Branch. Do you have any idea who you just hit?"
The other ladies could already guess what had happened based on the loud slapping sound earlier and after seeing that Qian'Er was covering her butt. They were all utterly infuriated. Seeing her elder sister being taken advantage of, Xue'Er was all the more beside herself with rage. The ladies immediately stepped forward and caused those escorts that stood in their path to wail in agony as they sent them flying with a kick, which had most likely killed these mortals on the spot.
Fortunately, Lin Pingping had been standing close by. With a worried look on her face, she quickly rushed over to stop Xue'Er and the others as she hastily warned, "We cannot use force here."
Xue'Er was completely blinded by fury. She barked angrily, "Move aside! Let me kill him!"
The thin man had regained his senses but was immediately thrust into a state of fear the next second. He frantically backed away, but soon fell back to the ground and stumbled his way backward. He was completely terrified. He'd never imagined that someone would dare attack him in the capital city of the Fifth Earthly Branch.
Standing in a shop nearby, Ren Xuanming couldn't help his surprise at the boldness of these ladies. He also hadn't expected that they would dare to use physical force against someone in the capital city. If these ladies had really killed the person who'd taken advantage of them just now, they would definitely end up in big trouble.
Lin Pingping hastily stopped the ladies, and warned them in a low voice, "That man is Huyan Shou, the 38th generation's grandson of the Celestial Sage's eldest disciple Huyan Taibao. He's not someone we can afford to offend."
The ladies were astonished to hear that this thin man was actually a descendant of the Celestial Sage's disciple, and they quickly quelled the fury in their hearts. Even though they knew that the other party was just a mortal, they understood that he was not someone to be trifled with.
Her face pale from anger, Qian'Er clenched her teeth and said, "Forget it. Let's go!" The only reason she decided to let this matter go was because she didn't want to cause trouble for her master.
But alas, it was no longer possible for them to leave, as an alarm had already begun to ring nearby. Soon, nine cultivators flew over from three separate directions. They were all wearing the same uniform and had a badge engraved with the word 'Martial' hanging around their waist. Clearly, these people were the Martial Manor's cultivators who were tasked with regulating safety and security within the capital city.
When they saw Huyan Shou's miserable state, the nine enforcers couldn't help their surprise. They never thought that someone would actually dare to hit him within the capital city. They quickly interrogated some of the bystanders on what happened in the area, then surrounded the ladies as they barked coldly, "As a cultivator, how dare you ignore the laws and commit murder in the capital city. You all must be tired of living!"
Noticing that the enforcers had arrived, Huyan Shou instantly felt a surge in confidence. Having regained some strength in his knees, he quickly got to his feet and bellowed furiously, "How dare you hit me!"
Lin Pingping hurriedly stepped forward to stop him. She repeatedly bowed her head and apologized, "Young Master Huyan. This is their first time in the capital city. Please don't hold it against them!"
"And where the hell did you sprout from?!" Huyan Shou raised his hand— 'Pa!' —and viciously slapped Lin Pingping's face. He then walked up to Qian'Er, raised both hands— 'Pa! Pa!' —and mercilessly slapped her as well.
And that was still not the end of it. Huyan Shou continued to give Xue'Er, Tai Ah, Shao Ah, Wang Fang, and Wang Lian a brutal slap as well.
The ladies had used their transcendence energy to protect themselves. Not to mention, a mortal like Huyan Shou couldn't damage them to begin with. But even so, they didn't dare to retaliate against him at all, and just stood in place as Huyan Shou slapped their faces. For such beautiful women to be publicly humiliated like this, the six ladies all felt terribly ashamed inside.
After going through a bout of slapping, Huyan Shou wanted to have another go at these ladies, but someone suddenly grabbed his hand, yelling, "Huyan Shou, that's enough!"
Huyan Shou retorted angrily, "What do you mean that's enough? They killed my subordinates. I want them to pay with their lives!"
The enforcer who grabbed his hand replied coldly, "The Martial Manor will punish them accordingly. If you continue to fool around, you would be offending the Governor. Are you aware of the consequences? We might be giving you face, but the Governor won't show you that same courtesy!"
Huyan Shou's rage instantly calmed down when he heard the Governor's name. He timidly retracted his hand, no longer daring to disobey this enforcer.
Within a place like the capital city, it was natural for there to be plenty of bigwigs. However, in spite of all that, Governor Lan Hou of the Martial Manor was still able to enforce the law in this place. This naturally proved that he commanded an unquestionable authority within the capital city. Otherwise, chaos would surely ensue.
Seeing that Huyan Shou had obediently stopped, the enforcer raised his hand and said, "Take them away!"
Several black chains were then taken out, and the ladies were cuffed and taken away under the public eye. Not a single one of them dared to retaliate.
"Huyan Shou, you're coming along as well!" The leader of the enforcers extended his arm in a beckoning gesture.
Huyan Shou's eyes instantly widened as he cried out, "They were the ones who committed murder. Just take them away. Why do you have to drag me in as well?"
"You are the injured party here. If you don't come with us, how will we explain to our superiors?" The enforcer gave him a slight push and asked coldly, "Would you prefer the Governor to send someone to bring you over instead?"
Huyan Shou was unable to retort and could only follow them obediently.
"Aii!" With a worried expression, Lin Pingping hurriedly left the scene. She never expected something like this to happen. Not only had there been cultivators committing murder in the capital city, they were even taken away by the enforcers from the Martial Manor. Given the severity of this issue, it was no longer something she could solve on her own. Lin Pingping quickly turned around and rushed off...
Coincidentally, today was also the day that Miao Yi and the others had to report to the Martial Manor. It wasn't anything serious really. Someone in the Martial Manor was just waiting for them to sign in their attendance to indicate their arrival, and to confirm they were ready for the Overlord to grant them an audience at his convenience.
Gu Sanzheng and the others had naturally joined in as well. All six of them registered with the Martial Manor, stating their temporary addresses within the capital city so that they could be readily summoned.
After the administrative staff confirmed their information, he waved his hand, gesturing that they were all free to go.
As the six of them left the office, Gu Sanzheng, Tan Lao, and Ye Xin completely ignored Miao Yi and simply went on their own paths along with their subordinates, as though he was a complete stranger to them.
Miao Yi had no intention of greeting them either. Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei had both witnessed what happened in Mount Calming Sea with their own eyes, so they knew why both parties were behaving so coldly to one another.
Even though they didn't greet each other openly, Gu Sanzheng still secretly transmitted his voice over to Miao Yi and asked, "Miao Yi, when I returned to the school, I had originally planned to convince everyone to let go of our past grievances. I tried to mediate between our two parties using the events in the Sea of Constellations as a reason. So don't you think you went a little overboard with what you did in Mount Calming Sea? You killed my Sword Deviate Sect disciples like they were mere ants. How do you expect my school to feel good about that? How do you expect me to feel good about that?!"
He clearly knew what had happened in Mount Calming Sea. In fact, it was precisely because he was so focused on this matter that his arrival in the capital city had been somewhat delayed.
Miao Yi replied in kind, "Don't push all the blame onto me. Don't you think the disciples of your three major sects were a little too overbearing as well? Not only did they rob the authority away from their superiors while I wasn't around, they even forced my women to entertain scoundrels and used them as bargaining chips. These are the disciples produced by your three major sects. I should be the one asking how you expect me to feel good about that. Don't tell me you want me to feel grateful to them instead? If you were in my shoes, what would you have done?"
Gu Sanzheng couldn't make a single retort. He was also aware of how the disciples of the three major sects had exposed each other's crimes, and he agreed that they had indeed gone a little too far. However, that was merely based on his own personal judgment. If he stood from the school's point of view, the three major sect disciples didn't do anything wrong at all. To use any means necessary to obtain more benefits for the school was an approach that should be lauded, not scorned. After all, the success of a major sect was built upon the diligent efforts of every single one of its disciples. There was no way he could blame them for what they did.
But with this, it seemed it would be very difficult for Gu Sanzheng, Tan Lao, and Ye Xin to walk alongside Miao Yi publicly in the future.
Miao Yi's group had barely left the vicinity of the Martial Manor within Jade Capital Peak and were about to enter the sector of rental properties provided by the Chamber of Commerce when they saw Lin Pingping anxiously pacing around the mountain gates of the Martial Manor.
When she saw Miao Yi come out, Lin Pingping lifted her skirt and knelt down on the spot as she cried out, "Your subordinate has been unfaithful in her task! I failed to look after the Aunties, and now they're in trouble."
Zhao Fei and the others were shocked, while Miao Yi gestured for Lin Pingping to stand as he asked solemnly, "Stand up and speak. What happened?"
Walking on the other side, Gu Sanzheng and the others were also taken aback by Lin Pingping's words. They came to a stop and looked over, clearly wishing to know what had happened as well.
Lin Pingping stood up and calmed herself, then quickly explained everything to Miao Yi.
Miao Yi and Zhao Fei looked at each other in shock. They never thought that such an incident would strike them out of the blue like this. That said, this problem was indeed a little too much to handle. They were in no mood to be angered about the fact that Qian'Er was taken advantage of or how their girls were humiliated in public. The Martial Manor's enforcers had already taken them away anyway. Miao Yi and the others couldn't help worrying that the six ladies would suffer due to Huyan Shou's background. However, with their capabilities, they didn't really have the qualifications to get the Martial Manor to release the girls either.
Gu Sanzheng, Tan Lao, and Ye Xin exchanged glances with one another, and the trio couldn't help frowning. In contrast, the other three major sect disciples accompanying them were revealing looks of delight. They clearly wanted nothing more than for Miao Yi to suffer.