novelThe Incensed Grand Vizier
| ← Ch.116 | Ch.118 → |
Translator: Minotauruz
Situ Cang continuously applied several talismans onto the second prince's body. In particular, these were Situ Cang's precious talismans that he had painstakingly crafted with blood, sweat and tears. He had specifically prepared these talismans for the purposes of overcoming tribulations, and he would never use them unless it was absolutely necessary.
Each of these talismans that Situ Cang used possessed the ability to slow down the loss of one's life energy. Even though Situ Cang wanted to save them to preserve his own life, these considerations all went out of the window in that moment when he noticed that his only son's life was dangling by a thread.
According to Situ Cang's calculations, these talismans would be able to preserve his son's life and avert the crisis before his eyes. However, the talismans did not achieve the purposes he intended.
Even after he used these talismans on his son, his son's life force nevertheless continued to seep out from his body, albeit at a slower rate. If this situation continued without any form of intervention, the second prince's death was only a matter of time.
It was evident that these talismans did not even display thirty percent of their intended efficacy.
Situ Cang's eyes were bloodshot, and he was evidently on the verge of erupting in fury again. His frigid gaze swept across the bodies of everyone present as the energy within his body roiled and surged with every second.
He desperately wanted to find the culprit who had reduced his son to such a sorry state. However, he did not intend to let these Dawn Sect disciples go scot-free either.
They had all been in my son's residence tonight – why is it that my son is so seriously injured, yet these people are completely fine?!
Situ Cang wanted to vent his frustrations and anger. He wanted to bury these Dawn Sect disciples together with his son!
At this moment, Situ Cang did not intend to let a single one of them off the hook – even the Chosen Disciple from Limitless Sect. After all, he possessed several tricks up his sleeve that could be used to cover up and conceal these heinous crimes. To a person of his cultivation level, it was hardly a difficult task to discreetly dispose of worthless, Qi Mastery ants.
Situ Cang's gaze was extremely incisive and stinging, pricking the skins of the Dawn Sect disciples like a cold, poisonous needle. The disciples who locked eyes with him immediately felt shivers down their spines, and their backs were instantly drenched in cold sweat.
Yu Wanrou shivered incessantly as she lay on the ground. She had curled up her body into a tight ball. Earlier, Situ Cang's blast had struck her so violently that she had almost fainted like some of her other martial brothers around.
She possessed a spectral demiplane, and one mouthful of the waters of her spirit spring would immediately restore her vitality and heal all of her injuries. However, she knew that she could not afford to bring out her spirit spring waters under Situ Cang's watchful eyes. Therefore, she could only bear with the pain and hope that she could avert this calamity.
However, she had a foreboding sense of the impending doom. She noticed how Situ Cang was now gazing at all of them with wan-looking eyes. It was evident that he had already lost all hope given the second prince's imminent demise.
If the second prince did not survive this disaster, not only would her dreams of becoming the queen of a kingdom be completely dashed, she might not even be able to keep her life! Having died once before, Yu Wanrou was extremely afraid of dying again.
Her ambitions were in lofty places – she wanted to subjugate the entire cultivation world and stand at the top as the matriarch to all. How could she just die here?!
As Yu Wanrou thought about these things, she gnashed her teeth and resolved to give it a shot – she could use some of her spirit spring's waters in exchange for the promise that the Grand Vizier would refrain from killing her for the time being.
Having made up her mind, Yu Wanrou cautiously lifted her head and weakly addressed the Grand Vizier, "Pre-... Preeminent Grand Vizier, I... I might have a way to save the second prince's life."
Situ Cang immediately perked up his head and turned his attention to Yu Wanrou as he coldly responded, "Speak."
"Preeminent Grand Vizier, please hold on." As Yu Wanrou spoke, she retrieved a bottle containing some spirit spring waters from her Interspatial Ring.
"This is a strange, miraculous medicine that I'd managed to come across some time back. Whenever I got injured in the past, I would always apply some of the medicine onto my injuries, and these wounds would recover incredibly quickly. I wonder if this medicine would be of any use to the second prince."
Naturally, Yu Wanrou was reticent to disclose the existence of the spirit spring or her spectral demiplane. Therefore, she explained that she had only discovered this bottle of medicine by chance.
Situ Cang hardly bore any hope that a cultivator at the meagre fifth level of Qi Mastery would possess any miraculous medicine with her. However, given the urgency of the situation at hand, he decided to give it a shot anyway. He made a grabbing action in the air, and the medicinal bottle in Yu Wanrou's hands immediately flew over to his hands.
He continued to wear a cold expression on his face as he opened the cap of this small jade bottle. Instantly, a waft of dense spiritual energy diffused outwards from the bottle.
The other disciples were all located some distance away from Situ Cang right now, and they could not detect the spiritual energy that had wafted out of the bottle. However, Situ Cang's sudden change of facial expression was extremely obvious – the coldness had faded, and there was even a trace of shock in his eyes.
He glanced over at Yu Wanrou meaningfully once more. As their eyes locked once more, Yu Wanrou instantly broke out profusely with cold sweat that drenched her entire back within moments.
When faced with the penetrating gaze of the aged freak that was Situ Cang, Yu Wanrou felt as though her deepest, darkest secrets had instantly been exposed to him, and goosebumps crept up all over her skin.
However, Situ Cang could hardly be bothered about the secrets on Yu Wanrou's body for now. Time was of the essence. He immediately forced open the second prince's mouth, poured all of the contents of that small jade bottle in and then shut the second prince's mouth.
The waters from Yu Wanrou's spirit spring were essentially spirit energy that had been congealed into a liquid form. Once it entered the second prince's mouth, it immediately began to diffuse throughout his body and seep through his meridians and Dantian.
The second prince's meridians and Dantian had been thoroughly damaged and corroded by the incursion of the demonic energy from the first prince's body. Therefore, the second prince no longer had any ability to store spiritual energy. This was one of the main reasons why all those talismans that Situ Cang had placed on the second prince's body had achieved barely any effects. What Yu Wanrou had brought out right now was a bottle containing water from the spirit spring within her spectral demiplane. One drop of this spirit spring water contained as much spirit energy as the amount that a normal cultivator would cycle through over the course of half a month of meditation. Therefore, one could only imagine the amount of spirit energy flowing through the second prince's body when Situ Cang poured the entire contents of that bottle directly into the second prince's mouth.
Under the baptism of such immense, concentrated spirit energy, the demonic energy within the second prince's body was forced out of his body and washed away. As a result, his Dantian and meridians began to recover, and his life force followed suit as well.
As the Dawn Sect disciples watched on, the second prince's body seemed to expel a thick cloud of roiling, black energy. Their hearts constricted with fear. They were unsure whether the miracle medicine offered by Yu Wanrou had been effective or not.
However, what was apparent was that the fury in Situ Cang's eyes had gradually begun to subside. Situ Cang could tell for himself that the medicine from Yu Wanrou had worked, and his son's life was now safe. As to whether his son's cultivation would fall as a result of his injuries, this was something left to be determined at a later time.
Then, Situ Cang cast a spell and shot it into the air. Moments later, the heart of the Teleportation Array glowed brightly again, and several servants from the Grand Vizier's residence appeared in the second prince's courtyard.
"Bring the second prince back to my residence to rest and recuperate. This Sovereign shall take care of the loose ends before going back."
"Yes!" The servants knelt as they responded in unison. Then, they gingerly lifted the second prince's body before tossing out a Teleportation Scroll in front of them. An intense blue light dazzled brightly, and the servants vanished together with the second prince.
This entire sequence of events happened within a few breaths of time. The Dawn Sect disciples had initially despaired in the fact that they might not be able to escape certain doom this time. However, things took an unexpected turn when the miracle medicine offered by their martial sister Wanrou proved to be useful!
Having been granted a new lease of life, the disciples all looked towards Yu Wanrou with only gratitude in their eyes. At the same time, Yu Wanrou cheered in her heart – This gamble has indeed paid off. After today, these people from Dawn Sect, the Grand Vizier as well as the second prince all owe me a favour now. Things ahead are going to be much smoother for me!
"Alright, you don't have to kneel anymore. You may recover." The Grand Vizier waved his arm coolly as he spoke. The Dawn Sect disciples began to help each other as they all clambered back up to their feet.
"Thank you, senior." As the leader in charge of these disciples, Qin Lingyu naturally had to maintain his appearances and partake in pleasantries on behalf of everyone.
Situ Cang waved his hands nonchalantly, brushing off Qin Lingyu's gestures. He had not let these disciples off out of the kindness of his heart. Rather, it was because the second prince's life had been preserved that there was no longer a need to ventilate his frustrations and anger on these people any longer.
Furthermore, he had a hunch that that female cultivator did not only possess a single bottle of miracle medicine on her. Right now, he was still unsure whether his son would be able to fully recover. Therefore, before he could properly assess his situation and where things stood, he had to let this female cultivator off the hook for now.
"Senior, your humble servant has discovered this little accessory some distance away. Perhaps it might have something to do with the perpetrator." Ke Xinwen knew that the moment of crisis had passed. Therefore, he mustered his courage to present the accessory he had earlier found to Situ Cang.
He intended to kill Ye Xiuwen by using Situ Cang as borrowed knife against him.
This was a simple accessory to be worn on one's clothing that could easily be found in stores at the marketplace. But at the same time, it was precisely because it was something so common and cheap that the fact that it had appeared within the second prince's residence was a cause for suspicion.
Situ Cang immediately received the accessory in his hand and examined it with a complicated look in his eyes.
When Di Yue noticed the accessory presented by Ke Xinwen, Di Yue murmured under his breath, "Isn't this the accessory that Yao Mo had given martial brother Ye?!"
However, Situ Cang picked up on what Di Yue had muttered under his breath. He made a grabbing action at Di Yue and pulled Di Yue towards himself. Then, he held Di Yue by the neck and gazed coldly into Di Yue's eyes as he interrogated him, "You recognize the owner of this accessory?"
Di Yue's eyes widened. He did not want to betray Ye Xiuwen if he could help it. After all, Ye Xiuwen had once saved his life. However, Situ Cang's facial expression right now obviously told him that Situ Cang was going to snap his neck if he didn't spill the beans right now.
Just as Situ Cang increased the pressure on his neck, Di Yue began to speak hoarsely, "I'll speak... senior, I'll speak..."
Situ Cang loosened his grasp slightly, but he continued to keep his fingers wrapped around Di Yue's neck.
"It's... I think it's... it's... it's martial brother Ye's..." Di Yue wore a wailing expression as he spoke.
"Martial brother Ye? Someone from Dawn Sect?" Situ Cang's fury once again ignited.
"Senior, please allow me to speak." Qin Lingyu noticed Ke Xinwen's plan to kill Ye Xiuwen with a borrowed knife, and he decided to lend Ke Xinwen a hand, "Martial brother Ye is indeed a fellow disciple within the Dawn Sect, and he's even our Heavenly Peak Peakmaster's First-Seat Disciple. However, he's quite introverted and rarely interacts with us. I'm afraid he's also acted in the same manner on these travels as well – he has continued to act according to his own whims and fancy. At the very least, we're never aware of his true intentions or motives, and we never know where or when he comes and goes."
In other words, even if Ye Xiuwen had hurt the second prince, this had nothing to do with anyone else present right now.
Situ Cang stared silently at Qin Lingyu, causing Qin Lingyu's heart to feel somewhat uneasy – Could it be that the Grand Vizier doesn't believe me? Or does he want us to account for Ye Xiuwen's crimes now?
Qin Lingyu suddenly regretted acting on an impulse and attempting to push the blame onto Ye Xiuwen's body.
After sizing up Qin Lingyu and Ke Xinwen for a moment, he coldly mocked in response, "Are you saying that Dawn Sect is a sect of demonic cultivators?"
"Demon-... Demonic cultivators?!" Everyone was astonished by Situ Cang's sudden reference to demonic cultivators.
"Ah, the perpetrator who had hurt my disciple was obviously a demonic cultivator. His wounds had clearly been caused by the incursion of demonic energy. If you're telling me that your 'martial brother Ye' is the one who had injured him, then isn't that tantamount to saying that Dawn Sect is a sect of demonic cultivators?"
Having lived for over two thousand years, how could Situ Cang not see that Qin Lingyu and Ke Xinwen were trying to kill Ye Xiuwen using a borrowed knife?
And are they trying to use me as a "borrowed knife"? Shouldn't they be worried about whether they can live to even "borrow" this "knife" to begin with?
Ke Xinwen's ploy had thoroughly fallen apart from this one simple fact. He had never expected that the first proper scheme that he had come up with would so easily be thwarted by the existence of "demonic energy".
On the other hand, Qin Lingyu was hardly anxious. His cognitive abilities were much more thorough and meticulous than Ke Xinwen's to begin with, and he was also much more composed. Therefore, he made a fist and palm salute at Situ Cang as he continued to address him, "Martial brother Ye isn't a demonic cultivator. However, there is another young man of mysterious origins who tags along Ye Xiuwen, called Yao Mo. We know little about this young man, and we cannot be sure that he's not a demonic cultivator as well."
"That's right! There's still Yao Mo!" Another Dawn Sect disciple exclaimed, as though in sudden realization, "I'd always thought that Yao Mo to have behaved mysteriously. Perhaps his methods were so strange precisely because he is a demonic cultivator!"
"He'd even butted heads against the second prince during the auction earlier." Another disciple chimed in.
"Yeah, and he even began to mock and ridicule the second prince over the fact that he and the second prince were both bidding for the same object."
......
The only thing on these disciples' minds was to divert the Grand Vizier's attention away from themselves onto someone else. Therefore, they had echoed Qin Lingyu and Ke Xinwen's words without restraint, intending to use Ye Xiuwen and Yao Mo to drag the flak away from their own bodies.
As to whether Ye Xiuwen would be killed by the Grand Vizier as a result of their actions, they could hardly care less. After all, they could hardly even preserve their own lives, much less the lives of others.
Situ Cang swept his penetrating gaze around at the disciples who were voicing out their opinions. He could tell with his keen senses that these disciples weren't lying right now.
With this new piece of information in mind, Situ Cang resolved that he was not going to let this young man named Yao Mo off, regardless of whether he was the culprit for his son's injuries. After all, those who argued with his son must die!
Situ Cang was fiercely protective over his son. This was one of the reasons why the second prince had grown up being so narcissistic and entitled, with an overinflated ego.
Having made up his mind, Situ Cang threw Di Yue onto the ground. Then, he cast a spell and shot it into the air. Immediately, the remaining traces of demonic energy in the surrounding air swirled about as it congealed together, before hovering about slightly above his palm.
Situ Cang retrieved a small bottle from his Interspatial Ring and stored the demonic energy within the bottle.
This demonic energy carried weak traces of their owner's aura. With these traces of the perpetrator's aura, all Situ Cang had to do was to imbue a formation array with some of this aura, and he would be able to locate the perpetrator who had injured the second prince.
Ke Xinwen's plan to kill Ye Xiuwen with a borrowed knife was destined to fail as a result of demonic energy. However, the dispute between Yao Mo and the second prince had somewhat inadvertently salvaged Ke Xinwen's thwarted scheme and placed Yao Mo in Situ Cang's sights instead.
If Situ Cang was going to go after Yao Mo, then he most certainly would not turn a blind eye to Ye Xiuwen who hung around Yao Mo either.
Ke Xinwen's lips began to curl up with a wicked smile, and a bright gleam flashed across his eyes.
Di Yue, who had just been tossed to the ground was sprawled all over the floor as he shivered, gasping hard to catch his breath. However, he remained taciturn, just like the rest of the other disciples. After all, the less they spoke, the less likely they were to say something wrong and incur the consequences of Situ Cang's wrath.
On the other hand, Situ Cang had already obtained the result that he had hoped for. Naturally, he was no longer after the lives of these disciples. However, he could not be sure that his son would fully recover from his injuries. Therefore, he intended to keep these Dawn Sect disciples close to him, especially the mysterious Yu Wanrou.
"The rest of you may temporarily stay at this residence. You may leave once this Sovereign has thoroughly resolved the present incident and tied up all loose ends."
It was clear that this was a peremptory command from Situ Cang – he was obviously not seeking their opinion in the matter.
Despite that, everyone hurriedly nodded their head. They were more than satisfied to leave with their lives intact. What more could they ask for?
And as for Ke Xinwen, Qin Lingyu and Yu Wanrou, they had never intended to leave this place to begin with. Ke Xinwen and Qin Lingyu wanted to witness with their own eyes how Ye Xiuwen and Yao Mo would be dealt with by Situ Cang; while Yu Wanrou wanted Situ Cang and the second prince to owe her even more favours.
With different feelings and thoughts in their hearts, everyone finally departed the courtyard and retired to their own rooms.
With so many things on their minds, no one noticed that Di Yue had discreetly remained behind in the courtyard.
After ascertaining that everyone had walked ahead and no one's eyes were on him, he immediately retrieved a Messenger Paper Crane and wrote a message on it:
Martial brother Ye, the Inferno Kingdom's Grand Vizier is probably chasing after you and Yao Mo right now. Hurry up and leave this county. Don't come back!
After he finished writing his message, he sent the Messenger Paper Crane flying off with a trace of regret in his eyes.
Ye Xiuwen had saved his life. Naturally, he did not wish to see Ye Xiuwen be hurt as a result of his earlier weakness.
I hope this warning will reach you in time. Di Yue silently muttered in his heart. He gently rubbed his neck where the Grand Vizier had earlier strangled him, as he picked up his steps and caught up with the rest of the disciples.
| ← Ch. 116 | Ch. 118 → |