Liu Yi was surprised to see Duan Ling carrying an extra person on his back. He hurriedly asked who this person was.

Duan Ling naturally couldn’t reveal Lu Xiuwen’s true identity, so he fabricated a lie, saying, “He’s an old friend of mine. He was kidnapped by the cult some time ago and suffered a lot, and he’s finally rescued now.”

There was one good thing Duan Ling acquired during his years at the cult. He could toughen his skin to the point where lies bounced off him like arrows off armor. He could tell lies without changing his expression or skipping a heartbeat.

Liu Yi didn’t doubt him and glanced at Lu Xiuwen, remarking, “This gongzi^[1]mister seems as fragile as a strand of silk. He must have endured a lot of torment in this cult.”

Lu Xiuwen smiled faintly but remained silent.

Once they were out of the secret passage, Duan Ling turned his head and realized that Lu Xiuwen had fallen asleep against his shoulder.

Outside, when others inquired about Lu Xiuwen’s origins, Duan Ling stuck to his previous story. While this might deceive younger people like Liu Yi, it wouldn’t fool a few seasoned veterans of the martial world. However, due to Duan Ling’s significant contribution in this operation to eradicate the cult, coupled with the fact that Lu Xiuwen possessed no internal energy, no one really cared.

As the remnants of the cult were being gradually eliminated, someone suddenly exclaimed, “Oh no, the severed head of the Cult Leader has gone missing!”

During the previous battle, the Cult Leader had a qi deviation^[2]lit. “to catch fire and be possessed by devils”. a state wherein the cultivation base becomes dangerously unstable, causing internal damage to the body and symptoms of psychosis. people who … Continue reading and died in a sudden. His body had been left in the main hall, guarded by a few individuals. But in the short time while Duan Ling was inside the secret passage, the head that had been severed from the Cult Leader’s body had inexplicably disappeared.

Furthermore, all the guards have also died, and they were all killed in one move, without even a chance to make a sound.

In this battle to eradicate evil and defend righteousness, elite members from various sects gathered. At the scene, other than sect leaders and martial arts masters, there were also two legendary figures of the martial world present. It could be said that it was teeming with experts.

Yet, right under the noses of these formidable experts, someone managed to come and go without a trace, silently taking away the head of the Cult Leader.

Such martial skill, would it not astonish people?

Looking at the bloody corpses in the hall, a chill swept through everyone’s heart. Imagine a person with this kind of skill, wouldn’t taking the life of any one of them be as easy as a turn of a hand?

Liu Yi felt a chill on the back of his neck and raised his hand to touch it, saying, “Duan Da’ge, who do you think did this?”

“Apart from that Left Guardian who escaped, no one else could possess such abilities. Hmph, this is the cunningness of the cult. On one hand, they were able to snatch away the head of the sect master, and on the other hand, they were able to sow fear among us, keeping us all on edge.

Most of the others also roughly guessed the same. Unfortunately, the Left Guardian had vanished without a trace, making it impossible to track him down. After discussing it among themselves, they set fire to the cult’s main altar to prevent any further trouble, and then all dispersed separately.

Duan Ling had been traveling on a horse, but now that he had the wounded Lu Xiuwen by his side, sharing a horse naturally wouldn’t be easy. So Duan Ling had to buy a carriage and they made their way back slowly.

Lu Xiuwen’s recovery was extremely slow. He spent his days drifting in and out of sleep, and his breathing was weak when he was asleep, almost as if he were dead. Duan Ling had considered seeking a doctor, but he realized that Lu Xiuwen was not only the Cult Leader’s beloved disciple but also his greatest enemy in life. When he was trapped in the evil lair, Duan Ling couldn’t remember how many beatings and scoldings he had received from this “shixiong” of his. There was really no need to be so kind-hearted to him, so he didn’t bother.

After several days passed like this, Lu Xiuwen gradually began to recover. However, regardless of Duan Ling’s pressing, he refused to reveal Lu Xiuyan’s whereabouts. Duan Ling had considered using torture methods to extract information from him, but seeing Lu Xiuwen in his near-death state, he feared that even moving a single finger might cause him to cough up blood and die.

Duan Ling had no choice but to suppress his anger. He took good care of Lu Xiuwen along the way, spending nearly half a month before finally returning to his hometown, Qingzhou. Duan Ling had a separate courtyard here, a place where he usually practiced martial arts. Due to Lu Xiuwen’s unique identity, he decided to settle him down in this place for the time being.

Lu Xiuwen wasn’t courteous either, he asked as soon as he stepped out of the carriage, “Shidi, which room am I staying in?”

“What do you want?”

“Since you’re the master, the place where you’re staying must be the best. Now that your shixiong has arrived, shouldn’t you be offering it to me?”

He said this while walking towards the inner courtyard.

Duan Ling almost laughed from anger.

He was just a prisoner under the stage, and yet he wanted to take over the best place. Where in the world could such logic exist? Without hesitation, Duan Ling grabbed Lu Xiuwen’s arm and sneered, “Who said I was going to let you stay in a room?”

Then, turning to the manor keeper, he said, “Take him to the dungeon and lock him up.”

The manor keeper paused for a second and said, “Young Master, this courtyard doesn’t have a dungeon.”

Lu Xiuwen couldn’t help but chuckle. His face looked almost identical to Lu Xiuyan’s, except for those particularly dark eyes that held a mixture of pride and cunning.

Duan Ling felt a breath stuck in his chest, unable to come up or down. He clenched his teeth and said, “Then let him sleep in the woodshed!”