Chapter 17: Interrogation (Part 1)

On this side, the matter with Small-eyes was resolved, but something else went wrong over by the mouse-whiskered man.

A female disciple of the Qinghong Sword Sect, who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen, covered her nose in front of the mouse-whiskered man and said, “How did this person end up wetting his pants from fear? We haven’t even done anything yet. How are we supposed to take him back like this?”

Another slightly older male disciple walked over. He hadn’t noticed at first, but after his junior sister mentioned it, he subconsciously looked toward the mouse-whiskered man’s crotch.

Suddenly, he felt a phantom chill between his own legs.

He said in a trembling voice, “First Senior Brother, Brother Yun, this pimp has been kicked into uselessness. He… he can no longer perform as a man.”

Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan looked over at the same time.

The mouse-whiskered man’s legs were still shaking so violently that he couldn’t stand; he could only use his hands to prop himself up and shuffle backward.

While Zhao Honglan was hesitating over whether to go take a look, Yun Huizhou wasn’t nearly as fastidious.

He walked straight over and said, “All female disciples, turn around.”

The female disciples didn’t understand why, but seeing that their First Senior Brother didn’t object, they all turned their heads away.

By now, Zhao Honglan had some idea of what Yun Huizhou intended to do. For a moment, he didn’t know what expression to make, so he could only walk over and watch.

Yun Huizhou handed Lian Li over to him, then drew his blade. With two swift shua-shua strokes, he cut a hole in the front of the mouse-whiskered man’s trousers amidst the man’s piercing screams. The mouse-whiskered man promptly fainted from sheer terror.

Zhao Honglan: “…”

Zhao Honglan took one look and silently averted his gaze. It was too wretched.

Yun Huizhou, however, looked on with a calm face and remarked, “Everything’s been crushed. That sickly boy did a good job.”

The other male disciples of the Qinghong Sword Sect: “!!!”

How terrifying.

It wasn’t just Little Brother Lian—who used feces as a weapon and crushed this pimp’s “root”—who was terrifying; Brother Yun, who looked so calm about it, was also terrifying.

The group, all possessing martial arts, used their Lightness Skills to rush directly back to Xianglai City.

At this moment, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader’s manor was brightly lit.

Many sect leaders who had not yet departed, along with several rogue martial artists, were gathered in the large front courtyard.

Surrounded by the crowd was a young disciple of a certain sect. His face was pale, and his eyes held a fear he couldn’t hide.

He looked toward the elders of his sect standing nearby, his eyes filled with a plea for help.

An older man stepped forward, seemingly wanting to speak, but he was pulled back by a woman of higher status within the same sect.

“Senior Sister!” the older man whispered.

The woman rebuked him in a low voice, “Enough. Haven’t we lost enough face already?”

After a long silence, Zhao Rong finally spoke. “Honglan and my nephew Huizhou have already gone to pursue the culprit. I do not know when they will return.”

“Regardless of whether they catch them tonight, a disciple will return to report news in an hour. If any of you cannot wait, you may head back first.”

“Once the people are brought back, we will certainly get to the bottom of this.”

A rogue martial artist spoke up, “We’ll wait right here to see exactly what’s going on. We’re also waiting for the captured culprit to confront this brat.”

“If this brat really did it, we won’t let his sect take him away peacefully.”

“If he didn’t do it, we’re here to bear witness and help him demand some compensation.”

Zhao Rong replied, “As it should be.”

Though he said this, almost everyone present knew that for Zhao Rong to seize the person directly, he was clearly ninety percent certain. They were just waiting for the pursuers to return and present the physical evidence and witnesses.

Martial artists were mostly robust and full of energy.

As dawn approached, someone entered from outside and whispered a few words into Zhao Rong’s ear.

Zhao Rong, seated in his chair, and several other martial arts seniors opened their eyes, a flash of anger crossing their gazes.

They exchanged looks and suppressed their emotions.

Seeing this, the others knew that the party had returned, though they didn’t know if the culprits had been caught.

Yun Huizhou took Lian Li directly into the Alliance Leader’s manor. Zhao Honglan arranged a room, left two disciples and a person skilled in medicine to look after him, and then joined Yun Huizhou in hauling the four criminals to the front courtyard.

Seeing them approach, everyone perked up and looked at the four people thrown onto the ground.

“Who are these four? Are they the ones who did the kidnapping?”

“They weren’t just grabbed at random, were they?”

“They weren’t. Look at that disciple’s reaction; it doesn’t look like he doesn’t know them.”

“So it’s true. I never expected it. To think the Wuhai Sect is supposed to be a righteous sect, yet a disciple would do such a thing. I recall that the little brother who was kidnapped never offended them, and that little brother doesn’t even know martial arts.”

“That little brother might not have offended them, but look at the Champion? Isn’t this Wuhai Sect disciple the very person the Champion knocked off the stage during the second round?”

“Now that you mention it, I remember! After the match, an elder of the Wuhai Sect even exchanged a palm strike with the Champion and was knocked back over a dozen steps.”

“If they lost face and wanted to reclaim it, they should have gone after the Champion. I didn’t expect them to use such base methods against someone with no martial arts at all.”

“Wait, why does one of those four look so familiar? Does anyone recognize him?”

“Let me see… hiss… that man looks like that scum, the flower-thief Ma Tie!”

“It’s actually that thief? How does a disciple of the Wuhai Sect have connections with such a criminal? The Wuhai Sect must give us an explanation, otherwise, I’ll personally spread the word far and wide so that every female hero knows to steer clear of their sect.”

“They’re starting the confrontation. Let’s see what they have to say.”

In the middle of the courtyard, after Yun Huizhou, Zhao Honglan, and several Qinghong Sword Sect disciples threw the four men onto the ground, they laid out the banknotes searched from Ma Tie’s person on the empty space.

The moment the Wuhai Sect disciple saw them, his legs gave way.

His reaction was such that nothing more needed to be said; everyone knew he had a guilty conscience and that he was the one behind it.

Ma Tie and the other three had also woken up. Aside from the mouse-whiskered man, who still looked half-dead, the other three were in decent condition.

However, the matter that needed to be cleared up now was between Ma Tie and the Wuhai Sect disciple; it didn’t have much to do with the pimp and his lackeys.

Therefore, Zhao Honglan moved first to seal their mute acupoints. He was afraid that if Yun Huizhou acted, he would just knock them unconscious again.

He thought that given the condition of that wretched man with the mouse whiskers, he might not be able to survive another hit from Brother Yun.

Yun Huizhou, holding his sheathed blade, kicked Ma Tie over to the Wuhai Sect disciple’s side and stood right behind the two of them.

Even though the blade wasn’t drawn, both of them felt a chilling breeze at the back of their necks.

The faces of the other Wuhai Sect members had turned incredibly ugly the moment Ma Tie appeared.

Especially that older woman who seemed to hold the highest status; upon hearing the rogue martial artists mention the Wuhai Sect’s connection to Ma Tie and warning female heroes to stay away, she glared fiercely at her junior brother and that disciple.

She looked as if she wanted to personally strike them down to purge the scum from her sect.