Chương 40: Luoyang’s in Danger?!

"WHAT?!" First Elder Su Zhongyong roared, his voice echoing across the courtyard. The branch elders assembled on the main grounds furrowed their brows in collective irritation. Xinyue flinched, instinctively pulling her shoulders inward as she stood before the dais. Wei Tu came sprinting through the stone corridor, skidding to a halt as the pressure of the elders overwhelmed him.

"That fool!" Second Elder Su Jiang hissed, his face darkening.

"I specifically ordered him to stay confined to his quarters after Su Luoyang departed!"

"Elders, please, that is not the case! Young Master Xiao didn't run away! He—" Wei Tu pleaded.

"Silence!" Su Jiang cut him off sharply.

"You are equally to blame for this, Wei Tu! Do you not comprehend the peril our clan currently faces? That brat is only making our situation worse! Are we supposed to defend the estate from the Gu Clan, or waste manpower babysitting a cripple?"

"We have no time for this useless chatter," the First Elder commanded, his eyes narrowing into cold slits.

"Where did he run off to? Dispatch a soldier immediately. Drag him back and lock him in the clan dungeons alongside Wei Tu. They will remain there until this entire ordeal is settled!"

"... B-But… Please, Elder, listen to me!" Wei Tu collapsed backward onto his hands, his face pale with terror.

"Calm yourself, First Elder," Butler Su interjected, stepping forward. He turned his gaze toward the trembling servant.

"Just tell us where the Young Master went, Wei Tu." Su Zhongyong's eyes narrowed slightly. Wei Tu let out a shaky breath of relief and hastily scrambled back up to his knees.

"Elder… he received an urgent message… that is why he departed so suddenly! It—it was from the Tang House!" Wei Tu stammered.

"What message?" Butler Su pressed with a frown. The elders listened attentively.

"They provided critical intel! The bandit leader at the eastern ridge is not merely a Qi Ling (Qi Lord), but a Qi Wang (Qi King)! The First Miss is in danger! The Young Master went after her… he refused to listen to my warnings! He said he couldn't waste any time and bolted toward the eastern ridge on a mount!"

"What?!" Butler Su and the gathered elders gasped in unison.

"Is this the truth, Wei Tu?!" the butler demanded.

"If the Tang House had urgently delivered this message, then it may very well be true," one of the branch elders muttered, looking around nervously.

"Luoyao has already been abducted! If Luoyang is captured as well, then our—" another elder began, his voice laced with dread.

"Stop panicking!" the First Elder interrupted, silencing the assembly.

"Su Luoyang is not a fragile child; she will not fall so easily. I will ride out and resolve this matter myself."

"Elder, we need you here," the Second Elder cautioned, stepping toward him.

"We can easily dispatch another Qi Wang (Qi King) from our martial ranks to intercept them—""No!" Su Zhongyong snapped.

"I intend to put an end to this crisis with my own hands. The bandits have troubled our Clan enough already. Today they will get their punishment. You elders will organize the army and maintain full defensive alert. Once I secure the girls and Xiao Xuan… maybe even the Gu Clan will back off on their own."

"That could work!" The Second Elder nodded solemnly.

"But still—""There is no time for buts!" Without waiting for a reply, the First Elder surged into the sky, his silhouette disappearing across the high walls and into the darkness within a fraction of a second.

"Wh—!" The elders were left standing in the middle of the grounds, stunned by his abrupt departure.

"Ahem," the Second Elder cleared his throat, regaining his composure.

"Return to your assigned posts, elders. If the First Elder has decided to intervene personally, he must have his reasons."

"Indeed. With the First Elder handling it himself, neither the bandit leader nor Luoyang's safety will be an issue," the other elders muttered, nodding in collective agreement before scattering toward the barracks. Wei Tu watched them leave. Thanks to Butler Su's intervention, he had managed to salvage the situation and do as planned. Yet, a knot formed in his chest. Why had the First Elder insisted on going alone, instead of sending the others?

Was he truly rushing to rescue the First Miss, or was there another motive? He didn't even want to consider the latter possibility. Turning his head, he glanced toward Xinyue. The maid looked even more terrified than he was, as she stared into the night sky, muttering under her breath.

"... Luoyang's in danger?" … The pale blue aura around Su Luoyang flared as she dashed forward in one swift motion. She swung her sword in a measured rhythm, the blade carving fluid arcs through the cold air like a dance. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Moonlight fell upon her tall, slender frame, glistening against the silver linings of her white dress and illuminating the dancing beads of frost around her.

Moving through the haze, she looked like a crane dancing amidst a blizzard. Beneath his iron mask, the bulky man's face tightened into what felt like a hidden grin. Flaring his own violent Qi, he hoisted the broadsword resting on his shoulder with both hands and brought it down in a brutal hacking motion, cleaving the swirling blizzard in two. He drove forward to cut Su Luoyang down in one continuous motion. However, before the sword could meet her flesh, her silhouette vanished into the white mist.

Slowing his assault, the bandit swung his broadsword wide, his eyes darting frantically across the clearing.

"Argh!" From the split blizzard behind his blind spot, Su Luoyang materialized. Her right hand gripped the hilt of her longsword with practiced precision as she slashed in a clean, ruthless arc, her icy Qi coating the edge of the blade. The frosty white fragments scattered in the air were stained crimson. A sharp cut tore through the bandit's armor, biting deep into his back. The bandit staggered forward, his grip on the hilt faltering from the agony.

Before he could recover his balance, a second strike descended straight toward his neck. As instinct took over, the bandit jerked his head sideways, letting the frozen steel graze the side of his nape before slicing cleanly into his right shoulder. Fresh blood leaked out in dark spurts over his shattered armor. Scrambling for footing, the bandit leaped backward, putting distance between them to steady his trembling limbs. When he turned back to face her, Su Luoyang was already preparing her next strike.

Her white dress and refined blade remained as pristine and untouched as ever. She lunged forward, unleashing another sweeping arc of frost.

"DIE!" The bandit's eyes turned bloodshot, thick veins bulging along his neck. Forcing past the searing pain in his back and shoulder, he gripped the broadsword tightly and met her charge with a desperate swing. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! The weapons clashed relentlessly as the two Qi Ling (Qi Lord) experts collided, the sharp metallic ring reverberating through the forest clearing. As one struck, the other evaded and countered. The entire clearing was blanketed in sheets of biting frost and snow.

Everywhere the bandit stepped, his violent Qi burned away the ice, only for fresh frost to bury the ground once more. Mid-fight, his iron mask was shattered, sending the jagged pieces clattering into the dirt. CLANG! The final impact forced both fighters to slide back several paces. Just as Su Luoyang reset her stance to finish him, a shadow leapt from her left. She pivoted gracefully, sweeping backward to dodge a curved blade swung by an intervening Qi Shi (Qi Master) bandit.

Without breaking momentum, her longsword slashed upward. A clean arc of steel sheared through flesh and bone. The bandit's severed head rolled across the frozen earth, tumbling away from his falling torso. The unmasked leader seized the distraction and lunged forward, bringing his heavy broadsword down in a vicious overhead smash. Su Luoyang had no room to dodge. Instead, she thrust her free arm forward, channeling her core energy to erect a dense wall of solid icy Qi. CRACK!

The Qi barrier cracked under the crushing blow, but it held firm. Su Luoyang's boots sank a couple of inches into the packed dirt. The bandit leader groaned as the impact sent a shockwave through his fractured spine and torn shoulder, causing his hands to slip from the hilt once again and throwing his balance off. Su Luoyang shoved the icy wall outward, repelling him backward and leaping lightly away to regain her footing. The remaining five Qi Shi bandits gave her no room to breathe.

They surged forward simultaneously, their curved blades aimed straight for her lethal points. Su Luoyang flared her aura. The sudden burst of freezing pressure slowed the bandits and pushed them back. Weaving through the opening, she swung her sword in rapid, lethal combinations, front and back, striking down the ambushers while their leader gasped for ragged breaths behind them. Two more bandits collapsed lifeless onto the snow.

The remaining three crashed into the dirt, their limbs sheared away by her chilling blade. Su Luoyang touched down lightly on her feet, drawing a quiet, measured breath. She had wasted too much time here. She needed to eliminate the bandit quickly, secure Luoyao, and return to the estate.

"YOU WRETCH!" The bandit leader roared in a frenzy, his breath rattling in his throat and his veins throbbing violently against his forehead. He had to end this battle and restrain her immediately. A pale jade vial appeared in his palm from his spatial ring. He uncorked it with a flick of his thumb and raised it to his mouth.

"Stop." A faint, indifferent voice drifted from the dark canopy of the jungle. The bandit leader froze, the pill inches from his lips. Su Luoyang's posture stiffened. Her eyes swept the dark treeline, but found nothing. Then, she noticed the cold night breeze brushing against her skin had ceased. The surrounding air felt unnaturally dense and still. The unmasked bandit's expression shifted instantly. A wide smirk spread across his bloodied face.

Without taking his eyes off Su Luoyang, he dismissed the vial and his heavy broadsword into his storage ring, steadily taking several paces backward.

"Hehe… heh…" A low, mocking chuckle leaked past his ragged breathing as he retreated. The few groaning, surviving bandits dragged themselves away as well. Su Luoyang's brow furrowed deeply. Her slender fingers tightened around the hilt of her sword. Dropping into a defensive stance, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. When she opened them, a towering figure stood a couple of paces ahead of her.

He seemed to have appeared out of thin air, completely motionless, wearing an ornate silver mask identical to the broken iron piece lying on the dirt.

"So you are the real leader," Su Luoyang said coldly.

"Yes," the masked man replied. Boom! He released his aura. The frozen air was instantly replaced by a howling gale of suffocating pressure. The blast swept through the clearing, hurling the dead bodies and shattered timber across the ground like dried leaves. Su Luoyang was forced backward several paces, her boots skidding through the frozen soil as her white and silver robes fluttered violently against the tempest.

"You may have held your ground against a Qi Ling (Qi Lord) without suffering a scratch," the masked man declared calmly, stepping forward through the wind.

"But it is time for you to stand down and surrender. You cannot withstand the might of a Qi Wang (Qi King)."