Chapter 492: Not Taking No for an Answer

Under the moonlight, a graceful man with long, flowing hair and a silky black robe that also flowed freely, stood out. His chiseled features made his face appear striking, and his eyes were red-rimmed.

At this moment, he had already circled back and forth numerous times within a certain area of the grassland, his nostrils occasionally flaring as he sniffed.

He was the one everyone referred to as Lord Axun.

Several followers who had accompanied him from Dazhicheng were now scattered across the area, waiting. His circuitous movements had left them at a loss, unsure whether to keep up or stay put.

Only Bai Qiru, dressed in a white gown, continued to stay by Lord Axun's side, an almost imperceptible anxiety in her eyes.

From a shaded area nearby, another scholar in white appeared. It was Lou Xiu, the Inspector of the Inner Court, who drifted from the heart-wrapping grass forest and landed in front of two men from Dazhicheng.

Seeing him, the two men quickly prepared to bow, but Lou Xiu stopped them with a raised hand.

Lou Xiu tilted his chin towards the figure drifting over the grass. "Someone go tell that woman, Bai, that the City Lord has an urgent matter for her."

"Alright," one person replied, preparing to deliver the message.

Lou Xiu suddenly called out, "Wait. Don't say it was me who told you. She's not worthy of me running a special errand for her."

The two men exchanged a discreet, amused glance. He had already run a special errand; what was all this talk about being "worthy" or "unworthy"?

Of course, neither of them would expose him; who wouldn't want to save a little face?

"Yes, understood," the man replied, accepting the order again. He then darted away, moving by leaping over the tall grass, and floated towards Lord Axun.

Stopping in front of Bai Qiru, he cupped his hands and said, "Madam, the City Lord has a message. He says he has an urgent matter for you and wants you to go as quickly as possible."

Bai Qiru, surprised, asked, "What matter does he have with me?"

The man gave a wry smile. "With all due respect, Madam, I'm just a messenger. How could I possibly know the City Lord's intentions?"

Bai Qiru thought for a moment, guessing it might be related to Huang Yingying's matter. Without hesitation, she soared into the air and flew towards Dazhicheng.

The messenger also leaped into the air, landing back among the tall grass from which he had come. He cupped his hands towards Lou Xiu. "Inspector Lou, the message has been delivered. That woman, Bai, has already left."

"Hmm, I saw her," Lou Xiu said with a slight nod. He suddenly spread his sleeves, shaped his hands into claws, and made a grabbing motion in the air on either side.

The two men beside him stumbled as if falling, crashing headfirst into his claws. Their faces were simultaneously drawn onto his hands, and two streams of demonic energy instantly surged into their seven orifices.

Before they could even struggle, their bodies convulsed violently, then their limbs went limp, and they collapsed to the ground, blood streaming from their seven orifices.

The person secretly observing and guiding Shi Chun wondered why Shi Chun had suddenly stopped to watch. Lord Axun was clearly nearby; weren't they here to find him?

Unexpectedly, Inspector Lou suddenly appeared at that moment. After doing something inexplicable, he suddenly attacked his own men. This startled the guide so much that he almost gasped in shock and cried out, but Shi Chun poked him with a finger, warning him to stay silent.

The two remained silent, hiding behind the large heart-wrapping grass plants, barely daring to breathe.

Lou Xiu scanned the surroundings again. Flinging his sleeves, he darted out from the tall grass. Seeing that Axun had stopped on a blade of grass, he turned in mid-air and floated over. Landing beside Axun, he cupped his hands in greeting and asked, "Lord Axun, are there any clues?"

Seeing his appearance, the scattered followers also gathered around to pay their respects.

Axun glanced at Lou Xiu, seemingly talking to himself. "There's no mistake. The scent of the culprits stops here. Clearly, about ten people ascended into the air from this spot."

Lou Xiu flattered him, "With Lord Axun on the case, they certainly won't escape."

Axun replied with considerable pride, "I've memorized all the scents. One of them, I seem to have smelled it somewhere before... As long as they're still in the city, they won't escape. Later, we might as well check inside and outside the city, hmm..." His eyes suddenly widened, and those eyes, which had been dismissive of Lou Xiu, finally slowly turned to him.

He saw a long sword in Lou Xiu's hand had pierced straight through his body. He had never dreamed that Lou Xiu would dare to lay a hand on him.

"You..." He was about to retort, but Lou Xiu, with the sword still piercing his vital spot, swung it in a horizontal slash, sending a spray of blood and nearly severing him completely.

Axun fell from the blade of grass to the ground.

Lou Xiu, like a phantom, swung his sword again. Several followers, still reeling in shock, didn't even have time to dodge due to the vast difference in their cultivation. They were cut down by his sword, their blood spilling onto the grass as they died tragically where they fell.

As a high-ranking official of Dazhicheng, he knew exactly how many people were there. With those who should be transferred having been moved and those who should be killed having been eliminated, no one would know who was responsible.

After everyone had fallen to the ground, Lou Xiu, sword in hand, descended through the blades of grass. He landed beside Axun, who was convulsing and on the verge of death, and slowly moved the tip of his sword to Axun's brow, his gaze chillingly cold.

He didn't want to do this, but he had no choice. He couldn't silence Mei You's subordinates yet. If the tax inspectors were to disappear en masse at this moment, it would immediately arouse suspicion, and Axun would certainly go to verify.

Of course, they would still need to be silenced, but not now. He had to wait until the commotion had died down.

Therefore, the safest method now was to ensure that Lord Axun could no longer speak.

At this moment, he looked down upon the dying Lord Axun, with no trace of his earlier flattering demeanor. He said indifferently, "Do you know why people skilled in your path are rare and why they don't live long? Because everyone has secrets, and the existence of people like you will make everyone uneasy eventually. So your fate was already sealed; it was only a matter of time. Don't blame me!"

After speaking, he pierced Axun's head with a single sword thrust. He pulled out the sword, shook the blade clean, and sheathed it.

He then coldly scanned the surroundings again, conjured a pile of things out of thin air, and lit a pile of flammable materials. He threw them far and near in all directions, and soon, several large fires erupted in the forest.

He wanted to burn away any trace of his presence at the scene to prevent another Axun from appearing.

Shi Chun and his companion were already lying on the ground. A fire had just started burning not far from them, and they lay motionless, hidden.

Seeing that the fire had fully ignited, Lou Xiu did not linger and vanished silently in a flash.

A moment later, Shi Chun quietly asked his companion, "Who was that guy?"

His companion said tremblingly, "Lou Xiu, Inspector of the Inner Court. Don't you know him? He... why did he do that?"

Shi Chun uttered an "Oh," and understood. He had been worried that Wu Jinliang's side would be exposed, and naturally, someone on the tax inspection side was also worried.

With his mind made up, he casually took out a dagger and brazenly reached it towards his companion's neck. As his companion turned to look, he flicked the dagger, drawing blood and severing his companion's neck.

As his companion gurgled and clutched his neck, he immediately followed up with several more stabs.

Only when his companion was completely still did he take out a veiled hat and put it on. Amidst the roaring flames, he quickly darted through the sky on his Wind Scale, looking back from above at the rapidly expanding inferno.

After quietly disappearing into the darkness, he took out a mother-child talisman and sent a message back to Wu Jinliang: "It's fine. Axun is dead."

Outside the cave, Wu Jinliang, who had been pacing back and forth anxiously, held the mother-child talisman in his hand. As soon as the message arrived, he immediately picked it up to read it. After seeing the content clearly, he was momentarily stunned. "Lord Axun was taken care of just like that?"

After repeatedly confirming the message, he chuckled to himself. He knew that with the Big Boss personally taking action, there shouldn't be any problems, but he truly hadn't expected it to be so swift.

Hearing his laughter, Lao Changtai ran out of the cave and asked with a hoarse voice, "What's wrong?"

Wu Jinliang showed him the content of the message on the mother-child talisman.

After seeing it, Lao Changtai also gasped, "So swift?"

Wu Jinliang chuckled, "Otherwise, why would he be the Big Boss? You have to admire him."

Lao Changtai sighed and shook his head. His heart, which had been hanging heavy, finally settled, and he repeatedly said, "Good, good, good."

Wu Jinliang then used the mother-child talisman to reply: "Alright, I'll take care of Huang Yingying here. He said he knows clues about the 'Death-Evading Scent'."

After putting away the talisman, a relieved Wu Jinliang casually entered the cave. He squatted beside Huang Yingying, who was unrecognizable and still whimpering softly, only then noticing that Huang Yingying was bound with a pile of iron chains, tied like a zongzi. The other end of the chains was tied to someone else.

Clearly, Lao Changtai had done this out of caution, knowing the old man possessed earth-burrowing techniques.

Wu Jinliang took out his dagger again, menacingly brandishing it in front of Huang Yingying. "Old Huang, I'm warning you, don't try any tricks with me. One lie, and you'll regret being born. Now, tell me, where is the 'Death-Evading Scent'?"

Huang Yingying gasped several times for air, then finally gathered enough breath to say, "Lord Axun, the Lord Axun you just spoke of, he has the 'Death-Evading Scent' in his possession."

"What?" Wu Jinliang and Lao Changtai were stunned simultaneously.

Soon, Wu Jinliang was enraged. He swung his hand, delivering a merciless slap, *smack*, hard across Old Huang's face, and immediately cursed, "Nonsense! You dare to fool me? I think you're tired of living!"

It was hard not to get angry. Lord Axun had just died, and this old geezer claimed Axun had the 'Death-Evading Scent'. This was clearly an attempt to die without proof.

He had seen dishonest people, but never one so dishonest. Daring to fool people like this, there was nothing more to say.

The dagger in his hand gleamed coldly, ready to sever Huang Yingying's Achilles tendon. However, just as the dagger was about to strike, he froze again. He then realized: he knew Lord Axun was dead, but this old fellow didn't. Could it be...?

His thoughts shifted, and he patted Old Huang's face. "Hey, hey, Old Huang, don't be coy. Tell me, how do you know Lord Axun has the 'Death-Evading Scent'?"

Huang Yingying, looking dazed, wasn't being coy at all; he was genuinely beaten into a stupor. Two of his molars had been knocked out by that slap, so it would have been strange if he hadn't been dazed.

In the end, he still didn't understand why being honest had led to him being beaten.

Twice he confessed honestly, and twice he was beaten.

The two inexplicable beatings, completely illogical, left him utterly bewildered. His mind was almost breaking down; he felt his consciousness was barely holding on, and in his daze, he already saw the faces and heard the voices of his deceased relatives.

It was Lao Changtai, who had tied him up like a zongzi, who showed some conscience. He quickly squatted down and began casting a spell to help Huang Yingying regain his breath.

Inside the library, Shi Chun quietly returned to the main hall, having just changed his clothes. His nostrils flared, and he finally picked up the fruit plate from beside his pillow, falling into deep thought...

Above the fiercely burning fires on the grassland, two figures, one black and one white, arrived sequentially through the air. They were none other than Li Xianghong, the City Lord of Dazhicheng, and Bai Qiru.

The moment Bai Qiru returned to Dazhicheng and saw Li Xianghong, they confronted each other, and the truth was immediately exposed. Both realized they had been lured away from their post.

Li Xianghong realized that this matter was likely not simple, as her own subordinate had dared to use her name to lure Bai Qiru away. She immediately went herself, but upon arrival, there was no one in sight, only raging fires that clearly indicated a disrupted scene.

Li Xianghong, her long hair floating and spreading in the air, her face grim, suddenly swept her sleeve in mid-air. The fires, spreading nearly two miles, were instantly extinguished, and the stirred-up sparks scattered and fell.