Chapter 368: Chapter 212: The Passage Is Open
Listening to the roars from inside, his expression was a bit odd.
’So impatient?’
He opened the door and, with a thought, retrieved a Confusing Smoke pellet from his market hut, lit it, and tossed it into the room.
’No matter who it is, now that they know my secret, they can forget about ever leaving. As for fighting... why make a huge scene when there are simpler ways to solve the problem?’
After waiting two or three minutes, he heard the thud of a body hitting the floor inside. With a cold sneer, he held his breath and walked in.
Cheng Zongyang frowned as he looked at the person on the floor. Lying unconscious was a young man.
He had never seen the man before. After a moment’s thought, he grabbed him and left the room. The Yin Realm was still active—the best way to secure the dungeon.
Once in another room, he began to ponder the man’s identity.
’This is a sensitive time. Given the situation, the Xu, Ding, and Qiu Families are unlikely to investigate me right now. If I found out they were, they’d just share the fate of the other three families.’
’In that case, among those in the County Town who would want to investigate me, there’s only one possibility left.’
’The Li Courtyard!’
’Only the Li Courtyard would have the nerve.’
With this suspicion in mind, Cheng Zongyang’s eyes glinted.
’Kill him, or let him go?’
’If I kill him, what happens when the Li Courtyard comes looking? I can deny everything, but that would still offend them.’
’The person they sent will have vanished, and they’ll naturally pin the blame on me, whether I had anything to do with it or not.’
’When I leave the County Town in the future, it might hinder the Cheng Family’s development.’
’But if I let him go, the secret of the dungeon and the fog will be exposed. I could move the prisoners, but it’s not time for that yet. And how would I explain the fog?’
’Pretending I never found him is also out of the question.’
After some thought, he made his decision. ’I’ll just act as if I never found him. No one saw him here, and I never saw him.’
’If people from the Li Courtyard come looking for a missing person, what does that have to do with me?’
’What? You’re investigating me? Why?’
’Anyone can play dumb, after all.’
And so, he severed the tendons in the man’s arms and legs, stopped the bleeding, and dragged him down to the dungeon to be locked away.
Someone under the effects of the Wilderness Beans’ Confusing Smoke wouldn’t wake up even if they were being dismembered.
He Shujun was puzzled when he saw Cheng Zongyang return, dragging another person with him.
However, when he saw the young man, his pupils shrank. "Why did you capture him?" he exclaimed.
Liu Chengdong, in another cell, didn’t recognize the new prisoner and simply glanced over in confusion.
Cheng Zongyang was quite surprised. "You know him?"
After a moment of silence, He Shujun shook his head. "I don’t recognize him personally, but I know he’s one of Li Tonghua’s guards. I’ve seen him once before."
After speaking, he hesitated for a moment more before asking, "Are you planning to move against the Li Courtyard?"
He didn’t care whether Cheng Zongyang was courting death. ’What I care about is myself!’
’If Cheng Zongyang dies, we’ll be trapped here forever. No one knows this place exists. It’d be the same as being dead. I absolutely cannot let myself die here for good.’
But from the next cell, Liu Chengdong started laughing. Pointing at Cheng Zongyang through the bars, he scoffed, "Him? Move against the Li Courtyard? He wouldn’t dare if he had ten times the courage. Unless he flees and hides inside Da Liang territory, there’s nowhere for him to run within the lands of the Thirteen Royal Families."
"Killing a member of a Royal Family guarding a region is a direct challenge to the authority of all Royal Families. Unless you change your name, flee to another country, and live in disguise, the kill order would have bounty-hunting Martial Artists everywhere chasing you relentlessly."
Cheng Zongyang didn’t answer them. He simply locked the man in a cell and turned to leave.
’Whether he lives or dies is up to me. But now that he’s in my dungeon, he can forget about ever getting out.’
’It won’t matter even if Li Mingxin himself shows up!’
’If you come looking for trouble with me, you’d better be prepared to be dealt with—even if you were sent by a Royal Family.’
Watching Cheng Zongyang leave without the slightest hesitation, He Shujun’s gaze trembled. His tangled thoughts dissolved into a long, silent sigh. ’In the end, I completely misjudged him!’
’The kid is just a teenager, but he possesses a maturity, composure, and decisiveness completely beyond his years!’
’He had no doubt that Cheng Zongyang had the Power to kill Li Mingxin. If that strange ore could suppress him until he barely had the strength to fight back, then it was more than enough to suppress Li Mingxin too.’
"That bastard is insane! To think he’d take on the Li Family! Go on then! I dare you! You son of a bitch! PTUI!"
Liu Chengdong continued to roar and bellow after Cheng Zongyang had left.
He Shujun shot him a glance but couldn’t be bothered to respond. He had only teamed up with the man in the first place to divert some of the attention from himself.
’Who would’ve thought the idiot would get his entire force wiped out before even breaking into West City?’
’He served a purpose, I suppose, but not a very big one. It made almost no difference. Still, at least I have someone to share my misery with now. It makes me feel slightly better.’
Cheng Zongyang emerged from the dungeon once more. He confined the Yin Realm within the room before reopening the main door and stepping outside.
Now, anyone who tried to enter would be trapped inside to die.
As for the prisoners underground, they were fed Five Grains Inner Replenishing Pills once every three days—enough to keep them alive until he was ready to leave this place.
Next, he retrieved a Middle Tier Soul Crystal Stone from his market hut. He began to walk slowly through the areas of the recent, brutal fighting, collecting the lingering Souls.
’A lot of people have died recently, so there should still be quite a few to collect.’
As he was walking the city streets and collecting Souls, a different scene unfolded at the Cheng Family’s warehouse. Zhou Zhendong, who was studying under Li Yihuo, met with a man from Cheng Family Village who had been stationed at the warehouse in Tiantuan Village.
"Steward Zhou, we’ve broken through!" the man whispered to Zhou Zhendong.
