Chapter 159: In the Smoky Thea Tower
Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll , DavidT
Ling Tian let out a chain of profanities in his heart! Ever since he came to this world, he had been apprehensive about many things and laid down many plans. However, he never imagined that there would be a mysterious power hiding right under his nose! Furthermore, he didn’t even catch a trace of it!
At this moment, Ling Tian felt a great sense of frustration and anger in his heart! It was as though he had just been played a fool by others, with a ball of anger rising in his heart. He then made a decision in his heart, "I must definitely teach Ling San, Ling Liu and the rest a good lesson! For such a matter to occur, this is dereliction of their duties!"
With a swoosh, Ling Tian followed closely behind the black dressed lady who had just entered the tower! After perking his ears for a good long while, he finally heard the sound of a muffled groan. With a sneer, Ling Tian stealthily approached the sound.
From the thick paper window, a vague human figure could be seen from the outside. With a frown, Ling Tian picked up a piece of cloth and infused his inner Qi into the cloth, causing the cloth the harden. Then, Ling Tian gently used this cloth to wipe the surface of the paper window. The next moment, the paper window seemed to have gotten a layer thinner. With a smile on his lips, Ling Tian then repeated that action again…
A short while later, only a transparent layer was left on the paper window and everything in the room could be seen clearly.
The black dressed lady laid down on a couch with a few middle-aged ladies busily attending to her wounds. The black dressed lady then said weakly, "There is no need for you guys to spend so much effort. All of my injuries are internal injuries and ordinary medicine will be of little use. Quickly send the three elders; my injuries can only be taken care of by them."
A middle-aged lady acknowledged the order and left the room.
As though she was forcing herself to be awake, the black dressed lady asked, "Is Xiao’wu and the rest back?"
A middle-aged lady then lowered her head, "They are not back yet." From Ling Tian’s perspective, he could see the worried look on the face of this middle-aged lady.
"What?" The black dressed lady was startled and she got off the bed, "They aren’t back yet? How is that possible? The experts of the Xiao Family were already lured out by me. There are so many of them and they even used sedatives. It is said that Xiao YanXue’s martial arts isn’t extremely high! Why aren’t they back yet? Did something go wrong?" Her voice was filled with doubt and worry.
Footsteps could be heard and three people walked in together. Hearing how the footsteps were extremely light, almost to the point it was inaudible, Ling Tian was certain that they were experts with profound Inner Qi. Thus, he had to control his breathing to ensure that it was longer and lighter.
"XiYan, how are you? Are your injuries heavy?" An old voice, filled with concern, sounded. Following which, three white haired old man barged in hastily.
From this single phrase, Ling Tian was already certain about the identity of this black dressed lady — Tower Head of the Smoky Thea Tower, Gu XiYan! He could not help but shake his head with a bitter laughter. Thinking about that seductive looking Tower Head with a myriad of disposition, Ling Tian couldn’t even dream that she would be the black dressed lady!
"I’m fine. I just suffered from some internal injured but I won’t die from them." Gu XiYan coughed lightly, "Uncle, Xiao’wu and the rest aren’t back yet. I am worried about them; can you please go and fetch them? My injuries aren’t a cause for concern."
"Xiao’wu and the rest aren’t back yet?" That old man let out a sigh of shock, "Just what did all of you do today? It can’t be the plan which the three of us old man had rejected right?"
Ge XiYan was filled with a face of guilt and she nodded her head.
"You… how muddled!" That old man stood up from anger, "The Ling residence is a place where hidden experts are all around and the hundred-odd people from the Xiao Family aren’t pushovers either. For you guys to make such a rash move, you may destroy the plan which we had been preparing for so many years! You… haiz, XiYan, you aren’t young anymore, why can’t you maintain your cool?! Let me ask you, so what if you catch the little princess of the Xiao Family? What can you do to her? Don’t think that the Xiao Family will negotiate with you because of her! A mere Xiao YanXue is something that the Xiao family can still afford to sacrifice!"
"I… I am just indignant! The Xiao Family is the culprit for the destruction of our ShangGuan Family and we never had the chance to deal with them. This time, the Xiao family came to the Sky Bearing City and the heavens blessed us with a rare thunderstorm. The time is right and the situation is favorable! Even if we aren’t able to bring the Xiao Family to the negotiating table, if we were to train that Xiao YanXue to be the number one banner of our brothel, we can also humiliate the Xiao Family to make them lower their heads in shame for the rest of their life! Only then can my anger be vented!"
"Nonsense!" That old man could no longer control his anger, "You can destroy Xiao YanXue, but have you thought about the consequences? It is easy to destroy Xiao YanXue, but the consequence isn’t something which we can handle! At that time, our whole ShangGuan Family will definitely be buried with Xiao YanXue as the price! The flame of our ShangGuan Family will also be extinguished forever! Have you thought about that? The Xiao Family will just lose a Xiao YanXue but our ShangGuan Family will be completely destroyed! Haiz…"
Gu XiYan coughed lightly and said with a self-depreciating tone, "Our ShangGuan Family have been leading an ignoble live for so many years and we are already at a state worse than death. As the might of our enemy grows stronger and stronger, the hope for our revenge becomes slimmer and slimmer. Just what is the point for us to lead such a life? As long as we can shame the Xiao family, so what if our ShangGuan Family has to be destroyed? To conceal our identities in order to seek a living, I am tired of such a life!"
While the three old men were angered, they knew that Gu XiYan’s words were the truth. They could not help but feel depressed! Who would have thought that their ShangGuan Family, which used to shake the world, would be reduced to such a state?
That old man let out a long sigh; the sigh was filled with desolation and despair of a hero past his prime. After a short while of silence, he stood up and said, "I will go and receive Xiao’wu. Second brother, third brother, the both of you should help treat XiYan’s injuries. We must make sure that she gets better before dawn! At the very least, we have to ensure that she is able to move around normally so that we will not reveal any flaws!" The other two old man acknowledged in unison.
Just when this old man was about to walk out, a commotion could be heard from the outside and a middle-aged lady rushed in.
"Madam, Xiao’wu and the rest are back. The little princess of the Xiao family is also successfully abducted!" While this should have been a shocking and exciting piece of news, this middle-aged lady seemed to be filled with grief.
"Xiao’wu and the rest are back? What happened?" Gu XiYan could feel that something was wrong, "Quickly send them in."
Ling Tian, who was outside the window, was also startled! With Ling Chen guarding the Ling family, how were they able to abduct Xiao YanXue? He could not help but feel worried in his heart, "Did Ling Chen suffer injuries from being careless? Did they send top-notch experts over? But, even the cultivation of the three old men were only similar to Ling Chen’s and without any advantages at all. With me personally guiding Ling Chen, even if she is unable to win against these three old men, she would not lose for sure! Don’t tell me… they have someone more powerful in the younger generation?" Thinking about this, Ling Tian could not help but grow anxious in his heart! He wished that he could sprint back home right now.
Hurried footsteps sounded and three burly men, filled with blood, walked in. As they walked in, the water from the rain flowed down together with the blood on their bodies. By the time it flowed onto the floor, it was already dark red in color! The person in the center was holding onto a huge gunny sack, with a slim figure tied up within it.
"Big sister!" Seeing Gu XiYan, the three of them cried out together. Even though they were fully grown men, the rims of their eyes turned red.
"Why are there only the three of you? Where are the rest?" Looking at how the three of them were filled with injuries, Gu XiYan immediately knew that something went very wrong. Her voice also began to tremble, "Where are they? Mmm?! Speak!!" At the very end, she was already beginning to scream.
"Big… sister, the other 17 brothers… may probably… may probably…" After muttering out two ‘may probably’ in succession, he seemed to be at a loss for words and did not carry on. At the same time, his eyes were also filled with tears.
Ignoring the elder beside her who was trying to comfort her, Gu XiYan stood up with a despondent gaze and muttered, "Why did they happen? Why did this happen?" Tears then began to roll down her cheek.
"What exactly happened?" The elder asked with a frosty expression, "If you guys did not succeed, it is still explainable for you guys to suffer such heavy casualties. But since all of you had obviously succeeded, why did you guys still suffer such heavy casualties? Was your opponent an expert?"
While the words of this elder were a little puzzling, they were logical. If they did not succeed, it would mean that they must have been exposed and thus suffering heavy casualties in battle. But since they had succeeded, this matter seemed strange! The only way for them to catch someone out from a place so heavily guarded would be for them to complete the whole mission in stealth. How would there be casualties then? If they were to really alert the enemy, it would be an extremely difficult task to escape with the hostage. This matter was obviously fishy.
That burly man called Xiao’wu then said, "Originally, things went extremely well. When big sister lured those three old men away, we were able to sneak ourselves in. That lass was inexperienced and caught off guard, easily taken care of by us. After we abducted her, we wanted to leave immediately. However, a black dressed lady suddenly blocked us when we were about to leave the Ling mansion. This lady’s martial arts was exceptional; in a single exchange, third brother and fourth brother had already perished under her sword. All of the brothers also had their eyes turn red from anger and charged forward."
As he explained up till here, he sneaked a glance at Gu XiYan and the three elders with a cowardly expression. Seeing that the four of them were listening solemnly without the intention to blame him, he continued, "But in the next move, we found out that her martial arts was even above big sister’s! When we found out that something was amiss and wanted to escape, it was already too late! The martial arts of this lady was just too frightening! Her skill with the sword was extremely mystical, blocking all of us with the strength of a single person. However, while her martial arts was extremely high, she looked like someone who had just entered the pugilistic world. She seemed to be unwilling to kill us, thus allowing us to last a little longer against her!"
As Xiao’wu finished his explanation, the faces of Gu XiYan and the three elders changed drastically! The Ling Family actually had such an expert?! Did the three elders even have such a cultivation?!