Chapter 9: A Tough Road Ahead (2)
After a long and exhausting journey, the group had planned to take a short break in Sky Sword City to sample some local delicacies and regain their energy before meeting Ling Xiaozu.
But as soon as they reached the city gates, they were surrounded by dozens of black-clad Law Enforcement Hall Disciples.
Leading the pack was none other than An Luo, the waiter from Eight Immortals Restaurant, who was now dressed in black with a shiny golden law enforcement badge at his waist, showing off his newfound status.
“Capture the Flowerless Palace sinner!” An Luo barked, as several disciples moved to tie up White Peach.
Fatty jumped in front of White Peach, puffing out his chest, “Who dares to touch her? I’ll make minced meat out of you!”
Lin Nan added coolly, “Grabbing people without a reason? Law Enforcement Hall is getting bolder by the day!”
Luo Ying stepped forward slowly, swaggering her hand holding the darklight sword, and snorted, “An Luo, have your eyes gone white? Do you think this Master Sister is just a nobody in the Law Enforcement Hall?”
To her surprise, An Luo leaped up in a frenzy, “Master Sister, hurry! If we don’t take White Peach away now, it’ll be too late!”
“What do you mean? Spit it out!”
An Luo glanced around nervously and sighed, “Master Sister, just take a look!”
At that moment, a crowd had formed around the city gates, encircling the four of them and the Law Enforcement Hall Disciples.
Among the crowd were both players and NPC residents.
Someone must have started it, as a thunderous chant erupted from the throng.
“k*ll her, the demon of Flowerless Palace!”
“k*ll her!”
“She’ll bring disaster to Sky Sword City! Quick, k*ll her!”
People began hurling radishes, vegetables, and eggs at White Peach.
Seeing players joining in the ruckus made Fatty stomp his feet in anger, but his shouts were drowned out by the crowd’s cacophony. It was chaos; it was impossible to hear anything clearly.
“Master Sister, we can’t stay here any longer! We need to fly away on our swords, pronto,” Lin Nan declared, frowning.
But at that moment, a number of cultivators flew up from the crowd, blocking Luo Ying and the others’ escape route. They included disciples from the Heavenly Sword Sect as well as various rogue cultivators.
In unison, they shouted, “Leave that demon here, or no one gets out!”
Luo Ying swiftly unsheathed her darklight sword, her voice icy, “What? You dare raise a hand against me, the inner sect’s first seat, on the Heavenly Sword Sect’s turf? Step forward if you don’t want to d*e!”
Immediately, a disciple piped up, “Luo Ying associates with the Flowerless Palace demon; she’s unfit to be the first seat!”
“Right! No morals, she doesn’t deserve it!”
Luo Ying snickered in fury, “With just the lot of you, dare you spout nonsense about me? Come on, let’s see how tough you really are! If I lose, the first seat is yours!”
Lin Nan called out, “Fatty, we’ll protect the Second Palace Master and break through!”
“Got it!”
Fatty was itching to show these rowdy folks a thing or two.
However, when he looked at White Peach, she had closed her eyes, her former spirited aura completely vanished, standing there like a wooden post, waiting to be chopped down.
“Second Palace Master, they’re just slandering you. Don’t stoop to their level; let’s leave and not waste time squabbling with them.”
White Peach nodded slowly, like a zombie, allowing Fatty to pull her along.
While the disciples from the Heavenly Sword Sect were temporarily held back by Luo Ying, the other rogue cultivators and sect disciples continued to bellow threats of teaching Luo Ying a lesson.
An Luo raised his law token high, “Law Enforcement Hall of Heavenly Sword Sect is here! Anyone caught fighting in the city will be captured without mercy!”
Dozens of black-clad disciples echoed the command, their voices booming.
Finally, the chaotic scene calmed down a bit.
Seizing the moment while the troublemakers were too stunned to act, An Luo led the group, surrounding White Peach, and they flew off swiftly on their swords.
Yet some rogue cultivators continued to shout foul words like “Flowerless Palace demon” and “murderer” as they trailed behind.
Rage nearly consumed Luo Ying and the others, as they wanted to chop those troublemakers to bits.
But An Luo stopped them with a pained expression, “Master Sister, everyone, please do me a favor.
Fighting is prohibited in Sky Sword City, and if bl**d spills, it’ll be hard for me as a temporary city defense officer.”
“An Luo, just be straight with us. What’s going on? We just came back from the East Sea without resting! Why do these people call the Second Palace Master such names?” Lin Nan interrogated.
An Luo sighed, “A couple of days ago, out of nowhere, a rumor spread throughout the city. They claimed the Flowerless Palace had massacred coastal fishermen while practicing sinister arts. The scenes depicted are gruesome! There were bodies everywhere—gutted and not even sparing women and children.”
“Wait, what did you say? Photos?”
Lin Nan’s eyes sparked with curiosity at the term.
How could something from the real world show up here?
“Yes, photos! Apparently, some folks with ‘thousand-mile eyes’ created a contraption that can project the scenes they see far away onto paper.”
He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper.
Lin Nan took it and, to his utter disbelief, it was indeed a black-and-white photo.
Though the quality was lacking, one could still make out the bodies sprawled and the chaos in the photo.
The lack of color lessened the horror somewhat, but the first glance was still unsettling.
“So, you’re saying these photos started circulating two days ago?”
An Luo nodded, “Not only that, but the tale of the Flowerless Palace slaughtering fishing villages gained traction too. With the thousand-mile eye witnesses, their descriptions matched the photos. Hence, everyone believed it without a doubt.
Then there was gossip about the Second Palace Master, White Peach, arriving at Sky Sword City, painted as a merciless killer of thousands! Unless she is dealt with, the fishermen can’t rest in peace. So I waited at the gates for you to appear, ready to whisk you away, but I didn’t expect the crowd to gather so quickly. I suspect someone is behind this.”
Fatty was about to turn and throw down with the nagging rogue cultivators, but Lin Nan restrained him, “No doubt, they’re out to take down White Peach.”
“Those could very well be people from the Divine Clan,” Luo Ying narrowed her eyes. “They aren’t fools. Over the years, they’ve surely been planting loyal humans around.”
“With their plan underway, we need to be extra careful,” Lin Nan sighed.
…
P.S.: Not looking for votes, just some love.
