Being struck so suddenly, the eunuch's face turned deathly pale and he quickly kowtowed again and again, begging for mercy, "This servant be damned, this servant be damned!"
Not long after that, the news of King Lu Zhe conferring Huang Peng with the title of Grand Duke spread throughout the Royal City, and the entire city boiled into commotion.
"Huang Peng? Huang Xiaolong's father? Even if Huang Xiaolong represented our Luo Tong Kingdom and won first place in Duanren Empire's Imperial City Battle, King Lu Zhe can't just confer such a high noble title as Grand Duke to Huang Peng, right?!"
"That's right. Moreover, that Huang Xiaolong has yet to win first place! Huang Xiaolong hasn't even broken through to the Xiantian realm, who's to say he will even stay alive until the end in the competition!"
"Did King Lu Zhe lose his marbles after being kicked in the head by a donkey?"
From the top of the social ladder to the very bottom, frenzied discussions took place between all of the large and small scale forces.
Even the commoners residing within the Royal City walls felt their King had gone crazy.
In the palace's main hall.
Both civil and military ministers filled the huge hall.
Marshal Haotian stood at the leading position on the military side, and standing at the same position opposite Marshal Haotian was a tall, robust old man with a full head of white hair who appeared to be in his eighties. This eighty-something year old fellow was the leader of the civilian faction, Prime Minister Wu Feng.
"Your Highness, conferring Huang Peng with the title of a Grand Duke is highly inappropriate."
Highly inappropriate!
Perhaps amongst the many numerous ministers of the kingdom, only Prime Minister Wu Feng and Marshal Haotian would dare to speak in such manner with King Lu Zhe.
"That's correct, Your Highness. Since the founding of our kingdom, only three people had the honor of being conferred with the title of a Grand Duke and each one of them performed great meritorious deeds towards the founding of the kingdom!" A civil minister stood out and said.
Following his example, more and more ministers spoke, which eventually led to most of them voicing their objections.
"Enough!" Just as another minister objected, Lu Zhe, who had been quiet the entire time suddenly stood up from his throne. One finger pointed at Wu Feng and the ministers behind him, snapping loudly in frustration, "All of you are blabbing dogfarts! Dogfarts in every word! I-am-Luo-Tong-Kingdom's King, I get to say who gets conferred as Luo Tong Kingdom's Grand Duke!"
All the ministers were struck speechless.
The palace's main hall seemed crushed by a thick silence.
Dogfart?!
The perpetually dignified and calm King Lu Zhe actually behaved like a commoner thug on the streets, cursing at them and calling their words dogfarts?
While the Luo Tong Kingdom's King was arguing about Huang Peng's Grand Duke title, Huang Xiaolong's small group of four had cut through Big Dawn County and arrived at one of Luo Tong Kingdom's borders.
On the way, Huang Xiaolong also received news that Lu Zhe wanted to confer his father, Huang Peng, with the title of a Grand Duke, but he couldn't be bothered with it. For him, whether his father had the title of Luo Tong Kingdom's Grand Duke or not was moot.
When he settled down in Duanren Empire, he planned to move the Huang Family over to the Imperial City.
Half a month later, they arrived at Luo Tong Kingdom's most southern border, Southern Cliffs City.
Arriving in Southern Cliffs City, Huang Xiaolong suddenly thought about the scene of the last Castellan of Southern Cliffs City, Wei Yang, and his concubine's death. After Wei Yang died, the new Castellan who replaced him was named Sun Qing.
Before being promoted to this post, Sun Qing was a general guarding one of the kingdom's borders. A subordinate of Marshal Haotian's subordinate's subordinate.
By the time Huang Xiaolong's group entered Southern Cliffs City, it was already late. Thus, Huang Xiaolong decided to stay in the city for one night and continue his journey the next day.
Huang Xiaolong did not bother Sun Qing with his stay in Southern Cliffs City.
The four of them simply chose a passable inn close to the Castellan Manor called Warm Fragrance and rented four rooms for the night.
The night gradually deepened.
The surrounding was quiet with most of the people asleep.
Clear moonlight shone down like rippling water.
Huang Xiaolong was meditating in his room when suddenly, a light footstep sounded from the rooftop.
Huang Xiaolong was alerted and stepped out of his room. Searching for the source of the disturbance, he detected two black-clothed men with masked faces jumping over rooftops. And with agile leaps over the walls, the two black shadows snuck into the Castellan's Manor.
When Huang Xiaolong came out of his room, Zhao Shu, Yu Ming, and Fei Hou also came out from their rooms.
"Sovereign, do we…?" Zhao Shu took a step forward and asked.
Huang Xiaolong's voice sounded solemn, "First wait and see what's going on."
At this point, the two black-clothed men that snuck into the Castellan Manor came to a stop at a certain courtyard building. Standing there, one of the men quickly removed something from the clothing overlapping his chest that looked like a tube. Positioning the tube, the man blew into it. After some time, the other man jumped into the room and exited while carrying a sack over his shoulder.
Cautiously giving the surrounding a glance, the two men bypassed the Castellan Manor's patrolling guards and leaped over the walls, carrying the sack away from the manor.
Huang Xiaolong and the rest saw the two men's actions clearly. Judging from their actions, these two men rendered the person in that room unconscious using some drug and abducted them.
"Zhao Shu, Yu Ming, the two of you wait here; Fei Hou and I are going to have a look." Huang Xiaolong said.
"But!" Zhao Shu and Yu Ming were reluctant.
"Don't worry, it's just a few small shrimps, they won't be any problem." Huang Xiaolong reassured them.
"Yes, Sovereign!" Both of them relented.
Thus, Huang Xiaolong and Fei Hou leaped out, following the two men quietly from behind.
Originally, Huang Xiaolong had no interest in meddling in these affairs.
However, since these people dared to trespass into the Castellan Manor to abduct a victim, Huang Xiaolong's curiosity was piqued, wanting to see what these people were up to.
Huang Xiaolong vaguely guessed that this event wasn't as simple as it seemed on the surface.
Huang Xiaolong and Fei Hou followed the two black-clothed men the entire time, and an hour later, the two men entered an abandoned, dilapidated courtyard on the northern side of Southern Cliffs City.
Inside the courtyard, six people stood waiting. Seeing these people, Huang Xiaolong immediately took notice of their sect uniform: it belonged to Big Sword Sect.
Big Sword Sect!
"Senior Brother Wei!" At this time, the two black-clothed men called out towards one of the young men, putting the sack down on the ground.
That young man asked, "Where is the person, did you bring them?" His eyes swept over the sack on the ground as he said this.
"Senior Brother Wei, don't worry, Sun Qing's daughter is right inside here." One of the black-clothed men grinned and pointed at the sack, "She will probably wake up in an hour's time."
Hearing this, the young man laughed, "Not bad." He walked towards the sack and untied the knot, revealing the pretty face of a seventeen to eighteen year old girl.
"After my father was killed, I didn't expect they would give Sun Qing, that old fellow, the chance to seize the Castellan's position. Since he doesn't know what's good for him, refusing to cooperate with our Big Sword Sect… Sun Qing, your youngest daughter is quite the beauty! Tonight, I will enjoy myself, and have a taste of your daughter." That young man laughed wretchedly, "If you refuse again, then next will be your eldest daughter!"
The other disciples were looking enviously at that young man.
Huang Xiaolong was surprised as he observed this young man some distance away. He was the son of the previous Southern Cliffs City Castellan that he killed? The son that joined Big Sword Sect, Wei Xiaodong?
On the other side, Wei Xiaodong turned towards the several Big Sword Sect disciples with him saying, "All of you leave, keep an eye out." Evidently, he was anxious to 'deal' with Sun Qing's daughter in this dilapidated courtyard.
"Yes, Senior Brother Wei!" The disciples answered.
Just as their voices ended, another voice sounded suddenly. It came about too suddenly, and Wei Xiaodong's body shuddered from being startled. Turning around, he saw a young man around seventeen to eighteen walking in their direction with a middle-aged man behind him.
Wei Xiaodong stood up quickly, and his eyes glared furiously at the two black-clothed men, "Can't you do something right for once!" The two 'guests' surely tailed these two.
The two black-clothed men cast down their heads, not daring to utter any sounds.
Wei Xiaodong observed Huang Xiaolong and Fei Hou for a moment before walking up to them with several Big Sword Sect disciples behind him.
"Who are you?" Wei Xiaodong asked as he looked directly at Huang Xiaolong.
As he asked this, his eyes signaled the two men in black, and they proceeded to secure the sack and hid it from view behind them.
Huang Xiaolong noticed the two black-clothed men's actions, but he did not mind it. Looking at Wei Xiaodong, he said, "The person who wants your life!"
The person who wants your life!
Wei Xiaodong's heart tightened; on the surface, however, he chuckled, "I think you're joking, right? We're Big Sword Sect's disciples."
"Look at me, do I look like I'm joking with you?" Huang Xiaolong shrugged nonchalantly, "Big Sword Sect disciples are exactly the ones I want to kill."
While Huang Xiaolong was talking, Wei Xiaodong's hands suddenly waved out towards him, countless cold darts whistled through the air, shooting at Huang Xiaolong and Fei Hou. These cold darts shone with an eerie green color underneath the moonlight. Clearly, these cold darts were coated with toxic poison.
Watching this, Huang Xiaolong sneered, and both he and Fei Hou raised a palm at the same time. With a slight push forward, a gust of violent wind deflected the cold darts, slamming them down to the ground.
Seeing this result, Wei Xiaodong paled slightly. Without a word to the several Big Sword Sect disciples, he turned around and fled.
Without missing a beat, Huang Xiaolong's body blurred into motion and appeared right in front of Wei Xiaodong. Wei Xiaodong formed a fist and punched out, but Huang Xiaolong raised a hand and firmly grasped Wei Xiaodong's fist in his palm, then exerted a little pressure. The crackling of bones breaking rang out and Wei Xiaodong's scream split the quiet surrounding.
With Huang Xiaolong's current strength, a little squeeze could crush a thousand-year-old tree, not to mention Wei Xiaodong's fist.
Crushing the bones in Wei Xiaodong's fist, Huang Xiaolong threw him back to the original spot he was in.
The several Big Sword Sect disciples also issued painful screams from being attacked, and in the blink of an eye all of them were 'taken care' of Fei Hou, including the two men in black.
The thick scent of blood filled the air, assailing the nose.
Wei Xiaodong smelled the scent of blood coming from the Big Sword Sect disciples and fear crept up his face. Ashen-faced, his backside fell to the ground, sliding across the soil, "Don't, don't kill me, I, I can give you anything!"
"Can give me anything?" Huang Xiaolong mocked, "What can you give me?"
Wei Xiaodong blanked.
"Beg, I beg you, please let me go, I can do whatever you want me to!" He quickly pleaded, head knocking loudly on the ground repeatedly.
Huang Xiaolong's cold voice ridiculed him, "You're wussier than your father."
"My father?" Wei Xiaodong dazed for a second at the sudden mention of his father.
"It's you!" Wei Xiaodong's eyes widened in shock.
"I'm the one that killed your father, don't you want to avenge your father?" Huang Xiaolong incited him.
Different emotions flickered across Wei Xiaodong's face, but in the end, he squeezed out a smile saying, "This brother must be joking with me."
Huang Xiaolong shook his head. Calling out the Blades of Asura, he no longer bothered to talk nonsense; both hands swung out and two icy sharp rays of blade lights slashed out. One slit across Wei Xiaodong's throat, and the other drew blood from his eyebrows.
Wide-eyed, Wei Xiaodong tumbled to the ground with blood seeping into it.
"Sovereign, what do we do about the girl?" Fei Hou asked. A finger pointed toward the sack containing the Southern Cliffs City Castellan's daughter.
"Bring her back first." Huang Xiaolong said, sounding solemn.
"Yes, Sovereign!"
A while later, Huang Xiaolong and Fei Hou disappeared from the dilapidated courtyard, bringing Sun Qing's daughter with them.
Soon, they returned to the inn with Fei Hou carrying Sun Qing's daughter.
Seeing them come back with a girl, Zhao Shu and Yu Ming asked Fei Hou what took place. Fei Hou respectfully recounted the events to the two seniors.
At that moment, Sun Qing's daughter regained consciousness, and when she saw four strange men in the room, she bolted up from the bed, frightened, "Who are you all? What do you want to do?!"
Huang Xiaolong looked over at Fei Hou, Fei Hou understood and briefly described the events of the night.
After Fei Hou finished, Sun Qing's daughter relaxed a little, but she did not let go of her wariness towards Huang Xiaolong and the three men. It seemed she did not fully trust Fei Hou's words.
"You can go back now." Huang Xiaolong spoke.
Whether the other party believed them or not, Huang Xiaolong didn't care, it was a moment of curiosity and coincidence, after all.
"I can go back?" Sun Lin repeated doubtfully, and then she cautiously walked to the door. Taking two steps, she looked over her shoulder at the four men before leaving.
She walked out from the room, then out of the inn, yet nothing happened, allowing her to release a sigh of relief as she hurried off.
Coming out onto the streets, she bolted back to the Castellan Manor.
At this time, people within the Castellan Manor had noticed Sun Lin's disappearance and all hell broke loose.
"Lin'er, what happened?" Sun Qing saw his daughter walking in through the entrance, his stretched nerves relaxed as he asked anxiously.
Sun Lin broke out in tears as she repeated through sobs what Fei Hou said to her father.
"Big Sword Sect!" Rage exploded in Sun Qing's eyes hearing what she said: "They think we're so weak to be bullied!"
"Castellan, I think there's a problem with those four people." At this time, the manor's steward stepped up and pointed out, "According to what the other party said, they saw two black-clothed men abduct little Miss, yet why didn't they stop them at that time? Why did they wait until little Miss was brought to an abandoned dilapidated courtyard before rescuing her?"
Sun Qing's brows furrowed deeply.
"What little Miss said came from the four people, we don't know the actual truth of what actually took place." Steward Liu Wen added: "Who knows if there were really any Big Sword Sect disciples. It is also a possibility that they were the ones that abducted little Miss and then pushed the matter onto Big Sword Sect before letting little Miss come back!"
A sharp light flickered in Sun Qing's eyes as he looked over his shoulder to a guard behind him, "Four of you go to the north side of the city, and search to see if there are any Big Sword Sect disciples' corpses; the rest of you, follow me to Warm Fragrance Inn!"
"If what they said is true, then it's fine!"
"However, if those four people truly planned all this deliberately and pushed the blame onto Big Sword Sect…!" The sharp light in Sun Qing's eyes deepened.
Not long after, the Castellan Manor guards surrounded Warm Fragrance Inn.
Nearby commoners were awakened by the ruckus.
Inside one of the rooms, Fei Hou said to Huang Xiaolong, "Sovereign was right, that Sun Qing doesn't believe we saved his daughter."
Huang Xiaolong nodded.
The fact that Sun Qing didn't believe what happened was something very normal.
"Sovereign, should this Subordinate handle the situation?" Yu Ming took a step forward, asking. If it was any other person, they would not believe it so easily as well. Huang Xiaolong waved his hand with an unperturbed manner, "No need."
Suddenly at this time, the room door was broken open, and the Castellan Manor's guards rushed inside with fierce expressions on their faces, followed by Sun Qing in the full grandeur of his Castellan robes.
When Sun Qing walked into the room, his sullen face abruptly turned blank, and it stayed blank for quite a while as he stared at Huang Xiaolong.
Two years ago, Sun Qing once followed a general to the Marshal Mansion in Luo Tong Royal City to report military matters to Marshal Haotian. At that time, he was just a low-ranked soldier, and he didn't even qualify to enter the mansion, thus he stood outside the entrance. From far away, he caught a glimpse of Huang Xiaolong. Despite that, that scene stayed clear in his memory up to this day. The respectful demeanor Marshal Haotian had for the same young man in front of him was unmistakable. After that time, he asked around and found out that young man was Huang Xiaolong.
"Huang, Young, Young Master Huang!" Sun Qing snapped back to reality with an ashen face, and his legs went soft at the knees, "It, it was Young Master Huang that saved my youngest daughter?"
He actually brought an army to encircle Huang Xiaolong? If…if Marshal Haotian got wind of this, what would be his ending? He had heard that even their Luo Tong King referred to Huang Xiaolong's father, Huang Peng, as brothers!