Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Scarlet Sun City Without Its Cage

Rong Shu rose at daybreak and, as usual, went to the Alchemist Branch Guild’s Myriad Books Tower to memorize pill recipes.

Three hour later, Rong Shu came out of the Myriad Books Tower. The practicum lecture had not yet begun, so she planned to go to the small grove to refine a Bone and Tendon Pill. During this time, she also faintly sensed that the mood in the city was not quite right, which she chalked up to the recent “thief” incidents.

By afternoon, after half a day of rumor and speculation, the news of Yan Cheng Qian’s death was confirmed from many sides, and the whole city exploded in an uproar.

Now, even just walking down the street, Rong Shu could hear people everywhere discussing it.

Suddenly, a figure sprang up behind her and clamped a hand around her arm, the man blurting out: “You are Ruan Ruan’s junior sister!”

He pressed in tight, voice ragged as he demanded: “Do you know where Ruan Ruan is? You do, don’t you?!”

Startled, Rong Shu turned, only to see Yan Zi Mo, who not long ago had been strutting around so high and mighty. Now his eyes were bloodshot like a wounded lone wolf, and the luster was gone from his robe, which was stained with dust and mud.

She hesitated, then said: “You are… the Young City Lord Yan?” She tried to pull her arm free, but Yan Zi Mo held on tight.

Yan Zi Mo was a Foundation Establishment cultivator; even in his current state, he was not someone Rong Shu could shake off.

Hearing the title that had once brought him boundless praise and envy, Yan Zi Mo felt a rush of bitterness and pain.

He said urgently: “Take me to see Ruan Ruan. Quickly!”

Without realizing it, he had slipped back into the commanding tone he was used to.

Rong Shu disliked that tone, and since she hardly knew him, she had no wish to humor him. She spoke quickly: “Senior Sister Yu is at Wind’s Arrival Inn, if you want to find her then go—”

Yan Zi Mo cut her off sharply: “She is not at that inn. I just went, and she has already checked out.”

Rong Shu wondered why Yu Ruan Ruan had checked out, but for the moment she had to deal with Yan Zi Mo. She shook her head and said: “Then I do not know where Senior Sister Yu went. I have not been with her these days and do not know her itinerary.”

He snapped back, anxious eyes flicking toward the way he had come as if someone were on his heels: “No. You have to take me to look for Ruan Ruan!”

“You—” Rong Shu had just begun to speak when her vision blurred.

Her arm suddenly loosened, and the person in front of her was no longer Yan Zi Mo but Lin Dao, who had appeared without warning.

Lin Dao swept a cold glance over Yan Zi Mo, whom he had knocked to the ground, then turned to Rong Shu and asked: “Are you all right?”

She shook her head: “I am fine, Senior Brother.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Rong Shu noticed a group of a dozen people appearing not far away, their expressions tense and abnormal.

When their gazes fell on this spot, they locked at once onto Yan Zi Mo.

Sensing something was off, that group exchanged looks and gradually slowed their steps.

Lin Dao also noticed them, but he pretended otherwise and deliberately barked at Yan Zi Mo in a carrying voice: “Stay away from my junior sister, you lecher, otherwise every time I see you, I will beat you.”

Yan Zi Mo’s eyes went wide as he blurted: “You… you are only early Foundation Establishment. You dare hit me?!”

[What is going on?] The man was clearly only at early Foundation Establishment, weaker than he was; why had he closed the distance before Yan Zi Mo sensed anything?

Unable to figure it out, Yan Zi Mo grew angry. He planted his hand to push himself up and teach this sudden interloper a lesson, but a numb jolt ran through his palm and he toppled back down. To outsiders, it only looked like his own clumsiness.

Lin Dao arched a brow and snorted: “Do I need to pick a time to hit you? Do I need to warn you in advance?”

[I can even beat your old man. Why would I be afraid to beat a brat like you?]

Furious, Yan Zi Mo tried to speak but could not even get to his feet: “You…”

Lin Dao turned and gave Rong Shu a subtle look: “Go.”

She started, then nodded at once: “Oh.” She stopped looking at Yan Zi Mo and followed Lin Dao away.

As soon as Lin Dao and Rong Shu left, the watchers in the distance quickened their pace and rushed toward Yan Zi Mo.

Yan Zi Mo cursed under his breath: “Damn!” He gave up on settling accounts with Lin Dao; his body seemed to return to normal, and he scrambled up and fled in the other direction.

The pursuers shouted as they charged after him: “After him!” and “Do not let him get away!”

Once they had gone some distance, Lin Dao asked: “How do you know Yan Zi Mo?”

Rong Shu explained: “It is not that I know him. Senior Sister Yu knows him. When I went to buy a sword, I happened to see him with Senior Brother Qin and Senior Sister Yu together.”

She added, a bit aggrieved: “It seems he could not find Senior Sister Yu, happened to see me, and wanted me to take him to her.” [I have no idea who those people chasing him are. Since he wanted to avoid them, they must be enemies.]

Lin Dao said calmly: “Do not concern yourself with him.”

“Oh.” Rong Shu nodded obediently, thinking that if it were true that Qin Yuan and Yu Ruan Ruan had checked out because something had come up, Senior Brother Qin would certainly have left her a message.

Thus, Rong Shu took from her Storage Pouch a transmission jade slip she had not used in a long time. She had set it to mute and only took it out morning and evening to avoid missing messages. Now she saw one from Qin Yuan and said to Lin Dao: “Senior Brother, Senior Brother Qin has already left the inn, and he has notified us to leave Scarlet Sun City today and return to the sect to submit the mission.”

Lin Dao replied: “Mm, let us go.” [With Yan Cheng Qian dead and the people of the city in panic, a great upheaval may well be coming. It is better for the little lass to leave early.]

Rong Shu remembered the batch of Tendon and Bone Pills she had refined over the last two days and stored in her Storage Pouch, which she had not yet exchanged for Spirit Stones, so she said: “Senior Brother, I want to make a quick trip to the Alchemist Branch Guild…”

The moment he heard “Alchemist Branch Guild,” Lin Dao understood what she meant and nodded: “Then we will go to the Alchemist Branch Guild first.”

At that, the latter half of Rong Shu’s sentence died on her lips. She had been about to say, “Senior Brother, you go on ahead to the rendezvous point, I will be right behind,” but seeing he intended to accompany her, she quietly closed her mouth.

On the way to the Alchemist Branch Guild, Rong Shu saw many cultivators arguing and fighting, and even thieves being chased in the street. With Yan Cheng Qian dead, the city no longer had an absolute suppressor, and all sorts of demons and ghosts came crawling out.

Some people also set their sights on Lin Dao and Rong Shu, who looked easy to bully, but Lin Dao swiftly dealt with them.

Another troublemaking cultivator screamed: “Ah!” as Lin Dao twisted the man’s wrist. The fellow howled and begged for mercy, babbling lines like, “I failed to recognize Mount Tai, spare me.”

After that, the two continued on their way. Watching these scenes, Lin Dao said coldly: “This is human nature. Once the cage that imprisons the inner beast is gone, people become mad and witless.”

These rioters were like this. Yan Cheng Qian was the same.

Rong Shu mused: “Maybe they are not really trying to make trouble for us. Maybe they have been suppressed for too long and are making trouble on purpose?”

“Mm.” Lin Dao lifted a hand and gently rested it on the crown of her head, his tone pointed as he said: “A mad dog’s thinking is not the same as a normal person’s. Since you cannot agree with it, guard your own integrity and do not wallow with them, because you are not the one at fault. They are. This city is.”

Rong Shu was briefly taken aback, then said: “Mm, I understand, Senior Brother.”

When they reached the Alchemist Branch Guild, they found several more teams of guards at the entrance than usual. As they tried to go in, the guards blocked them and said: “Stop. In this special period, non-alchemists may not enter the branch guild.”

Rong Shu produced her probationary alchemist credential and was allowed in, while Lin Dao had to remain outside. He instructed her: “Once you are inside, buy several portions of Soft Bone Pill, Soul Settling Pill…” He listed several medicines. Rong Shu had happened to study these recipes in the Myriad Books Tower, and their effects surfaced in her mind.

The Soft Bone Pill is similar to the Tendon and Bone Pill, but the former enhances the flexibility of the muscles and bones, while the latter increases their strength. The Soul Settling Pill has the effect of calming and steadying the soul, and with long-term use it grants some resistance to spiritual and soul-type attacks.

“All right,” Rong Shu said.

She exchanged her current batch of Tendon and Bone Pills for Spirit Stones, then, following Lin Dao’s list, bought five portions of each of the named medicines before coming back out of the Alchemist Branch Guild.