Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Prime Suspect (Part 1)
“Let her go!”
No one needed to ask who had arrived.
“Forgive me for intruding on your leisure, Lord Cang Yue.” Mo Ting Feng offered the proper salute, yet the sharpness in his voice made it sound like mockery. “This woman has already been declared the prime suspect in White Robe’s disappearance. I must take her back to Dust Warden Manor at once.”
This was not his plan.
He had meant to cast a long line—use the girl as bait, then slowly reel in Gu Cang Yue…and the bigger fish lurking behind him.
He couldn’t say what had come over him. He’d rushed out like a fool, snatched up the bluntest excuse in reach, and thrown it like a stone. It wasn’t his usual style.
But right now, none of that mattered. He had only one thought: take her away.
“And if I refuse?” Gu Cang Yue’s voice was calm, almost idle.
Her struggle only made him look twice. She really was nothing like the rest.
Gu Cang Yue released Song Wei Chen’s wrist and drew her behind him. His aura surged, rolling outward like an approaching storm. A colossal luan-bird dharma image took form behind him, its wings spanning the street, its presence crushing down. Townsfolk scattered in panic. Stalls were abandoned mid-sale. In a blink, the noisy road emptied until even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
“White Robe vanished at the River of Oblivion,” Mo Ting Feng said, refusing to yield. “And the vicious chaos wraith he was escorting escaped as well. This incident has already alarmed the Realm Lord. They suspect an evil force is deliberately disturbing the peace of the Dream Realm.”
His gaze sharpened. “You were once a High God, Lord Cang Yue. You understand what this means. If you insist on stopping me and obstructing Dust Warden Manor’s investigation, you won’t just earn a reputation for sheltering a suspect. Worse… people will start wondering whether you have a hand in this.”
Behind Gu Cang Yue, Song Wei Chen shook her head again and again. Unbelievable. This misogynistic schemer could turn anything into a weapon. If he wanted to pin a charge on someone, he’d always find a pretext—cut you open, then salt the wound for fun.
She hated him even more.
Clutching Gu Cang Yue’s sleeve, she leaned out from behind him. “I’m not going with you!”
“You can’t catch the real culprit, so you want to dump it on me. You’re a villain!”
Seeing her hide behind Gu Cang Yue only stoked Mo Ting Feng’s temper. His eyes turned cold. “You don’t get to choose.”
“Try touching her,” Gu Cang Yue said softly. “Just try.”
He drove his spell forward. The luan-bird dharma image struck first, a claw of light raking toward Mo Ting Feng. Mo Ting Feng didn’t even draw his sword—he blocked with the sheathed blade, stopping the strike with nothing but the hilt. The impact still thundered outward. Stalls along both sides of the street cracked and collapsed, splintering under the leftover force.
Mo Ting Feng flicked his hand. Two silver ingots dropped neatly onto the wreckage, one to the left and one to the right.
“Lord Cang Yue,” he said evenly, “I don’t want to fight. And I don’t want the people’s property harmed. Please restrain yourself.”
“If the two of us fight, heaven and earth will change color. That is not my wish.”
“If you insist on taking her,” Gu Cang Yue replied, “then heaven and earth changing color will be unavoidable.”
They held the line between them, tension pulled tight—
Until a cry cut down from above.
An immortal crane, white as snow, circled in the sky, its call clear and lingering, as if delivering a summons.
It was a messenger from the Upper Realm, urgently calling Gu Cang Yue back. Mo Ting Feng’s words had not been empty threats. White Robe’s disappearance at the River of Oblivion was no small matter. It had not only alarmed the Realm Lord; now even the Upper Realm had received word.
Gu Cang Yue withdrew his aura. Mo Ting Feng, of course, understood what the crane meant.
Song Wei Chen’s lips curved into a brief, relieved smile. Finally—something on her side.
Gu Cang Yue turned to her, voice low. “I need to return to the Upper Realm. Don’t be afraid. He won’t dare do anything to you. When I come back, I will protect you.”
Before she could react, he faced Mo Ting Feng again. “Fine. She can go with you for now. But you will agree to three conditions.”
Song Wei Chen went rigid. She didn’t want them to fight—she didn’t want innocent people caught in the fallout—but she wanted even less to be dragged back by that thousand-year Ice Block and punished.
Two bird calls, and the world’s tone had flipped.
Of the thirty-six stratagems, running was best.
While both men’s attention stayed locked on each other, she quietly eased backward. A narrow alley gaped behind her. She tucked her shoulders and slipped toward it, inch by inch.
“What conditions?” Mo Ting Feng’s voice remained controlled. “Please, speak plainly.”
“First,” Gu Cang Yue said, “you will not lay a hand on her. If a single hair on her head is missing when I return, I will raze Dust Warden Manor.”
“Second, everything requires evidence. No baseless accusations. You will not frame her.”
“Third…” His gaze didn’t waver. “She is my woman. You will not treat her lightly.”
Gu Cang Yue didn’t say it to take advantage of her. He said it because it would work—because fear of him would make people measure their hands before they reached for her. He wanted her safe. That was all.
And yet, the moment the words left his mouth, a strange warmth flickered through him—something like satisfaction, something like a quiet, dangerous anticipation.
In the alley, Song Wei Chen heard every word.
The first two conditions stirred something in her despite herself.
The third made her mouth twist.
Since when had she become his woman…? Big bosses really did decide everything like breathing. Would it kill them to ask the person involved?
Fine. He could talk all he wanted.
She was taking the opening.
Time to run.