Chapter 223: Death at the Doorstep
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Wu Lie was clearly having a debate with himself as he murmured, "How can he be charged without evidence? How can you catch him? How can you kill someone? It doesn't seem possible…"
He was then shocked to realize that Supreme Wind was already gone while he was still mumbling to himself. He had not realized when he had vanished so silently…
Stunned, Wu Lie resumed his murmuring. "How can one stray from the country's laws? There isn’t any proof… This isn’t the way to go about it…"
…
Whilst Sir Wu Lie was still having his debate of the century with himself, Yun Yang had already turned into a chilly gust of wind, traveling tens of miles to the home of Shen Yushi, Deputy Minister of the Board of Punishments.
It was a terribly ordinary-looking house, paling in comparison to the common imperial court officials – compared to the grandeur of the others, it was rather plain.
Yun Yang’s entered the residence directly in the form of wind, the faint chimes of the bell at the front of the roof the only hint that there was a stirring breeze.
A few guards were huddled together, chatting softly in the residence, not at all mindful of the tinkling sound. Yun Yang made his rounds, realizing that only the study room was lit; there was someone inside.
At the backyard, all the other rooms were dark, with nobody staying in them. It showed that Sir Shen Yushi actually had no family here with him, not even maids nor concubines.
As for the man himself, he was currently seated in his study, quietly reading a book.
He looked graceful and virtuous; the solitude he was in hinted at his impartiality. His beard fluttered before his chest from his square face, his raven hair combed neatly with some silver strands showing – a telltale sign that he was no longer young.
Yun Yang took notice of the book he was reading, it was a poetry collection by a predecessor. The man was immersed in the poems, occasionally lifting his finger to paint strokes of words like it was a brush before admiring the work.
"So carefree!" Yun Yang could not help complimenting the man.
Having done so many things, yet being able to be so elegantly and at ease, this man’s psychological state must be immensely powerful.
If they were to swap places, Yun Yang’s conscience told him that he would most probably not be able to do the same.
Yun Yang coursed through the residence quietly. He was already sure that there would definitely be things that didn't belong in this place if this Deputy Minister Shen was truly questionable.
What he had to do now was to search for all these things!
Sir Shen Yushi, who was reading in the study, had somehow slowly picked himself up, beginning to pace around, mumbling with one hand holding the poetry book and another hand on his back. He came slowly to the front of the window, walking back and forth around the area.
Did he discover me?
With a shift in his gaze and thoughts, a gust of wind billowed before the window harshly.
As expected by Yun Yang, Sir Shen’s gaze that seemed to be focused on reading glinted abruptly before he concentrated on the book again, as if nothing had happened, like he did not notice anything.
He even sighed afterward, "Tonight’s wind… is so strong. Looks like the chilliness of winter has come early this year… I wonder if the nation’s people have prepared well for the cold…"
He sighed once more upon finishing his words, putting up a devoted dutiful front that empathized with the citizens.
In spite of this, Yun Yang’s wind form that was all-pervasive had already found a spacious space under Sir Shen’s study room. There was actually a secret passage in the righteous Sir Shen’s own study that held another secret world beneath it.
The hidden door to this secret passage was behind the painting that was at the back of the chair Shen Yushi had just sat on.
"Indeed there is a mysterious passage." Yun Yang flew out without hesitation, slapping the guards unconscious right as he approached them.
Bam, bam, pow…
The eight guards and another two doorkeepers were all struck unconscious by Yun Yang in the blink of an eye. He did not plan to stay unnoticed with his subsequent actions.
Shen Yushi’s eyes gleamed, he was already looking towards the direction where the commotion was coming from.
It was through this action that spoke of the complexity and the mighty cultivation base this man bore!
Yun Yang raised his head leisurely to smile at Sir Shen through the window, a sign that he had everything under control and was unafraid for Shen Yushi’s subsequent reaction.
Shen Yushi was still calm and composed, still holding on to his book with one hand and pacing around his study with graceful ease as he hummed softly, playing the part of a weak scholar who was powerless.
Yun Yang smiled inwardly, deciding to walk up to the window frankly and knock on it as he called out with a suppressed voice, "Sir Shen?"
Inside, Shen Yushi seemed to be shocked as he turned pale and replied, "Who is it?"
"A friend," Yun Yang answered.
Shen Yushi’s voice was trembling when he said, "What… what friend? This official… doesn’t have any friends like you…"
Yun Yang had no patience to carry on their little farce; he slapped the window open and appeared before Shen Yushi with a gust of chilliness, saying in a mocking tone, "Has Sir Shen forgotten your own doings?"
Shen Yushi fell onto his chair as mock panic colored his face; he forced himself to stay calm and shouted, "Who are you? What has this official ever done?"
Yun Yang sighed, "Shen Yushi, I’m already standing here. You're wasting time by continuing to put on an act."
Icy killing intent shot from his eyes under the black mask. "Shen Yushi, I have only one question. Which month and which date are you among the seventh, eighth, and ninth month?"
Shen Yushi seemed to be confused. "This official doesn’t understand what you mean…"
He then turned angry abruptly. "Where are you from, criminal? Trespassing into an imperial court official’s residence deep in the night, do you know what penalty you will be convicted of? Guards, there’s an assassin here!"
Yun Yang rolled his eyes, already cultivating the mystique wind and cloud cultivation as his body changed but remained in its ethereal form. He walked over airily and pulled the painting on the wall with a swoosh, revealing a clean slab of white wall.
With a snort, Yun Yang hit it with his palm and the wall gave way with a crack like a log that was broken in half. A dark hole that descended into the ground appeared right before his eyes.
It was at this moment that Yun Yang felt wind fluttering behind him; a piercing sense of vicious sentiment shot through him with a flash.
"Can’t hold it in anymore?" Yun Yang did not turn but delivered a strike with his palm.
A loud boom rent the air.
Yun Yang charged three steps forward, leveraging on the strong force and entered the passage that had just revealed itself. Words drifted from the dark passage, "Shen Yushi, not pretending to be a delicate scholar anymore?"
Before his voice finished echoing, his person was long gone in the dark tunnel.
"Seeking your death!"
Shen Yushi who looked virtuous and gentle initially was now painted with a rusty green, his killing intent surging like never before felt. His eyes were shining with an emerald glow, following Yun Yang into the dark tunnel in an unthinking rage.
Before he was entirely gone into the passage, his right hand pressed something on the wall.
Immediately, swooshing sounds sounded incessant from below. It was the activation of all the mechanisms and traps set from the entrance to the secret chamber inside.
However, Yun Yang’s body had turned into a gust of breeze just as he entered the tunnel, drifting speedily inwards.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…
He had only gone as far as thirty feet, before even arriving at the bottom of the secret passage, when countless scores of hidden weapons came shooting from all over the place without so much as a gap among the attacks.
A copious amount of poisonous gas was being emitted as well, all the colors found in a rainbow similarly found in the passageway, signaling the various types of poisons contained therein.
There were also needles as thin as a cow’s hair that seemed to fill the entire space.
On one side, there was a large, oddly-shaped hammer that came crashing down. The shape of the huge hammer was exactly the size of the tunnel – no matter how thin one was, they would never be able to avoid it…
It was unfortunate that even the most dense attacks were useless against the wind. Yun Yang’s wind form breezed through easily as it went right through the countless weapons and continued ten feet downwards right to the turn at the bottom. Without thinking, he drifted past it.
Behind him, a disgruntled roar sounded, "Criminal, stop right there!"
Yun Yang barely slowed, moving even faster instead. He had instantly advanced another seventeen feet, going right to another end despite being under attack by row upon row of pelting hidden weapons. Yun Yang had gotten to another turning; a crackling sound rose with a press of his hand – it was another concealed door that was being opened.
Similarly, an arsenal of hidden weapons was catapulting towards him. It was impossible to avoid them but Yun Yang’s body was only an illusion; even when hundreds of thousands of weapons penetrated him, there was no damage done.
Right when the slightest gap was opened from the second door, a green glow was already catching up to Yun Yang. The sword emitted a dazzling sword air in the dark tunnel as it struck down.
In spite of it, Yun Yang had unbelievably squeezed through the sliver of a gap and left the sword air far behind.
Another thirty feet later, brightness greeted Yun Yang’s eyes. It was a secret chamber with a radius of ten feet that which had Luminous Pearls embedded all around. Despite being tens of feet underground, the secret chamber was bright as day.
The setting of the room was very simple; there were only a table and a chair.
With a curl of his body, Yun Yang went towards the chair. When Shen Yushi caught up and entered the chamber, what greeted his eyes was a black-masked man in black clothes, looking at him mockingly as he sat on the chair proudly; the domineering aura obvious in the air.
Although Shen Yushi’s eyes were flushed with aggressive murderous intent, the surprise and intimidation were stark. How could the simultaneous attacks of his full-blown strikes and trap mechanisms in the secret passage earlier not have blocked the other party for even an instant?
To what stage had this person’s cultivation base gone?
One must know that the hidden mechanisms of traps and hidden weapons were so dense and tightly packed that they were all-pervasive,
He could not figure out how this man, alive and normal-sized, could arrive here without a single wound amidst the storm of hidden weapons!