Chapter 86: Initial Scouting of County Governor Manor
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
Qin An, still reeling from the explosion and subsequent flight, looked carefully at the huge silver flying sword beneath his feet. It was massive and the sword's body was aqueous. It also felt like a misty mirage, mystical and beautiful! It was more attractive than any precious stone.
"Brother, I have never seen any treasure that is more beautiful than this flying sword of yours." Qin An could not help but comment.
"The cultivation of an Intrinsic Flying Sword isn't exactly easy," Qin Yun said. "By the way, do not tell mother and your family about me bringing you back with Sword Kinesis Flight after we return."
"I understand." Qin An nodded immediately.
Beneath them.
Outside Six Fans Gate, in the streets, restaurants and tea shops, people were looking at Six Fans Gate from afar. They had heard the loud collapse of the Six Fans Gate dungeon that sent thick smoke and dust billowing into the sky.
"What happened?"
"The Six Fans Gate dungeon collapsed. It collapsed!" A patron on the third floor of a tea shop surveyed the large dungeon in Six Fans Gate. Only half of the dungeon's pillars were left standing while the rest had collapsed, resulting in the plume of dust.
"What, the Six Fans Gate dungeon collapsed? Who could be capable of that?"
"Quick, find out what happened."
None of these people noticed the two people leaving swiftly on a flying sword.
…
As the duo engaged in Sword Kinesis Flight, they tore through the sky at extremely high speeds. Soon, they came above a compound and plunged down.
In the inner wing of the exquisite compound, Changlan was chatting with her daughter-in-law. Her grandchildren were to the side, eating desserts.
Phew!
Two figures suddenly appeared inside the yard. It was none other than Qin Yun and Qin An. As for the flying sword, Qin Yun had obviously already stowed it away.
"An'er?" Changlan's eyes turned red the moment she saw him. Beside her, the daughter-in-law immediately shouted, "Hubby!" She instantly flung herself into Qin An's embrace amid tears of joy. The two children, Shubing and Shuyan, also ran over and hugged their father. They burst out into tears, with unfinished dessert still in their mouths. The two children had truly been traumatized. Yet it was only when they saw their father that they bawled loudly.
Qin An lifted up his children. "Don't cry. Be a good boy and girl. Isn't Daddy already back?"
He kissed his children and pacified them until they gradually stopped crying.
His wife wiped the tears from her eyes and gradually calmed down as well.
Qin An consoled them and said, "I'm fine. Although the Six Fans Gate dungeon was filled with experts, they were nothing to Brother. I return unscathed."
Qin Yun felt somewhat relieved seeing his brother and family reunite.
"Yun'er," Changlan said immediately. "What about your father? Is there any way to save him?"
"Father has been imprisoned in County Governor Manor," Qin Yun explained. "The security in County Governor Manor is the tightest in all of Grand Dominance County. It will take more time to think of a good method to save Father."
When Changlan heard that, she said immediately, "Try to think of a solution. Yun'er, only you can save your father. However, don't rashly send yourself to your death."
"Don't worry, Mother. But first, I'll be taking a rest," said Qin Yun.
"Go ahead, go ahead," Changlan responded immediately.
Qin Yun nodded and headed towards a room to the side.
As Changlan looked at Qin Yun's back, she felt her heart ache but she could do nothing. She was unable to help in any way.
"Hubby, the county governor surrounded Qin Manor with the army and had large numbers of crossbow arrows shot at us. Brother made the entire world tremble and the arrows were left hanging in midair. All of us flew up… and he brought us out of Qin Manor. Despite all the soldiers, they were powerless to stop us," Qin An's wife recounted in hush tones. She had truly witnessed how powerful her brother-in-law was.
Qin An nodded. "It's good that all of you are fine. I'm now worried about my father."
"Don't press your brother. He will do his best," Changlan said from the side.
"Yea." Qin An and his wife nodded.
After entering the room, Qin Yun closed the door and sat cross-legged on the bed. He exhaled long and slowly before he began focusing on absorbing the spiritual energies of the heaven and earth to replenish his Quintessential Essence. "Bringing someone along with me in Sword Kinesis Flight for just a few kilometers has drained my Quintessential Essence by seventy percent! The battle before only drained about ten percent."
Sword kinesis was relatively simple but Sword Kinesis Flight drained a great deal of Quintessential Essence. Then to bring someone along in Sword Kinesis Flight? And for several kilometers?
It sure looked impressive but it drained Quintessential Essence at an appalling rate. It was too demanding on a Postnatal realm sword immortal. However, Qin Yun was worried that Gongye had other traps, so he had rushed up into the sky. Escaping by Sword Kinesis Flight was the safest way!
…
By the time the news reached County Governor Manor, it took more than an hour for Gongye to lead people to Six Fans Gate.
"The county governor is here. It's the county governor."
"Is he the one that dealt with the Qin family?"
In the surrounding restaurants and tea shops, many passers-by discussed from afar. All of them spoke in whispers.
"I heard that the Qin family's Eldest Young Master, Qin An, has been rescued from inside the Six Fans Gate dungeon! And more than half the dungeon collapsed in the escape."
"It must have been Second Young Master Qin who saved him."
"Indeed, how can a place like Six Fans Gate be able to ward off Second Young Master Qin?"
Although the discussions of the commoners from afar were soft, Gongye was, in fact, a Connate True Core realm fiend, so he naturally heard all of them. However, he could only bear with it. After all, the entire city was talking about Second Young Master Qin. He could only pretend as though he had not heard them.
He entered Six Fans Gate.
"Lord County Governor."
"Lord County Governor." Everyone said respectfully.
Gongye indifferently led his men to the collapsed Six Fans Gate dungeon. He said coldly, "No one else has been permitted entry, right?"
"Lord County Governor." Two silver-badge constables came forward. One of them was Constable Lei, who said politely, "After the dungeon collapsed, we surrounded the area. Only an old coroner was sent inside to investigate. After confirming that there were no living souls, he came back out."
"Greetings, Lord County Governor." An old hunchbacked coroner said respectfully from the side, "After investigating the area, I have been here all this time. I did not dare leave."
"Alright." Gongye's eyes condensed black runes in an undetectable fashion. He looked at the old coroner as his clothes turned transparent. Nothing he carried could be concealed.
After taking one look, Gongye took a step forward and arrived in front of the collapsed Six Fans Gate dungeon.
He could still see the many 'scars' on the dungeon's bricks. There were holes and ditches formed by the Five Revolutions Mystic Wood Formation.
"Those five good-for-nothings. They weren't even careful while using the Five Revolutions Mystic Wood Formation. They caused more than half the dungeon to collapse, making it hard to see traces of the battle." Gongye frowned. His gaze even penetrated the bricks and down into the corpses that were being pinned to the ground. The criminals' corpses were obvious at a glance. He also saw the remnant skins of the Liu brothers. They had been sucked dry of their flesh and blood.
"Not a single treasure is left. Even the Five Revolutions Mystic Wood Formation's formation artifact is gone." Gongye frowned slightly. "It looks like the perpetrator has taken it away. Eldest Liu and company have also released the Netherblood Bugs. However, none of the Netherblood Bugs flew out to harm the other cultivators in Six Fans Gate. Hmph, the perpetrator sure took pity on the weak by killing all the Netherblood Bugs."
Gongye turned and walked towards the prison wardens. He scanned them and asked, "Did any one of you notice anything about the person that broke Qin An out of prison?"
"No, all we saw was a stream of light flash across us and then the shackles and cuffs on Qin An's body were shattered."
"I saw a man appear but I cannot remember what he looks like at all."
"Following that, we were flung out."
The prison wardens said one after another.
Gongye frowned.
A group of mortals was truly useless!
"To use the Netherblood Bugs implies two possibilities. One, Qin Yun had come to break his brother out of prison. Eldest Liu and company were unable to stop him and resorted to using the Netherblood Bugs. The other possibility is that Eldest Liu and company encountered danger and were forced to use the Netherblood Bugs. There's no way to identify the perpetrator. Is it Qin Yun's senior from his sect?" Gongye narrowed his eyes as they suffused a cold glint. "They truly cherish that Qin Yun. They are even willing to transgress against the imperial government and its laws for him?"
******
Inside a room.
Qin Yun sat on the bed and suddenly opened his eyes.
He had been resting for two hours, and recovered about half his Quintessential Essence.
"Next, I have to think of a way to save Father." Qin Yun had a heavy expression. "County Governor Manor is on high alert, and there are powerful array formations set up to prevent demons from assassinating the county governor! Even among all the nineteen prefectures under the heavens, it is extremely rare for a county governor to be assassinated inside their manor!"
There were some who were assassinated outside their manors.
But to be assassinated inside… those were few and far between.
Why? It was because the imperial government had set up large-scale array formations inside County Governor Manor!
This fact made Qin Yun lack confidence.
"Regardless, I'll give it a try first."
"Out."
Qin Yun waved his hand as a sword beam instantly flew out from it. It hung close to the corners of the windows and out the room. It charged into the sky and rapidly flew towards County Governor Manor.
Soon.
With a whoosh, the Intrinsic Flying Sword arrived outside County Governor Manor. It hovered amid the grass and sensed a thousand feet around it. County Governor Manor was emptier than usual, as nearly half the men had gone to Six Fans Gate with the county governor. There were not many experts left in the manor.
"I can only identify two of the array formations. I do not understand the rest." Qin Yun sensed it with his psyche embedded in the Intrinsic Flying Sword. "Forgetting myself, even array experts might not be able to fully identify them. After all, it was set up by the imperial government to protect the incumbent county governor."
"In the past, I have always been a guest and never suffered any attacks inside. Yet, now I have to force my way in."
"Regardless, I have to give it a try! I need to know how powerful the County Governor Manor is!"
"Out."
Phew.
The Intrinsic Flying Sword noiselessly burrowed into the mud and instantly approached County Governor Manor from underground. However, within dozens of feet beyond the manor's walls, a large amount of Heaven and Earth power surged from within County Governor Manor. It formed a gigantic barrier that protected most of County Governor Manor. Qin Yun's Intrinsic Flying Sword was trapped within the barrier!
The barrier had five layers and the Intrinsic Flying Sword was trapped between the outermost and penultimate layers.
"It's actually the combination of five different array formations?" Qin Yun reeled in shock. Only then did he realize that the two array formations he detected were only a portion of a massive array formation.
"Chi! Chi! Chi!"
The outermost layer was a water layer and the penultimate layer was a fire layer. Countless runes were suffusing and circulating with irrepressible might. In the gap between the two, the contact of water and fire resulted in rumbling. With the array formation activated, it constantly assaulted Qin Yun's Intrinsic Flying Sword.
"Bam! Bam! Bam!"
The Intrinsic Flying Sword seemed to be stuck in a massive maelstrom as it struggled. All the while, it continued being struck.
As for the flying sword that was imbued with Quintessential Essence, its energy was constantly being drained at a speed much faster than when Sword Kinesis Flight was being used. Qin Yun was only in the Postnatal realm, after all. The amount of Quintessential Essence imbued in the flying sword was naturally lacking.
"That's bad. Once the Quintessential Essence within the Intrinsic Flying Sword is fully drained, its strength will greatly decrease! If it can’t escape, the Intrinsic Flying Sword will be lost in there! Escape!" Qin Yun ignored everything else and did not dare delay. If the Intrinsic Flying Sword were to be lost there, it would be an abject failure, and he could forget about saving his father.
Boom!
The silver flying sword struck at the outermost water layer with all its might, causing the water layer to quake and distort. Only after a second strike did a tiny hole open up. Immediately, the Intrinsic Flying Sword bored through the hole and escaped out of the array. With a whoosh, it vanished into the sky.
…
Elsewhere, Gongye had already departed Six Fans Gate with his men. They were on their way back to County Governor Manor.
"Oh?" Gongye pulled aside the carriage's curtains and looked in the direction of County Governor Manor. He saw a huge resplendent barrier enveloping County Governor Manor. A sneer suffused his lips. "The imperial government built hundreds of county governor manors in the nineteen prefectures at great cost and effort. You want to barge inside County Governor Manor? You are overestimating your abilities!"