Chapter 522: Shang’er To The Rescue
All this while, Shang’er had heeded Lin Jin’s instructions to protect Maple City and to keep an eye out for danger.
Sure enough, someone had come to spy on them.
She fought them off but refrained from wiping them out entirely. Instead, she deliberately spared the lives of three men. Given her capabilities, if Shang’er were to get serious, none of them would have even had the chance to escape.
She was merely using them as bait to strike a bigger target.
Shang’er had heard the three men’s conversation and felt pleased.
‘So they have a mastermind named Elder Ye. This is much better. Since they’re Master Lin’s enemies, I’ll use this opportunity to wipe them out completely.” Without moving, Shang’er continued waiting into the wee hours of the night. Once the three men had enough rest, they got up to continue their journey, and Shang’er followed closely behind them. Since she had nothing to do at home, she’d never pass up the opportunity to do something interesting for once. It was better if they led her straight into their lair so she could wipe out this so-called Demonic Appraisal Association completely.
With Shang’er’s current cultivation level, she even came up with a unique flying skill after mastering Object Manipulation. Forget horses, she could even pursue enemies on eagles.
Admittedly, all three spies had strong builds and their horses were just as resilient. Their pet beasts were Rank 3 and they all practiced Beastmaster Scroll to hide their companions inside their bodies. These people could rain blood anywhere. It was unfortunate that they had to clash with Shang’er, who was the main reason why their defeat came so swiftly.
One day later, the three men had entered the heart of Great Deer Kingdom with Shang’er following discreetly behind. Finally, they arrived at a villa. Shang’er watched as the men snuck into the villa and never came out after that. She figured this must be one of the Demonic Appraisal Association’s hideouts.
After it got dark outside, Shang’er decided to invade the place without warning.
Faced with her sudden attack, the Demonic Appraisal Association’s experts hiding in there was no match for Shang’er. In just a few moves, all of them, including the three spies who escaped from Shang’er, died under her blade.
Controlling a sword with Object Manipulation to slaughter people from a distance became Shang’er’s favorite thing to do. Just like the flying swords of legendary immortals, such attacks were elegant and stylish. With just one spell, she could slay opponents thousands of miles away in an instant.
Because there was no need for Shang’er to fight the demonic appraisers herself, whatever skills they used couldn’t work on her. Even if they managed to destroy Shang’er’s sword, she had already prepared a couple more spare ones. Anyway, it took only moments for her to annihilate the demonic appraisers here along with their pet beasts.
After ensuring the area was safe, Shang’er ventured further inside to investigate.
She wanted to find survivors to interrogate but came across a person covered in wounds inside a secret room instead.
That person was unconscious. His limbs and neck were shackled by metal chains to a large pole. When Shang’er found him, he was barely alive.
Noticing the four-ringed beast patterns on his sleeve and his blood-stained and ripped clothes, Shang’er knew he must be an official beast appraiser. For the demonic appraisers to torture him, she figured that he must be one of their enemies.
The enemy of her enemy wasn’t necessarily her friend, but she couldn’t just leave him here to die.
Who knew if the other demonic appraisers might come by? Also, Shang’er hadn’t met their notorious ‘Elder Ye’ yet.
It took quite some effort to help the man get off the huge pole. Even with Shang’er’s cultivation, cutting the metal shackles was a tough job. The metal used to make these shackles were incredibly durable, and they emitted unique mana that suppressed Shang’er’s energy.
For this reason, Shang’er refrained from touching it directly. After rescuing the man, Shang’er realized that he was in worse shape than she initially assumed. The flesh on one of his arms seemed to have been torn out, revealing the bone underneath his flesh.
Having learned the pulse-seeking technique from Lin Jin, Shang’er took out her needles to treat the man’s wounds. If she left him be, he would probably die soon.
Having learned beast appraising from Lin Jin for such a long time now, even if she hadn’t sat for a beast appraiser qualification exam, Shang’er was on par with an official beast appraiser. The harrowing injury on this person’s arm told her that his pet beast had been forcibly removed from his body.
They even severed his blood contract.
The demonic appraisers were just too ruthless and creepy. Other appraisers might not even know what to do in such a situation.
The man remained unconscious. Though, after Shang’er’s treatment, his life was no longer in danger. Using Object Manipulation, Shang’er easily moved him to a safe location – an abandoned temple of a mountain god.
Located deep inside the mountains where humans rarely enter, the temple was quite a distance away from the villa so the demonic appraisers definitely wouldn’t be able to reach this place even if they had discovered the crime scene.
However, Shang’er soon realized that she had put herself in a tough spot.
The man was still unconscious so she couldn’t just leave him here. After all, he’d turn into lunch for the wild beasts that roamed the wilderness.
Fortunately, after Shang’er’s treatment with the pulse-seeking technique, the man finally woke up after an entire day’s rest.
“Great, you’re awake!” Shang’er lit up. She planned to return to that villa to observe the situation. That had to be the Demonic Appraisal Association’s hideout, and the Elder Ye they mentioned hadn’t shown up either so Shang’er was hoping she could catch him if she returned.
Yang Ming felt his entire body ache when he woke up. The pain was so excruciating and his mind was a mess. It took him quite a while to recall what happened.
Finally, he remembered.
Back at the academy, he received a letter from home, penned by his sister saying that their mother was gravely ill, that he should return immediately. Yang Ming was a filial son so he took off at once.
Yang Ming was aware of the academy rules and he just happened to run into a Rank 4 beast appraiser he was well-acquainted with. This appraiser heard about his situation and told Yang Ming to go ahead as he would inform the academy on his behalf.
Yang Ming didn’t think too much as he was worried about his mother so he hurried back to Great Deer Kingdom that night. Never in his wildest imaginations did he expect to be ambushed the moment he returned home. Even if Yang Ming was a Rank 4 appraiser, he couldn’t possibly win against a carefully-laid trap. He was forced to inhale toxic gas, then his pet beast was subdued by a Soul Binding Web before it was forcefully stripped from him.
What followed was inhuman torture.
The enemy must have their reason for keeping him alive. Later on, Yang Ming learned that they were aiming for that Daojun’s wooden plate in his possession.
After his captors revealed their intentions, Yang Ming knew that he had been schemed against.
And he vaguely knew who it was.
Brilliant as he was, Yang Ming had been careless due to worry for his mother’s condition. When he carefully recalled everything, he knew he was being led around by the nose.
However, it was a pity he discovered it too late.
The enemy tortured him endlessly but Yang Ming refused to talk. He refused to tell them the wooden plate’s whereabouts.
Before he left, he had placed the item somewhere inside Heavenly Spiral City, choosing not to bring it along with him.
He knew full well that if he answered, only death awaited him. If he died, he wouldn’t be able to exact his revenge anymore.