Urban Martial Saint

Although the Executioner Scholar didn’t know why Wanyan Hongsheng and Old Sixth Wan Yan insisted on abducting this Seventh Elder, he was very clear that the two of them were definitely up to something shady.

This time they didn’t let him make a move, only told him to keep watch, and he was happy to take it easy, so he nodded in agreement. Anyway, to him, the grudge between the Wanyan Family and the Sword Saint Sect was already set in stone, and that was the most important thing. As for the rest, he didn’t need to care at all; he just had to wait and see how the Wanyan Family and the Sword Saint Sect would go at each other.

Since they had decided to make a move and snatch back the Seventh Elder, the brothers Wanyan Hongsheng sped up. When the business van in front drove onto a secluded mountain road, the two of them suddenly drove up and directly forced the van to a halt.

The driver in the van was also from Iga-ryu, a veteran who had been through countless battles and had seen many such sudden ambushes. Now a car suddenly shot out and blocked him, and he immediately felt something was wrong. He didn’t even bother to stop the car; with a twist of the steering wheel, the vehicle shot past, almost scraping the small trees by the roadside.

Wanyan Hongsheng hadn’t expected this driver to react so quickly. Seeing the other side refuse to stop, he spat and snapped, ”Go!”

Old Sixth Wan Yan had long been itching to move. Hearing Wanyan Hongsheng’s words, he pushed open the door and darted out. His toes tapped the ground twice in rapid succession, and his whole body shot toward the car in front like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

Wanyan Hongsheng was a bit slower. He grabbed a rope from inside the car and lashed it out hard. There was an iron hook tied to the end of the rope, and with Wanyan Hongsheng’s level of skill, the hook flew straight into the business van and bit in. Wanyan Hongsheng grabbed the rope, and his body soared like a giant kite, flying across. Though he moved later, he arrived first, landing on the roof of the van before Old Sixth Wan Yan.

”Wow, Third Brother, that’s a damn good trick!” Old Sixth Wan Yan exclaimed from behind, and a moment later he too had leapt onto the roof.

The driver inside felt that something was wrong and hastily twisted the steering wheel, violently swaying the car in an attempt to fling the two men off the roof. But with the kind of skill the two had, their feet on the roof were as steady as Mount Tai; no amount of swaying could shake them in the slightest.

”Do it!” Wanyan Hongsheng barked coldly. He drew a Short Dagger from his person and plunged it straight into the roof. With a hard slash, he cut open a section of the roof. A few more vicious strokes, and he literally hacked out an opening about one meter wide, just enough to expose the people sitting below.

These six ”Elders” were sitting in the car, waiting to be brought to the Iga Ryu Clan Master, and had never expected to be ambushed like this halfway. To be honest, the six of them were completely baffled. This scene wasn’t in Ye Qing’s plan at all, so what the hell was going on now? Had the plan changed?

Because they didn’t know what had happened, the six ”Elders” just sat there motionless, without the slightest intention of resisting. After all, in Ye Qing’s plan, they had taken poison, completely sealing their Inner Strength, and were naturally people who could not fight back.

Once the roof was opened, the six also saw what was happening outside. They didn’t recognize Old Sixth Wan Yan, but Wanyan Hongsheng they recognized at a glance. The moment they saw Wanyan Hongsheng, they knew this definitely wasn’t part of Ye Qing’s plan, but a Cheng Yaojin suddenly barging in halfway.

Before they could figure out what was going on, Wanyan Hongsheng had already seen the situation below. He reached down, grabbed the ”Seventh Elder,” and hauled him straight out.

Seeing this, two Elders clenched their fists, clearly about to make a move, but were stopped by the people beside them. If they started resisting now, they could indeed drive off Wanyan Hongsheng and his brother, but the key problem was that Ye Qing’s previous plan would be completely ruined. Before figuring out exactly what was going on, it was better not to act rashly, lest they wreck Ye Qing’s plan.

Wanyan Hongsheng dragged the ”Seventh Elder” out without harming him in the slightest, then slung him over his back and ran off. The five ”Elders” left in the car looked at each other in dismay, all at a loss as to what had just happened; even the driver up front was stunned.

After quite a while, the driver in front cautiously turned his head to look at the remaining five ”Elders” in the back, especially the leading ”Great Elder,” and asked in a low voice, ”Honored Elders, now… what should we do now?”

The five ”Elders” were also completely at sea. After a long moment, the leading ”Great Elder” took a deep breath and said, ”Forget it, leave it for now. Just hurry up and get us to the Sect Master. We’re all powerless right now; we have to restore our strength first before we can talk about anything else!”

The reason this ”Great Elder” said that was because the five of them couldn’t make a move now either. Once they did, their cover would be blown. Besides, after those two people from the Wanyan Family came in just now, they only grabbed this ”Seventh Elder” and left; they didn’t attack them, nor did they show any intent to harm that ”Seventh Elder.” Although everyone didn’t know what exactly the people of the Wanyan Family wanted to do, they figured there had to be some reason behind it.

Moreover, since the people of the Wanyan Family hadn’t hurt anyone, that ”Seventh Elder” most likely wouldn’t be in any real danger, so they simply decided to ignore the matter of the ”Seventh Elder” for the moment and focus on rescuing Huangfu Ziyu first. If they acted now, not only would their cover be blown, they’d also ruin Ye Qing’s plan; then it would be much harder to rescue Huangfu Ziyu in the future.

The driver’s status wasn’t high, and he had no say here. Hearing the ”Great Elder” speak like that, he naturally didn’t dare have any opinions of his own, and hurriedly drove that broken-down car toward the place where the Sect Master was.

After Wanyan Hongsheng and the other man dragged the ”Seventh Elder” out, this ”Seventh Elder” still didn’t know what had happened. He didn’t dare resist and let the two of them carry him onto the car in the back. Executioner Scholar was waiting in the car. When he saw that they had really brought this ”Seventh Elder,” he felt even more suspicious, already beginning to speculate whether this ”Seventh Elder” had some connection to the Wanyan Family.

”These old geezers really are all out of strength. This is just too good!” Old Sixth Wan Yan was the most excited; how smoothly things had gone this time was simply beyond their expectations.

Wanyan Hongsheng ignored Old Sixth Wan Yan. While directing Executioner Scholar to drive away, he turned to look at the ”Seventh Elder” in the back.

The ”Seventh Elder” didn’t know what was going on, but he recognized that the man before him was Wanyan Hongsheng, and the one driving was Executioner Scholar. Under these circumstances, he became highly wary. It looked like he’d been abducted by the Wanyan Family. Could it be that the Wanyan Family had discovered his true identity?

Seeing the ”Seventh Elder” staring at him warily and not saying a word from beginning to end, Wanyan Hongsheng also felt a bit puzzled. But recalling how they had trapped the ”Seventh Elder” in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master at Chatiang Peak, he could more or less understand what the ”Seventh Elder” was thinking. After all, they had almost taken the ”Seventh Elder’s” life back then—practically a betrayal. Meeting again now, the fact that the ”Seventh Elder” hadn’t beaten or scolded him already counted as giving him face.

Not knowing what exactly was on the ”Seventh Elder’s” mind, and with Executioner Scholar sitting right there, Wanyan Hongsheng didn’t dare speak rashly at this moment. He only gave the ”Seventh Elder” a smile and urged Executioner Scholar to hurry and drive away from this place. Even though those five ”Elders” couldn’t make a move right now either, he was still somewhat wary of the Iga-ryu, and naturally wanted to get away as fast as possible.

Seeing Wanyan Hongsheng smile at him, the ”Seventh Elder” was even more confused about what was going on. However, he could tell that Wanyan Hongsheng clearly had a hint of currying favor with him. What on earth was this about? Why would someone from the Wanyan Family treat a Ninja from the Iga-ryu with such an attitude?

Still, there was one thing the ”Seventh Elder” could feel relieved about: Wanyan Hongsheng’s hostility toward him was not heavy; on the contrary, there was even an intent to win him over. This proved that Wanyan Hongsheng probably wouldn’t attack him. In other words, Wanyan Hongsheng actually hadn’t seen through his identity at all; there had to be some other reason for taking him away.

Since his cover hadn’t been blown, and the other side was treating him this way, the ”Seventh Elder” felt much more at ease. In any case, there was no way he could catch up to those five ”Elders” right now, so he might as well follow the people of the Wanyan Family and see what medicine they were selling in their gourd.

For safety’s sake, Wanyan Hongsheng and his group didn’t dare linger in Shenchuan City at all. After taking the ”Seventh Elder,” they immediately drove out of Shenchuan City. After more than half an hour, they finally arrived at a small town next to Shenchuan City, where the Wanyan Family had another stronghold.

After entering the courtyard, Wanyan Hongsheng found an excuse to send Executioner Scholar away, while he and Old Sixth Wan Yan led the ”Seventh Elder” into a room.

As soon as Old Sixth Wan Yan closed the door behind them, Wanyan Hongsheng suddenly dropped to his knees with a thump, startling the ”Seventh Elder” walking in front. What on earth was the Wanyan Family trying to do? Why pull a stunt like this all of a sudden?

Wanyan Hongsheng had been turning this scene over in his mind the whole way here. After all, they had also trapped the ”Seventh Elder” in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master and had almost gotten him killed. Now that they wanted the ”Seventh Elder” to work for the Wanyan Family again, he had to put on some kind of show for the ”Seventh Elder,” to make him believe that he truly meant to apologize.

The moment his knees hit the floor, Wanyan Hongsheng immediately said, with affected sincerity, ”Seventh Younger Brother, what happened at Chatiang Peak was Third Brother’s fault. Third Brother knows you bear hatred in your heart, but do you think Third Brother doesn’t feel pain as well? We grew up together as brothers. If it hadn’t been for the great plan of the family, Third Brother really wouldn’t have wanted to do something like that. Seventh Younger Brother, if you think Third Brother was wrong, you can hit me, curse me, even kill me—Third Brother won’t fight back. Because this is a debt Third Brother owes you, a debt the entire Wanyan Family owes you!”