Chapter 59: Ding Le's Struggle for Survival

Chapter 59: Ding Le’s Struggle for Survival

Was it some sort of destiny, a mysterious guidance, or perhaps an intricate and inescapable karmic bond between them?

Well, none of the above.

Ding Le simply felt that right now, the only person in the capital who could save him was that unfathomable Supervisor Yu.

Based on his speculation, this Supervisor Yu was very likely an immortal cultivator himself.

After all, he was a man who had personally taken a palm strike from Yu Xian.

The immortal cultivator he had met earlier who controlled fire to kill him gave him a sensation remarkably similar to the feeling when Supervisor Yu had struck him that day.

He had kept this matter buried in his heart all along.

Originally, he thought it would only become a little secret he could boast about to his descendants when he grew old.

But this time, having reached the end of his rope, he had no choice but to gamble, wagering everything for a sliver of survival.

Ding Le glanced at the towering courtyard walls of the Prince Fu's Estate. The moment his feet left the ground by a mere three inches, an invisible force pressed down heavily upon him.

Thud!

Ding Le landed squarely on his backside.

"Get lost!"

A low, hoarse, and aged voice echoed in his ear.

"Senior, save a life! It's an emergency in the pugilistic world!"

Instead of being angered, Ding Le was overjoyed. His guess was correct—there truly was a formidable expert hiding in the Prince's Estate!

"We're on the same side! We're on the same side! I'm one of Supervisor Yu's people!"

He leaped up once more.

Boom!

The pressure this time was even more intense. Ding Le felt as though his lightweight body was suddenly bearing the weight of an entire mountain. Right before his eyes, the spirit talisman tucked against his chest burned furiously and vanished into ashes with a *whoosh*.

"Get lost, dammit! You never think of me when things are good, but the moment you stir up trouble, you come scurrying to hide by me!"

The voice began to grow impatient.

Yet Ding Le found the tone exceptionally familiar, and a flash of insight struck his mind.

"Supervisor Yu, save me! I have a major secret!"

"Don't talk to me about a major secret, not even a major wave!"

Yu Xian was thoroughly annoyed.

Late at night, with the Princess Consort in his left arm and Yulan in his right, he had just finished his warm-up exercises and was bracing himself for a fresh round of pleasure.

Right then, he sensed the eternal, unchanging aura of that old monster deep within the imperial palace suddenly fluctuate violently.

Shortly after, a sweep of his divine sense revealed Ding Le preparing to scale the wall.

At that instant, he had the urge to beat the man to death on the spot.

The grey-black blood qi lingering around Ding Le was, in his eyes, as glaring as a guiding beacon.

Ding Le himself felt aggrieved enough to weep.

He had been living his life quite peacefully until someone dragged him in to risk his life. Who could he even reason with?

Yet at this moment, his mind spun faster than ever before.

"Prince Fu! Supervisor Yu, I saw Prince Fu! Prince Fu is not dead!"

He had to prove his value immediately.

The voice inside the estate paused for a moment.

"Stand still and don't make a sound."

Ding Le immediately held his breath and remained motionless. The next instant, he felt a sharp, tearing pain on his body, and with his own eyes, he watched a wisp of grey-black blood qi wriggle its way out from within him.

Only then did he understand why he could never shake off the tail following him.

"Go back to your martial arts school. Eat and drink as usual, act as if nothing happened, and I will come find you."

"Don't even think about running. Others can plant a mark on you, and so can I!"

"Yes, yes, yes!!"

A wave of relief washed over Ding Le's heart.

His miserable life had finally been preserved.

Ding Le bowed deeply toward the Prince's Estate, then scurried off like a large black rat into the labyrinth of alleys, twisting and turning until his figure quickly vanished into the shadows.

A stray cat dozing atop a tree was startled awake. It let out a meow, its amber eyes glowing green in the night.

A beast's intuition told it that danger was approaching.

It leaped down from the tree and darted with practiced familiarity toward another of its hiding spots, entirely unaware of the wisp of grey-black blood qi circling around its head, resembling a carved curse.

...

"Meow!"

The stray cat let out a piercing, miserable screech.

Its body slammed heavily against a wall, bursting open into a blossom of blood. A wisp of even more robust grey-black blood qi rose from its body, only to be seized in the grip of a wolf's claw covered in black fur.

The owner of the wolf's claw was a stern-looking middle-aged general clad in black armor, bearing the emblem of a wolf's head upon his chest—none other than the previous captain of the imperial guards.

"Milord, what are our next orders?"

A young imperial guard stepped forward to inquire, seemingly entirely accustomed to the captain's wolf-like claws.

"It seems a formidable expert has intervened. What about the other two?"

The captain retrieved a small bottle from his tunic and carefully stored the blood qi inside.

"One tried to escape via the canal, while the other was hiding in the residence of an official from the Ministry of Revenue. Both have been captured."

The youth reported.

"Since this person is capable of undoing the Old Ancestor's methods, it is no longer something we can handle. Return and report to the Old Ancestor."

The captain turned as if to leave, but suddenly halted his steps.

"Additionally, have the Eastern Depot step in. First, drag that Ministry of Revenue official into the imperial prison for an interrogation, and only release him after you've squeezed the truth out of him."

"Understood."

The youth knew full well that regardless of whether that official was innocent or knowledgeable, he would never see the light of day again. For an ordinary person, entering the Eastern Depot's prison meant forfeiting half their life.

...

Deep within the imperial palace.

An elderly man with flowing white hair, draped in a voluminous white robe, sat upon the stone steps before his sleeping quarters. Resting before his knees was a silver wolf the size of a young calf.

The silver wolf's fur was entirely silver, gleaming like silk in the darkness with a faint luminescence, save for its eyes, which were the color of fresh blood.

The captain stood before the old man, not daring to draw a full breath, and a hidden terror flickered deep within his eyes as he looked toward the silver wolf.

With one hand, the old man stroked the wolf cub's fur, while the other toyed with the small bottle containing the grey-black blood qi.

"Since a formidable expert has intervened, I will not fault you for returning empty-handed. However, since they are so impatient, if we don't teach them a lesson, they will truly believe our Jiang family is weak and easily bullied.

Set out for the front lines immediately. I want not a single rebel left alive.

I am sick of always being pushed around, and I am growing weary of those people's incessant bickering."

The old man glanced at the captain and said:

"Do not disappoint me. If the Black Wolf Guards, whom I trained personally, end up defeated, I will be very displeased."

Suppressing his excitement, the captain replied, "Please rest assured, Old Ancestor. With this expedition, your subordinate will surely pacify the rebels and reclaim the mountains and rivers!"

Achieving great feats, securing titles of nobility—the time was now!

The reason he endured the agony of having demon blood infused into his body was precisely for this very moment. As for achieving longevity and eternal vision, he had never dared to entertain such thoughts.

"Go."

"Your subordinate takes his leave."

The captain stepped backward in small, cautious paces, retiring respectfully.

The old man uncorked the bottle and brought it close to the silver wolf.

"Did you smell anything?"

The silver wolf sniffed once, then shook its head with a hint of human-like emotion.

"It was merely a grey rat. It matters not if we fail to find it; anyone capable of erasing my divine sense mark must also be a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

The old man's brow furrowed slightly: "The Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Lin family are all being watched. Could someone have made a breakthrough in secret? Or did the Lin family secretly hire foreign aid?"

From beginning to end, he had never suspected that this might be the work of some reclusive Foundation Establishment cultivator.

After all, no fool who had reached Foundation Establishment would choose to live in seclusion in the mortal realm.

Were it not for his duties and his advanced age, even he would never have come to garrison this mortal world.

The environment here was akin to a drying-up pond.

And he was merely a large fish swimming around in the mud of that pond; the slightest violent movement would plunge him into a crisis of lacking water.

Therefore, for the most part, he remained in a state of dormant slumber to preserve his waning vitality.

Usually, he only radiated the faintest aura of his presence as a deterrent.

Had it not been for this, even with his aging and frail body, he would never have allowed a group of mortal martial artists to slip right outside his sleeping quarters before being discovered.

The old man turned his head to glance back at the brightly lit bedchamber.

"What a pity. He did not make a move himself, otherwise I could have kept him here. Eliminating a Foundation Establishment cultivator would likely have dealt a severe blow to the Lin family's foundations.

Still, a little more time is all I need.

Lin family, your hesitation is the very reason for your doom."

The old man produced a blood-red medicinal pill, swallowed it, slowly closed his eyes, and let his aura sink back into profound slumber.

For him at present, guarding the sleeping quarters was his paramount duty.

As for everything else, they were mere trifles.

Whatever was lost today would be reclaimed tenfold in the days to come.

(End of this chapter)