Chapter 4951 — The Life-Debt Ghost

"Young Master Bao, didn't you nod your head in agreement when I first proposed this plan?" Su Kesheng shook his head in grievance, then smiled bitterly. "If not for that, how could we have gotten a chance to see this town lord so quickly? I reckon that even if the two of us stood outside shouting that his wife and son had been murdered, it would have been useless. Even if we did manage to stir up a commotion, the steward would have smothered it before it ever reached him. By the time we got to see him, the daylilies would have gone cold. And who's to say that fellow surnamed Lin wouldn't slip away in the dead of night?"

"That..." Bao Zuoliang was struck dumb. He was a city lord's son himself, and he knew every rule of these city lord's mansions and town lord's mansions down to the marrow. When you strike a dog, you watch its master—and if you never land a blow on the most important dog of all, the two of them would not be seeing the Life-Debt Ghost anytime soon.

Before the two of them had even finished their whispered exchange, a fierce wind suddenly came sweeping in through the main gate. Its force was so violent that the two of them—able hands at the early Mystic Ascension stage—could scarcely keep their footing. Yet strangely enough, the tables and chairs around them did not stir in the slightest, as though an invisible wall had split the guest hall into two separate worlds.

Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng were both startled out of their wits. Before either could make the slightest defensive move, two hands clamped down on their throats at the same instant, and a burly figure emerged from the gale—a middle-aged man with a hideous face and a manner of utmost savagery.

"Whose wife and son did you say had been murdered?" The middle-aged man regarded the two of them coldly.

The pair were frightened out of their senses. With their throats in the man's grip they could not utter a sound, and could only struggle wildly to no avail. Those two hands never budged an inch.

The middle-aged man was unmoved, and only when their faces had gone deathly pale and they were on the verge of expiring did he finally fling them to the ground. Then he stood over them, gazing down like a beast sizing up its prey, and terrorized Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng until their hearts quaked.

"You... you're the Life-Debt Ghost?" Bao Zuoliang stared at the middle-aged man in shock and dread—and then, with a loud bang, his whole body was sent flying backward, and whether he lived or died was anyone's guess.

"Speak. And if you also fail to know your place, you'll fare worse than he did." The middle-aged man fixed his cold gaze on Su Kesheng, the one left standing.

"Yes, yes. Town Lord Chang." Su Kesheng forced down the terror in his heart and drew a deep breath. "The two of us are disciples of the Morning Star Academy. He is Bao Zuoliang, and I am Su Kesheng. We both came over from Thunder Plains Isle just now."

"You took part in the Road of Giants?" Chang Minghui glanced at him. His own son, Chang Laiting, had entered that trial—otherwise, at any other time, he might not have cared about such trifling matters at all.

"That's right. Both of us have just come out of the Road of Giants, because something momentous happened. That's why we hurried here as fast as we could to bring you word." Su Kesheng spoke with great caution.

"Momentous?" Chang Minghui laughed at the word, a great booming laugh. "Don't tell me you're about to say my wife and son have been murdered? No such person exists in the Yellow-Rank sea region—especially not on the Alliance's own territory. Boy, you should know what happens to someone who spouts such crap in front of me."

"I know, of course I know." Su Kesheng nodded again and again, and explained, "I'm well aware how absurd this sounds, but it truly happened before the eyes of disciples from every academy. Both Master Zang and young Master Chang were wounded by a man named Wei Zhao. Whether they live or die right now is honestly hard to say..."

"What did you say?" Chang Minghui's eyes flew wide, and the immense pressure of his aura instantly crushed down on Su Kesheng until he could hardly breathe, leaving him nearly pressed flat against the floor. Half in doubt, the man said, "You mean Zhuang Yifan has laid hands on my wife and son?"

Confident as Chang Minghui was, before Zhuang Yifan he still had to yield a step or three. This Alliance president's strength was unfathomable, and his grip on power was overbearing and ruthless to a degree that beggared description. On academy alliance territory, from top to bottom, his was the only voice that counted. Thunder Plains Isle was where the Alliance branch was headquartered—without Zhuang Yifan's nod, how would that so-called Wei Zhao have dared lay hands on his wife and son?

"No, no, that's not it. Town Lord Chang, you've misunderstood. Wei Zhao is an outsider disciple from North Isle, not one of the Academy Alliance at all. Much less one of President Zhuang's men." Su Kesheng waved his hands frantically.

"A North Isle disciple? Since when has North Isle produced a disciple of the Mountain-Opening stage?" Chang Minghui eyed Su Kesheng with open suspicion. He did not believe anyone would be foolish enough to deceive him over such a matter—after all, the price would be their life—but to claim that a mere North Isle disciple possessed Mountain-Opening strength was simply too extravagant.

"No, no, Wei Zhao isn't a Mountain-Opening giant at all. He has only just finished the Road of Giants trial, and his publicly acknowledged cultivation is merely the early Mystic Ascension stage." Su Kesheng shook his head vigorously.

"Utter nonsense!" Chang Minghui was on the verge of erupting, and once more the vast reception hall was swept by gales on every side.

"Town Lord Chang, hear me out. Every word I have spoken is the truth—not one syllable of falsehood. Wei Zhao truly did defeat Master Zang with early Mystic Ascension strength. Many people witnessed it; ask anyone and you will know." Su Kesheng forced himself to remain composed.

Chang Minghui was silent for a long while, and at last he spoke slowly. "If that is so, then why have I received no word of it, and why must a Morning Star Academy disciple come running to bring me the news instead?"

At that, Su Kesheng let out a breath of relief. Thank goodness this great lord of Dingcheng Town was not as simple and brutish as his appearance suggested—at least he could still be reasoned with.

"That is because the two lead officiants of Dingcheng Academy were also finished off by Wei Zhao, so that side is headless, and naturally no one dares step forward to report to you." Su Kesheng spoke with reverence.

The moment the words landed, a dreadful killing intent abruptly filled the hall, invisible yet palpable, and only after a long while did Chang Minghui's voice come hissing out as though from the depths of hell: "Wei Zhao, is it? I'll go kill him."

Su Kesheng meant to add a word or two of agreement, but when he looked up, the space before him was empty—Chang Minghui had long since vanished.

On Thunder Plains Isle, the crowd was still steeped in the festive bustle of the victory feast when suddenly a violent wind arose outside, and a gigantic golden eagle with ghostly eyes took shape within the gale. What descended behind it was none other than Chang Minghui, town lord of Dingcheng Town.

"Hold, Town Lord Chang!" A host of Mountain-Opening experts from the Alliance guard detail appeared in an instant before Chang Minghui and barred his way. "This is a vital stronghold of the Alliance branch. Without President Zhuang's permission, no one may trespass!"

"Is that so? Then kill me." Chang Minghui did not even glance at them, striding straight for the banquet hall. The wrath and killing intent about him had grown nearly tangible; he had no patience left to waste words on anyone—he wanted only to kill.