Calamity Messenger-Chapter 39 - 30: Divine Marquis Mansion Announcement_2

Chapter 39: Chapter 30: Divine Marquis Mansion Announcement_2

Certainly, there are quite a few distinguished individuals like Old Mr. Yang and the young general who have found their missing relatives. They come here for two reasons: firstly, to express their gratitude, and secondly, to lay the groundwork for later dividing the wealth of An Guo Temple—aside from its tributor, the temple also possesses a Secret Realm. Now that this giant is falling, as victims, they are entitled to compensation.

The young general stepped out of the crowd, and Xue Yan, who was drinking hot pork soup, immediately went up to him: "Third Uncle—"

"Don’t worry, An Guo Temple is doomed this time." Third Uncle Xue Huaiyi reached out to rub Xue Yan’s head: "You won’t be shortchanged on the compensation you’re owed. It’s time for you to change roles to a messenger anyway, just use the accumulation of An Guo Temple as your foundation."

"Hehe, Third Uncle certainly won’t let me suffer any losses." Xue Yan evidently admired his Third Uncle, yet compared to the monks of An Guo Temple, he was more concerned about another matter: "Have you found An Wu and An Liu?"

Xue Huaiyi shook his head: "The fire is too intense; we can’t even extinguish it now, let alone go in to search. And according to what you said... they have no chance of surviving."

"Is that so..." Xue Yan’s expression didn’t change much, just his tone fell.

"Go back and practice your spear skills well," Xue Huaiyi said. "Don’t keep thinking about using the secret manual. If you were a messenger, those bald monks wouldn’t dare harm you. Even in Chang’an City, strength is necessary to protect yourself."

"Mm." Xue Yan nodded, then asked: "Then... have they found those people?"

"No." Xue Huaiyi shook his head: "It can only be confirmed that they ate noodles at the shop opposite An Guo Temple, then disappeared. There’s no record of any sightings at the city gate; although it’s possible they’re still in the city, if their message was true, then... they’ve already left Chang’an and returned to the Thief’s House."

"What is the Thief’s House?" Xue Yan knew about the Secret Realm, but he evidently didn’t understand such niche information about the Thief’s House.

"We’ll talk about it later." Xue Huaiyi didn’t want to explain too much here.

"Did they steal something very valuable?" Xue Yan curiously asked: "I saw their leader come out with a big bag and a new knife. It definitely came from the treasury! They really value it—is it a powerful token?"

"Truly precious things wouldn’t be stored at An Guo Temple; what’s stored there are trivial, mundane items," Xue Huaiyi said. "As for that knife... it’s indeed precious, but it’s not a token."

"Hey, Black Kid!"

Upon hearing the voice behind him, Xue Yan turned around to see Third Miss Yang calling him, her face full of displeasure: "Stop calling me Black Kid! I’ve tolerated you for long enough, haven’t you got any manners!"

"I don’t know your name; I can only call you based on my impression," Third Miss Yang said, pouting, "I just know you’re a brainless Black Kid."

"My name is Xue Yan!" Xue Yan replied irritably: "You act like you have plenty of brains."

"If I hadn’t pulled you away, you would’ve been burnt to a crisp by now. Obviously, my brain is slightly better than yours." Third Miss Yang said proudly. "I’m Yang Qianqian, come play with me sometime!"

She was quickly whisked away by her aunties, and the vague sound of ’a lady shouldn’t shout so loudly’ could be heard. Xue Yan turned back to see Third Uncle looking at him with a smile. For some reason, Xue Yan’s cheeks turned red and he said with displeasure: "What’s up?"

"Nothing." Xue Huaiyi gazed at the old man in the wheelchair off in the distance: "Is she the granddaughter of the former Imperial Attendant, Mr. Yang..."

The victims include the Xue Family, Yang Family, Li Family, Su Family... all prominent Central Plains families within the Court, yet there isn’t a single victim with a Northern Border martial background... Xue Huaiyi exchanged a look with Mr. Yang in the distance, both seeing the frustration in each other’s eyes.

"Third Uncle," Xue Yan strived to change the topic: "So even though An Guo Temple’s treasury was robbed, nothing precious was actually lost? They saved us, burned An Guo Temple, but what for?"

"I don’t know either," Xue Huaiyi suppressed his inner frustration, speculating: "Perhaps they gained something from the Secret Realm..."

At this moment, a resounding voice echoed in the sky over Chang’an, clearly ringing in everyone’s ears:

"Divine Marquis Mansion Announcement: Four obscure little thieves recently arrived at the Thief’s House, successfully stole the Legendary Token of Bingzi Pepper Forest from Chang’an An Guo Temple, thus warranted."

...

...

"Divine Marquis Mansion Announcement: Four obscure little thieves recently arrived at the Thief’s House, successfully stole the Legendary Token of Bingzi Pepper Forest from Chang’an An Guo Temple, thus warranted."

In Jiangnan City, some people hadn’t recovered from the first announcement, but when the second announcement sounded, almost everyone knelt on the ground.

"It’s a divine oracle!"

"The Celestial God has spoken!"

"So there truly is a god!"

"Blessings from the god, blessings from the god!"

In the Shang Family, Shang Qia listened to the three announcements in a daze, suddenly grabbing the nearest servant: "You, go call people to inform Father... no wait." He immediately negated his previous thought, "Tell the Chief Instructor to seal off the house, nobody is allowed in or out, everyone stay in their own courtyards, act like it’s a curfew, anyone who dares to defy will face the family law!"

...

...

Outside Nocturnal Heaven City.

"Don’t kneel!"

"Get up, get up!"

"What are you kneeling for, that monster from Divine Marquis Mansion, get up!"

Ying Le cracked her whip while driving the chariot into the city, lashing every person who dared to kneel. Yet if someone really stood up, she’d still whip them, scolding angrily: "Not kneeling when you see me, utterly disrespectful!"

Thus she kept flaying the citizens and even noble officials along the way, facing the nearly mad Emperor they couldn’t even flee, only praying the whip would hear their pleas. As the chariot was about to enter the city, everyone heaved a sigh of relief, some even collapsed on the ground, unable to stand.

Yet the chariot suddenly stopped.

The guard kneeling beside the chariot felt his scalp prickling, his mind blank. Despair gripped his heart tightly; he didn’t know whether to kneel or stand, nor whether he was outside Nocturnal City or inside... although in most cases, the inside or outside of the city would only change the way Your Majesty kills people.

Tap.

A pair of beautiful, fair bare feet appeared in his view, the arches elegantly curved, each toe sparkling like a pearl, the nails intricately trimmed and flawless, as this pair of jade feet stepped on the dirty soil at the city gate, the extreme contrast created a sacredly desecrated aesthetic.

But these feet walked right in front of the guard, almost touching his nose, and who knows what thought crossed the guard’s mind—he took a deep breath.

"Does it smell nice?" A curious voice sounded above his head.

"No, it doesn’t smell." The guard, knowing he was doomed, replied tremblingly: "I only smell the earth’s scent."

Then Ying Le did something that no one expected—she stood on one leg, lifted her other leg to smell it, not caring how unseemly that action was, or whether the skirt would reveal anything.

"Very well, you didn’t lie."

Ying Le picked the guard up, pointed at the wall beside the city gate, and asked: "Did you post these?"

The guard stared wide-eyed for a moment, then immediately shook his head: "No! Absolutely not! The warrants are posted in our camp, never outside!"

"Is that so..."

Ying Le nonchalantly tossed the guard aside, squinting at the four warrants posted on the city wall.

"Divine Marquis Mansion warrant..." She ground her teeth on these words, reaching to rub her right chest, where an old wound seemed to ache subtly.

"Divine Marquis Mansion!"