Chapter 172: Chapter 171: Li Qingshuang of the Spirit Court

When Gu Zhao and Yunyang arrived at the back courtyard, Yuan Wenrui was kneeling at Zhuo Qingyan’s feet, weeping and wailing as he begged for his life.

Just then, Taoist Jing Feng stepped into the back courtyard.

"Senior Brother Yan Song and Senior Brother Ming Yu are handling the aftermath of the Golden Wind Sect. Senior Brother Yi Hong has gone to the Prefectural Minister’s home to arrange for him to take over the administration of Changping Prefecture tomorrow." Taoist Jing Feng looked at Yuan Wenrui. "If the Prefectural Minister proves incompetent, we’ll just move down the line."

"I can do it! I can do it!" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Yuan Wenrui whipped his head around. Seeing Taoist Jing Feng’s imposing expression, he scrambled to plead, "Mage, save me! I am the Changping Prefectural Magistrate. I know the prefecture’s affairs better than anyone! You can command me to do anything!"

"Anyone but you." Taoist Jing Feng sneered and turned to Zhuo Qingyan. "If Miss Zhuo’s anger is not yet appeased, this old Daoist can extract his soul, cast it into Mingling Hell, and torture him for a century."

Terror flashed in Yuan Wenrui’s eyes, and he sprang forward, trying to dart past Zhuo Qingyan.

But just as he got to his feet, he found his surroundings had abruptly changed. One moment, he was in his own back garden with its pavilions and water features; the next, he was in a desolate wilderness of jagged rocks and ice.

"An Illusion Realm!"

Yuan Wenrui’s gaze hardened. He guarded his Sea of Consciousness as he charged in the direction he’d just pinpointed, his hands forming a Seal Technique to cast a spell.

But after running for some time, he found he was still trapped in the Ice Hell, and the Dharma Seal he’d formed remained completely inert.

Yuan Wenrui had no choice but to stop. Trembling, he looked back and saw Zhuo Qingyan standing quietly nearby, watching him with a cold gaze.

The next moment, Zhuo Qingyan waved her hand. An icy aura laced with Evil Qi enveloped Yuan Wenrui, instantly freezing him solid. Then, with a sharp tug, she ripped his Divine Soul from his body and flung it into a nearby ice pool.

Yuan Wenrui’s soul instinctively tried to flee, but sharp icicles immediately shot out from the pool, impaling his Soul Body and pinning him firmly within.

The frigid Qi of Mingling Prison seeped into him. Yuan Wenrui’s Soul Body let out a piercing scream, but no sound escaped.

Zhuo Qingyan bowed to Taoist Jing Feng. "Senior Uncle, please imprison him for now. I wish to escort him to my late father’s grave. There, I will obliterate his Soul Body to appease my father’s spirit."

"Of course." Taoist Jing Feng nodded, then retracted Mingling Prison into his Sea of Consciousness while locking Yuan Wenrui’s Soul Body in its depths.

Gu Zhao glanced at Yuan Wenrui’s body, then looked toward the secret chamber behind the rockery. ’What secret could possibly be in here that he thought of it as his trump card?’

The Silk Embroideress had now dispelled her Dragon-locking Talisman and arrived in the back garden with Bai Ke.

Bai Ke scoffed, "He couldn’t even beat the Golden Wind Divine King. What kind of trump card could he possibly have? It’s probably just a tunnel leading outside, isn’t it?"

"We’ll know once we go in," Gu Zhao said, tapping his folding fan. "We can’t very well leave this secret for the new Prefectural Magistrate."

Confident in their skills, they weren’t worried about any traps in the secret chamber. Yunyang took the lead. With a gentle surge of Taoist True Qi, he pushed open the stone door of the rockery, and the group ambled into the secret passage.

They walked down a short corridor, just long enough to take them from ground level to a subterranean depth. Ahead of them was a secret chamber sealed by an iron door.

’There’s someone inside.’

The group sensed a Qi Mechanism within the secret chamber. They opened the iron door and took in the scene.

The secret chamber was small, only about a hundred square feet, and bare of any clutter, making it feel stark and empty. In the center stood a cage, no more than twenty square feet, inside which a woman in green robes sat cross-legged.

Several chains were anchored to the walls of the chamber. They shackled the green-robed woman’s wrists and ankles. Two more chains pierced through her collarbones, staining her green robes with dark red patches of blood.

Hearing the door open, the woman in green initially remained still. But when she heard the sound of several people breathing, her eyes snapped open, and a nearly imperceptible, sharp green light flickered within them.

"Help her." Gu Zhao gestured toward the woman. He didn’t sense any Evil Qi on her.

Yunyang drew his sword. His Sword Qi flared out three feet, and with a few slashes, he severed the surrounding chains and the cage’s iron bars. The Silk Embroideress opened the cage and first removed the shackles from the woman’s limbs.

"Miss, please bear with the pain," the Silk Embroideress said comfortingly before pulling the chains from her collarbones.

The woman in green let out a muffled grunt. She then saw the young woman beside her place two Yellow Talismans on her wounds. The talismans dissolved into light that flowed into her flesh, and the wounds on her shoulders began to heal at a visible rate.

A surge of pure Demon Qi then erupted from the woman’s body, working in tandem with a Heaven-Reaching Treasure Light to expel the Restriction that had been placed on her.

Looking at the concerned young woman beside her, the woman in green’s expression softened. She then turned to Gu Zhao, who was clearly the leader. "I am Li Qingshuang of the Spirit Court. Thank you all for rescuing me."

A flicker of interest crossed Gu Zhao’s eyes. ’So I’ve finally met a living member of the Spirit Court.’

"I am Gu Zhao of Daluo Palace. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Li." Gu Zhao cupped his hands in greeting.

Daluo Palace?

Li Qingshuang hadn’t heard of this power before, so she simply issued a warning. "Yuan Wenrui is in league with the Golden Wind Divine Sect. He also has a red-eyed monkey with three or four hundred years of Dao Practice at his side."

The Silk Embroideress smiled at her words. "The Golden Wind Divine King has already been dealt with, and the Young Master ran that red-eyed monkey through with his spear."

Li Qingshuang was shocked. The red-eyed monkey was one thing—it only had about three hundred years of Dao Practice, after all. But the Golden Wind Divine King was another matter entirely. He was truly formidable. Even in this world, those with over five hundred years of Dao Practice were few and far between.

Only an expert of equivalent Cultivation could have killed someone like that.

"Let’s talk more once we’re outside," Gu Zhao said. "Miss, can you walk on your own?"

"Yes, thank you, Young Master." Li Qingshuang nodded, then rose and walked out of the cage on her own.

’They had only just met, yet they hadn’t asked a single question before undoing my Restriction and treating my injuries.’ Because of this, Li Qingshuang felt a great deal of goodwill toward Gu Zhao and his companions.

’But just because they didn’t ask doesn’t mean I can leave them in the dark.’

"I came to Jiangnan to hunt down my sister’s murderer. Along the way, I encountered that red-eyed monkey in the middle of a slaughter. I tried to eliminate it and had just managed to wound it badly when Yuan Wenrui and the Golden Wind Divine King intervened."

Li Qingshuang sighed. "Yuan Wenrui, it seems, possesses the aptitude to form a Harmony with me. He was unwilling to kill me, so the Golden Wind Divine King crippled me with a Restriction and imprisoned me here to force me into it."

"I see." Zhuo Qingyan nodded in understanding. "No wonder he wanted to come here. If he could have formed a Harmony with you, it would have been his only hope of escape."

The Silk Embroideress asked, confused, "But Miss Li would never have agreed to form a Harmony with him, right?"

Gu Zhao chuckled. "It was his last hope. He had to try."

As the group left the secret chamber, they saw Taoist Yi Hong striding toward them, followed by a middle-aged man with a deferential air. "This is the Changping Prefectural Minister," Taoist Yi Hong announced. "Tomorrow, he will assume the position of Prefectural Magistrate."