Chapter 100 He's not some Prince of Xiling
"Shen Zhuo!"
Shen Zhiheng's pupils contracted, and he suddenly turned to look at Bai Xiuming, finally realizing what was happening.
The mother dragon went mad, and her son's screams still echoed in the air. Her clansmen suffered heavy casualties, and all of this was actually a scheme by the Mingjing Division.
His eyes were bloodshot, and he wanted nothing more than to tear the two people in front of him apart: "It was you! You did it! Shen Zhuo, you'll die a horrible death!"
Unfortunately, Shen Zhiheng's body was in a terrible state. When his emotions fluctuated even slightly, he coughed incessantly and eventually vomited a large amount of blood.
Shen Zhuo took a half step back in disgust, but didn't forget to explain to the other party: "Our Mingjing Division doesn't have such powerful methods. Patriarch Shen, you might as well think carefully about who your Shen family has offended?"
Although he had anticipated this scene, Shen Zhuo still felt a chill in his heart when he saw the Dragon Mother go mad.
Ji Chan spoke so casually about wanting to lure the Dragon Mother out on her own. Did she ever consider what would happen after the Dragon Mother appeared?
They must have thought about it.
Such methods were clearly aimed at wiping out the entire clan, but she didn't seem like a ruthless killer. It was just a feud with the Shen siblings that wasn't enough to make her resort to such cruelty. There must be some grudges he didn't know about.
One is a noblewoman abandoned by her family in the capital, and the other is a family far away in Xiling. What kind of deep-seated hatred could they possibly have?
Shen Zhuo couldn't help but glance at Bai Xiuming. Miss Ji had a close relationship with him. Did he have the same doubts as him?
After hearing Shen Zhuo's words, Shen Zhiheng actually began to think back, wondering who would use such insidious means to scheme against the Shen family. Countless people had died at the hands of the Shen family over the years, and he had never taken them seriously. If he really had to say, anyone could be a suspect.
Suddenly, he thought of someone.
Shen Qingwu!
Where is Shen Qingwu now?
Seeing that Shen Zhiheng seemed to have really thought of someone, Shen Zhuo couldn't help but ask curiously, "It seems that Patriarch Shen has thought of someone?"
Shen Zhiheng shook his head and muttered to himself, "Impossible, she has no ability at all."
Shen Zhiheng didn't have time to think much. In just a couple of sentences, Shen Yingxiao's cries became increasingly weak. Shen Zhuo couldn't help but look up and remind him, "Patriarch Shen, your son looks like he's about to die."
Shen Zhiheng tried to communicate with Shen Qingying through the contract again without success, so he could only pin his hopes on Shen Zhuo. He said urgently, "Shen Zhuo, you can't just stand by and watch her die! If this gets out, the Mingjing Division will be shamed by the world."
Shen Zhuo chuckled, but his words sent chills down one's spine: "Patriarch Shen, you can rest assured, this matter will not be exposed. This is a dragon mother raised by your own Shen family. If you dare to do it, you should dare to take responsibility. If you really want to save him, why doesn't Patriarch Shen go and save your young master himself?"
Shen Zhiheng remained silent, of course, because he was powerless to change his fate; his power all stemmed from the Dragon Mother. Now, the Dragon Mother had turned against him.
The Dragon Mother seemed to have finally grown tired of this noisy thing and threw the person she was holding down.
Before the person even landed, it stomped on them with its paw, and not even a scream could be heard.
Shen Yingxiao, who possessed the aura of a dragon in the eyes of the Dragon Mother, ultimately failed to transform into a dragon and instead turned into a pile of rotten flesh.
Of course, he couldn't transform into a dragon; the aura emanating from him all originated from the Dragon King with whom he had a contract.
"Yingxiao!" Upon witnessing his son being killed by the Dragon Mother, Shen Zhiheng screamed and tried to run towards his son.
Before he could even take a step, a knife was pressed against his neck, and because Shen Zhiheng had used a little too much force, a bloody mark was left on his neck.
Shen Zhuo smiled, but his hand holding the knife was extremely steady: "Patriarch Shen, please accept my condolences. You don't need to be so sad. If you don't die today, you will die after today anyway. It doesn't matter. Your whole family will be reunited sooner or later."
"What do you want to do? Release my father!" At this moment, Shen Yingzhu finally came to her senses from the panic. As soon as she ran out, she saw a stranger in an official robe holding a knife to her father's neck.
Shen Yingzhu was still unaware of what had happened, but she reacted quickly. The stranger in front of her was an official, while Bai Xiuming was the heir of the Prince of Xiling. The other party would certainly not dare to offend him easily. At this moment, the only person she could rely on was her fiancé.
She quickly walked to Bai Xiuming's side and reached out to grab his sleeve, but Bai Xiuming dodged her by pulling his arm back.
Shen Yingzhu's hand grasped at empty air, but she had no time to argue. She said urgently, "Young Master, there must be some misunderstanding. My Shen family is facing a life-or-death situation. I beg you to ask this gentleman to stop for now and save our lives first. If my father has really done something wrong, we can settle the score later."
She looked every bit the sensible and well-mannered young lady from a prestigious family.
If one hadn't investigated the Shen family and discovered how many lives this eldest daughter of the Shen clan had on her hands, one might easily have been fooled by her.
Bai Xiuming looked down at the "fiancée" that the King of Xiling had handed over to him. His voice was devoid of emotion as he asked, "Shen Yingzhu, who ordered the attack on Ji Chan's ship by the dragon that day?"
Shen Yingzhu's breath hitched, but he refused to admit it: "What are you saying, Your Highness? I don't understand. A dragon has attacked the Shen family. Why are you bringing up that day's events?"
Shen Zhuo, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but sneer and said to Shen Zhiheng, "As expected of the daughter of the Shen clan chief, she is really good at lying through her teeth. Doesn't she know that the dragon that attacked your Shen family was raised by you?"
Shen Yingzhu's face turned pale. This person was actually after the Dragon Mother?
"Who...who are you?" she asked Chen Zhuo in a strained voice.
Shen Yingzhu was unaware that Shen Zhuo had come to the Shen family to arrest people. At that time, she was immersed in the joy of her upcoming marriage into the Xiling Prince's Mansion and had no time to care about such trivial matters.
"I am Shen Zhuo, the Commander of the Mingjing Division."
“Even the Mingjing Division cannot arrest people without cause. Besides, this is Xiling. Aren’t you afraid of offending the King of Xiling?” Seeing that his plan had been exposed, Shen Yingzhu simply stopped pretending and directly brought up the King of Xiling’s residence.
Shen Zhuo said, "I'm afraid the King of Xiling can't control the Mingjing Division."
"If you, sir, are willing to pretend nothing happened today, my Shen family is willing to pay any price—cultivation techniques, money, spiritual medicine, whatever it may be." Since coercion failed, she immediately resorted to bribery.
"The young lady's suggestion is very tempting, but unfortunately, I dare not accept bribes."
Seeing that his reasons were so perfunctory, Shen Yingzhu knew there was no point in negotiating.
Her expression turned slightly cold. Seeing that Shen Zhuo was unmoved, she turned to Bai Xiuming. She knew that Bai Xiuming's cultivation was not low. Although she had looked down on him because of the presence of the Dragon Mother and the Dragon King in her family, he was the only one who could contend with Shen Zhuo at this moment.
“Your Highness, our Shen family is utterly loyal to the Prince of Xiling, and everything we have done is for his sake. Now that the Shen family is in trouble, the Prince of Xiling’s mansion will surely be implicated. Even for the sake of your position as the Prince of Xiling, this person must not be allowed to live.”
If he hadn't been holding a knife in one hand, Shen Zhuo would have applauded. He was quite cunning to instigate someone to silence someone when bribery failed.
But not many.
The dragon's voice above grew increasingly shrill. Shen Zhuo felt it was time to end things and said, "Miss, what you said makes a lot of sense, but it's a pity you don't even know who Bai Xiuming is."
Shen Yingzhu suddenly had a bad feeling.
She heard Shen Zhuo say slowly, "He is not the heir of the Xiling King, he is the head of the Mingjing Division, the son of the Ming King."
These words made Shen Zhiheng close his eyes in regret. If he had known this would happen, how could he have agreed to the prince's proposal to marry his daughter into the Xiling Prince's Mansion?
Now, having let the wolf into the house, it's too late for regrets.
At this moment, Bai Xiuming finally spoke, but not to Shen Yingzhu and her father. He looked at the Mingjing Guards behind Shen Zhuo and ordered, "Take all the living members of the Shen family into custody. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed on the spot."
The guards of the Mingjing Division immediately accepted the order and responded in unison, "Yes."
Bai Xiuming stretched out his hand, and Shen Zhuo slightly tilted his head. The commander behind him immediately threw the long sword in his hand over.
Bai Xiuming drew his sword from its sheath, the long blade humming as he gripped it in his hand.
Then, he leaped up and walked on air.
Upon witnessing this scene, Shen Zhiheng gasped in shock, his face filled with horror: "The Four Realms!"
Bai Xiuming is actually at the fourth realm!
How could that be? He's only been gone from Xiling to Shangjing for a little over a decade!
“If he weren’t from the Fourth Realm, how could the King of Ming dare to let him wade into the muddy waters of Xiling alone?” Shen Zhuo waved his hand behind him, “Come here, lock them up properly, don’t let them die.”
The remaining guards of the Mingjing Division immediately stepped forward and put shackles on Shen Zhiheng and his daughter, even gagging them so they wouldn't have a chance to bite their tongues and commit suicide.
Having learned of Bai Xiuming's true cultivation level, Shen Zhiheng seemed to have completely given up resisting, and Shen Zhuo was very satisfied with his sensibility.
Just as he turned around, a glimmer of hope flashed in Shen Zhiheng's eyes. He still had a chance, one more chance, as long as Bai Xiu was dead...
In the air, Bai Xiuming was fighting against the berserk Jiao Mu.
Those below couldn't see anything happening in the air; they only saw the enormous body of the Dragon Mother thrashing wildly, followed by large pieces of flesh and scales being shaved off.
Despite suffering such a severe blow, the Dragon Mother regained some clarity, though the burning sensation in her body remained. Her mind was a complete blank, and Shen Qingying could only realize that something was wrong with her body.
But now, she has no time to worry about anything else; getting rid of the person in front of her is the most important thing.
Shen Qingying swung her tail, creating a gust of wind that slammed towards him. Seeing him dodge, she hooked the tip of her tail and wrapped him up, her massive dragon body tightening its grip.
Despite being trapped, Bai Xiuming showed no panic. He pierced the body of the Dragon Mother with his long sword. The pain of the sword cutting through flesh almost made Shen Qingying unable to bear it. She resisted the urge to release him and shouted, "Young Master Cang!"
The moment the sound rang out, the figure hidden in the shadows transformed into a black streak of light, piercing directly through Shen Qingying's body, and also through Bai Xiuming, whom she had entangled.
Shen Qingying let out a wail and fell downwards, crashing heavily into the Shen family's old house, where countless more people lost their lives.
Bai Xiuming remained standing in the air, but now he was clutching his chest with one hand, and black blood was spilling from the corner of his mouth.
He had a wound the size of a bowl on his chest, which was healing, but the wound looked as if it had been corroded by something, and it was bluish-black.
Seeing that he could still stand, Young Master Cang couldn't help but show a hint of surprise: "I remember you, Bai Xiuming. When your mother died, she kept calling out this name. In just over ten years, you have actually reached the fourth realm. The talent of the human race is truly terrifying."
Bai Xiuming's aura suddenly turned dangerous, and he asked, word by word, "What did you say?"
"Hahaha." Young Master Cang laughed loudly, "It seems you know nothing, how pathetic. After you die, I will send your corpse back to the Xiling Prince's Mansion. You will be refined into inexhaustible bones, just like your mother, for the Xiling Prince to cultivate. Now, do you understand?"
"You're asking for it!"
Young Master Cang didn't take his anger seriously at all. When Bai Xiuming angrily swung his sword, he easily dodged it and said lightly, "You are no match for me now."
Bai Xiuming clashed with him several times in the air, only to feel his hand holding the knife gradually losing sensation and his speed slowing down.
When he got close to Cang Gongzi again, he suddenly released his grip on the knife and punched the other man in the abdomen.
Young Master Cang had intended to mock the other party for using too little force, but suddenly he heard a dragon's roar. The next instant, he felt a chill in his chest and abdomen, and a hole was blasted into his body.
As he fell, he finally saw the black dragon soul wrapped around Bai Xiuming's arm.
Bai Xiuming's body plummeted downwards, but he didn't let Cang Gongzi off the hook. Instead, he kicked Cang Gongzi in the head, accelerating his descent. Finally, Cang Gongzi's body slammed into the ground.
Bai Xiuming landed beside Cang Gongzi. He stretched out his right hand, and the sword that had just fallen flew back into his hand. The dragon soul let out a low roar and burrowed into the sword. Unable to withstand the immense force, the sword emitted a cracking sound as it shattered under the strain.
Then, the knife pierced through the young master Cang's skull and completely shattered the inner core hidden in his brain.
"You..." Young Master Cang opened his eyes, then fell silent.
After the death of the young master Cang, his body turned into a black snake. It was not large, but when its blood dripped onto the ground, it made a hissing, corrosive sound and emitted bursts of purple mist, indicating that it was quite poisonous.
"Bai Xiuming, how are you?" Shen Zhuo hadn't expected another powerful demon to appear midway through the journey. Seeing that the demon had been killed, he hurriedly stepped forward to ask.
Before Bai Xiuming could speak, he quickly took out a jade bottle from his pocket, poured out a pill with golden cloud patterns, and stuffed it directly into the other's mouth.
That was a life-saving elixir given to the Zhenfu Envoy by the Mingjing Division, but after taking the pill, Bai Xiuming still vomited blood incessantly. Shen Zhuo couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine and hurriedly searched for other pills on his body.
Bai Xiuming waved his hand at him, his voice hoarse: "He won't die, he's just been poisoned by the Xuan Shui Snake."
Shen Zhuo had certainly heard of the Xuan Shui Snake. He glanced at the young master Cang, who had reverted to his original form, and quickly said, "I'll have someone take you back to the yamen first."
This poison is indeed not enough to kill Bai Xiuming, who is at the Fourth Realm, but antidotes are useless; he can only neutralize it on his own.
It was said that the detoxification process was extremely painful, but at present he was the only one in charge, so he could only order his subordinates to escort Bai Xiuming away. Moreover, they had to avoid other people; at this time, even the people of the imperial court were not safe.
Bai Xiuming refused, saying, "I won't go to the yamen. Take me to find Ji Chan."
Shen Zhuo was about to refute, but then he thought of A Chan's unheard-of methods and suddenly felt that this was a good idea.
He beckoned to two of his trusted men and instructed them, "Send Lord Bai to Miss Ji, and make sure no one finds out."
The two men immediately obeyed and helped Bai Xiuming walk out.
"Wait, I'll see you out of the battle." Shen Zhuo realized that Bai Xiuming didn't have his waist token with him, so he quickly spoke up.
At this moment, the sky above the Shen family was sealed off by the Mingjing Division's Yantian Juedi Formation, and without the Mingjing Division's Zhenfu Envoy's token, no one could enter or leave.
Before he could finish speaking, Bai Xiuming had already pulled out a waist token from his pocket and waved it at him.
Shen Zhuo glanced at it subconsciously and saw that the character "Qin" was engraved on the waist tag.
"...Why is the commander's badge in your possession?"
"So that he would know my whereabouts."
"Why would he know..." Shen Zhuo suddenly stopped, gasping, "Old Qin is coming to Xiling? Isn't he in charge of things in Shangjing?"
Bai Xiuming tossed the waist token to him: "It will arrive in the next two days. You go and handle it."
Shen Zhuo hurriedly caught it, wanting to refuse, but seeing Bai Xiuming vomiting blood, he swallowed his words of refusal.
Then, Shen Zhuo watched helplessly as his waist token fell into Bai Xiuming's hands, and with the help of two Mingjing Division commanders, his figure disappeared into the mist.
When the Dragon Mother appeared, the King of Xiling immediately noticed it, and the other guests in the palace also saw the huge dragon that appeared out of nowhere.
They all came from Xiling, so they naturally knew that the location where the dragon appeared was the Shen family's.
Immediately, the crowd began to discuss the matter. Some speculated that the dragon had come to the Shen family seeking revenge, while others said that the dragon might have been raised by the Shen family.
For a moment, the huge courtyard was filled with noise.
At this moment, the King of Xiling walked out of the main hall. He glanced at Miss Xuan in the crowd, and Miss Xuan returned his gaze with a calm look.
Seeing this, the King of Xiling felt relieved. Young Master Cang was still with the Shen family, and even if something unexpected happened today, it was under control.
The King of Xiling stood on the steps, pressing his hands down. After the sound gradually subsided, he calmly spoke: "Please be patient, everyone. Perhaps a powerful demon has attacked the Shen family. I will send people to investigate before making a decision."
With a single sentence, he absolved the Shen family of any responsibility. The guests who were qualified to be present at the Prince's residence today were not fools, and naturally they would not refute the Prince's words in public.
At this moment, the Prince of Xiling summoned the commander of the guards in his residence and whispered, "Go and see what happened to the Shen family. Make sure to bring the young master back to the palace unharmed, understand?"
"Your Highness, rest assured." The guard captain quickly accepted the order and left.
Seeing the guards of the Prince of Xiling leave, Zhang Jinghuai, who had been invited, stepped forward and cupped his hands to the Prince of Xiling: "Your Highness, something strange has happened in the city. I need to investigate further. Please allow me to leave first."
"Take care, Lord Zhang." The King of Xiling did not try to stop him, and coldly watched Zhang Jinghuai leave.
Outside the Xiling Prince's Mansion, the scene was practically chaotic, with people and horses scattered everywhere.
Ordinary people were not as calm as the officials in the palace. Zhang Jinghuai mounted his horse and suddenly asked, "Where is Shen Huixue?"
The guard beside her was taken aback at first, then replied, "Miss Shen went to the Shen family today, but left quickly, so she should not have been affected."
"Should?" Zhang Jinghuai turned his head, his gaze icy.
The guard quickly lowered his head and explained, "Miss Shen did not bring any guards with her today; it was my fault."
Without saying a word, Zhang Jinghuai spurred his horse toward the Shen family's direction, and the guards behind him hurriedly followed.
He met her at the street corner, just three streets away from the Shen family's house.
At this moment, the Shen family was shrouded in thick fog, and the dragon could no longer be seen. Shen Huixue, however, was still looking in the direction of the Shen family.
She only turned her gaze when she heard the sound of horses' hooves.
Zhang Jinghuai dismounted and strode towards her.
Upon seeing the person who suddenly appeared, Shen Huixue was stunned for a moment, then said softly, "Young Master, what brings you here?"
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