Chapter 116 - Tie Sha Vows Allegiance, the Underworld Gates of the Black Market Open - Part 1
News of the Fragrant General’s defeat spread like wildfire. Rumors swept through the land, passing from one person to the next with astonishing speed.
Atop the township walls, a handful of bandits who managed to escape back were screaming incoherently for the Patriarch’s mercy. These mountain bandits stood out from ordinary travelers or townsfolk, making them easy to identify. Some were simply panicked rather than mad, stumbling around as though they’d lost their souls, muttering, “Devil...devils everywhere...”
About twenty or so such bandits fled to Gemhill County, only to be swiftly rounded up by the Blood Blade Sect for interrogation.
Tie Sha, clad in a plain white robe, sat quietly in the central seat of the Blood Fury Hall. He stared off into the distance, distracted by a seemingly trivial piece of information he had just received. Li Yuan hasn’t been at his residence for the past two days. He went hunting in Little Ink Mountain.
Indeed, Li Yuan was originally a hunter and had often gone hunting before. So heading off to Little Ink Mountain again wouldn’t raise any suspicion at all.
Yes... It’s completely normal. Tie Sha kept trying to convince himself of that.
Suddenly, the pounding of fast horses came from outside, followed by a messenger’s call, “Deputy Sect Master Yu has arrived!”
Before long, a slender, refined-looking man with an undercurrent of cruelty in his eyes strode into the hall.
Tie Sha finally looked up, not bothering with any small talk about why Yu Chaojin had returned so abruptly from the Wei Family’s former territory. He simply said, “You’re back.”
Yu Chaojin did not bow or sit. Instead, he declared, “Sect Master, I returned suddenly because I wish to formally pay my respects to the Blood Blade Patriarch.
“The last time His Eminence defended the inner district, I should have come right away. But since he rarely shows himself, I didn’t dare return just for that. Now he’s appeared yet again, and word on the street is that the Patriarch is personally stationed in the Silver Creek. So I have come in haste.”
Tie Sha smiled slightly. He knew these rumors originated from those fleeing bandits. One of their spies had supposedly discovered the Blood Blade Patriarch’s presence in the inner district, which explained why the Fragrant General had not attacked Gemhill County but instead marched on Flowerpath County.