C9 Captured

Yang Xuan watched as Yang Qianxue briskly walked out of the yard, hesitating as he opened his mouth to speak but ultimately holding back.

Yang Qianxue was always so attentive to him. Just moments ago, he nearly divulged the events of the previous day to her. Yet, recalling her firm rejection of his request to pursue cultivation just a few days earlier, he let out a resigned sigh.

What exactly did his aunt mean with her parting words, though? She had given him money before without any special instructions. Why the sudden change this time? Yang Xuan moved to where his aunt had been standing and surveyed the nearby items. His eyes locked onto the chopping block used for splitting wood, and he froze.

He strode over and ran his fingers over the marks. These were the very marks he had left while chopping wood earlier.

Did his aunt know everything?

Was she hinting that he should be cautious with the spiritual bead and keep its existence from others?

A slight frown creased Yang Xuan's forehead.

After carrying the firewood to the stove and eating, Yang Xuan grabbed his book and retreated to the cool shade of a tree to read.

Before long, he had drifted off to sleep. Meanwhile, the spiritual bead within his dantian tirelessly continued its work. The Spirit Aura flowed through the bead, purifying the air and then coursing through Yang Xuan's twenty-four main meridians.

Time flew by, and the serene moon bathed the land in a silvery glow. Yang Xiao had no leisure to savor the beauty of the night; he sat stone-faced on a bench, seething with anger.

That morning, on his way to the Immortal Cultivation Hall, he noticed that guards were still posted outside the Yang Mansion. He was certain these were Yu Xuezhong's doing. Yu Xuezhong was intentionally making life difficult for him!

Yang Xiao's hands balled into fists.

But what if the thief was actually within the Yang Mansion?

The thought struck him out of nowhere.

Without delay, Yang Xiao rose to his feet, issued a quick set of orders to his attendant, and hurried off.

All was quiet in the Yang Mansion, save for the watchful guards.

Meanwhile, a figure clad in black, hidden in the servants' quarters, listened intently for any signs of movement. Moving without a sound, he slipped out of the room and took in his surroundings. Spotting the dozing guard propped against the wall, he recognized the perfect opportunity.

The man in black stealthily approached the guard from behind, his right hand poised to strike at the guard's neck. But in a swift motion, the guard lunged forward, unleashing several short blades from his grasp. These blades, imbued with Spiritual Force, sliced through the air with incredible speed. The man in black barely had time to react before it was too late to dodge the attack.

With no other option, the man in black fled hastily. However, Yang Xiao, who had been vigilantly on watch all night, was not about to let him escape a second time. Indeed, the guard was none other than Yang Xiao himself. With a commanding shout, Yang Xiao had the intruder encircled by the protective guards of the Yang Mansion.

Enraged, the man in black realized the gravity of his situation. After years of successful thievery, he found himself trapped! Upon regaining consciousness, his fury intensified upon discovering the treasured item he had stolen was now missing, his heart seething with anger. He had expended considerable effort to infiltrate the City Lord's Mansion, likening himself to a hunter among geese, only to become the hunted.

As the man in black caught sight of the Dragon Phoenix Treasure Box open beside the youth, he quickly channeled energy from his Dantian in an attempt to strike. But before his hand could reach the boy, he was blindsided by a cunning attack from a thieving matron. It seemed the Yang family was determined to thwart him at every turn.

"Are all members of the Yang family so despicable and shameless?" he bellowed in frustration.

Yang Xiao overheard the accusation and retorted sharply, "There's no need to question the integrity of the Yang family. You are the one who is despicable and shameless. You tried to tarnish the Yang family's reputation by sneaking into our mansion. Had I not been prepared, you might have actually gotten away!"

The man in black huffed dismissively, knowing that his priority was to escape. "I'm not going to waste time arguing with you. You're looking for the City Lord's Mansion treasure, aren't you? Too bad, it's not in my possession!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao let out a cold laugh. "Then explain why the treasure vanished after your visit to the Yang family? Are you attempting to frame us for disloyalty?"

Cornered and defenseless, the man in black protested, "You won't believe me anyway. If I hadn't been injured by the Yang family, you would never have been able to corner me like this."

Yang Xiao ceased his back-and-forth with the man in black, signaling the guards with a glance. They quickly encircled the assailant. Channeling his Spiritual Force, Yang Xiao unleashed a palm strike at the man. The man, already gravely wounded, countered immediately. However, when Yang Xuan's blow landed, the man's Spiritual Force hiccuped at the impact site, causing him to uncontrollably cough up blood.

With a sneer, the man in black eyed Yang Xiao. "The talk of Qingzhou City is that Yang Xiao stands out among the Yang Mansion's younger generation. Seems the rumors overstate your abilities."

"Yet you were still bested by me," Yang Xiao retorted with a cold snort, dismissing the man in black as nothing more than a defeated underling.

"Had I not been severely injured, someone of your meager cultivation couldn't possibly capture me. You don't hold a candle to that boy under eighteen in the decrepit courtyard. His techniques are bizarrely effective; you're not even in his league. The treasure I pilfered suits him far better!" The man in black shot back with biting sarcasm, while inwardly, he relished the thought of the Yang family's internal discord working to his advantage.

A ruined courtyard?

A boy not yet eighteen?

Yang Xuan?

Impossible! There was no way his father and aunt would impart cultivation techniques to Yang Xuan. Even if his second uncle was a once-in-a-century prodigy within the Yang family, what of it? His son remained a mere mortal, of no use. Who in the Yang family could rival his own talent for cultivation? Yang Xuan, that waste, was fit only to be a cook in that rundown yard.

"Are you oblivious to the fact that you've just made a joke?" Yang Xiao couldn't help but question.

He simply couldn't believe it. How could someone with no cultivation experience injure another with a higher level of cultivation? It had to be a ruse, the man in black's attempt to distract him.

Once he apprehended the man in black, the truth would come to light.