BXBX NOVEL Chapter 422: Wrongly Accused
Chapter 422: Wrongly Accused
Chu Liang was initially quite stunned when the giant grabbed him, but then he thought that this could be a good opportunity for him to get out. He could avoid getting charged with breaking out of prison since he was technically being abducted.
In any case, it might not be a good idea for Chu Liang to stay behind in the prison. City Lord Su and City Supervisor Ma probably wouldn\'t dare harm him, but what if they ended up acting irrationally? In that case, it was probably better to just leave earlier.
He would just part ways with this group once they landed on the ground.
Come to think of it, this giant\'s grip is pretty tight. It would be really difficult to break out of it. In terms of raw strength, this giant might rival an ordinary draconic descendant, perhaps even a young True Dragon.
Truly terrifying.
Chu Liang had never seen giants before, but he had heard of them. This giant man was likely a member of the legendary Kuafu Clan[1], who were known for their superhuman physiques and insane strength. When they reached the peak of their cultivation, they could move mountains, fill seas, and swallow rivers.
The Kuafu Clan had been active during ancient times and were formidable rivals to the dragons during the era of the Dragon God. However, they gradually seemed to disappear from the world after that.
The reason was likely their difficulty in reproduction. In the struggle among the myriad of races, those with strong reproductive abilities weren\'t necessarily powerful, but those with weak reproduction abilities were certainly at a disadvantage. After all, their numbers were limited, and so was the land they could conquer.
Presently, the nine provinces were dominated by humans, and the available lands that the other races could live in were continuously being reduced.
Once the black gust of wind was finally out of Wu\'an City\'s vicinity, Chu Liang turned to the middle-aged man and asked, "Elder Brother, where are we headed?"
"Brother Ye, I haven\'t told you who I am yet," the middle-aged man replied with a smile. "I am the advisor of the Emerald Sky Waters\' Flying-Dragon Fortress in Jiangnan. I came to Wu\'an City on business and was unexpectedly arrested by the City Supervisory Division over a minor issue. If they had discovered my true identity, I\'d be dead for sure, so my brothers rushed to rescue me."
The Emerald Sky Waters, the Flying-Dragon Fortress...
The Emerald Sky Waters was a vast region of interwoven lakes and mountains. It was filled with countless bodies of water and complex terrain, so merchant ships often passed through it. Naturally, that meant the Emerald Sky Waters was also a haven for bandits and pirates.
Chu Liang knew a little about the Emerald Sky Waters, but he had never heard of the Flying-Dragon Fortress. He imagined they were likely a group of bandits. Nevertheless, they certainly seemed like a powerful group.
The City Supervisory Division of Wu\'an City probably had no idea of the middle-aged man\'s true identity. They would not have kept him there otherwise.
Given the limited manpower of a City Supervisory Division, it would be very difficult to prevent powerful cultivators from breaking into the prison. The best preventative measure was to avoid giving anyone a reason to attempt a prison break, so they would always transfer important prisoners to the capital of Yu.
Although Chu Liang hadn\'t heard of the Flying-Dragon Fortress before, he put on an expression of admiration when he replied to the middle-aged man. "So, you\'re the heroes of the Emerald Sky Waters and the Flying-Dragon Fortress! You\'re so famous that it\'s like thunder piercing the ear! I hear about you everywhere I go!"
"Heheh..." The middle-aged man chuckled. "We can\'t really be called heroes; we\'re just keeping ourselves fed."
"..."
Amid the mighty roaring winds in high up in the sky, the two "pets" in the giant\'s hands continued their conversation as if nothing was amiss.
...
Meanwhile, in Wu\'an City, City Supervisor Ma wore a grim expression.
He had been rudely awakened at dawn with news that the City Supervisory Division had been broken into. His first thought was that it was because of Chu Liang.
Could it have been people from the Mount Shu Sect?
However, upon investigating the situation, Ma Ben discovered that it wasn\'t the work of the Mount Shu Sect but rather a group of powerful individuals with an unknown origin. There had even been a giant from the Kuafu Clan among them.
Finding that out just made Ma Ben\'s head hurt.
All the prisoners in Chu Liang\'s cell had been released by the mysterious group, except for one unfortunate soul whose limbs had been brutally ripped off. The rest of the prisoners had scattered in and around Wu\'an City, and there was an urgent need to recapture them.
Ma Ben was at his wits\' end.
It was right at this moment that Su Shengyan hurried over to him.
"Old pal, did you release Chu Liang like we discussed last night?" Su Shengyan asked with a frown.
"He has indeed left..." Ma Ben replied quietly, "but I wasn\'t the one who let him go..."
"It\'s all good as long as he\'s gone." Su Shengyan sighed in relief. "Keeping him would only have caused more trouble."
"You didn\'t seem this worried last night. What\'s changed?" City Supervisor Ma asked puzzledly.
"I had people investigate his background overnight and found out that his teacher is the peak master of the Mount Shu Sect\'s Silver Sword Peak. She\'s Di Nufeng—the one who recently used her bare hands to beat to death an Eminent One from the Celestial Charm Sect!" Su Shengyan said, raising his voice. "I looked into Di Nufeng\'s history. She\'s not someone you want to mess with!"
Ma Ben was equally shocked. "Di Nufeng?"
As a cultivator, he was well aware of Di Nufeng\'s reputation. He had known about Chu Liang too, but he had no idea that Chu Liang was Di Nufeng\'s disciple.
Good heavens, that explains a lot.
No wonder that kid was so unbridled and arrogant.
It turns out he inherited it.
"Anyway, he\'s gone now, so let\'s not worry about anything else. Just clean up your family\'s mess, and make sure there\'s no evidence left," Ma Ben said, still feeling a little fearful.
If Di Nufeng really comes looking for us, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Before Ma Ben even finished talking, screaming wind ripped through the skies. He looked up in shock to see a massive array of swordlights blotting out the sky! Nearly a hundred beams of swordlight flew overhead, leaving long arcing trails that illuminated the night sky above Wu\'an City!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
In an instant, the swordlights descended like rainfall, all headed for the City Supervisory Division!
Boom!
The leading beam of swordlight crashed through the gates of the City Supervisory Division. For the second time in the span of a day, those gates were smashed to pieces.
The rest of the swordlights hovered above the City Supervisory Division, looking mighty and intimidating.
A stern-looking elderly woman dressed in black slowly walked into the City Supervisory Division. She was followed by a young lady whose beauty was like that of a celestial being.
Although fear gripped his heart, Ma Ben forced himself to step forward and shout, "Who dares to storm my City Supervisory Division? Such audacity!"
"I am the Mount Shu Sect\'s Discipline Master," the elderly woman replied in an icy tone. "I am here today to find a disciple of my sect. Are you the city supervisor here?"
"That\'s right. I\'m Ma Ben, the city supervisor of Wu\'an City. Have you come here for Chu Liang?" Ma Ben asked. His heart filled with dread the moment he heard that these people were from the Mount Shu Sect. He could only say meekly, "If you wished to pick him up, you could have contacted the Imperial Supervisory Bureau. It\'s a violation of the rules to fly over the city on flying swords."
"Rules?" the Discipline Master uttered, her eyes gleaming with cold light.
Whoosh.
A long whip of black-iron thorns shot out of the ground like a giant serpent. It coiled around Ma Ben and lifted him, suspending him in midair.
Ma Ben uttered, "You—"
Despite being a powerful sixth-realm cultivator, he had no way of breaking free. He was extremely tightly bound, and any attempt to resist brought him sharp, intense pain.
All Ma Ben could do was cry out helplessly, "Chu Liang is no longer in the City Supervisory Division! He left!"
"He left?" the Discipline Master asked, "When did he leave? Why hasn\'t he returned to Mount Shu?"
"Someone broke into the prison last night. He escaped along with them."
The Discipline Master let out a cold laugh, "Hah. The prison break could have happened before or after, but no, it just had to happen right when Chu Liang was detained. How could such a coincidence exist?"
The black-iron whip tightened around Ma Ben, squeezing him so hard that his joints popped and bones cracked. It looked like he was about to be crushed to bits.
Jiang Yuebai\'s expression darkened.
From Jiang Yuebai and the Discipline Master\'s perspective, it was clear that the two men before them wanted to harm Chu Liang in secret, so they falsely claimed there had been a prison break as a cover. How else could such a coincidence have occurred?
Ma Ben cried out, "It really is just a coincidence..."
Feelings of anguish and indignation were written all over his face as tears welled in his eyes.
Ma Ben had thought that everything would be fine once Chu Liang left, but who could have predicted that Chu Liang hadn\'t returned to Mount Shu yet? Now, they wouldn\'t believe anything he said... Mud might fall into his mouth, but if the people from the Mount Shu Sect said he had shit in his mouth, then that\'s what it would be...
Su Shengyan stepped forward to mediate. "Esteemed elder, please don\'t act hastily. I am somewhat aware of the situation, and I assure you that City Supervisor Ma harbors no ill intent toward Young Hero Chu. Why not wait a little longer?"
The Discipline Master turned her gaze to him. "And you are?"
"I am Su Shengyan, the chief official of Wu\'an City."
"Perfect. We can deal with you both at once," the Discipline Master said with a wave of her hand.
Whoosh—
Another whip of black-iron thorns burst from the ground, tightly binding Su Shengyan and suspending him in midair.
"The two of you sure have a lot of nerve. Despite being court officials, you shielded a criminal, murdered witnesses to silence them, and plotted against a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect. Today, I will execute both of you here, and I am certain the imperial court will have no objections. If anything happens to Chu Liang, it won\'t just be the two of you—your entire families will be buried with him!" the Discipline Master declared, exuding an intensely ferocious aura.
With the multitude of swordlights hovering in the sky behind her and a whip of black-iron thorns swaying menacingly, the Discipline Master resembled a fiendish evil god who had come to reap the lives of the two men!
With teary eyes, Ma Ben was filled with regret and resentment as he glared at the man beside him.
He had been doing his job as a city supervisor. Then out of nowhere, his division\'s gates were kicked in during the dead of night, leading to this unexpected calamity.
Now, looking at Su Shengyan, only one thought crossed Ma Ben\'s mind: Why did you provoke them?
Su Shengyan was also filled with anguish and indignation. He had falsely condemned many people to suffer wrongful deaths over the years. Now, experiencing injustice himself, he finally understood what it felt like to be wronged.
The two men hung helplessly in the air, too powerless to do anything about their restraints.
The overwhelming sense of injustice that they felt could only be expressed in loud cries.
"We are innocent!!"
1. See the Translator\'s Thoughts for info. ☜