Chapter 154

Chapter 154: Never Bargains with Anyone

Just a short while ago in Lingjiang City, Lou Yun had once acted to cut off the ear of the Wang Family’s clan head, Wang Feng. However, Wang Feng was merely a high-level magical weapons master, completely incomparable to the Elder before them now.

The members of the Han family were all plunged into immense shock and panic. Although the Elder wasn’t the most formidable person in the Han family, his status was extremely high, practically an inviolable presence in the minds of all of them. Yet now, this very presence had been shattered by Leng Cangqiong!

Capturing the leader makes the followers scatter; indeed, a snake cannot move without its head. Though Leng Cangqiong didn’t care who the leader or head among these people was—in his view, anyone who dared bully his brother absolutely could not be lightly forgiven—it was precisely because he had unintentionally severed the Elder’s ear that the rest of the Han family members lost all cohesion and fell into disarray.

Leng Cangqiong completely ignored the presence of the Han family members and turned to Lou Yun. "Brother, how should we deal with this batch? Kill them all?"

Lou Yun quickly shook his head. "Brother, we can’t kill them yet. They have captured all my relatives. I need them to release my kin!"

Leng Cangqiong nodded in understanding and addressed the Elder. "You heard what my brother said? Immediately release his relatives! Otherwise, I guarantee none of you will leave this place alive today!"

Such a naked threat, coming from Leng Cangqiong’s mouth, left no one doubting its truth.

Covering his ear, the Elder glanced at his clansmen who were clearly no longer capable of fighting. Without hesitation, he nodded, "Release them. But you must let my clansmen go first. I can stay. That’s the only way I can ensure Lou Yun’s relatives are returned safely."

Leng Cangqiong suddenly took a step forward, scoffing coldly. "Since you know who I am, you should also know I never bargain with anyone. It would be best if you released them willingly. But if you refuse, I’ll have no choice but to kill every last one of you and then rescue them myself!"

As Leng Cangqiong took that single step, the Elder distinctly felt a ferocious, razor-sharp slaughterous aura swiftly envelop him. He could even feel a bone-piercing chill on his exposed skin.

The Elder knew that if his next response displeased Leng Cangqiong in the slightest, the man wouldn’t hesitate for an instant to kill him.

For the first time since his initial surge of fear, the Elder felt the cold touch of death’s threat pressing terrifyingly close. He swallowed deeply and nodded. "I agree. I will release them immediately. But I need someone to go back and deliver the message."

Leng Cangqiong gave a cold sneer and took a step back. Released from that piercing slaughterous aura, the Elder felt a sudden, overwhelming sensation as if he’d been granted a second life.

"You have half an hour. In half an hour, I want to see my brother’s relatives standing before me."

No threat, no intimidation—just a simple, even-toned sentence. Yet it carried an order that brooked no defiance.

After delivering this ultimatum, Leng Cangqiong walked over to Lou Yun’s side without another concern. He didn’t even remotely worry that the Elder might only be stalling, buying time for someone to sneak back and raise an alarm to summon reinforcements. To him, facing one enemy or a hundred enemies made absolutely no difference.

The Elder motioned for a Han family clansman to approach and whispered a few instructions into his ear. The clansman immediately turned and, after casting a deeply fearful glance at Leng Cangqiong, hurried away.

The remaining Han family members gathered together, sitting in a protective circle around the Elder. No one spoke; they simply sat in tense silence, waiting.

Leng Cangqiong ignored them completely. Only when he reached Lou Yun did he notice Lou Yun’s right arm hanging limp and unmoving by his side. His brow instantly furrowed; the slight smile he’d been wearing froze, replaced by an icy chill. "Who did this?"

Upon hearing this question, Han Tie Feng’s body shivered involuntarily. Despite being remarkably brave himself, even he couldn’t escape the oppressive terror unleashed by Leng Cangqiong’s aura.

Lou Yun still held considerable goodwill towards Han Tie Feng. He knew that speaking Han Tie Feng’s name would likely consign the man to immediate death at Leng Cangqiong’s hands the very next second. So, Lou Yun just smiled lightly. "It’s nothing. Just carelessly injured it a bit."

Leng Cangqiong’s experience was vast. He instantly understood from Lou Yun’s tone that his brother was deliberately shielding someone. Yet, Leng Cangqiong chose not to expose this, merely nodding slightly. "Alright. But we have a bit of time now. Tell me, what reason could you possibly have had that made you dare delay even our agreed-upon meeting time?"

Though he said this, his tone held not a trace of blame. Naturally, Lou Yun felt no fear.

In fact, Leng Cangqiong’s arrival gave Lou Yun an immense, almost fearless sense of reliance—a profound feeling of safety unlike anything he’d known before. So, despite still standing within the Han family’s domain, under the watchful eyes of their assembled members, his tenseness evaporated. Smiling, he began recounting how he’d seen injustice on the road, rescued Ge Jianfeng, and incurred the delay.

When he finished, Lou Yun turned the question back on Leng Cangqiong, his tone carrying a hint of complaint. "However, Brother, even if I was three days late, couldn’t you have just waited a few more days? After I got to that border town, I searched everywhere inside and outside for you for a full three extra days!"

In the entire Spirit Weapon Star, Lou Yun was probably the only person who dared use such a complaining, almost accusatory tone with Leng Cangqiong.

Even Leng Cangqiong’s own sister, Leng Qianrou—gentle by nature, unlike Lou Yun—would never speak to her formidable brother in such a manner.

The very fact that Lou Yun dared to speak this way proved that, without even realizing it, he had come to see Leng Cangqiong as his true, flesh-and-blood older brother. Between them, the formal barrier of the oath-sworn brotherhood had faded away, replaced by genuine familial closeness.

Leng Cangqiong felt exactly the same, holding no offense against his brother. He gave a faint smile. "I waited for you on top of a large tree outside the town for two days. I intended to wait longer, but just then, I noticed a certain person, an old acquaintance from many years past. So, I followed him. The chase, there and back, took quite some time. By the time I returned to that place, it was already seven days later. Once again, fate pulled us apart in the worst possible way."

"After that, I began searching for you throughout the Gu Feng Nation. It just so happened I reached the area near Yuyang City today. That’s where I encountered little Xiao Huo, who then led me to find you."

Leng Cangqiong described it lightly, but in truth, tracking down Lou Yun had cost him immense effort!

Though fearless, he had been absent from the world for over fifty years. He truly didn’t want too many knowing he yet lived. Disguising himself or changing his appearance was out of the question. His method for finding Lou Yun was to reach staggering heights above the land and unleash his spiritual sense, scanning vast regions below, searching for any familiar pulse of Lou Yun’s energy.

Searching a region with spiritual sense required not just immense spiritual energy reserves; the demands on the sense itself were extraordinarily high!

With Lou Yun’s current level of spiritual sense, scanning a region of perhaps a dozen miles was manageable, but expanding beyond that became difficult. Leng Cangqiong’s range was certainly not limited to dozens of miles. He swept over areas spanning ten or even hundreds of miles in a single attempt—a feat that demanded prodigious amounts of spiritual energy and stamina.

Truthfully, Leng Cangqiong’s search method was flawed. The energy fluctuations within Lou Yun’s body were completely obscured by Chang Xiang.

Fortune favored the two brothers today, aligning the moment for their reunion. Leng Cangqiong happened to be soaring above Yuyang City, releasing his spiritual sense to survey the vicinity, when he detected numerous chaotic energy restraints centered upon the Imperial Palace. This naturally piqued his curiosity, compelling him to take a closer look. Just as he descended, he happened to glimpse the small figure of Xiao Huo darting away in desperate flight!

He remembered Xiao Huo vividly—not only because Xiao Huo was Lou Yun’s treasured pet, but more importantly, because Xiao Huo had once saved his sister, Leng Qianrou!

From afar, Leng Cangqiong spotted several figures pursuing Xiao Huo. He couldn’t stand idly by. He eliminated the pursuers, saving Xiao Huo. Xiao Huo’s memory was excellent; the little creature immediately recognized Leng Cangqiong and urgently pulled him towards Lou Yun, seeking rescue!

Thus, Leng Cangqiong arrived just in time to see the Elder casting the Book Prison technique, attempting to bind and imprison Lou Yun. Seeing his brother in peril, how could Leng Cangqiong stand aside?

With a single stroke of his sword, Leng Cangqiong shattered the Elder’s attack, freeing Lou Yun, while simultaneously awing the entire Han family into submission!

Just as Lou Yun was about to press Leng Cangqiong with more questions, Leng Cangqiong suddenly turned his gaze towards the distance. "Brother, hold that thought. People are approaching."