Volume 2: Breaking into Fengdu Chapter 88: No Road, Make Your Own Path

Human plans cannot match Heaven’s calculations. Just as Xu Yan was looking around at the excitement, he suddenly spotted Yue Chengfeng at the pawn shop entrance, with less than twenty zhang between them.

His heart suddenly sank. Xu Yan was about to pull Mei Sanniang away to avoid him, but it was too late—Yue Chengfeng had already seen them both.

Walking over in a few steps, Yue Chengfeng first glanced at Xu Yan, then fixed his gaze on Mei Sanniang. “Where is Sanniang heading? This hall master had some urgent matters last time that delayed our good day. Since I’ve returned today, there’s no better day than today—let’s become husband and wife right now.”

Mei Sanniang hadn’t expected to encounter Yue Chengfeng at the pawn shop entrance either. Her expression changed slightly before returning to normal, and she laughed coquettishly, “Hall Master Yue has had a long and tiring journey. Our matter isn’t urgent. The hall master should rest for a night first. Tomorrow Sanniang will respectfully await your arrival at Plum Fragrance Tower. Don’t worry—tomorrow I’ll definitely clean myself up properly and look beautiful.”

“No need. Today it is.” Yue Chengfeng’s expression darkened. “I’ve already informed the other hall masters to come drink wedding wine at Plum Fragrance Tower tonight. Let’s go—we’re returning to Plum Fragrance Tower now.”

Grabbing the woman’s arm, Yue Chengfeng strode away. Mei Sanniang must have been hurt by his grip—her willow eyebrows furrowed tightly, yet she couldn’t resist.

Xu Yan, who had been completely ignored, watched helplessly as Third Sister was taken away. He clenched his fists hard and hurried to follow behind.

He couldn’t act now because Yue Chengfeng still had hundreds of subordinates with him. Xu Yan’s stones were accurate, but he couldn’t handle so many Ghost King Gate disciples. Moreover, once they became enemies, it would inevitably attract even more Ghost King Gate people, making things even more troublesome.

First, return to Plum Fragrance Tower. At least the horses in the courtyard were still there.

Xu Yan suppressed the turmoil in his heart and kept thinking of countermeasures. Along the way, Yue Chengfeng’s face was dark as water, gripping Mei Sanniang tightly without any trace of tender affection.

Because he had seen that Mei Sanniang’s direction of travel was actually toward the pawn shop. Why would a brothel madam worth tens of thousands go to a pawn shop? When wealthy people appeared at pawn shops, the most likely reason was to pawn their family property and flee far away.

Want to leave?

Too late!

Yue Chengfeng snorted coldly in his heart. He couldn’t catch Liao Jiuming, and he couldn’t hope to find the Foundation Establishment pill either, so Plum Fragrance Tower became even more important. As long as he got through tonight and successfully took Mei Sanniang as his concubine, Plum Fragrance Tower would bear the surname Yue.

On the way, Yue Chengfeng ordered several subordinates to return to Green Wood Hall and summon all their forces. He had already discovered Mei Sanniang’s intention to escape. Since he had returned, could a mere woman really escape from his grasp?

Returning to Plum Fragrance Tower, Yue Chengfeng sat boldly in the main hall. The first thing he did was seal all the exits of Plum Fragrance Tower, with over a hundred subordinates guarding the front and back gates. He kept Mei Sanniang by his side, not allowing her to leave even for a step. Even if she needed to dress up, Yue Chengfeng would follow alongside.

No one paid attention to Xu Yan. The Green Wood Hall people only needed to watch Mei Sanniang and the top courtesans in the brothel. As for a half-grown child, no one cared.

In his own courtyard, Xu Yan anxiously scratched his ears and head. The precious horses were still there, but the road had been blocked.

Third Sister couldn’t even leave Plum Fragrance Tower—how could they escape?

Earlier, Xu Yan had thoughts of forcing his way through. One Yue Chengfeng might not be able to avoid his flying stones, but after seeing the continuously gathering Green Wood Hall disciples, Xu Yan completely abandoned the idea of forcing through.

In no time, Green Wood Hall had over a hundred people arrive, and Ghost King Gate members continued coming to Plum Fragrance Tower. Although Green Wood Hall wasn’t considered large, when all its people gathered, there would be over a thousand. Under the watchful eyes of this group of martial artists, there was no chance of breaking out with Mei Sanniang.

Xu Yan, anxious as fire, paced in circles in his courtyard, making Little Black grunt and snort, thinking it was feeding time.

“Little Black, we’re in trouble now.”

Helpless, Xu Yan finally sat outside the pigpen and sighed. “Life really is unpredictable. Who would have thought that old thief would kill his way back halfway? If only we had left half a day earlier…”

There was no medicine for regret in this world. Regretting now was useless.

It was already afternoon, with clear skies and crisp air. The little Taoist from Riding Cloud Temple sat blankly against the pigpen, staring at the white clouds deep in the sky. That feeling of powerlessness that Xu Yan deeply detested was faintly attacking again.

No!

Jumping up suddenly, Xu Yan gritted his teeth, picked up Eight Fingers Wang’s steel blade, and pushed open the courtyard door.

He could leave by himself because no one paid attention to him, but if he left, Mei Sanniang’s fate would be exactly the same as Yuan Mountain Stronghold.

The freedom they had fought so hard to gain—perhaps Mei Sanniang could only accept her fate now, but Xu Yan wouldn’t!

Roads were made by people walking. Even if there was no road ahead, if he walked forward, wouldn’t a road appear behind him? No road? He would walk out one himself.

Leaving Plum Fragrance Tower alone, Xu Yan didn’t go to fight Yue Chengfeng desperately, but headed straight for the arena that Ghost King Gate had set up in the west of the city.

Wasn’t he just a Green Wood Hall master? In front of Ghost King Gate’s guardians, Yue Chengfeng’s status wasn’t worth much. Xu Yan was out of options—the only method he could think of was to become a Ghost King Gate guardian.

On the way to the pawn shop earlier, Xu Yan had seen the arena Ghost King Gate had built, and learned from Eight Fingers Wang that Ghost King Gate was reselecting guardians.

For now, only by becoming a Ghost King Gate guardian could he protect Third Sister.

Having decided, Xu Yan stopped overthinking. Soon he arrived at Ghost King Gate’s arena, where two martial artists were currently fighting on the wooden platform, surrounded by Ghost King Gate disciples and passersby watching the excitement, with cheers rising from time to time.

After finally finding Eight Fingers Wang in the crowd, Xu Yan learned that the two people on stage had quite high status—they were actually two deputy hall masters. As for which halls they belonged to, he wasn’t in the mood to know, but the surrounding chatter reached his ears.

“The deputy hall master of Yanbei Hall has already taken the lead. I wonder which of these two can win. The guardian position—just thinking about it makes one envious.”

“Three-meridian innate under twenty-five years old—where are you going to find so many? Selecting four guardians at once seems like too many this time. In the past, they were selected one by one.”

“News of reselecting guardians spread five days ago. Three-meridian innate masters aren’t many, but they’re not few either. Qi Nation is so large—how could there be a shortage of innate masters? I think this arena competition might go on for who knows how long.”

“You just need to win three opponents in a row to qualify as a guardian. This rule doesn’t seem difficult.”

“Not difficult? You try going up there. The opponents are all three-meridian innate. If you can beat three of them, I’ll pay for all your drinking money this year.”

Mixed in the crowd, Xu Yan learned the rules of this guardian selection without even trying to inquire: win three matches in a row to become a Ghost King Gate guardian.

“How about it, Brother Yan? Exciting, isn’t it?” Eight Fingers Wang beside him eagerly pointed at the two people on stage. “Those two are both deputy hall masters. For the guardian position, they’re willing to fight until their heads are bloody. Once they become guardians, they can really walk sideways in Fengdu City.”