88: Chapter 88 Night Raid and Pledge of Allegiance

The driver flicked his whip, producing a crisp crack in the air, and the carriage merged steadily into the traffic without causing a ripple.

Liu Yuan's figure, as soon as the carriage turned the street corner, had already vanished into the thickening night like a wisp of green smoke.

For the next three days, the Lin Mansion remained calm on the surface, as if the visit to the Zhu Mansion had been merely a routine social call.

Lin Chen handled Family affairs as usual every day, instructed his descendants in cultivation, and even spent an afternoon flying paper kites in the courtyard with several young children with great interest.

But only Qin Ruowei knew that whenever the night grew deep and silent, the lights in Lin Chen's study would always burn until dawn.

On the desk, the map of Qingxuan City was repeatedly stroked; the lines marked in vermilion ink extended from the back alley of the Zhu Mansion, like a spiderweb tightening its grip.

Deep in the night of the third day, just past midnight.

Liu Yuan appeared in Lin Chen's study like a phantom.

He carried the chill of the night dew on his body, but his eyes were burning like fire.

"Clan Head, everything has been scouted out."

He spread a newly drawn, more detailed route map before Lin Chen, his fingertip pointing to a secluded courtyard in the west of the city.

"There are four in total, one at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment and three at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining. Every two nights, they depart from this courtyard called the 'Heishui Workshop' goods depot."

His finger moved slowly along the red line on the map, a carefully chosen route that avoided all main streets and patrol guards.

"They will detour through two small alleys and arrive at the back alley of the Zhu Mansion. They stay for no more than a stick of incense, either throwing filthy Talismans or using special small Magical Artifacts to interfere with the nodes of the Zhu Family's outer defensive Formation. Once successful, they return along the same path."

Liu Yuan's narration was concise and precise, every detail revealing the professional caliber of a top-tier scout.

Lin Chen's gaze fell on the map, his right hand unconsciously stroking the rough stone ring on his thumb.

His fingertip finally stopped at a section in the middle of the return route.

It was a narrow passage called "One-Line Alley," with high walls of wealthy residences on both sides; it saw no sunlight year-round, and there wasn't even a single window on the walls.

The alley was extremely narrow, only wide enough for a carriage to barely pass through.

"Right here." Lin Chen's voice was very soft, yet carried unquestionable decisiveness.

"They are accustomed to traveling in the shadows, so we shall make the shadows their grave."

He looked up at Liu Yuan, his eyes sharp as knives: "I want them alive, at least one, preferably the Foundation Establishment leader. The evidence must be personally retrieved from him."

A flash of light appeared in Liu Yuan's eyes, and he nodded heavily: "Understood!"

The night was as dark as ink, thick and impenetrable.

One-Line Alley was even more deathly silent than usual.

The wind blowing past the alley entrance made a wailing sound that seemed to be half-swallowed by something invisible.

On the walls on both sides of the alley, two black shadows crouched in the darkness like stone statues, merging with the night.

They were the Lin Family's Guest Elders most skilled in capture and Formation, both at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment.

At the end of the alley, Liu Yuan's figure was completely swallowed by the darkness, leaving only a pair of wolf-like eyes staring fixedly at the entrance.

Beneath his feet, several unremarkable small stones were emitting an imperceptible fluctuation of Spiritual Qi; these were the anchors of the "Delay Formation" he had set up.

The entire alley was shrouded in an invisible "Sound-Blocking Barrier," so the thunder about to erupt here would not disturb any sleeping Soul within the walls.

At the third quarter of the Hour of the Bo, four stealthy figures appeared at the alley entrance as if by prior agreement.

They had just finished their routine "greeting" to the Zhu Mansion, their steps light, appearing somewhat relaxed.

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator leading them was even whispering and joking with his companions.

They had no vigilance at all regarding this shortcut they had taken countless times.

The four of them filed in, and when the last one stepped into the depths of the alley, a cold smile curled on the lips of one of the Guest Elders crouching on the wall.

He didn't make a sound, just gave a hand signal.

The sudden change happened in an instant!

Two black shadows pounced down from the walls on both sides like hunting falcons!

One of them flicked their wrist, and a silver-glowing silk net expanded in the wind, covering the Foundation Establishment leader's head and face!

"Entangling Silk Net!"

Meanwhile, the other Guest Elder raised both hands, and several bright yellow Talismans exploded in front of him, turning into an invisible sonic shockwave.

"Spirit-Shaking Talisman!"

The sudden attack threw the four men in black into chaos instantly.

The three Qi Refining Cultivators felt their internal Spiritual Qi suddenly stagnate, as if grabbed by an invisible giant hand; their ears buzzed, and they felt dizzy.

"Bad, it's an ambush!"

The Foundation Establishment leader reacted the fastest, shouting sharply as his long saber instantly unsheathed, bringing a chilling blade light that slashed fiercely at the incoming Entangling Silk Net.

His judgment was accurate; as long as he broke this damn net, with his cultivation, charging out would not be a problem.

However, the moment the blade light collided with the silk net, his expression changed drastically!

The Entangling Silk Net looked soft but was extremely tough; the blade edge slashed into it as if cutting into a pile of cotton.

More terrifyingly, a subtle numbing force traveled along the blade and flashed into his Meridians!

In this moment of delay, the fatal killing intent had already descended.

At the exit of the alley, Liu Yuan's figure appeared silently, like a judge walking out of Hell.

He didn't say a word, his hands moving as fast as a phantom; three black Formation Flags were thrown out in a 'pin' shape, precisely pinning into the ground within three feet of the Foundation Establishment leader.

"Hum—"

A visible small light shield composed of countless dense spiritual patterns rose instantly, trapping the caught-off-guard Foundation Establishment leader and the Qi Refining Cultivator closest to him.

"Spirit-Locking Formation!"

The leader let out an angry roar, crazily driving his Spiritual Qi, his blade light surging as he slashed fiercely at the light shield.

The light shield shook violently, but inside the Formation, the flow of Spiritual Qi instantly became extremely sluggish; he felt as if he had fallen into a quagmire, his strength suppressed by at least thirty percent.

At the other end of the alley, the remaining two Qi Refining Cultivators hadn't even had time to react before they were struck by the two Lin Family Guest Elders descending from the sky, one hand-blade to the back of the neck each, and they collapsed to the ground without even a groan.

The entire battle process, from start to finish, took no more than ten breaths.

Liu Yuan stepped slowly into the "Spirit-Locking Formation," ignoring the Foundation Establishment leader's fierce but cowardly threats.

He looked at the opponent's protective spiritual light, which was running poorly due to the Formation's suppression, his eyes icy.

The moment the leader gathered his strength to swing the blade again, Liu Yuan's figure flickered like a phantom, closing in, his right index and middle fingers pressed together, fast as lightning, precisely tapping onto the opponent's lower abdomen Dantian.

"Ugh!"

The Foundation Establishment leader felt as if struck by lightning, his body shaking violently; the Spiritual Qi he had just gathered instantly dissipated, and the long saber in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.

His Qi Sea acupoint was invaded by a domineering and pure Spiritual Qi and temporarily sealed; he felt as if his bones had been removed, and he slumped weakly to the ground.

Liu Yuan kicked him over, took out a special chain shimmering with runes, and bound him tightly.

Afterward, he unceremoniously began to search him.

Soon, Liu Yuan's fingers felt a hard object in the interlayer of his inner garment.

He tore the fabric, and a black token, neither gold nor wood, fell to the ground.

The token was cold to the touch, with an exquisite water-drop-shaped pattern carved on the back, and on the front, an ancient seal character written in a dragon-flying, phoenix-dancing style that carried a hint of chilling aura — "Shadow."

Besides this, Liu Yuan also found on him several unused terror Talismans identical to those dropped in the Zhu Mansion's back alley, as well as a brocade pouch emitting a strange fragrance.

Liu Yuan opened the pouch and sniffed it; this was the "Butterfly-Attracting Fragrance" unique to "Heishui Workshop" in the west of Qingxuan City, a cheap consumable often used by black-market Cultivators to track or mark targets.

Witnesses and material evidence were all present.

Liu Yuan looked up, nodded slightly toward the direction of the alley entrance.

"Withdraw."

The next morning, the daylight was perfect.

In front of the Zhu Mansion's main gate, Family Head Zhu Mingyuan personally came out to greet them, followed by several Zhu Family elders with solemn expressions.

When he saw the man in black behind Lin Chen, restrained by two Guest Elders, bound by Spirit-Suppressing chains, and gagged with a cloth ball, his pupils shrank violently.

When Lin Chen placed the black token engraved with the character "Shadow," along with those terror Talismans and the scent pouch, before him one by one, Zhu Mingyuan's complexion went from shocked to livid, then to deathly pale, and finally turned into an uncontrollable rage and... lingering fear.

He didn't need to hear Lin Chen's detailed account; just by looking at this evidence, he already understood everything.

For the past six months, the shadow that had lingered over the Zhu Family and kept them from sleeping at night had finally been torn open, revealing its hideous true face.

And the person who tore this opening was standing before him with his hands behind his back, his expression calm, as if he had only done a trivial little thing.

After a long time, Zhu Mingyuan took a deep breath and bowed deeply to Lin Chen, all the way to the ground.

This bow of his was extremely solemn, so much so that the faces of the several Family elders behind him changed.

"Clan Head Lin, your timely help is a kindness equivalent to a rebirth!" Zhu Mingyuan's voice carried a slight, imperceptible tremor, "The Zhu Family... is willing to follow your lead and resist these villains together!"

That afternoon, the Zhu Family and the Lin Family formally signed an alliance.

The terms were almost identical to the draft Lin Chen had brought out three days ago.

After seeing off the jubilant Zhu Family members, the entire Lin Mansion was immersed in joy.

Only Lin Chen, after a brief relaxation, locked himself back in his study.

The night deepened once again.

Lin Chen sat behind the desk, handling a series of follow-up matters after allying with the Zhu Family, from resource allocation to personnel arrangements; it was a myriad of tasks.

He was just lifting his brush to make annotations on a scroll regarding the joint establishment of an intelligence network when, suddenly, his hand holding the brush paused slightly.

A sudden, intense heat rose violently from the depths of his Dantian Qi Sea!

The feeling was as if a volcano had suddenly awakened beneath a calm lake surface.

At this moment, the Spiritual Qi in his body seemed like wild horses that had broken their reins, and its circulation speed suddenly increased by more than double!

A series of obscure, swelling pains came from his Meridians, as if they were about to be torn apart by this rushing torrent.

Lin Chen's expression instantly became grave.

He immediately put down the brush, sat cross-legged on the spot, formed hand seals with both hands, and centered himself with the five hearts facing the sky.

It was here!

He dared not be negligent and immediately calmed his mind, carefully guiding that violent torrent of Spiritual Qi to rush against that solid barrier, circle after circle, according to the route of his Cultivation Technique.

Each impact was accompanied by a piercing, bone-deep pain.

Fine beads of sweat continuously seeped from his temples and soon soaked his sideburns.

Lin Chen gritted his teeth, but his eyes became increasingly bright.

He was only one undisturbed closed-door cultivation session away from the next breakthrough.