White-Robed Chief

Xu Anxia studied the silver bracelet carefully and discovered engraved patterns on its inner surface. He channeled his inner energy to his eyes and saw that the engravings were words. A total of 8 words were written on the bracelet. “Chen’s Residence, Peaceful Well Lane, and Chong Ming Town.”

If one was ignorant, the words on the bracelet would’ve been passed as a mere decoration.

Xu Anxia looked at Chen Siyu who was unconscious and then looked at Jiang Chunyue.

Jiang Chunyue whispered, “Guardian Xu Anxia, please ask Master Chen Li to come as soon as possible!”

“Got it!” Xu Anxia said while nodding gravely. He looked towards Clan Leader Hu and Guardian Zheng before saying, “Guardian Zheng, Clan Leader Hu Hai, I’ll go now!”

Hu Hai advised, “Xiao Xu, you should disguise yourself.”

“Yes, understood!” Xu Anxia said somberly.

He strode out of the bedroom and returned to his house. He messed up his hair and changed into old gray worn-out clothes, a style entirely different from his usual obsessive tidiness.

He covered his face with dust so that people would not be able to recognise him. He secretly left his house and went to the cattle and horse market in town to buy a horse. He rode the horse and galloped for a day, entering Chong Ming Town in the evening.

He found a house by following an address and stood outside to study it. The house was old and average-looking. At first glance, people would think that the house belonged to a middle-class family.

He took a deep breath, concealed his anxiety and fatigue and knocked on the front door with the door knocker. A few minutes later, an old man popped his head out of the door and looked at Xu Anxia suspiciously.

“Old man, is this Chen’s residence?” Xu Anxia asked.

“Yeah.” The old man eyed him.

“I’m here to find Mr. Chen, Chen Li.” Xu Anxia handed over the silver bracelet.

The old man took the silver bracelet and closed the door while saying, “Very well. Please wait a moment, mister.”

Time flowed slowly, passing little by little.

Xu Anxia saw that the surrounding lanterns had lit up and stomped his foot impatiently. The street was shrouded by light, but there was still no news from inside yet. It made him wonder if the Association Leader had made a mistake..

What was a day felt like years, and the door never opened. The old man seemed to have forgotten about him.

Xu Anxia stomped his foot and paced up and down the street. The Association Leader was in critical condition. They had used a method to draw out her latent potential in order to wake her up, this worsened her injuries dramatically. They could not heal her at all!

If the situation were to drag on any longer, he might not be able to see the Association Leader again!

How he wished to just break into the Chen’s residence, grab the collar of Master Chen Li and bring him back to the Startling Cloud Association. His remaining rationality however, stopped his rashness.

“Squeak.” The door opened and the old man came out. He handed Xu Anxia a pair of silver bracelets and said, “My Master already knows about the situation. You can go back now young mister.”

After saying that, the old man turned back and was about to close the door.

However, Xu Anxia quickly stopped him. “Old man, please wait!”

The old man turned his head to look at him. Xu Anxia stared at the pair of silver bracelets in his hand and frowned. “Where’s Master Chen Li?”

“Oh, my Master has gone out.”

“Gone out?!” Xu Anxia asked hurriedly. “Where to?”

“The place where you wanted my Master to go to. That’s where he went,” said the old man with a smile. “That’s enough, boy. Go back.”

Xu Anxia frowned and stared at his hand. The old man waved his hand to dismiss him, turned and closed the door.

Xu Anxia lowered his head and studied the two silver bracelets. He noticed that they were a pair. He quickly took out the other bracelet he had brought and slapped his forehead. He did not realize earlier that the original silver bracelets were not a pair!

His heart was in his mouth. He did not know whether Master Chen Li actually went to the Startling Cloud Association or not.

As things stood, it meant that he had found the right person. However, if that really was the case, he could not break into the house. He could only go back.

With that thought in mind, he turned and left Chen’s residence. He leaped across the town walls, found his horse and galloped back.

Startling Cloud Association, Cloud State Town.

The bedroom in Xu’s house was brightly lit and the air in the room was bitterly cold.

Under the light, several copper basins filled with ice cubes were placed on the ground. The ice cubes were shimmering. The bedroom had a nasty chill to it, almost freezing cold.

Despite the room being that cold, Zheng Gongming and Hu Hai were sweating bullets, their faces were pale in color.

Zheng Gongming stood beside the bed while Hu Hai was sitting on the bed. Both of their hands were on Chen Siyu’s back. White vapor was coming out of their heads and their foreheads were sweating profusely. Chen Siyu laid unconscious with her eyes closed, motionless.

Her face was as red as a cooked shrimp. Her breath was hot enough to burn.

Jiang Chunyue twisted the silk handkerchief with all of her strength till the point the veins of her hands were exposed. She stared at Chen Siyu. Her heart was torn with anxiety, if this were to continue, the Lady would certainly burn until she died!

“Elder Zheng Gongming, how’s it?” Hu Hai wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked softly, feeling helpless and crestfallen.

Zheng Gongming stood motionless. The white vapor on top of his head was steaming and his long robe was drenched.

Hu Hai was anxious and began to pout, a feeling of helplessness began to rise in him.

This absurd palm technique was too powerful, they could not handle it at all. All kinds of medicine and miraculous pills had been used on the Lady but none of them had any effect. They could only stare helplessly at the Association Leader as she slowly slipped closer into the abyss of death.

“Clan Leader Hu Hai…” Jiang Chunyue turned her head and looked at Hu Hai with pleading eyes.

Hu Hai shook his head with a look full of anguish and let out a sigh.

Jiang Chunyue bit her lower lip hard, her eyes reddened.

Suddenly, a blue shadow flashed past and Chu Li appeared beside the bed.

Jiang Chunyue’s eyes widened instantly. She exclaimed, “Master Chen Li!”

Chu Li gave her a nod and Hu Hai a smile. He reached out his hand and grabbed Chen Siyu’s scorching wrist.

His brows knitted together immediately.

Hu Hai had no time to be surprised at Chu Li’s skillful Light-body Technique, he quickly asked, “Master Chen Li, can she still be saved?”

Chu Li put down Chen Siyu’s wrist. “I’ll try!”

“Elder Zheng Gongming!” Hu Hai called.

Zheng Gongming opened his eyes and nodded weakly. He released his palms and moved away from the bed.

“You’ve worked hard, Guardian Zheng Gongming,” said Chu Li.

Jiang Chunyue supported Chen Siyu while Chu Li sat down behind her. He put his palms onto her back and discharged a small amount of his inner energy into her which then split into two: one confronted the heat force in her body while the other flowed and circulated within according to the Crescent Cryptic heart technique.

The Crescent Cryptic technique had the property of extreme Yin and extreme cold. Chu Li’s inner energy flowed rapidly and in the blink of an eye, the force in Chen Siyu’s body cooled down. The heat force seemed to have decreased slightly. As time passed, the inner energy cultivated by the Crescent Cryptic became increasingly cold and the heat slowly diminished.

Two hours later, Chu Li stopped channeling his inner energy and opened his eyes.

They stared with widened eyes at Chen Siyu whose face had returned to its usual white.

Chen Siyu’s eyelashes trembled as she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw Chu Li, her face broke into a smile.

Chu Li smiled. “Elder cousin sister, I’ve come.”

Chen Siyu just smiled.

Hu Hai let out a sigh of admiration. “Master Chen Li is awesome. Elder Zheng Gongming and I gave it our all but it was of no use. Once Master Chen Li came, the matter was solved instantly. I’m truly impressed!”

Chu Li laughed. “If it weren’t for Clan Leader Hu Hai and Guardian Zheng Gongming’s help in stopping the worsening of her injuries, it would’ve been too late by the time I arrived.”

He let out a sigh and shook his head. “That was such a vicious palm skill, it appears that you guys have provoked a powerful person.”

“We are ashamed. We couldn’t find out who he was.” Hu Hai shook his head and said, “His body movement technique was really fast. He defeated two Guardians and injured the Association Leader in the blink of an eye!”

Zheng Gongming had now finished meditating but he still looked pale and weak. He sighed. “The person was average-looking. I really can’t recall who he is.”

Chu Li said, “He wanted to kill elder cousin sister. He’ll come again.”

“Master Chen Li, please stay for a few days,” said Hu Hai. “If we don’t put an end to this guy, we’ll not be able to feel at ease!”

Chu Li glanced at Chen Siyu who was staring at him with sparkling eyes and laughed. “Very well, I’ll stay for a couple of days.”

Jiang Chunyue said excitedly, “Master Chen Li, I’ll go and clean a room for you!”

Chu Li smiled and thanked her.

Jiang Chunyue put a pillow behind Chen Siyu to help her sit up. She then went out excitedly, with joy written all over her face.

Chu Li said, “Search the interior of the association first… the assassin managed to find elder cousin sister right away so there must be someone from within that gave him the information.”

“Humph, I’ll find out who this guy is!” Hu Hai grinded his teeth.

Chen Siyu shook her head and said, “Don’t do it on a grand scale. The association has just calmed down after a few days. Don’t cause the people to feel insecure.”

It was not easy for her, as a woman, to convince the crowd. Furthermore, her martial arts was not powerful. Thus, she needed to demonstrate great leadership skills and this would take time to get the crowd to recognize. Now, the first step was to let the association settle down.