"City Lord, you have arrived."

Wang Molin stood up to greet him.

Gu Yushan glanced at the iron cage without much interest and said to Wang Molin:

"What madness is this? Creating such a commotion. I heard you want to execute Luo Ying, the daughter of the Luo family. I understand you’re resentful about losing your place among the six great families, but it’s a fact now that the Luo family has become one of them. If anything goes awry, I won’t be able to help you."

Wang Molin clasped his fists and said, "City Lord, I’m not doing this to seek revenge on the Luo family but for the sake of Black Cloud City, for you, City Lord."

"For me?"

Gu Yushan was taken aback.

"Indeed."

Wang Molin nodded and said, "That Luotian is quite adept at deceiving people. Many merchants from our Black Cloud City have been lured to Panlong City. Now, with Luo Ying possessed by a demon beast, if anything else happens, it will be a significant blow to your prestige, making our position in Black Cloud City even more challenging."

Gu Yushan’s face momentarily stiffened, evidently being struck to the core of his concerns.

Noticing Gu Yushan’s expression, Wang Molin continued:

"Conversely, as long as we execute Luo Ying, who is possessed by a demon beast, we are ridding the people of harm..."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yushan raised his eyebrows and said, "Is it true that Luo Ying is possessed by a demon beast?"

People being possessed by demon beasts is rare, but not unheard of.

There are many types of possession. If a martial artist uses unpurified demon cores for cultivation, their spirit could be attacked by the fierce thoughts within the core. If their spirit collapses, the martial artist turns into a humanoid demon beast solely focused on slaughter. Every year, impulsive use of demon cores drives some martial artists mad and results in their deaths. Additionally, inhaling excessive evil qi can cause a person to lose their sanity, becoming neither human nor ghost...

"Indeed." Wang Molin nodded.

Gu Yushan said, "Let me take a look."

Wang Molin instructed, "Uncover the cloth."

At his words, the once noisy Ziyun Square fell silent, with everyone’s gaze fixed on the iron cage.

Not keeping everyone waiting, a martial artist from the Wang family stepped forward and with a swoosh, uncovered the black cloth on the iron cage.

The glaring sunlight poured into the iron cage, revealing its contents to the onlookers.

In an instant, a chorus of exclamations resounded throughout the square.

Inside the iron cage stood a tall figure, her eyes completely red, with beast-like vertical pupils. Her hands had grown blood-red nails half a foot long, resembling beast claws, and behind her was an almost real tail of blazing red flames that warped the surrounding air with its heat.

Hiss...

The woman glared at Wang Molin, her beast-like pupils emitting a strange bloody light. Letting out a low growl, she attempted to break free from the iron cage, but her exquisite face turned as pale as paper due to the pain.

Her shoulders were pierced by two iron chains, suspending her in the cage. Her once pristine dress was stained red with blood.

"Look, that’s a fox tail! Could it be that she’s from the demon race?"

"Impossible. I’ve read that the demon race retains some beast blood in their bodies. If they have a tail, it’s genuine. Luo Ying’s fox tail is clearly formed from yuan qi."

"Indeed. But with how she looks now, it seems Luo Ying truly is possessed by a demon beast."

"The Wang family is too cruel..."

As the crowd looked at Luo Ying in the iron cage, the square was filled with shocked voices, and many expressed disdain for the Wang family’s ruthless methods.

"Is this... Luo Ying?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Gu Yushan was shocked, staring at the woman in the cage. If it weren’t for her facial resemblance to Luo Ying, he wouldn’t have recognized her.

Wang Molin glanced at Gu Yushan and nodded, "Yes."

Having met Luo Ying several times, Gu Yushan found her polite and had a good impression of her. He frowned and said:

"Isn’t this too cruel? She wasn’t hurting others by choice since she’s possessed by a beast."

Secretly disdainful of Gu Yushan’s womanly kindness, Wang Molin showed no change in expression and said:

"City Lord, you may not know, but this demon is extremely brutal and killed several of our Wang family experts. It took a tremendous effort for me to capture her. To prevent her from harming others, I had to impose some minor punishment."

Gu Yushan nodded, hesitated briefly, then sat down beside him, "Since Luo Ying is possessed, I’ll leave it to you to handle. If the Luo family wants an explanation, I’ll provide one."

"Understood!"

Wang Molin was overjoyed internally. Though Gu Yushan was a fool, his background was significant. As someone from the Gu Family, the head of the six great families in the Flowing Cloud Region, with True Yuan Realm experts guarding them, his support would allow Wang Molin to shift the blame onto Gu Yushan if Luo Feng pursued the matter.

Feeling settled, Wang Molin was about to return to his seat. He only needed to wait for news of the Red Fire Three Wolves killing Luotian and others to proceed with Luo Ying’s execution for all to see.

At this moment, a Wang family martial artist suddenly rushed through the crowd towards him.

Wang Molin’s heart sank, and he asked, "What happened?"

The Wang family martial artist hesitated, seeing Gu Yushan seated nearby.

Wang Molin’s eyes flickered, and he said to Gu Yushan, "City Lord, something needs my attention, please excuse me briefly."

Gu Yushan sipped his tea and nodded lazily.

Wang Molin, with the martial artist, turned and moved aside, with Xuekui nonchalantly following behind.

"What happened?" Wang Molin asked sternly as they reached the iron cage.

"Family Head, the Luo family is coming this way." The martial artist trembled as he spoke.

Xuekui sneered, "Luo Zhan is seriously injured, the Luo family’s branch in Black Cloud City doesn’t have any more experts, correct? Just stop them, and if they try to barge in, killing a few doesn’t matter."

"No... it’s not the Luo family’s branch. It’s people from Panlong City; I saw the family head, Luotian!"

"Luotian!"

Xuekui’s smile froze, and Wang Molin’s face instantly drained of color.

"Are you certain it wasn’t someone else?"

Wang Molin’s face turned livid, for Luotian being alive meant the Luo family’s place among the six great families remained secure. His meticulously planned scheme was now worthless.

"I’ve seen Luotian before, I’m sure it’s him!"

This martial artist swallowed hard and continued, "Heng Chong stepped forward to stop them but was killed in one move. They’re heading to Ziyun Square."

"Third Brother is dead!"

Xuekui’s eyelids twitched violently. He suddenly grabbed the martial artist off the ground, his eyes turning blood red as he roared, "Who killed him!"

No wonder he was so shocked; Heng Chong was the third leader of the Blood Skull Bandit Group, with a late-stage cultivation in the Spiritual Rotation Realm. Even the three spiritual rotation martial artists of the Luo family, including Luotian, shouldn’t have the ability to kill Heng Chong in one move.

Ah! Ah! Ah...

At this moment, several screams echoed as several Wang family martial artists were violently spat out blood and thrown mid-air, landing harshly in the center of the square.

The crowd was instantly in an uproar.

"No need to ask; it was I who killed him."

Along with a clear, bright voice, a figure appeared before Wang Molin and Xuekui.

In his hands, he held two Wang family martial artists, both covered in blood.