Dual Cultivation God Returns-Chapter 966: There are rules...

"What? You didn’t expect to see us?", the man who spoke earlier, and was now among those who surrounded the one called Changsun Yong could see the obvious shock in the eyes of the latter, "Well, I don’t blame you. You managed to escape us extremely well this far. It’s honestly impressive, to keep at it for months without any rest at all. At one point, it really seemed like we lost you"

"H-how...?", a weak, raspy voice, still in a daze after being caught so off-guard, came out of Changsun Yong.

"How did we find you? Hahaha, wouldn’t you like to know...", the man didn’t let him finish, having anticipated his question. He clearly enjoyed this moment. None of his comrades were in a hurry to make any moves either.

But gaining these crucial seconds to sober up from the initial shock, Changsun Yong’s eyes showed that his mind started racing with thoughts, and the next moment even showed a trace of some kind of confidence, "Y-You can’t do anything to me here! This is the Crow Ki-..."

"Ha! That’s adorable!", however, the statement that should’ve turned the scales somehow didn’t have any effect at all, it wasn’t even allowed to be spoken out until the end. Rather it made all ten people surrounding the young man giddy, as if hearing a hilarious joke, "You really think we don’t know something that ’you’ do about how this place works?"

"There are rules here-..."

"Kehehe, rules... this is the problem with your kind - sheltered Prime Disciple, cuddled, protected and carefully nurtured in the safety of the Sect...", the man shook his head to the tune of the laughter of the others, and even some of the spectators around, although there was some bitterness in his words which felt more personal, the encircled young man seemingly merely becoming a sort of outlet for something he held in, "Heavens forbid something happens to the oh-so-precious main candidate to become the next Sect Master! Of course, we cannot have them sully their hands with real-world work! That’s why you don’t know how the world outside the Sect works and spout such naive nonsense! Heh, rules..."

Having gotten that off his chest, the man’s mood seemed to improve even more, as he continued in a more subdued and controlled, yet more mocking at the same time tone, "It’s true there are rules... but those rules exist so that the place won’t devolve into total chaos that the owners can’t control, it doesn’t mean the place is unconditionally a safe haven for just anybody who walks in, and that there are no ways to bend those rules if you know the right people and how to play the game. It’s a black market"

As he spoke, the encircled young man’s eyes seemingly finally opened to the nature of the place he walked into, as he finally felt the veiled, dormant hostility floating in the atmosphere around him, like the gaze of a hungry beast ready to swallow him whole.

The pursuers enjoyed that look of sudden realization, when the illusion of safety was shattered, especially the one speaking who seemed to lead them, "Heh, you know I realised... this is actually quite funny... you, an elite and important Prime Disciple of the paragon of righteousness itself, ’the’ Drifting Reeds Sect, with its impeccable reputation and its stuck-up and self-important Sect Master who always preached and pontificated on justice and righteousness, you, who lectured us Disciples of other Sects all the time about virtues, are relying on the rules of the black market and hiding in the shadows of the underworld society... hahaha, isn’t it ironic?"

The moment his Sect and Sect Master were mocked a fire lit in Changsun Yong’s eyes, but the pursuers seemingly found this line of thought to be entertaining, as they chimed in one by one before he could respond.

"Heh! Perhaps that’s why he thought the rules here would protect him?"

"Haha! Right! So used to rules serving him he never considered the rules here are different than in his Sect"

"Oh how the just and virtuous rulebook warrior has fallen..."

But despite all those ridiculing voices, the young man’s fiery gaze was focused solely on the one leading the pursuers, which irked the latter, "What?! What’s that look for?"

"Yes, I am forced to run and hide using any means. Even rely on the wretched places like these. But why is that? Who am I running from?", Changsun Yong retorted.

"You have only yourselves to blame", the leader of the pursuers shrugged his shoulders with a smirk appearing in the corner of his mouth, "It’s just that your mask has finally come off. You two-faced scum were always acting like you were more just and righteous than everyone, looking down on us with your saintly, holier-than-thou attitude, while in truth, you were putting your hands on the techniques of the wretched Corrupt Path!"

"Lies!", intense but stifled anger appeared in Changsun Yong’s eyes, "Malicious lies your Sects made up and you know it!"

"Heh, whatever you say~"

Changsun Yong narrowed his eyes, "See? You can’t even defend your lies! Because even you know it’s not true! And on top of that, you speak accusations, yet how did you find me here? Speaking so smugly about ’knowing how to bend the rules here’... Do you think I don’t know that’s not something you can do without a shady deal? Do you think I didn’t notice there’s Disciples from the Blood Skull Sect hidden among the crowd? Colluding with the Evil Path Sect... how despicable. And to think you accused my Sect of a ridiculous lie while actually doing something like this! Wretched hypocrites! My Master and my Sect are innocent, everyone knows it!"

This tirade seemed to have struck a nerve, as the man leading the pursuers snapped back in a lower voice, but more intense, "Still playing the righteous hero? Coming this far? Your Sect has been accused of a heinous crime, and instead of choosing to defend its innocence in an investigation, chose to raise its defenses instead! Isn’t that proof enough?"

And yet, there was not much conviction behind his words despite the intensity of tone and attitude. It felt more like lashing out after being called out.

"Hah! After months of provocations and covert attacks on us, after your three Sects hauled their entire armies to our Sect’s doorstep, surrounding us, was that all to conduct an investigation? Bullshit! You know you were there to fight us, and the only reason you were given was that those were your orders! No one bothered to justify it to you! Everyone knew it! The demand for an investigation was just a pretense. And it’s not only us who were attacked, weren’t we? The alliance struck three Righteous Path Sects at the same time, three! Are you saying they all were secretly involved in Corrupt Path and no one knew? No one believes this bullshit! Not even you! Be honest! It’s so ridiculous that none of you here do!", Changsun Yong quipped back, his words filled with force only someone believing what they are saying can pour into their speech, glancing around him which made the group encircling him avoid looking straight into his eyes, "Seriously, try looking me straight in the face and tell me you believe this bullshit!"

But at the moment when the young man seemed to have made his opponents admit they weren’t here for some just reason, another, older and more powerful voice rang out, "Enough!"