I Can Merge Techniques-Chapter 123 - 103: This Night, Cyan Yang City is Destined to be Sleepless
The spring night wind was sharp, carrying a biting chill. It swept over the uneven rooftops of Cyan Yang Ancient City, sending a few withered leaves fluttering through the air.
Deep within the County Magistrate’s Office of Cyan Yang Ancient City, a study still glowed with a faint light.
But this was no ordinary candlelight. It was enveloped by a mass of black fog that seemed to have substance.
The light struggled within the fog, dim and wavering. It cast slanted, distorted shadows, stretching the room’s furnishings into grotesque shapes. The dreamlike scene seemed to muffle all sound from both inside and out.
There were two people in the room.
One man wore a Celestial Cyan Robe made of luxurious fabric. It was subtly embroidered with a water pattern that seemed to shimmer and flow in the dim light.
He sat behind the desk, his features barely discernible. He possessed the natural authority of a man in power, but his brow was tightly furrowed.
The other man stood across the desk, cloaked in a wide black robe. His hood was pulled so low that his face was completely hidden, leaving only a deep shadow.
It was as if he were a part of the black fog itself.
"Why did you act on your own? Why strike such a vicious blow against the Blood Saber Sect?"
The middle-aged man in the Celestial Cyan Robe spoke in a low voice, filled with displeasure and reproach. "How many times must I tell you? Our top priority is finding the ’key’! Now you’ve caused an uproar throughout the city. How does this benefit the great mission of our sect?"
"My lord, please calm yourself..." The man in black let out a few hoarse, low laughs, like the hoot of a night owl. "You said last time that there was no need to deal with the Blood Saber Sect, to avoid unforeseen complications—that annihilating a major sect would easily attract the attention of the Demon Suppression Bureau."
"So, I devised a plan: to kill with a borrowed knife!"
The middle-aged man in the Celestial Cyan Robe sighed softly.
’Having to work with such a fool...’ he thought, feeling utterly exasperated.
’If it weren’t for this man’s brother-in-law holding such a respected position in the sect, I’d kill him with a single palm strike!’
"You needn’t worry, my lord. Our sect wasn’t directly involved," the man in black said, his voice laced with the smugness of someone who believed he had everything under control. "I captured a Snake Demon of some power from the Mist Marsh, used a little Mind Enchantment Skill on it, and threw it into the Blood Saber Sect’s Main Altar."
"I remotely controlled the beast, inciting its ferocity to make it slaughter everyone in the Blood Saber Sect."
"Now, no matter how stupid the Blood Saber Sect is, they ought to realize the Moon Worship Sect is not to be trifled with."
"This, in its own way, is a form of deterrence."
"The balance in Cyan Yang City has been broken. I won’t need to make a move for what comes next."
"Every faction in the city is now eyeing the Blood Saber Sect like a choice cut of meat, ready to carve it up completely!"
"The Demon Suppression Bureau won’t intervene in this sort of gang warfare."
"And a single Snake Demon is hardly enough to attract their attention."
The man in the Celestial Cyan Robe’s voice grew colder. "Finding the ’key’ requires secrecy and patience! If your self-righteous, reckless blundering ruins our sect’s important work, which one of us can afford to take responsibility?"
"You are overthinking it, my lord," the man in black said, unconcerned. "There may be small ripples now, but the situation remains under control."
"The Snake Demon did prove to be quite capable, however. After taking a Nine Nether Yellow Springs Finger from Huayang of the Blood Saber Sect, it finally regained its senses and broke free of my Mind Enchantment Skill..."
"But I’ve already placed secret wards at several of the city gates. It cannot escape, even if it had wings."
As he said this, his voice took on an obsequious tone. "When the time comes, my lord need only show himself and, in the name of protecting the peace of Cyan Yang City, personally slay the rampaging Snake Demon. Would that not be another great accomplishment for you?"
’This fool...’ The man in the Celestial Cyan Robe was silent for a moment, as if he couldn’t be bothered to argue anymore.
Finally, he just gave a weary wave of his hand, his sleeve stirring a faint breeze in the dim light.
The man in black bowed, his figure seeming to melt into the shadows as he silently retreated.
He soon vanished completely into the dense black fog.
With his departure, the black fog that had filled the room also dissipated completely.
After a long moment, the man inside raised his head and looked out the window at the night sky.
Beneath his calm facade hid a nearly boiling rage.
"Fool! A complete and utter fool!"
"He only knows how to show off his little schemes and resort to brutal violence," he muttered, "with no regard for the bigger picture at all!"
"A man this short-sighted will be the ruin of our sect’s grand plans!"
Intense anger and deep worry intertwined, nearly shattering his usual composure.
His hand rested on the ebony paperweight on the desk. He gave it a light squeeze.
In his palm, the ebony paperweight, as if weathered over a thousand years, silently disintegrated into fine powder. It streamed through the gaps between his fingers like sand and slipped away.
He opened his hand. His palm was utterly spotless.
Only the depths of his eyes betrayed a deep and heavy gloom.
...
「At almost the same time.」
Dressed in Night Traveler’s Clothes, Chu Fan moved swiftly along the base of a wall, staying close to the shadows. He seemed to melt into the impenetrable, inky blackness.
Nine days ago, in a mountain valley, he had helped Fang Qingqing kill Huayang, a Hall Master of the Blood Saber Sect.
Three days ago, the last remaining Hall Master and a Guardian from the Blood Saber Sect had been cornered and killed by the Iron Armor Sect, who had joined forces with the Duan Family, one of the Four Great Clans.
Now, the only competent fighters left in the Blood Saber Sect were its Sect Leader, Vice Sect Leader, and one Guardian.
The three of them were holed up in the Inner City, not daring to show their faces. They were no longer a threat.
Chu Fan had been counting on the Blood Saber Sect to keep the Moon Worship Sect busy, but he never expected them to be so utterly useless.
Left with no other choice, he had to take action once more.
Shrouded in darkness, he moved like a cat, silently scaling a tall bell tower.
In the distance, the lights of the Iron Armor Sect’s Sub-Branch glowed like the eye of a giant beast.
Chu Fan took an unremarkable hardwood shortbow from his back and nocked an ordinary Feathered Arrow. A prepared scroll was wrapped around its shaft.
With a faint hum of the bowstring, the arrow tore through the night sky with a soft whistle, precisely striking the flagpole outside the main gate of the Iron Armor Sect’s Sub-Branch.
Without a second glance, Chu Fan turned and leaped. He spread his arms like a great bird, drifting lightly downward.
After a few bounds, he vanished into the depths of the crisscrossing alleyways.
That night, he paid a visit to the Four Great Clans and the other larger gangs in Cyan Yang City, keeping himself busy for some time.
The arrow he had just fired at the Iron Armor Sect was his last.
A short while later, he slipped into an abandoned earthen house.
More than half of the house’s roof had collapsed, and it had clearly been uninhabited for a long time.
