C26 Trouble
Su Yun's eyes narrowed.
In Yunhe City, few Soul Cultivators had attained the Soul Controlling Stage. Only a handful of cultivating families could dispatch practitioners of such caliber. Was the man in black before him aligned with the Lin family or the Dong family?
These two families bore grudges against him, and they were the first to cross his mind. However, he quickly dismissed the thought. This was the inner sanctum of the Yun family estate; it was highly unlikely that the Lin and Dong families could infiltrate with so many people at once. The Yun family was not to be underestimated.
If not the Lin or Dong families, then only one possibility remained: Yun Linhuang!
The man in black wasted no time. A vast surge of black Soul Power erupted from his body, and a half-meter-sized black scorpion Soul Object materialized above his head. "Black Scorpion Claws!" he declared, with no room for idle chatter. His hands morphed into a pair of scorpion claws, pulsing with Soul Power, and he lunged at Su Yun.
"Hammer!" Su Yun's response was swift. His grip summoned a two-meter-long Divine Hammer, crackling with lightning, which he brought crashing down upon his adversary.
The black-clothed man's pupils constricted as he sensed the hammer's formidable might. He quickly withdrew his scorpion claws and sidestepped the thunderous blow. Seizing the moment while Su Yun was still recovering from the swing, the retracted claws struck out again, darting towards Su Yun's neck in a lightning-fast attempt to lock his throat.
"Thunder!" Su Yun uttered calmly.
Instantly, the Thunder God Holy Body activated, and brilliant yellow lightning erupted from his skin. The black-clothed man's scorpion claws had barely approached when they were met with a fierce electric shock, forcing him to retreat hastily.
"You possess a special constitution!?" he exclaimed, eyeing his smoking claws and then Su Yun, whose eyes and body were shrouded in a vast expanse of yellow lightning. Surely, mere cultivation of lightning attribute Soul Power could not account for such an overwhelming display of electricity!
"Thunder Hammer!"
Su Yun remained silent, the Divine Hammer in his grasp crackling with electricity as he relentlessly swept it toward the adversary in black.
The man's expression shifted, an attempt to sidestep the assault forming in his mind.
Swish!
But a bolt of yellow lightning struck the path he intended to take.
With his right hand wielding the hammer, Su Yun's left hand simultaneously unleashed a barrage of lightning and Soul Power.
"It's over!"
The Divine Hammer loomed, and despair washed over the black-clothed man's face, his eyes involuntarily shutting tight.
"Hmm?"
Yet, after a moment's pause, the anticipated crushing impact never arrived, prompting him to open his eyes, bewildered.
His eyes flew wide open, and he instinctively plastered himself against the wall in terror.
The wooden hammer, pulsing with yellow lightning, hovered a mere fingernail's distance from his head, the crippling current nearly grazing his cheek.
"Who sent you?"
Su Yun's voice was calm, detached.
The man in black, regaining his composure, responded with a defiant smirk, "Kill me, I won't speak!"
Bang!
"Ugh—"
His words barely escaped when his eyes bulged in shock.
"You..."
His mouth, now gushing with blood, gaped as he stared at Su Yun in astonishment.
Was this a direct assault?
This was not the usual protocol! Shouldn't there be further questioning?
"As you wish."
In the cold, indifferent tone of the reaper, the man in black's eyes flickered with resignation before his head drooped lifelessly.
Su Yun spared him no further glance, withdrawing the Divine Hammer that had caved in the man's chest, and turned his attention to the other black-clad figures struggling to rise.
"Run!"
The others, witnessing the scene, wasted no time in scrambling toward the exit.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
But their escape was cut short as streaks of lightning and Soul Power swiftly followed, striking them down at the threshold and by the window.
"Who sent you?"
Su Yun's question echoed once more, his tone just as impassive as before.
The men in black, paralyzed by the electric shocks, lay prostrate, silent.
Su Yun was taken aback.
But he quickly caught on to something and, with a swift stride, crouched down to inspect the scene.
The men in black sprawled on the ground were now lifeless, blood oozing from every orifice.
"Poisoned..."
Su Yun's brow furrowed slightly.
His intent in killing the leader among the Soul Controlling Stage assailants was to send a stark warning, to shatter their resolve and extract information about who was pulling their strings. Yet, he hadn't anticipated their unwavering resolve to the end.
Rising to his feet, he approached the slumped body of the black-clad leader against the wall. Removing the man's mask revealed an unfamiliar face. Su Yun examined the man's mouth and discovered a tiny black pill wedged between his teeth.
"A suicide capsule?"
The term surfaced in Su Yun's mind, his face etching with contemplation.
Such dedicated and resolute agents were a rare breed!
He thought back to the assailants he had encountered a few days prior, near the Cloud Vast Treasure Pavilion. The disparity between them was stark.
"Could it not be Yun Linguang?"
Su Yun's frown deepened.
Inside the Yun family estate, who else but Yun Linguang would dare such a direct assault?
"Young Master... Young Master..."
Amidst his confusion, a voice, urgent yet faltering with weakness, called out from beyond the room.
"Hmm?"
Startled, Su Yun bolted through the doorway.
Crash!
He emerged to find a bloodied figure collapsed at the threshold of the courtyard.
"Yun Lih?"
Despite the dimness of the night, Su Yun's keen eyes as a Soul Cultivator made out the identity of the fallen man with ease.
"What happened here?"
He hastened to the side of the wounded man, his frown deepening. Yun Lih was his father-in-law Yun Yan's personal bodyguard. Though not at the Soul Controlling Stage, he was at the pinnacle of the Soul Condensing Stage.
To be so grievously injured within the Yun family's grounds...
"Second... Second Elder, he... He's gravely wounded the Great Elder and the young miss... Young Master, you must... hurry and save them..."
Yun Lih's words were cut short as he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.
"What happened to Yilan!?"
Su Yun's face grew tense with concern.
Before Yun Lih could get the words out, he collapsed, unconscious after coughing up blood.
"Yun Linguang!"
Witnessing this, Su Yun's face turned grim, his eyes brimming with a chilling intent as he fixed his gaze on a particular area of the mansion.
Though Yun Lih hadn't managed to reveal everything, one thing was now clear.
Yun Linguang had conspired with outsiders to grievously injure his father-in-law!
Whoosh!
Without pausing to assess Yun Lih's condition, Su Yun bolted from the courtyard, sprinting furiously toward a specific location within the mansion.
He had been puzzled about the identity of the men in black, but now it all made sense.
Yun Linguang had colluded with outsiders, and those men in black were undoubtedly their accomplices!
Yet, this raised suspicions in Su Yun's mind.
Yun Linguang had brazenly collaborated with foreigners to strike within Yun Mansion—wasn't he concerned about the Old Family Head? Moreover, the courtyards flanking the Yun Mansion were eerily silent...
He didn't have time to ponder these questions, as the sounds of a nearby skirmish captured his attention. Without hesitation, he dashed toward the commotion.
