Catching Monsters

Chapter 498 They Can't Let Them Go

The next morning, as soon as Jiang Yun woke up, he went straight to Qu Wushang's residence.

There was no other way; time was tight, and according to custom, he had to go back to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion with Xu Suwen for the traditional bride return visit early this morning.

Upon arriving at Qu Wushang's door, a servant was standing outside. Seeing Jiang Yun arrive, the servant quickly smiled, bowed, and greeted, "Lord Marquis."

"Has Senior Qu woken up?" Jiang Yun asked.

The servant shook his head. Jiang Yun pushed open the door and went inside. Inside, Qu Wushang was lying on the bed, already unconscious, while Xiao Hei was sleeping on the floor below the bed.

After bringing Qu Wushang back yesterday, Jiang Yun had Xiao Hei treat Qu Wushang's injuries in this room, and he went forward to examine him carefully.

Although Qu Wushang was not in mortal danger, the forceful use of his magic power, given the severe damage to his meridians, still caused him considerable internal injuries.

The only way to fully recover is through rest.

Jiang Yun picked up Xiao Hei, who had been working hard all night, and patted its head: "You've worked hard. Come on, let's have breakfast."

The Duke's mansion's living room was used for breakfast, and Xu Suwen was already dressed and chatting with Jiang Qiaoqiao.

Jiang Qiaoqiao also helped greet the guests yesterday, but she was exhausted.

At this moment, Jiang Qiaoqiao also had a happy smile on her face, and kept giggling.

"What's wrong with this girl?" Jiang Yun walked in from outside carrying Xiao Hei, and looked at Jiang Qiaoqiao's appearance with some confusion.

Jiang Qiaoqiao said with a smile, "From today onwards, there will be three people in our family."

"Hurry up and eat breakfast. After breakfast, we have to go back to our parents' home." Jiang Yun sat down at the table, while Yun Pingchuan stood beside her, serving them dishes.

Jiang Yun turned his head and said, "Uncle Yun, let's sit down and eat together."

“I’ve already eaten this morning, no need for you to trouble yourself, Lord Marquis.” Yun Pingchuan was very professional and changed the subject, saying, “A lot of things in the backyard were damaged yesterday. I had someone come to repair them this morning, and they should be fixed in a day or two.”

"In addition, I counted the gifts that the guests brought yesterday overnight. There were many valuable paintings and calligraphy and antique treasures. There was also 70,000 taels of silver."

"This is yesterday's gift list."

As Yun Pingchuan spoke, he handed the list to Jiang Yun: "Look at this money..."

"Leave it to Suwen, let Suwen manage it." Jiang Yun had no interest in managing money.

Soon after a quick breakfast, Xu Suwen instructed her servants to purchase some more gifts for her return visit to her parents' home.

Before she was married, there was no need to be so polite, but Xu Suwen knew very well that she was now a member of Jiang Yun's family, and that she was a guest at her parents' home.

Gifts are essential.

When they returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, it was already past 9 AM. Xu Xiaogang and Tao Yuelan were quietly waiting in the main hall.

When Wu Chi announced that Jiang Yun and Xu Suwen had returned, the two of them got up to greet them.

"Brother-in-law." Xu Xiaogang walked up to Jiang Yun with a big smile, hugged her, and asked, "Were you alright last night?"

“After Mother came back, she was worried all night, fearing that something had happened to the two of you.”

Tao Yuelan also sighed slightly and said, "I never expected that such a mishap would happen at the wedding."

"It's good that no one is hurt."

As she spoke, Tao Yuelan took Xu Suwen and Jiang Qiaoqiao's hands and sat down, chatting about many everyday matters.

Xu Xiaogang and Jiang Yun were naturally not interested in this either, so Xu Xiaogang suggested, "Come on, brother-in-law, let's take a walk in the yard."

Jiang Yun could tell that Xu Xiaogang seemed to have something he wanted to say to her, so she nodded and followed him out.

The two arrived in the courtyard and strolled along the bluestone path in the garden of the Duke's mansion. Xu Xiaogang, walking in front, couldn't help but ask curiously, "Brother-in-law, you're something else! When I left yesterday, I heard many people say that the person who drew his sword yesterday was Qu Wushang. When did you meet Qu Wushang?"

"Oh my God."

Jiang Yun shook his head and said, "You should have seen him before. You've been to the archives of our Eastern Garrison Command, right? That old man at the door is him."

"What? That old man who likes to drink and is always drunk is Qu Wushang?" Xu Xiaogang's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.

"How can this be……"

Jiang Yun recalled Chang Wuming's words about being the number one swordsman in the world yesterday, and asked Xu Xiaogang curiously, "I heard that he was once the number one swordsman in the world?"

"Well, I don't know much about him in detail. A lot of things are just hearsay." Xu Xiaogang nodded and continued, "He became famous very early, at least thirty or forty years ago."

"It is said that Qu Wushang is a genius. When he was alive, there was no such thing as the Four Great Sword Gods. The Four Great Sword Gods were just his juniors."

"According to what I've heard, Qu Wushang has no interest in power or money, but is obsessed with swordsmanship and likes to challenge masters to duels to improve his swordsmanship."

"Any expert he targets will be forced to fight to the death with his sword."

"In the end, he slaughtered everyone, whether they were righteous, demonic, or monsters. Many people, especially experts of his time, were terrified just by hearing his name."

"Some say that he was the number one person below the Saint Realm in the world at that time, and no one below the Saint Realm could withstand a single sword strike from him."

Jiang Yun's eyes gleamed slightly as he asked, "If that's the case, why do people all say he's dead?"

Xu Xiaogang thought for a moment and said, "I heard that twenty years ago, Qu Wushang was arrogant and boasted that he would go into seclusion to break through to the Saint Realm."

"But after making the announcement, he completely disappeared, and no one has seen him since."

"For a full twenty years, everyone believed that he must have failed to break through to the Saint Realm and died." Jiang Yun looked Xu Xiaogang up and down and couldn't help but praise, "You kid, you know quite a lot about Qu Wushang."

Xu Xiaogang raised his head slightly and said, "Before I succeeded my father as a duke, I wanted to be a carefree wanderer in the martial arts world. Qu Wushang is a renowned figure among the older generation of martial arts practitioners, so I have naturally heard of him."

At this point, Xu Xiaogang couldn't help but rub his hands together and asked in a low voice, "Brother-in-law, we're all family here. The war in the south is getting serious..."

"He was willing to help out at your wedding yesterday, which means you two have a good relationship, right?"

"Why don't you go and ask him to personally kill the Demon Spirit Sect and Wang Longzhi?"

"In this way, the situation on the southern battlefield can be easily changed."

Jiang Yun shook his head and said helplessly, "You'll probably have to find someone else. Senior Qu Wushang probably can't help you."

Jiang Yun then told Xu Xiaogang about Qu Wushang's situation.

After hearing this, Xu Xiaogang's expression immediately became serious, and he said with some surprise, "All the meridians in your body have been destroyed?"

"How could that be? Back then, he was already the number one person below the Saint Realm. If we really have to talk about someone who could destroy his meridians, could it be someone at the Saint Realm?"

Jiang Yun's expression also darkened slightly, and he nodded and said, "I have the same doubts. To be honest, in the world today, the only Saint Realm I know of that is still alive is probably the Dragon Saint of the Dragon Clan."

"Could it be that the Dragon Saint intervened, unwilling to see a Saint Realm expert emerge from the human race, and thus destroyed Qu Wushang?"

After thinking for a long time, Jiang Yun still couldn't come up with any ideas.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from the eaves of the nearby house.

"It wasn't my grandfather, Dragon Saint, who did it."

Jiang Yun and Xu Xiaogang immediately looked up at the rooftop next to them. They were surprised to find Ao Yu sitting on the roof, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Miss Ao, what brings you here?" Jiang Yun looked up at Ao Yu, her expression somewhat surprised.

Ao Yu smiled and then leaped down into the courtyard: "I've been in the capital for a while now, originally for matters concerning the three clans. But when I heard you were getting married soon, I thought I'd stay and join in the fun."

"I just didn't expect Chief Chang to come, and since so many people in the Snake Clan have died because of you, I shouldn't show up at the wedding to congratulate you."

"Elder Chang is inherently suspicious. If I were to appear at your wedding, he would probably think that the heavy casualties of the snake clan were secretly arranged by our dragon clan."

"What surprised me was that he was actually killed by Qu Wushang with a single sword strike yesterday."

Ao Yu's pupils flickered slightly as he thought about what happened last night with lingering fear.

That's a super strong expert at the first-grade Heavenly Demon Realm; he's not so easy to kill.

Indeed, a person's name is like a tree's shadow; it was no joke that Qu Wushang had such a great reputation twenty years ago.

“Miss Ao, you have to explain this to the Demon Kingdom. I acted in self-defense. Chang Wuming wanted to kill me…” Jiang Yun said somewhat resentfully.

There was no other way; Jiang Yun didn't want to continue to be hated by the demon race and suffer endless pursuit.

This time we were lucky to have Qu Wushang there, but there will always be times when he's not around.

What if they were to attack Xu Suwen and the people around her?

Ao Yu said calmly, "Don't worry, it was the snake clan chief who died. The other demon clans are too busy devouring the snake clan's territory in the demon kingdom to have any intention of avenging the snake clan."

"The other experts of the snake clan have also suffered so many deaths and injuries because of you, and they are struggling to recover their strength."

"However, if the Serpent Saint wakes up and finds out about these things, it won't be good for you."

Upon hearing Ao Yu's words, Jiang Yun's heart trembled slightly, and he could only force a bitter smile and say, "The Serpent Saint has been sealed for so long, it shouldn't be that he could break the seal and escape so easily."

"That's impossible to say."

In an instant, Jiang Yun's heart sank a little.

Seeing Jiang Yun's dark expression, Ao Yu stopped teasing him and said with a smile, "Don't worry, you don't need to worry about it. Do you think our Dragon Clan wants to see the other three Saints awaken?"

"However, you must tell me Yan Jiu's whereabouts."

Jiang Yun smiled and said, "Miss Ao, it seems that your purpose in coming to congratulate me on my wedding is not real; you really want to find Yan Jiu."

“It’s all for a purpose,” Ao Yu said. “Of course, don’t worry, I’m just bringing Yan Jiu back to Dragon Crystal City. I won’t harm his life. I can guarantee that.”

Jiang Yun fell silent. Yan Jiu had gone south, but even he didn't know his exact location. He could only say, "I can only tell you that he went south. I don't know anything else."

Ao Yu stared into Jiang Yun's eyes, as if trying to discern whether Jiang Yun's words were true or false.

After a long silence, a smile finally appeared on her face: "I understand, goodbye."

Seeing that she was about to leave, Jiang Yun quickly reached out and grabbed her: "By the way, I have another favor to ask Miss Ao if she can help me."

Upon hearing this, Ao Yu quickly retorted, "I have no ability to persuade the snake clan to give up seeking revenge against you..."

"That's not it." Jiang Yun shook his head, then asked, "The man and woman who were imprisoned by the Demon Emperor back then, shouldn't they still be in your prison?"

"Miss Ao, could you please persuade the Demon Emperor to release them?"

"They only wanted to steal the meteorite, but they failed. Keeping them locked up under Dragon Crystal City is just a waste of food."

Hearing what Jiang Yun said, Ao Yu shook his head: "They can't be let go."

(End of this chapter)