Catching Monsters

Chapter 618 Foolish Goods
Di Fei, who was sitting at the tea stall, had already sensed it. He slowly looked up and saw Xiang Hui wielding a long sword, attacking with great force.

In Di Fei's hand appeared a huge scroll, and in his hand he held a writing brush.

As Di Fei wielded his brush, birds instantly appeared on the pristine white scroll.

Immediately afterwards, the birds in the painting came to life, and then countless ink-colored birds flew out of the painting.

In an instant, he blocked Xiang Hui in mid-air. The cyan sword light kept waving, and soon, he killed all the birds that surrounded Xiang Hui.

Immediately afterwards, Xiang Hui looked solemnly at Di Fei below and said in a deep voice, "Confucianism? I didn't expect that a Confucian expert would come today."

"I was entrusted with this task." Di Fei nodded slightly to Xiang Hui above him and said slowly, "I have long heard of Patriarch Xiang's mastery of the Qingfeng Sword, and now I can finally experience a bit of it."

Xiang Hui ignored Di Fei and instead turned his gaze slowly to Jiang Yun: "Jiang Yun, I have no grudge against you or the Xiang family. What do you mean by suddenly leading a large number of Imperial Guards to attack the Xiang family?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun said, "Patriarch Xiang, my goal has always been very simple: the meteorite."

"This thing is very important to me."

"Furthermore, I was not originally planning to take action, but since you, the clan chief, directly threw out the heads of my two subordinates without any intention of negotiating with me, I had no choice but to take action."

Jiang Yun clearly remembered what Bai Wuchang had said: either become a Saint or collect seven meteorites.

Otherwise, they would only have two or three years to live.

"Hmph." Xiang Hui snorted coldly and said in a cold voice, "There's nothing to talk about. My Xiang family has been around for so many years, how dare you, a junior, provoke us?"

The Xiang family, based in Yanzhou Prefecture, has always been known for their absolute authority and domineering nature.

Then, his gaze fell on Di Fei: "I'd like to experience the methods of a Confucian master today."

Xiang Hui also knew that Di Fei was not an option if he wanted to kill Jiang Yun. He unleashed a powerful sword aura from his Qingfeng longsword.

Jiang Yun grabbed Linglong's wrist and quickly dodged away into the distance.

With a loud bang, the entire tea stall was overturned by this sword energy, leaving a very long crack on the ground.

"Let's go, let Senior Di hold this person off, we'll go in and rescue them." Jiang Yun took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the direction of the Xiang residence.

The two then quickly headed towards the Xiang residence. At this time, the residence was in complete chaos, with signs of fierce fighting between the Imperial Guards and the Xiang family's servants in every corner.

As soon as Jiang Yun and Linglong entered the Xiang residence, they saw several members of the Xiang family being bound by the Imperial Guards not far away.

Seeing this, Jiang Yun quickly walked over.

"Master Jiang."

Jiang Yun nodded slightly, then glanced at the five members of the Xiang family. They were all in their early twenties, and should be the younger generation of the Xiang family.

Jiang Yun squatted down beside them and asked in a deep voice, "Where is the dungeon?"

Upon seeing this, the five people turned their heads away, clearly not intending to cooperate.

"I don't have that much patience right now." Jiang Yun took a deep breath and looked at his subordinates beside him.

Seeing this, the subordinate nodded, quickly pulled out a silver needle from his body, then took off the shoe of one of the young disciples and inserted it into the Xuehai acupoint on his foot.

Instantly, excruciating pain struck.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard is quite experienced in interrogating people in such emergency situations.

The young disciple, sweat beading on his forehead, roared, "I'll talk, I'll talk!"

Only then did the Imperial Guard take out the silver needles.

"There is a secret passage beneath the thatched hut in the Seventh Courtyard that leads down."

"Xiang Dong, are you crazy? If the patriarch finds out you've spoken, he will definitely not let you off easily!" The other four people hurriedly scolded him upon seeing this.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Dong trembled slightly.

"Come on, take us to the Seventh Courtyard Wood Hut, or you'll lose your life right now," Jiang Yun said in a deep voice.

Inside the mansion, although there were many experts, most of them had gradually been brought under control by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

After all, the number of Imperial Guards dispatched by Jiang Yun would have wiped out countless times if they were from an ordinary wealthy family.

It is quite remarkable that the Xiang family was able to hold out for so long.

Led by the disciple named Xiang Dong, they soon arrived at a wood hut. Following the dark stairs, Jiang Yun, Linglong, and a large number of Imperial Guards entered the dungeon.

Sure enough, in the dark and damp dungeon, Jiang Yun immediately spotted Qi Da, who was imprisoned inside and seriously injured.

In addition to the prison, there were more than a dozen Xiang family experts guarding the place.

The leader among them was Xiang Yeyun.

Xiang Yeyun sat at a table and watched Jiang Yun lead a large number of Imperial Guards down. His face darkened, and he slowly said, "Commander Jiang, do you know what the consequences will be if you break into the Xiang family like this?"

After speaking, Xiang Yeyun bit his lip slightly and said in a deep voice, "Commander Jiang, do you dare to fight me?"

"If you want to save people, you have to step over my dead body."

Jiang Yun glanced at Ye Yun and said in a deep voice, "We outnumber you, why would I fight you one-on-one? Men, take him down."

In an instant, a large number of grappling hooks swept towards Xiang Yeyun.

Xiang Yeyun quickly brandished her longsword, slicing apart the incoming hooks and chains, but there were simply too many of them, and the dungeon's terrain was too cramped. Most importantly, her current strength was only at the fourth rank, how could she possibly withstand it?

Soon, the Xiang family members inside the dungeon were captured one by one.

Jiang Yun quickly entered the cell and helped Qi Da up: "Are you alright, Lao Qi?"

Zidane nodded heavily, spat out a mouthful of saliva, and said in a deep voice, "They are all superficial injuries, nothing serious. Also, Lord Jiang, I have some good news to tell you."

"We got our hands on the meteorite, but the situation was urgent, so I swallowed it. The Xiang family's torture and interrogation is all they want from me to reveal the meteorite's whereabouts."

“I’m not stupid. If I tell them, those bastards will definitely cut me open and dig out the meteorite.”

Hearing Qi Da's words, Jiang Yun was somewhat moved. He patted Qi Da's shoulder heavily and said, "Well done. When we get back to the capital, I will reward you handsomely."

Qi Da quickly shook his head: "Old Qi, with my abilities, being able to sit in the position of Garrison Commander is all thanks to your support, sir. It is only right that I work hard for you."

Jiang Yun looked around and said, "Rescue the people and prepare to retreat."

As she spoke, Jiang Yun's gaze fell on Xiang Yeyun: "Bring her along too."

"Yes."

Soon, a large number of Imperial Guards were driven out of the dungeon, and Hua Zhongqian arrived immediately: "Sir, all those who resisted in the entire Xiang residence have been captured, and many of the Xiang family's female relatives have also been imprisoned."

"What do you think we should do next? Confiscate their property, or..."

"What are you doing, just preparing to leave."

Jiang Yun rolled his eyes at Hua Zhongqian. It was understandable that he led his men to rush in and rescue the people after they had captured the Jinyiwei. It would be a different story if they really wanted to confiscate their property and exterminate their entire family.

Do they really think that ancestor of the Xiang family doesn't exist?

However, Jiang Yun was secretly relieved, as it seemed that his guess was correct.

Unless the Xiang family faces a life-or-death crisis, that ancestor probably won't easily show himself.

……

At the same time, sword light flashed on the eaves of houses along the street outside the mansion.

Xiang Hui and Di Fei are both experts at the first-grade level, although they are not as strong as the top experts like the Four Great Sword Gods.

But it's definitely not weak either.

Xiang Hui's swordsmanship and martial arts techniques were inherited from the Xiang family patriarch. His swordsmanship was domineering and his martial arts techniques were profound, but in Yanzhou City, they somewhat limited his ability to perform.

After all, this is the Xiang family's stronghold; if they were to let loose and start a full-scale fight...

Di Fei, on the other hand, had fewer concerns. His Confucian methods were quite unpredictable, and powerful, ferocious beasts formed from ink kept emerging from the paintings in his hands.

Although these ferocious beasts could not kill Xiang Hui, they were more than enough to entangle him.

Xiang Hui was also frustrated. Watching the many Imperial Guards withdraw from the Xiang residence, he guessed that Jiang Yun had probably already rescued Qi Da.

Upon seeing this, Xiang Hui's expression darkened, and he actually retreated. Then, he used his magic to transmit his voice.

"Xiang Huang, how long are you going to wait!"

"You still won't take action?"

"Do you really want our Xiang family to become a laughing stock?"

Xiang Huang, Xiang Hui's younger brother, is less talented than Xiang Hui, but he is still a top-tier second-grade cultivator.

However, the relationship between the two was irreconcilable, because Xiang Hui only had one daughter.

She had no son.

However, Xiang Huang had five sons, and in his view, the position of head of the family should have been his.

The eldest brother can't have a son, so why should he be the head of the family?

The Xiang family has no tradition of passing the position of family head to a daughter.

After Xiang Hui dies, the position of family head should still be given to me, but Xiang Hui has always refused to relinquish the position.

On the city wall, many city guards were already fully equipped and ready to go, while a middle-aged man in his forties stood on the city wall.

Seeing a large number of Imperial Guards rushing over, preparing to storm the gate.

Xiang Huang said calmly, "Men, open the city gates and let these Imperial Guards out."

A younger member of the Xiang family hurriedly said, "Uncle Xiang, the patriarch said that these Imperial Guards cannot be allowed to leave, and..."

The younger man glanced at the large number of Imperial Guards and whispered, "The young lady is still in their hands, she's being held hostage. If we let them take her away..."

"Can't you understand what I'm saying?" Xiang Huang glared at the other party and said in a deep voice, "These Imperial Guards are extremely elite. If we really fight them head-on, our Xiang family will suffer many casualties. It's not worth it."

"If you ask me, my older brother is the one who's senile. He's going against the Embroidered Uniform Guard for the sake of a worthless stone."

"Are the Embroidered Uniform Guards really that easy to mess with? They're fine when they rely on the prestige of their ancestor, but now that they've encountered a fool who doesn't give face to their ancestor, he's done for."

Xiang Huang's eyes gleamed; he could use this opportunity to force his elder brother to relinquish the position of clan leader.

(End of this chapter)