The Marketplace was not just about surface-level pleasantries.
It was also home to all walks of life, including gambling houses, brothels, and black markets, most of which were gathered on the east side.
The area was a melting pot of different characters where vendettas and brawls broke out frequently.
With no one to manage the chaos, it was a recognized gray zone.
As the sun began to rise, the various dark alleys on the east side exuded a cold and oppressive atmosphere, as if the sunlight could not penetrate them.
Su Xuan had not paid attention to his younger disciple’s state when he left.
He panted all the way, arriving at the location prompted by the system as quickly as possible.
Looking at the small courtyard with its doors tightly shut and not a sound coming from within, he felt uncertain.
Although the system said there were only two Level 1 Qi Refinement Rogue Cultivators, he did not know if Lin Zhiwei had already been delivered inside.
If he burst in recklessly and she had not arrived yet, what if he alerted the enemy?
The cultivation world was vast.
If they fled, where would he find them then?
But if he did nothing and she was taken out of the Marketplace and killed, wouldn’t that result in the same dead end?
For a moment, he could not make up his mind, feeling caught in a dilemma.
Creak…
Just as he was hesitating, the door to the small courtyard opened a crack.
A wretched-looking middle-aged male cultivator squeezed out sideways.
He tugged at his belt, a satisfied, lewd smile on his face.
‘Could it be…?’
Su Xuan’s eyes widened as he took in the middle-aged man’s appearance.
‘Did I arrive too late?’
For some reason, an indescribable rage rose from the bottom of his heart.
The middle-aged male cultivator turned around and was startled to see the panting Su Xuan.
Soon, he seemed to realize something, and a strange expression crossed his face.
“Is my fellow Daoist also a man of culture? Are you here for Sister Li?” he asked in a low voice, chuckling.
‘Sister Li?’
‘It’s not Lin Zhiwei!’
Su Xuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
“Fellow Daoist, is there anyone else inside besides Sister Li?” he pulled the middle-aged man over and whispered.
“You want to do that kind of thing together? Aren’t you ashamed, fellow Daoist? Farewell, farewell.”
The middle-aged man’s body shuddered, and he quickly ran off as if he had encountered a pervert.
‘Was I just looked down upon by a john?’
Su Xuan was also somewhat dazed.
However, based on what the middle-aged man said, there should be no one else inside besides that “Sister Li” right now.
This meant he had arrived here before the kidnappers.
‘There’s still time!’
He breathed a sigh of relief, looked around, jumped onto a neighbor’s roof beam, took out a Breath-concealing Talisman, and went into ambush.
A moment later, the sound of footsteps gradually approached from a distance.
“B-Brother, we kidnapped her. What if her master comes looking for her?” a tall cultivator asked in a thick voice, carrying a sack on his shoulder.
“What are you afraid of? Her master dumped her at the Medical Clinic and abandoned her.”
The short man walking in front spoke with an air of indifference.
He then added, “Besides, he’s just a loose cultivator. Can he really outplay us?”
“That’s true, heh heh.”
The tall man shrugged his shoulders, shifting the sack higher and chuckling.
Inside the sack, Lin Zhiwei’s hands and feet were tied, her eyes were covered with a black cloth, and her mouth was gagged, preventing her from making a sound.
Perhaps due to her special constitution, she had actually woken up quite early.
Along the way, from the intermittent conversation between the two men, she had gradually come to understand many things.
A big shot was coming to the Marketplace soon, and word was that he liked pretty young girls.
She had been targeted because of this.
Now, they were planning to take her somewhere to be properly trained before being sent to serve that mysterious person.
When she heard them say her master didn’t want her anymore, there was no panic on Lin Zhiwei’s face.
Instead, a look of ferocity emerged.
She had never expected that beastly master of hers to come and save her.
She only regretted that she hadn’t moved earlier to stab him to death.
As she was jolted along, her hands moved constantly, allowing the rough rope to rub her wrists until they were bloody and mangled.
Finally, the rope loosened.
She quietly withdrew her hand and reached into her robe.
The only thing she could rely on now was the dagger in her bosom!
Pulling out the dagger, Lin Zhiwei was just about to draw it and fight for her life.
Suddenly, the tall man’s body jerked, causing her to stumble inside the sack.
“Argh!”
The tall man let out a sharp cry of pain and fell to the ground.
An icy blue spike was embedded in his arm.
Su Xuan shook his head, feeling a bit of regret.
He had been observing the two men.
Once he confirmed they were the kidnappers mentioned by the system, he had aimed for the head.
Unfortunately, his aim was truly lacking.
“Who’s there?!”
Seeing his brother fall to the ground, the short man immediately became alert and shouted shrilly.
Su Xuan did not reply.
He simply kept pulling out talismans one after another, firing off various ice spikes and fireballs at them.
‘If I strike, I must be thorough.’
“Does my fellow Daoist want to rob a robber? I am one of Lord Liu’s men! Aren’t you afraid of — “
The short man was also left in a wretched state by the overwhelming attack.
After rolling around to dodge for a long time, he finally reacted and shouted out his backing.
Su Xuan kept changing his position.
He didn’t have many talismans to begin with, and the Spiritual Power in his body was almost exhausted, but he gritted his teeth and continued to activate them.
He was already riding a tiger and couldn’t get off.
If he didn’t completely terrify these two, all his efforts would be in vain.
Sure enough, the short man failed to dodge in time and was scorched all over by several Fireball Techniques, leaving him in a pathetic state.
“Damn it! Don’t let me find out who you are!”
He threw out a harsh threat, then grabbed his wailing brother and ran into the distance, leaving Lin Zhiwei on the ground.
Su Xuan stared at them, chasing them for a few steps as a symbolic gesture until they were completely out of sight.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling weak as if his body had been hollowed out.
This place was not somewhere to linger.
He had to hurry back.
‘Was she knocked unconscious?’
Seeing that such a big commotion had occurred and there was no movement inside the sack, he approached with curiosity to see what was going on.
Squatting down, he searched for a place to untie the bag.
Shing!
Suddenly, the sack was sliced open by a sharp blade!
A dagger thrust toward him!
He quickly twisted his body, avoiding it by a hair’s breadth.
The blade sliced through the clothes on his chest, giving him a chilly sensation both physically and mentally.
“Zhiwei, it’s me!” Su Xuan shouted hurriedly.
He knew from the original owner’s memories that his eldest disciple was cold and taciturn, but he hadn’t expected her to be this ruthless, going straight for the kill.
‘The original owner managed not to get killed for three years… I guess he really knew how to teach his disciples.’
He suddenly felt a slight bit of admiration for the original owner.
“Hmm?”
Lin Zhiwei seemed to have heard something unbelievable and froze for a moment.
A moment later, the dagger slashed a few more times, and a large hole was torn in the sack.
She slowly crawled out.
Untying the black cloth over her eyes and confirming it was truly Su Xuan, she relaxed her guard slightly.
“Master? Why are you here?”
“I… I came to take you home.”
Su Xuan looked at his eldest disciple, who held a dagger while dressed in white, looking quite heroic and formidable.
He found the situation quite troublesome.
Unlike Lu Zhiyi, this one seemed to be covered in thorns and looked very difficult to handle.
Lin Zhiwei looked at him, frowning slightly.
She had been prepared to fight for her life just now, but she hadn’t expected Su Xuan to come and save her.
In her impression, her master had never shown a kind face to her and her junior sister.
Every day, he complained that the two of them were dead weight.
But seeing his current weakened state, it was clear he had exhausted a lot of energy.
‘Does Master actually care about my safety?’
‘Did he even disregard the danger just to save me?’
There was no expression on Lin Zhiwei’s face, but her heart was filled with an indescribable complexity.
“Master, where is Zhiyi? How is she?”
Looking at the clothes on Su Xuan that she had slashed, she felt a strange sense of guilt and changed the subject.
“She’s fine. She’s waiting for us at home,” Su Xuan replied instinctively before quickly adding, “We should leave. It’s not safe here.”
Looking at the oppressive environment around them, he didn’t dare to chat further.
He stood up and signaled for her to follow him back.
“Okay,” Lin Zhiwei answered softly, following behind Su Xuan.
She didn’t know what her master’s purpose was; she only cared about what her junior sister had gone through these past few days.
If Zhiyi was fine, it meant her master had suddenly changed.
But if Zhiyi had been bullied…
She stared at Su Xuan’s back, clutching her dagger tightly as she secretly made a decision.