Chapter 1835 — Stalling for Time: "Who Is Wei Zhao?" the Newcomer Asked Point-Blank. "Tell Him to Come Out and See Me!"

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Chen Yutian demanded, a faint shock stirring in his heart. This man gave him a sensation of danger that made his hair stand on end; instinct told him the fellow was formidable.

Qiu Lingshan was startled as well. She and Chen Yutian had supposed that once word of Wei Zhao's qi deviation got out, someone might come looking for trouble — but she had never imagined anyone would arrive so soon.

They could not yet be certain who the newcomer was, but it was plain enough that he had come spoiling for a fight; otherwise he would never have opened by asking where Wei Zhao was.

"I am Yu Liu. I come at the command of the patriarch of the hidden Yu family, to settle accounts with Wei Zhao on behalf of the Yu family of the mundane world. I have no wish to slaughter the innocent. Tell Wei Zhao to come out and face me!" Given Yu Liu's standing and strength, he naturally felt no need to hide his origins; nor did he fear that anyone around Wei Zhao might later go seeking revenge on the hidden Yu family.

After all, the hidden Yu family had two Heaven-rank experts holding it down. To dare go there for revenge would be to walk open-eyed into one's own grave.

Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian exchanged a glance, and each saw the same understanding in the other's eyes: so they really were from the hidden Yu family. They had not expected them to come so quickly.

"Wei Zhao suffered a qi deviation and never came back. Didn't you know?" Qiu Lingshan said.

"A qi deviation?" Yu Liu said coldly. "A qi deviation may well be true, but that he never came back — that I do not believe. Who is in that car?"

Yu Liu was a man trained by the Yu family to utter loyalty, but that did not make him a mindless fool. On the contrary, his training had honed a meticulous mind as well. The moment he arrived, he had seen at a glance that these people were moving house.

As for why they were moving, the reason spoke for itself: they had likely foreseen that enemies would come calling and meant to slip away beforehand. So Yu Liu fixed his gaze straight upon the car in the courtyard.

Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian exchanged another glance, in perfect accord, and shouted together, "Yaoyao, Xiaoshu, run! We'll hold them here!"

With that, Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian charged at Yu Liu, one from the left and one from the right.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had been sick with tension inside the car. Never had they imagined that such a turn would come just as they were about to leave — that someone would come knocking with trouble. They were at a loss, terrified the man meant Wei Zhao harm, when they heard Chen Yutian and Qiu Lingshan shout. Gu Mengyao instinctively started the car and stamped down on the accelerator; like an arrow loosed from a bow, it burst through the villa's gate and raced off into the distance.

A shadow crossed Yu Liu's eyes. He had not expected two juniors at the peak of the late Profound rank to dare strike at him first. Ordinarily he could have dealt with Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian with ease, but Yu Liu hesitated a moment, for he remembered Yu Xiaochen's instructions before he set out: target Wei Zhao; do not harm the innocent.

Yu Xiaochen had spoken of the two girls at Wei Zhao's side, but Yu Liu did not know whether these two before him were counted among them.

Yu Liu did not understand why Yu Xiaochen had told him to target Wei Zhao alone, but his part was not to question — it was to carry out. And it was precisely for that reason that he now wavered, unsure how to deal with Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian.

And it was that instant of hesitation that gave Gu Mengyao her opening; she drove the car out of the courtyard. Otherwise, with Yu Liu's skill, stopping Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu would have been as easy as turning his hand.

"Out of my way, or I won't be so courteous," Yu Liu warned them mildly, looking at the two before him.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had driven away, but Yu Liu was confident he could overtake them in short order — the villa district had only so many roads, and at his speed he could still pick up their trail.

To make the two back down, Yu Liu roused his internal cultivation as well. In an instant the peak of the mid Earth rank stood fully revealed, and the true qi of his whole body pressed down upon Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian with crushing force.

Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian's expressions shifted slightly. They now knew their opponent's strength: a peak mid Earth-rank expert.

Against a newly advanced early Earth-rank expert who had never trained in martial techniques, Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian together might still have had a chance. But against a peak mid Earth-rank expert, they had not the slightest hope of victory.

They were not Wei Zhao; they had no gift for fighting above their rank. Facing an opponent so far beyond them in strength, defeat was the only possible outcome.

"I'm with the police. You've broken into private property — come back with me now and submit to questioning," Qiu Lingshan said to Yu Liu, a flash of inspiration striking her.

"...?" Yu Liu was struck dumb. He had imagined these two might be cowed by his aura and beat a retreat, or might throw their lives away and come at him in desperation — but never had he dreamed that Qiu Lingshan would say such a thing.

Breaking into private property? Yu Liu scratched his head, but he did not move to strike; instead he explained, "I am from one of the hidden families."

"I know. I will inform the Mystery Investigation Bureau and have them handle this matter," Qiu Lingshan said.

Yu Liu was about to say that as a hidden family he was bound by the Hidden Families Arbitration Association, but when he caught that sly glint in Qiu Lingshan's eyes, he understood at once: this woman was stalling for time, buying a chance for the others to get clean away.

At that thought, Yu Liu stopped bandying words with Qiu Lingshan altogether, turned, and made to give chase in the direction Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had fled.

Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian understood immediately that Yu Liu had seen through their ruse. Qiu Lingshan's words had indeed bought some time, but whether Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had escaped they could not say, so they flung caution aside and planted themselves in Yu Liu's path, refusing to let him pass.

"Out of my way, or I won't be so courteous," Yu Liu said coldly. "Two experts at the peak of the late Profound rank — have you grown tired of living?"

By now Yu Liu had guessed that these two were probably sons and daughters of some family too; which family he could not yet tell, but they were certainly in league with Wei Zhao. Rage surged in Yu Liu's heart: two Profound-rank juniors had ruined his great undertaking, and he ached to strike them dead on the spot.

But at the memory of Yu Xiaochen's special injunction, Yu Liu held back. After all, he had never quite grasped what Yu Xiaochen meant; Yu Xiaochen had spoken vaguely, and Yu Liu was not sure whether he had meant only that the two girls at Wei Zhao's side were not to be harmed, or that no one uninvolved at his side was to be touched at all.

After all, Yu Xiaochen had added one more thing: the Yu family knew that every wrong has its author and every debt its debtor, and they must not be too high-handed...

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