Chapter 2250, Little Brat Surnamed Yang
Translator: Silavin & Danny
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
“Really?” Ning Yuan Shu smiled slightly, but sinisterly stared at Duan Yuan Shan, “Then, may I ask, how did my Elder Brother die?”
Duan Yuan Shan shivered and frowned, “What does Young Palace Master mean?”
“Heh heh…” Ning Yuan Shu laughed and said, “My Eldest Brother, Ning Yuan Cheng. City Lord Duan, don’t you know him?”
Duan Yuan Shan was silent. Of course, he knew Ning Yuan Cheng. When the Divine Spirit appeared last time, Ning Yuan Cheng had brought an entourage to Maplewood City. Duan Yuan Shan also knew that Ning Yuan Cheng participated in an auction fair that he had organized.
Ning Yuan Shu said, “As far as I know, my Eldest Brother went missing after he participated in your auction fair in Maplewood City. Although no corpse was found, his Life Lamp, which was placed in the palace, shattered, so obviously, something tragic happened to him. Even if the location of his disappearance was not in Maplewood City, it should not be far from here. Should City Lord Duan not give me an explanation?”
Duan Yuan Shan looked uncertain.
He thought that the other party was about to settle accounts with him.
Although Ning Yuan Cheng’s death had nothing to do with him and he didn’t even know anything about it, the last time he showed up in Maplewood City, he had a bad encounter. In any case, Maplewood City should at least be a bit responsible. If Flying Saint Palace was really trying to hold him accountable, Duan Yuan Shan would have no way out.
Seeing his ugly face, Ning Yuan Shu laughed, “City Lord Duan, don’t panic. Speaking of this, this Young Master wants to thank you…”
“Is the Young Palace Master telling this Duan a joke?” Duan Yuan Shan looked up with a gloomy expression.
Ning Yuan Shu shook his head, “Of course not. If my Eldest Brother had not encountered an accident in your Maplewood City, I would never have been appointed as Young Palace Master in his place. City Lord Duan, this Young Master should be thanking you.”
Instead of feeling any joy, Duan Yuan Shan felt chills all over.
He rejoiced instead of mourning for the death of his own Elder Brother, excited to replace him as Young Palace Master, and even admitted it in public.
Ning Yuan Shu’s repulsive personality was evident. Duan Yuan Shan would not dare to take people like him lightly.
From above, Ning Yuan Shu continued, “Although that trash died, his death caused the Sect to lose a lot of face, which is really heartbreaking. In addition… Elder Fu, who came to investigate the cause of my Elder Brother’s death, also died in Maplewood City. Elder Fu was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Master, a highly valuable asset to the Sect. His death can’t be left uninvestigated. Shouldn’t City Lord Duan give me an explanation for this as well?”
His face gradually turned cold as he spoke the last line, and he looked at Duan Yuan Shan aggressively.
“Elder Fu?” Duan Yuan Shan was startled. His face changed slightly as he thought of someone and whispered, “Is this the person the Young Palace Master is referring to?”
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and waved forward, using his Source Qi to form the image of a person.
Ning Yuan Shu took a look, and nodded, “Exactly! He is Fu Si Tong from my Sect!”
Duan Yuan Shan’s face changed drastically, and he murmured, “It turns out that he was your noble Sect’s Elder, no wonder he had such a high cultivation.”
He had just suddenly recalled this person and had not really expected him to be the Elder Fu that Ning Yuan Shu mentioned.
Duan Yuan Shan was not familiar with this Elder Fu, but when the Demon Qi wave enveloped the city, Duan Yuan Shan had recruited him as a candidate to form the Black Tortoise Seven Points Array that the Qin Family contributed. There was also another young woman with a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation who was present at the time. Although Duan Yuan Shan knew that both of them were extraordinary, he did not investigate their backgrounds.
He only learned that one of them was an Elder of Flying Saint Palace today.
He pondered for a while, cupped his fists, and continued, “If Young Palace Master wishes to know how your Elder Fu died, this Duan can say a thing or two.”
“Oh? Let’s hear it,” Ning Yuan Shu frowned.
“Young Palace Master must have heard about the revival of an Ancient Great Demon and an eruption of Demon Qi which occurred near Maplewood City a few months ago.” He explained what had happened, including Zhuang Pan’s cowardice at the last moment, abandoning everyone and fleeing.
Zhuang Pan’s expression turned from red to green as he was unable to refute.
Gao Shan and Liu Shui both turned even more contemptuous looks towards Zhuang Pan, making the latter want to find a place to bury his head and never to show himself again.
“When the array broke, Demon Qi spread rapidly, and this Duan was unable to resist so he escaped back to the city with the Qin Family members, somehow managing to survive in the end. Elder Fu did not leave immediately but chose to stay behind. There is no way for this Duan to know what happened exactly, but since Elder Fu died, it was most likely because he was injured by the Demon Qi.”
“I see…” Ning Yuan Shu did not show any doubt. He just pondered for a moment before positing, “In that case, it’s not City Lord Duan’s fault, but Deacon Zhuang’s?”
He suddenly turned his gaze to Zhuang Pan.
Zhuang Pan cultivation was not low, at any rate, he had reached the Dao Source Realm, allowing him to obtain the position of Deacon even though he only joined Flying Saint Palace recently. He thought he would be making his way in the world but he did not expect that a few words from Duan Yuan Shan would cause tragedy to suddenly approach.
Zhuang Pan cursed Duan Yuan Shan viciously in his heart.
Sensing the coldness of Ning Yuan Shu’s gaze, however, Zhuang Pan dropped to his knees with a thud in fright, causing Duan Yuan Shan and Drunkard to also look at him with contempt.
“Please understand, Young Palace Master, the situation that day was definitely not what Duan Yuan Shan had described. The reason why this subordinate did that was actually… actually…” He ran out of words and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
“Actually what?” Ning Yuan Shu sneered, his eyes flickering as he questioned, “You’d best give me a satisfactory explanation today”.
At that critical moment, like a light went off in his brain, Zhuang Pan said, “This subordinate realised that nothing could be done and so rapidly retreated in order to make himself useful and serve the Young Palace Master!”
After he finished speaking, he looked at Ning Yuan Shu with a flattering smile.
“He is really good at bootlicking!” Duan Yuan Shan whispered to Drunkard who was next to him, “I never knew that he was such a smooth talker before.”
Although his voice was lowered, everyone in the room was a Dao Source Realm Master, so how could they not have heard him?
“Ge…” Drunkard’s eyes were barely open as he was totally drunk at the moment, so all he did was burp loudly.
Zhuang Pan couldn’t help glaring at them fiercely, his face blotched with patches of redness, feeling humiliated.
“Yes, it’s good that Deacon Zhuang has such loyalty. Here, have a reward!” Ning Yuan Shu, who was taken aback for a moment, suddenly smiled pleasantly and threw a spirit fruit to Zhuang Pan. The spirit fruit rolled along the ground and stopped right in front of Zhuang Pan.
Instead of feeling humiliated, however, Zhuang Pan laughed and cupped his fists. “Many thanks, Young Palace Master, for the reward!”
He bent down, bowed his head, held the spirit fruit in his mouth like a dog, and ate it.
Duan Yuan Shan could not stand it anymore and turned his gaze away, feeling disgusted as he remembered that he had once worked with this person before.
“City Lord Duan…” Ning Yuan Shu turned his gaze to Duan Yuan Shan again and said, “This Young Master has a request.”
“Please state it, Young Palace Master.”
Ning Yuan Shu began, “This Young Master is an outsider, and as the saying goes, ‘Strong foreign dragons do not test local snakes’. Since City Lord Duan still holds authority in this place, this Young Master hopes that City Lord Duan can help to find out the cause of the death of my Eldest Brother. If someone harmed him, the murderer must be found!”
When Duan Yuan Shan was about to open his mouth to speak, Zhuang Pan stood up with an eager expression on his face and said, “If Young Palace Master wants to trace the cause of death of Young Master Cheng, this subordinate does have a suspicious candidate.”
“Oh?” Ning Yuan Shu looked at him in surprise, “What do you know? Let’s hear it…”
“There is a little brat surnamed Yang, who had once used a certain flying ship artifact!” Zhuang Pan said, “And this subordinate had seen Young Master Cheng use the same ship artifact before. If this subordinate is not mistaken, that little bastard surnamed Yang must know something. He could even be the one who killed Young Master Cheng and stolen his wealth.”
“Is that the case?” A cold light flashed across the eyes of Ning Yuan Shu’s eyes.
“Indeed!”
As soon as Zhuang Pan finished speaking, Ning Yuan Shu suddenly struck a palm at him, releasing a surge of Source Qi. Obviously, this was a powerful Secret Technique. Zhuang Pan was shocked and just as he was about to react instinctively, Elder Gao Shan, who had been closing his eyes and concentrating the whole time, suddenly opened them and sent a flash of light over to envelop Zhuang Pan.
Zhuang Pan suddenly stiffened in place, and the next moment, there was a muffled sound resounding from his chest. Accompanied by a scream, Zhuang Pan was sent flying and slammed heavily onto the rear wall, coughing up a mouthful of blood as he became dazed and dishevelled.
“Young Palace Master…” Regaining control of his body, Zhuang Pan asked in a flustered tone, “Why?”
Ning Yuan Shu coldly snorted, “Why didn’t you report such important news earlier?”
Zhuang Pan, who was dumbfounded with his jaw dropped, muttered, “This subordinate thought…”
“You thought?” Ning Yuan Shu looked at him coldly, “Do you think this Young Master didn’t want to find out how that trash died? Hmph, although this Young Master despised him, he was still a member of the Sect. It is highly improper for a member of the Sect to have died unknowingly. The circumstances must be investigated and the murderer must be severely punished!”
“Yes yes yes, it was inconsiderate of this subordinate!” Zhuang Pan replied repeatedly.
“Where is that boy surnamed Yang now?” Ning Yuan Shu asked in a deep voice.
“I’m afraid Young Master will have to ask City Lord Duan about this person’s whereabouts,” Zhuang Pan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Duan Yuan Shan coldly, taking pleasure in his coming misfortune.
Ning Yuan Shu also shifted his gaze, looking aggressively at Duan Yuan Shan.
Duan Yuan Shan frowned and said, “He left Maplewood City several months ago, and this Duan doesn’t know where he is now.”
“Which Sect does he belong to? And is there anyone he was close with in Maplewood City?” Ning Yuan Shu asked again.
“This Duan doesn’t know which Sect he was from. He came to Maplewood City two years ago, and he does not seem to have any relatives in the city.”