A Chaotic World 321 The Town Lord's Response

"It's all thanks to you," Nanlan Qianxue shook her head, her eyes staring into Lu Tianzi's.

Now that she had broken through to the Origin Core realm, she could finally see through Lu Tianzi's cultivation level. She could see that just as she had broken through to the Origin Core realm, Lu Tianzi had similarly broken through to the Second Cycle Origin Core realm.

However, she was not at all surprised.

After the previous night, her respect and admiration towards Lu Tianzi had already skyrocketed to an unimaginable level.

In her opinion, not even Xihuang Yuanfeng would have been capable of what he had done!

"Don't worry about it. Let's just get out of here before we get into trouble," Lu Tianzi suggested.

Lu Tianzi had managed to recover to his peak state after a couple hours of meditation. Seeing that Nanlan Qianxue was still in the process of breaking through to the Origin Core realm, Lu Tianzi had taken the chance to sweep the floor clean of their belongings.

Not just that, but after securing the surrounding with formations, Lu Tianzi also entered the mansion to extract whatever valuables he could find.

He had even gone the extra mile to remove any valuable equipment and half the beast cores that belonged to the Dongran couple, just in case he was asked to hand over their spatial rings upon trying to claim the promised reward.

"Would anyone believe you though?" Nanlan Qianxue asked in concern.

Over the years, the Dongran couple had built for themselves a solid reputation of being kind and generous individuals.

On the other hand, Lu Tianzi was someone who had just arrived at Bog Town not too long ago.

Given the difference in their statuses, would anyone believe him even if he said that the Dongran couple were the masterminds behind Blazing Wings?

It would be a real problem if Lu Tianzi ended up being treated as a criminal upon handing in the heads of the Dongran couple!

"It's fine, they would have to believe it once they see this map," Lu Tianzi waved a piece of rolled up paper in front of him.

This was the map of the vicinity that Master Dongran had used to explain his plan to Lu Tianzi.

On it, the exact locations of every single Sky Crystal was marked. Any established formation master would have been able to tell that there was something wrong with a single glance!

"Mm," Nanlan Qianxue nodded. "Let's go then!"

She did not know what that map was, but since Lu Tianzi was so confident, Nanlan Qianxue would naturally trust his decision!

***

Dongran Residence.

"What's going on?" Housekeeper Heng walked into the room with a frown.

"Ah! Housekeeper Heng!" the servant rushed up to him. "I don't know either! I entered the room to deliver breakfast to our guests, but they were all unconscious and tied up!"

"They were unconscious and tied up?" the frown on Housekeeper Heng's face deepened. "Them?"

Looking past the servant, he saw the five members of the Iron Claw Brigade lying on the floor. At the same time, he could not help but notice that their lips were slightly purple.

Poison!

"Avoid touching them and go see the doctor immediately," Housekeeper Heng instructed. "Oh, before you do that, invite the poison masters from yesterday to come over."

"Yes, Housekeeper Heng!" the servant hurried off to carry out his instructions.

Housekeeper Heng turned his attention back towards the five.

They still had their spatial rings on them, so the motive should not be to rob them. They were still alive as well, so it was probably not a matter of revenge.

In that case, just who could have done this?

Being able to take down all five of the Iron Claw Brigade members without even being noticed, such a character was no pushover for sure.

No matter what, he had to let the Old Master know about this!

At this moment, the previously unconscious Jue suddenly coughed heavily, drawing Housekeeper Heng's attention.

Jue seemed to be the first to recover his senses, and was struggling to sit up.

"Don't push yourself," Housekeeper Heng advised. "You seem to be poisoned."

"Poisoned…?" Jue answered weakly before sinking his perception into his inner world. "This… how?"

"Do you remember what happened yesterday before you passed out?" Housekeeper Heng asked.

"Urgh…" Jue rubbed his temples to ease his headache. "All I remember is discussing with the guys about going to an important gathering for the Blazi- for the mercenaries. After we got ready to leave… I don't remember anything after that."

"I see," Housekeeper Heng sighed. "Just rest for now, I have already invited a poison master to come take a look at you. We can think about what happened after you have recovered."

"Thank you," Jue nodded before lying back down to rest.

"Housekeeper Heng! Housekeeper Heng!" a loud yell caused Housekeeper Heng to feel even more irritated than he already was.

"Calm down! Why are you shouting like that?" Housekeeper Heng walked out of the room and snapped at the panicking servant.

"Housekeeper Heng!" the servant anxiously pointed towards the entrance. "The town lord is here, and he even brought a lot of his men!"

"What?" Housekeeper Heng was completely caught by surprise. "Invite them to take a seat at the front hall. I will inform the Old Master right away!"

"There's no need for that!" Town Lord Dongwei's voice bellowed across the residence. "We are not here for tea. Men, search the place! Arrest anyone who dares to stop you!"

"What?!" Housekeeper Heng rushed out to see Town Lord Dongwei standing in the garden with at least a hundred men behind him. "You can't do this! How can you just ignore the prestige of the Master and the Madam?"

Hearing his words, Town Lord Dongwei snorted in disdain before turning to his men. "What are you waiting for? Do it!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

That day, a huge commotion swept over Bog Town.

The town lord's men raided the Dongran Residence, turning the place upside down and arresting almost everyone.

During this entire time, the Dongran couple was nowhere to be seen. In fact, rumour had it that the Dongran couple had actually been plotting against the town lord, and were already eliminated by the town lord's men for that reason.

Some said the Dongran couple had escaped the night before, after realising that the town lord found out about their plans.

There were also some who said that the town lord was jealous of the Dongran Family's prestige, and had cooked up a reason to get rid of them.

But no matter what the reason was, one thing people were sure about was that from this day on, the Dongran Family's influence in Bog Town would never be the same again.

Seeing how even the prestigious Dongran Family had ended up in such a pitiful state overnight, the other noble families were scared out of their wits, bunkering up in their residences for fear of incurring the town lord's wrath.

The townsmen were enraged that the benevolent Dongran Family was the only one among the noble families to be targeted, but they had no avenue to express their anger. It was as though the ones who usually gathered the townsmen to spill their grievances had suddenly vanished into thin air.

Confusion.

Rage.

Fear.

These mixed feelings spread out among the townsmen and the noble families alike. Not a single person knew what to expect in the coming days.

All they could tell was that after being low profile for so long, the town lord's men had finally had enough.

This time, they were no longer going to hold back.

By the time dusk arrived, there was not a single soul that could be seen on the streets.

No matter how unhappy they were with the town lord's actions, no one was willing to leave the safety of their houses.

In the town lord's residence, Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue were seated in a huge chamber specially prepared for them, comfortably enjoying their tea and snacks.

Knock-! Knock-!

"Come in," Lu Tianzi answered.

Town Lord Dongwei pushed open the door, entering with two of his soldiers. "Greetings, Sir Tianzi, Lady Qianxue."

"So how did the investigation go?" Lu Tianzi replied with a smile. "Have you ascertained the truth behind my words?"

"My men have made the checks. Everything is as Sir Tianzi said," Town Lord Dongwei clasped his fists towards Lu Tianzi. "My apologies, but this piece of news is far too shocking. As the town lord, I have a duty to be sure of the facts before I can make any decision. If Sir Tianzi has been offended by the wait, I once again humbly apologise!"

"Don't worry about it," Lu Tianzi waved his hand nonchalantly. "It is good that the problem is solved at least. Now, about the rewards…"

"Since we have promised, the rewards will naturally be given to you," Town Lord Dongwei smiled. "I have already sent word to the Divine Storm Sect, telling them of your accomplishments. They will be sending someone down, and will probably arrive within the next few days."

Some people might be put off by the fact that Lu Tianzi had skipped over the formalities and was outrightly asking for the rewards, but Town Lord Dongwei actually preferred it this way.

While he was shocked that the mastermind was actually the Dongran couple, Town Lord Dongwei was still relieved that the problem had been resolved just like that.

But at the same time, he had been worried that this Lu Tianzi who suddenly came out of nowhere would try to stir up political waves within the upper echelons of Bog Town.

However, he was no longer worried now.

Since Lu Tianzi was immediately asking for the rewards, this meant that he likely had no ulterior motives behind his actions, and was doing this precisely for whatever had been promised.

If this was a purely business transaction, Town Lord Dongwei had no need to spare too much time and effort with the other party either.

In fact, he had heard from his men that the corpses found at the Blazing Wings' secret base in the wilderness had been stripped of their belongings. Not just that, but even the Dongran couple's spatial rings that Lu Tianzi handed over to him seemed suspiciously empty.

But that was not too big of a problem in his eyes.

The important thing was that the most urgent matter had been resolved.

Apart from that, any problem that could be solved by money was not really a problem, especially when the one forking out the money was not him!

"That's for the best," Lu Tianzi nodded. "I'd have to trouble Town Lord Dongwei to let me know when the person from the Divine Storm Sect arrives then."

"I certainly will," Town Lord Dongwei smiled. "Please have a good rest in the meantime. I have already instructed the servants to tend to your every need."

"Town Lord, I have another request to make if it's not too much of a problem," Lu Tianzi quickly asked just as Town Lord Dongwei was turning to leave.

"Oh? What is it?" Town Lord Dongwei asked.

Lu Tianzi brought out five communication rings. "I have borrowed these communication rings from the members of the Iron Claw Brigade. Is it possible to help me pass these rings back to them? They should be staying at the Dongran Residence, unless your men have chased them out by now."

"Hahaha! We certainly have not chased anyone out," Town Lord Dongwei took the rings from Lu Tianzi. "All right then, I will make sure these rings reach their hands safe and sound!"

With that, Town Lord Dongwei turned around and left the chamber with his soldiers.

Lu Tianzi let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed that matters had finally come to an end here. All that was left was to collect their rewards, and then it would finally be time to leave.

Chapter end