Chapter 148: The Silencing Operation Begins!

A virtuous, gentle, and water-soft woman can naturally capture the hearts of a considerable number of men. Take Su Yi himself, for instance; facing this submissive young matron at this moment, he felt a wave of comforting ease within his heart—in short, it was a pleasing sight to behold.

"In that case, head down first and send that brat Qin Ren over to me..." His anger having dissipated significantly, Qin Shou was unwilling to reprimand his wife any further. With a slight wave of his hand, he dismissed the young matron.

Hearing this, a flash of fleeting hesitation crossed the gentle matron’s face, but she said nothing more. Instead, she bowed, nodded with utmost etiquette, and slowly withdrew.

After the matron had departed, Qin Shou looked at Su Yi with a somewhat awkward expression and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Su Yi, to let you witness such trivial domestic matters..."

"It's fine..."

Gently shaking his head, Su Yi did not dwell on it. As the old saying goes, even an upright official finds it hard to resolve family affairs; such tangled complexities could not be explained in a mere sentence or two. Moreover, his current status was that of a guest, so naturally, it was not his place to point fingers or offer critiques.

A slightly quiet and oppressive atmosphere lingered for a brief moment. Soon, Qin Shou resumed chatting with Su Yi. However, as time slowly ticked by, Qin Shou’s brows finally began to knit together. Lost in mild contemplation, he muttered to himself, "Strange, why is it taking so long? He should have been here by now..."

Earlier, he had instructed his wife to bring his younger brother, Qin Ren, over. By all calculations, they should have arrived long ago. Yet, there had been no movement whatsoever up to this point. Thinking about it, it really was rather odd. Considering the courtyard was not particularly large, there was no reason it should take this long to walk across... Could that brat have slipped out again? The sudden thought crossed Qin Shou’s mind, reigniting a flicker of irritation in his chest. He had told this scoundrel countless times, yet the boy still refused to apply himself!

If he couldn't be found, however, his wife should have returned to report by now. Could something have happened in the meantime? At this thought, Qin Shou found it difficult to remain seated. He stood up, paced back and forth a few times, and after a moment of reflection, turned to Su Yi with a suggestion: "Su Yi, how about I have your quarters arranged first?"

Hearing this, Su Yi nodded. He was indeed somewhat tired from the journey, and a chance to rest properly was certainly the most welcome option. Upon arriving in a new place like Lunluo City, the first priority was to settle in securely. Although, barring any accidents, Su Yi would likely only stay in the city for a day or two, he couldn't just wander aimlessly through the streets during that time—after all, this wasn't like traversing the deep mountains and vast forests on his way here...

Qin Shou led Su Yi out of the front hall, and the two walked eastward across the courtyard. Before long, Su Yi was brought before a guest room. After exchanging a few polite parting remarks, Qin Shou took his leave.

Standing before the guest room, Su Yi inspected the dwelling up and down, left and right. Its construction was clearly nothing special. Reaching out to touch the surrounding walls, he found the texture of the materials wasn't particularly sturdy. While it was likely somewhat better than the small room Su Yi had previously stayed in in Changling City, Su Yi reckoned that with his current physical strength, unleashed at full capacity, he could easily demolish this somewhat dilapidated structure.

Pushing open the wooden door with a creak, Su Yi stepped inside. With a sweeping glance, he strode forward and threw himself straight onto the bed. Unsurprisingly, the mattress was quite firm, but that was of little consequence to Su Yi, whose physical body had already reached the standard of a Tier 1 peak magical beast.

Shifting his body slightly and gradually growing accustomed to the peculiar scent lingering within the confined room, Su Yi's thoughts inevitably drifted back to his own affairs. Reaching Lunluo City meant that well over half of his journey to find the Blood of Heaven and Earth was now behind him. Next, he only needed to head straight for the Luojia Mountain Range located in the eastern part of the empire.

However, along this journey, he had also encountered a few unexpected events, such as the recent outbreak of walking corpses. At this, Su Yi recalled that along the streets of Lunluo City on his way here, he hadn't seen any warnings or alerts advising townsfolk to be cautious of walking corpses, nor had the garrison soldiers appeared in any grand, high-profile manner. Whether they hadn't received the news or were deliberately handling the matter covertly to avoid public panic and commotion remained unknown.

As for the Jiyao Pavilion—the very first faction he had made contact with in Lunluo City—Su Yi felt a lingering, inexplicable sense of vigilance rising within him. Moreover, various signs indicated that this wariness was by no means groundless...

Suddenly feeling a prickle of crisis, Su Yi unconsciously touched the white mask resting against his chest. He had already witnessed the wondrous properties of this mask. While many of its secrets remained unknown, as long as the mask stayed in his possession, the day would come when he would uncover them all.

Whether due to the mask or some other reason, the malevolent soul that had always been a source of deep dread for Su Yi had, for some unknown cause, still not appeared. Counting the time, it had been nearly half a month. Compared to his days in Changling City, the frequency of its manifestations had indeed dropped drastically. Yet, Su Yi was not naive enough to think that the malevolent soul had simply vanished or ceased to exist.

By now, Su Yi could sense it quite clearly, for that evil spirit clung to him like marrow-eating worms. Having a thorn in one's eye and flesh naturally left a person restless day and night, and Su Yi was no exception. Yet it was precisely this pressure that compelled him firmly to seek a solution, setting him resolutely upon the path of pursuing strength. The so-called conversion of pressure into motivation was precisely this kind of situation...

Fingering the mysterious white mask, Su Yi silently projected a wisp of soul perception to wrap around it. Through this, he clearly "saw" the items stored within the mask. Positioned closest to the front were a few scrolls of battle techniques, storage cards, and gold coins, alongside the plundered medicinal herbs and magical beast cores. Although this was not the first time Su Yi had performed such an action, every single instance filled him with a sense of utter wonder.

Compared to ordinary storage rings, this mask allowed one to "see" things with far greater clarity and a peculiar, indescribable sensation. A mysterious mask with such capabilities clearly had an extraordinary origin—anyone with a bit of thought could deduce that. If its secrets could be fully unlocked, the rewards would undoubtedly be nothing short of extraordinary!

Yet, perhaps precisely because of its fathomless mystery, Su Yi currently found himself entirely at a loss. Each time he inspected the space within the mask, items like battle techniques lay close at hand, while in the distance loomed an abyss of dark, cryptic mist. This mass of dark mist was immense; by Su Yi's estimation, it occupied the vast majority of the spatial expanse, leaving only this tiny fraction visible to his sight.

This patch of dark mist was eerie and tranquil, silently shrouding that corner without a single ripple, motionless like stagnant water. Whenever Su Yi cast his soul perception into the mist, it vanished without a trace like a clay ox plunging into the sea, let alone penetrating it to reveal the sights hidden within...

After several more futile attempts, Su Yi finally abandoned his probing. It seemed he lacked the capability to unravel the mystery of the mask in the short term. Reverting to a secondary focus, Su Yi turned his attention to the magical beast core resting within the spatial depths of the mask. This was an ice-attribute magical beast core; its grayish-white hue stood out remarkably against the backdrop of the surrounding dark mist.

Su Yi remembered plundering this ice-type core from a mercenary group, after which he encountered Yaoxin, and the two of them eventually joined forces to ambush and kill a twelfth-level battle cultivation expert. Speaking of which, they had gone through thick and thin together; he wondered when they would ever meet again after this parting...

Lying quietly on the bed, Su Yi used his soul perception to sense the aura of the magical beast core. Perhaps because he had previously practiced ice-type battle Qi, he always felt a strange, inexplicable affinity toward this core. After probing and sensing it for a prolonged period, his heart actually began to beat faster with a creeping sense of excitement!

Suddenly! In the very next instant, Su Yi's heartbeat violently surged. His gaze flashed, and his hands slammed hard against the bed surface, propelling his body upward into the air with the recoil!

At that exact moment, a deafening crash echoed out! The door of the room was violently shattered, and the splintered fragments whistled through the air with a thunderous roar, hurtling directly toward the bed where Su Yi had just been lying!

"BOOM! CRASH—"

Accompanied by a dull, heavy impact, the door slammed viciously into the bed, and both exploded apart! Flying debris thundered into the surrounding walls, kicking up a blinding cloud of dust and countless splinters!

"Crack, crack—"

Ignoring the sporadic sounds of splintering coming from all around, Su Yi collected himself and drew in a steadying breath. His expression turned slightly grim, his eyes narrowing into slits as his gaze locked firmly onto the doorway. There, amidst the shrouding dust and debris, a human figure stood slowly upright!

"What kind of person are you?!"

Su Yi demanded in a gloomy tone. If not for his exceptional soul perception allowing him to sense a trace of murderous intent and imminent danger just in time to withdraw, he would have been the one crushed by that impact. While his current physical fortitude meant that such a collision might not have necessarily gravely injured him, surely no one appreciated being ambushed with lethal intent for no reason—especially since, judging by the previous setup, the assailant had clearly intended to end his life!

"Your reflexes are quite fast. Are you Su Yi?"

As the surrounding dust and debris gradually dispersed, the figure slowly grew clearer. The features were exposed, revealing a man in his thirties. Although the man saw that Su Yi had evaded his attack, no trace of surprise or astonishment crossed his face. Instead, he wore the absolute composure of someone who held everything in the palm of his hand, while the corners of his mouth curled into a chilling, mocking sneer—

"My name is Cao Dou, and I am here specifically to take your life!"

Hearing such an arrogant declaration, Su Yi's expression plunged into absolute ice!

*(Flowers! Flowers!)*

&^^%# Martial Arts Peak Chapter 148 — Chapter 148: The Silence Operation Begins! Update Complete!