Chapter 380: Tang San Is Outplayed
The chilling intent in Tang San's voice made Horace, the city lord, shiver. Stammering, he ventured to ask, "M-My lord, what do these two people you're searching for look like?"
Tang San paused, realizing the difficulty. Shura Emperor always wore a mask, so his true face was unknown. Qian Renxue, meanwhile, was using the guise of Xue Qinghe, a face known only to those close to the imperial family, and her true appearance was also concealed. However, one fact he was certain of was that Qian Renxue had sustained serious injuries.
After a moment, Tang San responded coldly, "Bring me any new faces who've appeared in Lin Winter City over the past few days. Also, find all severely injured people with blunt-force trauma who may struggle to move. I'll inspect them myself."
Horace nodded, signaling to his deputy to begin the search.
Lin Winter City wasn't particularly large, and by the end of the day, all the people Tang San needed to investigate were gathered in the city's main hall.
"Lan Hao King, everyone fitting your description is here," Horace announced with a bow, ingratiating himself.
Tang San gave a curt nod. Horace then turned to the assembled crowd, straightening his posture with authority and sneering, "Each of you will step forward for inspection. If you're innocent, you're free to leave. But if you're hiding something, be ready to lose your head!"
Horace's threat made the crowd tremble, their fearful gazes flickering toward him. Before Tang San, Horace was a sycophantic lapdog, but to the commoners, he was a vicious tiger.
Although Tang San disapproved of Horace's bullying demeanor, he tolerated it for the time being; after all, compared to eliminating the evil of Wuhun Hall, these minor evils were inconsequential.
The soldiers surrounding the square held their spears menacingly, their cold steel gleaming in the winter air.
Under the guards' orders, the new arrivals filed past Tang San one by one.
Tang San watched them closely, confident that if Shura Emperor were to pass by, he'd recognize him instantly. Even if he didn't wear a mask, Tang San was sure that Shura Emperor's unique aura would betray him.
At first, Tang San inspected each person with intense focus. But as more and more passed—families, vegetable vendors, beggars, even a pair of lovers caught in an illicit tryst—his irritation grew.
"What a waste of time!" he snapped.
Horace was startled and hastily halted the next person in line. "My lord, is something amiss?" he asked, trying to be deferential.
Tang San stared at Horace, his suspicion deepening. Could Horace be working for Shura Emperor, purposely diverting his attention with all these irrelevant people? That might explain why Shura Emperor and Qian Renxue had come to such an obscure place like Lin Winter City.
However, he couldn't be certain just yet. Keeping his suspicions in check, Tang San ordered, "Take me to see those with blunt-force injuries."
Horace, under Tang San's intense gaze, quickly led him to the open area where the injured lay. About a dozen pale, battered individuals were sitting or lying on the ground, their expressions mixed with fear and confusion as they watched the white-haired man approach.
Under the anxious stares of the gathered crowd, Tang San examined each injured person closely.
With each individual he inspected, his expression grew darker. They all bore injuries from blunt-force trauma, but none showed signs of the specific wounds Qian Renxue would have sustained. While he couldn't identify Qian Renxue's true appearance, her injuries would have left a unique pattern he could detect.
He turned to Horace, his eyes cold.
"Is this everyone? Are you sure no one has been missed?"
Horace wiped away the cold sweat beading on his forehead. "My lord, I swear on my life, there isn't a single person unaccounted for!"
Horace had shown such deference to Tang San precisely because he wanted to secure his position by currying favor with him. There was no way he would dare slack off in carrying out Tang San's orders.
Tang San studied Horace from head to toe, sensing that the man was telling the truth. His spirits sank. Failing to find any sign of Shura Emperor or Qian Renxue in Lin Winter City meant they weren't here at all. But how could that be? All evidence pointed toward this location.
"Any luck?" the Fifth Elder asked with a frown.
Tang San shook his head grimly. "No trace of them here in Lin Winter. It's strange—all the clues led us here, but there's no sign of them."
Regret gnawed at him. If only he hadn't delayed his pursuit of Shura Emperor to deal with the Lan Hao King title, he could have prevented this setback. Not only had Serpent Lance and Porcupinefish managed to escape, but now Shura Emperor and Qian Renxue had vanished.
In hindsight, perhaps he should have focused on capturing Serpent Lance and Porcupinefish to weaken Wuhun Hall's forces rather than consolidating his power in Tian Dou Empire. Yet, without that brief consolidation, he wouldn't have had the manpower to lock down Tian Dou City, and Dai Yao had exploited that window to escape.
"Could it be that Horace is secretly loyal to Wuhun Hall, protecting Qian Renxue and Shura Emperor?" the Fifth Elder suggested through mental transmission.
Tang San considered the possibility but ultimately shook his head. After observing Horace's behavior for the past two days, he felt sure the man was just a sycophantic noble, one who wouldn't dare defy him so brazenly.
That left him with two possibilities: either their pursuit was completely off course, or Shura Emperor and Qian Renxue were indeed hiding somewhere in Lin Winter City and had just evaded detection.
After a pause, Tang San's gaze hardened as he looked back at Horace.
Horace, unnerved by the attention, asked nervously, "My lord, is there something else you need?"
Tang San said, "Turn over every inch of Lin Winter City. If there's any sign of those two, bring them to me immediately."
Reluctantly, Tang San resorted to this brute-force tactic. If they still failed to locate Shura Emperor and Qian Renxue, then he'd have to accept that they'd pursued the wrong trail. But if this final search turned up nothing, then where could those two possibly be hiding?
Horace, understanding the gravity of Tang San's command, mobilized his soldiers to comb every corner of Lin Winter City.
Three Days Later
Though Lin Winter City was small, scouring every square inch took considerable effort. Even after three days, only half of the city had been covered. Yet there was still no sign of their targets, and Tang San's frustration grew.
Snow had started falling again, blanketing the city in icy white.
Suddenly, an explosion shook the city, followed by a series of deafening blasts. Shockwaves shattered the freshly settled snow, scattering it in every direction.
Suddenly, the chaotic clatter of hooves reverberated throughout Lin Winter City as horses raced frantically toward the city gates. Panicked shouts from coachmen, startled cries of citizens, and the commanding voices of soldiers mingled with the sound of explosions echoing through the streets.
Tang San froze, then a look of triumph crossed his face. Exchanging a knowing glance with the Fifth Elder, he sprang onto the rooftop of the city lord's mansion. From there, he looked down at the few carriages fleeing through the city, a cold smile forming on his lips.
"Shura Emperor, is this all you've got? You pulled this same trick in Tian Dou City, and now you're using it again here in Lin Winter? Do you think I'd fall for it twice?"
The Fifth Elder stroked his beard in satisfaction and chuckled, "It seems Horace's efforts have borne fruit. He must have tracked them down, leaving Qian Renxue and her ally with no choice but to repeat their previous escape attempt."
Staring intently at the escaping carriages, Tang San's eyes gleamed. "Let's see how they can escape from my web this time!"
After a short while, the commotion in Lin Winter City began to settle. The fleeing carriages and their drivers were soon rounded up by Horace and dragged before Tang San.
"Kneel!" Horace commanded sharply.
Thud. Several coachmen dropped to their knees, their faces streaked with tears. They began pleading desperately, their voices trembling with fear.
"Mercy, my lord! Please, spare us! We were momentarily blinded by greed, tempted by a few gold soul coins, so we agreed to drive the carriages as instructed."
"We swear, we'll never dare to do anything like this again…"
Tang San's eyes burned as he looked down at the groveling coachmen. They were ordinary citizens of Lin Winter City, not soul masters, and had been bribed with mere coins to follow some mysterious instructions. And the carriages they had driven? Empty.
In other words, he had been fooled. Shura Emperor and Qian Renxue had long since left Lin Winter City; they'd staged this entire charade to mock him. He could almost see their smug smiles, laughing at how he had fallen into their trap. The thought made his blood boil, his hands clenching as his fury grew. All his careful efforts, reduced to a mockery in their eyes!
The Fifth Elder struck a wall beside him with such force that it crumbled, his Titled Douluo aura washing over the square and sending a chill through the air.
"Insolent!" the Fifth Elder growled. "I've never seen anyone so arrogant, fleeing while taunting us!"
The humiliation wasn't just Tang San's; it was an insult to him and the entire Haotian Sect. No matter their victory in the Tian Dou City battle, their failure to capture Qian Renxue meant they had no leverage against Qian Daoliu, and in that sense, they had lost.
A tense silence filled the square.
After a moment, a thought flashed through Tang San's mind. He remembered the shallow tracks he'd noticed when they first arrived at Lin Winter City, realizing now what they meant. His instinct had been correct—the two of them had likely abandoned the carriage at that point and gone on foot to evade capture.
A sense of urgency rose within him. Shura Emperor and Qian Renxue had likely put significant distance between themselves and Lin Winter City by now, but he was certain they remained somewhere within Tian Dou Empire.
Tang San cast a steely gaze over the kneeling coachmen. While he wasn't one to kill indiscriminately, his hatred for Wuhun Hall was beyond measure. Though these coachmen were ordinary citizens, they'd taken money to mislead him, unwittingly aiding his enemies.
As accomplices to Wuhun Hall, they would pay the price. He turned to Horace, his voice cold and merciless.
"Horace."
"Yes, my lord!" Horace responded instantly, stepping forward.
"These people willingly chose to aid our enemies. Let them go first and wait for their masters in the underworld."
Upon hearing Tang San's sentence, the coachmen were stricken with terror. Ordinary citizens who had merely taken on a task to earn a little extra for their families, they hadn't realized the true nature of their actions.
"My lord, we're not accomplices to any evil! We don't even know who these people are!" one of them cried, dropping to the ground in desperation.
"Please, give us one more chance! We'll return the coins and never do this again. My lord, I have an elderly mother and a young child who depend on me. I can't die like this!" another sobbed, flinging the offending coins onto the snow-covered ground, where they glittered, starkly contrasting against the white landscape.
Their pleas for mercy filled the air until, one by one, their heads rolled, and blood trickled over the fallen gold coins.
Dai Yao, however, hadn't anticipated that Tang San would take out his wrath on these innocent souls. In Dai Yao's view, these were ordinary people acting out of simple greed, not enemies. A light punishment might have sufficed.
But Tang San had not forgotten the lessons of his past. As the Seagod, he'd wiped out every soul master in Silu City's Wuhun Hall, irrespective of innocence. In his eyes, anyone aiding Wuhun Hall deserved the same fate.
"Fifth Elder, let's go. I think… I finally know where they are," Tang San said, moving forward with a grim expression.
The Fifth Elder didn't spare a glance at the headless bodies strewn across the snow. In his mind, Tang San's actions were entirely justified.
He raised his brows at Tang San's statement but refrained from questioning it further, instead signaling the Tian Dou soldiers to follow.
As the snow drifted down, Tang San gazed out at the icy landscape and silently vowed, "Shura Emperor, Qian Renxue, this hunt is only beginning. You won't escape Tian Dou Empire."
On the Canglan River
A small boat sailed downriver, the distant mountains flanking it on either side. Three days had passed, during which Dai Yao and Qian Renxue had traveled another several hundred kilometers.
Since that first day Dai Yao had fed her congee, he'd noticed a marked softening in Qian Renxue's demeanor. Her once unyielding pride had shifted, and though her recovery was slow, she'd finally regained the ability to speak.
Yet her body had borne the brunt of a blow from the Fifth Elder's ninth spirit ability. Simply surviving had been a miracle, but full recovery would require much more time.
As a result, Dai Yao continued to feed Qian Renxue congee each day. Yet each time he saw her in her Xue Qinghe disguise, he felt a strange discomfort. He'd often considered using his Chaos Lotus martial spirit to heal her fully, yet he knew that exposing it could come at a high price. The risk was too great.
Sighing, he poured freshly cooked congee into a bowl and returned to the boat's cabin for their daily meal.
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