Chapter 1248: Evil Motives
"Use more strength. What did I buy you for!?"
The manager took another puff from his smoke pipe as he grumbled unhappily. He sensed the people entering but he paid them no mind. He had been a manager of the Miscellaneous Chores Department for centuries. It was a lucrative job and the outer-sect disciples that came to his department would always treat him respectfully. He was already accustomed to leading a life of a lord.
"Manager Song..." Qingwen spoke.
"Who’s there?" The middle-aged manager put down the smoke pipe and glanced at Duanmu Qingwen. Following that, he shot a glance at Yi Yun before lying down comfortably on his chair. He sucked a huge mouthful of smoke and languidly said, "Come back tomorrow. I’m not going to handle any matters now!"
Perhaps some outer-sect disciple was here trying to pull some social strings. Without sufficient benefits, he wouldn’t even bother speaking, much less take part in a deal.
Yi Yun looked coldly at the middle-aged man and said, "Your surname is Song? You are a family member of Song Bowen?"
Yi Yun knew very well that in the Myriad God Ridge, there were many family clans with long heritages. When some of these family clans reached a place of influence, they would tend to commit nepotism, allowing their family clan to further entrench themselves in Myriad God Ridge and gradually grow stronger.
"Who are you?" The middle-aged man gave Yi Yun a displeased look. He did not know Yi Yun but, after seeing Duanmu Qingwen, he had a vague guess.
"This is my master, Yi Yun," explained Duanmu Qingwen.
"Ah? Young Master Yi?" He hurriedly got up with a grumble as his face scrunched into an obsequious smile. "So it’s Young Master Yi that is gracing me with his presence. You should have told me earlier. I’m Song Yuanpin. Look at me, failing to recognize a great person. Young Master Yi, have a seat please."
Song Yuanpin bowed unctuously. His exceedingly sycophant gesture and acting irritated Yi Yun greatly. "Was it your Song family that had Zuoyan Xiaoyu transferred away?"
"Ah... Zuoyan Xiaoyu?" The middle-aged man’s eyes flitted as he said ingratiatingly, "How could that be? The transfer of maidservants is decided by the Miscellaneous Chores Department’s headquarters. How can the Song family intervene? The Miscellaneous Chores Department felt that if Zuoyan Xiaoyu could splatter food while carrying it, she was clumsy. Such a lass isn’t fit for serving Young Master Yi so, naturally, she was transferred. Now, we have assigned a new maidservant to you. Not only is she beautiful and talented, she’s also obedient. Look at how smart she looks, Young Master Yi. She’s probably ten times better than Zuoyan Xiaoyu."
Song Yuanpin had been manning the Miscellaneous Chores Department for years and knew the proper way to deal with all sorts of people. He knew very well that most men would discard the old for something new. By giving Yi Yun such a petite lass, allowing him to indulge in sexual pleasures, it would be a great boon he could not resist. As for Zuoyan Xiaoyu, she was a mere girl, more like an ant than a woman. She would be forgotten by Yi Yun in less than two days. Therefore, Song Yuanpin thought nothing of transferring Zuoyan Xiaoyu away.
Her outcome was the least of his worries. Who did care about a lass like her? Then again, the lass was quite supple-looking. If only he didn’t lack the status, he would have kept her for himself to enjoy.
While these thoughts flashed across Song Yuanpin’s mind, he continued beaming. One did not smack a smiling person. Song Yuanpin was considered a slippery one, so even though he was facing Yi Yun, a person of much higher status than him, he was not worried. As long as he remained impervious to the questioning and pushed the blame, he could naturally dismiss Yi Yun with his smiling face.
"Oh? Your explanation seems rather reasonable."
Yi Yun nodded. Just as his voice faded, he suddenly punched out.
"Peng!"
With a boom, Song Yuanpin cried out tragically. He flew backward like a ball as the lounge chair behind him was flattened.
The maidservant that was massaging his leg was given a fright. She nearly thought that she was dead but, despite such a violent explosion, she was not injured at all.
"I... I... Cough..."
Song Yuanpin had been struck in the dantian by Yi Yun. His mouth was covered in blood and he was in a daze. All he saw were doubles, particularly of Yi Yun.
He never expected to encounter such a malignant star. He was struck before he could finish delivering his excuses.
"I left your dantian intact with this punch. The next one will cripple you. Go ahead and test my patience."
Yi Yun was overbearing. He knew he would offend the Song family, but so what? Everything he did at Myriad God Ridge boiled down to him finding Old Snake. And since he had accomplished that goal, he didn’t exactly need to stay in Myriad God Ridge. This was the reason why Yi Yun acted unbridled.
Since the Myriad God Ridge was an expedient measure, there was no reason for him to be bullied everywhere and suffer in silence. He might as well do as his pleased, allowing his mind to feel at ease!
"Don’t... Don’t do that. Spare... spare me." Upon hearing Yi Yun threatening to cripple him of his dantian, Son Yuanpin’s face turned pale. He knew very well what sort of person Yi Yun was. He would definitely carry out his threat. He even dared to beat Song Bowen, much less a trivial Song family member like him. Crippling him was nothing!
Yi Yun was the sect master’s personal disciple after all. The Song family could not attack Yi Yun, for the sect master wasn’t from the Song family!
When the time came, he would sacrifice himself in the war. Who would mourn him? Even the Song family would abandon him like roadkill.
"Zuoyan Xiaoyu was taken by Song Bowen to be his servant," Song Yuanpin said through clenched teeth. Now that he told Yi Yun, if Yi Yun caused a big hooha over the matter, the Song family would learn it was him who leaked the news. He too would suffer greatly.
"What? He sure has guts. Does he have a death wish because of a servant?" Yi Yun’s eyes flared with killing intent. "Where is Song Bowen!?"
"He... he went out on an experiential training expedition. He applied for the sect’s permission the day before yesterday. He left early this morning. By now he must have traveled through a teleportation array and is millions of miles away. I’m telling the truth, nothing but the truth."
Song Yuanpin babbled on. He was afraid that Yi Yun would strike him again. It was not something he could withstand.
"Out on experiential training!?"
Yi Yun’s gaze turned cold.
Song Bowen and that lanky youth had applied to go on an experiential training together. Song Bowen did not even plan on staying in Myriad God Ridge to recover from his injuries because of a malignant star like Yi Yun.
They had their faces smacked rotten by Yi Yun but could only suffer in silence. In the future, they would hardly be able to lift their heads in the personal disciples’ zone. How could they stay? With all the talk and mockery from others, they could only choose to leave for an experiential training expedition!
But leaving in such a downtrodden manner was something they were unwilling to do. Since they could not deal with Yi Yun, they took their anger out on Zuoyan Xiaoyu.
From Song Bowen and the lanky youth’s point of view, the lass had acted arrogantly because of Yi Yun’s backing. It left them fuming with anger.
Now, bringing Zuoyan Xiaoyu out and ravaging her would give them a small spiritual victory.
If not, the sense of defeat Yi Yun had given them would be too immense. It was turning into a mental demon that plagued them. It could even affect their future breakthroughs. By venting their anger on Zuoyan Xiaoyu, it allowed them to redeem the situation slightly.
As for Yi Yun’s wrath, it did not worry them. Firstly, Yi Yun knew no one in Myriad God Ridge. It would be difficult for him to find news of Zuoyan Xiaoyu. Furthermore, a maidservant he only got to know for a few days was unlikely important. He would probably forget about her if he failed to find her.
Song Bowen never imagined that Yi Yun would be that violent when questioning others. Neither did he think that Song Yuanpin would be so cowardly to instantly inform Yi Yun of Zuoyan Xiaoyu’s whereabouts.
"Millions of miles..."
Yi Yun’s heart sank. How was he to pursue them when they had flown that far?
"In which direction did they go?"
"I... I do not know. I really do not know." Song Yuanpin said in a fluster. He was only a Miscellaneous Chores Department manager, so how could he know the experiential training destination of personal disciples? In order to prevent opposing sects from harming personal disciples, such things were absolutely confidential. Typically, only the disciple’s respective masters would know.
"Good, very good!"
Yi Yun was burning with anger as he stepped on Song Yuanpin’s face. The sorry man let out a squeal like a pig in a slaughterhouse. His facial bones cracked and his facial features were rampaged into a mess.
Killing Song Yuanpin was pointless. He was only a useless figure in the Song family. The people that wanted to harm Zuoyan Xiaoyu was Song Bowen and the lanky youth. No matter how he dealt with Song Yuanpin, it would not be able to appease his anger. Instead, it would give the Song family an excuse to attack him.
"Song Bowen, I seldom get disgusted by trivial figures, but you have succeeded."
Having practiced martial arts for decades, Yi Yun’s enemies were usually much stronger than he was. Occasionally, he would encounter an opponent of the younger generation, but he would step over them and overlook them in a lofty manner!
Song Bowen was nothing. He had been easily trampled by Yi Yun four days ago but now, he had disgusted Yi Yun greatly.
"Young Master, what do we do..." Duanmu Qingwen realized the gravity of the situation. Although she and Zuoyan Xiaoyu were competitors, they were both girls with the status of maidservants. She subconsciously treated Zuoyan Xiaoyu’s experiences as her own. To a girl, that was completely unimaginable.
Yi Yun took a deep breath. He was out of ideas at that moment, but he could not sit idly by as Zuoyan Xiaoyu was destroyed by Song Bowen. However, it was easy to infer that Song Bowen and the lanky youth would not be back any time soon. They were deliberately avoiding him, so it would be difficult to kill them!
With millions of miles separating them and without any inkling of direction, how was he to pursue them? Now, the only person that knew Song Bowen and the lanky youth’s destination was probably their master, Elder Taiqing. Unfortunately, it would be a joke to question Elder Taiqing.