The idea of a rough commoner trying to control a marquis was truly laughable, but when Yun Ye saw the servants lying on the ground moaning in pain, he couldn’t laugh anymore. The head of the Yun Family could certainly leave, but he couldn’t prevent this man from hiding in the shadows and harming the servants. Old Grandmother had no intention of leaving the house—this was her home, and it wasn’t the place of some savage to decide her comings and goings.

The servants had simply been injured by stones and weren’t poisoned. Ding Yanping’s despicable tactics successfully ignited Yun Ye’s fury. In all these years since coming to this world, he had encountered some formidable characters, but what gave this old bastard who was practically ready for the grave the right to threaten him so casually?

Putting on deerskin gloves, he retrieved a small bottle from a hidden compartment in his study. The bottle contained only a thin layer of powder, tightly sealed with a cork stopper. He struggled to pull out the stopper, used a cotton swab to dab the powder and applied it around the edges of his shoes. After confirming he had applied enough, he put away the bottle, donned his armor, and prepared to go out.

Xinyue was terrified. Having heard that a very powerful enemy had arrived, she wrapped her arms around Yun Ye’s waist and wouldn’t let him leave. The whole family could just stay inside the house—let’s see what that enemy could do about it.

This matter concerned Bai Yujing, and Yun Ye had no way to explain it clearly to them. Li’er had mentioned Bai Yujing intentionally or unintentionally several times, and seeing that Yun Ye was unwilling to discuss the topic, he hadn’t pressed further. The situation had become very strange—he had inadvertently borrowed a line of poetry from Li Bai, but who would have thought there really was such a peculiar place in reality? Quite a few people of great wisdom had died without even a proper burial while searching for this place.

Once Li’er learned the truth, the curtain would rise on a nationwide search for Bai Yujing. Back then, Xu Fu had been able to take three thousand boys and girls to Fusang—surely he wasn’t expected to lead people to the Americas? That wouldn’t do. Yun Ye had never planned to be a pioneer. Of the ancestors who immigrated to the Americas on the Mayflower, few had survived. He just wanted to live happily in Guanzhong until he died of old age.

Wu She needed to protect the entire family, young and old, to prevent the old thief from taking advantage of any opening. Shaking off the weeping Xinyue, Na Rimu’s eyes gleamed as she hung her good luck charm around Yun Ye’s neck. Men of the grasslands never knew fear. How could Na Rimu’s husband possibly be a coward?

“Don’t worry, a mere Ding Yanping can’t hurt me. The person who could kill me hasn’t been born yet.” Yun Ye surveyed the whole family. Since Ding Yanping wanted the jade token, he wouldn’t kill him as soon as they met. As long as he didn’t die, it would be Ding Yanping’s turn to die. At this moment, Yun Ye was quite confident.

Dan Ying smiled bitterly and said to Yun Ye, “You must not be overconfident. He’s a wily old fox. He’s familiar with about seventy to eighty percent of the world’s heroes. He’s a true fighter who’s earned his reputation. Those who underestimated him are all dead.”

Yun Ye laughed heartily, cupped his fists toward the people in the room, and strode boldly outside. Though his gait was heroic, his heart was pounding. Passing by the Buddhist hall, he saw Jue Yuan leaning against the doorway. With hands clasped together, Jue Yuan said, “Marquis Yun, this poor monk wishes you a safe return. I will pray before the Buddha and increase your blessings.”

“Monk Jue Yuan, I’ve never believed in Buddha. Put away your strange thoughts. I’m going right now to meet this Ding Yanping. If I die, at worst it’ll be mutual destruction. Bah! Anyone who thinks they can take advantage of me will end up regretting it for three lifetimes.”

Under the gate portico, Liu Jinbao had already led Wang Cai over. He himself was fully armored. Yun Ye embraced Wang Cai’s large head and rubbed it twice, whispering in his ear, “Brother, whether we two brothers survive today depends on whether you can run fast enough.”

Wang Cai pawed the ground and neighed loudly, as if answering. Yun Ye turned to Liu Jinbao and Old Zhuang and said, “Just buy me the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Make him chase me.”

Liu Jinbao, Old Zhuang, and the others all bowed in acknowledgment. Yun Ye never believed Ding Yanping was alone. If he stupidly charged out, he would definitely fall into a trap. The old fellow had injured the Yun Family’s servants precisely to force Yun Ye out.

Daring to blockade the Yun residence meant the old fellow had plenty of manpower. One person couldn’t go search for Bai Yujing. Actually, the simplest method would be to ask Li Chengqian for help. Wu She breaking through this sparse encirclement would be no problem at all. As long as the army surrounded them, even if he had three heads and six arms, he’d have to flee. But Ding Yanping would definitely set his sights on the Yun Family members. Without thoroughly resolving Ding Yanping, this matter would never end.

Outside the main gate, the marketplace was still bustling with people coming and going, business thriving. The estate workers still didn’t know what was happening around them. Seeing the marquis in armor, they assumed he was going to the military camp and consciously cleared a path.

Sitting on his horse, Yun Ye toyed with a jade pendant in his hand. Looking around, he called out loudly, “Ding Yanping, the thing you want is right here. If you’ve got the guts, come and take it.”

“Boy, you’ve got courage! For the sake of you being somewhat of a man, hand over the jade pendant and this old man will spare your life.” Not far in front of Yun Ye, an old man wearing a bamboo hat suddenly spoke.

The instant he spoke, Liu Jinbao, Old Zhuang, and several others fired their crossbows at the old man in unison. The old fellow seemed prepared—he grabbed two passersby to shield himself. After several muffled sounds, those two passersby had already been shot into pincushions. Seeing the crossbow bolts exhausted, Liu Jinbao drew his horizontal blade and charged forward roaring. At the same time, Old Zhuang’s chain hammer had already been released.

Yun Ye had no time to watch the outcome. He slapped Wang Cai’s rump, and Wang Cai immediately charged forward silently. He probably also sensed the danger—he didn’t even make his usual arrogant neighing, just lowered his head and charged forward fiercely.

With just one move, Liu Jinbao was sent spinning through the air. While kicking Liu Jinbao away, a short spear slid out from the old fellow’s sleeve. The spear tip flicked at the iron chain of the chain hammer, and the hammer, as large as a baby’s head, flew back in reverse, heavily smashing into Old Zhuang’s left shoulder. The lion-swallowing-beast shoulder guard immediately shattered into several pieces.

Seeing Yun Ye about to flee, Ding Yanping chuckled and gave chase. The remaining veteran soldiers desperately blocked his path. The marquis had said to hold the old fellow for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea—they had already decided not to care about their lives.

Unfortunately, before absolute strength, they didn’t even have the ability to delay him for a moment. Ding Yanping’s short spear only thrust a few times before their bodies began spurting blood. At this time, Yun Ye had only run ten zhang.

Ding Yanping pulled out a stone from his bosom and was about to throw it when a gust of fierce wind howled from behind his head. Ding Yanping hastily threw his body forward, and the sound of a weapon cutting through the air swept past him. Annoyed, he looked back and saw a burly monk wielding a mo dao, shouting as he chopped toward him again.

The blade was heavy and powerful. Ding Yanping didn’t dare meet its edge head-on and could only retreat again. He saw the monk going berserk, chopping at him stroke after stroke, as if determined to fight to the death.

“Old bastard, with so many people on the road, you could have grabbed anyone, but you had to grab my two martial brothers to use as shields. Now, you die for me!”

Qiu Ran Ke had come to the Yun residence today specifically to give Yun Ye a piece of his mind. He didn’t know the way and couldn’t let Li Jing know, so he went to a temple to find two martial brothers to bring him along. He had too many questions to ask Yun Ye. Who would have thought that as soon as they arrived at the Yun residence, his two martial brothers would be used as shields to block arrows? How could the proud and arrogant Qiu Ran Ke swallow this insult?

Liu Jinbao and Old Zhuang, spitting blood, grinned as they watched the marquis run far away. The other veteran soldiers also breathed long sighs of relief and began trying to stop their own bleeding.

Ding Yanping was extremely frustrated. After several thrusts forcing back Qiu Ran Ke, he howled toward the sky and listened carefully, but there was no response. Growing more anxious, he left Qiu Ran Ke behind, broke into a run, and chased down the main road.

Wang Cai carried Yun Ye galloping at full speed. This was the first time he had run with all his might. Yun Ye only felt the wind whistling constantly past his ears, trees on both sides of the road retreating in rows. Finally, he had a bit of the feeling of racing motorcycles in his past life.

Rounding a bend, Yun Ye heedlessly first triggered his crossbow bolts. He saw a blue-clad figure flash and dart behind a large tree. For some reason, there were also several corpses on the ground still bleeding.

He couldn’t worry about these things now. Running into the academy’s maze was the proper thing to do—otherwise, his life would be in danger. Only in the maze did he have a chance of taking down Ding Yanping.

After Yun Ye swept past the bend like the wind, the blue-clad person finally emerged from behind the tree, muttering, “Why does everyone want to kill me today?” As a constable, He Tianshang naturally needed to verify the identities of these people who had tried to kill him. Crouching on the ground to search the corpses was very necessary. He unceremoniously stuffed silver and copper coins into his bosom. Citizens and merchants of the Great Tang traveling had to have travel permits—otherwise they would be treated as vagrants. Very strange—these corpses didn’t have travel permits. The style of their clothing was also odd, not like Central Plains people, but more like fishermen.

While pondering these people’s identities, he suddenly heard footsteps. He had just stood up when he discovered a white-haired but vigorous old man standing before him.

“You killed these people?” The old man questioned arrogantly, completely ignoring his constable uniform. Just as he was about to answer, a gleaming short spear stabbed straight at his chest.

Even a clay figure has a temper, not to mention someone like He Tianshang who thought highly of himself. Today he had been repeatedly ambushed, and his fury had long been towering. Now even a slightly robust old fellow dared to be rude to him. They were all violent criminals who must be arrested and brought to justice. Going back, he’d have to dig into this—see if there was a criminal record. Perhaps he could solve several unsolved cases.

Only after they started fighting did he discover the old fellow really was a violent criminal. A short spear used with divine skill—it could actually attack him from all directions. Just as he jumped up, he discovered the short spear had already stabbed toward the soles of his feet. Greatly alarmed, he twisted his waist in midair and barely dodged the thrust, but his lower abdomen had already taken a heavy kick. His back slammed into a pine tree, the pain penetrating to the bone.