Rebirth: The Time-locked Girl
Chapter 124 He is the Supreme Martial Arts Master who makes Jianghu tremble at the mere mention of his name! [2 more - s]

Chapter 124: 124 He is the Supreme Martial Arts Master who makes Jianghu tremble at the mere mention of his name! [2 more Chapters]

The dry night wind surged, parting the clouds to reveal the moon hidden behind them.

The moonlight tinted the girl’s eyebrows and eyes with a silvery-white hue, as if coated with a layer of frost, piercingly cold like snow.

This was an exceedingly stunning face, unforgettable at a glance.

Yet the imposing aura emanating from the girl forcefully overshadowed the impact of her appearance at this moment.

"Thud!"

Mang Hu’s heartbeat abruptly stopped.

In the face of such a countenance, he found himself devoid of any distractions or desires, left with only fear.

"Tell me, how do you want to kill me?" Ye Wanlan’s expression remained calm, "If you can satisfy me, I might just cooperate with you."

Upon hearing this, Mang Hu realized that the girl in front of him was the very Ye Wanlan he had been talking about at length, but he found it somewhat unbelievable.

Could someone who could seamlessly control their imposing presence be mingling in the underworld as a body double?

But of course, the intelligence couldn’t be wrong. Was there a problem then?

Mang Hu shook his head and snapped back to reality, only to find the situation somewhat amusing.

No matter how formidable the presence, isn’t she just a young girl?

The number of lives he’d taken was probably greater than her age!

"Ye Wanlan, I must say you do have courage to come find me here on your own." Mang Hu chuckled, "To commend this courage, I’ve decided—"

"Bang!"

Ye Wanlan did not give Mang Hu the chance to finish speaking; she lifted her leg and delivered a roundhouse kick, knocking the nearly 1.9-meter-tall bruiser to the ground.

She looked down and asked indifferently, "With so much nonsense, how are you still alive?"

Ye Wanlan was still wearing those high-heeled shoes, but instead of hindering her mobility, they seemed to enhance her striking power.

As Mang Hu lay on the ground, the practiced fighter was unable to get up immediately; he felt intense pain throughout his body.

It was as if, just like described in martial arts novels, a mysterious acupoint had been struck, affecting his whole body when only one part was disturbed.

He tried to rise, but his knee was pinned down by an 8cm high heel.

The heel pierced into his flesh like a sharp blade.

Mang Hu screamed, sweat beading on his forehead from the pain, and even at this moment, he couldn’t fathom how he had been taken down!

Ye Wanlan’s eyes remained detached, without the slightest ripple on the surface, but she had quietly applied her inner strength underfoot.

With a "crack," the bones in Mang Hu’s knee shattered just like that.

A more tumultuous and overwhelming pain surged like a tide, causing him to howl loudly, feeling as if his left leg had lost all sensation.

But Ye Wanlan remained indifferent and even turned her head aside to politely inquire of Bing He and Tie Ma, "Gentlemen, do you want his leg broken like this, or do you have other preferences?"

"Yes... yes, yes!" Bing He watched, sweating coldly, shaking uncontrollably.

Three months ago, they came to Jiangcheng, a city not on the border and an international metropolis, with few incidents of violence; Bing He and Tie Ma had been quite idle.

This was his first time seeing Ye Wanlan take action.

In this moment, Bing He truly realized—

Ye Wanlan might appear elegant and gentle on the surface, but in reality, she was a violent killer, on par with their Young Master!

Bing He even felt some sympathy for Mang Hu. Of all people, why did he have to provoke these two?

"Alright, then the leg stays broken." Ye Wanlan withdrew her foot, and spoke indifferently, "You can take him away. I’m a little sleepless tonight, so I’ll go find your Boss to chat."

Bing He dared not refuse: "Miss Ye, this way, please."

Tie Ma covered the unconscious Mang Hu with a prepared sack and then hoisted the sack onto his shoulder, following behind Bing He.

**

In the darkness, a bucket of water was poured down, and Mang Hu gradually came to.

But as soon as he awoke, before he could fully open his eyes to see where he was, the shattered bones in his leg were struck afresh.

"Ah—!" Mang Hu couldn’t help but cry out in pain, tasting the flavor of rust in his throat as he struggled to breathe.

"Mang Hu, real name Tong Keli, born in Jiangcheng after the 1980s." A voice spoke in an unhurried tone, "Became an adopted son of Lord Yan at the age of eight, made a clean break ten years ago, but secretly he has taken the lives of dozens of innocent people..."

Mang Hu listened with a racing heart.

Who was the owner of the voice, and how did he know everything from Mang Hu’s life history to the exact number of lives he had taken?!

After finishing, Yan Tingfeng lowered his eyelids, summarizing gently with four words: "An unpardonable sinner."

"Who are you? Do you know who covers for me from above?" Mang Hu was both shocked and angry, "If you dare to touch me, Brother Xu won’t let you off the hook!"

"Who are you looking for?" Yan Tingfeng’s patience faded as he leaned down with a smile, "Xu Lu?"

His foot was precisely on Mang Hu’s hand, and a new wave of excruciating pain shot through him.

Mang Hu’s pain was now so intense that he couldn’t even let out a howl; he curled up, his limbs completely numb.

Yet, since he had been brought here, he hadn’t even had the chance to see this man’s face!

Despite the gentle tone of his voice, his actions were ruthlessly severe.

What had he done to provoke such a person?!

Yan Tingfeng methodically moved his foot away, "Deal with the rest. 723 Agency, collect his evidence of criminal activity and hand it over to the legal authorities."

"Yes, Young Master," Bing He snorted coldly and forcibly dragged away Mang Hu, who kept struggling.

Given Mang Hu’s deeds over the years, a death sentence wouldn’t be considered excessive.

Yan Tingfeng wiped his hands clean, then took out the long saber he always carried with him.

Ye Wanlan, who walked in holding a glass of juice, caught sight of the saber and her gaze became fixed, "This saber..."

Yan Tingfeng looked up and smiled gently, "What about this saber?"

"Nothing much," Ye Wanlan shook her head slightly, "It looks like an antique, quite aged."

"It is somewhat of an antique," Yan Tingfeng said with a light smile and a nod as he pushed forward the weapon that he never parted with and never entrusted to anyone else, "Want to touch it?"

Ye Wanlan placed her hand on the blade that radiated a cold light.

As if resonating, the blade trembled lightly, as though responding to something.

Ye Wanlan’s fingers traced from the edge of the blade to the hilt, and she couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, "A fine blade."

"A fine blade?" Yan Tingfeng raised his eyebrows, "But it has drunk the blood of not a few men."

"Weapons are for self-defense, not aggression," Ye Wanlan said indifferently, "One should cut down enemies if they exist."

Yan Tingfeng’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, "This is the first time I’ve heard such an opinion, but upon reflection, it doesn’t seem wrong."

"You just asked me about this saber, it made me think of the Master of Highest Heaven Tower," Ye Wanlan pondered for a moment before saying, "The unofficial histories write that he apprenticed under the Sword Saint, but used a saber as a sword, comprehending the Dao alone, his saber techniques peerless, considered the best in the world, his martial arts even surpassing that of his master, the Sword Saint."

This was not some tall tale from an unofficial history but intelligence passed to her by her Hidden Guard.

In the Jianghu of that time, when people spoke of a saber, they thought only of the Master of Highest Heaven Tower.

Still, the Master of the Highest Heaven Tower was truly a mystery, having never revealed his real name.

People of Jianghu respectfully addressed him as "Master," while those close to him within the Highest Heaven Tower would call him "Young Master."

Yan Tingfeng’s eyes grew more profound, but a smile still played at the corners of his lips, "There are such unofficial histories? This is my first hearing of them."

The official histories recorded very little about him.

Though the Highest Heaven Tower often interacted with the imperial court, and Ning Zhaozong even sent gifts numerous times, he was after all a figure of the Jianghu, and the court historians always only glossed over him superficially.

His apprenticeship with the Sword Saint would certainly not be found in the official histories.

Could an unofficial history filled with random nonsense have actually stumbled onto the truth?

But the vast and magnificent Jianghu of old was something that not even today’s most imaginative martial arts novels could depict a fraction of its splendor.

There were the Taiyi Medical Practitioners who could revive the dead and vie with the heavens;

The Masters of Great Purity who could strategize as if by divine foresight!

From the legacy of Chengning Dynasty’s founding marshal, sprang the Divine Strategy Military who swore to protect Shenzhou with eight thousand spears!

The Musician of Heavenly Sound who could mesmerize Fengyuan with a single dance or shake the world with a single composition!

And there were the two great sects of Mount Penglai and the Beiming Sect, inheritors of Taoist Art and Method, both sects having secluded themselves on their mountains for years, yet one could enact spells with mere words, and the other could manipulate the Yin-Yang and the Five Elements.

With the Six Great Sects at their forefront, coupled with a Sword Saint who roamed the world unpredictably, a grandiose and boundless Jianghu was outlined.

The power of the Ning Dynasty was indeed the greatest in the world, in no small part thanks to the Jianghu.

"There are, indeed, I’ve read many wild histories," Ye Wanlan raised her eyebrows, "Last time you mentioned liking Princess Yongning, so you should have also read her wild histories."

Yan Tingfeng shook his head, "I prefer to understand her through actual events; otherwise, it’s too illusory."

No one would now know that three hundred years ago, he had already come to know Princess Yongning quite well.

Their names had been brought up together many times; they were just shy of meeting.

Over the years, Yan Tingfeng had indeed felt regret.

Back then, he thought they were both young and that there would be many opportunities to meet in the future.

After all, as a Crown Prince, she was destined to take charge of the imperial court, while he, as the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch, would unify the Martial World; exchanges between them would undoubtedly be frequent, he could wait for the right moment.

But who could have anticipated that this wait would become an eternal one?

"What’s wrong?" Ye Wanlan spoke, drawing Yan Tingfeng’s thoughts back.

He regained his composure, his expression gentle, "It’s nothing. It’s quite late; I should escort Miss Ye back to rest."

**

The next day.

Lin Yue did not sleep well all night; every time he closed his eyes, he saw Lin Woyu with a face covered in blood.

At eight o’clock in the morning, he entered the First Hospital restlessly.

Upon discovering that Lin Woyu’s condition was completely normal, Lin Yue felt confused.

Could it be that things weren’t as he thought?

Lin Yue asked with caution, "Mom, did you sleep well last night?"

His question quieted the room.

Lin Woyu looked at him, "Why do you ask?"

Lin Yue opened his mouth, "I—"

"If you won’t say it, let me say it for you," Ye Wanlan, with her arms crossed, stood at the doorway, "Auntie, it’s like this."

"Shut your mouth, Ye Wanlan!" a panicked Lin Yue lunged forward to choke her.