Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Attack and Rescue

Hong Yan, who had been idly stepping on stones in the backyard, walked out with confident and graceful steps after hearing these words.

The moment they met, she bowed naturally with a faint smile. "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Yan."

Maintaining his cold expression, Yan Ronglin suggested, "Why don’t the two of you join me?"

"Fellow Daoist Yan, how could you have the heart?" Chen Mo suddenly wrapped his arm around Hong Yan’s waist. "Perhaps... next time?"

The man subconsciously clenched his fists before relaxing them. "Fine! I’ll take my leave then!"

Seeing him turn and walk away, Chen Mo released his hold, chuckled softly, and said with a look of disdain, "Let’s continue."

"Fellow Daoist Chen, who was that just now?"

"A Spirit Fisherman of the Guan Spirit Pool, at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer."

"Sixth... Sixth Layer? Then why did he come here..." Hong Yan’s mouth fell open in shock. No wonder the imposing aura the man displayed moments ago had made her slightly terrified!

"Heh, don’t mind him!"

Chen Mo had a bad impression of this person from the very first time they met. Therefore, after being chased away by a drunken Yi Tingsheng two days ago, he hadn’t considered visiting his home to explain, nor did he take the matter to heart.

However, to his surprise, after just a single day, the man showed up at his door again, even inviting him out for food and drinks!

All of this was simply too strange!

Unsolicited courtesy usually hides sinister intentions. Under these circumstances, without a sufficient reason, there was no way he would accept the invitation. Not only that, Chen Mo had a strong premonition that the man might come again!

Turning back inside, he practiced the Ancient Zither for another hour before finally seeing off the Female Cultivator, Hong Yan. Left alone in his room, Chen Mo pondered his next planting plan.

Early the next morning, he activated the Curved Water Shadow Array once again, along with his two Talents, [Rapid Maturation] and [Gathering Spirit]. He planted five acres of Giant Bone Spirit Rice and five acres of Successor Rice, while the remaining land was fully utilized for Cyan Leaf Orchids and Yellow Spirit Grass Flowers.

Over the winter, the already sizable flock of Spirit Chickens and Spiritual Beasts had grown considerably. In just a year’s time, their physical size and food intake could fully rival those of mature adults. Furthermore, thanks to a long-term diet of Spirit Plants, their meat was equally tender, and their Spiritual Qi was far more abundant than that of average mature Spiritual Beasts. This reinforced his resolve to continue feeding them Spirit Plants.

He spent most of the day planting these seeds. Within the five-acre Spirit Field dedicated to the Giant Bone Spirit Rice, Chen Mo also sectioned off a five-square-foot plot and experimentally buried a seed that Yi Tingsheng had sold him. Having nurtured only fifteen seeds in total, and without knowing if or how they could be grown, it was best to conduct a trial first.

As evening approached, Hong Yan arrived as promised. Everything proceeded as usual, with no apparent abnormalities.

The following morning, a plainly dressed, slightly scruffy middle-aged man arrived at Chen Mo’s home. Chen Mo never expected that while Yan Ronglin didn’t show up, another Spirit Fisherman, Gao Qiang, would arrive instead?! Although his phrasing was different and his tone much more polite, his goal remained the same—to invite him over as a guest!

As a result, Chen Mo became even more vigilant. Unless he was a fool, how could he fail to see the conspiracy behind this? After politely declining the man’s offer, Chen Mo’s expression turned gloomy.

Sure enough, that very afternoon, something happened! Every day at 3:00 PM, Hong Yan would arrive as promised. Today, however, there was no sign of her even as the sky grew dark. Barring any surprises, she had most likely been intercepted halfway by those Spirit Fishermen! Chen Mo’s residence was not far from the Marketplace. Logically speaking, as long as they were still operating within the Marketplace’s vicinity, they couldn’t possibly disregard its rules; acting so recklessly would surely jeopardize their own safety!

Seeing the sky growing darker, Chen Mo changed into a black outfit and used Sword Control to fly away under the moonlight. In less than a dozen breaths, he arrived at the Fragrance Pavilion in the White Snake Marketplace.

Xia Wan, who was greeting guests at the door, was clearly a bit surprised the moment she saw him. "Fellow Daoist Chen, what brings you here?"

"Where is Hong Yan?"

"Didn’t Sister Hong go to find you?"

"She hasn’t returned?" Chen Mo furrowed his brows into a deep frown.

Meanwhile, Hong Yan was bound to a chair with coarse ropes. Her clothes were nearly shredded, and a cold whip was striking her frail body. Yan Ronglin’s eyes were dark and his expression cold. With every lash, he would ask, "Will you do it or not?"

"No!"

CRACK!

The whip lashed down fiercely.

"If you won’t do it, then die!"

She was just a whore from the Fragrance Pavilion; even if she was killed, no one would care. Hong Yan gritted her teeth. The injuries made her breathing erratic and her consciousness blurry, but she knew perfectly well that she would never do anything to betray Chen Mo or Song Yunxi! They wanted her help to administer poison? Impossible!

"I’ll ask you one more time. Will you do it or not!"

"Just kill me!" Hong Yan never expected that such a day would come.

To think her forty years of life would end in this manner... From the moment she lay on that bed, forced to receive her very first guest, she had buried the tears at the bottom of her heart. Since that day, her face had worn nothing but disguised smiles. Discarding all her dignity, she had relied on her body to climb step by step to her current position. That was until she met Chen Mo, an intriguing man who never lusted after her body... Now, in her fading consciousness, she seemed to see the two of them playing the Ancient Zither together, performing a harmonious duet...

CRACK!

A heavy and powerful lash of the whip struck down again, this time hitting Hong Yan directly across the face. The pain shattered her illusions, and finally... she fell unconscious.

"Stinking bitch!"

Yan Ronglin revealed a sinister look and pulled a dagger from his sleeve. Just as he was about to step closer, the sound of a door smashing open instantly rang out from behind!

SLASH!

A Long Sword shot forth, severing Yan Ronglin’s hand. In an instant, blood splattered everywhere!

"You’re courting death!" Song Yunxi was beyond furious. Pressing the edge of his sword against Yan Ronglin’s throat, he asked coldly, "What are you doing?"

Enduring the agony of his severed hand, Yan Ronglin gritted his teeth and shot back just as viciously, "Good! Good! Can a Pavilion Master injure people as he pleases?!"

"You were the one who broke the rules first!" Song Yunxi retorted.

Behind him, Chen Mo coldly watched the scene unfold. Bound to the chair, Hong Yan had already fainted, clearly having endured severe torture.

"Breaking the rules?" Yan Ronglin quickly sealed the acupoints on his arm and said calmly, "I paid money to have her entertain me. Is that breaking the rules? What, you enjoy coaxing respectable women into prostitution, but you won’t let me have a bit of rough fun?"

With that, he took a large bag of Spiritual Sand out of his Dou and threw it directly onto Hong Yan’s dying body.

"You saw it yourself. I gave her the money!" Yan Ronglin sneered. "Now get lost!"

"You!"

Song Yunxi was momentarily at a loss for words.

However, Chen Mo quietly walked over to Hong Yan and untied the coarse ropes binding her. He casually tossed the bag of Spiritual Sand off her onto the ground, scooped her up in his arms, and walked out.

"Brother Song, let’s go!"

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