Chapter 269 - Powerless To Defend
Chapter 269: Powerless To Defend
Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
The turn of events surprised everyone, including Liang Yijie and Yan Liqiang.
Liang Yijie, who had already gained the upper hand with victory within his grasp, was suddenly thrust into a new role. The arrow which shot Xu Lang instantly forced Liang Yijie to face a thousand accusing fingers.
Most people were blind followers; only a few could truly grasp the details and circumstances of the battle between Xu Lang and Liang Yijie. For most of the audience standing below the Arena of Life and Death, this was merely a show to them. Quite a number of them were even spurred on by the surrounding atmosphere the moment they saw Xu Lang get injured by an arrow that came from outside the Arena of Life and Death, and they immediately attacked Liang Yijie with criticism.
Yan Liqiang was one of the people who understood the entire situation. At that time, Liang Yijie could have killed Xu Lang on the spot in the next moment. So why would Liang Yijie even need anyone to interfere from the outside? Besides, he wasn’t that kind of person.
In that split second, only two words flashed across his mind — a conspiracy! Liang Yijie would be powerless to defend himself if Xu Lang were injured by an arrow at a time like this.
“Out of the way…!” After looking in the direction where the arrow had come from, Yan Liqiang was the first to respond. He let out loud yell and promptly ran toward that direction. At a time like this, the only way to prove Liang Yijie’s innocence was to catch the culprit who shot the arrow. Other people might not have figured out where the arrow had come from yet, but Yan Liqiang was able to immediately determine that with his keen sense.
The arrow was released from a window on the third floor of an inn in the distance. The inn was located at a far intersection down the street, about 150 meters away from the Arena of Life and Death.
Under the influence of some contentious people, the onlookers near the Arena of Life and Death surged toward Liang Yijie while yelling. The traffic on the road was impenetrable. Yan Liqiang yelled and bolted toward the surging crowd. With just a push, the first two people at the front fell down with a surprised yelp. Like dominoes, the seven or eight people behind them also fell. Yan Liqiang’s physical strength simply wasn’t something they could withstand.
After pushing away a few more people in the surging crowd, the tips of Yan Liqiang’s feet left the ground as he leaped high up into the air, traveling a few zhang. When he was about to land after leaping over ten meters, his foot lightly landed on the shoulder of one of the riled-up onlookers below him. He then switched seamlessly from the Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps technique to the Cloud Dragon’s Ten Transformations technique. Before anyone from the riled-up crowd below him could even react, Yan Liqiang’s silhouette flashed like a lightning bolt and passed the large noisy crowd of onlookers. Landing on the street away from the crowd, he galloped in the direction of the inn, each stride carrying him a few zhang forward.
Yan Liqiang’s figure swept past the hundred-meter-long street swiftly like a gale, causing the pedestrians to cry out in alarm.
In just the space of a few breaths, Yan Liqiang arrived at the inn. Instead of going in and bolting upstairs, he went directly below the room on the third floor and made a leap. His figure swirled into the air like a transforming Cloud Dragon. Then he landed on the window ledge more than ten meters above the ground, on the third floor of the inn which faced the street. He punched through the tightly-shut wooden window, shattering it into countless pieces. The fragments of the window blasted into the room. Following the blow he delivered, Yan Liqiang also went inside the room through the broken window.
There was no one in the room. The door was shut but left unlocked. Only a longbow and two arrows were scattered on the ground.
Yan Liqiang immediately made a beeline for the door, pulled it open, and rushed into the inn. After turning a corner, he heard movement. It was a servant who was about to come check up on the room. Before the servant could even open his mouth, Yan Liqiang grabbed him and questioned him loudly, “The person who stayed in this room just killed someone, where is he?”
Yan Liqiang’s appearance startled the servant. His arm strength even anchored the servant in place. If Yan Liqiang directly inquired about the person who stayed in that room, the servant might not necessarily answer him right away. However, as soon as he heard from Yan Liqiang that the person had killed someone, his countenance changed as he promptly pointed downward. “T-The… guest just went downstairs and left the inn through the back door…”
“What was he wearing?”
“Short gray robes…”
Yan Liqiang released the servant when he heard that. He charged downstairs and went out the inn’s back door.
Outside the inn’s back door was an alley that was about a few meters long. However, there was not a single soul in the alley. Yan Liqiang rushed out of the alley and found himself on a street. The street was crowded with pedestrians. Looking around, he saw no one dressed in gray nearby. That person was long gone, like a drop of water which had disappeared into the ocean…
Another figure appeared beside him. Zhang Rui had rushed out from the alley behind him. “Did you find him?”
Yan Liqiang cast a glance at him, shook his head, and spoke regretfully, “I couldn’t find him. He escaped!”
When Yan Liqiang ran to the inn from the Arena of Life and Death, he spotted Zhang Rui’s figure dart out from the crowd like a fish after him. Zhang Rui probably figured out what was going on after seeing the situation in the guestroom.
Both of them quickly returned to the inn to question the servants and owner of the inn. From there, they discovered that the guest on the third floor had checked in two days ago. As for his facial features, neither the servants nor the owner could provide a clear description. All they knew was that he had a bushy beard…
Bushy beard? Yan Liqiang secretly shook his head. This was the easiest and simplest disguise to fool people. It seemed like the culprit had come prepared.
……
The entire chase lasted less than three minutes. By the time Yan Liqiang and Zhang Rui returned to the Arena of Life and Death, the place was filled with angry shouts from the surrounding audience. The crowd was furious and Xu Lang seemed to have fainted from his injury. Liang Yijie’s explanations were completely drowned out at this moment.
“HOW DESPICABLE…!”
“HOW SHAMELESS!”
“I didn’t expect Sun Bingchen’s guard to be this kind of person…”
With just a glance, Yan Liqiang could tell that quite a number of people were influencing the emotions of the other onlookers within the crowd. However, there was nothing he could do at a time like this.
Liang Yijie was talking to a law enforcer about something in dismay, but the law enforcer firmly shook his head. “Guard Liang, I think you should follow us to the Law Enforcement Office. Otherwise, it will make things difficult for us. This is the rule…”
“Liang Yijie was already winning just now. Why would he need to play dirty like that…?!” Yuan Beihong yelled indignantly.
The law enforcer shook his head. “I didn’t say Guard Liang did it. However, someone has been schemed against and gotten injured on the Arena of Life and Death. The rules have been violated. Therefore, it is only appropriate for Guard Liang to be taken in for questioning…”
Yan Liqiang went over to Liang Yijie’s side and told him about the discovery he made at the inn in a soft voice.
Liang Yijie patted Yan Liqiang’s shoulder and nodded to him. He announced loudly, “Brother Yuan, say no further. I, Liang Yijie, would never commit such disgraceful act. A man of moral integrity does not fear any slanders. There’s no harm in me paying the Law Enforcement Office a visit!”