I Can See Your Combat Power

Ying Hongyuan transported the unconscious Gong Zheng to the medical hall, while Hua Ji rode a horse carriage to the headquarters of the clan.

Before his retreat, Tang Luo had made it clear that if any matters concerning Star Pavilion, Yiqi Shanghui, or Mi Bai threatened their safety, they should be reported immediately without delay.

Gong Zheng was barely breathing, and Mi Bai had been kidnapped. If these were not considered emergencies, Hua Ji did not know what would be, so he hurried to the Tang Clan’s headquarters without even taking time to dress properly.

As the administrative hub of a powerful and prestigious clan, the headquarters was open around the clock. After announcing his name, Hua Ji was led to the retreat area by the clan’s warriors.

The person who received him was naturally one of the administrators of the headquarters, Tang Han.

“Steward, please excuse me. I am Hua Ji, the steward serving under Tang Luo. I have urgent matters to report to Tang Luo. I beg you to send the message for me.” Hua Ji bowed deeply, his face humble.

The young man who had been awakened looked annoyed and tired. He snappishly said, “Hua Ji, do you know what time it is?”

“Emmm… I am aware.” Hua Ji glanced at the bright moon hanging high in the sky and also looked quite distressed. Given any choice, he dared not disturb Tang Luo at this hour.

“Since you know, you should come early in the morning!” Tang Han coldly said, “Your young master is in retreat training, pushing himself to the limit every day. What kind of emergency makes you wake him up in the middle of the night?”

Retreat meant focusing on breaking through without distractions, while the retreat area was meant to block any unnecessary disturbances, especially for a martial artist who values night rest more than anything. Unless there was something extremely important, everything else should be done and communicated in the early morning.

When Tang Han decided to stand firm, his sternness and authority as a member of the Tang Clan came naturally. Hua Ji, having grown up as an orphan in the goodness hall, treated Tang Han’s words as orders. But thinking of Tang Luo’s instructions before the retreat and Gong Zheng’s current condition, he mustered the courage to kneel in front of Tang Han and said, “Respected steward, I truly didn’t mean to disturb the young master’s training. Tang Luo has instructed me not to delay in case of any emergency; I had no other choice but to come to him.”

After Gong Zheng fainted, Ying Hongyuan told Hua Ji that Gong Zheng had more than a dozen fractures in the upper half of his body and most of his meridians were broken. Even if he survived, he could become disabled. The person who hurt him must be a martial arts expert, proficient in shock and rush techniques, and capable of causing such injuries from a distance.

Ying Hongyuan provided a detailed analysis, but Hua Ji, being a steward with no martial arts knowledge, had no idea how serious the situation was. He could only note down everything accurately and report to Tang Luo.

Tang Han looked at Hua Ji’s determined face and coldly said, “If you insist, I can take you to the retreat area. But if your master blames you later, have you considered the consequences?”

The job at the retreat area had seen many faithful servants suffering losses. These servants didn’t realize what seemed like a big deal to them might mean nothing to their masters.

Many of them just followed their masters’ instructions, such as reporting any incident immediately. However, sometimes, just when they delivered the news, their masters were at critical moments of their training or breakthroughs, which would be interrupted and had to restart. Even though the masters would still meet their servants, they never met those servants a second time.

The idea of being woken up after being exhausted and finally falling asleep was infuriating too anyone. Hua Ji turned pale, although he wasn’t very smart, he loved listening to stories about the martial world since childhood and knew full well that his actions could upset his master. But thinking of Tang Luo’s orders and where he came from, Hua Ji made up his mind: “Please lead the way, steward. I will take the responsibility for the consequences.”

“Those words are enough.” Tang Han nodded, ordering the clan warriors to prepare the carriage.

The job at the retreat area was particularly demanding because a lot of the time, family members of those in retreat would cry and beg to see them. They often had happy reunions only to have the retreat residents complain about the stewards to the clan headquarters, arguing that if everyone could visit at will, then the retreat would lose its purpose — might as well stay at home.

Several previous stewards resigned because they couldn’t stand this kind of treatment. Benefiting from their experiences, ever since he took office, Tang Han only followed two rules regardless of who wanted to visit.

First, he would ask the retreat residents whom they wanted or didn’t want to see, and rarely made the decision himself. Second, even when a visitor wished to see the retreat residents, he would clearly state the potential risks and absolve himself of any responsibility.

This was the secret of Tang Han’s successful tenure as the manager of the retreat area.

He took Hua Ji on the beast cart and took to the sky. They headed towards the back of the clan’s mountain prison, where Tang Luo was in retreat, under the effect of the wind control technique.

The night-time valley was quiet and deep, the mountains were filled with the sound of flowing water, birds calling and insects chirping, and the occasional sound of the mountain shaking.

!!!

The sound of the mountain shaking?

Tang Han had an incredulous look on his face. Under the cold moonlight, a brawny young man with his upper body naked was standing in front of a cliff, repeatedly smashing his palms against a reinforced cliffside. Although there was no sign of his energy shaking the cliff, the palm prints on the rocks were getting deeper and larger.

Tang Han looked at the tranquil night, then looked down at the warrior who seemed tireless. He wore an expression of bewilderment.

Hua Ji, who seemed extremely nervous from the beginning, became even more anxious when he saw Tang Luo. He hurriedly shouted at Tang Han, “Steward, hurry, land the carriage.”

The noise of the carriage landing startled the young man who seemed invincible, standing in front of the cliff like a god. Luo turned around to see Hua Ji rolling and crawling towards him, shouting, “Master, there’s trouble. Mi Bai has been kidnapped, Steward Gong is in bad shape, We’ve got to do something.”

Mi Bai? Gong Zheng?

Tang Luo’s eyebrows furrowed, he waved his hand and said, “Don’t panic, tell me slowly.”

He knew Mi Bai was now a rising star in the world of calligraphy and painting in Xiling, but such a man who made only a few hundred gold a day shouldn’t attract any major figures. With Gong Zheng’s protection, he should be more than safe, so he really didn’t understand the connection between the two events.

When Hua Ji ran to Tang Luo, he finally found his pillar of support. He began to explain nervously about what he had heard in the Star Pavilion, like the sound of a bell in the secret passage, the seriously injured Gong Zheng, and Ying Hongyuan’s analysis. When he finished, Tang Luo managed to connect the series of events.

“Let’s go, to the Medical Hall!” Tang Luo put on his practice suit which he had thrown aside earlier and said to Tang Han, “Steward, would you please take us to the Martial Hall?”

Tang Han standing aside nodded and said, “Of course.”