“The Crane Control Army has been quite unlucky lately,” Sui Yunzhu muttered.
It was more than just unlucky – they were hitting walls everywhere, facing obstacles in almost every mission. While there had been deliberate targeting before, this time it was truly just bad luck.
“When a person hits a streak of bad luck, even the heavens won’t let them catch a break,” someone chimed in unexpectedly.
Silence fell over the group.
They waited at the edge of the forest, some squatting, some standing. Their silhouettes in the night resembled tombstones of varying heights.
Chu Dingjiang returned after about an hour, his body emanating unrestrained killing intent mixed with the smell of blood. He looked like the Black Impermanence emerging from the underworld.
The outcome was obvious.
All seven remaining assassins at the Misty Mountain Villa’s hidden point had been eliminated. Wei Yuzhi’s whereabouts were unknown. This confirmed one piece of information about Wei Yuzhi for Chu Dingjiang – his spirit power had surpassed the third rank of the transformation realm.
Without anyone controlling it, the formation essentially lost its life. The Crane Control Army quickly escaped.
In this operation, the Crane Control Army sacrificed four shadows and killed fourteen enemies. But this ratio still angered the leaders of the Crane Control Bureau: How could there be casualties with a transformation realm expert and the Crane Control Army’s most skilled assassin present?! It was unforgivable!
So upon returning to the capital, Chu Dingjiang was demoted again. Some people couldn’t even tolerate his honorary position as Divine Martial Guard Captain. Meanwhile, Gu Jinghou, having gained the Emperor’s trust, was only fined one year’s salary.
Many people felt this was unfair to both of them. This was a trial, and according to the rules, the leaders Chu Dingjiang and Gu Jinghou couldn’t intervene. Even in a normal trial, it was virtually impossible to avoid any losses!
In the Crane Control Courtyard.
An Jiu was practicing punches in a small training room, her body drenched in sweat, accentuating her curves.
Chu Dingjiang sat cross-legged by the wall, cracking open five-spice peanuts. Seeing her stop, he asked while chewing, “The Mei family is famous for their plum blossom fist. Why are you practicing this cat-scratch-style punch?”
An Jiu retightened the bandages on her hands and glanced at him. “Eating peanuts can easily choke you, especially with your recent bad luck. You’d better be careful.”
“You’re deliberately trying to annoy me.” Chu Dingjiang slightly increased the pressure of his fingers, crushing a peanut to powder before putting it in his mouth. “Now I won’t choke.”
An Jiu continued practicing. After returning, she had gone to the Crane Control Courtyard’s library to look through many martial arts manuals. She found that almost every technique required a strong physique as a foundation, so she decided to temporarily set them aside and focus on training her body according to her methods.
“You’ve been practicing for two hours already.” Even Chu Dingjiang couldn’t stand her cruelty to herself and couldn’t help but remind her.
An Jiu didn’t respond. Each punch became more powerful than the last, her leaking killing intent making the back of one’s neck cold.
Two-quarters of an hour later, she finally stopped.
“Chu Dingjiang.” An Jiu crouched in front of him, her dark eyes staring directly into his. “Which army is my mother in now?”
Chu Dingjiang avoided her gaze. “I don’t know.”
“You do know.” An Jiu sensed his momentary hesitation. “Is she in the Feathered Forest Army?”
“No, but it’s similar.” Chu Dingjiang had originally feared that if he revealed the truth, she would also throw herself into danger to search for her mother. But since she seemed mentally prepared, he no longer concealed it. “The Dragon Martial Guard. They have similar responsibilities to the Feathered Forest Army.”
Finally, he asked worriedly, “You’re not planning to join too, are you?”
An Jiu clenched her fists tightly, veins bulging on the back of her hands. “I want to save people. I’m not trying to sell my body, so why would I throw myself into that?! Does Gu Jinghou also know my mother was slept with by the Emperor?”
“Cough cough cough!” Chu Dingjiang choked on a peanut and coughed a few times. “You’re a woman.”
An Jiu persisted in asking, “Does he or doesn’t he?”
“He’s the one who chose her. What do you think?” Chu Dingjiang said.
An Jiu thought of Gu Jinghou’s clear eyes and couldn’t understand how such a person could do something so disgusting. A mother and daughter serving the same man? And this Emperor had no restraint, not even sparing widows!
“So my mother has already been slept with by the Emperor?” An Jiu asked.
“I don’t know about that.” Chu Dingjiang wasn’t a close attendant to the Emperor, so how would he know which woman the Emperor slept with on any given day?
An Jiu slowly stood up and walked to the clothes rack to put on a cloak.
Mei Yanran’s gentle and beautiful face appeared in her mind. Her blood suddenly began to boil, and an inexpressible killing intent rushed to her brain. That long-disappeared madness suddenly returned. She grabbed a sword from the weapon rack and viciously slashed the clothes rack to pieces.
But it wasn’t enough! She wanted to destroy everything!
“Fourteen!” Chu Dingjiang saw her eyes turn blood-red and felt a shock in his heart. This spiritual power clearly showed signs of demonic possession.
An overwhelming killing intent instantly covered the entire Crane Control Courtyard. Everyone felt it.
Boom!
A huge sound erupted as a large section of the Crane Control Courtyard’s training room collapsed. Billowing dust rose to the sky.
Several instructors rushed over at the sound.
“What happened?” The Earth Instructor squeaked.
The massive killing intent disappeared, and everyone relaxed, starting to chatter among themselves.
A figure emerged from the dust cloud, and everyone fell silent, trying to discern who it was.
As the person descended the stairs, they saw it was Chu Dingjiang carrying a blood-covered woman.
“Commander Chu, what happened?” the Sky Instructor asked.
“The training hall was old and in disrepair,” Chu Dingjiang said flatly before striding away with An Jiu in his arms.
Chu Dingjiang couldn’t think of any way to conceal the truth. This flimsy excuse was merely to avoid publicly disrespecting the Sky Instructor.
That afternoon, Chu Dingjiang was summoned back to the Crane Control Bureau. The reason: is suspicion of showing signs of demonic possession.
The Crane Control Army didn’t reject the demonic path, but the personalities of those who practiced demonic cultivation inevitably became extreme in some aspects. Thus, they needed to be closely monitored to prevent them from losing control during missions.