Chapter Forty-Nine: The Assault of the Dark Sorcerers

At that moment, Lord Ning Jiu was furious. Rolling up his sleeves, he roared, “Second Brother, you’ve got issues with Seventh, but taking it out on your nephew’s wife? Are you looking for a beating?”

“Enough! Do you two have to argue every time you meet?” The eldest Lord Ning, head aching, barked at them before gently urging Yu Youwei to quickly take Ning Mofei to the Hall of Eternal Clarity.

Yu Youwei managed to bring Ning Mofei into the Hall and headed straight for the western wing.

Old Madam Mu still sat there, her eyelids drooping. Yu Youwei burst in and said, “I need to see the Ancestor—Mofei is dying!” Without so much as lifting an eyelid, the old woman activated the formation that opened the passageway.

Once inside, the formation sealed off all outside sound, leaving the corridor in utter silence. The luminous pearls above glowed with a gentle white light, illuminating Ning Mofei’s lifeless face, around which a faint black mist seemed to coil.

They rushed down to the second underground level and stopped before the ornately carved stone wall that blocked the way. Yu Youwei set Ning Mofei down and walked back about ten meters, feeling along the wall in hopes of stumbling upon the portal to the study.

“What are you looking for?”

The old woman’s voice echoed in Yu Youwei’s mind. Without thinking, she replied, “The study’s portal.” Only then did she realize—if this old woman could sense what was happening on the second basement level from above, and not through borrowed means but by her spiritual perception alone, then her powers must be formidable indeed. No wonder such a critical place as the Hall of Eternal Clarity had no visible guards!

In a blink, Old Madam Mu appeared before her. She briefly felt along the wall, and a door-shaped glow appeared.

“The old man has gone out to visit a friend and won’t be back for half a month. If you need someone to heal the boy, you’ll have to find someone else,” she said coolly, then vanished.

“If the Ancestor left without telling anyone, just say he’s gone to gather medicine for Mofei,” Yu Youwei said, knowing the old woman could hear. With that, she carried Ning Mofei through the portal.

Entering the grand, temple-like study, she set Ning Mofei on the wooden divan in the center of the room and finally let out a breath.

Ning Mofei was utterly lifeless, like a frozen statue of jade. A faint black haze coiled over his body; his temperature was even lower than during his cold poison attacks, yet he showed no sign of pain, only the tranquility of sleep.

Sitting at the edge of the divan, Yu Youwei recalled the moment he’d stepped forward to shield her from the flying broken sword. She reached out, brushing the hair from his brow, her fingers tracing his features. With a gentle sigh, she murmured, “Fool, you must get through this. If you do, I’ll play fairy games with you.” To pledge herself was to vow a lifetime together—and this was her promise for life.

Meanwhile, back in the western wing above, the eldest Lord Ning carried Ning Guodong to the door but dared not barge in. Standing respectfully at the threshold, he said, “Old Madam Mu, my seventh brother is gravely injured. Please inform the Ancestor.”

Old Madam Mu answered coldly, “He’s gone, searching for medicine for Mofei.”

The eldest lord had no doubt, thinking he’d delayed too long examining his brother, and the Ancestor had already left in haste. This only convinced him further that Ning Mofei was near death, for even the Ancestor had departed so urgently to find a cure. If even he believed it, then no one in the entire Ning residence would doubt that Ning Mofei was at death’s door, and that the Ancestor had left to seek life-saving medicine for him.

Night fell, but the city of Jiangning grew only more lively. The aftermath of the auction house incident meant the entire city was under curfew and search.

The Ning family reigned supreme in Jiangning, and though the imperial family represented by Xiang Cunxu wielded influence, it paled in comparison to the Ning clan here, though it could not be ignored. The two sides often clashed—indeed, the woman in yellow who had mocked Ning Mofei in the Baodan Pavilion was Xiang Cunxu’s sister. This time, however, both sides worked together, turning Jiangning upside down in pursuit of the culprit.

They soon discovered that the traitor within the auction house was Lan Mei, but she had already escaped by the time they went to arrest her. Still, the massive raid that followed unearthed nearly a hundred of her accomplices who had been lurking in the city.

As night deepened, the manhunt raged on with renewed vigor—and then calamity struck the Ning family.

The northeast corner of the medicinal garden suddenly collapsed, and from the hole drifted a shadowy black beast, its silhouette looming larger in the swirling mist.

“What is that?” shrieked the garden’s young attendants.

“It’s a Black Witch’s creature! Those below Foundation Establishment, fall back! The rest, with me!” Ning Sixth Lord, well-versed in such matters, responded instantly, throwing a divine thunder talisman that flashed across the sky, making the giant shadow shrink back into the hole.

“What’s a Black Witch?” a young member of the Ning family asked.

“If you want to know what a Black Witch is—come closer and find out.”

A woman’s voice slithered out from the hole like a venomous snake, worming its way into the young man’s ears. He began to tremble, his face turning pale with fear.

The beast’s form became clearer. It was a cat-like demon, its mouth long and pointed, its back bristling with spines. Black smoke billowed from its jaws. A brave attendant rushed forward, swinging his hoe, but the moment he entered the black mist, his flesh began to rot away.

“The smoke is deadly poison! Activate the formation—we cannot let the poison spread!” Ning Sixth Lord shouted in alarm, but he was a step too late. The land swept by the black smoke was charred and lifeless. Though the medicinal garden had already been devastated by the little white bear, the surrounding ancient trees, once lush, withered and died beneath the poisonous haze. Worst of all, the monster had escaped the garden.

“Uncle Six, we must kill that creature!” a Ning family youth cried.

Knowing full well the beast would be no easy foe, Ning Sixth Lord had no choice but to rally the others to attack. No one dared close in, so they assaulted it from afar with their spiritual powers, waves of colored light crashing over the cat demon. Soon, one of its legs was severed, yet no blood flowed from the wound. Instead, the beast only grew more frenzied, its pitch-black eyes fixed on the group, spewing black smoke in a torrent.

“That’s a puppet controlled by a Black Witch!”

Chen Feng shouted, arriving with Ning Mofei’s elder brother, Ning Bowen, and others.

“So it’s a Black Witch. But what rank, I wonder?” Ning Bowen asked. He was no stranger to such things. He knew that the Black Witch sect specialized in turning corpses into puppets with their secret arts. A high-level Black Witch could control over a hundred puppets; a mid-level, half as many; a low-level, only one.

The ground of the medicinal garden trembled, a wave of cold, sinister energy radiating outward from the dark pit.

“Whatever you do, don’t try to be a hero. Zhongwen, have your people fall back—leave the Ning estate and figure out a plan later,” Chen Feng warned. “Judging by the strength of this cat demon, its master is likely a high-level Black Witch. If you’re tainted by its soul-devouring smoke, you’ll be crippled at best, if not dead.”

Ning Sixth Lord declared proudly, “The sons of the Ning family will live and die with our home!” His closest followers stood firm, and seeing this, Ning Bowen drew his sword and joined them.

“Don’t be fools! A Black Witch is no ordinary enemy!” Chen Feng shouted desperately.

“If you’re scared, then run for your life,” Ning Sixth Lord sneered. But he would soon regret it.

[Author’s note: Every bit of support, whether collection or otherwise, is the driving force behind Bing Yan’s writing. Feel free to join the group 246088379 for discussion. Bing Yan’s computer will be online during the day.]