"Little junior sister, I'll go take a look," Nangong Luo said, disappearing from the room.
"Second senior brother." Chu Lingwei followed him out, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Sensing the increasingly strong spiritual energy fluctuations outside the city, with more than just one or two cultivators in the Huatian realm, Chu Lingwei summoned her divine spatial flying artifact. Using spatial power, she concealed her aura and quickly headed towards the direction of the battle.
"Who are you people?" Yilan City Lord Yu Qixuan stared at the three Huatian realm cultivators before him, his heart filled with indignation. How dare they injure his youngest daughter!
"Get out of the way." An impolite voice called out, and spiritual energy simultaneously struck towards Yu Qixuan of Yilan City.
"City Lord, be careful!" The person behind Yu Qixuan quickly pulled him out of the way of the attack, summoned their spirit beast, and surrounded the three Huatian realm cultivators.
Facing three Huatian realm cultivators, Yu Qixuan knew they were no match for them. His voice softened, "Seniors, I wonder if I have offended you in any way? I beg you to enlighten me."
"Less nonsense, move aside." The Huatian realm cultivators had no desire to waste words with Yu Qixuan. Waves of spiritual energy were sent towards Yu Qixuan and his group.
"Who exactly are you, and why are you taking my daughter? What is your objective?"
Yu Qixuan was furious. These people had broken into his City Lord's mansion and abducted his daughter; how could he let them go?
"Seniors, forgive me."
Yu Qixuan gave his men a look, summoned their spirit beasts and artifacts, and began to fight the Huatian realm cultivators opposite them.
Although they only had one Huatian realm cultivator, the opposing group was clearly hesitant, not summoning their spirit beasts or using their artifacts. The two sides fought to a standstill for a time.
Yu Qixuan, eager to rescue his daughter, seized an opportunity to snatch her back. The opposing group noticed, and a beam of spiritual energy shot towards him.
Su Yan summoned his spirit beast, which bit down on the arm of the Huatian realm cultivator, saving Yu Qixuan.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist, for your assistance." Yu Qixuan said, still shaken.
"You're welcome. Why did they want to take your daughter?" Su Yan saw one of the three opposing figures tightly holding a young woman who had fainted. The girl was only at the Lingdong stage and seemed unremarkable.
"We don't know either." Yu Qixuan was puzzled. There were no signs, they said nothing, and just snatched her away.
Su Yan's brow furrowed. Without further hesitation, he engaged the opponents.
By the time Chu Lingwei arrived, Su Yan had already rescued the City Lord's daughter, and the three Huatian realm cultivators were all injured.
"Let's go."
The Huatian realm cultivator gave Su Yan a deep look and turned to leave.
"Weiwei, these are the people who tied me up in the Ten Thousand Miles Forest," the Phantom Cat's furious voice echoed from within the spatial artifact. It had not forgotten that it had almost been killed by their master two years ago.
"It's them." Chu Lingwei was surprised.
"Who?!"
Su Yan sensed a disturbance from within the spatial artifact and instantly appeared before Chu Lingwei, spiritual energy already gathered in his hand.
"Third senior brother, it's me, Chu Lingwei." Chu Lingwei inwardly chided herself for her carelessness and quickly spoke up.
"Little junior sister, why are you here?"
Su Yan saw Chu Lingwei reveal herself, standing on a flying sword, and sighed helplessly. "Isn't second senior brother with you?"
"No."
Chu Lingwei shook her head and stood obediently, awaiting her third senior brother's lecture.
"Two fellow Daoists, thank you for your assistance."
Yu Qixuan saw his daughter slowly regaining consciousness and walked over to thank Su Yan. Without his help, they would never have been able to defeat the three Huatian realm cultivators.
"You're welcome."
Su Yan turned his head and looked at the somewhat dazed City Lord's daughter, Yu Qiongyao.
"Do you know why they took you?" These three Huatian realm cultivators, unwilling to use their artifacts or summon their spirit beasts, were likely deliberately concealing their identities.
Yu Qiongyao shook her head. "I don't know. I don't recognize them at all."
"Did you hear them say anything?" Chu Lingwei walked to her third senior brother's side and looked at Yu Qiongyao. She was seventeen or eighteen, delicate, and very beautiful.
"Yes, Yao'er, think carefully. Did they say anything when they took you away?" Yu Qixuan nodded in agreement. His daughter had not joined any sect and rarely left the mansion; she shouldn't have provoked anyone she shouldn't have.
Yu Qiongyao rubbed her head, thinking hard. Suddenly, a thought struck her. "I think I heard them say something about the Young Master ordering them to bring something back."
Young Master!
The face of Zuo Aoran instantly appeared in Chu Lingwei's mind.
The title "Young Master" could refer to hundreds or thousands of people on the Xuántiān Continent, making it difficult to pinpoint.
"Esteemed Daoist, thank you for your assistance. May we trouble you to come to our mansion so we can express our gratitude?" Yu Qixuan said with a smile to Su Yan.
"Then we shall be imposing."
Su Yan intended to visit the City Lord's mansion anyway to investigate the intentions of those people.
Chu Lingwei followed her third senior brother to the Yilan City Lord's mansion. Just as they sat down, second senior brother Nangong Luo appeared in a swaggering manner, startling the mansion's inhabitants.
"This is my second senior brother," Su Yan stood up and introduced him to Yu Qixuan.
"Their objective was likely the City Lord's daughter." Nangong Luo appraised Yu Qiongyao with a glance. She possessed some beauty, but there were many more beautiful women. Why would those people go to such lengths to capture her?
Yu Qixuan wanted to exchange pleasantries with Nangong Luo but frowned upon hearing his words.
"Father, why did they capture me?" Yu Qiongyao trembled with fear, recalling the chilling aura emanating from those people and feeling a deep sense of dread.
"Don't be afraid, Yao'er. Father will never let them take you away." Yu Qixuan looked at his daughter with heartache and secretly vowed that if they dared to take his daughter, he would fight them to the death.
Seeing his daughter's fear, Yu Qixuan and the others couldn't come up with a plan for the moment. He ordered someone to escort Chu Lingwei and the others to their rooms to rest.
"Little junior sister, I told you to wait for us at the inn. How did you end up following us out?" Nangong Luo's face was stern. If his little junior sister was with their third junior brother, she must have snuck out. He knew his little junior sister was quite bold.
Chu Lingwei: "..." She thought that matter was over.
"Second senior brother, who do you think is behind this incident?" Chu Lingwei asked, instead of answering, her eyes showing a keen desire for knowledge.
Nangong Luo lightly tapped Chu Lingwei's head with his folding fan. "From now on, don't be so reckless."
"Yes, second senior brother's lesson is well-taken. I won't do it again," Chu Lingwei rubbed her forehead where she had been tapped and communicated with the Phantom Cat in the spatial artifact. "Catty, think carefully. When you were captured, did those people reveal their identities?"
"I only heard one of his subordinates call him Zuo Yi." The Phantom Cat tried hard to recall. When Weiwei rescued it, Zuo Aoran had ordered his subordinate Zuo Yi to check the situation.