Chapter 148: Strike!

It was impossible to tell the exact hour, but it was already quite late, and dinnertime had long since passed.

Whether obscured by dark clouds or pale mists, the silver moon cast a hazy glow tonight, making the night deeper and dimmer than usual.

As the saying goes, a dark night and a howling wind make for a night of murder—though committing murder inside Tianyang Academy was strictly out of the question; anyone attempting it would be skinned alive even if they somehow survived.

The door to Chen Bo's dormitory creaked open, and a file of five figures clad entirely in black filed out one after another.

Among them, one stood out distinctively: Guo Zi'ang. He was exceptionally tall, towering over Chen Bo and the others by a full head and shoulders.

Around each of their waists was tied a black storage pouch. Yes, even their storage pouches had been dyed black to match.

There were very few people outside at this late hour, and Chen Bo's group kept to secluded alleys, allowing them to move about undetected for the time being.

Once clear of the dormitory area, Chen Bo lowered his voice and said to Xin'er and the others, "I caught wind of some reliable intelligence earlier. Right now, Guo Liu and his pack of lackeys are inside building N of the academy."

Actually, the building N Chen Bo referred to was not one of those blatant establishments operating out in the open where talents displayed their arts and charms; such things were explicitly forbidden within Tianyang Academy.

However, wherever there is light, shadows inevitably follow, and every rule has its loopholes.

Consequently, a clandestine group of flesh-peddlers had taken root in the shadows of Tianyang Academy. Since they never openly claimed to be courtesans of the pleasure quarters, the academy instructors were at a loss as to how to deal with them immediately.

This had inadvertently given rise to a red-light district within Tianyang Academy. Naturally, affluent prodigals overflowing with restless energy and an obsession with women—such as Guo Liu—gravitated toward places like this above all else.

"Hmph! All men are rotten to the core!" Upon hearing that Guo Liu was in such a place, Yu Xin'er felt her face flush beneath her veil, and she immediately spat out a note of disdain.

"Hey, now, beautiful, you shouldn't paint everyone with the same brush!" Chen Bo protested. "I'm a man, and a good one at that. Look at me—I don't gamble, I don't chase women, and I don't drink. I am quite simply the finest gentleman under the heavens!"

However, catching sight of the murderous look in Yu Xin'er's eyes, he wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.

While he wasn't particularly intimidated by Yu Xin'er's cultivation level anymore, beating up a beautiful young maiden somehow felt a bit too heavy-handed.

Besides, Chen Bo held a deep fondness for Yu Xin'er; in his mind, she was his destined bride! Laying a hand on one's future wife was simply bad form.

"Brother Chen, are you certain this plan will work? I have a bad feeling it might not be entirely reliable. After all, those patrolling instructors at Tianyang Academy aren't pushovers. If we get caught by them, we're going to be in deep trouble," Bai Ge said with a hint of worry.

"Rest assured! I've devised a method that is exceptionally simple, highly effective, and only carries the tiniest fraction of danger, which will render those patrolling instructors completely irrelevant," Chen Bo declared with absolute confidence.

"What method?" The others all looked at Chen Bo with curiosity, asking almost in unison.

"Simple. I call this strategy 'Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain,'" Chen Bo paused, casting a mischievous glance at Bai Ge before continuing. "I need someone with top-tier lightness skills and footwork, and that person has to be you, Brother Bai. Among all of us, your footwork is undoubtedly the most extraordinary."

"All you need to do is stroll out onto the street, pick a few random people who strike your fancy, give them a good thrashing, and those patrolling instructors will inevitably show up to apprehend you. That's when your lightness skills will come in handy."

Bai Ge was no fool; the moment Chen Bo reached this point, he knew exactly what was being asked of him. "Brother Chen, are you saying you want me to be the bait?"

"My young friend, you are remarkably sharp! As long as you lead those nearby patrolling instructors away, the four of us will seize the opportunity to beat Guo Liu to a pulp. Then we'll rendezvous at our usual spot!" Chen Bo nodded and said.

"But why me?" Bai Ge asked, feeling deeply aggrieved. Having finally found a chance to teach that arrogant prodigal Guo Liu a lesson, he was now barred from participating in the actual beating. The frustration was hard to put into words.

"If not you, then who?" Chen Bo retorted rhetorically.

"The usual spot—where is that?" Dugu Yixiao, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke up.

Although his temperament was frosty—even colder than Yu Xin'er's—this was, after all, his first time participating in a sneak attack. Naturally, he felt a mild flutter of excitement.

"The usual spot is my dorm. Once we gather there, we will immediately destroy all tools of the crime so that no evidence is left behind," Chen Bo replied.

"Alright, move out!"

The five figures moved with blistering speed, their footsteps making not the slightest sound. Cloaked in their black garments, which blended seamlessly into the night, they moved completely unnoticed.

Upon arriving at the red-light district of Tianyang Academy, they found the area secluded yet brightly illuminated. With their acute hearing, they could even catch faint, stifled sounds of panting echoing through the air.

"Brother Dugu, go scout out exactly where Guo Liu is. Brother Bai, those instructors are counting on you to draw them away! Brother Guo, you're in charge of kicking the door open. Use some force, make it loud, and shock them right from the start."

"Xin'er, take care of those lackeys, and I'll capture Guo Liu."

No sooner had the words left his lips than Bai Ge and Dugu Yixiao bolted forward. Bai Ge charged out openly and brazenly, while Dugu Yixiao melted completely into the shadows.

Bai Ge dashed toward a wretched-looking fellow who was currently embracing a scantily clad woman, thinking to himself that this guy looked the most offensive.

With a flash, a silver steel pipe materialized in his hand. Leveraging the momentum of his charge, he delivered a light tap to the scoundrel's head, instantly knocking him unconscious as blood began to trickle from a scalp wound.

Needless to say, this steel pipe was crafted by Chen Bo, utilizing materials he had pilfered from Yu Shifei's artifact-refining chamber. Its durability was unquestionable—certainly much harder than the scoundrel's skull.

Having laid out one person, Bai Ge didn't stop. He swung the pipe toward a terrified Tianyang Academy student standing nearby.

Another opponent dropped to the floor. Fortunately, he held back a significant amount of strength; otherwise, that blow would have shattered the student's skull entirely.

"Blood! There's blood! Someone's being murdered! Help!" The woman in the scoundrel's arms shrieked at the sight of the pool of blood on the ground.

Before she could scream a second time, Bai Ge struck the side of her neck with a swift chop of his hand, rendering her unconscious as well.

Just as Bai Ge was scanning the area for his next victim to ambush, he suddenly felt two fierce gazes lock onto him.

Frightened, he hastily stowed away the steel pipe, reached into his storage pouch for a handful of lime powder, and scattered it into the air to obscure the surrounding vision. Then, throwing every ounce of his energy into his lightness skills, he fled headlong into the night.

Immediately afterward, two figures shot forward in hot pursuit, though their speed lagged slightly behind Bai Ge's. They had been momentarily delayed by the lime powder Bai Ge had thrown, allowing him to pull off a considerable distance.

Meanwhile, Dugu Yixiao returned from his scouting mission and said, "Found him. Follow me."

With that, he turned and strode back toward the red-light quarter.

Chen Bo and the others exchanged glances, slowly drawing steel pipes of varying lengths from their respective storage pouches, and hurried along in Dugu Yixiao's wake.