The Green-faced Five Poison Disciple was indeed not someone of Chen Jiu’s caliber, merely grunting before forcefully suppressing the injury caused by the Five Elements within his body and flinging a handful of powder with a backhand sweep.
Yan Wushuang pursued, her hands waving lightly, sending out a gust of palm wind.
The powder, stirred by the palm wind, changed direction and landed on a wall, where it corroded numerous tiny holes, emitting a sharp noise and white smoke like sulfuric acid.
’This substance is so poisonous, truly worthy of the Five Poison Sect.’
Zhong Shenxiu swiftly dodged to the side, saw the Green-faced Disciple take the opportunity to flee into the courtyard, vanished behind a wall, no longer in sight.
Yan Wushuang immediately followed in pursuit.
At that moment, they heard screams coming from the side.
It was from the direction of the Nine Elements Sect disciples.
Several of them had been attacking a Five Poison Sect Disciple with swords, only to be caught off guard by his Snake Manipulation Fist, injuring one of them.
Han Xing, enraged and frenzied, attacked vehemently with his sword on his own. After thirty moves, his opponent seized a weak spot and splashed a handful of poison powder on his face.
He was now rolling on the ground, his face covered, screaming in agony.
His face was filled with pus and blood, clearly disfigured.
’Isn’t this worse than having sulfuric acid thrown in your face?’ Zhong Shenxiu watched with trepidation but saw Han Xing struggle a few times before going still.
Clearly, the poison powder was not just disfiguring; it choked off his breath and blood, claiming his life.
Several Nine Elements Sect disciples screamed shrilly; one of them rushed forward desperately only to be killed by a poisonous palm strike from the Five Poison Sect Disciple, while the others let out a cry and fled outright.
"To flee from the enemy is a crime worthy of death!"
Yan Wushuang, her expression stern, moved with agility like a fleeting shadow. She arrived in front of these escaping Nine Elements Sect disciples, swiftly dispatching each one to death.
Then, she faced the remaining Five Poison Sect Disciple.
The Five Poison Sect Disciple, aware of the threat, didn’t dare to fight head-on and turned to flee as well.
He burst into a residence, and from a corner, a crying sound could be heard.
That was a small boy, dressed in fine silk and wearing a golden longevity locket.
He appeared to be a young relative of the Tian Family.
Amidst the chaos, the face of the Five Poison Sect Disciple took on a sinister expression as he grabbed the child and hurled him towards Yan Wushuang.
Yan Wushuang, with her Qinggong, could easily dodge, but the child would be doomed to a terrible fall.
Seeing this, Yan Wushuang enclosed her arms and exerted a soft force, deftly catching the small boy and spinning on the spot to dissipate the momentum from the boy’s body.
The Five Poison Sect Disciple thought he had succeeded and, seizing this rare opportunity, attempted to climb over the wall and flee.
But just as he was scaling the wall, he saw a figure on the other side delivering a palm strike.
He clenched his teeth, ready to endure the hit to escape immediately, not to be caught by the Goddess Constable behind him.
However, after the palm strike, the Five Poison Sect Disciple’s expression changed dramatically, clutching his chest, struggling to draw breath and falling from the wall.
The Heart Fire Palm of the Five Elements Thief Palm!
Zhong Shenxiu descended gracefully from the wall, looking at Yan Wushuang with a jesting smile, "Who would have thought that the Goddess Constable had such a merciful heart..."
This Tian Family had already been confirmed as a den of thieves, and if the entire household were to be executed, no one would cry foul.
"I swore an oath to administer justice fairly, to not overlook the sinister and not wrong the innocent."
Yan Wushuang put down the little boy, "The Tian Family harbored criminals and must be prosecuted, but this child’s crimes do not warrant death..."
"Perhaps... or maybe, better dead than alive."
Zhong Shenxiu shook his head.
This pampered little fellow would, in the future, perhaps face the fate of having all his family members executed and the family assets confiscated—indeed, living could be more painful than death.
At that moment, a constable came hastening over, "The Tian residence has been cleansed, the relevant personnel have been arrested, and two Five Poison Sect disciples who tried to flee were killed by archers on the perimeter!"
Soon after, hordes of constables methodically searched the house, keeping the wailing Tian Family members under close watch to one side.
In the great courtyard of the mansion, an assortment of gold and silver items were piled high.
At the forefront were several bodies of Five Poison Sect disciples.
Zhong Shenxiu glanced over and noticed something was amiss.
The Green-faced Five Poison Sect disciple was not among them.
"The Green-faced Five Poison Sect disciple was first struck by one of my techniques, then by your palm, he must be seriously injured. Send out the order and tell the searching constables to be careful."
Yan Wushuang glanced at the disfigured corpse of Han Xing and couldn’t help but sigh, "The Five Poison Sect truly lives up to its reputation as a major sect; even an ordinary disciple is so ferocious..."
In the time he had been involved, Zhong Shenxiu had also gained some insight, knowing that the world’s sects and noble families recognized the imperial court as the foremost authority.
Thereafter, in order came the Second Stone Buddha Temple, the Third Evil King Sect, the Fourth Six Void Sect, the Fifth Five Poison Sect, the Sixth Langya Wang Family, the Seventh Lingnan Song Family, the Eighth Su Yin Sword Sect.
The Five Poison Sect being ranked fifth is no small matter.
"These seven major sects and noble families, even though the imperial court could muster its full strength to destroy any one of them, it would also suffer a great loss to its own vitality, risking being wiped out by the remaining powers joining forces. Therefore, the court dares not make a move, and the remaining seven also have their own stances on justice and evil, maintaining a fragile balance. This is the current state of affairs in the Jianghu Martial Arts."
He thought to himself about these matters when suddenly a constable hurried over to report, "A secret passage leading outside the village has been discovered, it has poisonous traps inside, and one of our brothers has already sacrificed his life..."
Yan Wushuang’s eyebrows shot up, "Issue an official warrant immediately for the arrest of that Five Poison Sect disciple, description: blue patterned face..."
’This really ended up being a half-baked affair...’
Zhong Shenxiu watched the dispirited action of the constables and felt somewhat dissatisfied.
The ordinary constables who had been summoned from the County Government to do the grueling work were delighted at the sight of such a massive windfall and couldn’t stop beaming.
After busying themselves for half the day, the group returned to Anshan City.
Yan Wushuang first arranged things for Divine Capture Sect constables and people from the Nine Elements Sect, then found Zhong Shenxiu and tossed a scroll of martial arts techniques his way, "The Metal Lung Chapter..."
Zhong Shenxiu reached out to catch it, his heart leaping with joy.
"This Five Elements Thief Palm only reveals its myriad uses when all five elements are combined, but due to the rules of the Divine Capture Sect, without joining us, the last Chapter remains elusive..."
This was an open strategy, and she spoke without any psychological burden.
"Let me consider this."
Zhong Shenxiu knew the bait was set and his face showed his struggle.
"Adding fresh blood to the Divine Capture Sect is something every arrest officer does, and indeed I can’t bear to see your natural talent go to waste..."
Yan Wushuang seemed sincerely earnest, "Joining the Divine Capture Sect, you have the imperial court as a support, and not only that but you gain access to profound martial arts teachings. The blood exchange might be a great challenge, but the truly closely guarded technique is the Marrow Refining Secret Technique... Should you remain outside, you have virtually no hope of advancing to Grandmaster status, to have your name on the Earth Ranking... but the Divine Capture Sect has all these!"