The aura behind the words indeed made the combatants stop.
Turning towards the direction from where the shout was heard, Wu Guang saw the person who had commanded them.
Sure enough, it was a local expert, or at least his 6th level Soul Realm cultivation made it possible to be called as one.
It was a woman that looked in her early forties, but Wu Guang senses said him that she was at least twenty years older than that. Her attire was also strange, a short robe and pants made of simple cloth. Still, considering her cultivation and the silver sword hanging from her waist, nobody would dare mention that such clothes were not womanly.
"You two, how do you dare fight in my port district? If you have grudges to settle, take them to the arena!" Noticing that the two youths stopped and broke up distance she berated them.
"Senior, I am sorry to disrupt the peace but this Three Hills inner disciple wounded my companion without provocation" Sensing that the situation was bad, the prideful Leaf Shadows young master formed an apologetic expression and lied
Wu Guang did not react except with a small scowl after hearing such lie. After all, there were at least a hundred people present around that could dismantle it right away.
Surprisingly nobody of his team or the caravan spoke either, albeit this was understandable as all of them had received such instruction from Elder Di via qi transmission. As for Wu Guang, he also received one. Which stated that he should explain the matter truthfully if asked, but otherwise don't speak.
"Are you sure of that being the truth?" The woman's question had a slight indication of the fact that she did not believe such an explanation.
Wu Guang's intuition told him that it was so, as otherwise, how could she stop the fight right in time?
Regretfully, the guy surnamed Wang did not understand such indication and so in panic dug even a deeper pit for himself
"Yes, yes, senior. I am telling the truth, ask anyone!"
"Hmm" The woman's expression did not show anything for a brief moment before suddenly she flared and released her aura. Her aura of a Soul cultivator was really powerful, especially when used against one Spirit realm cultivator
"Do you take me for a fool with no eyes and ears?!"
"N.."
"Shut up! And talk only when I permit you to do so. You two obviously provoked the people from the Three Hills Sect and even attacked first. Initially, I just wanted to stop the fight and let you all go... But, lying to me? You are courting disaster!" Without giving a chance to speak, the woman spoke. And as Wu Guang intuition told him initially, she indeed knew what had happened.
None of the present people had dared to move away. They neither dared to speak loudly, but from some hushed talks, Wu Guang managed to determine the identity of the woman. She was Lady Shenlan the harbormaster, renowned captain, and one of the strongest experts in the city.
"Considering that you are from the younger generation and your origin, I will not look much into the matter"
"Thank..."
"Sea devils, did I permit you to speak?! As I said, I will not bicker with you about the matter, but you have three hours to grab your stuff and get the fuck out from the district" Lady Shenlan lost her temper after being interrupted, and not only her tone grew angry and she swore, but even her aura changed. If before it was lightly repressing this core disciple Wang, it grew up in intensity.
To such a point that the latter started to bend. Seemingly the aura also started to inflict pain, as his face paled and he shouted "Master!!"
"Stop! No one is allowed to touch my disciple!" A loud shout was heard from far away. The shout was full of anger and also carried aura strands in it. Seemingly, Wang's backing was nearby.
And indeed, a few moments later an expert rushed to the location. Dressed in the same deep green colors, his identity was easy to guess, it was a core elder of the 'Leaf Shadows Sect'.
Still, when he arrived and saw who was the one currently restraining his disciple, the angry expression was replaced by one full of surprise. His tone also changed to one being far less overbearing as he asked
"Lady Shenlan! What is happening? Why are you restraining Wang Yong?"
"He started a fight in my district and even had the gall to lie to me. So tell me, Wang Boqin, why shouldn't I?"
"What?! Is that the truth?" The elder turned towards Wang Yong and asked.
"..." With no strength to speak and a pale face as Lady Shenlan did not retire or lessen the pressure from her aura, Wang Yong had no other option than to nod in response.
"Huh..." After confirming that such had truly happened Wang Boqin's face distorted. Still, after a brief moment, he calmed himself and turned towards Lady Shenlan. With a salute and a half-bow he said
"I am sorry for his behavior. But could you forgive him this once? He is young and hot-blooded, so he may have conducted himself badly"
"Humph. As you are taking responsibility for him, I will let this slide" As she said this, she also retracted her aura.
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"Thank you Lady Shenlan. Best wishes and excuse us" both Elder and disciple bowed in thanks before quickly retiring.
Although Wu Guang was silent and unmoving all this time, he still observed the situation carefully. He also intercepted and listened to several qi transmissions between the Elder and the disciple, from where he found out that their relationship was different. In truth, they were family, to be exact uncle and nephew. As for the deferential treatment of Lady Shenlan, it was also discussed. It turned out that albeit the Wang family occupied a very important position in their Sect, Lady Shenlan was the widow of the previous headmaster and so they could not offend her at all.
Actually, they also discussed Wu Guang, but as Wang Yong was forced to tell the full truth, Elder Wang simply told him that if he wanted to settle something, it would be never late. Still, both of them were surprised by Wu Guang's ability to fight on equal grounds, after all, their cultivations were different. For the latter, Wang Yong had asked his uncle several times to confirm as he could not believe that he could not hold the advantage of having a three-level difference in cultivation.
"Young friend from the 'Three Hills Sect', are you alright?" After both the elder and disciple surnamed Wang left, Lady Shenlan turned towards Wu Guang.
"I am fine. Thank you Lady Shenlan"
"Good, you can return to your friends. I trust you were moving to the 'Three Waves' mansion?"
"Yes"
"Go then" Lady Shenlan nodded to Wu Guang and before leaving turned to the surrounding crowd, which was discussing what had happened with the people who came late.
"Everyone, the show is over. I trust that you can understand that albeit only weapons and techniques are prohibited, fighting on the road is not something that you all should do. Next time if you happen across something like this report it to the guards right away"
After saying these words, she also took her leave.
Wu Guang turned around and saw the surprised expressions of his team members and the younger members of the caravan. As for why it was so, well, he had indeed fought against an opponent surpassing him three levels again and did so equally. But one thing was fighting against a rogue cultivator, but this time it was a core disciple! And considering that he was so young, it could be even said that a genius.
"Don't look at me like that. We fought without techniques and weapons, so it's not so surprising for me to maintain a stalemate. And I doubt that I could win in the end, after all, these three levels do give him an advantage. Especially in defense" Wu Guang formulated an explanation for them and also for the surrounding bystanders to believe. And in the end, it did convince everyone that this was so. In truth, even Elder Yanshi felt that such an explanation was logical.
The only one that did not buy such was Elder Di, after all, he had been observing the fight closely and was sure that Wu Guang deliberately had concealed part of his strength. And if he did not, he would easily beat up this Wang Yong, even if they really fought.
Still, as he knew why Wu Guang was doing so, Elder Di remained silent.
The caravan resumed moving towards their destination after this incident was sorted and as they neared 'Finger Cape', Wu Guang asked Elder Di via qi transmission something that bothered him
"Elder, why did Lady Shenlan sort this in such manner?"
"Hmm, young friend Wu Guang already managed to grasp qi transmission? You are sure quick. Well, truth to be said Lady Shenlan does not really care about stopping such fights, in fact, she adores them. But she is someone that knows about your inheritance situation, after all, she is supposed to sort it out with you on orders of the City Lord"
"Oh, so she came to observe me beforehand?"
"Indeed, and you should have noticed that she stopped the fight only a few moments before Wang Buqin arrived, didn't you?"
"Indeed"
"Plus, our 'Three Hills Sect' may be hiding strength, but even openly we are a bit stronger than the Leaf Shadows one. As she has ties with them, if she did not resolve the situation and blood of someone with real backing flowed..."
"So this was a show?"
"It was. It could be even a planned one"
"I see. When Elder mentioned sect backing, you meant?"
"Hmm, that's easy. For you, we declared that the sect will help you fully with the inheritance. That could only mean that we value you highly. As for Wang Yong, he is not the strongest genius of the 'Leaf Shadows Sect', but he is the young master of the Wang family. As for the Wang family, they are basically the most powerful faction in the sect"
"I see, thank you for the explanation"
While the incident finished and everyone left the place where it happened, no one remembered a person...
And so, the Flowing Leaves inner disciple that acted like the dog of Wang Yong remained to lay there in pain, without anyone even caring to heal or at least move him...