CHAPTER 167: CHAPTER 140 YA JIU (5K)_3

As his fists were about to strike, Li Ang suddenly pulled away, stepping back to dodge the punches from the two Judges, while his palms thrust out like lightning, hitting the soft flesh inside their elbows.

SQUEAK!

Li Ang tensed his fingertips. His fingers sank into the Judges’ elbows, pulling out half a long needle from the flesh.

A Martial Artist’s Fierce Appearance targets the human spirit, activating the subconscious fear of venomous creatures and ferocious beasts, making one instinctively pause, daring not to move. Only those who frequently walk the line between life and death, having overcome their instinctive fears, can resist the impact of a Fierce Appearance upon first encounter.

Fortunately, Li Ang watched the Mo Si inside him devour metal every day. He often pondered the thousands of holes that might riddle his body, and as a result, his nerves had long been hardened. He was completely unaffected and seized this fleeting opportunity.

SWISH!

Li Ang’s hands, as precise as surgical forceps, expertly plucked the long needles from the elbows of the two Judges. The needles, along with the adhering blood beads, fell to the ground.

The movements of the two Judges suddenly stiffened. Their outstretched arms dropped flaccidly, as if boneless, slackening uncontrollably.

No matter the specific condition of these two Judges, one thing was certain—Ya Jiu was controlling their bodies through the long needles. With the needles removed, it was they who became rigid.

Li Ang stepped forward, turning his body to slip through the gap between the swinging fists of the two Judges. He reached Ya Jiu’s side, gripped the sword scabbard at Ya Jiu’s waist, and exerted force.

CREAK!

The sword scabbard itself began to emit the sound of twisting metal, and the watery ripples lingering in the ruined temple shook violently.

Ya Jiu’s pupils contracted. A long needle, held between his index and middle fingers, stabbed toward Li Ang’s brow.

However, at the same instant, Li Ang’s right fingers also hovered before Ya Jiu’s neck. He needed only to apply slight force to crush Ya Jiu’s throat.

"You are not of the Body Concealing Realm."

The two stared intently at each other. Ya Jiu said softly, "It seems the Mutated Objects in the Sword Immortal Tomb are indeed marvelous..."

Li Ang said expressionlessly, "Release them."

"If I say no..."

Before Ya Jiu could finish speaking, Li Ang increased the pressure of his fingertips, abruptly constricting Ya Jiu’s throat.

"Alright, alright, you’ve won."

Reluctantly, Ya Jiu lowered the needle hovering before Li Ang’s brow. With a wave of his hand, the watery ripples lingering in the ruined temple dissipated on their own.

The women from Pingkang Square coughed out lakewater, tears and snot streaming down their faces as they regained the ability to breathe freely.

"This Mutated Object is a unique legacy from the Lihua Valley of the Former Sui Sect, one of a kind in the world." Ya Jiu rubbed his slightly bruised neck, pulled an old piece of paper from his robes, and said with a curl of his lips, "’Forget Love,’ a Third-level Abnormality. Draw a portrait on this paper and place it on someone’s face, and they will forget memories related to that portrait. The more detailed the portrait, the more effective the memory erasure. It’s only effective on ordinary people and low-level Cultivators. I will completely erase these Pingkang Square women’s memories of you. That should suffice, right?"

Li Ang calmly said, "Show me."

"Troublesome." Ya Jiu curled his lips again, stuck the paper on the wall of the ruined temple, took out a charcoal pencil, the kind used at the Academic Palace, from his robes, and with a few deft strokes, quickly sketched Li Ang’s portrait on the paper. Finally, he placed the paper on the faces of the Pingkang Square women, one by one.

After the demonstration was complete, all the women fell into a dazed state.

"Satisfied?" Ya Jiu spread his hands. Seeing Li Ang finally nod, he snapped his fingers.

He commanded the two controlled Judges of the Town Suppressing Office to pick up the long needles from the ground and reinsert them into their elbows. Simultaneously, he summoned several carriages. Each was driven by a coachman whose expression was also somewhat cold and rigid, clearly under Ya Jiu’s control as well.

"I’ll have the coachmen take them to the painted boats at Qujiang Pool in Chang’an City to finish playing out this act. Their memories of you have been erased. Even if Jiao Cheng’s backer sends Cultivators to investigate, they’ll only sense something is amiss, but they won’t be able to link it to you," Ya Jiu said. "Shall I have my men take you back to Chang’an?"

"No need. I’ll walk back on my own."

Li Ang glanced at the coachmen, their expressions uniformly blank, as they helped the Pingkang Square women onto the carriages. A chill ran down his spine.

Who knows how many of Ya Jiu’s puppets and spies are hidden inside and outside Chang’an City? Chang’an City had a population of three million. A few Aliens hidden among them were like a few drops of water in the ocean.

In the conflict that had just concluded, both parties had pulled their punches. Those two Judges of the Town Suppressing Office hadn’t drawn the Broadswords at their waists, relying only on their Fierce Appearance, fists, and feet. Nor had Li Ang unleashed his true power—he knew he still held sufficient value in Zhao Ming’s eyes. Ya Jiu wouldn’t rush to burn bridges after investing so much effort.

But judging solely from Ya Jiu’s ability to control so many people at once, his true strength definitely surpassed that of most Instructors, perhaps even Doctors, at the Academic Palace.Thinking this over, the descriptions of Zhao Ming’s strength didn’t seem too exaggerated.

"Suit yourself." Ya Jiu spread his hands, watching Li Ang walk out of the ruined temple and disappear into the vast wilderness. Then, without warning, Ya Jiu’s expression suddenly became rigid, the same vacant look as the Judges and the coachmen.

TAP.

The last woman, dressed in a green robe and seated below the Buddha statue, rose from the ground. Like her companions, her hands and feet were bound with cloth, and her eyes, ears, and mouth were covered. During the recent near-drowning, she too had struggled intensely and suffered greatly.

RIP!

With a calm expression, she easily snapped the cloth binding her wrists with a mere flex of her hands. Then, she raised a hand to tear away the tear-soaked cloth covering her face, revealing a countenance that was both cold and exquisitely beautiful.

"Interesting." The real Ya Jiu, a woman, slightly tilted her chin, watching the direction Li Ang had departed, and muttered.

Her voice vanished into the howling night wind that swept through the ruined temple.