Chapter 167: Such Is His Fate The four deputies and Li Jingyi sped toward Wei Zhouyan. The lake was too wide. It felt as though they were running for a long time before they finally reached the long path that was cleared by the Nine Cuts Hand Seals.
They knew the situation bode ill for the Great General, Wei Zhuoyan. However, they did not dare to charge recklessly into the path. They moved slowly when they entered the dense forest, worried that the villains would leap off the cloud-splitting chariot and take all of them out in a fell swoop. The Evil Sky Pavilion was so powerful that they were almost paralyzed with fear. Any Six, Seven, or Eight-leaf cultivator would be destroyed with the flick of their fingers.
Li Jingyi frowned deepened as she looked ahead. She placed a finger on her lips and hushed everyone. Her ears moved. It seemed like she had picked up some movements on the path ahead of them. The movements came from deep within the dense forest. Her heart quickened its beat, this meant Wei Zhuoyan was probably still alive.
The four deputies trailed behind Li Jingyi, clearly trusting her. They would do anything she told them to.
The further they entered the forest, the darker it became. At some point, it was so dark that they could barely see anything.
The leaves from the trees were too dense. They blocked most of the light.
Whizz...
A low drone from some flying object rang from above their heads.
Li Jingyi and the four deputies looked up...
Due to the obstructions, they could only see a flash of light passing them by.
“It’s the flying chariot!”
“It’s the Evil Sky Pavilion’s flying chariot! The sounds and lights are the same...”
“They went back.”
“Went back?”
Lu Jingyi frowned again. She turned to look behind her with a suspicious gaze. ‘Was the Evil Sky Pavilion’s flying chariot merely passing by? That’s not likely.’
There were sounds from deep within the forest again.
“Someone’s here.”
Li Jingyi and the four deputies prepared themselves for combat.
The four deputies had even drawn their swords to guard against any enemy.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
A figure appeared.
The figure alone made the five of them feel uneasy. They took a step backward despite themselves.
The figure was well-built. Eventually, the figure walked into their range of sight. They were stunned when they saw the person’s face.
“General?”
Li Jingyi looked up and saw Wei Zhuoyan, the person whom she was familiar with.
The Nine Cuts Hand Seals was an extremely powerful technique, and yet, General Wei seemed to only sustain a few scratches? The faint trace of blood could be seen on Wei Zhuoyan’s lips as well. He appeared calm and unharmed despite his unkempt hair.
Initially, Wei Zhuoyan did not say anything. He merely appraised the five individuals standing before him. After a while, he finally said, “I’m tired.”
“General!”
Wei Zhuoyan’s four deputies fell to their knees simultaneously.
Li Jingyi was the only one left standing. She said worriedly, “General, this place isn’t safe anymore.”
“General, I’d rather die than let anything happen to you! Please return to the Divine Capital!”
“Please return to the Divine Capital, General!”
“Please return to the Divine Capital, General!”
Wei Zhuoyan’s subordinates chimed in one after another.
Wei Zhuoyan looked at his four subordinates before his eyes finally landed on Li Jingyi. He said, “Return to the capital.”
A peculiar gleam could be seen in Li Jingyi’s eyes at this moment. It seemed as though she wanted to say something but thought the better of it. In the end, she cupped her fists together and said, “Understood!”
Wei Zhuoyan walked past the fallen and trampled trees around Bluesun Lake.
At the same time, Li Jingyi stared at Wei Zhuoyan’s receding back with a complicated look in her eyes. She reminded sternly, “Remember, nothing happened here today.”
“Understood!” The four subordinates replied in unison.
...
Meanwhile, the cloud-splitting chariot flew past Bluesun Mountain and Bluesun Town as it sped toward the Evil Sky Pavilion.
Lu Zhou stood atop the flying chariot with his arms on his back.
Mingshi Yi bowed and said enthusiastically, “That was amazing, master! You’ve truly widened my horizons!” He found it difficult to calm down after witnessing the Nine Cuts Hand Seals. After all, he knew how powerful the Nine Cuts Hand Seals after witnessing the battle with the Ten Shamans. Regardless, when he saw his master taking down Wei Zhuoyan from such a distance on the flying chariot, he was genuinely awed by the feat.
“Such is his fate...” Lu Zhou said monotonously.
“It’s true that he has rotten fate... If he had remained in the Divine Capital, he might’ve been able to live longer.” Mingshi Yin seemed to realize he had misspoken again so he quickly corrected himself, “However, even if he’s in the Divine Capital, I’m sure you’ll still be able to take him down easily, master.”
Duanmu Sheng who was manning the cloud-splitting chariot by himself said, “Master... what if those people kill Wei Zhuoran after we let him go?”
Without waiting for Lu Zhou to reply, Mingshi Yin said with a smile, “They won’t. Even if they discover Wei Zhuoran is only an impostor, they won’t dare to expose him. They’ll probably continue with the farce. If it were made known that Wei Zhuoyan had died, the armies would no longer have a leader. Many people would definitely covet that position. Even before this, Wei Zhuoyan’s achievements had already become a threat to the monarchy... Wei Zhuoran will definitely be more reserved after he takes over Wei Zhuoyan’s palace. Great Yan’s Imperial family would be happier if someone like Wei Zhuoran is in charge. From today onward, Wei Zhuoran will be Wei Zhuoyan.”
Little Yuan’er who was sitting at the edge of the flying chariot with her legs dangling off the side of the flying chariot said, “Jiang Aijian says there’s always a battle of mutual deception in the palace. The way you put it is quite boring, Fourth Senior Brother.”
“There are those who lust for power and authority, there’s no helping that. It’s a shame for a grand Seven-leaf elite to go out like that.” Mingshi Yin shook his head and sighed.
Lu Zhou said, “He’s only a Five-leaf, not a Seven-leaf...”
“Five-leaf?” Mingshi Yin, Duanmu Sheng, and Little Yuan’er were stunned.
Regardless of the rumors flying everywhere, Lu Zhou only believed his own eyes. He had used a Deadly Strike Card to kill Wei Zhuoyan earlier. The reward was 1,000 points, and he merely gained 400 points after deducting the cost of the card. The reward for killing a Seven-leaf elite should be much more than this.
“What a sly man! Did we kill another impostor?” Mingshi Yin frowned and was about to lose his temper again. After all, they were too far away earlier so Mingshi Yin and Duanmu Shen could not clearly see the target.
Mingshi Yin wondered if his master’s eyesight had deteriorated in his old age. Did his master get the wrong person? Naturally, he did not dare to verbalize his thoughts. Instead, he only said that it might be an impostor.
“There’s no doubt he’s the real Wei Zhuoyan...” Lu Zhou said.
“I think I understand what you mean now, master. In the end, he’s only all bark but not bite. However, since he’s only a Five-leaf cultivator, how did he rise to the position of commander-in-chief of the three armies?” Mingshi Yin could not figure this out no matter how he racked his brains. “Did someone secretly help him?”
Duanmu Sheng said, “Regardless, as long as they leave the Evil Sky Pavilion alone, we won’t look for trouble with them.”
Mingshi Yin nodded and said, “I guess this is the end of the Fish Dragon Village incident... Junior Sister Tianxin should feel at ease now.” When he saw the cloud-splitting chariot flying past the mountains, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind, and he asked, “Master, since we’re out of Evil Sky Pavilion now, why don’t we use this opportunity to capture Old Eighth?”
With the cloud-splitting chariot, they would be able to reach the Tiger Ridge in no time at all.
Lu Zhou remained silent as he stroked his beard and pondered over Mingshi Yin’s words. Initially, he planned to leave those disciples of his alone. However, whenever he looked at the system dashboard, the mission to discipline his disciples was always on top. He had made some headway in disciplining Mingshi Yin, Duanmu Sheng, and Little Yuan’er, but it was clear they were no longer earning him as many merit points as before.
Old Seventh should have enough strength to rescue Old Eighth. Why did he inform the Evil Sky Pavilion about this? He recalled the content of Jiang Aijian’s letter. ‘Is Old Seventh really trying to cause chaos?’
Lu Zhou hesitated over whether he should capture Old Eighth or not...