Shui Qianrou was previously very beautiful; her beauty had spread throughout the world since she was young and she had been called the number one beauty of the Stellarsky Continent. However, at this moment, she was not pretty at all and looked more like a beggar instead.
She wore torn and tattered rough clothing while her hair was stained with mud and blood. Her face was also dirty, and she looked as if she hadn’t taken a shower in half a month. She carried a stench with her as well. If it wasn’t for the fact that Jiang Yi had a deep impression of her, he would not have been able to recognize her this instance.
She walked in shyly, her eyes filled with shock and fear; she was just like a young lady who had been scared witless. She had grown much taller in the past few years. Although she wore torn and tattered clothing and was dirty like a beggar—if one took a closer look, one would see that her figure was perfect and that her features were very exquisite.
“Jiang… Jiang Yi? Are you really Jiang Yi?”
Her eyes stared at Jiang Yi, somewhat not daring to believe. Jiang Yi had taken the Destitute Dragon Grass, and so he had become more handsome. Over the past few years, he had also gotten taller; and his aura was different as well. Hence, Shui Qianrou was not completely sure as he looked familiar, and yet he didn’t look or feel like what she had remembered.
“Shui Qianrou, I am Jiang Yi!”
Jiang Yi sighed slightly. A prestigious young lady had ended up like this; she must have encountered a lot of hardships. He beckoned towards Shui Qianrou and asked, “What on earth had happened? Where is Hostess Shui?”
“You are really Jiang Yi?”
Shui Qianrou was still a little doubtful. It was only after Jiang Yi nodded vigorously and said, “I burned your Black Qilin to death that year at Mt. Spirit Beast College” that Shui Qianrou finally confirmed his identity, rushed into Jiang Yi’s arms, and started to wail and cry out loud.
“Uh!”
Looking at Shui Qianrou shivering in his embrace, her hands holding on tightly to his waist, and feeling the helplessness and fear in her, Jiang Yi closed his eyes bitterly. This child must have encountered unprecedented horrors; she must really have been scared witless.
“Black-robe men… two black-robed men, their powers were incredible. They were killing indiscriminately on the island and had killed everyone. Mother was taken away by them. I was teleported away by two elders. After that, the two elders were killed by sea demons trying to protect me. Jiang Yi, you have to avenge them. You have to rescue my mother…”
Shui Qianrou cried for a while, raised her head, gritted her teeth, and said. She saw Jiang Yi’s expressionless face and suddenly knelt down in front of Jiang Yi. She kowtowed to him, crying and shouting, “Jiang Yi, I had done many bad things in the past against you. I was wrong! As long as you can bring my mother back, I will be your servant or slave. Please help me.”
“Rise!”
Jiang Yi’s expressionless face was actually because he was deep in thought at Shui Qianrou’s words. At this moment, he hurriedly helped her to her feet and touched her head and face. He forced a smile and said, “Silly lass. I have forgotten about the past already. Hostess Shui had helped me so much before; I will definitely save her. Do not be afraid. With me around, no one can harm you!”
“En, thank you, thank you!”
After going through all this, Shui Qianrou seemed to have matured much. She gratefully nodded continuously, her face also slightly more relaxed. However, her vision turned black as she swiftly fainted.
“Yinian, please bring this lass and let her recuperate. Yun Fei, you should stop crying also; you are scaring Wudi. You all can take your leave for now. I promise that I will help you all to avenge this blood debt.”
Jiang Yi gestured at Yun Fei, and Su Ruoxue hurriedly carried Zhan Wudi and left together with Yun Fei, Situ Yinian, and company. Only Zhan Wushuang and Jiang Yi were left in the hall; everyone else had been sent out.
“Black-robed men!”
Zhan Wushuang’s eyes turned cold as his killing aura emanated from his body as he growled, “Jiang Yi, there is indeed a mastermind behind this matter; they are after us.”
“They are not after you guys!” Jiang Yi painfully closed his eyes as he squatted down and pulled his hair, gritting his teeth and saying, “They are after me. I have implicated all of you. Hundreds of millions of people have died because of me.”
“You cannot say that. Aye, let’s not talk about this.” Zhan Wushuang saw Jiang Yi’s pained expression and did not want to add more pressure on Jiang Yi. He coldly asked, “Jiang Yi! Could it be the Wu Clan?”
“Not sure!”
Jiang Yi shook his head and said, “The Wu Clan, the She Clan, and the Tu Clan are all suspects; the Lu Clan and the Lei Clan among the Thirteen Clans are suspects as well. Anyone who is our enemy is automatically a suspect! However, they had taken so many people, obviously trying to threaten me. The mastermind will show himself very soon.”
“These bastards have lost their humanity!”
Zhan Wushuang raised both his fists and savagely smashed them on the wall. Even though he hadn’t used his essence force, he still managed to smash a hole in the wall. His murderous intent was radiating as he said, “If I find out who did this, I will definitely annihilate his entire clan.”
Jiang Yi did not speak but continued to squat down and pulled on his hair; he was in a place of deep self-blame. He did not even dare to close his eyes; the hundreds of millions of innocent souls would appear in front of him if he did, all looking at him accusingly.
…
Throughout the night, people continued to trickle in from every direction. Tens of thousands of people had also been saved. The second day morning, the elite disciples of the Qian Clan and Zhan Clan were brought back using a Heaven Monarch’s divine artifact. Qian Wanguan had returned as well.
However, these disciples did not know anything. They had just been ordered frantically by their superiors to hide. These were the future of the two clans. They were originally extremely anxious, but they now looked much more relieved seeing that Qian Wanguan, Zhan Wushuang, and Jiang Yi had all returned. Furthermore, as Zhan Wushuang and Jiang Yi’s abilities were now far beyond their wildest imaginations, that had settled them down even more.
Qian Wanguan had been busy for one whole day and night; it was evident that he had become much more haggard. He also looked as if he had slimmed down much. After taking care of the disciples of the two clans, he hurriedly brought a few Heaven Monarchs and went to receive the few elders of the Yun Clan. Those elders had fled from Stellarsky City; they must know something.
At noon, those few elders finally arrived. Seeing Yun Fei, Zhan Wushuang, and Jiang Yi, these high ranking officials all started to cry uncontrollably. They knelt in front of Yun Fei and sobbed away.
From their mouths, not much was made known either. Two black-robed men had appeared and were killing indiscriminately in Stellarsky City. They were so strong that no one in the Stellarsky City was their match. The hundred thousand or so soldiers in the palace were killed within five minutes. If these elders had not fled fast enough, they would have perished as well.
“Wu Shang!”
Jiang Yi heard their explanation and shouted furiously. His voice shook the entire city; even Shui Qianrou who had fainted was awoken by it. Jiang Yi was very certain at this point in time that these few black-robed men were the missing Demigods from the Wu Clan!
This was because the few Yun Clan elders had sensed that the black-robed men had auras even more powerful than Zhan Wushuang’s; they could only be Demigods. There were only two of them, which tallied with Situ Ao’s information that five Demigods from the Wu Clan had mysteriously disappeared. Combined with the strange movements in North Thearch City, the answer was clear.
The North Thearch was afraid that Jiang Yi would wipe out North Thearch City; hence, he had dispersed the people within the city. He had moved the Wu Clan members secretly away and had then sent out five Demigods secretly to the Stellarsky Continent. They had grabbed hold of Jiang Yunhai, Shui Youlan, and company as hostages. Furthermore, they had triggered the sea demons’ rampage, killing the citizens of Stellarsky Continent to vent their hatred and to hide their tracks.
Everything all pointed to the North Thearch and the Wu Clan!
