Bat Valley, west of Major Metropolitan City:
The two masked men fighting in Bat Valley attracted the attention of everyone in Major Metropolitan City.
Qin Zibai and Archduke Xi Kang led many soldiers to Bat Valley to assist the vampires and bat spirits in dealing with the two trapped masked men.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The west of the city turned utterly chaotic.
Outside, Sima Changkong took a deep breath and said, “The Blood Catching Net Ritual Array? Unfortunately, it is not time for the prince to reveal his full power yet. Otherwise, it will draw Imperial Emperor Xi Yu. It looks like we will have to return with naught to show for our efforts.”
As Sima Changkong spoke, he left slowly.
Indeed, when Qin Zibai’s and Archduke Xi Kang’s army arrived, the two masked men could not do anything else.
“Break!” one of the masked men shouted, and his sword suddenly released a bright azure light.
Boom!
The crimson web suddenly tore.
Whoosh! The two instantly flew out.
“Don’t let them run!” Many experts gave chase.
However, these two masked men were too strong. Even with Qin Zibai, a Middle Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator, pursuing at full speed, he eventually lost their trail.
“Humph!” Qin Zibai snorted coldly.
He turned back and returned.
“What’s going on? Why would someone want to barge into Bat Valley?” Qin Zibai looked suspiciously at the group of bat spirits.
The bat spirits shook their heads, indicating ignorance.
“Could it be?” Archduke Xi Kang’s expression changed as he thought of a possibility.
Clearly, Archduke Xi Kang knew that Gongyang Sheng was imprisoned here.
“Archduke, do you know?” Qin Zibai asked.
Archduke Xi Kang showed a sullen expression as he said, “It’s the Qian Heavenly Dynasty’s people.”
“Oh? Those two were Middle Heavenly Palace Realm experts. The one who lured the Bat Ancestor away was also a Middle Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator. How does Archduke know that they are from the Qian Nation?” Qin Zibai asked, feeling surprised.
Only the Qian Nation’s people would attempt to save Gongyang Sheng. To think that they managed to investigate this and even found this location. Archduke Xi Kang’s face sank.
“It must be the Qian Nation’s people. It can’t be wrong. They must have come with the Qian Nation envoys. We need to investigate them immediately!” Archduke Xi Kang said with a sullen expression.
“Investigate? That is not appropriate, right?” Qin Zibai said with a bitter smile.
Whoosh!
The two waited for a while. Then, a strong gust blew in from a distance. The Bat Ancestor returned.
“Bat Ancestor, did you catch him?” Archduke Xi Kang looked at the Bat Ancestor with anticipation.
“It’s the Qian Nation’s men,” the Bat Ancestor said coldly.
“Bat Ancestor also suspects that it is the Qian Nation?” Qin Zibai said in surprise.
The two were not guessing. The facts were right before them. It was just that Qin Zibai was unaware of the situation.
“I managed to injure the arm of the person I chased. Check everyone from the Qian Nation envoys’ group. Qin Zibai, bring some soldiers to search outside the city. Archduke Xi Kang, follow me to the Mo Residence. Humph!” the Bat Ancestor snorted coldly.
Many soldiers immediately followed Archduke Xi Kang’s and the Bat Ancestor’s instructions to surround the Mo Residence.
Mo Yike frowned at the people before him.
“Archduke Xi Kang, Bat Ancestor, why are you here again?” Mo Yike asked.
“Lord Mo, someone from the Qian Nation envoys’ group attacked Bat Valley. We want to find that person,” Archduke Xi Kang said sullenly.
“Why are you so sure that they are from the Qian Nation envoys’ group?” Mo Yike asked.
“I have no time to explain to you. Where are the Qian Nation envoys?” Archduke Xi Kang asked in a heavy voice.
Mo Yike looked at Archduke Xi Kang and the Bat Ancestor coldly.
“I injured one of the people who attacked my Bat Valley. We will know with a quick check. Mo Yike, cooperate with my investigation!” the Bat Ancestor said coldly.
Mo Yike shook his head. “His Reverence assigned me to receive them. I cannot let you mess around like this.”
“His Reverence knows about the situation. I will shoulder all responsibility,” Archduke Xi Kang said.
The Bat Ancestor’s expression showed that he was determined to see this through.
Mo Yike wanted to insist, but Archduke Xi Yang took out a medallion with a purple dragon.
“If I am wrong, I will shoulder all responsibility. His Reverence gave me this token. Everyone has to follow my instructions concerning this matter,” Archduke Xi Kang said coldly.
“A Purple Dragon Token?” Mo Yike narrowed his eyes slightly. “Archduke Xi Kang, I hope you will not regret this.”
“Hurry! How many of the Qian Nation envoys are in your Mo Residence? Bring them out first. We can search the rest later,” Archduke Xi Kang said.
Left without a choice, Mo Yike instructed his servants, “Please invite all the Qian Nation envoys out.”
Soon, Bing Ji and the others came out.
“Oh? These are all?” Archduke Xi Kang said.
“These are all,” Mo Yike said.
“Mo Yike, what do you mean by this? Is this how you treat my Qian Nation envoys?” Sima Feng yelled while glaring.
“Everyone, sorry. Someone attacked Bat Valley, and the Bat Ancestor and Archduke Xi Kang suspect the Qian Nation envoys. Please cooperate. If it is not you, I will make sure to get justice for everyone.” Mo Yike bowed deeply to the Qian Nation envoys.
“Cooperate? Cooperate? The Yuan Imperial Dynasty? What a Yuan Imperial Dynasty! Are the Qian Nation envoys only sneaky people to you? Humph!” Sima Feng said coldly.
“I injured the right arm of one of the people who attacked my Bat Valley. Show me your right arms!” the Bat Ancestor demanded coldly.
As the Bat Ancestor spoke, he glared coldly at Bing Ji.
Bing Ji sneered, “Bat Ancestor, are you just trying to find an excuse to cause me trouble while His Majesty is not around?”
“You loathsome lass, I will teach you a lesson. If it is you, I will have your life, even if His Reverence tries to stop me!” the Bat Ancestor said with a cold expression.
Bing Ji immediately pulled up her right sleeve, showing unmarked, snow-white skin.
“Humph!” the Bat Ancestor snorted coldly.
The Qian Nation envoys were all forced to pull up their sleeves. However, no one had any injuries.
“It is not them?” Archduke Xi Kang’s face sank.
“We did not go out for the entire day. What an excuse!” Bing Ji sneered.
“The Qian Nation envoys? Only Li Shenji and his Divine Strategy Battalion, as well as Gu Hai, Long Wanyu, Purple Subtlety, and Longevity are not here?” Archduke Xi Kang said.
“It is one of them?” the Bat Ancestor said with a sullen expression.
Rumble…!
Perhaps the commotion was too great. The Divine Strategy Battalion disciples outside the city returned quickly.
On another side, Gu Hai’s group also made their way back, riding an immortal crane carriage.
Gu Hai’s group could look out of the window from the carriage and saw everything outside.
“What’s going on?” Both Li Shenji and Gu Hai, on the other side, shouted simultaneously.
“Everyone is here. Everyone returned!” Archduke Xi Kang’s expression changed.
The Bat Ancestor showed a sullen expression as he looked at the people coming from two different directions.
Li Shenji maintained his regular expression, a cold look in his eyes.
Gu Hai asked in a serious tone, “Mister Mo, can you give me an explanation? What is going on? Why did you surround my Qian Nation envoys? What’s wrong? Do you intend to break the alliance and kill the envoys before marching on the Qian Nation?”
Mo Yike showed a faint, bitter smile. “Mister Gu is overstating the severity of the situation. It is just that someone attacked Bat Valley, and the Bat Ancestor injured one of the attackers. Right now, they suspect that the attackers are among the Qian Nation envoys, and they want to find the attackers.”
“Oh? Checking for injuries? So, you are treating my Qian Nation envoys as criminals just over some suspicions? Hahahaha! What a Yuan Nation!” Gu Hai said coldly.
“Humph! Gu Hai, the attackers are among you. They can forget about escaping!” Archduke Xi Kang said coldly.
“Archduke Xi Kang, you are just using official matters as an excuse to obtain personal revenge, right?” Gu Hai sneered.
“Humph! I can’t be bothered with you!” Archduke Xi Kang flung out his sleeves.
“Mister Mo, are you just going to let them be?” Gu Hai asked coldly.
“Mister Gu, please forgive me. Seeing the Purple Dragon Token is as good as seeing His Reverence in person. This humble one does not dare to disobey.” Mo Yike bowed while forcing a smile.
“Humph! So, do you want to check Princess Wanyu as well?” Gu Hai asked coldly.
“Long Wanyu? There’s no need. She does not have that capability!” the Bat Ancestor said coldly.
The person he injured was a Middle Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator. How could it be Long Wanyu?
“What about me? That’s right. Purple Subtlety and Longevity are in the immortal crane carriage. You can just check us all at once,” Gu Hai said with a cold smile.
“The three of you? Still not worthy!” the Bat Ancestor said coldly.
The cultivations of Gu Hai, Purple Subtlety, and Longevity were too weak, far from the Middle Heavenly Palace Realm. There was no need to check them.
“Haha! Not worthy? Hahaha!” Gu Hai sneered.
“Mister Mo, it looks like your Mo Residence is not a safe place, either. To think that we need to get searched while in your Mo Residence. This is too disappointing. Never mind. I think we are better off finding an inn to stay at,” Gu Hai said.
“Mister Gu, please don’t. This is truly an accident!” Mo Yike exhorted bitterly.
“Let’s go!” Gu Hai ignored Mo Yike, merely letting out a cold snort.
Bing Ji, Sima Feng, and the others returned to the Mo Residence and packed up quickly. Then, they followed Gu Hai’s immortal crane carriage, leaving the Mo Residence.
“Mister Gu!” Mo Yike called out bitterly.
However, Gu Hai did not even turn his head back.
“Gu Hai can leave, but you lot cannot!” Archduke Xi Kang and the others stopped the people of the Divine Strategy Battalion.
“Humph! I remember everyone in the Qian Nation envoy’s group. They are all here. Gu Hai and the others are not that capable. That leaves only your Divine Strategy Battalion. Li Shenji, please cooperate,” Archduke Xi Kang said coldly.
Li Shenji showed a sullen expression.
The Bat Ancestor, Archduke Xi Kang, and various Yuan Nation experts surrounded the Divine Strategy Battalion.
On Gu Hai’s immortal crane carriage, Long Wanyu, Purple Subtlety, and Longevity looked at the unconscious Gongyang Sheng.
“Are they stupid? To think that they did not even bother checking?” Purple Subtlety looked strangely at Gongyang Sheng.
“They are blind.” Longevity shook his head.
Everyone gave Gongyang Sheng strange looks. This seemed to have gone too smoothly.
As Gu Hai’s people had wandered the city a few days ago, they were familiar with some of the places here. They quickly bought a manor and settled there.
They also brought Gongyang Sheng there to recuperate.
——
When evening arrived, Archduke Xi Kang, the Bat Ancestor, and their people left, feeling depressed. They had failed to find the person whom the Bat Ancestor injured. As a result, they had completely embarrassed themselves before the Qian Nation envoys again.
After that, Li Shenji brought his Divine Strategy Battalion to the manor that Gu Hai recently bought.
Blargh!
Li Shenji spewed out a mouthful of blood the moment he entered the manor.
“Battalion Commander!” Everyone looked worriedly at Li Shenji.
“I’m fine. I had to force my blood to flow in reverse to hide my injuries from the Bat Ancestor. I did manage to trick him in the end,” Li Shenji said bitterly.
After he spoke, a large amount of blood suddenly spurted out from his right arm.
“Bat venom?” Li Shenji’s expression turned unsightly as he looked at his right arm.
“Don’t move! It will be bad if the bat venom reaches your heart.” Ye Shenzhen suddenly appeared nearby.
Prince Shenwu accompanied Ye Shenzhen.
“Prince Shenwu? It’s you?” Li Shenji exclaimed.
Am I the one in the open while Prince Shenwu is hidden?
“I should not be appearing. However, you got injured severely while luring the Bat Ancestor away. We need to force out this bat venom immediately. Ye Shenzhen and I will help you with that,” Prince Shenwu said sullenly.
Li Shenji nodded.
The three entered the room that Sima Feng prepared and proceeded with forcing out the venom. The three came out with sweat-covered heads only after two hours. Li Shenji was pale; he had been too severely injured this time.
When Gu Hai heard the news, he came out with Long Wanyu.
“Long Shenwu? Li Shenji? Impotent Ye? What were you doing? Why are you in such sorry states?” Long Wanyu stared at the three.
The three rolled their eyes at Gu Hai and Long Wanyu.
“Princess, did you have fun over the past few days?” Ye Shenzhen was the first to speak with a bitter smile.
“It’s still alright.” Long Wanyu shook her head.
“Ha! Gu Hai, His Holy Eminence gave you a mission, but you went about sightseeing instead?” Li Shenji mocked while still maintaining a pretense of health.
“What does Lord Li mean?” Gu Hai asked coldly as he looked at Li Shenji.
“Humph! You were pretty carefree at the Mo Residence earlier, not caring about my Divine Strategy Battalion, as though the Qian Nation envoys have nothing to do with us. Humph! His Holy Eminence instructed us to save Gongyang Sheng, promising to credit us with a major contribution if we succeed. You know that you are incapable, so you completely gave up on it, right?” Li Shenji mocked.
“Oh? Failing to save Gongyang Sheng means that one is incapable, and succeeding in saving Gongyang Sheng makes one capable?” Gu Hai gave Li Shenji a strange look.
“That’s right. Humph! Just you wait. I will save Gongyang Sheng. At the very least, I would be better than a certain person who can only write nonsensical poems to create a sensation,” Li Shenji sneered.
“Battalion Commander Li, now that the Bat Ancestor has his guard up, it will be difficult to go to Bat Valley again,” Ye Shenzhen said with a bitter smile.
“With effort, one can achieve anything. We have already done our best. At the very least, it is better than someone who did nothing. Humph!” Li Shenji felt resentful towards Gu Hai.
“Why do you still want to go to Bat Valley?” Long Wanyu asked, finding this strange.
“Princess, you are better off sightseeing with Gu Hai. It’s best that you not participate in this dangerous matter,” Li Shenji said.
At the side, Prince Shenwu narrowed his eyes slightly. He could tell that Li Shenji was trying to agitate Long Wanyu and trick her into helping so that he could use her abilities as a seer.
Just as Prince Shenwu and Ye Shenzhen were about to intervene to stop this, Long Wanyu suddenly curled her lips up in disdain. “What is so dangerous about that? It is just Gongyang Sheng.”
“Li Shenji, how dare you?! Princess, don’t listen to Li Shenji. We can save Gongyang Sheng ourselves. We do not require your gracious presence!” Ye Shenzhen immediately said.
“What is there to save? My brother-in-law carried Gongyang Sheng out long ago!” Long Wanyu said with a strange expression.
“Huh?” Prince Shenwu, Ye Shenzhen, and Li Shenji all blinked at the same time, unable to process what Long Wanyu said.
Then, Li Shenji scowled, saying, “Princess, don’t listen to Gu Hai’s nonsense. How could he possibly—”
“Gongyang Sheng is resting inside. Do you want to visit him?” Gu Hai asked with a strange expression.
