After reconfirming it several times, Zuo Mo was finally certain that this was indeed the Nine-tailed Fox Clan. It’s just, she couldn’t help but wonder: why had they suddenly appeared here?
Also….
Also, why were the other guests all saying Fatty Yin was a demon?
“Are you sure you aren’t mistaken?” she said despite herself, interrupting the constant stream of curses. “We’re in the Beast Region; this is Nine-tailed Fox Clan territory. What on Earth are you calling them demons for?”
“….”
As she said this, the other guests were struck dumb.
Due to overwhelming nervousness, they hadn’t evaluated their surroundings at all. Then, after some of them insisted this was the Demon Realm, the rest had unconsciously believed it.
The guests started evaluating their surroundings. Some cultivators and merchants who’d done business with the Beast Region before found that, upon careful examination….
“This really is the Nine-tailed Fox Clan.”
“It really is,” said the guests eagerly. As for the merchants kneeling on the ground, after examining the area….
They, too, saw that this was indeed the Nine-tailed Fox Clan. Their eyes met and they saw deep shame written in each other’s eyes. In the face of extreme terror, they had revealed their truest, ugliest selves to the crowd.
They struggled to even imagine it; would their Chamber of Commerce even have a future after this?
Remember, everyone here was highly respected throughout the Immortal Region. If they bore a grudge, then the merchants would have a rough time going forward.
Bang.
Just as they were worrying about their future prospects, some of the more hot-headed guests approached and began kicking them.
“To save your lives, you really went all out……” a mocking voice drifted over them. Then, although they didn’t know who said it, someone called out, “get them!”
The guests immediately surged towards the kneeling merchants and repaid their pleas for mercy with punches and kicks. Naturally, some of the guests who were keenly aware of their status and chose not to join in. Even so, it was obvious from their expressions that they held a grudge against the merchants too.
Zuo Mo had arrived later than the others; she didn’t know what had happened earlier, so as she watched this play out, she found herself at a loss for words.
That said, after giving it some thought, she had a rough idea of what had happened.
She disdained those willing to throw everything away just to preserve their own lives. Even so, this was absolutely not the time to get even with them.
“Okay, that’s enough,” she said, but her urging was drowned out by the merchants’ screams.
“All of you, stop it.”
Fatty Yin called out, using his spiritual power to amplify his voice. Everyone froze in fear and briefly lost control of themselves, then stopped the beating. Still, they couldn’t resist getting in just a few more kicks.
All of this had taken less than thirty seconds, but those cowardly guests had been beaten so badly, it was hard to even look at them.
Teeth of unknown origin lay scattered on the ground and bloody saliva flowed from the merchants’ mouths in an unending stream. Their faces were black and blue, the robes they’d worn to the wedding so tattered they resembled beggars’ rags.
Fatty Yin walked past without so much as glancing at them. He had stopped the beating simply because he didn’t want things to get too chaotic.
“Fatty, you ought to know why we all wound up at the Nine-tailed Fox clan, right?” said Zuo Mo. She recognized him and Su Zhu, and given the unusual situation, she’d skipped the pleasantries and got directly to the point.
“This is what Emperor Ye arranged.”
Fatty Yin was keenly aware that the woman standing before him seemed to have some sort of relationship with Emperor Ye, so he spoke comparatively politely to her.
“Three days earlier, Emperor Ye placed this teleportation spiritual formation around the City Lord of Hundred Flowers City’s manor. You appeared here now because he activated the formation.”
“So it was him,” said Zuo Mo. She nodded, seemingly preoccupied with something. No wonder he’d seemed so unconcerned about everything; he’d already made arrangements for this.
That guy, he’d let her worry this whole time for nothing….
Next time she saw him, she’d definitely settle the score.
Fatty Yin hadn’t concealed his words from outsiders, so the surrounding guests heard the news as well.
“It was Emperor Ye! Emperor Ye saved us,” said the guests. The guests burst into an uproar, praising and thanking him repeatedly. Fatty Yin looked over the crowd coldly. It wasn’t that he had an arrogant disposition, but after inheriting the Minister of the Left Star, he was destined to stand by the emperor’s side as his chancellor. In his eyes, this was nothing but a group of ignorant civilians.
No matter how high their position in the Immortal Region was, those who hadn’t inherited a star…
Were all commoners!
“Enough, no need for any more flattery. Emperor Ye has a kind and benevolent disposition. He treats everyone equally, no matter who they are. But I’m different. Emperor Ye endangered himself to save you, but some of you….”
He coldly examined the cowardly merchants.
“Hmph,” snorted Fatty icily, leaving them shaking in their boots. The other guests followed suit and glowered furiously at them.
This place didn’t lack hot-blooded warriors, and the merchants’ behavior just now had crossed their bottom line. If Fatty Yin hadn’t stopped them earlier, those merchants would have long since reported to the Underworld.
“But what will Emperor Ye do?” asked one of the guests. “Each of us had a demon standing behind us when we were transported here. Emperor Ye sent all of here, so isn’t his current situation dangerous?”
“That’s right, Zichen’s in trouble,” frowned Zuo Mo.
“There’s no need to worry about that,” said Fatty Yin, waving away their concerns. At the same time, Su Yan and Lin Ru came walking down from above side by side, accompanied by Lin Xiyue and Li Jiayi.
“Xiyue, you’re here too,” said Zuo Mo ecstatically. “I was looking for you earlier. But you… How did you… and Chief Disciple Li, didn’t you… weren’t you sent here from the wedding?”
After they landed on the ground, Zuo Mo’s delight and astonishment gave way to confusion as she looked back at the teleportation formation behind her.
“No way! I was never at the wedding. She kidnapped me before it started,” said Lin Xiyue, pointing at Lin Ru. “But how did you get here? Were you kidnapped as well?”
“It was the same for me,” said Li Jiayi concisely.
“Then…. Then….,” said Zuo Mo, blinking in confusion. She suddenly felt that her mind couldn’t quite keep up with all this. If they had never been to the wedding, then who exactly… who exactly had she seen at the ceremony?
….
“I truly would never have guessed,” replied Black Dragon calmly. “Then, would you deign to explain why you left two people behind?”
“What do you think?” said Ye Zichen, looking helplessly at Black Dragon. “Naturally, I had a good reason for leaving them behind.”
With that, he turned to Li Jiayi and Lin Xiyue and laughed softly, “Big Sister Liu’er, Hundred Flowers Gate Sect Master…. No need to keep up the act any longer.”
