Wielding the Master Drum, Azure Dragon kept a close and wary eye on Presbyter Cui while protecting his companions War Tiger and Jade Rabbit.
He knew that he and his companions would fall into enemy hands if he could not hold on until Chu Xun arrived and that would cause him a great disadvantage.
With eyes as keen as a hawk’s, he maintained his composure. As equals, he saw how the Master Drum had exhausted War Tiger easily and he needed to make every attack count.
Swoosh!
Presbyter Cui charged as quick as a lightning, firing another bolt of Internal Breath.
Bong!
Azure Dragon pounded the Master Drum and the air quivered with another pulse of sonic wave.
Boom!
The sonic wave obliterated Presbyter Cui’s attack easily, causing a deafening explosion that made everyone’s ears rang.
A furious and hateful Presbyter Cui backtracked quickly aside before he rebounded for another attack.
Unfazed, Azure Dragon stayed his hand from the drum. Knowing it best to be cautiously circumspect, he was playing safe by not activating the Master Drum so long as his enemy was not using any Internal Breath.
His guess was right; it really was another feint as Presbyter Cui halted his advance suddenly and he retreated backward. Only this time, he looked dismayed to have his ruse exposed.
Shame and resentment burned in him. A Sixth-grade Human King being held off by a measly pair of First-grade Human Kings with the help of a lowly Grandmaster was the very definition of a disgrace to him.
Whoosh!
The air screamed as Presbyter Cui renewed his charge. This time, he channeled his Internal Breath, firing a blast as powerful as a tidal wave.
Bong!
Azure Dragon activated the Master Drum, casting sonic waves that caused the air they passed through to writhe and twist as it ripped to shreds the Internal Breath projectile Presbyter Cui fired.
Azure Dragon went white. The Master Drum drained so much of his powers, causing him to wonder if he could use it for another two more times.
But Presbyter Cui noticed this too. He smirked and launched another attack.
Boom!
The Internal Breath bolt soared like a serpent in the air, lunging straight for Azure Dragon.
Bong!
Azure Dragon hit the Master Drum again to parry Presbyter Cui’s attack.
But when the dust finally settled, he looked like a dead man, looking all pale and grey with nine-tenths of his powers spent.
“Give up,” Presbyter Cui cackled triumphantly and he charged again.
Rumble!
A sudden crack resounded across the skies and the dashing Presbyter Cui looked up only to find a gigantic purple silhouette shaped like a fist crashing down on him.
“ARGGGHHH!”
All he could do was scream.
Boom!
The monolithic silhouette slammed down on Presbyter Cui, engulfing him in a huge explosion of flying dust and dirt as the earth shook.
A flash of light shot by and stopped. Chu Xun has arrived at last.
“Master!” Azure Dragon and War Tiger bowed.
Chu Xun saw Jade Rabbit unconscious and he injected a spurt of Hong Meng Immortal Qi into her.
It did not take long for her to regain her consciousness. After all, she was only exhausted. Her onyx-like eyes glittered with excitement when she saw Chu Xun smiling sweetly as she called gingerly, “Big Brother.”
“Are you all right?” he asked her. He had always loved the adorable little girl like a doting sister.
Jade Rabbit shook her head, grinning merrily.
Doing the same to both Azure Dragon and War Tiger, Chu Xun flicked two more spurts of purplish energy into them both to help them recover quickly.
The dust was gone and cracks stretched all over the ground like interlacing spider webs. Presbyter Cui was nowhere in sight, then they found him completely sprawled but sunken into the ground with what was left of him all bloodied and mangled. Chu Xun would have killed him immediately if not to interrogate him later.
“That is Ding Ping, Master,” Azure Dragon thrust a finger at Ding Ping who had been standing aside during the battle, utterly stupefied.
Having been struck by a blow by the Master Drum earlier that nearly cause his brain to explode, he had been there, immobile, for even the slightest movement could cause a headache so painful that his head was going to split.
Chu Xun’s brows furrowed with amusement as he peered again at Presbyter Cui. He had mistaken him as Ding Ping just now.
“Take them back. Recall the others as well,” said Chu Xun.
With both Ding Ping and Presbyter Cui now incapacitated, Azure Dragon and War Tiger easily retrieved them with the former two howling incessantly with pain.
Chu Xun made a call to the Top Official and informed him about how he had found the culprit and requested that he withdraw his men too.
Receiving their summons, Yan Chong and Lei Bao, with their men, all rushed quickly back to the Fire Dragon Palace.
…
“So this is Ding Ping?” asked a nearly-recovered Yan Wushuang hotly. He rushed out as soon as he could once he heard Ding Ping was found.
He skittered over and lifted up Ding Ping before giving him several smacks across his face, never stopping until Ding Ping’s eyes finally went blank as he stared off and fainted with teeth popping out of his bloodied mouth.
“SPEAK UP! WHO MADE YOU DO THIS?!” Yan Wushuang roared, infuriated for almost losing his life.
Lei Bao’s temper seemed no less calm. He lifted the now-utterly-paralyzed Presbyter Cui and gave him a flurry of punches to vent his anger, effectively crushing what was left of his bones.
“You’re dead since you’ve fallen into our hands. Spit it out and you might get a quick death!” hissed Yan Chong, his eyes burning with cold fury.
“I, I, I… It’s the Young Master of the house I serve… He wants Yan Wushuang dead…” stammered Ding Ping.
Yan Wushuang stared at him, bewildered and stunned, although he quickly recovered and lashed a few more slaps to Ding Ping’s face viciously and demanded, “And who might your Young Master be?!”
“His name’s Zang Fengling,” confessed Ding Ping readily. Craven as expected, no one expected his tongue to be tied for long.
Zang Fengling had had many misfortunes to thank Chu Xun for during the latter’s last visit to Yanxue City.
He did not know that the Liu Tianhe who had been a menace to him then was none other than the Devil himself. But Yan Wushuang’s conspicuousness during the skirmishes at the border and Chu Xun’s notoriety in the whole event piqued his curiosity enough that he sent people to investigate and putting two and two together, he realized that Liu Tianhe was in fact Chu Xun.
That prompted him to plant a spy inside the Fire Dragon Palace to gather information and to keep an eye on the forces of the Fire Dragon Palace. When Chu Xun placed a seal on the powers of Yan Wushuang and the others to punish them, Ding Ping realized an opportunity to strike and sent a quick word to Zang Fengling who sanctioned the assassination and that culminated in the poisoned horsewhip that nearly cost Yan Wushuang his life.
“That’s a wide reach even for Zang Fengling,” breathed Yan Wushuang coldly, “To think that he plotted a murder here in the capital.”
Yan Chong and Lei Bao shared a quick look and spotted the anger and malice in each other’s eyes. They had almost turned into scapegoats.
Ding Ping turned out to be an easy one; he disclosed every detail of the plan he knew, including the rescue party waiting outside the city.
“Good Heavens, what a disaster you are,” Chu Xun scowled at Yan Wushuang.
“You’re one to talk,” Yan Wushuang glared at him in return with his eyes narrowed, “Tell me, who was it then played so bad a prank on Zang Fengling that he bears such deep hatred? This is all your fault.”
“Really? Didn’t you accuse him of stealing the Soul-nourishing Lotus and Spirit Flux from your family vault? You’d even struck him once with your sword.”
“And you have the nerve to bring that up!?” Yan Wushuang bellowed. Undeniably, it was Chu Xun’s devious scheme in the first place which had caused him and Zang Fengling to become enemies.
“All right, all right,” said Chu Xun, heading for the door, “I’ll leave these two to you. I’m going outside the city. I’ll deal with the rescue party there to avenge you.”
“No need,” said Yan Wushuang curtly, stopping him. His eyes were livid with bitterness, “I’ll go myself this time.”
The notion of Death brushing so close to him had stirred enough grudge to kill.
“But can your body take it?” asked Chu Xun, spying how pale he still was.
“I’m fine,” responded Yan Wushuang brusquely as he marched for the door. But he stopped short after several paces and turned back to Chu Xun. “Lend me something to use.”
“…” Chu Xun averted his eyes, pretending to not hear that.
“Quit pretending. Lend me a Sacred Relic. I’ll return it later,” Yan Wushuang pestered.
Chu Xun shook his head and refused him flatly, “I don’t have any. What do you think? That Sacred Relics are as common as carrots in a field?!”
Yan Wushuang gave him an ugly look. “Carrots in the field for you. Heaven knows how much valuables you’ve been plundering from vaults and Storage Rings of others. And after all that, you expect me to believe that you have not even one Sacred Relic?”
Chu Xun was neither hardly pleased nor amused. “What nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean by ‘plundering’?”
“Enough blather. Hurry up and give me a good one.”
Even more annoyed, Chu Xun hissed, ” Why should I be giving you one when I’m nobody to you!? Why should I agree just because you’re demanding for one?”
“Very well, you win,” Yan Wushuang glared at Chu Xun before tuning his voice down, “What about the purple-haired woman? Where is she now and why did you not bring her back here? I think a nice little chat with Tang Rou is in order. I’m sure she’d be interested to hear this. By the way, that Master Drum of Tremor that Jade Rabbit was using, that was yours too, innit?”
Chu Xun widened his eyes with disbelief. “Is this a threat?! An obvious threat?!”
Relenting at last, he waved and conjured a long-bladed sword. Its blade gleamed cold and bright, instantly turning the atmosphere around cold and brisk the moment it appeared. At first glance, Yan Wushuang judged it to be a Middle-grade Sacred Relic.
“There you go,” muttered a sour Chu Xun, tossing the weapon at Yan Wushuang.
“I’ll remember this,” Chu Xun mused quietly. “How dare this bratty rascal threaten me!” He could not let Yan Wushuang spoil his plans, not when Jing Hong had finally begun to warm up to him.
“Thank you so much!” beamed Yan Wushuang before he spun around and left. Being able to blackmail Chu Xun gave him immense satisfaction, much to Chu Xun’s chagrin.
He came back a few hours later, drenched and soaked with blood that naturally belonged to someone else.
“All right, give back the sword,” Chu Xun demanded.
“What sword?” Yan Wushuang babbled, looking pretentiously surprised and confused, “Heavens, I’m tired. I need a bath.” And with that, he scarpered off.
It was all Chu Xun could do to stop his lips from twitching. “Are my eyes deceiving me or is this still the same modest gentlemen whom I met in Yanxue City?! Heavens Almighty, he’s just as shameless as a street peddler now!”
Yan Chong and everyone else struggled to stifle their laughter.
“It seems that Master Yan’s learned quite a lot from you, Big Brother,” Tang Rou grinned wryly.
Chu Xun was utterly exasperated. He stroked Tang Rou’s sinuous hair, saying, “What are you talking about? Your Big Brother’s a noble, proud, and decent person, unlike that wretched, nasty, and scheming rascal. We’re worlds apart, him and I.”
“As wantonly cheeky as a bantam cock. How not unlike Big Brother.” Tang Rou giggled, covering her mouth.
“…” Chu Xun stared at her.
So did Yan Chong, Lei Bao, and the others.
“Did their ears just failed them or what?! The soft-spoken and gentle Tang Rou now uttering foul language?!”
Apparently, Tang Rou realized she had blurted out something bad and her cheeks blushed a rosy red.
“Who taught you this, Rourou?!” Chu Xun scowled before glowering at Yan Chong and the others dangerously.
“Not me, Master!” Yan Chong waved his arms frantically.
“Not me either!” Lei Bao yelped with fright, only too eager to leave himself out of this mess.
Every head turned to Winsome Widow.
She jumped with shock and fright, uttering hastily, “Don’t look at me. It’s not me either.”
“The Internet,” Tang Rou mumbled weakly, “I saw it on the Internet…”
Chu Xun was beyond words. He fondled Tang Rou’s tidy and neat hair and hissed disapprovingly, “Gods in Heaven, you need to stop reading nonsense.”
“The perils of the Internet,” he mused. That such a gentle and reticent girl had been tainted by the blight of its influence.
Tang Rou nodded obediently.
Chu Xun quietly reeled with consolation, “Fortunately, the influence’s not too deep.”
…
…
Two days later, Jiu You came back.
Chu Xun took her with him to Dragon’s Back.
“All is still well. As a demonic blessed with a sturdier constitution and a longer lifespan than humans, the strange fruit hasn’t caused much harm to her, fortunately. But she should no longer take any more of it until I know more,” said Emperor Ao as a conclusion.
Chu Xun nodded with relief.
Oddly, it was also the first time Jing Hong saw Jiu You.
And for reasons unknown, Jiu You could not help feeling cold and frosty towards her.
“I’m off to see Big Sister Wu,” said Jiu You, trotting off.
She had spent some time with Hua Qingwu long when she was still a snake. For that, she became very close to her.
