Stranger Danger

Chapter 992: Delegation 101

In order to ensure that the operation was a success, the hallmaster of the First Hall even gave the seekers the Earthly Sovereign Chime. Legend had it that the Earthly Sovereign Chime was forged using the fragments of the Earthly Sovereign Bell and thus possessed a portion of the Strange Artifact’s power. It could also detect the Earthly Sovereign Bell and pinpoint its location.

This was why they had come to the North Duke City.

However, they discovered that the man possessing the Earthly Sovereign Bell and his companion were quite strong. Moreover, they were staying in the North Duke City for the past couple days.

Right now, the North Duke City was overflowing with powerful warriors and complex intrigue. Should they try to retrieve the Earthly Sovereign Bell via brute force, it was highly possible that they might land themselves in deep trouble and fail their mission.

That was why Yue Songhe decided to send one warrior to spy on the duo first. Once they left the capital, he would personally enter the battlefield and take the Earthly Sovereign Bell in one fell swoop.

Yue Wanjun reckoned that Yue Songhe and his men had already taken the Earthly Sovereign Bell. They were probably on their way back right now.

Yue Wanjun cracked a longing smile when he thought about this. Once the hallmaster retrieves the Earthly Sovereign Bell, the Earthly Sovereign Hall would surely regain its former glory.

“What are you thinking about, friend? Do you mind sharing some of that happiness with me?”

Suddenly, a masculine voice appeared from behind. Surprised but not panicking, Yue Wanjun clenched his right fist and threw a backhand.

The punch seemed capable of inverting heaven and earth; yin and yang. The ambient energies immediately fell into chaos.

The punch was named “Inverting Mountains and Rivers”. As the name implied, it possessed the power to invert many things. It was an ultimate technique in the Earthly Sovereign Hall and his strongest, deadliest move.

He was confident that he could make whoever was behind him—man or ghost—regret their decision to surprise him.

Thump!

The next moment, his fist landed on his opponent’s chest and elicited what sounded like a gong strike. However, it was Yue Wanjun whose blood drained away from his face. Not only did his punch fail to break his opponent’s chest and body, it was his right fist that had snapped like twigs. His arm and shoulder was sore and hurting as well.

Yue Wanjun realized then that his mysterious foe wasn’t someone he could handle. He immediately made the snap decision to run away.

Unfortunately, a hand appeared on his shoulder before he could so much as move his leg. His face immediately turned deathly pale as blood poured out of every orifice.

Yue Wanjun didn’t move. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to move, but because he couldn’t. The hand on his shoulder was like a mountain, pinning him down and preventing him from moving a muscle.

“May I know who you are and how I might have offended you, senior?” Yue Wanjun caved immediately.

“What, it hasn’t even been half an hour since we last met, and you’ve forgotten about me already, you dog?”

The voice behind him said ridiculingly, “You’re breaking my heart here.”

“It’s you?!” Yue Wanjun’s eyes widened like saucers when he finally saw the face of the man pinning him down. It was none other than Ye Qing.

“What’s with that expression?”

Ye Qing raised an eyebrow. “It was fun spying on me for the past two days, wasn’t it?”

“Impossible, how did you...” Yue Wanjun stammered. He could not believe what was happening.

“How did I discover you, and how am I here?”

Ye Qing chuckled. “Come now. It was easy as piss to notice you spying on me. Even the old man on the opposite street had better shadowing and spying skills than you. As for how I found this place, you’re the one who led me here, of course.”

“Oh, and a word of advice? You don’t need to wait for your companions anymore. They’re busy running away and have no time for you right now.”

Ye Qing was telling the truth. Feng Qingyou had noticed Yue Wanjun practically the minute he started spying on them. It wasn’t because Yue Wanjun’s Magia and secret art were weak, but because he absolutely sucked at shadowing and spying on others. It was clearly because he rarely left the Earthly Sovereign Hall and severely lacked jianghu experience as a result. It took almost no time for Feng Qingyou to discover him.

At first, they were worried that someone had somehow recognized Ye Qing. Then, Ye Qing sensed the Profound Yellow Qi in Yue Wanjun’s body and guessed his identity instantly.

A long time ago, he had interacted with Yue Juejiang of the Earthly Sovereign Hall inside the Earthly Sovereign Coffin. Therefore, he was fairly sensitive to aura like his. Although Yue Wanjun was much stronger than Yue Juejiang in terms of ability and cultivation level, they shared similar auras due to their shared lineage, and every martial art passed down within the Earthly Sovereign Hall was basically derived from the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture”. That was why it had taken him barely any effort to confirm Yue Wanjun’s identity and subsequently, his objective: the Earthly Sovereign Bell.

Just in case he was mistaken, Feng Qingyou invaded Yue Wanjun’s dreams when he was asleep and confirmed their goal. She also learned about his cohorts—Yue Songhe and the like—and their plan.

Yue Songhe was a Half-Sage, and everyone he brought with him was an elite Trueman or Grandmaster. At their current strength, there was no chance they were winning a head-on clash. So, they decided to play dirty. They were going to lend someone a knife and make them do their dirty work for them.

Who was the biggest force in the North Duke City? The North Duke Office, of course. Therefore, the plan was to pit the North Duke Office against them.

It didn’t take much time at all to come up with a viable plan to pit the two forces against each other, not to mention that Ding Buren was his. All he needed to do was to pretend to be a member of Yue Songhe’s group and kill a North Duke Office warrior. Next, he put himself out as bait and lured Yue Song’s group into the open. Finally, he secretly contacted the North Duke Office and arranged a “meeting” between the two forces. And just like that, his enemies were running with their tails between their legs.

But why did he not arrange things so that Ding Buren and the elites would appear at first notice? It was because the North Duke Office’s first priority right now was to locate Ye Qing. If Ding Buren and his men appeared immediately, and Yue Songhe and his men revealed their identities, it was highly likely that the North Duke Office would choose to stand down. It wasn’t worth butting heads against a powerful faction over a single death, not to mentio that they were busy right now.

The plan would have failed even with Ding Buren’s intervention. Worst case scenario, Ding Buren might even be exposed as the traitor.

That was why he needed to blow things up as much as possible; make it so that everyone in the city learned that Yue Songhe’s group had slaughtered the North Duke Office’s men on their territory. At that point, the North Duke Office would be forced to act even if they didn’t want to.

Best case scenario, Yue Songhe’s group proved to be a bigger pushover than expected and perished to the North Duke Office. Worst case scenario, the North Duke Office could still keep them busy and prevent them from making trouble for him.

Of course, he was aware that this solution only treated the symptom and not the case. He needed to find out how Yue Songhe and his men found him. Otherwise, he could annihilate Yue Songhe’s group, and the Earthly Sovereign Hall could just dispatch more seekers and hound him like flies.

This was why he followed Yue Wanjun here.

“Impossible! There is no way that woman could handle the hallmaster!”

Yue Wanjun harrumphed. “You don’t know who we are, do you? You would release me if you know what’s good for you?”

“Is that so? Who are you?” Ye Qing smirked.

“Listen well. I hail from the Earthly Sovereign Hall. We are all descendants and successors of the Earthly Sovereign.” Yue Wanjun declared with a proud expression.

“Oh, I see,” Ye Qing exclaimed with mock surprise before falling silent, his face as calm as a pool of dead water.

“Hmm?”

Yue Wanjun was confused. Usually, people would be filled with reverence the second they heard the name “Earthly Sovereign Hall”. After all, the Earthly Sovereign was the ancient hero who saved humanity and was revered by all. The Earthly Sovereign Hall was the organization he left behind, and it was as powerful as it was respected. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

That was why he couldn’t understand Ye Qing’s reaction. To say he was far too calmly would be an understatement.

“I said, we are members of the Earthly Sovereign Hall.”