Chapter 416 - Retreat
"Hahaha, you want the Six Divinations Almanac? Hahaha, how naive! This treasure belongs to us—the Sitting Oblivion Dao!" Li Huowang mocked the members of the Surveillance Bureau.
Hong Zhong’s illusion celebrated wildly and clapped around Li Huowang. It was his first time feeling such unprecedented joy; he had never felt such a rush, even when he was still alive.
Everyone came to a screeching halt and stared alternatingly at the Hong Zhong on Li Huowang's face and Jian Zheng’s corpse in his hand.
The Surveillance Bureau members besieging Zhuge Yuan were stupefied. They didn't expect that one of their comrades would end up being a member of the Sitting Oblivion Dao in disguise, and he had even killed Jian Zheng!
The Surveillance Bureau rushed toward Li Huowang. Jian Zheng had died, and if they didn't want to be imprisoned for dereliction of duty, they had to capture Hong Zhong!
"Dad, they're running toward you!" Li Sui exclaimed.
Li Huowang was blinded, so he couldn't see what was going on.
"Calm down. Pop your eyeballs out and lead the way for me!" Li Huowang urged. He raised the blood-stained almanac and ran toward the city wall under Li Sui's guidance.
Anything could happen in this bizarre world. Jian Zheng was one of the Surveillance Bureau's higher ups, so Jian Zheng had been difficult to kill. However, Li Huowang didn't really care about success or failure. He did this to shift the blame onto the Sitting Oblivion Dao. Li Huowang had never taken the Surveillance Bureau's side; he had stayed true to his goal—capturing the Strayed One Bei Feng!
Bei Feng was still in the capital, but both the Surveillance Bureau and the Sitting Oblivion Dao had to fight each other for Li Huowang to catch Bei Feng! It had to happen at all costs, even if Li Huowang had to create conflict between them.
Li Huowang had no reservations when it came to taking advantage of them. The Sitting Oblivion Dao had deceived him so many times that they were practically archenemies now.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang wasn't worried about his cover getting blown by the Surveillance Bureau. There was more than one Hong Zhong, after all. In addition, the Sitting Oblivion Dao was famous for their deception to the extent that no one would believe them, even if they were to speak the truth.
The Sitting Oblivion Dao was in a difficult position now that Hong Zhong had killed Jian Zheng. Li Huowang had learned this trick from the Sitting Oblivion Dao, and he wasn't shy of taking a few pointers from their playbook.
Li Huowang jumped on roof after roof. He attached talismans to his knees and ran wildly. He'd laugh occasionally to taunt his pursuers. Li Huowang's instigation plan had succeeded. Now, all that was left for him to do was to escape from the Surveillance Bureau's pursuit and reclaim his true identity his Er Jiu.
Li Huowang had just jumped off a roof when a killing intent pierced him, making his hair stand on end.
Li Huowang felt himself twisting in mid-air. The blind Li Huowang then felt a strong breeze sweeping past him.
"Dad, someone on the wall threw a big stick toward you," said Li Sui. He had evaded the attack for Li Huowang.
"Don't panic; we're not too far away from the city wall. We'll be out soon!" Li Huowang felt a strange aura behind him, and the aura locked onto him.
Li Huowang's heart clenched, and he asked, "Li Sui, what's going on? Did something happen behind us?"
"Dad, the person you killed has just stood up! He's looking at your head!"
"What?! Jian Zheng is still alive? No way, he has to be dead! He's not Jian Zheng! He's someone else!"
Clearly, "Jian Zheng" had more tricks up his sleeves than Li Huowang could ever take into account. Li Huowang didn't have an exact grasp of the ongoing situation, as he was blind. However, one thing was for sure: the ordeal was far from over.
"Go!" Li Huowang switched places with his illusion and became invisible. Then, he ran toward the city gate with all his strength.
Li Huowang felt a chill above his head followed by a dull thud. The chill vanished immediately afterward. However, Li Huowang's situation was too dire for him to pay any attention to anything else aside from escaping. Li Huowang ran nonstop upon realizing that he didn't get hit by the oncoming projectile.
"Come on! Everyone, let's help Elder Hong Zhong!"
"Hong Zhong! We'll avenge you! Just go in peace!"
"Hong Zhong, make sure to send the almanac out of the city!”
The members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao shouted at Li Huowang, and he couldn't help but sneer in his heart. I’m deceiving you guys. I’m sure none of you has ever thought that you'd get a taste of your own medicine one day.
Of course, Li Huowang had no idea whether the Sitting Oblivion Dao members were truly acting as his rearguard, but the pressure on Li Huowang dropped.
Li Huowang soon reached the city gates. The heavy gates were closed, but it was no challenge for Li Huowang. He swung his bronze coin sword and sliced through the city gate as if it were made out of paper.
Li Huowang ran for quite a while until his hands eventually felt the familiar touch of bushes and leaves. In other words, he had left the city and had entered a dense forest.
Li Sui! Keep an eye out for me! Is anyone after us? Li Huowang asked inwardly.
"No, those people in armor stopped them from chasing after us."
It was the best possible outcome, but Li Huowang remained vigilant. He continued his run into the forest; sometimes, he'd turn invisible, and sometimes he'd wade his way through a river.
Several hours later, Li Huowang eventually stopped, feeling utterly exhausted. He was covered in beaded sweat as he sat on a boulder to catch his breath. The security in the city will definitely be heightened because of the chaos. I have to wait for things to cool down.
However, I can’t wait for too long lest the Surveillance Bureau launches another attack on the Sitting Oblivion Dao while I'm not there. I have to be there before those two start attacking each other. I can’t miss the golden opportunity.
Just as Li Huowang was engrossed in his thoughts, the sound of crunching leaves echoed to his left.
Li Huowang's ears perked up to listen.
"Ghost!" a terrified scream echoed, prompting the nearby birds to fly away. Then, there wasn't any more movement. Li Huowang frowned in bewilderment and confusion. Li Sui, who made that sound?
"An old man. He's carrying a lot of wood. He's on the ground right now, and he's not moving at all."
The perplexed Li Huowang made his way over to where he had heard the scream, and his hands soon found the old man.
Li Huowang groped around and discovered that the old man was wearing coarse clothes. The old man's face was covered in deep wrinkles as well, which was proof of his old age.
The firewood on his back and the broken hatchet in the old man's hand indicated that the old man was just an ordinary person who decided to come to the mountains to chop some firewood.
The old man still had a pulse, which meant that Li Huowang had simply scared him out of his wits to the point of fainting rather than death.
Li Huowang realized just then that the old man had to have been scared by his terrifying appearance. It made sense, as there was no way that Li Huowang's horrifying face was a common sight to ordinary people.
Li Huowang took out a dagger from his torture bag to try and restore his facial features. He raised his hands and reached out for his head, but he found nothing except for two tentacles bobbing up and down with an eyeball each.
Where did my head go?
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