Chapter 2364: Chapter 2364 Internal Conflict
The martial practitioners from the adjacent chamber stepped forward, waving a command token from Wan Weihou, right as Ye Liuyun was about to flee.
"By the order of Wan Weihou, the Hong Kun incident is purely a personal vendetta. Local garrison guards are forbidden to intervene! Withdraw at once!"
The troops dispatched to capture Ye Liuyun had no choice but to obey Wan Weihou’s order and report back to Mu Yuantang.
Though seething with anger, Mu Yuantang couldn’t openly defy Wan Weihou without consequences. He had no choice but to bide his time for another opportunity.
Ye Liuyun and the Songstress asked the neighbouring room’s martial practitioners to convey their gratitude to Wan Weihou on their behalf.
However, the incident served as a warning to Wan Weihou. First, Ye Liuyun and his supposed sister had offended Hong Kun, and now they’d somehow provoked Mu Yuantang. Intrigued, he demanded answers.
"Investigate why Mu Yuantang is targeting these siblings. Find out if it’s connected to Hong Kun."
"Yes, sir," his subordinate acknowledged before swiftly departing to carry out the task.
Shortly after, Wan Weihou summoned a martial practitioner shrouded in black robes.
"Mu Yuantang," Wan Weihou merely said the name to him.
Without a reply, the black-clad figure bowed and retreated.
Wan Weihou was one of the ten marquises under the rule of Lord Zhenxing. However, not all marquisates were granted by the Lord’s own will.
After all, power dynamics in an extensive dynasty were certain to be complicated. Some nobles created factions, causing Lord Zhenxing to use strategies to balance his subordinates’ power.
The marquises’ authority and the garrisons’ military strength were purposefully designed to balance one another.
Wan Weihou of Valorcrest was not one of Lord Zhenxing’s trusted confidants. Thus, the lord had stationed his loyal subordinate Mu Yuantang there with troops to keep the marquis’s power in check.
The rivalry between Wan Weihou and Mu Yuantang had been an open secret, with both sides seizing every opportunity to undermine each other’s power.
Speculation arose among other influential figures in the area as to whether the assassination attempts on Wan Weihou and Mu Tianyang had been orchestrated by their opposing faction.
Unwilling to publicly proclaim their allegiance, the majority of them purposefully stayed on the sidelines on matters involving these two factions.
But these underlying conflicts were unknown to Ye Liuyun. He thought Wan Weihou was interested in the Songstress’s skills and wanted to recruit her, hence the covert protection.
But then, his clone noticed a shift in the Stygian’s mission assignments.
First, the bounty on Songstress had been revoked. This indicated that the employer behind her assassination was none other than Hong Kun. Now that Hong Kun was dead, no one was left to pay for her assassination mission. Hence, Stygian naturally cancelled the mission.
The second change was the emergence of a new bounty targeting Mu Yuantang’s head. Shockingly, the reward was set at a mere hundred points.
Such low rewards didn’t serve much as a motivation for assassins to get him.
"Mu Yuantang was the local marquise, getting him is bound to be a difficult task!"
"Exactly! A man of his standing, and they only offer a hundred points? That’s an insult!"
None of the Stygian assassins was tempted by such a paltry sum.
Even Ye Liuyun was taken aback by this news and wondered about it.
"Why would someone want Mu Yuantang dead all of a sudden? And for such a little reward? Furthermore, why hasn’t Wan Weihou’s bounty been made public? What is the value of his bounty?"
His scepticism regarding these operations only intensified.
However, he was unable to obtain the specifics of the bounty contract for Wan Weihou due to his present low status.
So the Clone became more diligent as well, taking on more missions to quickly accumulate points.
Soon, the finals for the Songstress’s competition arrived.
Ye Liuyun accompanied her into battle once more. Thanks to the Storage Stone and the Multipurpose Cauldron, the Songstress maintained an abundant reserve of genuine energy, ultimately securing first place in the grand competition. As a result, she received generous rewards.
The top ten martial practitioners and their respective guards were temporarily housed in Wan Weihou’s estate, awaiting an audience with him.
At this time, Wan Weihou was in discussions with Mu Yuantang and others about exploring a secret realm known as the Zestrone Cliff.
Since its discovery, this secret realm had never been fully explored. Wan Weihou had previously dispatched martial practitioners to scout the place, but the casualties were severe. Still, they knew that the place held abundant resources.
Thus, the Wan Weihou halted further exploration, intending to reserve it for training future talents.
Now, he saw the perfect opportunity to send the top ten martial practitioners together with some guards on an expedition. It would test their abilities while allowing them to gather resources and strengthen themselves.
As for safeguarding the mission, Wan Weihou entrusted the task to Mu Yuantang.
"Gather a small group of troops and trail behind them, providing cover whenever possible. Let’s make it our mission to uncover this secret realm this time, shall we?" Wan Weihou proposed.
At first glance, the choice appeared to be a sensible way to both discover the realms and foster new talents. In the past, Wan Weihou had frequently employed such techniques.
Without any hesitation, Mu Yuantang accepted. Now that he had the authority to access the secret realm, he could raid and capture Ye Liuyun and the Songstress.
The moment Ye Liuyun got the news, he had an inkling that Mu Yuantang was involved in Wan Weihou’s scheme.
"The problem isn’t with discovering the secret realm, but why did he send Mu Yuantang to oversee the troops?"
After some thought, he decided against sending his clone. Instead, he would personally accompany the Songstress on the expedition. If real danger arose, they could always escape using the Black Tower.
Therefore, Wan Weihou gave them three days to prepare, yet Ye Liuyun and the Songstress never once left their room during that entire time.
Three days later, the ten martial practitioners and their guards stood by. Most participants had two guards, but the Songstress had only Ye Liuyun.
Still, many refused to acknowledge her victory. They looked down on each other with contempt, each of them confident of their own superiority.
They couldn’t help but make snide remarks to Songstress when they knew that she had only Ye Liuyun as a guard.
"Can’t even afford a proper guard, yet dares to explore the secret realm?"
"Zestrone Cliff is no joke. There are plenty of experts who have gone in and never returned!"
They spoke as if trying to intimidate a child.
The Songstress ignored them, too proud to waste words on their taunts. But her silence only emboldened them further.
Just then, Mu Yuantang and his squad of soldiers showed up.
"Silence!"
A soldier barked the order, instantly halting the chatter.
Mu Yuantang handed each of them a Sound Transmission Talisman. "If you encounter danger inside the secret realm, use this to call for help."
"There’s no time limit for this expedition. You’ll receive orders via Sound Transmission Talisman on when to withdraw."
Ye Liuyun stored the talisman in his Spatial World, discreetly instructing Liu Jing and Tong Xin to check if the talisman was equipped with a location tracking system.
"It does!" Liu Jing spotted it immediately.
"Good."
Without hesitation, Ye Liuyun retrieved the Sound Transmission Talisman and placed it in his Interspatial Ring. Right where he wanted Mu Yuantang to learn of his location.
"Move out!" Mu Yuantang wasted no more words, leading them aboard a war vessel that set sail toward the secret realm.
Throughout the expedition, he showed no sign of hostility toward Ye Liuyun.
