Chapter 218: Blinded By The Sight (II)
Liu Long looked at those around him, particularly Hao Lianchuan.
“Director Hao, Silver Moon is part of Skystar Dynasty,” he said in a complicated tone. “Does the central region not care that we’ve run into trouble? The province is not undermined by unrest yet and we’ve always bowed our heads to dynastic rule. We recognize the government’s authority and consider ourselves part of Skystar. No one is calling for independence or a rebellion. Why has it come to this?”
Hao Lianchuan took a moment to gather his thoughts and answered slowly, “Perhaps it is not that they don’t care, but that they really don’t have the ability to. The chaos in the central region is preoccupying too much of their resources. They, too, wish for some breathing space.
“It’s good if some of the enemy is redeployed. Wouldn’t the government just be continuing the war, but in Silver Moon, if they sent more people to the province in response? As for Silver Moon itself... we are too far from the central region!”
Silver Moon was on the borderlands of the ninety-nine provinces. There were roughly twenty provinces that constituted the central region, demarcating an enormous domain. Silver Moon wasn’t immediately found outside that cluster of provinces. One had to draw a line all the way to fringe territory before reaching Silver Moon.
All that Skystar Dynasty wanted to do at the moment was to expel the various supernatural organizations out of the central region and consolidate their rule. They would then slowly turn their sights outward—it was a policy that conformed with keeping the bigger picture in mind. Otherwise, splitting up the army could result in losing the central region as well.
Their direction was correct and their strategy appropriate, but it represented forsaking the border provinces that remained loyal to the dynasty. For Silver Moon, seeking to migrate the smaller cities to larger ones was also a type of relinquishment. Not to mention, the central government was outright abandoning them. It was a blow that was immensely hard to swallow for many.
“We don’t need to pay too much attention to this,” Hao Lianchuan continued. “It’s not a bad state of affairs. All we need to do for peace in the province is to eliminate the enemies that come. The dynasty isn’t completely throwing us to the wolves. They sometimes send over supernatural resources and others...”
He still offered some placating words so that general disappointment wouldn’t transform to anger. That would not be good. It also wasn’t the best time to talk about this.
“Please hold your horses, everyone. All trouble will pass when the director arrives.”
Hou Xiaochen.
The air of untargeted fear abated somewhat when people heard that the director was coming. Although it’d been many years since he’d taken the field, the director was a pillar of strength in many people’s eyes. There wouldn’t be much of an issue with him present.
Li Hao had been silently observing the crowd and came to a preliminary conclusion when he saw their expressions. Hou Xiaochen truly had a magnificent reputation in their hearts. I wonder if he won everyone over a long time ago because he wants to be independent one day? Or did he repeatedly disobey orders because he really wants to protect Silver Moon?
The young man was unfamiliar with the man, so he only half believed what the director said. Silver Moon’s current straits were a result of dynastic indifference—that also stemmed from Hou Xiaochen refusing to listen to commands. In Li Hao’s view, no superior would be satisfied with such a subordinate.
In the heat of battle, a field commander must make the decisions, even if they went against their liege’s orders. The theory sounded correct, but the central region was caught in the grip of war and a general on the border refused to go back to help. This was no different from mutiny in the central government’s eyes.
Each side had their own version of events. Li Hao wasn’t aware of the particulars, so he could only stand on the sidelines.
The group was no closer to any good ideas after a while of discussion, so they decided to await Hou Xiaochen’s arrival.
......
They didn’t wait long, but it wasn’t Hou Xiaochen who came to Rift Canyon. Hao Lianchuan frowned and walked out of his tent when a towering presence shot into the sky.
A violet shadow flashed in from the distance and appeared in front of the assembly. The deputy director greeted it with solemnity.
“Violet Moon!”
Red Moon’s leading representative in Silver Moon!
She wasn’t wearing a ghost face mask and appeared to be a woman of moderate age—thirty at most. Her eyes were violet and lightning crackled faintly around her. A thunder supernatural!
She swept the crowd without a word and identified Li Hao standing at the back.
“Hand over Li Hao. You know the reason why, Hao Lianchuan!” she said calmly. Li Hao’s master had slaughtered her delegation. Now that Yuan Shuo was on the run, she had to give her incoming superiors an explanation. Her voice was measured, but a wrathful rage brewed within. “I do not wish to declare open war on the Night Watchers right this minute, but that doesn’t mean you can shelter disciples of the Five Styles!”
Hao Lianchuan cursed to himself. Where was the director? Why wasn’t he here yet? Violet Moon was very strong—possibly stronger than Sun Yifei.
Red Moon had seven representative characters—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Red Moon was Ying Hongyue, Violet Moon was ranked seventh. Her placement didn’t represent strength as she wasn’t the first generation Violet Moon. Regardless, her status was very high all the same. It indicated that the organization quite valued Silver Moon.
It wasn’t just Red Moon, but so did the other organizations also treat the province with this level of importance. Too many powerhouses had come from the province’s martial world. Of course, this was the reason they gave before. Now it looked like it might have something to do with the eight families.
In any case, Hao Lianchuan knew he was no match for her, not even when reinforced with the Flaming Phoenix Spear. Violet Moon would have an origin weapon on hand as well!
There weren’t that many origin weapons in the world, but some could be found in every province. They were categorized by level of strength and special effects. The one that everyone was fighting over in the central province was less valuable as it wasn’t as powerful when it came to offense. Someone as instrumental as Violet Moon was sure to have one!
“Violet Moon!” Hao Lianchuan rumbled. “It is up to the director whether or not we hand over Li Hao! I cannot make the decision in this and don’t think of seizing him either. Otherwise, there will be war between Red Moon and the Night Watchers when the director arrives!”
“So what?” Violet Moon speared him with a frosty look. “Are you threatening me? Hao Kong is dead, Brokensky is dead, Sun Yifei is dead. How am I to explain myself if I don’t take Li Hao? Since it’s trouble no matter how I look at it, let things be a bit more chaotic then!”
She grabbed at Li Hao as soon as she finished speaking! Her palm was as if a thunderclap, it blotted out the skies and brought incredible pressure to bear on everyone. She really was attacking!
Hao Lianchuan roared with outrage and punched with a torrent of fire. A massive explosion forced him back—his fist was covered with lightning that sizzled into his arm. Violet Moon remained unmoving and made another grab at Li Hao.
She wanted the young man firstly for Yuan Shuo and secondly for his identity as an heir to the eight families. Violet Moon knew that she might be able to redeem herself if she captured Li Hao. At the very least, she wouldn’t be reprimanded when she returned to headquarters. If she didn’t take him, she would be in grave trouble.
Her Silver Moon branch had suffered too many losses. Several Solars had died, including the Sun Yifei who’d just rushed here. Many provinces didn’t have a single Solar in residence, just Sunflares, because they weren’t important. Several Solars had been assigned here due to the eight families and Hou Xiaochen. Now that she was the only one left, those upstairs would be beside themselves with fury.
......
Li Hao stood impassively among the crowd. He simply watched the woman repeatedly launch herself at him and Hao Lianchuan repeatedly fend her off.
You want to capture me?
He wasn’t afraid of death—or rather, he wasn’t afraid that he would die at this moment because Violet Moon would not be killing him right now. Silver City’s matter was not yet concluded, the eight trigrams were still there, and there was the stone door...
Red Moon might know all this. They needed him and might even be waiting for the next rainy season so they could extract his bloodline. Thus, they wouldn’t kill him now. Li Hao simply committed this person to memory.
And if Violet Moon was here, where was Hou Xiaochen?
Some Sunflare Night Watchers joined the fray. One Sunflare was naturally no match for a Solar, but multiple Sunflares quickly muddied the waters.
Violet Moon snorted; something seemed ready to surge from her body.
Li Hao watched silently, making out an indistinct beast that was ready to rush forward. It should be her origin weapon. That made for multiple origin weapons that he’d seen in a short period of time. He looked at Zhang Ting out of the corner of his eye...
The mid Solar potentially from the central region also wielded an origin weapon, but chose to retreat from action and hide among the crowd.
Next to Li Hao, Liu Long remained put all this time. He simply shielded the young man with his body. Yuan Shuo was gone and he’d brought Li Hao here. Right now, he was the young man’s last line of defense. It didn’t matter that he was an ordinary Dominator, not a grandmaster like Yuan Shuo.
Warmth briefly touched Li Hao’s heart. Not everyone was like Zhang Ting at a critical moment like this. Hao Lianchuan and his men were all resisting. All it would take was handing the young man over for trouble to go away, but they refused to concede. It would seem that the Night Watchers still possessed some shreds of dignity and hot bloodedness.
Violet Moon halted her attacks just as the thunder beast was about to materialize and took a few steps back. Two figures walked in from the distance at a slow pace.
It was a man and a woman.
Li Hao recognized the man—Hou Xiaochen. He didn’t know the woman. An arctic expression hung on her face and she helped the director along to the crowd.
“Director Hou!” Hao Lianchuan greeted them with delight. The director was here!
No one paid attention to Manager Yu. She’d taken care of Hou Xiaochen for many years and people couldn’t be bothered to gossip if there was another layer of relationship between the two. Director Hou had no family and neither was the manager attached. Therefore, whatever might be going on between the two was boring fodder.
Violet Moon also looked at Hou Xiaochen. Even though the man was sickly and needed someone’s help to walk, no one dared take him lightly. He’d killed a Red Moon Solar right in front of Ying Hongyue back in the day. Ying Hongyue should’ve been a Nova then, but had no choice but to witness one of his subordinates die right in front of him.
“Hou Xiaochen!” Violet Moon addressed with a cool hint. “The Night Watchers stick their hands in far too much. Are you also going to shelter Yuan Shuo’s disciple?”
“Li Hao is a Night Watcher, correct?” asked a smiling Hou Xiaochen.
“Yes!” Hao Lianchuan hastily called out.
“Then that’s that.” He turned with a smile. “Alright, don’t be mad, Violet Moon the third. Wait for your organization’s powerhouses to come before saying anything else. Why ask for trouble when you’re here by yourself?”
Violet Moon’s eyes narrowed dangerously!
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