Chapter 429 Exposed
The Lycan patrol squad could not be found.
It could not be helped, since their carcasses had long been tossed down the slopes of the hill into some unknown heather. They could have long been feasted upon by vermin and carrion.
Nevertheless, it was a chance for Huang Sheng to make a name for himself and he had no intention of letting it slip past his fingers.
He led his people to the Lycan encampment.
With their greatest champion now dead, the best fighter among the Lycans was an Eighth-grade Beast Lord.
“I want an explanation, Lycans! Or none of you will see the next daybreak!”
Huang Sheng demanded imperiously.
The Lycans were none too pleased. Their best champion was only just killed not long ago, and now their allies were turning on them.
“This is unacceptable, Mustelids!”
Boom!
Huang Sheng’s aura burgeoned in the blink of an eye and he fired an energy bolt into the Lycan who stood in his way, injuring the Eighth-grade Beast Lord badly enough to cough up blood.
Every grade makes a huge difference.
An Eighth-grade Human King hardly had enough edges to win a battle against a Ninth-grade Human King and the same were for Beast Lords.
“Listen up, I am here for answers. Not to give you answers!”
Kong Ying drew close to Kong Tengfei and whispered, “The Mustelids must have killed our people!”
Kong Tengfei shook his head and motioned for her to be quiet.
It was pointless to delve on further. Even if the Mustelids were truly behind the murders, the situation dictated that the Lycans would need to take the blame.
The Mustelids would never admit to the killings unless the Lycan patrol squad could be found.
While they did not find any clues that would suggest what happened to the Lycan squad, it was plain and clear that they would never appear again.
“Everyone! This is too much! This is brutal persecution by the Mustelids! Seniors and friends of our allies, please! I implore for justice!” cried a particularly large Lycan with sadness and anger.
But if the Lycans’ long-time allies, the Draconians, chose to remain silent, so would the rest of the Lost Races. They would just stay by the sidelines and watch.
Engulfed by unspeakable rage and despair, the Eighth-grade Beast Lord Lycan threw back its head and let loose a bestial howl.
“You Mustelids, you killed my clan’s most powerful expert, and now you are injuring me. I am going to find Mr. Wu to help us with this matter.”
Huang Sheng snorted disdainfully and said, “Even if Mr. Wu came, he wouldn’t be able to erase the fact that you framed our Mustelids.”
“Everyone, please move to the great hall to talk this out.”
A voice reverberated through the air, sounding eerily soft and casual enough to unsettle everyone who heard it.
Wu Kejin had become aware of what happened.
Everyone congregated as directed.
“Mr. Wu.”
Every representative of the Lost Races greeted the man now seated at the head of the table with deference and respect.
“Mr. Wu, you have to uphold justice for our Wolf Clan. The Mustelids has broken your rules and killed the strongest of our tribe. They are trying to destroy our alliance.”
The Eighth-grade Beast Lord Lycan begged with sobs and chokes as soon as he came in.
“I know about everything,” Wu Kejin muttered quietly.
Huang Sheng cupped his hands, and with a respectful expression, he said, “Mr. Wu, it’s the Lycans who went too far. They slandered our Mustelids first.”
Still proud and lackadaisical, Wu Kejin’s hand came up and waved for everyone to sit down.
He watched as everyone sank obediently into their chairs.
“What of the Tenth Elder of your race?”
“Mr. Wu, Old 10th is seriously injured. I asked him to go back to heal his wounds first,” Huang Sheng said.
Wu Kejin nodded calmly.
“Whatever had happened is immaterial. Right now, dealing with the Devil takes precedence. This matter can wait. For now, we’ll mount up searches to locate the missing Lycan squad.”
The champions stirred uneasily in silence. Wu Kejin was trying to mediate the situation.
Even so, with the Lycan champion now dead, the Lycans no longer have the right to speak at this table.
The Mustelids had proved their worth using strength.
And Wu Kejin would never execute the Mustelids; he needed their help to deal with the Devil.
“Mr. Wu, you’re wise. Once the patrol team of the Lycans is found, things will naturally come to light,” Huang Sheng said with a hold fist salute.
With the Lycan champion now dead, the Mustelids had the most to gain from this little episode, and naturally, they did not even need to object to Wu Kejin’s manner of handling this issue and risk antagonizing him.
Huang Sheng was cunning, although the same could not be said for the Lycans.
“Mr. Wu, could it be that my clan’s most powerful expert was killed just like that?” the Lycan race’s Eighth-grade Beast Lord asked.
Wu Kejin’s eyes squinted with a fleeting gleam of annoyance.
“As I said, we find your squad, we find the truth. Justice would be dispensed adequately then.”
“The Mustelids killed our champion! That much is clear and it wouldn’t help even if you manage to find our patrol squad! Our champion is dead! DEAD!” bellowed the interim Lycan leader.
Wu Kejin became noticeably displeased. No ruler in power liked having their authority challenged.
A keen observer of expressions, Huang Sheng sprang to his feet and cried, “Get out! This is not your lousy Lycan lair where you can do as you like!”
“Watch it, Huang Sheng. The rest of our race’s champions will be coming soon enough. This is not the end,” growled the Lycan bitterly.
“Is that a threat?” Huang Sheng lashed out viciously.
“So what if it is? Would you dare to slay us all to the last wolf? Just you wait; when the greatest of our champions emerge, all of you filthy weasels shall answer for these transgressions!” snorted the Eighth-grade Beast Lord before he brusquely wheeled around and stormed off.
Wu Kejin was not at all pleased.
So was Huang Sheng, with a murderous look in his eye.
The rest of the champions still there could see what was going on; Wu Kejin was furious.
“So we’ll just adjourn this matter for now. Go and take your rest; your task begins in a few hours.”
The champions saluted and filed out.
...
Huang Sheng returned to the Mustelid encampment.
At the hut belonging to the true Tenth Elder of the Mustelids, Chu Xun maintained his masquerade.
Being prudent, a minute did not pass without him keeping watch of everything outside.
When Huang Sheng stepped into the yard of his hut, Chu Xun sensed him coming.
Then came a series of knocks on the timber of the door just a second later.
“Come in.”
Huang Sheng pushed past the door and stepped inside.
He found Chu Xun sitting cross-legged on his bed, healing himself.
“How are you, brother?”
“I’m all right,” Chu Xun stopped the healing magic and looked at him, shaking his head.
“I want you to be honest: did you kill the Peacocks?” Huang Sheng held Chu Xun in a transfixed stare.
Chu Xun nodded.
“How dare you!” Huang Sheng hissed amidst gritted teeth, struggling to keep his anger in check.
Chu Xun feigned anger and retorted, “The other races, especially those Peacocks, had always held us in contempt and ridicule!”
“Damned you…” Huang Sheng could barely speak in his rage, although he quickly broke into a glee, “Even so, this little episode has played to our favor. It’s a slap to the face of every chieftain of the other races and a message that we Mustelids are not to be trifled with.”
Chu Xun didn’t say anything.
“Right, so how did you dispose of the Peacock carcasses?”
Chu Xun spied the wicked glint of deceit in his eyes.
“I tossed them off the slopes of the hill. They should have been fully eaten by beasts and carrion by now,” said Chu Xun.
“What a bloody waste of good food! I’ve hardly ever tasted one before!” Huang Sheng grimaced with a pained expression.
But Chu Xun was rather disgusted on the inside. “After all that, all this old mutant cares about is tasting the flesh of the Peacocks.”
“How about… we kill another one?” Chu Xun suggested.
Huang Sheng was startled and said in a hurry, “Don’t mess around. Although we were lucky to get through this time, Mr. Wu is already unhappy.”
“We can easily look for any stray one. No one would know,” cajoled Chu Xun again.
“No. This cannot happen again and that’s flat,” Huang Sheng waved off the idea. “Get some rest. I’m leaving in the morning and I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Leaving? Where to?” Those words slipped out of Chu Xun’s tongue even before he knew it.
Huang Sheng was nearly at the door when he heard them and he spun around at once, his eyes flaring with furious anger.
“Oh, damn it.” Chu Xun realized that he had misspoken almost immediately.
Boom!
Every piece of tableware on the table in the hut hovered in the air as an invisible wave of psionic energy blasted at Chu Xun.
Chu Xun instinctively conjured his Divine Sense and used it to dispel the invisible wave of psionic energy.
“You’re not one of us. Who are you!?” growled Huang Sheng.
“He’s seen through my disguise! Old devious thing! The psionic attack was only a test and Chu Xun’s defense had confirmed that he was an imposter.”
With his mind, his Divine Sense conjured an enchantment quickly.
Hum!
A barrier of purplish light shimmered all around them, enveloping the whole hut inside a cocoon.
“They say weasels are cunning and sneaky. I guess that observation bears merit.” Chu Xun chuckled.
“Who on earth are you?” Huang Sheng growled, nowhere near anxious yet.
“Answer my questions and you might yet live,” said Chu Xun frostily.
“Impertinence. You are the one who should be worrying about his life.” A soft glow of brownish-yellow shrouded around Huang Sheng basked in a sudden burst of yellowish glow and he thrust his arm forward, firing a blast of energy at Chu Xun.
Chu Xun clenched a fist and punched at Huang Sheng, firing a bolt of energy of his own that easily defeated and deflected Huang Sheng’s attack.
Bang!
Chu Xun’s energy bolt ricocheted and struck the elderly Mustelid, sending him crashing into the wall of light that was the barrier around them. The barrier shimmered like the ripples on the surface of water and bounced him back at Chu Xun like a ball.
Chu Xun lifted a hand and slammed Huang Sheng into the ground like how one would with a fly.
Boom!
The ground shook and a human-shaped crater appeared inches deep into the ground.
“Answer me truthfully. If I detect just one word of lie, you’ll find out that death is not the most painful thing in this world,” warned Chu Xun with a smirk.
“Who on earth are you?” Huang Sheng repeated himself, looking visibly distraught this time.
As a powerful Ninth-grade Beast Lord, he underestimated Chu Xun. But the brief bout filled him with enough terror at how powerful his foe was.
Whoever this was, Huang Sheng knew he could easily kill him like crushing to death an insect.
“Well since you’re so interested to know who I am, I’ll gladly indulge you.”
Chu Xun’s facial muscles twisted and writhed with bones cracking sickeningly.
“The Devil!”
Huang Sheng squealed with such horror when Chu Xun turned back to his original appearance that his eyeballs nearly popped out and the sparse mat of hair on his nearly-bald head immediately stood on end.
“Well, you have your answer.” Chu Xun strode to a corner and sat down. “Now’s my turn: tell me about the plan to deal with me.”
Huang Sheng was stunned. He could not believe that Chu Xun could turn into one of them and have been hiding amongst them.
But he should have seen it. The Tenth Elder was a mean-spirited craven and attacking the Peacock race was just out of his character. Additionally, he was able to sustain three blows from the Lycan champion and still live.
“Will you spare me if I tell you the truth?” uttered Huang Sheng, practically shaking from head to toe despite his best efforts to stay calm. Understandably so; no one could ever hope to remain calm while standing in the presence of the most dangerous man on Earth.
“That will depend on the value of your information,” muttered Chu Xun indifferently.
“What do you wish to know?”
“You mentioned that you’re leaving in the morning. Where are you off to?”
“The Rock Sect of Gujiang.”
“You’re launching an assault on the Rock Sect.”
“Our original target was Qianlong Mountain. But we know how adept you are in the magic of enchantments and we cannot defeat the one you left there.”
“Go on.”
“The champions from each race will attack the Rock Sect together. Our objective is to capture Yan Yi and the others alive there and use them to force your parents to undo the magic of the enchantment of Qianlong Mountain.”
Bang!
Frost filled Chu Xun’s eyes and his hand shot up without a warning and he blasted Huang Sheng’s arm into a mist of blood and viscera with one single bolt of energy.
Huang Sheng howled with agony, but the enchantment prevented his screams from getting outside.
“It’s a terrible plan,” mused Chu Xun. One that he did not see coming.
With only Long Liu and the rest of the Silver Dragon Guard to defend against the champions of the Lost Races, the Ninth-grade Beast Lords would easily overrun the Eighth-grade Human Kings and take the Rock Sect quickly.
And if Yan Yi and the members of the Rock Sect were taken captive and used as hostages to threaten his parents, they would undoubtedly yield than to see Yan Yi killed before their eyes.
Chu Xun felt very worried and afraid. It was fortunate that he infiltrated Nether Mountain or he would never find out about this plot.
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