missnovel Chapter 477 - 6: Return to the County
Chapter 477 - 6: Return to the County
Escape!
Quickly escape!
Lv Xin sweated on his forehead, his body technique pushed to the extreme, transforming into a phantom and flying forward.
He had just heard a slight noise, curiosity made him turn back to look, only to witness Zhu Gui being killed.
A Flawless one!
Completely powerless against him, killed with a few casual strikes.
Now recalling it, he only blamed himself for being so curious as to return and take a look.
Feeling a hidden resentment inside.
That Zhu guy brought it upon himself, why drag him down too?
With the opponent’s strength, if he really went to intercept tomorrow, wouldn’t it be seeking death?
"Swoosh!"
A swift wind attacked from behind.
Lv Xin leapt up, his spine writhing, his whole body pouncing forward like a giant dragon.
While avoiding attacks from the rear, his forward speed was unaffected.
"Good lightweight skill."
Fang Zheng’s light voice rang out, neither hurried nor sluggish, neither proud nor impatient, his body technique was even more graceful and unrestrained:
"Take another move from me!"
Saying this, he waved his big hand, and clusters of Jade Flame Thunderballs appeared out of thin air, the thunderballs stretched with a crackle, transforming into Thunder Sabers.
Eighteen Thunder Sabers spun in the air, their imposing power causing surrounding grass and trees, snakes, insects, and mice to bow down.
Go!
The Thunder Sabers sliced through the air, instantly sweeping forward tens of meters.
Oh no!
Lv Xin’s eyes widened, his face full of horror, he lowly roared, transforming into a phantom, continuously shuttling among the Thunder Sabers.
But alas...
"Boom!"
Lightning exploded in the sky, the thunder left no gaps, however skilled your body technique, it was hard to avoid.
"Ah!"
Lv Xin screamed miserably to the sky, his body stiffened by the electricity, before he could react, a palm attack came.
Instinctively, he raised his arm to block.
"Crack!"
The enormous power directly broke his arm bone.
Only now could he truly understand Zhu Gui’s feelings earlier, that kind of bone-deep fear and despair.
The opponent...
Such terrifying strength!
With such giant power, there’s no need for technique, just the simple swing of a fist, and no one can block it.
No matter what methods you have, it’s useless against a punch from the opponent.
Fang Zheng, unaware of Lv Xin’s thoughts, stepped forward and struck another punch.
The fist force shot straight to the heart.
"Bang!"
Lv Xin’s body stiffened, the fabric over his back and chest tore apart, his life force dissipating as his heart shattered.
A Flawless,
Dead!
In the blink of an eye, two Flawless Martial Artists were killed. It wasn’t that Zhu Gui and Lv Xin were too weak, it was that Fang Zheng was too strong.
Both Zhu Gui and Lv Xin had quite the name in Jianghu, not considered top among the Flawless Martial Artists, but not weak either.
It’s just unfortunate,
They encountered Fang Zheng.
"Hmm..."
Habitually searching the corpses, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow:
"Finally, some rewards, it wasn’t all in vain."
Lv Xin had some silver notes on him, not much, just over a thousand taels, but it could offset some losses.
......
The following day.
Fang Zheng mounted a horse, Linghu An and a few acquaintances from the Prefecture City came to see him off.
"Hyah!"
"Whoa..."
A few strong horses galloped in, stopping in front of everyone, an armored man on horseback swung the reins and shouted:
"Is it Fang Zheng from Gu’an County?"
"That’s correct."
Fang Zheng showed surprise, cupping his fist in respect:
"Does this general have any business?"
"I am Tong Yong of the Pingxi Army, currently serving under the Prince, I’ve come here to ask you a few questions," Tong Yong shouted:
"Where did you go last night?"
"Last night?" Fang Zheng hesitated for a moment, then replied:
"I was with Princess Qingyuan at the Immortal Pavilion, after that several friends set up a banquet in the city to see me off."
"Until daybreak."
"That’s right!" Linghu An speedily nodded:
"We can attest to that."
"Yes!"
"We drank until daybreak last night."
"No falsehoods here!"
The crowd quickly echoed in agreement, one of them recognized Tong Yong and curiously asked:
"General Tong, did something happen?"
"Nothing much," Tong Yong shook his head:
"Last night, the Second Master of the Black Wind Stronghold was killed outside the city, and next to him was the body of Lv Xin from the Cyan Wolf Gang."
"Ah!"
Everyone was shocked.
Fang Zheng added:
"Seems like mutual destruction, but what would Second Master Zhu be doing meeting with people from the Cyan Wolf Gang so late at night."
"Hmph!"
Tong Yong snorted coldly:
"It wasn’t mutual destruction; it was someone else who killed them, but... the connection between Zhu Gui and Lv Xin is quite suspicious."
"General Tong, are you saying..." Linghu An raised an eyebrow:
"Zhu Gui secretly colluded with the Cyan Wolf Gang?"
"No wonder!" someone said in realization:
"These past years, the Cyan Wolf Gang has ravaged Zhaonan Prefecture, affecting all major forces, yet only the Black Wind Stronghold wasn’t affected, its influence even growing larger, turns out they were secretly colluding."
"Brother Wang, be careful with your words!"
"What are you afraid of, there’s no outsiders here."
"..."
The crowd whispered among themselves, a hubbub of noise ensued.
"Alright."
Tong Yong waved his hand:
"No need for you to comment further on this; Black Wind Ascendant has already seen the Prince, and volunteered to be the vanguard against the bandits."
"So..."
"There’s no issue with the Black Wind Stronghold, the problem lies solely with Zhu Gui."
The crowd exchanged glances.
These words, even Tong Yong probably didn’t believe, but the Black Wind Stronghold volunteering to be the Vanguard Army indicated they’d gained the Prince’s trust.
Or perhaps, been forgiven.
"Fang Zheng."
Not long after, everyone else had left; only Linghu An accompanied him to the pavilion at the ten-li point, giving advice:
"The Prince coming to Zhaonan Prefecture has caused much speculation; they say that suppressing bandits is just one of the aims, and not the main objective."
"There’s a rumor..."
"Your Majesty’s time is near, but a Crown Prince hasn’t been named. It’s quite natural for the Prince to want to secure a territory."
"Father-in-law means, the Prince wants to vie for the throne, so he’s laying claim to Zhaonan Prefecture first?" Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow:
"But he’s Your Majesty’s uncle, isn’t he too old for that?"
"Who knows," Linghu An shook his head:
"But if the Prince genuinely doesn’t mind Black Wind Stronghold colluding with Cyan Wolf Gang, then it’s likely he’s not worried about suppressing bandits, at least compared to eradicating bandits, he’s more interested in controlling Zhaonan Prefecture."