261: Chapter 261 Fate 3

"I was still too careless. This Liu Three-Blade was indeed hiding in the shadows," Poison Three thought to himself.

Having shaken off Wang Hengshan's entanglement, he had managed to survive the first wave of crisis, and his mind naturally calmed down.

As for Liu Three-Blade's pursuit, he did not take it to heart.

Laughing Arhat and the Lady of Mingluo were nearby and could arrive in at most a few breaths; this bit of consumption was entirely within his tolerable range.

In contrast, due to this momentary delay, Wang Hengshan was quickly left behind by a certain distance.

In just a few breaths, the two were already separated by several dozen zhang.

It was also at this moment that Liu Three-Blade caught up and stood alongside Wang Hengshan.

"Too fast, we can't catch up!" Wang Hengshan said with annoyance.

"No matter, we just need to keep pursuing. The Blood Demon Secret Technique consumes a great deal of Qi and blood; he cannot hold on for too long," Liu Three-Blade said, his expression unchanged as he continued the pursuit.

Unlike Wang Hengshan, who had spent the past decade or so within Longnan Prefecture and had not fought many Inner Sect Disciples of the Blood Demon Sect.

As an Earth-Grade Evil-Suppressing Guard, he had never been one to stay in one place. The areas where he executed missions included, but were not limited to, the territory of Great Jing.

Just the number of Blood Demon Sect Inner Sect Disciples who had died at his hands was several, not to mention the number of times they had fought.

Among the Blood Demon Sect Inner Sect Disciples, unless they were ranked within the top hundred, escaping from his hands was by no means an easy task.

Clearly, Poison Three did not possess such strength.

But his target was never Poison Three.

Just like that, the two pursued all the way until a dilapidated village appeared.

At this moment, Poison Three was standing at the entrance of the village, turning back to look at Wang Hengshan and Liu Three-Blade, a wicked smile appearing on his face.

Seeing this, the two pursuers also slowed down their speed.

"Why did Poison Three stop? Has the Blood Demon Secret Technique reached its limit?" Wang Hengshan looked at Liu Three-Blade beside him and asked in confusion.

"No. Based on Poison Three's consumption of Qi and blood, the Blood Demon Secret Technique should still have at least two-thirds of its duration remaining. He stopped now precisely to wait for us to enter," Liu Three-Blade said with a grave expression.

Upon hearing this, Wang Hengshan's expression changed, and he immediately realized what was happening.

For Poison Three to dare to do this, there must be a power within the village capable of contending with them.

Then the answer was obvious.

"Poison Three is so calm; I fear Laughing Arhat is also within this village. Lord Liu, shall we enter?" Although Wang Hengshan was asking, he already had the answer in his heart.

Laughing Arhat was the goal of their trip.

Entering the village was inevitable.

However.

Liu Three-Blade's answer was completely beyond his expectations: "No! We don't need to go in."

"Why..." Before Wang Hengshan could finish his sentence, Liu Three-Blade's next sentence cleared up his confusion: "They are coming!"

"They?" Wang Hengshan was puzzled and looked straight ahead.

He saw three figures rushing towards them at an extremely fast speed, no slower at all than when the two of them were pursuing.

Although the two sides were separated by over a hundred zhang, with their eyesight, they were still able to see the people coming clearly.

Laughing Arhat and Poison Three were Evil Path Martial Artists that the Longnan Prefecture Evil Suppression Bureau needed to apprehend, so Wang Hengshan naturally recognized them.

But the Lady of Mingluo was different; she was not on the wanted list of the Longnan Prefecture Evil Suppression Bureau.

The intelligence priority was naturally not high.

This made it impossible for Wang Hengshan to immediately identify Yan Qingying's identity.

But there was one thing he could judge.

Yan Qingying was at least a Grandmaster in the Late Stage of the Six Bowels Realm.

A Late Stage Grandmaster was enough to tip the scales of victory.

Clearly, Laughing Arhat's side was also prepared.

This result caused Wang Hengshan's expression to change drastically.

So it turned out that it wasn't just them using a counter-scheme; Laughing Arhat's side was doing the same.

If they hadn't invited Pei Qingyun in advance, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Three against two; whether Liu Three-Blade would fall, he, Wang Hengshan, did not know, but he himself would most likely not be able to hold out.

Now, counting Pei Qingyun, it was only three against three.

This meant that the plan for this trip had mostly failed.

Thinking of this, Wang Hengshan couldn't help but look at Liu Three-Blade beside him and ask, "They have three people; should we summon Grandmaster Qingyun first before fighting them?"

Liu Three-Blade's expression was grave as he stared fixedly at Yan Qingying and replied, "No need, Grandmaster Qingyun is here."

Just as his voice fell, a figure landed steadily beside him.

This figure was none other than Pei Qingyun.

From the moment the two pursued Poison Three, Pei Qingyun had followed closely behind.

Only when the two slowed down did he catch up.

Compared to Wang Hengshan, Liu Three-Blade had noticed the movement behind them a step earlier.

"Grandmaster Qingyun." Wang Hengshan looked at Pei Qingyun and then quickly withdrew his gaze.

Pei Qingyun acknowledged, and his gaze also fell on Wang Hengshan's face.

This was the first time the two had met.

He was still very unfamiliar with this Evil Suppression Bureau commander.

But he knew even better that this was not the time for conversation.

After seeing Wang Hengshan's face clearly, he also looked at the three people rushing towards them from the front.

"The other side also has three people; this doesn't match the intelligence. Commander Liu, how do you plan to handle this?" Pei Qingyun said.

Liu Three-Blade said heavily, "This matter was my carelessness; Laughing Arhat is far more cunning than I imagined. I didn't expect him to be able to invite the Lady of Mingluo to come."

With Liu Three-Blade's hint, Wang Hengshan immediately realized.

If, before confirming Yan Qingying's identity, he was only surprised that Laughing Arhat was prepared.

Then at this moment, he found it a bit hard to accept.

He opened his mouth wide and said in disbelief, "The Lady of Mingluo, Yan Qingying, this woman is actually her. How could someone from the Mingluo Cult appear within the territory of my Longnan Prefecture?"

Pei Qingyun looked puzzled, "The Mingluo Cult, which faction is that?"

"Grandmaster Qingyun, now is not the time for explanations. After this matter is over, I will talk to you in detail. This Lady of Mingluo is powerful and is also a Top Grandmaster, even better than Laughing Arhat. According to our agreement, the target of this trip is Laughing Arhat."

"Now, things have changed. It is almost impossible to capture Laughing Arhat. Since Grandmaster Qingyun is not familiar with the intelligence on this Lady of Mingluo, I will deal with her. As for Laughing Arhat, it can only be left to Grandmaster Qingyun to handle alone."

"This matter is due to a problem with my intelligence. After this battle, I will give the pure origin fruit in the Bureau to Grandmaster Qingyun. But for the remaining two pure origin fruits, I am powerless, and I hope Grandmaster Qingyun can understand," Liu Three-Blade explained.

"Good." Pei Qingyun nodded.

According to their agreement, he had to capture Laughing Arhat to get three pure origin fruits.

Otherwise, he could only take some other compensation.

Now that the plan had variables, he only needed to make a move once. Even if he didn't capture Laughing Arhat, he could still get one pure origin fruit.

With the change in the trading rules, he wouldn't be at a loss.