236: Dragon's Journey Chapter 2: No Disaster

"Hiss—ah."

Long Tianxing rubbed the back of his head, which ached incessantly, and forced himself to sit up.

He glanced at Hui Yuxuan, who was still unconscious beside him, and discovered that his outer robe and token were both gone, leaving him no choice but to stare blankly at the sky.

The moonlight was ghastly pale, stinging his eyes and making them ache.

Long Tianxing could no longer remember how many times he had been knocked unconscious.

After sitting blankly for a moment, he turned and shook Hui Yuxuan awake.

The man and the demon limped toward the rendezvous point.

But when they arrived, the two stood frozen in place, for before them lay nothing but ruins.

"Clang!"

A wobbly plaque crashed to the ground, sending dust flying.

The two were dumbstruck.

"What... exactly happened here?"

Time rewinds to the afternoon.

Zhu Gongchang did not rest but instead secretly walked into a small conference room with Scarface.

Inside, several Guest Elders of Prince Kangs Residence bowed in unison toward Zhu Gongchang.

"We pay our respects to the Grand Princess."

"Rise."

Song Ling waved her hand casually, signaling everyone to take their seats, then spoke.

"The Joyous Union Sect cannot be fully trusted after all; we must rely on ourselves for many things. Execute the original plan as scheduled. Everyone must make every effort to reach the designated location and assist my uncle and the others in completing the final step."

At this moment, the simple appearance Song Ling had worn on the pleasure boat was long gone; her actions were decisive and efficient.

"Yes."

The group acknowledged the order, then shifted their gazes to the scarred man beside her.

Song Ling took the opportunity to introduce him.

"His name is Chen Wei, and he is the adopted son of Duke Zhenguo."

Upon hearing this, Chen Wei wanted to retort, but due to the gravity of the occasion, he could only swallow his words.

Song Ling caught a glimpse of his aggrieved expression, and the corners of her mouth curled up imperceptibly.

"He came here to retrieve an item for subsequent operations and will remain until nightfall. Just look after him as usual."

She took out several scrolls and handed them to the group.

"These are Zhou Yan's accomplices. Although the Joyous Union Sect belongs to the Demonic Path and cannot be fully trusted, they have indeed provided Zhou Yan with considerable assistance for now."

"Zhou Yan's actions are also beneficial to us; therefore, while we must remain vigilant toward the Joyous Union Sect, we must maintain a friendly facade toward Zhou Yan and his party."

Recalling the Joyous Union Sect's abrupt change in attitude made her feel as if she had swallowed a dead fly.

One moment they were conspiring with her to scheme against Zhou Yan, and the next, they had kicked her aside, even forcing her to stand on Zhou Yan's side.

This left her stunned for a moment, and she nearly thought her schemes had already been exposed.

Originally, she had wanted to pretend to be naive and worldly-unwise to lure the other party into the trap and drag them into this chaos.

Who would have thought that not only would they jump in, but they would do so so thoroughly, catching her off guard instead.

Because of this, she dared not plot against Zhou Yan anymore and intended to return to warn the people of Prince Kangs Residence not to provoke him either.

The Guest Elders unfurled the scrolls and began to whisper among themselves.

"What if we actually run into them? We certainly can't be considered members of the Righteous Path right now."

Xiao Teng's expression was not very good. He had an impatient temperament and was never good at acting; he feared that once he got hot-headed, he wouldn't be able to keep up the charade.

"Slap!"

"Ouch! Old man, why did you hit me?"

Old Mo withdrew his hand and glared at him.

"Your Highness said not to provoke them. If you happen to run into them, just put on a show and let them go. If you can't do it, let me take over, lest you ruin things."

Xiao Teng rubbed the back of his head and wanted to argue, but was interrupted by Song Ling clapping her hands.

"That is how things stand. After the handover is complete, I will head to the Truth Cult stronghold to continue my infiltration, so do not directly assault their stronghold for now."

"However, the Truth Cult is no longer usable; you should have noticed this during the recent investigation for moles. Therefore, you must continue to strictly investigate for spies to prevent them from causing trouble in the Residence. Furthermore."

Song Ling's gaze turned cold.

"Try to intercept and kill the Truth Cult members who have come here this time. Since the plan is about to be launched, every obstacle removed counts."

"In any case, they are just idle pieces placed casually by that person; no one will care if a few are missing."

"Moreover... now there is someone 'helping' us."

"Creeak—"

The door was pushed open, and an old man walked in slowly. Seeing the room full of people and demons, he was clearly a bit nervous.

"This old one, Er Wuzai... pays respects to the Grand Princess and all Fellow Daoists."

He bowed deeply to Song Ling, and in his panic, he started to kowtow to the others as well, causing everyone to scramble away in fright.

Er Wuzai only then realized he had used the official court etiquette of the Great Qian; he hurriedly straightened up, brushed off his clothes, and offered an awkward smile.

The night grew deeper.

Long Tianxing had just been attacked by the Xiao-Wang duo not long ago, and as a result, he missed an assassination attempt targeting Lei Yan.

Lei Yan had originally viewed this handover as just an ordinary task. But due to its great importance, he decided to come in person.

The Vice Station Chief, Er Wuzai, had wanted to come along, but Lei Yan refused him on the grounds that "someone needs to hold down the fort."

After all, in his mind, Prince Kang was a supporter and a big benefactor; the Vice Station Chief coming along was likely just to show his face and build connections, or perhaps he was even thinking of jumping ship later.

Thinking of this, Lei Yan sneered inwardly.

Since he had fallen into his hands, he would be squeezed of every last bit of value. Want to leave? Only over my dead body.

Lei Yan led several subordinates and swaggered toward the settlement area.

Seeing that the Residence was deserted, he scoffed casually.

"Such a large Residence, and there isn't even anyone to serve; it's really just an empty shell. If it were me, I would definitely recruit a thousand or eight hundred people, hold a night market, and party all night—that would be style!"

His subordinates chimed in one after another.

It wasn't until Lei Yan pushed open the main door that he suddenly sensed something was wrong and hurriedly shouted.

"Retreat!"

He turned to flee, but saw his attendants had fallen one after another, with only one left having a blade held to his throat.

Lei Yan immediately cast a Spell to attack the shadows while crushing a communication talisman to call for help.

The building collapsed with a roar, and the moonlight shone through, illuminating the smiling face behind the barrier.

It was none other than Er Wuzai.

Lei Yan understood everything instantly.

The communication, he feared, had long since been intercepted.

"Vice Station Chief... no, Master Er! Master Er! I have even treated you to meals; you cannot do this!"

"Pfft—"

A blade flashed, and Lei Yan fell.

"Don't, don't kill me! I'll do anything!"

The only remaining young subordinate in the ruins had trembling legs, and the blade at his neck was chillingly cold.

Er Wuzai wiped the blood splattered on his face, walked up, and patted his cheek:

"Rest assured, I don't kill children. You may go."

The young man nodded mechanically and stumbled away to escape.

Er Wuzai beckoned to a Cultivator in the distance. The man trotted over and pulled a glowing red short blade from his bosom.

"Are you f***ing stupid?" Er Wuzai slapped him on the head. "I said to prepare shao dao zi for the celebration, not for you to bring a red-hot knife! It's liquor! Liquor for the victory celebration!"

"You guys, come over here, drag him away and beat him—beat him until he smokes!"

Watching the man being dragged away, he threw the short blade away in disgust and then wiped his face with a handkerchief.

A retainer of the Residence nearby leaned in and whispered.

"That kid... are you really going to leave him alone?"

Er Wuzai looked at the retreating figure and scoffed.

"Don't let his youth fool you; he is actually Lei Yan's illegitimate son, and his status in the organization is higher than mine, dammit."

"If he escapes back alone, he will definitely gather reinforcements. No matter what he does, those hidden guys will jump out."

"And we just need to follow him; whoever pops their head out, we kill them. Very soon, the true strength in that station will be wiped out."

He spread his arms triumphantly and grinned.

"No one understands these old colleagues of mine better than I do, no one."

The retainer had wanted to tease, "You really are devious," but the words changed when they reached his lips.

"What is that smell?"

The two turned their heads simultaneously to look at the Cultivator who had presented the knife and was currently being beaten; they saw yellowish smoke rising from his rear end.

"Holy crap! I told you to beat him until he smokes, but I didn't mean for you to actually make him smoke!"

The group was in a flurry, dragging the man away. They lost all interest in celebrating, hurriedly concealed their auras, and chased after the fleeing young man.

They did not notice that the fingers of Lei Yan's "corpse" in the ruins had moved almost imperceptibly.

Not long after, Long Tianxing and Hui Yuxuan happened to arrive at the ruins.

"Save... me..."

A blurred voice interrupted their astonishment. They turned their heads simultaneously, looking toward the headless body in the ruins.