Chapter 337 - 206: Exiting the Pass

Chapter 337: Chapter 206: Exiting the Pass

One of the demons said, "We’re guaranteed to give them a—what’s the phrase again?

Right, a show of force to put them in their place!"

"Heh, I sent Cang Gou. We won’t be bullying them. Cang Gou is only third-rank. A single third-rank demon is enough to make their envoy panic, to make them live in constant fear. When that time comes, what nerve will they have to negotiate with us?

Won’t they have to agree to whatever conditions we propose?"

Another demon chuckled sinisterly. "We’ll make Da Xuan offer us a blood food of three thousand Martial Artists every year, and they’ll have to cede A State’s Land to us..."

The demons began to discuss excitedly.

Liang Jinglue remained noncommittal, simply standing with his hands behind his back, gazing in the direction of Da Xuan.

His hands were clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

’Da Xuan, the humiliation you once brought upon me... I will return it, piece by piece!’

......

After leaving Hujue Pass, the party of over a hundred people traveled west, gradually entering the barbaric wilds.

Across the vast Gobi Desert, the sky was a dim, sallow yellow.

Demonic Qi was everywhere. A single breath was enough to make one feel an urge to go berserk.

Lingering in such an environment for too long, even a Martial Artist would be corrupted by the demonic influence, becoming irritable, aggressive, and bloodthirsty.

The members of the envoy were all wearing Profound Armor from the Taiping Bureau, which could insulate them from the Demonic Qi.

But Zhu Jiuyuan, Lu Mingyang, and the others did not cultivate the Martial Dao and were physically weak.

Even with the protection of the Profound Armor, they became sickly and frail after entering the barbaric wilds.

Zhu Jiuyuan, old and feeble, was particularly affected. He spent his days sleeping in his carriage, and even his meals had to be brought to him by Lu Mingyang.

Since leaving Hujue Pass, Su Mu, the Vice Envoy, hadn’t seen him even once.

"Junior Brother Su, do you think this Old Zhu is reliable?"

After nightfall, the envoy set up camp, and a group of Taiping Captains gathered around a bonfire.

Xu Chongyuan glanced toward the carriage and said in a low voice, "He’s this old and frail. Can he really negotiate with the Demon Court?

I’m afraid he’ll croak before he even reaches the Demon Court."

"Watch your mouth."

Su Mu said, "Lord Zhu is the Chief Envoy, after all. Those matters are not for us to worry about.

Our mission is to ensure the safety of the envoy."

He also glanced in the direction of Zhu Jiuyuan’s carriage and added, "The imperial court must have had its reasons for choosing him as the Chief Envoy."

Accepting a piece of roasted meat from a Taiping Captain, Su Mu had just taken a couple of bites when he saw Lu Mingyang approaching.

"Captain Su, my teacher requests your presence."

Lu Mingyang walked up to Su Mu and spoke.

Su Mu was a little surprised. He stood up and said, "Let’s go."

He followed Lu Mingyang to the carriage. From inside, Zhu Jiuyuan’s voice emerged. "Come up."

Upon entering the carriage, Su Mu saw that Zhu Jiuyuan was a completely different person from the drowsy old man of the past few days. He was sitting cross-legged with a white cloth spread before him, a charcoal stick in hand, drawing something on it.

"Lord Zhu."

Su Mu said, cupping his fist in salute.

"Captain Su, I would like the envoy to travel a bit more slowly. What are your thoughts?"

Zhu Jiuyuan looked up at Su Mu and said slowly.

"More slowly?"

Su Mu pondered for a moment. "Allow me to be blunt. Slowing down is not a problem in itself, but I’m not sure Lord Zhu’s body can withstand it.

If our journey exceeds half a year, the effectiveness of the Profound Armor against the Demonic Qi will diminish. It won’t matter much to rough men like us, but you gentlemen..."

"That will not be an issue. We scholars may be physically weak, but we possess a noble spirit within us. We do not fear this Demonic Qi,"

Zhu Jiuyuan said.

Su Mu was rendered speechless.

’He just thinks Zhu Jiuyuan is bragging, as scholars do.’

’Demonic Qi isn’t something you can resist just by thinking you’re strong enough.’

"Lord Zhu, would you mind telling me plainly why we need to delay?"

Su Mu asked in a low, serious voice.

"When I was young, I studied the Qi Observation Technique."

Zhu Jiuyuan said faintly. "On this trip, I would also like to observe the qi veins of these barbaric wilds."

’It all became clear to Su Mu. So this was Zhu Jiuyuan’s hidden mission.’

’What he’s drawing is probably a map of the qi vein distribution.’

’If they could truly map the distribution of Demonic Qi in the barbaric wilds, Da Xuan could choose a route where the Demonic Qi was thinner if they ever launched a campaign against the Demon Court.’

"Understood."

Su Mu nodded and said, "I will do my best."

Just as he was about to ask something else, cries of alarm suddenly erupted from outside.

Su Mu’s expression changed, and his figure vanished from the carriage in a flash.

TWANG! TWANG!

The moment Su Mu appeared outside the carriage, he heard the sound of bowstrings being released.

He looked up and saw a dark shadow circling above the camp.

"My lord, that demon... it took Brother Zhang!"

A civil servant cried out, his face etched with panic.

Lu Mingyang’s face turned pale as he looked at Su Mu.

No one could have imagined that they would be attacked by a demon so soon after entering the barbaric wilds.

And a flying one, at that!

"What does the Demon Investigator say?"

Lu Mingyang, showing a spark of courage, quickly calmed himself and asked in a deep voice.

"It says it’s not a demon from the Demon Court. There are many demons in the barbaric wilds that don’t answer to the Demon Court, and it can’t do anything about them,"

the civil servant replied.

A cold smile touched Su Mu’s lips.

’It was true that there were many demons in the barbaric wilds beyond the Demon Court’s control; Ao Qing had been one of them.’

’But such demons usually wouldn’t go out of their way to provoke the Demon Court.’

’For a demon to suddenly appear and snatch a member of the envoy—to say it was acting on a whim was a complete joke.’

He looked up at the demon that continued to circle above the camp. In its talons, it held the civil servant.

The man wasn’t dead yet; he was still screaming in panic.

’This wasn’t a hunt. It was a blatant show of force.’

It circled high above, well out of arrow range.

’It’s confident that the envoy can do nothing to it.’

"Captain Su, what should we do?"

Lu Mingyang looked at Su Mu, his voice fraught with anxiety.

Su Mu didn’t answer.

’Dealing with this Cyan Eagle Demon isn’t difficult; he had at least three ways to do it.’

’Ordinary arrows couldn’t reach it, but that didn’t mean his Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow was incapable.’

’Moreover, the Flood Dragon, Ao Qing, was hidden not far away, and Ao Qing’s tongue could strike targets dozens of yards away.’

’Besides—’

’So what if it can fly?’

’A show of force, is it? I’ll make sure you suffer a double loss for this.’

A sharp glint flashed in Su Mu’s eyes.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, a pair of wings unfurled from his back.

A fierce wind howled.

Lu Mingyang and the others staggered back from the gust. Then, they saw Su Mu shoot up into the sky.

Lu Mingyang frantically straightened his robes, his face a mask of shock as he watched Su Mu ascend.

’Captain Su... can fly?’

All the civil servants were stunned.

A pair of ten-foot-long wings spread from Su Mu’s back. With a single flap, he was already in front of the Cyan Eagle Demon.

SHING!

The clear ring of a longsword being unsheathed echoed through the air.

A brilliant flash of blade light streaked past.

The Cyan Eagle Demon had no time to dodge.

Its form froze in mid-air for a moment, then split in two.

Blood mixed with the Cyan Eagle Demon’s entrails rained down from the sky.

The people below scrambled to get out of the way.

The civil servant who had been captured by the Cyan Eagle Demon also plummeted from the sky, screaming his head off.

He was about to hit the ground. From this height, even a Rebirth Realm Martial Artist would suffer broken bones and torn tendons, let alone a mere civil servant.

If he hit the ground, he would surely be reduced to a pile of mush.

Just as the civil servant surnamed Zhang closed his eyes and braced for death, Su Mu dove down, snatching him up when he was only a few feet from the ground.

After a dizzying spin, the civil servant surnamed Zhang felt his feet touch the ground. His knees gave way, and he collapsed with a THUD.

The wind howled as Su Mu slowly descended, the wings on his back vanishing in an instant.

His sharp gaze landed on the Demon Investigator in the crowd.

"We are the Da Xuan Envoy. Since we have entered the territory of your Demon Court, it is your Demon Court’s responsibility to protect our safety."

Su Mu’s figure blurred, and he was already standing before the Demon Investigator. He said coldly, "If the Demon Court can’t even control the demons of the barbaric wilds, then we will do it ourselves.

From now on, any demon that appears in our sight, so long as it is not a demon from the Demon Court, will be killed. All of them."