Chapter 382 - 229: A Glorious Return

Chapter 382: Chapter 229: A Glorious Return

"No—"

Liu Huayuan’s heart seized with panic. He couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

He watched helplessly as Su Mu closed the distance with the Pure Land Sect’s Cyan Lotus Envoy.

The sword in the Cyan Lotus Envoy’s hand flared with sword light, about to pierce several holes through Su Mu’s body.

Despair was written all over Liu Huayuan’s face.

They had been searching for so many days.

They had finally found Su Mu.

Only to watch him die at the hands of a Pure Land Sect fiend.

’Why must the heavens be so cruel!’

’Why save us? You should have run.’

Liu Huayuan’s face twisted in anguish.

The Pure Land Sect’s Cyan Lotus Envoy wore a cruel smile.

His favorite pastime was slaughtering the geniuses of the Taiping Bureau!

’You think your Taiping Bureau is so great?’

’How about now?’

’I’m going to kill your genius right in front of you, and what can you do about it?’

He could already picture Su Mu being run through by his sword.

His blade was less than a foot away from Su Mu.

’Just as I thought, a wet-behind-the-ears kid. He’s so scared he’s forgotten how to even defend himself.’

The Cyan Lotus Envoy grinned.

Suddenly, he saw a mocking look in Su Mu’s eyes and flew into a rage.

’You’re about to die, and you still dare to mock me?’

"Die!"

the Cyan Lotus Envoy roared.

The word had barely left his lips before it morphed into an agonized scream.

Abruptly, the tip of a long, thin tongue burst out from his chest, right where his heart was.

SWISH!

The tongue flicked, and the Cyan Lotus Envoy’s body was instantly flung away, smashing heavily onto the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The members of the Pure Land Sect were all dumbfounded.

They had been ready to cheer, but in the blink of an eye, their Cyan Lotus Envoy had come crashing down?

They stared blankly at the mangled heap on the ground.

Was that their Cyan Lotus Envoy?

What had just happened?

The Pure Land Sect members looked at each other in dismay.

PFFT!

A tongue, like a long whip, shot out straight, instantly skewering the Pure Land Sect disciples like shish kebabs.

When the tongue retracted, each of the disciples had a gaping, transparent hole running straight through their chest.

Their eyes bulged and gurgling sounds escaped their throats, but they couldn’t utter a single word. They collapsed to the ground, twitched a few times, and then fell completely still.

Only then did Su Mu land on the ground.

BOOM!

He bent his knees slightly, absorbing the force from his high leap.

With a flick of his finger, a fist-sized ball of blood flew out.

Ao Qing opened its mouth and swallowed the blood in one gulp, an expression of blissful satisfaction spreading across its face.

Liu Huayuan grimaced, his expression a mixture of a sob and a laugh.

He recognized it. The demon that had burst from the ground was the same one that had escorted Zhu Jiuyuan and the others back to Hujue Pass.

According to the Lord Commander, that demon was at least a Tier Five Demon.

After Ao Qing’s breakthrough to Tier Six, its appearance had changed so drastically that even Yang Changfeng, the Commander-in-Chief of Hujue Pass, wouldn’t have recognized it as the ugly crawler it once was.

"A Tier Five Demon... No wonder it can kill a Five Lotus Envoy from the Pure Land Sect as easily as slaughtering a chicken."

Liu Huayuan muttered to himself.

The Pure Land Sect has Five Lotus Envoys—Cyan, Black, Yellow, Red, and White—all of whom are Core Formation Realm Martial Artists, comparable in strength to a Commander-in-Chief of the Taiping Bureau.

The one who had just attacked them was definitely one of the Pure Land Sect’s Five Lotus Envoys.

"Governor Liu, what are you doing here? And fighting with members of the Pure Land Sect?"

Su Mu walked up to Liu Huayuan and asked, confused.

Liu Huayuan opened his mouth but found he didn’t know what to say.

That they had left the pass to rescue Su Mu?

’Isn’t it obvious who ended up saving whom?’

"We were—"

Liu Huayuan forced a smile and explained the situation.

"Is everyone alright?"

Su Mu said with a smile, "I did run into a bit of an accident that delayed me. I’m sorry to have made you all worry."

He hadn’t expected Hujue Pass to go to such lengths to find him.

’It might have all been a pointless effort, but it feels nice to be cared for.’

After all, no one wants to be in danger and have their own people turn a blind eye.

The Taiping Bureau hadn’t abandoned him; they had been searching for him all along.

The feeling filled Su Mu’s heart with warmth.

"Governor Liu, you’re all badly injured. I’ll take you back to Hujue Pass first,"

Su Mu said.

"Take these bastards back, too."

Liu Huayuan pointed at the Pure Land Sect members and the nearly unrecognizable Cyan Lotus Envoy. "You killed one of the Pure Land Sect’s Five Lotus Envoys. You’re guaranteed to receive a special commendation for this..."

Su Mu’s expression was calm. The commendation was nice, of course, but what made him happier was killing these fiends from the Pure Land Sect.

Not only were these fiends brutal and bloodthirsty, but they had repeatedly incited Demon Tides for their own selfish gain. They all deserved to be wiped out.

Besides, when it came to special commendations, the first time was exciting, but by the second and third, it had become routine.

Su Mu already had three cloud patterns on his lapel. If another was added this time, that would make four—an achievement that was truly unprecedented and likely never to be repeated.

"Garuda!"

Su Mu clapped his hands.

The Cyan Eagle Demon flapped its wings and descended, casting a fearful glance at the shrunken Ao Qing perched on Su Mu’s shoulder.

’Good thing I’m smart,’ it thought to itself. ’Even a Tier Six Demon has been tamed by this human. If a lowly Tier Four Demon like me had been stubborn back then, the grass on my grave would be a foot high by now.’

’A Tier Six Demon made the same choice as me. I was right all along.’

It obediently lowered its head.

Liu Huayuan’s jaw dropped.