Chapter 169: Please Die, Mr. Su!

Their faces fell. This was clearly bad news; they had assumed Su Mu's strength was overwhelming—if not at the Gold tier, then at least a Silver 3. Had he been poisoned, they might have taken him down with ease. Now, they had no choice but to fight him head-on.

Pang Yang took a deep breath and said in a grave voice, "Mr. Su, please don't blame us. We have no other choice. If you must blame someone, blame the fact that you possess the power to kill sea monsters.

"Actually, long before you even returned, the sea god's familiar contacted Hu Jie and ordered us to kill you. If we refused, it would break our previous pact and unleash a tsunami to drown the entire Sea Kingdom.

"For the sake of every citizen of the Sea Kingdom, we ask you to die, Mr. Su!"

At Pang Yang's words, the crowd's expressions grew increasingly solemn. They looked like brave warriors swearing to defend their nation to the death. The irony was that the enemy they were preparing to slay was not a sea monster, but the very man capable of killing sea monsters!

"Mr. Su, I know you must think we're despicable," Hu Jie said, his face filled with regret. "You're a hero who only wanted to help the Sea Kingdom, yet here we are, drawing our blades against you.

"But we truly have no other choice. We can't abandon the Sea Kingdom we've lived in for so long just to risk our lives alongside you in the Black Fog. That isn't going home—that's throwing our lives away!

"Furthermore, what does it matter even if you do kill the sea god's familiar? As long as this ocean exists, a new one will eventually appear. By then, you'll be long gone, but our Sea Kingdom will be the one left behind to suffer!

"Therefore, for the sake of the Sea Kingdom, please make this sacrifice."

Hu Jie waved his hand. The massed army and over a dozen transcendents began to press in, steadily tightening their encirclement.

It was only thanks to the powerhouse persona Su Mu had already established that the crowd remained so cautious. Otherwise, they would have swarmed him long ago.

Clap, clap, clap...

A round of applause suddenly cut through the murderous atmosphere.

The one applauding was Su Mu.

"You've finally managed to pique my interest," Su Mu said with an appreciative smile. "Since Mr. Hu has put so much effort into his performance, I'll put on a magic trick for everyone too."

Hu Jie's gaze narrowed as his mind raced. He guessed that Su Mu intended to announce the truth in front of the crowd and expose him as the sea god's familiar. A cold sneer soon broke across his face, however. He had prepared for this long in advance and felt absolutely no fear!

People would always only believe what they perceived to be the truth!

"The name of this magic trick is—the Living Vanishing Act."

Hu Jie froze. The Living Vanishing Act? Could it be...

"Please watch closely, everyone. I am about to disappear right before your eyes."

Hearing this, an imperceptible sneer tugged at the corners of Hu Jie's lips. Their previous encounter at the bottom of the sea had made him realize that Su Mu possessed some sort of Illusion Technique. That was why he had watched Su Mu walk away back then, only for the man to suddenly appear right behind him.

He wasn't going to fall for the exact same trick a second time. The moment he laid eyes on Su Mu, he had activated his sea monster ability to perceive souls. He was absolutely certain that the Su Mu standing in front of him was the real person, because clones constructed by an Illusion Technique did not possess a soul!

"Mr. Su, stop playing tricks when death is already upon you. Do it! Kill him!" Hu Jie commanded. At his order, the surrounding soldiers and the dozen-plus transcendents led by Pang Yang launched their attacks simultaneously.

In an instant, several terrifying attacks slammed into Su Mu. His body was blasted apart on the spot, reduced to a scattering of severed limbs and mangled gore across the ground.

The crowd froze. What was going on? He was killed just like that?!

Even Hu Jie himself was stunned. He had guessed that, aside from that bizarre azure light, Su Mu's personal combat strength might not be as formidable as everyone imagined. But there was no reason for him to be this weak, was there?

"Make way!" Hu Jie shoved his way through the crowd to the front. He stared intently at Su Mu's gruesome remains, a deep, unresolvable doubt swirling in his eyes.

He bent down and picked up Su Mu's severed head. That fair face still bore the same elegant smile, looking exceptionally glaring in the darkness.

But in the very next second, Hu Jie's expression drastically changed! He stared dead at the severed head in his hands. Without him noticing, it had transformed into the head of a woman!

"This... This is... the Queen!!" Pang Yang's expression warped in horror. In disbelief, he snatched the Queen's severed head out of Hu Jie's hands.

"No, no, no! Why is it the Queen!?" His face twisted in grief and indignation, looking as though his own wife had just died.

Hu Jie's face completely darkened as he faintly guessed the truth. That bitch of a Queen must have seen Su Mu return and, unable to restrain herself, hidden in his room ahead of time. In the end, she had been controlled by Su Mu instead, her appearance altered as she was turned into his puppet!

"Search! Hurry up and search for him! Even if you have to turn the entire kingdom upside down, you must find Su Mu!" Pang Yang roared at his surrounding subordinates, his eyes completely bloodshot.

"Wait! He will find it difficult to sustain this situation alone without support. He likely went to rendezvous with Mu Qing and the others. Let's check there first," Hu Jie said gloomily.

He hurriedly led several transcendents over to Mu Qing's room, only to find it completely empty.

"Damn it!" Hu Jie flew into a violent rage. He realized he had been played. Su Mu had seen right through his plans and arranged everything in advance.

...

...

The entire Sea Kingdom was mobilized. Countless people were roused from their sleep as large contingents of soldiers swarmed through every street and alley.

"The outsider Su Mu has ventured out to sea and angered the Sea God! The Sea God has handed down a divine decree: if Su Mu is not killed within three days, a tsunami will be unleashed to drown the entire Sea Kingdom!" countless soldiers shouted through the streets, rousing all the citizens to join the hunt for Su Mu.

While these citizens might dare to disobey the King's orders, they absolutely did not dare to defy the Sea God. They had grown up listening to legends of the Sea God, and their fear of the deity was carved into their very souls.

Meanwhile, inside a civilian house, Su Mu and the others were gathered, completely unharmed.

"Mr. Su, no wonder you told us earlier that the King is the sea god's familiar and had me cure Yang Dongqing and the others of their poison in advance. It was true all along! Every single step of Hu Jie's plan played out exactly as you expected!" Mu Qing whispered, listening to the commotion outside.

By now, the eyes of Mu Qing and the other two were wide with shock. They still found it hard to believe that Hu Jie was the so-called sea god's familiar. To think that the King of a nation, the protective deity in the eyes of all the citizens, was actually the very one persecuting them!

Su Mu smiled faintly. "Don't you think the way the entire Sea Kingdom operates is very similar to a livestock farm? The farmer gives the animals food and drink, allows them to breed, and finally slaughters them when the time is right."