Chapter 270: Evacuation: Northward, Southward

Chu Danqing took the Xi Feng Pei from Sun Dashou, completing the trial task.

【Task Completed: You received 5,000 Paradise Points, +3 Attribute Points】

【Trial Task: Protect Li Fengjie and Yang Qianzheng and evacuate them from Meilong Town within 3 hours】

【Trial Difficulty: B-Rank (Brave）】

【Trial Reward: 5,000 Paradise Points, +3 Attribute Points】

【Trial Failure: -10,000 Paradise Points, Forced Return】

After glancing at the task, Chu Danqing saw it was still B-Rank—he had expected it to reach A-Rank.

The difficulty of the first stage was present, but not severe.

Yang Qianzheng must be Sun Dashou’s real name.

After all, he was Yang Qianyuan’s clan elder, from the same generation.

“Meilong Town is no longer safe—I’ll take you out as quickly as possible,” Chu Danqing said to Li Fengjie and Sun Dashou.

Tang Ziwei studied the two of them, unable to understand why Chu Danqing was concerned with them.

“What about us, Master Chu?” Yun Shan asked urgently.

Important figures don’t risk their lives lightly, so Yun Shan had brought the Yun family’s dependents along.

Chu Danqing glanced at Yun Shan and said, “Anyone who wants to come with us, come now—we leave in half a cup of tea. Gather what you need quickly.”

Upon hearing this, Li Fengjie rushed off to her bedroom.

The other waiters and patrons also sprang into action.

“A dire omen,” Yang Qianyuan said, his face filled with worry after completing his Celestial Divination.

Chu Danqing wasn’t surprised by this result—he’d completed so many tasks that he understood some patterns.

“Someone near the Prince of Ning has cultivated a Celestial Divination-type spirit beast, so he likely already knows our situation.”

“Without exception, we’ll soon face the Prince of Ning’s main force.”

Since the Prince of Ning sent his trusted guards to capture Li Fengjie, it proves her importance—so surveillance will be intense.

They will detect us the moment we move.

“Let’s first get to safety—what’s your suggestion?”

“You should aim to reach it within an hour and a half, starting from the moment I said we were evacuating,” Chu Danqing asked.

Yang Qianyuan’s mind raced as he heard this.

“I know—we go north. They’re coming to get me,” Sun Dashou suddenly interjected.

Chu Danqing didn’t ask how he knew—the man was Emperor Anyong; even if broken, he wouldn’t have no backup.

“Is it safe?” Chu Danqing asked. “You ended up like this—can you trust the people coming for you?”

It wasn’t that he doubted Emperor Anyong’s judgment, but the core of the southern inspection party had been killed, their spirit beast slain, and they’d barely escaped.

Now you say people are coming to rescue you? They might be here to kill you.

“I…” Sun Dashou hesitated, then said, “It should be safe—they’re still loyal to me, all eight of them.”

Chu Danqing understood the eight men Sun Dashou meant were the Eight Tigers, the eunuchs spoken of in court.

As they walked away from the crowd, Chu Danqing finally asked, “How exactly did you end up like this?”

After hearing it, Sun Dashou smiled bitterly. “It was my own carelessness. When I reached An Di during the southern inspection, the Prince of An presented me a pearl as tribute.”

“The pearl was crafted from the eye of a Yu Yu demon, making it exquisitely beautiful.”

“Naturally, I loved it dearly and carried it with me, playing with it constantly.”

“Later, I learned it was a spirit treasure. Once it absorbed my aura, it triggered a teleportation, sending me straight into the Prince of An’s heavenly net.”

“Only my spirit beast, Jade Spirit Dragon, saved me with its life—burning its heart’s essence to send me out.”

“It was meant to return me directly to the capital, but the Prince of An’s heavenly net blocked the teleportation, causing an error that dropped me near Meilong Town.”

“I was gravely wounded and utterly despondent—that’s why I stayed at the Longfeng Inn,” Sun Dashou said, his face filled with despair as he told Chu Danqing.

Chu Danqing rubbed his chin. “You know the Prince of Ning is colluding with the Eight Tigers, right?”

Sun Dashou stared blankly, then shook his head. “I didn’t know.”

“Can you still guarantee their loyalty now?” Chu Danqing pressed.

At this, Sun Dashou fell silent.

He truly couldn’t guarantee it.

As for Chu Danqing lying to him? What point would that serve at this point?

“We can go north—I’ve divined it. It’s risky, but if we can regain control of the southern inspection party, we can reclaim some military authority,” Yang Qianyuan interjected as he approached.

Otherwise, fleeing in any other direction would be pure escape.

“Fine, then we head north,” Chu Danqing said immediately. “But there’s one problem—what’s the situation with the Prince of An?”

Sun Dashou shook his head, self-deprecating. “I don’t know. But since he wants me dead, he’s likely coveting my position.”

Otherwise, Sun Dashou couldn’t imagine any other motive.

It seems the regional princes must still be suppressed.

If I survive and return, dismantling their fiefs is unavoidable.

But this time, I’ve seen not all princes have ulterior motives—my cousin, the Prince of Jiao Ying, remains utterly loyal.

So we must target only those princes with the right to establish courts, while improving the welfare of powerless princes to appease and win them over.

Li Fengjie quickly ran down with a small bundle of gold, silver, and valuables. Chu Danqing gave them five minutes—they moved fast.

Once everyone was gathered, Chu Danqing led them north out of Meilong Town.

Along the way, he glanced at the You Long Pei and Xi Feng Pei—they were a set.

【You Long Pei / Xi Feng Pei】

【Type: Equipment · Jade Pendant】

【Quality: Fine】

【Durability: 100/100】

【HP/MP +1000】

【Charisma +10 × 2】

【2-Piece Set: Luck +1】

Their stats differed greatly—aside from one boosting HP and the other MP, their true value lay in the +10 Charisma and the +1 Luck from the set.

Chu Danqing equipped them immediately. As his Charisma and Luck increased, the Sun Dial activated.

His soul strength, the true damage of his summons, their stats, and his own HP and MP all rose.

His Luck was only 9—he needed one more point to gain additional damage reduction for his summons.

Chu Danqing’s primary cultivation focus was the five core attributes; his secondary focus leaned toward Charisma and Luck.

Unlike the Elemental Army build I encountered before—Elemental Fertilizer No. 1, whose secondary focus was Perception and Agility, enhancing the base five attributes—mine was different.

Which is stronger? Hard to say. Strength always lies in the person, not the class or attribute.

The best path is the one that suits you.

“Master Chu, what’s your plan going north?” Tang Ziwei asked, approaching.

Few were willing to follow them—only the Longfeng Inn staff and the Yun family’s dependents, not even a single retainer.

Not everyone could make such a decisive break; most were too attached to their homeland.

As for Tang Ziwei—he’d been “cooked” the night he met his little admirer, with Yun Shan’s tacit approval.

He’d been forced onto this wagon.

“We’re going to find the southern inspection party,” Chu Danqing didn’t hide it.

Tang Ziwei scanned the group, then fixed his gaze on Sun Dashou.

The southern inspection party was coming for someone—and given Chu Danqing’s earlier words to Li Fengjie and Sun Dashou…

Li Fengjie was a local of Meilong Town, so the person the inspection party came for was clearly Sun Dashou.

Tang Ziwei was famed across the land—his talent and ability were unquestionable; deducing this from the clues was easy.

“But are the Eight Tigers trustworthy?” Tang Ziwei asked softly.

Chu Danqing said, “Untrustworthy—but it doesn’t matter. The Golden Goliaths are reliable.”

If they’re untrustworthy, we kill them.

From what we’ve seen, Sun Dashou truly lacked competence and was deceived by the Eight Tigers—but he wasn’t fully stripped of power or turned into a puppet.

He simply failed to notice the anomalies, which led to this chain of disasters.

Yet in terms of authority, if he hadn’t been ambushed, he could still mobilize the An Yong state apparatus.

The only condition: he must reach a position where he can issue orders.

And once he reconnected with the southern inspection party, that possibility opened.

Whether he could succeed—Chu Danqing had little confidence.

We’ll take it one step at a time. If all else fails, we’ll spend Paradise Points to hire Guo Ming.

Chu Danqing had also realized from the trial task that by choosing to obtain both jade pendants as completion criteria, he was now bound to Sun Dashou’s faction.

Fortunately, Sun Dashou wasn’t as calculating as Ma Yunfeng of Lin Yuan City—our side’s members were weaker, but the atmosphere was better.

“What about Meilong Town?” Tang Ziwei asked further.

Chu Danqing had left so hastily—he suspected Chu Danqing knew something.

“If we leave, there’s a chance we’ll be safe. If we stay, the Prince of Ning won’t spare Meilong Town.” Chu Danqing didn’t know whether the Prince of Ning had learned of Sun Dashou’s fate through his Celestial Divination spirit beast.

But he wasn’t going to gamble on that possibility.

Because whether he knew or not, Prince Ning would not let Li Wanwu go.

“Sigh.” Tang Ziwei sighed, but ultimately said nothing, running back to find his father-in-law Yunshan to explain the situation.

On the other side, Yang Qianyuan approached again.

“Big brother, the An Wang might also be a major problem,” Yang Qianyuan said. “My Celestial Mechanism divination revealed something—he seems...”

Yang Qianyuan laid out everything his divination had uncovered, though much of it was vague and hard to verify.

After all, with insufficient information, what he had deduced was already impressive.

Chu Danqing narrowed his eyes: “Forget him for now. Our immediate priority is to escape Prince Ning—or find an opportunity to kill him.”

“As long as he doesn’t interfere, we just need to stay on guard; we can settle accounts later.”

If he doesn’t show up, no scheme of his could possibly affect them from afar.

(End of Chapter)