Chapter 737: Sudden Outbreak

"I said it—there really is a thief!"

Seeing the person who suddenly appeared, no one had seen clearly how he disappeared, and the crowd still hadn't seen it clearly.

But that someone appeared was beyond doubt, and that this person disappeared in full view of everyone, and the Imperial Preceptor's lightning power failed to take him down, was also an established fact.

Clearly, this was the backup plan of that mastermind behind the scenes; otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that just as things calmed down here, another person appeared? If this isn't the same gang, what is it?

Since enemies could continue to arrive one after another, this confirmed that the previous disturbance was just a bluff. There was no need to wait for Guo Mingfan to return from Qingtian Temple; the answer had already been decided.

It wasn't that the Imperial Preceptor's power was too strong, leaving the mastermind with no power to fight back, but that the opponent had feinted and deceived them all.

The lead Daoist was furious, saying: "Good, they've made a comeback so quickly. Do they take us for fools? Do they think we will leave immediately after guarding the Wangfu once, so they can launch a surprise attack? We aren't leaving today. We will stay right here at Chun Wangfu, guard it for a day, guard it for ten days. I want to see how many days they can lurk! Once this period passes and the Imperial Preceptor is free to act personally, no matter where these evil demons come from, they will die."

"..."

He spoke with full confidence, but the black-robed Daoist beside him hesitated to speak. He only wanted to ask: "Is there a possibility that by you guarding here, their goal has already been achieved?"

"Could it be that they weren't aiming for Chun Wangfu at all?"

"The previous warnings were all timed perfectly, yet this time they couldn't arrive in time. Only after we set up our formation did they arrive late, only to be defeated in one blow. Don't you want to think about the reason for this? Could it be that this is a strategy of 'making a feint to the east while attacking in the west,' and Chun Wangfu is just too conspicuous, used as a target on the surface? Shouldn't we be considering the safety of other vital places at this time?"

"After all, if they are using Chun Wangfu as a smokescreen, then their plot must be even bigger than Chun Wang, right?"

Although he thought very clearly, he was not Guo Mingfan. He was just an unranked Disciple, not even a proper junior brother to these direct Disciples; his words carried little weight. If Guo Mingfan were here, he was a smart man, and speaking to Guo Mingfan would be useful. With Guo Mingfan absent, if he were to offer advice rashly, the other party wouldn't listen, right?

In the end, he only said: "Senior Brother... why not call Senior Brother Guo back? Let's all discuss it together?"

That Senior Brother pondered for a moment and said: "No need, he will be back in a moment. You go and notify the mountain. Have the palace send more manpower; not just here, it would be best to seal off the entire street. No matter where the enemy comes from, we will have full preparations and make them unable to escape even with wings."

He said thoughtfully: "There is one strange thing. Although I didn't see it clearly just now, it seems that the person who suddenly appeared at the back wasn't very strong either, just looking like a Sword Hero. Can such a person come to wipe out Chun Wangfu single-handedly? Could it be another abandoned pawn? These villains are too cunning."

They were assigning tasks here, not knowing that Senior Brother Guo would not be returning for a while.

Just two streets away, in a dead-end alley, a pile of miscellaneous items was stacked in front of an ordinary household's door, and among the items was a broken Time Jar.

"Chief Xing?"

Tang Zhao was inside the Time Jar.

Just now, he had originally been sent to Qingtian Temple, but as soon as he left, he returned, boldly taking action to save someone from the Imperial Preceptor's lightning power. It could be called a hair's breadth from death, and he had taken a great risk.

He originally didn't want to take the risk, but he couldn't avoid it, because the person who had just emerged from Chun Wangfu was Xing Ji.

Seeing Xing Ji, Tang Zhao's mind was blank; he couldn't understand why Chief Xing, who should be far away in Yunzhou, would appear here. But in fact, he had no time to think; he immediately used his full strength to save Xing Ji, carried him through two streets, found a hidden place to put down the Time Jar, and hid with Xing Ji.

Xing Ji was vomiting.

His face was pale, his expression weary, and he looked to be in terrible condition. He started vomiting almost as soon as he stopped, though he couldn't vomit anything out, only the sour water from his stomach.

"Chief Xing... what's wrong? Are you sick or injured?" Seeing this, Tang Zhao was filled with worry. Having reached the Sword Hero realm, illness was already very rare. Could it be that he was injured? Was he attacked by someone just now, or did the Imperial Preceptor's lightning power invade his body and leave hidden wounds?

"No... I'm dizzy."

It was indeed Chief Xing speaking.

Tang Zhao still couldn't rest easy and pressed: "How can you be dizzy?"

Could it be a concussion?

Xing Ji wiped his mouth and said: "From the shaking. No matter who it is, they would be dizzy after being 'Exiled' a thousand times in a day."

A thousand times? Exile?

Exile, of course, referred to Xing Ji's Sword Technique, a type of non-directional spatial jump Sword Technique. It was very useful for escaping, but using it for point-to-point teleportation was a trap. Tang Zhao used to love using it, but after he gained light speed, he stopped.

Xing Ji teleporting a thousand times in a day meant he had jumped through space a thousand times. Every distortion of space had a cost; even if one time didn't consume much, a thousand times in a row was definitely extremely uncomfortable. This was why his face looked so bad.

But if Exile was for escaping, once was enough, at most two or three times. Was he crazy to do it a thousand times?

A thought stirred in Tang Zhao's heart: Could it be that he was trying to choose a destination? Teleporting again and again just to happen to land in a specific place? For example, Chun Wangfu?

Was he brute-forcing it?

If that were true, it was truly a stupid method. How could relying entirely on luck be reliable? If there were any other way, he definitely shouldn't have operated like this. Finding it after thousands of times could definitely be considered good luck; theoretically, he might not have found it even after millions of times.

"Could it be... you came to find Chun Wang? Or... came to find me?"

Tang Zhao asked with some heaviness.

"Of course... to find you." Xing Ji slowly stood up and looked at him seriously: "I came to find you, by order of the Marquis."

"Ah?"

Tang Zhao was a bit confused. The Marquis left with me; if she had something to do, she could just find me herself, right? Why go back to find Xing Ji and then have Xing Ji come to find me? Could it be that she couldn't contact me? I clearly let...

Clearly...

Clearly what?

"What instructions does the Marquis have?" Tang Zhao asked.

Xing Ji took a deep breath and said: "The Marquis wants you to return to Yunzhou within seven days..."

"Just go back like this? Then what about the affairs in Jingcheng..." Could it be that the Marquis felt the water in Jingcheng was too deep to wade through anymore and decided to call it quits?

That wasn't impossible, but the matter of the Lingzhi had no leads, and there were unfinished matters in Jingcheng.

"Prepare to go to the Yunzhou Dudu Mansion to take charge of all military and political affairs in Yunzhou. After the dust settles, submit a memorial to the Imperial Court to formalize the position of Yunzhou Dudu."

???

No? The Gaoyuan Marquis abdicated?

"No, what is going on? Why would she hand over the reins so suddenly? Where is the Marquis? Why didn't she tell me herself?"

Xing Ji said word by word: "The Marquis—has disappeared."

Tang Zhao was stunned for a moment, stuttering: "Disappeared... what does that mean?"

With his current status and strength, being so incoherent seemed foolish, but Xing Ji also knew his confusion, because he had once been just as confused.

"Disappeared means she went missing. Last night, the Marquis suddenly sent the final instruction to the Yunzhou Dudu Mansion, which was to have you take over. There were also arrangements for the military and civilians of Yunzhou, generally to follow your orders and deployments. Nothing else was mentioned. Then there was no news at all. That was a backup plan the Marquis had left in Yunzhou long ago; it was the final barrier she could transmit to the Waijie after reaching a desperate situation. Activating it meant she had reached the end of her rope."

Tang Zhao felt a wave of weakness and almost collapsed, asking: "Is the Marquis... dead?"

Xing Ji said: "It should not be yet; the token left behind by the Marquis has not been completely shattered."

Tang Zhao shouted: "Then we have to go find her, go save her! Why are you in such a rush to take over? Right now the Marquis still has a chance of survival, how can we disregard her life and be in such a hurry to arrange her funeral affairs?"

Speaking to this point, Tang Zhao felt a wave of regret: why had he lingered in Jingcheng and not left? He should have gone back much earlier. No, he shouldn't have come out in the first place. The Gaoyuan Marquis had brought only two Sword Heroes, and she had sent them both away at once; wasn't that a miscalculation? If only one had been left by her side, how could she have met with an accident?

It wasn't just him; the Gaoyuan Marquis had also been careless. Logically speaking, she was a top-tier Sword Hero, in the Human World she was in the first tier below the State Preceptor, and she wasn't going into a dragon's den or a tiger's lair; she was just traveling along the official road with her troops, swaggering into Jingcheng, so how could an accident happen?

Xing Ji's expression was calm, but the emotions revealed in his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes showed he was not calm, and was even in great pain. He lowered his voice and said: "This is the Marquis's order. The Marquis believes... no matter what happens to her, the first priority must be guaranteed: Yunzhou cannot fall into chaos. Therefore, you must go back to handle the succession. As for searching for the Marquis... of course someone must go, for example, me."

Tang Zhao suddenly looked up and stared at him, his expression somewhat provocative.

As if to Ask: "Are you capable of it?"

Xing Ji naturally saw what Tang Zhao meant and said: "I am the most suitable. For Yunzhou, you are a crucial figure, indispensable. As for me, I am dispensable. With Zhang Xiansheng, the Commander, and the Pixiu Sword to assist you, and the support from the Land Inspection Division and the Jing'an Division, your authority to govern Yunzhou will come naturally; I cannot be of much help. It is perfect for me to stay here to track down the Marquis's whereabouts. I think you should be able to trust me, right?"

Tang Zhao gritted his teeth and said: "If I don't trust you, who else in this world can I trust? But if it weren't for me just now, you would have almost died before achieving your goal; that is also a fact, isn't it?"

I believe in your character, but I do not believe in your ability.

So, it won't work.

Xing Ji gave a bitter smile: in the blink of an eye, Azhao could speak to him like this with such righteous confidence.

Hmm... it's a bit sour.

He knew Tang Zhao wanted to prioritize the Marquis's life, and in truth, his own heart felt the same, but the heavy burden on his shoulders did not allow him to do so. Thus, he asked Tang Zhao a question he had been asking himself repeatedly over the past two days: "Is the Marquis more important, or is Yunzhou more important?"

Tang Zhao replied: "Yunzhou is important. But the Marquis is not unimportant either. The Marquis values righteousness over life; if she lightly casts herself aside, isn't that also biased? The Marquis told me to return within seven days; fine, then I will return within seven days. There are still six days left; can't I use them to make an effort?"

Xing Ji looked at Tang Zhao and suddenly laughed in spite of himself: "Azhao has a temper now. Fine, since the Marquis has passed the position to you, you are the Marquis. The Marquis has given an order, how could Xing Ji not obey? I await the Marquis's command."

Tang Zhao felt a bit embarrassed and gave a light cough. Xing Ji asked: "Where do we start?"

Tang Zhao pondered for a moment, then suddenly pushed up with one hand, pushing up his Glasses.

A line of text on the Glasses made him dazed for a moment.

"First find... Wei Se."