Chapter 524: You're Going to Be Disappointed (2/10, Autumn Subscription)

You Sisi's immature thoughts left Fang Yue not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

The sect and Qingsi County were, from the start, a product of mutual interest; the trade-offs and games of power between them could not be settled by acting on impulse alone.

Not to mention that during the 【Coffin-Pulling Wraith】 crisis, without the help of their sect's high-end combat power, Qingsi County truly would have struggled to pull through.

Fang Yue had personally experienced the 【Coffin-Pulling Wraith】's strength firsthand; just one such wraith alone was troublesome enough, let alone the wraith army behind it. So the more reinforcements, the better; the higher their quality, the better.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Yue said, "The reason you don't want Lord Jun to leave is, at its core, that you don't know when the wraiths will attack. If we can solve this problem—if we can grasp the wraiths' movements—then we can make thorough preparations."

"How would we do that? Send people down to scout the wraith army's position? But we still need to seal the entrance here; anyone who goes down would go and never return, and they couldn't bring word back either—they could only find a way back through another exit. One round trip, who knows how long that would take."

"Perhaps we could hire drifters."

"What do you mean?"

"Drifters have special ways of communicating with each other. As long as we're willing to pay a high price, there should be people willing to take the risk. This way, we can keep the intel real-time without having to wait for them to come back. They only need to take a distant look, confirm the wraith army's current position and relative distance, and then they can start running—keeping themselves safe."

"Would that actually work?"

"In any case, this approach can guarantee that the entrance is reinforced and sealed by the formation while still letting us gather intel on the wraith army. I'll handle the specifics and get people to carry it out—you don't need to worry about it."

Matters concerning drifters should naturally be left to drifters.

Fang Yue's unexpected reliability gave You Sisi a measure of peace of mind.

"If we can scout the wraith army's position and rate of advance, then as long as time allows, letting Tian Erjun temporarily leave Qingsi County to go to the sect for reinforcements is also acceptable."

"Mm."

By the time the two of them had discussed things to this point, they had already arrived at Lord Han's room door.

Gently pushing the door open and stepping inside, Fang Yue saw Tian Erjun, drenched in sweat, slowly running his fingertip along the back of Lord Han's head.

Circling around to the back and taking a careful look, Fang Yue saw that the complex formation on the back of Lord Han's head underwent subtle changes as Tian Erjun's finger moved.

When Tian Erjun suddenly pressed down hard with one finger—pressing firmly into the back of Lord Han's head, sinking it in until it left a finger-shaped dent—he then sharply pulled his finger back.

The next moment, black blood began to slowly seep from Lord Han's nose and the corners of his mouth.

"Lord Han?!" Fang Yue's heart lurched in panic.

"It's fine, this is normal." Giving Fang Yue a reassuring look, Tian Erjun yanked out the black wooden tube from the back of Lord Han's head…

Hiss!!

Black blood spurted out like a hemorrhage, spraying for several seconds before slowly stopping.

"And you call that fine?!"

Fang Yue was both anxious and helpless—he truly understood nothing about this sort of thing.

Just as Fang Yue was fretting, Lord Han's eyes slowly opened.

"Xiao… Ye?"

Fang Yue's pupils contracted and he blurted out joyfully, "Lord Han!! Thank goodness—you're finally awake!"

"Where is this… what on earth…"

Lord Han seemed somewhat dazed. Suddenly, his face changed; the whites of his eyes, as if ink had been dripped into them, turned pitch-black, and black blood trickled from the corners of his eyes.

But this phenomenon came quickly and passed quickly.

Before Fang Yue could even cry out in alarm, Lord Han's eyes had already cleared again, the blackness fading away.

"Lord Han?"

"I'm fine. They implanted something in my brain… let me examine it briefly… so that's how it is."

Frowning, a black substance slowly seeped out from beneath Lord Han's head, and after a while, coalesced into a tiny body.

It really was tiny—just a finger-sized body, like a stick figure, propping up a 'giant' head.

Lord Han shook his head, making Fang Yue's heart pound with fear, worried that this small frame might twist the head right off.

But then he recalled that even if Lord Han's head flew off, it would still be alive on its own, and only then did he feel considerably more at ease.

"Lord Han, what on earth is…"

"It's 【Wraith Essence】. They injected a special 【Wraith Essence】 into my 【Origin】—a kind of 【Wraith Essence】 I've never seen before. It must be an artificial product, something the Phoenix Organization developed themselves.

This 【Wraith Essence】 is Refining me, Extracting my 【Origin】. If they had succeeded, I really would have died.

It's just that the efficiency of the 【Extraction】 is clearly not all that great; I can hold on for at least ten years or so. If nothing changes by then, then there'll be nothing to be done."

"But I believe in you, Xiao Ye. The information I left for you—you will surely be able to pick up on it."

Lord Han looked at Fang Yue with full confidence, brimming with anticipation and gratification.

This left Fang Yue a bit awkward, because the fellow disguised as Lord Han had been punched to death by Captain Wu; later, when the investigation led to Ningguang Mountain, Fang Yue had even been framed.

Of course, in terms of outcome, Fang Yue had reversed all the disadvantages and, by a heroic effort, rescued Lord Han and Lin Ling.

After briefly recounting the events to Lord Han, Lord Han finally gained some understanding of the current situation. And the black substance pooled beneath his head flowed back into his body.

"Lord Han?!" Fang Yue started in alarm.

"Don't worry, they've already become my power. I hadn't considered this direction before; in a sense, the Phoenix Organization has taught me a lesson—one can recover one's strength in this manner as well."

Swoosh swoosh swoosh—

Qingchen beside them was furiously taking notes.

At this moment, Tian Erjun stepped forward and said respectfully, "Lord Han, I am 【Tian Erjun】, a descendant of my ancestor 【Tian Lian】."

"Mm, the young are formidable. You've always wanted to meet me—was it for the mnemonic verse left behind by 【Tian Lian】?"

Tian Erjun's pupils contracted and his spirit lifted: "Lord Han truly still remembers it? To be honest, ever since our ancestor passed away, we descendants have all been stuck at the Xiantian Realm, unable to break through the shackles of the Human Grade.

Many people gave up our family's inherited Martial Arts and turned to learning other techniques, but I have stayed true to my heart, always hoping that one day I could fulfill my ancestor's charge and then restore the family's glory!

Today, under my governance, Qingsi County is thriving day by day, and relations with the sect are handled in good order, all peaceful and harmonious. If not for the Phoenix Organization's meddling, within my remaining years I should have fulfilled my ancestor's charge—only the… final condition remains."

"All that's left is for me to speak it myself, isn't it. Unfortunately, you're going to be disappointed."

Lord Han glanced at Fang Yue and the others.

"Uh… should we step out?" Fang Yue said after a brief pause.

"If Xiao Ye is interested, you may stay. The rest of you, step out."

You Sisi hesitated for a moment, then led Qingchen out.

Soon only the three of them remained in the room—Fang Yue and the other two.

(End of chapter)