Chapter 637

Fortunately, Fang Yue hadn't acted impulsively back then.

Otherwise, with no state at all and no 【Night Breath】 enhancement, charging in like that against an unknown number of 【Night Thieves】, possibly even others from the Phoenix Organization, would have been absolutely disastrous.

In a sense, his caution and prudence saved his life—there was no way around it; without 【Night Breath】, he simply had no confidence.

Fang Yue planned to finish handling affairs in Dayang Fu, then wait for a night to ride his 【Liehong Horse】 deep into 【Dongliu Mountain】 to search for the Rat Constellation's whereabouts.

With the young mistress's orders and Fang Yue's previous glorious record, the entire Dayang Fu had no objections to his commands; in fact, they were relieved that at this moment, Fang Yue was still holding down Dayang Fu and directing everything.

In reality, Fang Yue had little to do—the young mistress had already distributed the most tedious tasks; all that remained was to oversee Dayang Fu's progress and ensure everyone followed the plan step by step.

For example, procuring materials, hiring craftsmen to repair damaged walls and collapsed houses, and estimating Dayang Fu's economic losses from last night.

Fang Yue didn't even need to carefully review these reports—he couldn't understand them anyway—so he simply had someone compile the data and wait for the young mistress to wake up before letting her examine it.

Besides directing these matters, Fang Yue also went to visit Mang Liuzi.

"Night Lord!"

Mang Liuzi hurriedly rose, speaking respectfully and with excitement.

"I heard you nearly abandoned the young mistress and fled last night?"

Mang Liuzi smiled bitterly: "Night Lord, I had no choice. Who knew… who knew you'd return to save the day?"

"Hmm, I understand your actions and position back then, but your impression score took a hit—recovering it will be difficult. Use this moment when Dayang Fu desperately needs manpower to perform well; I'm sure people will change their minds about you."

"I will certainly assist Night Lord in reorganizing the Dayang Caravan!"

Mang Liuzi quickly replied—he still counted on Fang Yue as a whetstone to help him rise.

Thinking of this, Mang Liuzi said: "Night Lord, once my injuries heal, could you spare time to train with me in swordplay? Not every day—just occasionally."

Fang Yue paused, thought for a moment, then nodded: "Sure, no problem."

Mang Liuzi was overjoyed: "Thank you, Night Lord!"

For Fang Yue, this was truly a minor matter—Mang Liuzi was merely Innate Third-rate Realm; Fang Yue could casually spar with him.

If You Sisi had trained in Innate Third-rate Realm, she would have crushed peers effortlessly…

Fang Yue suddenly froze, snapped back to reality, his eyes dimming slightly as he gently shook his head and dispelled the thought.

"Night Lord?" Mang Liuzi looked puzzled.

"Nothing. Rest well. When you recover, the Dayang Caravan will have many tasks for you."

"Yes!"

Fang Yue estimated that, given Mang Liuzi's injuries—broken bones and torn tendons—by Gu Yue Cun's standards, he'd need at least a year or half a year to recover.

But this was 【Chunuan City】, and Dayang Fu had no shortage of funds; two or three months should restore Mang Liuzi's injuries to 70–80%, enough for combat readiness.

Dayang Fu now had almost no usable combat strength, aside from a few death-soldiers; among those with Xiantian Realm, only Mang Liuzi remained.

As for Fang Yue himself, he had too many tasks to personally oversee the safety of everyone in Dayang Fu.

Of course, if the young mistress awakened because of this and devoted herself to martial training, she might become Dayang Fu's second Xiantian Realm martial artist.

Given this upheaval, the young mistress would surely change.

Leaving Mang Liuzi's quarters, he went to the courtyard to practice his 【Martial Technique】.

Soon after, someone came to report.

"The Fox Caravan, leaderless, will leave the city immediately."

"The Old City Caravan has hired 【Blue Shan】 personnel to guard them and requests protection."

"The Kongshan Caravan spent heavily to hire numerous experts to guard their camp."

Only the first, Fox Caravan, wanted to flee; the other two intended to stand their ground.

And their strategies differed: one sought government force to hold their ground, forcing Fang Yue to hesitate.

No matter 【Blue Shan】's actual strength, their status was undeniable—Fang Yue couldn't act against them easily.

But since the Old City Caravan had broken protocol to hire them, they were likely colluding with the Old City Caravan, even with the Phoenix Organization; the hired experts were either bribed or had long since lost their conscience, no longer worthy of being called 【Blue Guard】.

Fang Yue narrowed his eyes— as a future Qingyi of the Qing Si, serving as a Baoyi, helping a neighboring faction purge internal traitors was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?

As for the other, the Kongshan Caravan that hired experts, it was far easier to handle.

No matter how many experts they had, if none were Human Level, Fang Yue paid them no mind.

If a Human Level expert was guarding them, that would be too obvious—perhaps even someone from the Phoenix Organization, offering a trail to uncover more information.

"Saddle the horse!"

After thinking for a moment, Fang Yue called to his servant.

The Fox Caravan was the priority—they must be stopped before they escaped. If they gathered their belongings and scattered into the wilderness, even Fang Yue couldn't chase them all down; he could only kill as many as possible within range.

So Fang Yue needed to reach the Fox Caravan before they left, and wait outside the city gate.

Every city had one rule: once you left the city, you were no longer under its jurisdiction—all internal rules became void.

That meant… in the wilderness, you could slaughter freely, with no one to stop you.

But to do so right at another city's gate? No one would easily let it slide.

Yet if you moved some distance away, beyond the guards' sight, they'd turn a blind eye.

In short, as long as it didn't disrupt 【Chunuan City】's foot traffic or commerce, no one cared what you did in the wilderness—even 【Night Thieves】 roamed freely, let alone ordinary people.

"Night Lord, your horse…"

Fang Yue glared at him; the servant immediately fell silent.

Mounting the 【Liehong Horse】, Fang Yue ordered: "Carry Mang Liuzi, bed and all, to the main hall. Let him hold down Dayang Fu. If anyone encounters a problem they can't solve, ask him."

Mang Liuzi still had combat capability—he was just severely injured; if he fought to the death, no one in Dayang Fu could match him one-on-one.

A Xiantian Realm martial artist's final, desperate strike far surpassed anything a Postnatal Realm warrior could achieve.

Watching Mang Liuzi, still on his bed, being carried out in shock, Fang Yue briefly explained—then, upon learning the Fox Caravan had already headed for the north gate, he narrowed his eyes…

"Giddy-up!"

The Liehong Horse galloped away.

Although Fang Yue carefully avoided the Green Guard, he still attracted quite a bit of attention.

However… they couldn't catch up.

Fang Yue didn't hesitate, heading straight out of the city.

Chunuan City was lax about letting people in, and equally lax about letting them out—no one even checked or stopped anyone to ask why they were leaving. The gates stood wide open, come and go as you pleased; there were just guards going through the motions of standing watch, that was all.

Fang Yue left the pursuing Green Guard and Blue Guard behind him, riding off in a cloud of dust, and in no time charged out beyond the city walls, then waited patiently.

Soon, he saw people of the Short-Tail Tribe arriving in a rush at the city gate—bundles large and small, various horses laden with tents and supplies, all in a great hurry.

(End of chapter)