Chapter 692

When Yang Hongxia thought of this, the rampant coldness suddenly receded considerably.

The frost-covered face, now thinly glazed with ice, slowly regained some sensation.

Night Elder?

Yang Hongxia froze in surprise, and at once felt a gust of freezing wind howling past her side.

When she snapped back to awareness, Fang Yue was already standing before her.

"Since the martial duel has begun, let's go."

"... Yes."

This time, walking beside Fang Yue, Yang Hongxia clearly felt that the coldness emanating from him had become much more restrained.

It seems Night Elder's strength has advanced further, gaining better control over the outward release of cold energy.

Yang Hongxia felt joy in her heart—after all, the stronger Fang Yue was, the higher her Dayang Caravan Group would rank in the martial duel.

As for Mang Liuzi, two words: leave it to fate.

From the very beginning, she had no expectations for Mang Liuzi.

After all, they had once hired ordinary Xiantian Realm cultivators as Guests, and the result was exactly this—low ranking.

Only a powerhouse like Night Elder can lead the Dayang Caravan Group onto the true path of major caravan enterprises!

When Yang Hongxia thought of this, the two had already reached the outskirts of Dayang Fu.

At the gate, the carriage was already prepared; curious passersby pointed and whispered, commenting on Dayang Fu's grand display.

Under the sunlight, Yang Hongxia's smile grew slightly more cheerful.

After a series of downturns, Dayang Fu will officially turn things around starting today!

The Dayang Caravan Group will rise again!

"Look! Look! They're coming out!"

"That's Yang Hongxia, the current Regimental Commander of Dayang Caravan Group? She really is uniquely beautiful!"

"A beauty! Truly a beauty! Too bad she's Regimental Commander—burdened with duties, working day and night, she'll age faster; her face won't stay pretty much longer."

"Shh! Lower your voice! Dayang Caravan Group may be declining, but it's still one of the few respectable caravans in the Heavenly Merchant Alliance—we common drifters can't afford to provoke them!"

"Look quick—who's that pale-faced, ice-cold guy? Why is Yang Hongxia treating him with such deference?"

"I've never seen him before... I heard the powerful Guest Ye Niuniu from Dayang Fu died at Dongliu Mountain, and with the martial duel approaching, they probably just grabbed someone last-minute to fill in—desperate times, need to be polite."

"What a wasted opportunity! If the beauty had asked me to help, I'd have taken both her and the caravan—then I'd be sitting comfortably as Regimental Commander!"

Amid the murmurs, some sharp and unpleasant gossip arose.

Yang Hongxia frowned slightly but said nothing, stepping into the same carriage with Fang Yue and settling in.

The Dayang Caravan Group is now in decline—idle gossip is inevitable.

As long as Night Elder performs normally in this martial duel, every rumor and every person who looks down on the Dayang Caravan Group will be humiliated!

Watching Fang Yue, who sat with eyes closed, resting, Yang Hongxia felt full of confidence.

The procession began to move; the carriage rolled forward slowly along the street toward the martial duel venue, soon vanishing from the onlookers' sight.

"Just now... Yang Hongxia entered the same carriage with that Guest, right?"

"How enviable! I wish I could pull that Guest down and take his place, fighting for Dayang Caravan Group!"

Some were envious, some bitter, others with dark thoughts.

After all, a lone man and a lone woman entering the same carriage—just as Dayang Fu was in a vulnerable state.

It naturally sparked wild imaginations, leading people to conjure up all sorts of salacious scenarios.

The Heavenly Merchant Alliance's Martial Exchange Duel would be held on a vast square.

Over a hundred dueling platforms had already been erected on the square.

As the preliminary round, the rules were simple: defend the platform.

All caravan groups of the Heavenly Merchant Alliance could participate.

Since each caravan group had a set number of slots, the total number of participants was still very large.

As Chunuan City's grandest annual event, even before the martial duel officially began, the square was already packed with crowds—even the Government had dispatched personnel to maintain order and safety.

Dou Hongyi squinted, searching for the Dayang Caravan Group's emblem, but the crowd was too thick—he couldn't find it.

He had no particular interest in the Dayang Caravan Group, but that Rain-Level elder... had taken refuge within it, bearing the name of one of his own 【Qing Si】's most troublesome burdens.

These past few days, Dou Hongyi had been utterly worn out, exhausted from worrying over the Rain-Level elder.

Yet the Rain-Level elder himself was leisurely holed up in Dayang Fu, never stepping beyond the gates, leaving Dou Hongyi to worry for nothing.

During this period, strange incidents kept occurring, all as undetectable as the Nuomian Gui—none could be picked up by any array.

These anomalies slipped into Chunuan City as if it were utterly defenseless, as if the city gates were mere decorations, incapable of repelling any intrusion.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Merchant Alliance lent strong support, and though these anomalies infiltrated silently, each disturbance was loud and obvious, making them easy to detect and handle—thus the situation was barely contained.

Whether because such anomalies were inherently few in number, or for some other reason, as the martial duel drew nearer, their numbers in the city had dropped sharply, easing the workload of Qing Si.

That's why he now had time to help the 【Heavenly Merchant Alliance】 maintain order here.

"I heard."

As Dou Hongyi was lost in thought, Yang Diandian, a third-rank Blue Guard of Lan Shan, suddenly spoke, startling him.

This fellow had been prodding his nerves lately, clearly delighted by the surge of anomalies in Chunuan City.

Now he'd somehow learned something else and had quietly crept over again.

Dou Hongyi looked at Yang Diandian with clear disgust: "What did you hear?"

"I know about the Imperial Edict—the Emperor personally named it, sending the Imperial Edict to Qing Si in Chunuan City. I haven't experienced this before, but I know—you're finished!"

Yang Diandian grinned with malicious delight.

These past days, he had been living extremely happily.

【Lan Shan】 only handled personnel matters; strange incidents counted as overtime.

But seeing the Green Division driven to distraction by this mess, busy to the point of losing his bearings, Yang Diandian understood that if the Green Division's duties lapsed and it was reported upward, his merits would most likely be docked.

Strangely, before he had even gone above to file a report, he ended up hearing news of the 【Imperial Edict】.

When the 【Imperial Edict】 from Sacred Mountain reached a chaotic place like Chunuan City, and went straight to the Green Division at that, it was most likely that Dou Hongyi, the Green Division's boss, was about to lose his official cap.

Recalling all these years of open and covert struggle with Dou Hongyi, he never imagined the man would exit the stage in such a way.

While Yang Diandian felt a touch of regret in his heart, he also felt a hint of satisfaction — no matter what, the great worry in his chest had finally been removed!

From now on, in the Government of 【Chunuan City】, 【Lan Shan】 called the shots!

(End of Chapter)