Chapter 1117

For a moment, Miss Xiao Li's heart was filled with both doubt and a wave of disappointment.

"Huh! You're looking for the Fire Monkey?"

A hint of teasing flashed across that person's eyes.

"Exactly."

Hearing Gai Nie no longer wished to hide the purpose of his visit.

"Then you must all the more make a trip to my Despair Shanzhuang."

That person threw his head back and laughed, then clapped his hands and said,

"Quick, bring the palanquin."

The masked men not far away naturally scurried over again to bring the palanquin.

"Sir..."

Hearing Gai Nie didn't understand his meaning and still wanted to decline.

"Brother Gai."

This person grabbed Hearing Gai Nie's hand and asked him,

"If I'm not mistaken, you want to find the Fire Monkey in order to find the Clay Bodhisattva, right?"

"Exactly..."

Since he'd already mentioned seeking the Fire Monkey, Hearing Gai Nie naturally wouldn't hide his search for the Clay Bodhisattva either.

"At present, Master Clay Bodhisattva is temporarily staying at my humble estate. Since you're seeking the Clay Bodhisattva, how can you not come to my estate?"

That person said with a pleased smile.

"What?"

Hearing Gai Nie was utterly shocked.

How could the Clay Bodhisattva be following this person?

Could it be that the Clay Bodhisattva's disappearance was this person's doing behind the scenes?

"Wei Zhuang, did you see the Clay Bodhisattva at our estate?"

That person saw Hearing Gai Nie's shock and disbelief, and turned to ask Wei Zhuang.

Wei Zhuang had long been displeased that this estate lord valued Hearing Gai Nie so highly.

Yet toward this estate lord, he was utterly respectful and deferential.

Seeing the estate lord's question, he immediately replied,

"Replying to the estate lord, I did indeed see the Clay Bodhisattva at Despair Shanzhuang!"

Wei Zhuang's temperament, like Hearing Gai Nie's, was that of a man who would rather break than bend.

Moreover, though the two appeared to be sworn enemies, they had once been fellow disciples under the same master.

Therefore, Hearing Gai Nie couldn't help but believe Wei Zhuang's words.

"Really?"

Hearing Gai Nie looked into Wei Zhuang's eyes.

"Do I have any reason to lie to you?"

Wei Zhuang snorted coldly, not wanting to answer, but knowing the estate lord valued Hearing Gai Nie, he could only reply irritably.

At this point, Hearing Gai Nie had already confirmed that the Clay Bodhisattva might truly be within Despair Shanzhuang.

Although he didn't know how the Clay Bodhisattva had come to be here.

But since the person he sought had already been found, Hearing Gai Nie would not retreat.

In his heart, he secretly resolved: once he found the Clay Bodhisattva and inquired about the location of the Nine Springs Azure Blood Jade Leaf Flower.

He would find an opening and leave Despair Shanzhuang.

He would absolutely never commit any evil deed for the sake of this mysterious lord of Despair Shanzhuang.

Having thought this through, Hearing Gai Nie strode boldly to the palanquin and leaped onto it in one bound.

"Good, good, good!"

The estate lord said "good" three times in a row, clearly extremely pleased that Hearing Gai Nie was going up to Despair Shanzhuang.

"Hall Master Zhu and Miss Xiao Li are innocent; I implore you, sir, to spare them."

After boarding the palanquin, Hearing Gai Nie looked toward the distant Zhu family and Miss Xiao Li, his heart aching, and pleaded with the estate lord again.

This estate lord was indeed extremely good to Hearing Gai Nie; the moment he spoke, he immediately said,

"Actually, anyone entering the bounds of my Despair Shanzhuang must either submit to me, or can only go do hard labor.

If you do neither, you can only go meet King Yama; there has never been a fourth path."

Hearing Gai Nie heard the utter tyranny in his words and couldn't help but prepare to plead again.

"However!"

This estate lord raised his hand, clearly guessing Hearing Gai Nie would continue pleading, and instead said directly,

"Brother Gai's face, I will certainly give!

Thus, I'll release this Zhu family.

As for Miss Xiao Li, I'm afraid I cannot oblige."

The Zhu family is a master of the Earthly Immortal Realm, and also the Hall Master of Zhuge Shennong Hall of the Agriculturalist Faction.

His disciples number in the tens of thousands.

Not to mention in Great Qin, even across the Nine Provinces he counts as a prominent figure.

As for Miss Xiao Li, on the surface she's merely one of the Yellow River Six Ghosts—what kind of figure is that?

How could this wildly ambitious, utterly domineering lord of Despair Shanzhuang spare the Zhu family yet not spare Miss Xiao Li?

"So you're the Clay Bodhisattva?"

Miss Xiao Li, however, gave a bitter smile and spoke up at this moment,

"Hero Gai, there's no need to plead with him. He came here for the Pixiu."

Hearing this, Gai Nie was stunned and looked into the manor lord's eyes.

Sure enough, the manor lord's gaze was full of resolve; clearly Miss Xiao Li had hit the mark.

"That's right! The Pixiu and Miss Xiao Li are involved in a major matter.

Enough, someone come, take Miss Xiao Li and the Pixiu, and let the disciples of the Zhu Family and Zhuge Shennong Hall all go!"

The manor lord gave an order.

The masked man accepted the command and immediately stepped forward to lead Miss Xiao Li and the Pixiu toward Despair Shanzhuang.

Gai Nie watched Miss Xiao Li's lonely figure, wanting to speak, but in the end realized he could hardly protect even himself.

Although he didn't know why exactly this manor lord was treating him well, it was clear this manor lord was a man of firm resolve.

He would not, just because he was treating Gai Nie well, agree to his conditions without any bottom line.

Thinking this, Gai Nie sighed and sat back down into the sedan chair.

He cupped his hands toward the distant Zhu Family as a gesture of farewell.

"That's more like it!"

The manor lord laughed, his form flashed, and he actually used his lightness skill directly, heading toward Despair Shanzhuang.

Instead, it was the masked man leader and Wei Zhuang, one on the left and one on the right, following beside Gai Nie's sedan chair.

Clearly these two were there to prevent Gai Nie from escaping.

Even with just Wei Zhuang alone, for Gai Nie to win would be extremely difficult.

And with this masked man leader added in, the injured Gai Nie could only let the masked men carry him along.

Although Despair Shanzhuang looked quite close, actually heading toward it took a long time.

By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, roughly half a shichen had already been spent.

Looking at the magnificent palace-like complex of buildings on the mountain, Gai Nie secretly began to speculate further.

Only because when viewed from afar, no problems could yet be discerned.

Up close, Gai Nie discovered that this Despair Shanzhuang, though called a shanzhuang, was in truth a complex of palaces.

Moreover, the layout and architectural style of this palace complex were no different from those of Xianyanggong.

Combined with the manor lord's full set of Great Qin dragon robes, Gai Nie vaguely guessed—could this manor lord be a member of the Great Qin imperial family?

Yet this guess had no one to confirm it for him.

Having reached the foot of the mountain, these masked men all removed their pig-snout masks.