Yan Wushuang and the rest of the Yans rushed like madmen down the stairs.
Only to be greeted by an astounding sight.
They saw with their own eyes how Long Er had tossed the jade chests out the window.
“But where are the chests?!”
Yan Wushuang motioned for everyone to canvass the area.
The jade chests all contained extremely valuable magical supplies of incredible value.
They looked high and low, scouring through every fen and leaf, but the chests were nowhere to be found.
“Has someone else taken them?!”
The Yans stirred uneasily at that dreaded notion.
Finally, with no other way, they commandeered CCTV tapes from local businesses yet still, nothing was found.
…
Long Yi stared at Long Er right after Yan Wushuang and his men dove out the door.
The latter waved a hand and the jade chests reappeared on the coffee table.
Chu Xun unlid one of them and what he saw filled his eyes with an interested glow.
A Golden Cicada!
That the Yans owned a specimen of such a rare magical insect was a testament to how affluent the Yans were.
The Golden Cicada acts as an antidote to all poisons and its little size makes it very convenient for anyone to wear it to let it strengthen one’s physical attributes.
He flipped open the next chest and a soft, green luminescence flooded the room, accompanied by a faint, soothing fragrance of herbs.
A trunk of the Phoenix Vine – a fabled vine where the phoenix loves to perch on in the fables. Rumor has it that the phoenixes’ magical powers have permeated the vines and imbued them with magical properties of their own which turns out to be a great boon to warrior’s cultivation of their powers.
Chu Xun quickly opened the rest of the jade chests.
Each and every one of them carried rare and valuable treasures.
Chu Xun could hardly hide his glee.
Seeing how pleased he was made Jing Hong curled her lips into a satisfied grin. “Count yourselves unlucky then, you Yan lot! It’s your misfortune that the Devil had darkened your doorway this time!”
“All right, we’re leaving,” said Chu Xun.
He had been tracking the movements of Yan Wushuang and the Yan elders with his Divine Sense.
By the time Yan Wushuang made it back to the Yan family estate, Yan Guilai would instantly realize how this had all been his ruse.
Indeed, Chu Xun and his company had only just left the hotel, and Yan Wushuang came storming back into the hotel.
But it was too late; Chu Xun was gone and all Yan Wushuang could do was let loose a bestial howl of rage.
“I’LL NEVER FORGET THIS, DEVIL!”
“They must still be near, Young Master Wushuang. I say we chase after them.”
“Yes. We must not let them go.”
Yan Wushuang charged out the door like a bolt of lightning.
They reached outside the gates of Yanxue City just in time to find Chu Xun and his companions soaring up into the air on the back of a gigantic hawk.
“STOP RIGHT THERE, DEVIL!” Yan Guilai bellowed.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Bratty Yan,” Chu Xun yelled at them from the air, “Your family might be unscrupulous swindlers, but I won’t begrudge you. We are still friends, so I’ll be waiting for you at the capital.”
Yan Guilai was practically flaring through his nostrils, “GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANCE, DEVIL! HOW COULD YOU BE SO SHAMELESS! GIVE ME BACK MY TREASURES!”
“Don’t be like your father, Bratty Yan! It’s a bad habit so don’t take after him! You’re the proud Young Master Wushuang of the House of Yan! You’d better hold on to that dignity!”
“I’LL HUNT YOU DOWN, DEVIL!”
Chu Xun waved at Yan Wushuang and patted the giant hawk on its head and the gargantuan bird shot away.
“Just you wait, Chu Xun! I’ll find you!”
Yan Guilai screamed and screamed far below.
But the giant hawk was just too fast; in mere seconds, it turned into a tiny little dot in the faraway skies.
Chu Xun and his companions first returned to Qingcheng. They came back to the hotel where they left Wu Busi to recuperate and convalesce, then he released the giant hawk.
“Master! Thank you so much for saving us!”
Wu Busi’s recovery was nearing its end when he saw Chu Xun and he quickly bowed to convey his respect and gratitude.
“You are a part of the Chu Mansion forces. We’d never leave you behind.”
He introduced Jing Hong to everyone.
“What of the rest that we’ve rescued?”
Chu Xun and the Silver Dragon Guards had saved a number of people aside from Wu Busi during the annihilation of the Broken Souls Cult.
“Let me summon them, Master.”
Long San (literally, Dragon the Third) came back with a few of the victims Chu Xun had rescued from the clutches of the Broken Souls Cult.
“Immortal Chu, thank you so much,” they greeted him.
All of them bowed as soon as they saw Chu Xun, knowing fully who he was.
With a single scan using his Divine Sense, Chu Xun sensed their levels of powers.
Despite being captured by the Cult, they were powerful warriors in their own right. All of them were Fifth-grade Human Kings, except for one, an elderly man who was an Eighth-grade Human King.
“It was only out of convenience. With the Cult now destroyed, I shall not delve into what quarrel you have with them. At any rate, you are now free.”
“My name’s Shang Xiaoxian, Immortal Chu. Thank you so much for saving our lives. If I may be so brash, I wish to offer myself to be of service,” said the elderly man solemnly.
There was not a note of pride in his voice. He had seen enough of the Silver Dragon Guard these few days, all of whom were Eighth-grade Human Kings themselves.
He tried to sound as humble as possible, knowing full well that Chu Xun hardly lacked Eighth-grade Human Kings.
But Chu Xun mulled quietly at the proposal. He needed as many men as he could find, in fact. Only, he needed them to be trustworthy too.
Yan Chong and the others might not be as powerful as this old man, but they had proved their loyalty.
“What about the rest of you?” Chu Xun peered at the others.
Another three pledged to join and only one wished to leave.
“Right, report yourselves at the Fire Dragon Palace then.”
Chu Xun muttered pensively.
These men would still need to be tested – of their loyalty, by anyhow – before they could be used.
All four recruits looked slightly unsettled by Chu Xun’s rather frosty and serious mood.
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“Understood, sir,” Shang Xiaoxian acknowledged the order.
The men retreated and Long Yi waited for them to leave before he finally asked.
“Can we trust these men, Master Chu Xun?”
“It won’t matter,” Chu Xun chuckled, “Given enough time, we’ll find out. Time shall prove whether they’re loyal to our cause – or not.”
“So what do you intend to do with the score of the Peacock race, sir?” asked Wu Busi.
“The Peacock race?” asked Chu Xun.
“You have not been reading the Martial Tao forum on the Internet, have you?”
Chu Xun shook his head. He had neither the time nor interest to surf the Web in the recent days of fighting.
Wu Busi powered on his phone and tapped the Martial Tao forum page and handed his phone to Chu Xun.
“Demon-slaying Meeting”
A baffled Chu Xun asked,
“What is this? Has the Subterranean Devils appeared?”
“You need to read on, Master,” said Wu Busi, his countenance slowly simmering with fury.
Chu Xun’s eyes grew colder the more he read on.
It was talking about him. The so-called “Demon” mentioned in the title referred to him, the Devil.
“It’s a call to arms issued by the Peacock race. They wish to unite all other Lost Races in an allied effort to hunt you down,” explained Wu Busi.
“Look here, Master,” Wu Busi pointed out something else.
There was another row of text, written in red like blood: “We await your presence on the fourteenth of July at Nether Mountain, Devil.”
Nether Mountain. Some called the place the Highlands of the Damned. Not a blade of grass grew there in the surrounding marshlands that made it very difficult for ordinary folk to pass.
Even the date carried a significance of its own. July the fourteenth – the eve of the Chinese Ghost Festival.
It was clear as to what the Lost Races were after.
Apparently, the entire Martial Tao domain knew about this and everyone was sitting at the edge of their chairs, eager to see how Chu Xun would respond.
“Seven days,” Chu Xun uttered quietly.
“I feel we should just ignore them, Master. Let them make a fool of themselves,” suggested Wu Busi.
“Your successive triumphs over the Zombies and the Wingeds have made you the thorn in their flesh. There must be something or else they wouldn’t be so brazen to dare openly challenge you. I must concur; just ignore them,” urged Jing Hong.
If they were thinking the same, Long Yi and the Silver Dragon Guard said nothing. They would go wherever Chu Xun commanded them to, whether to glory or death.
“Well, it would be a shame to not see what they’re up to, after all this fanfare,” uttered Chu Xun.
“But we’re not talking only about the Wingeds, the Peacock race, or the Marco-primates, Master. It’s all of the Lost Races this time and that includes other mutant races including Mustelids and Draconians too,” Wu Busi elaborated.
“Mustelids?” Chu Xun had never heard of them before.
“Yeah, a bunch of ferret mutants thinking they’re greater than us humans, sir,” grumbled Wu Busi with disgust.
“How magnanimous,” Chu Xun remarked dryly, “And Draconians?”
“We still don’t know what beasts they were originally, but it is said that they’re very dangerous.”
“And they’ve been taunting us for so long? Have any of us humans given any response?”
Wu Busi shook his head with a contemptuous look on his face. “The rest are only a bunch of cowards. They only dare to raise their voices amongst themselves, but in the presence of these alien races, none of them would ever dare to utter any word of objection.”
“Such is the failing of us humans, I guess.” Chu Xun shook his head morosely.
“These alien races must have prepared a trap for you, Chu Xun, and all you have to do is step into it,” Jing Hong muttered frostily, “Ignoring them might just be the right thing to do.”
“Something’s up in the Martial Tao forum again, Master,” said Wu Busi suddenly.
As it turned out, someone from the Peacock race had just posted another comment.
“Devil, you craven! Are you not the redoubtable and most feared person in the world!? Where are you!? Cowering in a hole?!”
You can’t get humans to take the lead to fight against the alien races face to face, but when they’re anonymous Internet trolls, they’re the best.
“Where did this idiot come from? He dares to challenge the Devil?”
“Yeah. The Devil has routed the Wingeds and demolished the Zombies before annihilating the Broken Souls Cult. Watch your manners, I’m telling you.”
“I’m sure the Devil has been delayed by something. Or else, he would have directly stormed up Nether Mountain already.”
…
But the Peacock race mutant was nowhere near giving up.
“I am Kong Yanfei of the Peacock race. To which order or sect do you belong? Leave your name if you dare.”
The simple question left the whole cyberspace as still as a crypt.
The veil of anonymity that the Internet afforded them allowed them the chance to hurl jeers and ridicule at the alien races, but none of them were ready to divulge their true identities lest the wrath of the alien races should befall them.
“Bunch of cowards,” Wu Busi hissed bitterly.
The silence only provoked more shots being fired by the Macro-primates, the Zombies, and the Mustelids.
That was the last straw. Wu Busi logged on to his account and fired back, “Bunch of fools. Have you forgotten how you beasts were soundly defeated by Chu Xun?”
Immediately, came a reply from another Peacock race mutant, with threat and intimidation laced between every syllable: “Who are you? Leave your name and the order you belong to if you dare!”
“Reply him,” Chu Xun muttered coldly.
Wu Busi quickly typed his reply: “I am Wu Busi of the Chu Mansion.”
That invoked waves of shock and awe. Someone from the Chu Mansion had appeared!
“Where’s the Devil? Where is he? Why is he allowing one of his minions to speak for him?”
“Damn you, I am Lei Bao of the Chu Mansion! Come at me if you dare! I’ll turn you all into minced meat and grill you for breakfast!”
“This is Yan Chong of the Chu Mansion. What Macro-primates, Peacocks, Zombies – you’re just a pack of mindless beasts.”
“What Draconian race? This is Long Ao of the Chu Mansion! How dare you address yourselves as a race of dragons! What an insult! Change your name to Mudskippers or I’ll have you for a steamboat feast!”
Apparently, Yan Chong and the others had been keeping abreast of the discussions online too, and seeing Wu Busi’s comment, they realized that he could only be doing that at Chu Xun’s behest, and so they joined in the fray too.
“And you Zombies! You wretched monsters! Have you forgotten how my good brother Chu Xun had whooped your arses! How dare you cry and yell here! Do you not fear his wrath!?” It was Yue Fandie of the Sanctuary of Tetrarchy.
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Then came the Yans too. They might have suffered huge losses at Chu Xun’s deceit, but it was but something personal and in such critical hours, they knew that it was vital to proclaim solidarity with Chu Xun.
“Bunch of useless vermin. Do you really think the Devil’s afraid of you? He had only been busy mopping up the traitorous Zang family.”
The scathing comments riled up another ripple of furor, much more than the salvo of fierce comments that came from ordinary people.
Everyone reeled with disbelief and amazement. So the Devil did not respond because he had been busy destroying the Zangs.
That came as news as well to the alien races that none of them returned anything to respond.