Chapter 289: A Turn of Events (1/2)
Chapter 289: A Turn of Events
Translator: TYZEditor: TYZ/CakeHermit
After changing back to his original appearance, a calm look appeared on Ai Hui’s face. He swaggered along the street and no one cared about him at all.
Nowadays, Ai Hui was slightly wealthy. Naturally, he had no qualms about buying things. He found the shop he was looking for, went in, replenished his equipment, and left the shop without any hesitation. No matter how chaotic the situation had become, he still had to get to Magic Cloud City first before he could decide on doing anything.
Along the way, no one noticed him. No matter which angle one looked at him from, he bore no resemblance to Chu Zhaoyang. He had a youthful face, muddy yellow azure wings, and attained Elemental Externalization. No one would suspect him of being Chu Zhaoyang.
However, Ai Hui was still extremely vexed. Along the way, he encountered several people who asked him whether or not he had seen a middle-aged man with a pair of silver-colored azure wings. It was at this moment that he realized how infamous Chu Zhaoyang had become.
He had a deep hatred for Great Wei Enterprise.
They’d better not bump into him. Humph.
After a few days, when Ai Hui landed in Magic Cloud City, before he could even keep his azure wings, he heard a sneer from nearby.
”Another fellow who fantasizes about getting rich. Does he think Chu Zhaoyang is really that stupid? Why would he come here when he knows that there are so many people waiting for him? Bandit Chu purposely came up with this diversion tactic and has already made his escape!”
”Money is the root of all evil! Look at him, he’s still so young. It’s understandable why he’s doing this.”
...
When Ai Hui heard the whispers between the two men, he stumbled as he was landing on the ground.
Alright, I will pretend I never heard what they said.
Ai Hui consoled himself. However, after he had walked a few meters, he started to feel really uncomfortable. Everyone on the street had their eyes twinkling brightly, skeptically and warily examining each other. There were even some people who occasionally twitched their noses to sniff at each other, looking extremely like hunting dogs.
Having travelled extensively for so many years, this was the first time Ai Hui came across such a scene.
Everyone was mad...
Ai Hui was filled with helplessness and agony. How could he communicate with others like this? When he saw the wanted poster on the street and saw the astronomical reward of ten thousand essence elemental beans being offered, for a moment, he had the urge to give himself up to Great Wei Enterprise.
Troublesome!
No matter how dull Ai Hui was, he still knew how troublesome the situation he faced was.
Ai Hui felt unsure about his contact. If he was also interested in capturing Ai Hui for the reward or coveted the so-called ancient treasure, then Ai Hui would be in danger.
At this very moment, Ai Hui heard someone yelling, ”Caught! Caught!”
Ai Hui could feel that the street was about to erupt into a commotion.
”Has Chu Zhaoyang been caught?”
”Who caught him?”
”Where? Where? Which bastard was so lucky?”
...
Everyone was annoyed. They could only look on helplessly as the windfall of ten thousand essence beans disappeared into thin air.
”No, it’s Great Wei Enterprise that was caught. The ancient treasure was in their hands all along and the Chu Zhaoyang incident is a cock-and-bull story set up by them!”
”Woah, the Great Wei Enterprise is so cunning! Thief crying thief!”
”Too treacherous! Serves them right! I have said it before, how can Chu Zhaoyang be so stupid? If he really wants to steal something, why would he tell other people about his destination?”
”You don’t say? That’s hindsight! Aren’t you here in the end?”
”Why are you all still talking about Chu Zhaoyang? What exactly is the ancient treasure? It’s in whose hands now?”
”Karakorum!”
”Karakorum is rich this time around!”
Upon hearing the bits and pieces of everyone’s discussion, Ai Hui was between laughter and tears. Nothing could describe what he was feeling now. First, he boarded a caravan and was made a scapegoat. Then, the incident got blown out of proportion. In the end, Great Wei Enterprise got into big trouble.
He rejoiced in Great Wei Enterprise’s misfortune. They deserved it.
Great Wei Enterprise never expected themselves to screw up this badly.
Ai Hui heaved a sigh of relief. He had spent so much effort building the identity of Chu Zhaoyang and this identity was extremely important to his subsequent operations. He would vomit blood if he could not use it anymore.
This incident reminded him that he should make a few more identities. Preparedness averts perils. In case something like this happened in the future again, he would not be stuck with just one identity.
Instead of going straight to the meeting point, he stayed in Magic Cloud City.
After two more days, no one talked about Chu Zhaoyang anymore. The whole city was filled with heated discussions on Karakorum and the ancient treasure. Some said that the ancient treasure was actually an ancient sword art that had belonged to Karakorum in the past. Some also said that the ancient treasure was an exceptional elixir. There was not only one, but a hundred of them.
Anyway, the main idea of every discussion was that Karakorum struck a windfall and swordsmanship was going to make the big time.
Ai Hui also learned that almost all of Great Wei Enterprise’s experts had been killed. The captain, Madam Xiao, was nowhere to be found and no one knew whether or not she was alive. A lot of people lamented at the thought of her. It would be a pity if such a great beauty died just like that.
It would be a real pity if she was just nowhere to be found, Ai Hui mumbled to himself.
He thought about how he had been set up by them. Alright, now he did not even have the chance to take revenge after being made a scapegoat for so long. Of course, he had long forgotten about the one hundred essence elemental beans they had given him that day.