Chapter 25: Malicious Diligence (1/2)

There were items and corpses floating about, all of them in pieces. Even the corpses were more torn limbs and bones than whole bodies.

“Those are left over from people who attempted to enter the mountain by air,” Lu Yun said calmly. “If we’d been a bit slower about landing, we’d be part of them now.”

Qing Han shuddered, then transformed that emotion into a vicious glare at Li Youcai.

“I—I didn’t know that would happen either!” Color drained from the fatty’s face and he wanted to burst into tears. It’d been his idea to travel to the mountain with the fortress ship as their protection. “W—why didn’t we see those things earlier? My consciousness sensed nothing dangerous.”

“Your consciousness was also confused by the layout,” Lu Yun said as he observed the landscape.

“You! It must be you!” accused the Skyriver city lord with a finger in Lu Yun’s face. “No one else can see what’s wrong with this place. How can a qi condensation weakling like you see through everything?

“Milord prefect is an empyrean immortal! Do you understand what that means? He’s an immortal on high, far loftier than all of us! You’re just a bug!”

“You should consider replacing him, Li Youcai.” Lu Yun’s expression darkened. That city lord kept targeting him because he appeared to be close to Mo Yi. Though she was dressed as a man and wore no makeup, she was still stunning enough to topple a city.

The Skyriver city lord considered her as his personal property the moment Li Youcai had decreed the match. Seeing her interacting so closely with another man while giving him the cold shoulder ignited a raging jealousy in his heart, and he could barely stay rational.

“Oh? You want to replace me, eh?” he snarled with a feral grin. “Honored Envoy, everyone wants this kid dead, don’t they? People are only staying their hand out of consideration for imperial dignity. Why don’t I do the dirty deed for the greater good today?” The Skyriver city lord manifested a sword.

Qing Han didn’t say anything, an indication of silent approval. His first attempt to kill Lu Yun through Mo Yi had failed. He’d only brought the governor along to finish the job.

“Good, very good!” Li Youcai raised both hands in agreement. “This is Myriad Formation Summit. We can kill him and say he died in the mountain due to his weak cultivation. No one will be able to fault us for that.”

Lu Yun had betrothed a male pig to him! With Lu Yun dead, the ridiculous arrangement would be forgotten as well. The prefect raked a murderous gaze over the other city lords, who hurriedly voiced their support.

“Hahahaha!” Laughter rang through the area. Qing Hongchen appeared out of nowhere with his men and crowed with laughter.

“Qing Hongchen!” Qing Han twisted his lips. “So we meet again, seventh brother.”

The Qing genius sneered at Qing Han, then turned to Lu Yun with a smile. “It seems they all want you dead, Governor of Dusk. If you join me now, I promise to keep you alive. They want you dead in order to plant a new puppet here. In my opinion, though, it’s better to use you than to cultivate someone else.”

Qing Han frowned. “He’s a member of the Lu Clan, fifth brother.”

“So what?” Qing Hongchen smiled. “I hear that our governor here threw Lu Yuanhou out of his manor after a good beating. Lu Yuanhou couldn’t have suffered a worse humiliation. That’s enough for me to look kindly on Lu Yun.”

In Nephrite Capital, Qing Hongchen and Lu Yuanhou were considered the two top geniuses beneath immortal realm. However, tensions between their two clans made the two young geniuses bitter enemies. Their clashes were a source of great entertainment in the capital.

Qing Han’s fury was almost a tangible flame.

“Since the fifth young master is offering me protection, then I am the fifth young master’s man.” Lu Yun had little to no shame. That was how he’d survived to this day. There seemed to be no reason to turn down the fifth Qing son.

“Utterly shameless!” Qing Han bit out.

“Recognizing the times he’s in is a sign of wisdom,” Qing Hongchen laughed and turned to Li Youcai. “What about you, fatty? The governor, your superior, has already joined me.”

“I’ll abide by your orders, fifth young master,” Li Youcai hurried out. “If you would please put earlier incidents behind us.”

“Earlier incidents?” Qing Hongchen asked with feigned confusion. “Did something happen earlier?”

Delight seized the fatty, while Qing Han’s livid face clouded over. He hadn’t expected Qing Hongchen to turn things around with only a few choice words.

“I serve the fifth young master, now.” Li Youcai glanced at the other city lords. “What about the rest of you?” What a perfect display of adding insult to injury.

“I—” The Skyriver City Lord felt the murderous gaze behind him before he could move. “I’m loyal to the venerable envoy, of course!”

Despite their reluctance, the city lords had to stay on Qing Han’s side. There was no doubt that if they dared betray the envoy, he would make quick work of them. As a spirit realm cultivator, it would be a piece of cake for him to kill a few origin core city lords.

Qing Han calmed slightly, but his eyes remained cold.

“Alright. This is my little brother, so we shouldn’t embarrass him too much,” Qing Hongchen chuckled. “Why don’t we work together to venture into the mountain, seventh brother? Go on then.”

Qing Han shuddered, fear and despair tightly gripped his heart. This elder brother of his wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, if an opportunity presented itself. This was no simple infighting within the clan, but the common wish of the clan majority.

Qing Hongchen had only spared his younger brother because he needed cannon fodder for the exploration, but he wouldn’t let Qing Han leave the mountain alive. They hadn’t yet entered Myriad Formation Summit proper, and even the fringes swarmed with danger.

A single misstep could land them in a formation that could get them all killed.