Chapter 178: Exposed

For a moment, the two identical Bai Zhis stared at each other.

If you didn’t know her well, it would be nearly impossible to tell which was the real Bai Zhi and which was the fake.

But because the Illusion Insect’s arm hadn’t regenerated yet, it was still missing an arm even in its Bai Zhi form.

After a quick glance, the masked man looked at Bai Zhi and swiftly knocked her unconscious.

’They knew my exact address and found the hidden passage to my secret room so precisely. Someone among them must have exposed this place.’

’The Line Slave has been with me for many years; it couldn’t be him. That only leaves the female and the Illusion Insect.’

’This place has been hidden for so many years, but because of those two, not only was my location exposed, but they even knew the exact route to the passage.’

’It doesn’t matter which one of them it was. I’ve always liked to have everything under my control. Since someone has exposed my location, neither the Illusion Insect nor Bai Zhi can be allowed to follow me any longer.’

When Bai Zhi fainted, Hu Yan was forced out of her spirit sea. Uncertain of her safety, Hu Yan reverted to his original form, as it was faster than his human one.

Before long, he ran into the Line Slave and the Illusion Insect disguised as Bai Zhi.

The Line Slave held a small ball of light. Unlike the previous glowing sphere, this one crackled from its center, and one could even see countless tiny arcs of electricity.

He shaped the ball of light into a blade edged with a faint current, which he pressed directly against the neck of the Illusion Insect disguised as Bai Zhi.

Yue Junxiao arrived first. Unaware that the one being held hostage wasn’t Bai Zhi, his expression changed instantly when he saw her being held by a strangely dressed man completely covered in cloth. He immediately threw out his hand and shouted, "Stop!"

The Line Slave pressed the blade harder against the Illusion Insect’s neck. The CRACKLE of electricity made the creature’s face twitch, but the Line Slave said tonelessly, "Back off, or I’ll kill her!"

Yue Junxiao glanced at the pained expression on ’Bai Zhi’s’ face and quickly said, "Don’t hurt her. I’ll back off."

But in the next second, Hu Yan’s small, white form shot past Yue Junxiao, his eyes locked on the Line Slave. ’He was the one who dragged Bai Zhi around, hurting her several times.’

Instantly, an immense wave of spiritual power washed over the Line Slave. The gap between their abilities was too vast; the Line Slave was suppressed with almost no chance to resist.

Then, Hu Yan swiped a claw at him. In just a second or two, the Line Slave was finished.

Seeing Hu Yan charge straight for the strange man, Yue Junxiao subconsciously blurted out a warning, "Be careful not to hurt—"

But before Yue Junxiao could finish his sentence, ’Bai Zhi’ was swatted back into her original form by one of Hu Yan’s claws.

The entire exchange took less than ten seconds.

Yue Junxiao only had time to glimpse Hu Yan’s nine fluffy, feathery tails waving in the air before an insect was tossed into his arms. "Keep it separate from the Enchanting Heart Worm."

Then, before he could answer, Hu Yan had already sped off in pursuit.

Yue Junxiao fumbled to catch the insect, pulled another bottle out of his dimensional space, and put the bug Hu Yan had thrown him inside.

He didn’t know exactly what had just happened, but he had one very big virtue: he was obedient!

’My brain isn’t as sharp as Hu Yan’s and the others’,’ he thought. ’I just need to do as they say.’

Still, he had a vague suspicion that the bug Hu Yan had just tossed him was the malevolent Illusion Insect. After all, what else could transform into other people?

Just as Yue Junxiao finished putting the Illusion Insect in the bottle, the others arrived right behind him.

Sang Mo was a step ahead. Seeing only Yue Junxiao and not Hu Yan, he guessed Hu Yan had continued the chase and immediately took off after him.

Lang Qiu and Yan Yichen followed suit.

Yue Junxiao watched them pass one after another, stunned. It wasn’t until Zelda, who was a few steps behind, caught up and saw only Yue Junxiao that someone stopped. Seeing no sign of Hu Yan or the others, he immediately asked, "Where are Hu Yan and the others?"

Yue Junxiao wore a serious expression. "They went on ahead."

Zelda asked, confused, "Then why are you still here?"

He casually tucked the bottle containing the Illusion Insect into his clothes. "I was finishing the task Hu Yan gave me. I’m going after them now."

With that, he vanished in a flash, as if the wind were at his heels.

Zelda was left alone on the spot with the Line Slave, whose body was wrapped tightly in cloth, showing only his eyes, but whose life force was already gone.

Zelda gave the body a quick glance before immediately resuming the chase.

’Who knows where these freaks came from? Each one is faster than the last!’

’And their talents are just as freakish!’

’Hu Yan is one thing; his talent has been astonishing since he was a child. But in such a short time, not only has Sang Mo broken through to the SSS-level, but even Yue Junxiao and Yan Yichen, two Beastmen several years his junior, have reached the same level as him.’

’Bai Zhi has five Beast Husbands in total, and every single one is SS-level or higher, with two of them being SSS-level. That’s a powerful team no matter where you go.’

’No wonder Hu Yan dared to challenge the Eldest Prince and this unfamiliar territory with only them by his side.’

Suddenly—

BOOM—

A loud explosion echoed from up ahead.

Zelda had just run out of the passage when he saw a Warship outside. It had already entered attack mode, and standing before it were Hu Yan and the others. He was about to go over but nearly fell into a pit he hadn’t noticed.

Only then did he realize there was a massive crater in front of the passage, obviously caused by the recent explosion.

Just then, a voice echoed from the Warship. "Hu Yan, it seems you really do care about her, eh? To abandon the battlefield and come back for her. They really are a bunch of good-for-nothings. I’m so disappointed they couldn’t even capture you."

A cold glint flashed in Hu Yan’s light blue eyes. "Let her go. You can name your price."

"My price?" The voice went silent, as if pondering the question, then asked in return, "Are you willing to give me anything I want? Then what if I want your life? Will you give me that?"

Yan Yichen, who had donned his Battle Armor at some point, cut him off with a cold expression. "Let our wife go, or don’t blame me for what happens next."

The moment Yue Junxiao put on his Battle Armor, he connected his spiritual power to it and swiftly charged forward. "Why waste time talking to him? He’s only refusing to release our wife because he has a Warship. Once we wreck it, let’s see if he’s still so stubborn."

He’d just discovered that fists were more effective than any amount of pointless talk. If you were strong enough, you could solve the problem before the enemy even had a chance to act.

His charge resulted in a loud BANG as he collided with the Warship.

Lang Qiu’s eyes scanned a specific spot on the Warship, and he quickly joined the fray.

After a few more BANGS, the Warship couldn’t help but shudder. The person inside clearly hadn’t expected them to use such a foolish method. ’Battle Armor against a Warship?’

’No normal Beastman would do something like this.’

’Yet, what he considered an abnormal act was being copied by the other Beastmen. The key thing was, why wasn’t Hu Yan stopping them?’

His gaze fell on the motionless Hu Yan. The face under the mask twisted into a snarl as he commanded the Warship to lift off the ground. ’I’ll make these fools die here along with Hu Yan!’

Then, he deployed several Tracking Thunders.

WHOOSH—

The Tracking Thunders shot toward them.

Just then, Hu Yan moved. He swiftly dodged the Tracking Thunders. Because of his movements, some of them crashed into the ground, while others collided with each other.

Then, Hu Yan quickly threw something unknown into the Warship’s engine.

CLANG—

BANG—

Black smoke immediately began billowing from the engine, and the Warship let out a loud clanging sound.

Sensing the problem with his Warship, the man’s expression darkened instantly. "Aren’t you afraid I’ll actually kill her?"

He then quickly deployed several gun barrels, which fired a ceaseless barrage of bullets at them. BANG! BANG! BANG!

After dodging swiftly, Hu Yan leaped up and landed on the front of the Warship with a THUD.

He slowly stood up, his sharp gaze fixed on the mask opposite him, as if trying to see the face beneath it. His tone was even but carried a hint of certainty. "You’re unwilling to show your real face, hiding yourself like this... it’s because I know you, isn’t it?"

As their eyes met, Bai Zhi, who was behind the man, slowly stood up at some point. Using Bai Zhi as a conduit, Hu Yan’s spiritual power shot out with lightning speed and unfastened the mask.

The man immediately attacked Bai Zhi, but she dodged it.

The mask fell from his face and landed on the ground with a soft clatter.

Hu Yan had expected to see someone he knew, but the moment the mask fell, it revealed a completely unfamiliar face.

Hu Yan found it strange. The man gave him a very familiar feeling, yet his face was that of a total stranger.

While Hu Yan was studying him, the man had already activated his second line of defense. He quickly deployed a small vessel, pressed the self-destruct button for the main ship, and tried to grab Bai Zhi again. However, Sang Mo suddenly appeared and blocked his move, forcing him to abort his plan.

He didn’t linger to fight, instead preparing for a quick escape, but not before shooting Sang Mo a cold, sinister glance.

But just as the man was entering the vessel, Hu Yan noticed a tiny scar on the side of his neck. It was a scar he knew all too well, and the sight of it left him standing there in utter shock.

After blocking the attack, Sang Mo gave chase, managing only to toss a small grenade inside just as the vessel’s door was closing.

The next second, the door sealed shut.

The small vessel detached from the Warship.

Hu Yan’s face darkened as he shot off in pursuit of the smaller ship.

’If I wasn’t mistaken about that scar just now...’

’If it’s really who I think it is... then he’s truly had a hard time all these years, keeping up the act for so long.’