Chapter 322 - 210: Ambush (2)

Chapter 322: Chapter 210: Ambush (2)

"I didn’t invite you here because of that business. I simply wanted to get to know you, Fang. I heard you’re from Shanyang Prefecture. For a commoner to have achieved so much, you must be an extraordinary individual. And my greatest pleasure in life is making friends with Talented People like you!"

After Li Mengyao finished speaking, Fang Yue couldn’t help but laugh.

’Li Mengyao had said quite a lot, but it was all just pleasantries. How could a woman like her, one whose cultivation didn’t seem low, possibly be some lovestruck fool?’

Fang Yue couldn’t be bothered to call her out on it and simply played along with a smile.

He decided he would see what she was really up to.

"You flatter me, Miss Li. I’m not particularly talented, just lucky. It’s getting late now, so if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave," Fang Yue said.

"Leaving already? It’s still so early! Why are you in such a hurry, Fang? Have I been a poor hostess?" Li Mengyao asked, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

She had originally planned to talk more with him during the meal. After all, he had accomplished so much at such a young age; it would be a great boon if she could win him over.

Of course, her main goal was to use her beauty to bewitch him and extract certain information.

At that moment, Li Mengyao was sitting right beside Fang Yue.

A sweet fragrance wafted from her, a rather pleasant sensation for Fang Yue.

However, he sighed to himself. Li Mengyao’s fragrance was truly tempting, and he couldn’t help but feel his mind start to wander.

Li Mengyao was young, but she was devastatingly beautiful. She had a tall, slender figure, and her ample chest seemed ready to burst from her clothes, a sight that would make anyone’s imagination run wild.

"I have other matters to attend to, so I’m afraid I don’t have time to drink with you, Miss Li. I hope you’ll understand."

Fang Yue said calmly, having no desire to stay any longer.

He was, after all, a young man full of virile energy. Being near such a beautiful viper was a true torment.

’It’s not like I can actually devour her, right?’

However, Fang Yue failed to notice that as he turned to leave, Li Mengyao’s subtle expression seemed to hold a trace of disappointment.

But just as quickly, her expression returned to normal.

"Well then, Young Master Fang, we’ll meet again another day." Li Mengyao smiled, stood up, and personally escorted him to the door.

Fang Yue could only nod in thanks before turning to leave.

As he passed the adjacent room, Fang Yue paused for a split second before continuing on his way.

~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Yang Hao and Chen Kang were in another restaurant.

They were in a private room on the second floor, which had a direct view of the main entrance to the Biyun Pavilion. They would be sure to see Fang Yue the moment he came out.

"Yang, that Li Mengyao... she hasn’t actually fallen for that guy, has she?" Chen Kang asked, his expression dark.

"Who knows!" Yang Hao shook his head. "That Fang Yue doesn’t look like someone you’d want to mess with. And Li Mengyao did seem overly friendly with him. In all these years, I’ve never seen her let anyone sit that close to her."

"Don’t worry, there’s no way Mengyao would be interested in a guy like that," Chen Kang said reassuringly.

But he was mostly just reassuring himself. After all, he’d had his heart set on Li Mengyao for a long time, and this was the first time he had ever seen a situation like this. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

He couldn’t stand the thought of his goddess being utterly captivated by some other man.

"Heh, it’s hard to say. The man’s origins are a mystery, but he’s clearly no ordinary person." Yang Hao saw things clearly. Someone of Li Mengyao’s status would never go out of her way to entertain a common man.

For her to treat Fang Yue this way, he had to have something extraordinary about him, some significant background.

"Hmph!" Chen Kang snorted. His eyes darted about for a moment before he said, "For you to be so timid, Yang, is a disgrace to all of us!"

His expression was one of clear contempt for Yang Hao.

In Chen Kang’s eyes, Yang Hao was usually arrogant and always stirring up trouble. But he mostly just bullied the weak. When he truly came up against an opponent with an impressive status and background, he turned into a coward.

’He bullies the weak and fears the strong. A real piece of work.’

Just then, Yang Hao spotted Fang Yue walking out of the Biyun Pavilion.

"Chen, he’s coming out," Yang Hao said, a hint of excitement on his face. It had only been about fifteen minutes since they had left. It seemed the two of them hadn’t talked for very long.

Since they hadn’t talked for long, their relationship probably wasn’t that close. In that case, he still had a chance.

"Mm," Chen Kang nodded.

The two of them quietly watched Fang Yue’s movements below, wanting to see for themselves just what kind of person he was.

~~~~~~~

Early the next morning, Fang Yue left the Prefecture City with Zhang Hu.

However, news of their movements soon reached the ears of three different people.

Li Mengyao, Yang Hao, and Chen Kang. For their own various reasons, all three were interested in Fang Yue and had naturally sent people to keep a close watch on his whereabouts.

Of the three, Li Mengyao was the most interested, as she was deeply curious about Fang Yue. She wanted to know if he had truly, as the rumors claimed, eaten the flesh of that Cyan Dragon!

Yang Hao was more composed, as he didn’t plan on making a move himself—or at least, not being the first one to do so.

Chen Kang, however, was growing impatient. He was preparing to send someone to contact a Rebel King and have him take care of Fang Yue.

’That way, no matter who investigated later, it would have nothing to do with him.’

~~~~~~~

「Seven days later.」

The sun had just risen over a desolate patch of wilderness, more than three hundred li from the Prefecture City.

A group of masked, black-clad men were gathered around a few small, withered trees.

The trees were laden with yellow, fist-sized fruit that emitted a foul stench, attracting swarms of flies.

"Alright, listen up, brothers. Be careful. If we do this job right, we can start over somewhere else and live like rich old men. So, be meticulous. Kill all the men. But nobody touches the little wench. I want her brought back in one piece," the leader of the group ordered in a cold voice.

He knew the temperament of his men all too well. And this time, the client paying them in silver had given specific instructions: if anything happened to the wench, they wouldn’t get the rest of their payment.

"Don’t worry, Boss. We all know what to do. We won’t screw it up!" a burly man replied in a gruff voice.

"Good." The leader nodded. "Fifth, go cut down a tree and block the road. We’ll wait here."

This was a standard robbery tactic. Block the road and wait for the target to stop and clear the obstruction, then swarm them.

Before they joined the Rebel King Chen Youliang, they had been mountain bandits, so this was just returning to their old trade. They were experts, and the trap was set up quickly. Blocking the road was just the first step. The real killing blow would come from the crossbowmen hidden in the woods.

Over thirty crossbowmen were equipped with Divine Arm Breaking Air Crossbows, weapons that were supposed to be exclusive to the Great Wei’s Forbidden Army. When fired, a single bolt would separate into dozens of smaller projectiles aimed straight at the enemy.

Furthermore, the projectiles were specifically designed to pierce a Martial Artist’s Primordial Qi. Even the Primordial Qi of an Innate Master could be shattered if they were caught unprepared.

These crossbowmen were all elite soldiers, lying in ambush and waiting to hunt their prey.

Just then, in the distance, several horse-drawn carriages appeared, heading in their direction.

"Why are you so insistent on following me?" Fang Yue asked, looking at Li Mengyao across from him.

He never imagined that the young lady of the Guangfeng Li Family would use her connections to latch onto him like this.

To be precise, she had pulled strings at the Observatory to have Fang Yue tasked with escorting her back to Yujing City.

Of course, his own assignment was scheduled to end in just a few months anyway.

But Li Mengyao had decided to join him early, following him from the very moment he left Guangfeng Prefecture.

"Fang, you misunderstand. We’re just heading in the same direction. Don’t overthink it," Li Mengyao explained hurriedly.

’Could she really tell him that she was after him because he had eaten Dragon Flesh, and she wanted to obtain his masculine essence to break through to the next realm?’