Chapter 356 - 347: Uncle Tong, Long Time No See

Chapter 356: Chapter 347: Uncle Tong, Long Time No See

Fu Juemin looked at Helian and said coolly, "Whose side are you on, really? Why do you keep speaking up for them?"

Helian’s expression froze for a moment. She quickly turned her head away, avoiding Fu Juemin’s gaze, her tone softening unnaturally. "I’m just reminding you.

"The man who was just talking to you is Tu Kedi of the Red Banner. He’s pretty much the only outstanding member of the Tuling Clan’s current generation. You could say he’s the future Banner Lord of the Red Banner..."

Helian paused, then added in a cryptic tone, "Prince Lv has been trying to contact the Tuling Clan recently, hoping to win them over..."

"That’s between you guys."

Fu Juemin shook his head. "I can’t be bothered, nor do I want to know..."

Helian frowned, her tone turning cold again. "Just remember not to provoke him.

"Unleashing a demon at the Earth Altar martial competition was going way too far. Even if the Prince wants to protect you, it’s going to take a lot of effort..."

"Is that all you came here to tell me?"

Fu Juemin sighed softly, his gaze slowly sliding across Helian’s face. "I went to great lengths to ensure the failure of this Grand Sacrifice. I thought... you’d be bringing me a reward from Prince Lv."

"You still want a reward?"

Helian looked as if she’d heard the most hilarious joke, but she quickly caught herself. Changing the subject, she said rapidly, "The Magic Sacrifice was a success, and your contribution was indispensable. A reward is definitely coming.

"But now that the Grand Sacrifice has failed, the Royal Banner and many of the relics are furious. They’ve ordered the Nine Banners to mobilize and hunt down all the Banner-cutting Alliance rebels in the city.

"You’re to come with me and search the city for them..."

"Do I have to go?"

"You have to go."

Helian’s reply was decisive. "Even if it’s just an act, we have to see it through."

Seeing Fu Juemin nod, Helian was about to spur her horse to lead the way when she heard a soft whisper from behind her.

The voice wasn’t loud, but it was like a pin dropping onto the surface of a silent lake.

"Is it just me, or... has your attitude become a little different than before?"

Helian’s body stiffened abruptly, and her heart trembled slightly.

Within a breath, she relaxed again. Turning, she gave Fu Juemin a charming smile, a hint of playful reproach in her flirtatious eyes. "Has it?

"You’re probably just imagining things."

Fu Juemin gave her a long, serious look from top to bottom. After a moment, he averted his gaze and walked past her with a casual air.

"Perhaps."

Helian watched with a faint smile as Fu Juemin rode his horse forward, the curve of her lips just right.

Soon, the smile vanished from her face, replaced by nothing but a cold chill.

...

「Inside Yingjing City.」

Large troops of riders galloped through the streets, creating a scene of tense chaos.

Three figures darted through the alleys and lanes, dodging the pursuit of the soldiers outside.

"I told you not to come, but you just had to.

"Now look what’s happened! Uncle Li has to take care of us two burdens!"

The feisty girl, panting for breath, complained to the sturdy, thick-browed young man beside her as they ran.

The young man looked guilty but stubbornly retorted, "I’m not a burden! I could escape on my own. If anyone’s a burden, it ought to be you..."

"You!!"

The girl was so angry she was speechless.

"Shut up!"

A tall, burly figure leading them called out coldly, suddenly halting.

The two immediately shut their mouths and stopped.

The figure turned, revealing the chiseled, indifferent face of a middle-aged man.

Without a word, the man reached out and grabbed the young man and the girl by their collars, one in each hand.

Then, like a great bird, he leaped into the air, swiftly vaulting over one high alley wall after another...

He crossed five alleys in one breath before finally stopping in the sixth.

He casually tossed them beside a pile of miscellaneous items and high-stacked baskets, then leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and said flatly, "Hide here. Don’t move, and don’t make a sound."

The girl covered her mouth and nodded vigorously.

The sturdy youth, however, was still lost in the wondrous experience of soaring through the air and scaling walls, seemingly not having heard the man’s words.

The thrill of the chase gave him a strange sense of excitement. He called out softly, "Elder Li," a few times, but the man resting against the wall with his eyes closed didn’t respond.

The youth scratched his head in frustration, then suddenly glimpsed something nearby behind him.

He swatted away the girl’s hand that was tugging at his clothes, walked over cautiously, and then, his eyes lighting up, blurted out, "Elder Li, there’s a back door here!!"

As his shout echoed, the man leaning against the wall snapped his eyes open.

At the same time, on the street just outside the alley’s entrance, a black-faced, powerfully built man, who walked like an iron pagoda, seemed to hear something and whipped his head around.

"Idiot!"

The feisty girl hiding behind the baskets finally couldn’t take it anymore and shot up to curse him.

But the man simply rose to his feet calmly and let out a soft sigh.

In the next second, his figure flickered out like a phantom, grabbing the two of them to continue scaling the walls.

But upon reaching the third long alley, he stopped completely.

An iron pagoda of a black-faced man stood silently in the alley, arms crossed, watching the three of them with the half-smiling gaze of a predator eyeing its prey.

CLIPPITY-CLOP CLIPPITY-CLOP...

The rapid sound of horse hooves and a clamor of urgent footsteps grew closer and closer from the alley entrance behind the black-faced man.

Only then did the youth realize the terrible trouble he had caused, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

"Forget it."

Seeing how bad the situation was, the man remained surprisingly calm. He just said faintly, "I’ll hold them off for a bit. Xingtian, you take Xiaohong and go first..."

"Oh, okay!"

The youth, as if waking from a dream, quickly grabbed the feisty girl’s hand and ran toward the end of the alley without looking back.

"Go? None of you are going anywhere!"

The black-faced man’s savage laugh echoed from behind them, and it was as if a heavy, invisible ripple shot through the air, speeding toward them.

But before the ripple could reach them, it was forcefully blocked by a sound like a dragon’s roar and an elephant’s trumpet.

The two youths didn’t dare to linger for a second. They broke into a frantic sprint, but just as they were about to run out of the alley....

Suddenly.

On the street outside the alley, two figures happened to be riding past on horseback.

A man and a woman sat on the horses, both dressed in luxurious clothes and possessing an extraordinary air.

The man wore a long, Profound-colored robe, a long saber of ancient design hanging at his waist, his bearing handsome and elegant. The woman was alluring, riding a reddish-brown horse, her head turned as she spoke to him.

The two seemed to be chatting idly. As they passed the alley entrance, the noble-looking Young Master cast a casual glance inside.

THWAP!

He suddenly stopped.

He pulled sharply on the reins, and his horse’s four hooves seemed to nail themselves to the ground.

His gaze passed over the young man and the girl, traveling to the far end of the long alley, locking firmly onto a figure’s back.

For a moment, he seemed completely mesmerized.

...

CLIP-CLOP-CLIP-CLOP—

Dressed in a red robe, Tu Kedi, mounted on his armored Demon Horse, led numerous subordinates as they arrived like a hurricane.

At that moment, in the dim, long alley, two figures were locked in fierce combat!

The sound of their fists and feet colliding was like rolling thunder, shaking bricks and stones loose from the walls on either side.

"Hahaha!"

In the midst of the fight, the pagoda-like strongman suddenly threw a punch, forcefully knocking his opponent back more than ten meters. He laughed heartily and yelled, "My lord, I’ve caught a big fish!!"

"Good! Good!"

A sharp glint appeared in Tu Kedi’s eyes as he nodded repeatedly.

He was in a foul mood and needed an outlet.

The Royal Banner had ordered a city-wide roundup of the Banner-cutting Alliance rebels. If he could capture someone important, it would be a great achievement, a chance to show off within the Nine Banners.

At this thought, his mood instantly improved.

But just then, a subordinate came forward and reported in a low voice, "My lord, people from the Profound Banner are here too."

"Hm?!"

Tu Kedi frowned and looked up in the direction his subordinate was pointing.

When he saw the two people and two horses standing motionlessly at the end of the alley, his expression froze. His face then immediately darkened, as if he had swallowed a fly.

"You again!"

Tu Kedi rode his horse a few steps into the alley, a cold light flickering in his eyes.

After weighing his options for a moment, he suddenly raised his horsewhip, pointed it at someone at the end of the alley, and spat out each word with chilling venom: "If you know what’s good for you,

you’ll hurry up and get the hell...

out!"

...

"Let’s go!"

Helian looked at the distant, arrogant Tu Kedi with his savage expression, then turned her head and said in a low voice, "We don’t need the credit for this. We were only ever here to put on a show. There’s no need to fight him for it."

Beside her, Fu Juemin just stared fixedly at a certain spot in the alley, not saying a word, as if he hadn’t heard.

It was as if he hadn’t heard her at all.

"Are you deaf?! Get lost!!"

Tu Kedi’s furious roar came again.

"Let’s go!"

Helian urged him, her expression growing impatient.

"I told you, Tu Kedi is an important figure in the Red Banner. Don’t cause trouble for the Prince. Don’t provoke him..."

Just then, Fu Juemin finally retracted his gaze. He lowered his head as if deep in thought.

His fingers unconsciously stroked the hilt of the Exorcism Saber at his waist, once, then again.

Soon, he looked up, turning to Helian with a placid expression.

"Sorry."

Helian’s expression froze. "What are you—"

Before Helian could finish, she glimpsed a streak of gray light flashing silently before her eyes.

Her "vision" suddenly shot upward, then tumbled over and over before plummeting rapidly...

Helian’s head flew high into the air, her bewitching and beautiful face still frozen with the shock and disbelief of her final moments.

THWACK!—

Her head hit the ground and rolled, and rolled, and rolled, coming to a stop at the feet of the young man, Bu Xingtian, and the girl, Xiaohong.

Its mouth was slightly agape, staring fixedly at them, as if even in death, it couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

The two were also stunned, frozen in place, their minds completely blank.

They couldn’t understand it either.

’Why?

’Those two were clearly together. Why did one of them suddenly chop off the other’s head?

’Why?’

Fu Juemin calmly and slowly sheathed his saber, his movements as unhurried as if he had just completed the most ordinary of tasks.

But the blood on the Exorcism Saber, Helian’s blood, was now being rapidly absorbed by the patterns on the blade.

Having absorbed the blood, the eyes of the blurry ape face on the Exorcism Saber’s blade guard seemed to glow a little brighter, giving it an indescribably strange and bizarre quality.

"So you’re a Demon Blade?"

Fu Juemin’s brow furrowed slightly upon seeing this, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

But his expression quickly smoothed out. "Perfect. All the more reason you should serve me."

With that, Fu Juemin dismounted.

He held the Exorcism Saber in one hand and walked, step by step, into the alley.

He walked between the petrified Bu Xingtian and Xiaohong.

An invisible wind stirred the hem of his long satin robe.

The light in the entire long alley suddenly dimmed, as if slowly being covered by something.

This sudden gloom originated from behind Fu Juemin, like a rising tide, silently... creeping over every inch of the alley floor.

Fu Juemin faced the head of the alley. In his eyes, which were beginning to gleam with a dark light, there was no reflection of anyone else—only the tall, middle-aged man who was also facing him, their gazes locked.

He looked at the other man, a slow smile spreading across his face, and then, in a soft and gentle tone, he called out:

"Uncle Tong, long time no see."

...

This Chapter is quite long, so I was too lazy to split it. Please give me your guaranteed monthly votes, thank you!