Chapter 150

“A hostage?”
“That’s right, princess.”
Huang Tianhou’s expression twisted. He had asked for a solo fight, what kind of a mess is this?
“What kind of nonsense are you talking……!”
I knew this was how Huang Tianhou would react. But I sacrificed him for this operation.
“Wait a minute, Uncle Huang.”
Princess Zhu Yingyoung raised her hand to stop Huang Tianhou, then shifted her gaze to me.
“What are you supposed to do with that?”
“It’s simple, just go back and expose yourself to the threat.”
“Is my safety guaranteed?”
“Yes. Only the best of the best will be at your side.”
Joo Young Young’s gaze meets mine.
“Mmm.”
For some reason, I think she’ll accept, and I wonder why.
What am I supposed to make of the fact that a woman who knows nothing, who is like a plant in a greenhouse, is listening to me and is willing to be my hostage?
If this plan doesn’t work, I have other plans in mind.
“Okay, but on one condition.”
A condition, I thought, as long as it didn’t cross the line. But then.
“You have to protect me yourself.”
…… Huh?
I froze. The look in the princess’s eyes told me she wasn’t joking as usual. Judging by her mood, she was serious.
But I had to ask again.
“……are you serious?”
“Only if you accept the conditions.”
“What are the conditions?”
“……Besides that.”
“What?”
At the princess’s hesitant response, I opened my ears and leaned closer to her breathing. I wondered what she was trying to say.
But then.
“That’s enough.”
Huang Tianhou’s shadow stepped out and stopped me in front of the princess.
“I’m going to review this, so don’t get any closer.”
His tone was forceful, his expression anything but respectful.
I took a step back at Huang Tianhou’s reaction. I wasn’t used to his cold reaction, a 180-degree turn, but I understood.
He has his job,
I have mine.
We need to understand each other’s position,
and accept each other’s differences.
Even though we are brothers, it was not easy for us to give up our positions.
I understood the reaction. I met Huang Tianhou’s gaze and nodded.
“I’ll come back later.”
* * *
The name of the canyon was Mugan Valley.
It is the narrowest passage on the road to the Huang Family. No one would have expected the princess to come here. Right now, the Fengyun Branch Conference is in full swing, with a rousing reception and the concluding ceremonies for the unity tournament between the various sects.
So it was,
With the exception of one striking young man, the carriage was being guarded by a group of seemingly unremarkable people, so it should be easy.
And then.
Boom!
The new carriage bounces off the cliff faster than you can run.
It was none other than Cheung Woong, who stood on the cliff, staring at the roaring sound with a dumbfounded expression.
“……What, what.”
Zhao Weng was also judging the situation with shaky eyes. The one that had just flown away was a familiar new model.
“What is this…….”
His mouth dropped open because of the newcomer’s status. The boulders that the greenwood bandits had rolled down the canyon were usually so large that a full-grown man could barely push them.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
But it was the young man’s thunderbolt that split it into pieces, slicing through the legs of the bandits as they leapt down the canyon, never stopping to feed.
The thunderbolts were quick, but Cheng Woong, Black Woong, and Zhao Woong led the bandits from their respective positions and jumped down.
At the same time, the shadow of the black giant who was supposed to be at his post didn’t listen and ended up having an accident, as Black Woong’s flying saber was flying towards the young man. Faced with the young man’s sword hilt, which was a match for his fist, Zaung and Cheng Woong sighed, but they were thinking of ripping open the carriage door and snatching the princess.
At this point, it didn’t matter if they were going to Moro, as long as they got to their destination, as long as they took the princess with them. They were prepared to make the sacrifice anyway.
“What can we do. This isn’t going to work out the way you think.”
Boom!
The new enemy that flew away was none other than Black Woong.
Fazik,
a bundle of lightning streaked toward Qing Shui. Taking in a deep breath, Qing Shui tensed his entire body to face the attack.
Poof! Pooh-pooh!
Countless bundles of thunderbolts pierced every inch of Qing Shui’s body. If it weren’t for the self-defense qi he had created, he would have already been torn apart by the bundles of lightning.
“……What the hell happened to you?”
The smile on the young man in Qing Shui’s line of sight widened. The carriages surrounding them didn’t seem to have too many troops.
“Someone once told me that the time in the Southern Palace has a different concentration. At the time, I thought it was a crazy thing to say, but now that I think about it.”
Hmm.
The young man with the hilt of his sword slung over his shoulder turned to face Zhao Weng, Qing Weng, and Black Weng, who had come out of the canyon with the same momentum as he had gone in.
“It seems the concentration of time is different.”
“You’re the only one who seems to have used it properly.”
Black Woong, a mountainous evil.
Qingwu and Zhaung, they all let out a blood glow, and three strands of energy shot up into the sky. As the aura of the three pierced through began to fill the canyon, each of them trembled and shrank back.
Seeing that the aura of the three was different from the one he had encountered in Anhui, the young man, the Thunderbolt Sword Sect’s Nangong Ban, smiled.
“Or you can prove it.”
“You’re rabid to the end.”
Boom!
A crunching sound.
The ground crackled and cracked as if it were tearing paper, and the three newcomers came flying like artillery shells. In the blink of an eye, the young man’s new form also blurred and slammed into the ground.
Kwaaang!
Following the young man who leaped into the air, the three of them crushed the ground with a helping hand to make another leap, and at the same time, the three of them surrounded the young man on all sides.
“You won’t be able to escape.”
It’s only been a year since we’ve seen the young man again. Although he had shown growth beyond his years, reaching the lofty position of an elderly man must mean something else.
It seems to have been a ploy by the political faction to keep the young man afloat.
Therefore, Black Woong, Cheng Woong, and Zhao Woong would tear the young man in front of them apart at this very moment and destroy all hope.
“You’re still alive.”
The young man’s body twisted in time with the linear movements of the three, like a bird, as he unleashed the Heavenly Wind Divine Technique. The three who were moving with momentum were about to stop when they realized that the young man’s movement had been halted.
The young man’s body was once again twisting in the air.
It was a move that bordered on the divine. Even if one were to perform the art of levitation, one could not move so fluidly through the void as if walking on a road.
Every time he twisted his body in the air, the three of them were forced to brake, and in the end, the wealth of power from Black Wing’s axe swept toward the young man.
Swoosh.
The force that sliced through the young man and sent him flying continued to slice through the canyon at a diagonal, while countless bandits who had jumped down were swept away and killed.
One by one, they lost arms and legs,
or their upper and lower bodies were separated and they fell helplessly to the ground.
Or they became headless corpses and rolled down the gorge.
Metamorphosis.
The idea that a transmutation performed in the air would require a higher level of enlightenment than one performed by a man on the ground, at least, made Zhao Yun feel ominous.
So he decided to fulfill his original purpose first, now that he was far from the carriage.
“Black Wing, it’s not about him.”
“I’m after him.”
But Black Woong was more focused on chasing the young man’s new brother than on the canyon that had become an abyss. Seeing this, Zhao Yung cursed.
“He said that he was rampaging without a clue, but his behavior was not worthy of the name of a mountain man. Now he had to get himself together and get back on track.
So he threw himself into the wagon.
The men guarding the wagon were not much to look at, so he knew he would have an easy task.
At that moment,
Quadruple quadruple!
A thunder dragon twisted its body, blocking Zhao Yun’s path.
Even he could not approach the carriage easily, as the thunder dragon surged with such force that his entire body would be annihilated if he touched it.
“Inoom!”
He was looking away and taking his time, even as he was confronting himself.
It was impossible.
The cliff-dweller leaped, hurling himself toward the young man’s new carriage, sending dozens of bundles of black power flying.
Pow, pow, pow.
The bodies of the clan bandits that touched him were instantly blown apart. The terrified bandits ran down the canyon, their bodies stiffening as they ran. And the dozens of bundles of strong Qi that struck them were unstoppable. One of the Qi flying toward the carriage struck Zhao Yun with an upturned eyebrow.
Only when the dozens of bandits had disappeared did a shadow fall over him, revealing a young man in good shape.
“No matter what. What makes you any different from those in Shandong?”
The young man’s expression was grim. The corners of Black Woong’s mouth twisted in a cold chill. His eyes glittered with madness, as did his twisted mouth.
The young man shook his head at the sight.
“What was done to me was not lost on you. You’ve gone full circle.”
Not like before. Not like before, when he had acted rationally, when he had a sense of propriety in his outstretched hand.
“Have you given up being human?”
“If I can catch you.”
“If that’s what it is.”
A gentle ripple rises around the young man. The shallow water ripples and builds into a massive wave, which converges on the tip of the young man’s sword.
The flesh of the black wolf beneath the canyon began to pale in the concentrated energy.
His eyes flickered with life, but the stirring energy gradually grew, and he formed the shape of a greatsword.
“……The Emperor Sword.”
Just as the words were spoken, it was a greatsword in the shape of an imperial sword. An aura that could cut through a canyon in an instant spread out in all directions.
“……Goddammit!”
Something was wrong. An emperor sword.
Watching the scene from afar, Zhao Weng’s expression twisted, and he threw open the door to the carriage behind the thunder dragon he and Qing Shui had just resolved.
Just as he was about to reach out for the slender woman’s new form.
Poof!
A bold saber stuck in the nape of her neck.
“Do you still think I’m a princess?”
The woman in the fine silk robe turns away and ties her hair up in a tight bun. Then the fallen Zhao Rong collapsed in a heap, and Qing Wong’s eyes widened behind him.
“……You, what are you?”
“Fang Xiang.”