Chapter 598: Chapter 204: Zi Jing Hong’s Conclusion
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Even though Zi Jing Hong finally recovered his vision, his eyes were still a bit dazed. He could only feel that his stomach was in turmoil as he did his best to control his nausea. He said, “Then… what happened?” As a warrior, his strong aura was becoming unstable, to the point that he was even stuttering a little. With his chest heaving up and down, he seemed to be overcome with emotion…
“After that, your lowly servant continued searching but in the thick forest that was next to it, a huge path was emptied out by a strong and untamed sword energy that was directed horizontally across it. Because of that, all of the huge trees in the vicinity were uprooted and aligned neatly in two rows. And what was strange was that they were s.p.a.ced out perfectly evenly too. For this level of Swords Arts, it’s really shocking, and even the Heavens would cry over this achievement! Before this, I’ve never seen anyone with such a high level of Swords Arts, it’s not heard of!” Gou Bu Huan still seemed shocked.
Zi Jing Hong and Xiao Wei Cheng made eye contact. From their eyes, they read what the other was thinking about: Tian Fa Heaven’s Sword!
“With what your lowly servant could see, that shocking sword energy must have resulted from a chase to the death that led to such a horrifying outcome. I explored the area a little more, but ahead, there was only a cliff at the dead-end. When your lowly servant went to take a look, the soil at the edge of the cliff was uneven, and there was obviously a landslide. And it was not too long ago either, it’s likely to have happened at the same time as the huge battle! That shocking sword energy extended its power all the way here, but it suddenly stopped there too. According to my humble guess, that landslide was probably caused by another man… But… the extent of that landslide was way too huge, I do not dare to say this for sure, but if we were to deduce it logically, it must be the case.”
He thought about it quietly for awhile, and said, “At first, your lowly servant thought that there might be dead bodies below the cliff, and I spent a lot of effort to dig through the remains, but under everything, there was nothing at all, and only a pool of blood stains… So if I dare to presume, it was either because all of the bodies were taken back after the battle with the Elusive Land of Immortals battle, or the entire army from Elusive Land of Immortals was completely wiped out. The enemy used a strange method to destroy all traces of the bodies, and judging by the state of the remains of the battle, the second scenario seems more likely…”
Even though the deduction he presented was not correct, but it was not far from the mark. His observations were detailed and unique, with his a.n.a.lysis being clear and easy to understand. He really lived up to his name as a well-established scout.
“What else?”Zi Jing Hong’s expression was obviously gloomy, and was at the epitome of its darkness; At the side, Xiao Wei Cheng’s gaze was also dismal and carried some panic as well…
“No…Nothing else…” Stuttering, Gou Bu Huan was a little shocked by Zi Jing Hong’s tone. He had already explained the situation very clearly, what else could there have been there. If someone else had gone down to investigate the area, their a.n.a.lysis would not have been as detailed as his, but why did it seem like the leader was still dissatisfied? But for him who had just suffered through a thorough beating, how would he dare to say another word?
“Your investigation this time was done well, go take a rest now.” Zi Jing Hong waved his hand.
“Oh…” Gou Bu Huan touched his cheek, his nose, and curiously looked at Zi Jing Hong, meaning to say: So you’re just going to let me go like this after beating me up? Since the mission was completed well, shouldn’t he get some reward?
“Why are you still here? Leave!”Zi Jing Hong unleashed his rage, kicking him in his stomach, causing his frail body to fly out as though he was a rubber ball.
Thud! Outside, a loud noise falling onto the ground ensued, and following that, Gou Bu Huan still gasped, “My three masters… Your servant has put in so much effort to complete his mission, and as far as he knows, he has not done any wrong, or made any mistakes, why are you beating me up… I… I’m so wronged..” Indeed, he was wronged, he made such a long trip and brought back such a complete and important report, even without any reward, he unwittingly withstood their beatings as well…
After that, they could hear someone outside clenching their jaw and saying, “People like you deserve a beating! Everyone! Destroy him!” And it was the voice of a warrior of rank Beyond Supreme…
After that, rumbling noises outside resounded like thunder, being packed but loud; the screams of pain entered one’s ears endlessly, “Why hit me… Why…?” The wailing cries sliced through the ice-cold weather…
One could imagine the heated situation where there was one man lying on the ground, surrounded by 7 to 8 people who were ruthlessly trampling on him…
In the room, Zi Jing Hong quietly sat there, his complexion looking at its worst, and Xiao Wei Cheng had the exact same expression. The atmosphere was heavy and suppressive.
After a long time, Zi Jing Hong finally said hoa.r.s.ely, “Bro Xiao, in your opinion, is it that kind of scenario?”
Xiao Wei Cheng sucked in a deep breath and said in a blood-curdling voice, “The intel your servant provided was detailed and the a.n.a.lysis was on point, logical, and with his a.n.a.lysis… I’m afraid Elusive Land of Immortals, Ning Wu Qing and the 29 people involved have already been wiped! How… How could this be possible?”
His voice was filled with horror and shock.
Zi Jing Hong raised his head, and quietly s.p.a.ced out. How would he not understand the reasoning behind this. He only hoped that there was a possibility and hoped that he could attain affirmation from Xiao Wei Cheng as well; that was why he asked such a question. Unfortunately, Xiao Wei Cheng had the exact same judgment as he did. After a long time, he finally asked, “I think so too… For our Three Holy Lands, from the past, we’ve always conquered everything in our path, unless there was a very important person that we needed to transport back to the city, there has been no other exception! Even though not many people from Elusive Land of Immortals have died outside, but there have still been a few. It was just like that beast at the siege at Tien Fa Forest, it was as though someone had died there. At the time, we had enough men, but we just ignored the matter at the time, and we’ve never specially allocated resources to deconstruct the situation and figure out what happened…”
“Yes! Especially the scene that Gou Bu Huan described, someone must have died at the scene. And it must have been quite a number of people. The men left behind by Ning Wu Qing might not have been enough. Even after the battle, even if they survived, they’re probably incapacitated or heavily injured, how would they have any energy left to carry the bodies back… It looks like the Elusive Land of Immortals is really done for!” Xiao Wei Cheng sucked in a deep breath.
But the only thing I don’t understand is, Venerable Mei is cool-headed and kind by nature, it doesn’t seem like she’ll be the type to ma.s.sacre people just like that. The winning ticket is in her hands, or rather I should say that Elusive Land of Immortals’ strength is completely insufficient to hold her back, and she didn’t have to ma.s.sacre them to this extent… As long as she could get away, how would Ning Wu Qing and the others even catch her?” Zi Jing Hong frowned, puzzled, “And the other thing is… Bro Xiao, did you notice that last sentence?”
“What sentence?” Xiao Wei Cheng lifted up his head and looked at him.
“Just now, Gou Bu Huan said, ‘We reached the entrance to the mountain, and realised that about 100 miles away, there were signs of a violent battle.’ This sentence! I don’t understand.”
Zi Jing Hong frowned, thinking hard, “How could such a large battle have taken place so far away from the entrance of the mountain? Ning Wu Qing was cunning and wise, his intelligence did not lose to you or me, but there was no way he would have abandoned the mountain entrance, which was the optimal spot for ambus. Instead, he knowingly jumped straight into battle? At a place that was so far away, he started a battle upfront… Having a battle there, isn’t it a death wish? If that was what we were going to do, why didn’t we just stay together, and confronted them directly to kill them? The only reason we chose this killing plan in various phases was to counter the Venerable Mei’s insane ability to take flight. But Ning Wu Qing just jumped out like that! This point here is the most suspicious thing!”
“Uh… It is indeed puzzling.” Xiao Wei Cheng’s gaze was a bit dodgy, and he was a bit guilty inside. But he “knew” why Ning Wu Qing wanted to jump out and send himself to his death… Because of all of this, it was his “hint”to Ning Wu Qing that led to this outcome…
If he had not hinted that the Venerable Mei had already suffered heavy injuries… He believed that even if he had given Ning Wu Qing countless amounts of courage, he would not have jumped into the battle so illogically…
“Bro Xiao…?” Zi Jing Hong penetrating gaze were directed onto him, and Xiao Wei Cheng realised that he had s.p.a.ced out… And he just saw that Zi Jing Hong was looking at him in a very strange way, as though he had seen through him. Unwittingly, he laughed awkwardly, saying, “Bro Zi, what’s wrong?”
Zi Jing Hong laughed strangely, but he did not pursue this problem; With Zi Jing Hong’s sharpness, he could tell that Xiao Wei Cheng’s demeanor was strange, and it was largely to do with Ning Wu Qing and his entire team being wiped out!
Xiao Wei Cheng was the first wave of attack, and he had returned with nothing in hand, losing more than half of his men on hand… For such a huge loss, how could Xiao Wei Cheng not be angry? When he pa.s.sed by Ning Wu Qing’s ambush location, how could Ning Wu Qing not ask about the situation? Xiao Wei Cheng exaggerating the situation was also a possibility…
If it happened to him, he would also be salty about how his entire team could have suffered such huge losses without any returns, and the other 2 teams being untouched… If there were any gains, of course it was not necessary to share them, but if it were losses… Of course it would be better to share them…
But this guy had suffered the ultimate loss. It must have been a simple few sentences that sent the 29 warriors from Elusive Land of Immortals to their death doors… Suppose that if he were to work together with this guy in future, he had to be careful, otherwise he could be sold out by this guy at any time…
“And there is another suspicious point! That is the reason why the Venerable Mei fought… Both you and I know that even though Venerable Mei shows no mercy to her enemies, but she always takes stock of the entire situation first. As to taking part in the Heavenly Battle, especially to those warriors at Beyond Supreme Rank, she’s always been merciful to them, and has never killed them! But this time, she killed them mercilessly, leaving nothing behind, it was completely one-sided, forcing the people from the Elusive Land of Immortals to the brink, wiping them all out… There must be a loophole in this! But if there was a reason behind this, what kind of reason would have forced her to deal such a heavy blow? And, it has to be a reason that would make her ignore the consequences to the Heavenly Battle as well?” Zi Jing Hong was deep in thought, voicing out his second question.
“It must have been because Ning Wu Qing and the others did something to trigger the Venerable Mei’s rage, and they must have done something that she would not tolerate at all. This is what we should think about!” Xiao Wu Cheng heaved a sigh of relief. By saying this, the responsibility was no longer directed on him.
“This is of course, something that we can imagine, but what would have triggered her rage? With her temperament, how would she even get angry at all? On that day, Elusive Land of Immortals collaborated with 10 experts to kill her, and it did not even trigger her to kill them in response! Could it be…” Zi Jing Hong’s gaze lit up, “Jun Mo Xie?”
“That should be it! Venerable Mei has been training for so many years, and she has never had any relations.h.i.+ps with anyone. This time, she fell in love with Jun Mo Xie, and that’s a love that would ignore everything else!” Xiao Wei Cheng and Zi Jing Hong were humane creatures, how could they not understand this?