"Du Zheng!" Lu Li and Ming Yu looked at each other and their minds were weighted down with anxiety. Ye Cha didn’t have much reaction as he was not clear about the outside world.
The second most powerful man on the Northern Desert Warlord List, more powerful than the Old Man of Heaven Prison—Du Zheng. If he took some actions, then Ye Cha, Ming Yu and the other two combined wouldn’t even be able to compete with Du Zheng.
Lu Li looked at Yu Huashen and asked in curiosity, "I hear that there is a mysterious powerful warrior in the Haunted Hollow that helped you to kill the Old Man of Heaven Prison. Is that Du Zheng?"
Yu Huashen thought about it and said, "I am not sure. But as I see it, I think there is an 80% chance."
"Not sure?"
Lu Li was taken by surprise and so was Ming Yu. It was Yu Huashen and the others that made plans about the Haunted Hollow. How could he not know the ident.i.ty of the mysterious powerful warrior?
Yu Huashen explained, "As a matter of fact, it was not us that took the lead, but Du Heng, the King of Heaven Frigid Kingdom. He had deliberately sent Yu Feinong and the other one here to attack you and they were on a suicide mission. The aim was to anger the Old Man of Heaven Prison, lure him out of the Thousand-island Lake to the Haunted Hollow and kill him."
"What?"
Lu Li was shocked. Yu Feinong didn’t come to kill him, but to send himself to death? This was brutal.
Yu Huashen continued, "After Bai Xi came back from the Yu Emperor City, Du Heng had sent someone to contact us. We secretly went to the Heaven Frigid Kingdom and Du Heng decided the final play. Then, the Family Patriarchs of the other two Royal Families came as well. Du Heng promised that the Old Man of Heaven Prison could be killed before we decided to make the plan."
"Du Heng sent that mysterious powerful warrior."
Yu Huashen added after a pause, "After the mysterious man came, he didn’t start killing immediately. Instead, he helped us to build a formation in the Haunted Hollow to trap the Old Man of Heaven Prison and then we were able to kill him. Because the mysterious man and Du Heng didn’t take other actions, the Old Man of Heaven Prison had the chance to kill the Ye Family Patriarch, Bai Xi could die bringing another warrior of the n.o.ble Lord Realm with him, and Bai Leng could escape.
"If that mysterious warrior had done other things, there was not a chance that the Old Man of Heaven Prison could have killed the Family Patriarch of the Ye Family. I had a feeling that that man was very horrifying and he was no weaker than the Old Man of Heaven Prison. There were only two people of the Northern Desert that could be stronger than the Old Man of Heaven Prison. The one from the temple couldn’t have done it so it must be Du Zheng!
"Actually, I believe that it was Du Zheng precisely because he didn’t launch the attack himself. Du Zheng comes from the Du Family of the Central Plains. The most powerful forces and families of the Central Plains once made a pact that they would not interfere in the conflicts of other plains unless the Du Family would forfeit their territory at the Central Plains and sought development solely at the Northern Desert.
"One more thing. Actually, there is a speculation at the Northern Desert that the Du Family of the Heaven Frigid Kingdom is related to the Du Family at the Central Plains. It is highly possible that the Du Family of the Heaven Frigid Kingdom is a branch of the Du Family at the Central Plains.
"The one at the Central Plains secretly sent over a branch of their family to develop at the Northern Desert and then help the Du Family here to unite the Northern Desert. The mysterious powerful warrior was sent by Du Heng so I think it is very likely that the mysterious man is Du Zheng."
Lu Li and Ming Yu understood how it was after Yu Huashen’s explanation. Ye Cha and Ye Xiao was still confused but they didn’t ask more questions.
Lu Li thought it over and realized what Yu Huashen deduced was reasonable.
The Heaven Frigid Kingdom was established only 15 years ago. The Heaven Punis.h.i.+ng Auction House was not here long, either. It would be an awful coincidence that the king of the Heaven Frigid Kingdom had a surname of Du and so did the family behind the Heaven Punis.h.i.+ng Auction House.
"Well…"
Lu Li had a question and he asked, "Yu Huashen, you said that Du Zheng cannot interfere with the conflicts at the Northern Desert. So he cannot do anything publicly, right? If so, why should we be afraid?"
Yu Huashen bitterly smiled, cupped his fists and said, "Young Master, he cannot do it publicly means that he cannot leave any evidence behind. What if Du Zheng really wants to do it and kills everyone there? What if he takes some disguise and does it secretly? As long as there is no proof, the families at the Central Plains will not mind. For those families at the Central Plains, Northern Desert is just a deserted nowhere."
Ming Yu considered it and persuaded Lu Li, "Young Master, you must be reasonable. If Du Zheng and Du Heng really are related and the Du Family at the Central Plains wants to support the one here to unite the entire Northern Desert, by going to the Bai Emperor Mountain, you will be sabotaging their efforts. Du Zheng will definitely make a move."
Ye Cha and Ye Xiao said nothing as for them, whatever Lu Li decided would be right. They would carry out his orders without reservation. They were the loyal followers of their Saint Lord.
"Let’s see how it goes."
Lu Li was afraid to take any rash actions. It was not a joke to offend the second most powerful man at the Northern Desert. He could lose every warrior he had.
Lu Li called Pei An over, asking him to send a message to Bai Emperor Mountain to collect information. Then he took the quiet approach by waiting for a better chance.
…
The Bai Emperor Mountain was not at its best or worst. Hundreds of warriors were still attacking at the mountain protection formation but it remained unbroken like a turtle sh.e.l.l. It was as if the hundreds of warriors were kids playing with sticks and they just could not break the sh.e.l.l. The mountain protection formation glared and glared but it was motionless.
The ones inside were relaxed. It would seem that they could have several more days. Some thoughtless people were even thinking that the warriors on the outside could never open the mountain protection formation; they were laughing at those on the outside and some were even cursing Du Heng and the others…
Madam Yan looked to the seven-colored s.h.i.+eld above her head, leaned against a chair and closed her eyes to have a rest. She sighed and murmured, "I think we still have five or six days. I pray for the miracle!"
"Miracle?" Bai Xiashuang asked with curiosity, "Auntie, are you saying that Lu Li will come and save us?"
"Ha, ha!"
Madam Yan forced a smile and said, "Don’t count on Lu Li. I know him very well. If he could help, he would have been here a long time ago. What I am counting on are the other two sides. Of course… there isn’t much hope."
"Two?"
Bai Qiuxue was surprised. She could not think of anybody else at the Northern Desert that could help the Bai Family. Madam Yan suddenly contacted two parties secretly?
Madam Yan rubbed her temples and explained in a low voice, "One of them is the temple. I used all the wealth and treasures of the Bai Family to ask the Grand Marshal of the temple to do something. Clearly… the temple didn’t pay any attention. Otherwise, those men couldn’t even get into the Heaven Prison City."
Bai Qiuxue nodded. The temple never once interfered in the conflicts of any forces, not once in more than hundreds of thousands of years. They certainly would not break the rule just after accepting some wealth and treasures from the Bai Family.
She asked, "Auntie, who is the other one?"
Pointing to the southeast, Madam Yan said, "Cyan Plains, the most powerful overlord of the Cyan Plains, a Seventh-rank Family, the Suns Palace. As long as the Suns Palace can send over some powerful warriors, our problem can be solved. Right after our forefather was killed, I sent a message to a small family at the Cyan Plains, using some special means, and asked them to contact the Suns Palace but no word is sent back yet."
"Suns Palace!"
Bai Qiuxue and Bai Xiashuang could see some hope. They had heard about the Suns Palace, the well-deserved overlord of the Cyan Plains. The G.o.ddess Palace and other families couldn’t even come in close. A Seventh-rank Family had three warriors of the Human Sovereign Realm, any one of whom could beat all the forces of the Northern Desert.
The most powerful families of the Central Plains agreed that they would not mess matters of other places.
But the Central Plains couldn’t determine what others could do. It was not a big deal that some powerful warriors of the Cyan Plains wanted to come to the Northern Desert to help. Back in the days, Ghost Snake Granny went to the Ice Abyss to fight for the Beast King’s blood and she even killed people of the Yu Family.
"Five or six days!"
Bai Qiuxue clenched her fists. It all came down to whether a miracle could happen in five or six days. If not, she would rather die now than to live just for the sake of remaining alive in the small world and prolong a meaningless life.