Chapter 1412: Each Follows Its Own Path

For years, he had been unable to create better magical artifacts with the Ci Mu Zhen (Loving Mother Needle). However, the Ci Mu Zhen and "Smooth Sailing" had a natural connection, much like a loving mother and her child traveling far away are always thinking of each other. And Qi Yunsheng could locate the culprit by tracking "Smooth Sailing"!

He stood up and said to his two disciples, "Follow me to track down the culprit!"

Bao and Fu responded in unison.

Qi Yunsheng then gave a few instructions for the manor. He assembled dozens of manor guards and over a hundred elite soldiers under Xue Zongwu, and they set off westward, following the Ci Mu Zhen's guidance.

No one noticed a small black shadow lurking in the branches of the large tree that Fu Wending had just climbed. Its twelve eyes silently observed everything happening below.

After Qi Yunsheng had gathered everyone, it leaped, landing softly on the forehead of one of the manor guards, then hid itself in the folds of his headscarf.

In the pitch darkness, it was difficult for anyone to spot it.

The Weng brothers' first wingsuit flight was surprisingly successful.

Although their flight path twisted and turned, and they couldn't control their direction or speed, the wind that night was gentle and steady, carrying them safely to the ground.

Weng Xing fell flat on his face. He got up and walked a few steps, his head still spinning. Weng Su’s wingsuit got caught on a treetop, leaving him dangling. It took him a great deal of effort to finally reach the ground.

He couldn't bring himself to cut off his newly acquired wingsuit—it was a product of Songyang Prefecture, and not so easily discarded.

It took more than another fifteen minutes for the brothers to reunite on the ground, both feeling as if they had survived a great ordeal.

Weng Xing grinned incessantly, blood trickling from his mouth.

"What happened to your mouth?"

"Lost a tooth." Weng Xing was immensely satisfied. The price of a night's grand adventure was a lost tooth, an injured arm, and burnt hands. It was worth it, absolutely worth it!

"Where's our benefactor?"

"I don't know. I couldn't see him halfway through the flight." To be precise, when Weng Su jumped from the cliff edge, he could still glimpse the Great Emperor of the Nine Nethers, whose flying posture was far more graceful than his own, like a mountain eagle soaring through the night sky.

Then he watched as the figure glided sideways through a mountain hollow, disappearing into the night, as light as a leaf.

He himself couldn't catch up no matter how hard he tried.

The man in black armor left as silently as he had appeared without warning.

Even with the brothers' profound cultivation, they felt a chill down their spines at his elusive presence.

But regardless, the mission was accomplished tonight.

"Brother, do you think we'll ever see the Great Emperor of the Nine Nethers again?" Weng Xing caressed his new wings, a hint of wistfulness in his voice. "I've always wanted to ask him if the Black Armored Army needs more people."

The craftsmanship of these wings was truly excellent. Compared to them, his own night suit looked shabby. If he could wear that iconic black armor, he too would look formidable!

What did Weng Su know? But he knew how to handle his brother: "Yes! We've always helped those in need. If the Great Emperor of the Nine Nethers doesn't take people like us, who will he take? But we need to leave now, the farther from Mangzhou the better!"

"This looks like north of Mangzhou." Weng Xing's sense of direction was excellent. "Aha, let's go quickly, they shouldn't have closed the city gates yet!"

Mangzhou was a prosperous city that never slept. There was usually no curfew, and the city gates remained open, allowing people to enter and exit at any time of night.

That was usually the case.

The two men discarded their night suits, doused themselves to reek of alcohol, and blended in with a group of boisterous, drunken merchants heading towards the North Gate.

The outskirts of Mangzhou were also very prosperous, with houses densely packed and numerous inns and restaurants, but prices were much cheaper than inside the city. The city had good public order, and its gates were not closed at night—this was one of the factors the Weng brothers and He Lingchuan considered when choosing Mangzhou for their operation—many traveling merchants would enter the city for business and meals, then leave to sleep in inns outside.

The night shift gate guards had seen plenty of raving drunkards and didn't find the Weng brothers special in the least, even stepping back a couple of paces in disgust.

Weng Su pulled his brother back, who was pretending to vomit.

Enough, any more acting would be overdoing it!

The brothers stumbled along, walking sideways, and brazenly exited through the North Gate.

Only a few moments after they left, a commotion suddenly erupted behind them.

They turned back to see a group carrying torches rushing towards the city gate, shouting, "Close the gates, quickly! No one is allowed in or out!"

"Those going outside, you, yes, you, all come back!"

Soon, the gates of the city that never slept slowly closed amidst the grinding sound of machinery and the shouts of pedestrians entering and exiting.

By this time, the Weng brothers had reached a low hill outside the city. Seeing this scene, they both let out a long sigh of relief.

That was close! One step later, they would have been trapped inside the city!

"Brother, we're out!" Weng Xing exclaimed as if waking from a dream. "Our great revenge is exacted, and, and we're still alive!"

They had faced death unflinchingly, expecting only two outcomes that night:

Either they would kill Xue Zongwu.

Or Xue Zongwu would kill them.

Yet, they had successfully achieved their revenge—well, there were a few complications in between—and safely escaped.

"How fortunate indeed!" Weng Su began in a cultured tone, only to immediately drop it in the next breath. "It's good to be alive, good to breathe!"

They weren't afraid to sacrifice themselves, but that didn't mean they didn't want to live.

Looking at the heavily clouded night sky, the brothers' mood was exceptionally cheerful.

All of this was thanks to the Great Emperor of the Nine Nethers!

Weng Xing let out a long breath. After ten-odd days of non-stop travel and a night of thrilling events, even a person made of iron would be tired. "Brother, where do we go now?"

Weng Su pulled two large silver ingots from his pocket and jingled them. "Of course, we'll leave here quickly and go to the next town to celebrate! As for tomorrow's problems, we'll think about them tomorrow."

The brothers laughed heartily and set off in the dark.

Anyway, this money was ill-gotten gains, so they might as well spend it.

***

Outskirts of Zhuo'an.

The rain was gradually subsiding; the night sky no longer poured water onto the world as if a hole had been torn in it.

General Chongwu stood in the forest, staring intently at the lights of a small village not far away.

Water droplets streamed down his forehead to his chin, but he didn't bother to wipe them away.

The village was small, estimated to have about twenty houses, but only one was lit, standing solitary.

General Chongwu's hundreds of men had stormed into the village and into that lit house a few moments earlier.

Not long after, his subordinates rushed out of the village house and hurried to report to him:

"General, the tribute has been found! Inside the house are two foolish local petty thieves!"

"That's it?" The swift end of the battle surprised General Chongwu. After all, the masked man in black he had been chasing earlier was as slippery as an eel, and had even used a mountain cave to escape. He didn't seem like the type to surrender easily.

"The goods from the other merchant teams were also found, all hidden in abandoned houses."

"Who were the robbers?" General Chongwu waved his hand. "Never mind, I'll go see for myself."

After seeing them with his own eyes, General Chongwu was even more disappointed. These were just two scrawny thieves, by no means the type who would dare to steal tribute.

Surrounded by dozens of burly men like little chicks, the two petty thieves were already scared out of their wits. Seeing General Chongwu, they loudly protested their innocence.

Without him even asking, the two thieves bowed their heads to the ground and confessed everything.

It turned out that they had indeed sneaked into the inn. Since there were too many guests recently, they thought they could easily pilfer some items.

Their initial operation went smoothly, but when they had stolen over twenty taels of silver, they were discovered by a guest, who shouted loudly and grabbed a weapon to chase them.

General Chongwu suddenly understood. This was probably the commotion he had heard outside when he was in his private room.

It turned out these two petty thieves were behind it.

The two, relying on their intimate knowledge of the local terrain, easily shook off their pursuers and fled here to divide the loot. They had originally planned to leave after dividing the money, but who knew that as they were dividing it, they dozed off, and then—

Then they opened their eyes and saw a group of fierce soldiers rushing in like wolves and tigers.

Yes, they woke up to find General Chongwu greeting them.

What happened in between, they had no idea.

They had been beaten black and blue by the guards and swore to heaven that every word they spoke was true.

General Chongwu knew that if the local government office had caught these two, they wouldn't have bothered with their explanations; they would have simply charged them, imprisoned them, and closed the case. After all, they were caught red-handed, which provided a clear explanation to both superiors and subordinates. But he could sense the hidden mystery here.

These two fellows were too cowardly. Did they really have the guts to rob so many merchants, including a general of the Yao Kingdom, in one go?

"If these two told the truth, then they were set up, and someone else stole the tribute."

Stealing tribute was a serious crime, punishable by immediate beheading by General Chongwu.

Risking capture, entering an inn to steal valuables and tribute, then framing two petty thieves in this desolate village, only for the valuables to return to their original owner in the end. If someone truly did this, what exactly was their motive?

The recovery of the lost tribute relieved General Chongwu, proving that his bad luck wasn't too extreme. But the strangeness of the day filled him with renewed doubt.

He had experienced many strange occurrences and knew that behind incomprehensible phenomena, there was often a logical explanation.

The fact that the perpetrators abandoned the tribute in the desolate village proved that they didn't value the precious items but had another objective, such as—

"Luring the tiger out of its den? Passing off fakes as genuine?"

As these thoughts occurred to General Chongwu, he decisively ordered, "Bring the tribute and the two petty thieves back to the inn!"

His subordinates loudly affirmed.

General Chongwu cracked his knuckles. Several groups had been robbed tonight. What did the thieves intend to achieve?

***

He Lingchuan controlled his wings to land steadily.

His landing spot was a large patch of bushes. On a rainy day, there wasn't a soul around.

Through real-time communication with the eyeball spiders, Dong Rui, along with Wo Chan (Snail Toad), Gui Yuan (Ghost Ape), and Ling Guang, were already waiting for him there.

The little monkey still held a medicine box, ready at any moment.

Gui Yuan, however, was leisurely eating a banana.

"Hurry, hurry, it's almost dawn!" Dong Rui urged He Lingchuan. "We've been away too long; who knows if anything unexpected has happened in Zhuo'an."

The distance between the two places was too great, beyond the eyeball spiders' communication range.

Sometimes, after doing all one can, one must leave the rest to fate.

He Lingchuan settled into Wo Chan and let out a long sigh of relief.

Without needing a reminder, Dong Rui piloted Wo Chan to submerge underground and began heading towards Zhuo'an.

"We're almost out of time."

He Lingchuan closed his eyes. "We'll make it."