Chapter 2592: Tunnel Suddenly Appears

Moreover, Jing Lei had schemed against Yuan Xi City first, making Yuan Xi's current quest for revenge entirely justified. Even if the matter came to light before Thin Bamboo, he wouldn't be able to openly take sides.

It was precisely due to this consideration that Yuan Xi came straight here to attack.

"Who dares to be so presumptuous?" Just as Yuan Xi turned to pursue Jing Lei, a majestic roar of anger erupted from a certain direction. Immediately afterward, a surge of immense power swept in from that direction.

"Thin Bamboo, how dare you!" Yuan Xi roared, having already realized that the one who intervened was the city lord of this place.

"Oh?" Thin Bamboo feigned surprise. "It's Daoist Yuan Xi!"

As he spoke, he slowly retracted his power. However, as a Cosmos-level city lord in his own city, even though his power was unleashed and retracted swiftly, it still caused a momentary obstruction for Yuan Xi.

By the time Yuan Xi pursued him to the Central Grand Hall, Jing Lei's aura had already vanished.

He had clearly entered the Hehe Realm.

A figure drifted into view. Lu Ye, standing behind Yuan Xi, glanced over and saw that the person had six arms, a slender build like bamboo, and was gazing at Yuan Xi with a smile. "Daoist friend, you are truly a rare visitor. Long time no see. What brings you to my city today?"

"You did that on purpose!" Yuan Xi glared at him, seething. If Thin Bamboo hadn't intervened just now, she would have had a chance to stop Jing Lei.

But it was just that slight difference that allowed Jing Lei to escape right under her nose.

"What are you talking about, Daoist friend?" Thin Bamboo wore a bewildered expression. "Also, why have you come so aggressively? Has someone offended you?"

Yuan Xi snorted coldly, becoming even more certain that Thin Bamboo had done it on purpose.

Yuan Xi City entering this place was something ordinary cultivators might not discern, but as the city lord, how could Thin Bamboo not know?

He could have immediately made Jing Lei leave to avoid being discovered by her.

But the result was that only after she suddenly attacked did Jing Lei belatedly flee, and she herself was obstructed by Thin Bamboo for a moment, allowing Jing Lei to escape.

"Don't tell me you knew nothing about what Jing Lei did!" Yuan Xi stared coldly at Thin Bamboo.

Thin Bamboo looked even more bewildered: "I'm not aware of how Vice City Lord Jing Lei offended Daoist friend? I'll call him back right now to apologize to you."

"Fine, tell him to get back here!" Yuan Xi said coldly.

Thin Bamboo nodded: "I'll send the message immediately. Daoist friend, please come and sit for a moment..."

In the vast hall of the Hehe Realm, Jing Lei, who had fled there, stood still, his brows deeply furrowed with worry.

His escape had been hasty just now, leaving him no time to think. Now, he was slowly realizing what had happened.

Logically speaking, when Yuan Xi entered the city, the city lord should have known immediately and could have warned him much earlier. There was no need to wait until that moment. The reason for this was simply to let Yuan Xi see it with her own eyes.

Also... Evergreen was a liar!

He clearly said that Yuan Xi had been taken back by Ni Chilian and would never come out again. Yet, how much time had passed? She had already come here to attack him!

Furthermore... when Evergreen came to Thin Bamboo City earlier, he was probably looking for Thin Bamboo's help. But Thin Bamboo pushed this difficult matter onto him, and now he was in a mess.

Thin Bamboo didn't want to easily offend Yuan Xi, so he didn't let him leave immediately. Since Yuan Xi had come to attack, she needed to be appeased.

But he couldn't actually let Yuan Xi attack him in the city. Jing Lei was, after all, a vice city lord. How would it look if he was beaten half to death by an outsider within the city?

So he intervened and blocked Yuan Xi for a moment, to make it convenient for himself to escape into the Hehe Realm.

But some things cannot be avoided forever. He couldn't just stay in the Hehe Realm indefinitely.

Numerous thoughts churned in his mind, and faces kept appearing before his eyes. Jing Lei felt that the world was full of malice, and that no one could be trusted.

In Thin Bamboo City, Yuan Xi sat aside with a cold expression, while Lu Ye stood behind her, calmly observing without distraction.

Thin Bamboo personally sat with her.

After a long while, he finally "understood" the full story from Yuan Xi. He immediately put on a look of deep distress: "So that's how it is! How could Jing Lei act like this? Conspiring with an outsider to scheme against an ally is truly despicable. Daoist friend, rest assured, I will immediately strip that fellow Jing Lei of his Vice City Lord position and issue a warrant for his arrest. He will certainly pay the price."

Yuan Xi merely gave a cold, dismissive laugh.

If Thin Bamboo truly didn't care about Jing Lei's fate, he wouldn't have acted that way just now. So some words were just for show and shouldn't be taken seriously.

She didn't believe that Evergreen could bypass Thin Bamboo and directly cooperate with Jing Lei. Therefore, Thin Bamboo was at least aware of the previous events.

Her purpose in coming here was not to kill Jing Lei.

It was indeed Jing Lei who betrayed Yuan Xi City, but if Evergreen wished, he could find not only Jing Lei but also others like Sky Thunder and Earth Thunder. Therefore, the root cause was actually with Evergreen.

Yet she couldn't do anything to Evergreen; he was Ni Chilian's most important right-hand man.

Her aggressive arrival this time actually had only one demand: "Enough with the nonsense, I want compensation!"

Thin Bamboo immediately cleared his throat: "This matter is a serious mistake committed by Jing Lei. If Daoist friend wants compensation, you'll have to discuss it carefully with that fellow." It had nothing to do with him anyway.

Yuan Xi sneered repeatedly: "Jing Lei ran away, so I'll find you!"

Thin Bamboo's expression froze. He suddenly regretted helping Jing Lei escape. Judging by Yuan Xi's demeanor, even if he had let it happen, Jing Lei wouldn't have been in mortal danger; at most, he would have just received a beating.

He considered for a moment, then spoke: "Daoist friend, what you're saying is a bit unreasonable..."

Yuan Xi directly interrupted him: "If you dare to swear on the will of the Star Abyss that you knew nothing about what happened earlier, then I'll reason with you."

"Tea, tea..." Thin Bamboo gestured with his hand, knowing that this matter wouldn't be easily dismissed today.

After a few sips of tea, he couldn't help but sigh: "Daoist friend, to my knowledge, Jing Lei doesn't have a vast fortune, so he might not be able to meet your demands! However, you can name your price, and if Jing Lei can't afford it, I'll help him make up the difference."

Yuan Xi eyed him sideways: "It's good that you're sensible. But besides that, I want other compensation."

Thin Bamboo blinked: "Daoist friend, why don't you speak plainly?"

Yuan Xi said: "I want you to provide me with more intelligence."

Thin Bamboo's expression relaxed upon hearing this: "That's easy." It was just intelligence, after all. The Governor's City received a large amount of intelligence from various parts of the war zone every day. He just needed to share some of it with Yuan Xi City when the time came.

"Call Jing Lei back," Yuan Xi said.

Although she didn't intend to kill Jing Lei, she still needed to vent her anger.

Half an hour later, in the grand hall, Thin Bamboo sat upright, leisurely sipping tea, while Lu Ye remained standing in place, his gaze unwavering.

In the space before them, Yuan Xi was venting her anger. Jing Lei, who had been called back by Thin Bamboo, was curled into a ball, allowing her to punch and kick him. In just a moment, he was bruised and swollen, howling miserably.

The grand hall was enveloped by Thin Bamboo's activated power, so the sounds inside could not be heard outside. This allowed Jing Lei to scream even more pitifully.

He also knew that if Yuan Xi didn't vent her anger this time, the matter would definitely not end well.

Anyway, no one else could see his miserable state, so it wasn't too humiliating.

It wasn't that he hadn't tried to resist, but he really was no match for Yuan Xi. Fortunately, Yuan Xi knew her limits and had no intention of taking his life.

Beating him wasn't enough; Yuan Xi also took Jing Lei's storage ring and casually tossed it to Lu Ye.

With a final kick, she sent Jing Lei sprawling. Yuan Xi looked refreshed and invigorated, then turned to Thin Bamboo: "Still short 200,000 Dao Fish!"

Thin Bamboo's eye twitched. He could only agree: "Once it's gathered, I'll have someone deliver it to you in the Hehe Realm."

Yuan Xi was finally satisfied. She gave Lu Ye a look. "Let's go."

Lu Ye quickly followed, secretly thinking how truly imposing his city lord was.

However, just as they exited the grand hall, Yuan Xi suddenly stopped, looking up at the distant void.

When Lu Ye followed her gaze, he saw nothing. He was secretly puzzled, when Yuan Xi's grave voice reached him: "Thin Bamboo!"

Inside the grand hall, Thin Bamboo was helping Jing Lei up. Hearing Yuan Xi, he turned around: "Daoist friend, do you have any other instructions?"

"You'd better come take a look," Yuan Xi's voice grew even more solemn.

Thin Bamboo quickly appeared beside them and looked up. His expression suddenly changed: "A wormhole?"

Almost at the same instant his words fell, Lu Ye finally sensed something was wrong.

In that direction, faint spatial energy undulated, and a vast expanse of the void in that area seemed to be twisting.

He hadn't noticed any clues earlier, primarily because the changes weren't obvious.

"What did you do?" Yuan Xi turned to Thin Bamboo, wondering how someone could open a wormhole directly near Thin Bamboo City. This clearly meant they were targeting Thin Bamboo City, and anyone capable of such a feat was certainly no ordinary person.

How would Thin Bamboo know what he had done? This wormhole had appeared out of nowhere. Although only signs were visible and it hadn't fully formed, its sheer scale indicated it was no ordinary wormhole.

"Did you offend Phoenix City?" Yuan Xi's eyelids twitched.

Phoenixes controlled space. If a Phoenix clan powerhouse had made a move, then the current phenomenon could be explained. However, the Snowfield conflict had no connection whatsoever with Phoenix City. The two main factions behind this conflict were Eternal City and Blood Drinker City.

"How could I possibly offend Phoenix City!" Thin Bamboo gritted his teeth. He would have to be suicidal to offend Phoenix City. Even though he was a Cosmos-level city lord, if Phoenix City truly set its sights on him, he would have long since met a terrible end.

"There's a Blood Clan aura!" Lu Ye suddenly spoke.

He possessed a Blood Clan bloodline, so his perception of it was even keener than that of the two powerhouses, Yuan Xi and Thin Bamboo. Although the wormhole hadn't fully opened, he could already vaguely sense some bloody scent from the other side.

Not only that, the Blood Clan bloodline within him was showing a rare sign of agitation.

This had never happened before.

"Blood Clan?" Thin Bamboo couldn't help but glance at Lu Ye. This conflict had the shadow of Blood Drinker City behind it, so there were indeed many active Blood Clan members in the Snowfield. But what capability did the Blood Clan have to open a wormhole here?

"Blood Scourge once killed several Phoenix clan powerhouses and refined their bloodlines!" Yuan Xi slowly stated.

Thin Bamboo suddenly turned to look at her: "Is that true?"

He had never heard of it.

"It happened many years ago," Yuan Xi squinted. "Phoenix City considered it a great humiliation, so they never publicized it."

She knew this because Ni Chilian mentioned it unintentionally once.

And that Blood Scourge was the city lord of Blood Drinker City, the strongest Blood Clan member in the world!