The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 315 Sly Old Fox!

Win, and you leave. Lose, and you’ll die.

Those words struck a chord in Nie Zicheng’s mind that he shuddered with dread. Doubt flashed in his eyes, and his expression sank into one of somber and horror.

For, that ominous tone, those intimidating words, reminded him of someone.

“I shall take my leave then, Friend!”

With a crisp salute, Nie Zicheng turned and left.

What?! Just like that?! Everyone was petrified with speechlessness. Then again, being able to repel an Eight-grade Human King by mere words only made Chu Xun more awesome and amazing.

“All right, the show’s over, folks. Time to go home,” said Chu Xun loudly.

That came like the toll of a bell awakened everyone from their stupor, and the explorers all hurried home.

There were winners and losers in this time’s exploration. Some might not have gotten their hands on any magical fruit, but they found enough spiritual elixirs and spiritual herbs to consider this excursion a mild success.

The losers were no less than Zang Fengling, Pan Chengfeng, and a handful of others. After all their trouble, they were not only beaten to a pulp; they lost everything – including their personal store of treasures and valuables.

Chu Xun strolled to them and stripped off their suits of armor before walking up to one of Zang Fengling’s men and took the last suit of armor off him too.

“That’s too much of you!” growled Zang Fengling as he struggled to get up. One might wonder if he was having an aneurysm.

Chu Xun had barely taken a few paces when he heard Zang Fengling and turned back, “Ah! I nearly forget! You were saying about being a witness to Nie Zicheng just now, weren’t you?”

Slap!

With one powerful smack across his face, Zang Fengling howled with pain, and his face tightened and twisted with swelling. With one grunt and a roll of his eyes, he finally blacked out.

“Let’s go,” Chu Xun beckoned Yan Wushuang and the others.

Yan Wushuang, however, had been staring at Chu Xun, bemused and perplexed. Since they first met at the beginning, he had always thought Chu Xun’s power to be similar in level to his. Only did he realize that Chu Xun could have easily slaughtered him if he so wished to. For all his life, he had harbored far too much pride and hubris being a pedigreed prodigy with infinite talent and promise, and today, he could see that it was all for naught.

“Quit staring at me with such looks of admiration. Take two magical fruits and eat them, and then you’ll be as strong as I am,” grinned Chu Xun.

Yan Wushuang’s breathing stopped, dumbstruck.

“What’s wrong with you?” Chu Xun scowled, noticing Yan Wushuang’s pace had stopped.

“Y-Y-You’re giving me two magical fruits, Liu?” stammered Yan Wushuang carefully with disbelief, “T-T-Two?!”

And who’s the country oaf now, Chu Xun mused, saying, “Of course. We are partners in this exploration, aren’t we? Unless you don’t want them...”

“Of course I do!” muttered Yan Wushuang quickly, his head bobbing profusely like a balloon that for once in a blue moon, the proud scion of the Yan Family looked like a nine-year-old eager for his birthday present. But one could never discount the mighty lure of magical fruits – anyone would want one, nevermind two.

Elsewhere, Li Hangyi of the Faith of Canonization was reeling with joy. Two suits of incredibly powerful armor had fallen right into his lap. Remembering how the stranger had announced himself a native of the area inside the storm system, he believed that it was only natural that whoever the stranger was, he would undoubtedly be gone too, along with that accursed storm system. With that, Li Hangyi began to think that the suits of armor were now his to keep.

But with the dispersal of the storm system, Chu Xun immediately found Li Hangyi from afar, watching him grinning like a dumb fool.

“Give me a moment,” Chu Xun muttered curtly before he scarpered off in Li Hangyi’s direction.

As soon as the leader of the Faith’s contingent saw him, his smile froze. Warily, he wondered if Chu Xun was after his Storage Ring after what he did to the others.

“What can I do for you, Friend?” asked Li Hangyi stiffly, struggling to put up a benign smile.

Chu Xun stretched a hand and said, “It’s time to give back the suits of armor since you’re done using them.”

This scoundrel’s really an unreasonable bully and a robber! Li Hangyi thought, seething. “I’m afraid I’m only keeping them for someone else, my friend. I can’t give the two suits of armor to you.”

“Have you found those pets of mine?” Chu Xun grinned broadly.

Hearing that made Li Hangyi’s eyes shot as wide as saucers. It took him several seconds before he could finally croak, “Y-Y-You! It was you!”

Chu Xun nodded. “So, can you give them back to me now?”

Just a minute ago, he was so thrilled to now own the two suits of armor, only for them to slip from his fingers.

At the same time, he pitied Zang Fengling’s fate for having angered such an unreasonable bully.

He stripped off his armor and took out a jade chest, saying, “I’m afraid we only managed to catch five of these, my friend. They have been slippery ones.”

Chu Xun, however, was pleased. He did not expect five, for two or three would have been enough for him.

“No problem. Keep all those spiritual herbs and spiritual elixirs for yourselves. Goodbye!” Chu Xun turned and left.

What a brute, Li Hangyi mused. But at the same time, he was thankful not to have been greedy, lest he would have lost even the spiritual herbs and elixirs he found. He thought about those men whose Storage Rings have been taken away by Chu Xun and counted himself lucky.

...

...

Chu Xun and Yan Wushuang retreated to the Yan Family residence.

This exploration turned out to be the most bountiful excursion.

Unlike Zang Fengling and others who not only lost everything in addition to being so badly injured, they needed to be brought back using stretchers.

On that happy note, they began to divide their spoils.

It was a total bounty of seven magical fruits: thirty electrofishes and more than a hundred spiritual elixirs and herbs.

Chu Xun did not put into the heap anything from the Storage Rings he took, and naturally, Yan Wushuang knew better than to ask nor demand. Chu Xun had taken them all himself, and they were his by conquest.

He gave two magical fruits to Yan Wushuang and intended to give another two to the purple-haired woman. But with her only wanting one, he kept all four to himself.

The electrofishes were divided into three equal shares: ten apiece for the Yan Family, the purple-haired woman, and himself.

As for the spiritual elixirs and herbs, Yan Wushuang took only a little more than a dozen of them so as not to decline Chu Xun’s offer while the rest was divided between Chu Xun and the purple-haired woman.

And no one was unhappy.

At his home, Yan Wushuang prepared a feast for Chu Xun and the woman.

He looked as if he wanted to ask something, although he could not quite bring himself to voice out.

“You look like you have something stuck in your throat, Yan,” grinned Chu Xun, “Fire away.”

After hesitating, Yan Wushuang finally said, “Were you the thief who took the Soul-nourishing Lotus?”

“Huh?!” Chu Xun blurted out loud, “What makes you say that, Yan?! I thought the Lotus was taken by Zang Fengling?!”

“I’ve always felt that dark robe of yours familiar, Liu,” said Yan Wushuang wryly, “Come to think of it, it really looks like the garb of the hooded man I fought against that night.”

“Ain’t all black robes look the same?!” scowled Chu Xun sheepishly.

He clapped his hands, and an acolyte came forward, bearing something that he presented to Yan Wushuang. The latter held it up, “Do you remember this, Liu?”

Chu Xun felt his heart skipping a beat at the sight of the iron rod he used that night, “Of course I do. I remember Zang Fengling using it.”

“I have had people examined it using scientific methods. According to them, this iron rod bears your fingerprints, Liu. The set of prints on this rod matches with the set I pulled off the goblet you were using during the meeting.”

“...” Chu Xun gasped with guilt. It would appear that Yan Wushuang had long suspected him. What a sly fox.

“I’m sure this is a frame-up. I have always been nothing but straightforward and honest. Thieving is definitely not my style,” disagreed Chu Xun flatly.

Noticing the strange look on his face, the woman furtively communicated using telepathy, “Can you be any more shameless?! What part of ‘honest’ and ‘straightforward’ describes you?!”

“Gods Almighty! Gimme a break, woman,” scowled Chu Xun, “I’m already having a headache here.”

Yan Wushuang smiled. “Liu, I’m not trying to blame anyone.”

Then why of all times to bring this up now?!

“I treat you like a good friend, Yan. And yet you doubt me?! This is too much for me. I’m going,” said Chu Xun brusquely, using that as a pretense to flee.

“Wait, Liu. I am not blaming anyone. Honest,” said Yan Wushuang, rising to his feet, and he said, “I only want to make a good friend out of you, nothing more.”

“And I treated you like one. Yet still, you doubt me!” grumbled Chu Xun with feigned anger. Without waiting for any reply, he turned and left.

“Wait, Liu. I am honestly not blaming anyone! Liu...”

But no matter how he tried to persuade Chu Xun, the latter scampered out the door, not with anger, but with guilt.

Yan Wushuang watched Chu Xun leave and stood there for several seconds before he finally murmured, “I’m not blaming you...”

“It’s just a charade. He’s feeling guilty,” said a voice, and a tall and beefy figure came near.

“Father,” Yan Wushuang greeted and bowed quickly when he saw who it was.

“This young man’s immensely powerful. There’s no way he’s just a simple country bumpkin. I’m wondering if his identity is a fake,” said Yan Guilai.

Yan Guilai, the true patriarchal head of the Yan Family and Yan Wushuang’s father, achieved Eight-grade more than a decade ago, and since then, no one had seen him fight, and no one knew how much had his powers grown since then.

“I’m really sincere in wanting him to become my friend, Father,” said Yan Wushuang.

Yan Guilai’s chin dipped in contemplative silence before he spoke, “He can be a good friend. He might be a bit of a bully, but he’s an honest man.”

“Yet I seemed to have angered him,” whimpered Yan Wushuang morosely.

As the proud scion of the Yan Family with great renown for his talents, Yan Wushuang had never had any friends.

“You’ve angered him not one bit, son,” sighed Yan Guilai, “He left because of his guilt.” He sighed, lamenting how naive his son. Perhaps it was time for him to go on a pilgrimage to extend his horizons.

“You’ve only been in this city since your birth, Son,” said Yan Guilai, “I guess it is time you see the world.”

That prompted Yan Wushuang to look dubiously at his father. He had expressed his wish to go on a pilgrimage before.

“You’ll encounter infinite opportunities and new frontiers with the anomalies happening everywhere on Earth. Go with this Liu Tianhe, Son. At any rate, you’d learn a thing or two from him, and I don’t see how you’ve got anything to lose,” said Yan Guilai, his eyes gleaming with cunning for one with a keen and experienced mind like a sly old fox.

Despite not being there to witness everything at the ancient ruins of Kunlun Mountain, Yan Guilai had heard enough from the accounts of his four Human King retainers.

Chu Xun might have cajoled, deceived, and pilfered his way to all the bounties they found that day during the exploration of the ruins, but he did not take everything alone and that made him a man of principles. Yan Wushuang might encounter dangers following by his side, but he would learn much.

“But I’m afraid Liu is angry at me,” mumbled Yan Wushuang sadly.

“I’d say he’s anything but that. Rather, he’s feeling guilty. But it would simplify things if he refuses to take you with him,” muttered Yan Guilai.

Yan Wushuang stared quietly at his father, tacitly hoping for an explanation.

“Have you not learned anything at all from his dirty tricks during your time together?! Anything at all?!” scowled the father.

“Urm...” Yan Wushuang just couldn’t understand, thinking, for what am I learning all that trickery and skullduggery?!

Yan Guilai could only shake his head in exasperation, knowing full well how his son had placed too much importance on his reputation. He’s just too naive, he mused, unlike this Liu Tianhe. Surviving is the key in such times of turmoil, and no one would question it so long as you excel in doing so.

“If he refuses to take you with him, then just pester him. Understand?” barked Yan Guilai.

Yan Wushuang’s eyes shot wide, doubting if he could do it. Me, a proud scion of the Yan Family, begging and pestering him?!

“Ask yourself. If not for this Liu Tianhe, how many magical fruits and how many electrofishes you think you would have gotten this time?”

Yan Wushuang took a moment to think and in the end, he could only shake his head. Without this Liu Tianhe, this trip would only be a total waste of time for nothing.

“Go then. There is much that you can learn from him.”

Yan Wushuang would have given anything to stay.

But Yan Guilai was adamant; his son failed to understand his purpose, and that irritated him.

Finally, the proud son of the Yan Family was tossed out into the streets like a street urchin to fend on his own.