Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, making the atmosphere in the room grow even more deathly still and silent.
Yuhua, who initially hadn’t thought anything was wrong, was starting to get nervous.
Had that guy Qiao Mu actually run into trouble?
Was that Tiger Servant Demon King in the Tiger Prison Mountain Range really still alive in this world?
Logically speaking, with Deputy Envoy Yu Hong stationed here, Qiao Mu wouldn’t dare disobey Deputy Envoy Yu Hong’s orders and leave his post without permission.
Because Deputy Envoy Yu Hong was known for being a stubborn old traditionalist; he wasn’t someone you joked around with.
Thinking of this, a few cold sweat beads formed on Yuhua’s forehead, and he could no longer sit still.
“Deputy Envoy, has something happened to Qiao Mu?”
“Did that demon king in the Tiger Prison Mountain Range really survive the siege back then?”
Qiao Mu was a martial artist at the great achievement level of Blood Tempering.
Within the entire Liusha County, aside from the Deputy Envoy and himself, who else could stop Qiao Mu and delay his return?
Yu Hong, seeing this, had a constant flicker of sharp light in his eyes, as if considering something.
But Yu Hong’s consideration was brief, taking only about ten seconds before he made his decision.
“No more waiting. I will go to the Tiger Prison Mountain Range myself to confirm the situation.”
Just as Yu Hong stood up, his body suddenly froze in place.
“Hmm?”
“He’s back?”
With his realm as a small achievement Internal Energy martial artist, Yu Hong could easily sense the auras throughout the entire inn.
In the inn’s first-floor lobby, there was the blood energy of a great achievement Blood Tempering martial artist.
Clearly, it couldn’t be anyone other than Qiao Mu.
Hearing this, Yuhua, who had been on edge, began to relax.
Then, a flash of anger crossed Yuhua’s face. He was quite dissatisfied with Qiao Mu’s actions.
“That guy Qiao Mu is really audacious.”
“He actually dared to disobey your orders, Deputy Envoy, and delayed for so long.”
After all, their mission here was about that demon king in the Tiger Prison Mountain Range.
This wasn’t something to joke about.
People could die, and a lot of them at that!
It wasn’t just Yuhua who felt displeased; even Yu Hong thought Qiao Mu had gone a bit too far.
However, in Yu Hong’s eyes, Qiao Mu was usually very opinionated, calm, and composed. Why would he make a mistake like this today?
Had he actually run into some trouble on the road, causing the delay?
The next moment, the door to the room was lightly knocked, followed by a greeting.
“Deputy Envoy, it’s your subordinate, Qiao Mu!”
Yu Hong remained seated upright on his chair, his expression calm, as he slowly spoke.
“Mm, come in.”
Yuhua, who had been standing by the door, received Yu Hong’s confirmation and quickly opened it.
As the door opened, a man wearing a blue-green Black Bird Guard uniform appeared outside.
The man looked to be in his forties, tall and sturdy, with a broad forehead and a thick, messy-looking black beard on his chin.
Just then, Yuhua, standing at the door, stared intently at Qiao Mu and spoke with a puzzled tone.
“Qiao Mu, how did you get that small cut on your face?”
Qiao Mu was a martial artist at the great achievement level of Blood Tempering; his body was as hard and indestructible as metal or stone.
So how could he have inexplicably gotten a small cut on his face?
Although the cut was very tiny, Yuhua still noticed it.
Deep in Qiao Mu’s pupils, a wisp of black energy flashed unnoticed, and then he spoke very calmly.
“Uh, this… it’s nothing.”
“Today, a mutant beast happened to appear at the foot of Tiger Prison Mountain. I got careless and that animal scratched me.”
Hearing this explanation, Yuhua felt a deep sense of doubt welling up inside him.
“Is that so?”
“Since when did such a powerful mutant beast appear at Tiger Prison Mountain, one that could even injure you when you let your guard down?”
Doubtful as he was, Yuhua still stepped aside to let Qiao Mu enter.
As soon as Qiao Mu stood before Yu Hong, Yu Hong looked him over carefully.
He paid particular attention to the small cut on Qiao Mu’s face, observing it closely for a while.
“Qiao Mu, where have you been? I need an explanation.”
“Reporting to the Deputy Envoy, I discovered a large number of mutant beasts at Tiger Prison Mountain, so it took me a bit of time.”
Hearing this, Yu Hong’s brow furrowed slightly, seemingly surprised by Qiao Mu’s words.
“Where are those things?”
Without any hesitation, Qiao Mu directly gave the answer: “At the foot of the Tiger Prison Mountain entrance!”
As soon as he said this, Yu Hong’s eyes focused sharply, his piercing gaze falling on Qiao Mu’s face like a knife blade.
“You went inside?”
“Didn’t I say that no matter what happens, you are not allowed to enter Tiger Prison Mountain?”
Unfazed by Yu Hong’s reprimand, Qiao Mu continued speaking instead of staying quiet.
“Deputy Envoy, at the foot of the Tiger Prison Mountain entrance, many mysterious golden reishi mushrooms have appeared!”
“Those golden reishi mushrooms are radiating terrifying Heaven and Earth spiritual energy.”
“That rich spiritual energy is far superior even to lower-grade Heaven and Earth spiritual objects!”
“So, the mutant beasts appearing at the foot of Tiger Prison Mountain were attracted by those golden reishi mushrooms.”
“Deputy Envoy, if you don’t believe me, come with me to Tiger Prison Mountain right now.”
“The place is covered with golden reishi mushrooms, rare heavenly treasures not seen even once in a hundred years.”
Qiao Mu was still immersed in his excited tone, unaware that both Yuhua and Yu Hong’s expressions had drastically changed.
“Rubbish, you are not Qiao Mu!”
“Damn it, what on earth are you!”
Smack!
Flames of anger burned in Yu Hong’s eyes. He slammed the table, rising to his feet, and his Internal Energy began to circulate wildly.
Instantly, a terrifying aura erupted from Yu Hong’s body.
A fierce wind swept through the room, causing even the heavy tables, chairs, and door to start trembling slightly.
Yuhua, standing by the door, took the opportunity to close the room’s door and quickly unstrapped the large saber strapped to his back.
The next second, the saber in Yuhua’s hand began to emit wispy white steam, radiating a scorching heat.
The blood energy of Yuhua, a great achievement Blood Tempering martial artist, exploded forth at this moment.
This sudden turn of events caused Qiao Mu, who had just been speaking, to have his expression gradually stiffen, revealing an eerie grin.
“Heh heh heh!”
“You damned Black Bird Guards are as sickening to me as ever.”
“However, this pawn of mine was actually detected by a little ant like you.”
As soon as Qiao Mu finished speaking, his eyes emitted an inky black energy, and his face began to split apart.
When the black energy was exposed to the air, a terrifying, sinister chill rushed towards them, causing Yu Hong’s expression to tighten and momentarily lose his composure.
“Such powerful demonic sinister energy!”
“Could this demonic sinister energy belong to that Tiger Servant Demon King from Tiger Prison Mountain?”
Swish!
At this critical moment, Yuhua and Yu Hong, as if sharing the same intuition, moved without a word, both swinging their sabers towards Qiao Mu.
Yu Hong’s Internal Energy rapidly flowed into the saber in his hand as he swung it horizontally towards Qiao Mu’s head.
Meanwhile, Yuhua’s saber slashed viciously towards Qiao Mu’s waist, as if trying to cut him in half.
Bang!
After two muffled thuds, the bizarre, corrupted Qiao Mu’s upper body fell to the ground with a crash.
A round object also detached from Qiao Mu’s upper body and rolled into a corner of the room’s wall.
However, Qiao Mu’s lower body remained standing perfectly still in its original spot.
“Dead?”
Suppressing his inner fear, Yuhua stared warily at Qiao Mu’s lower body.
Not long after Yuhua’s words faded, the room was suddenly filled with an intangible, sinister chill.
“Damn humans!”
Qiao Mu’s body parts scattered around the room suddenly exploded.
The next moment, a dense, black demonic sinister energy surged within the room, forming a fierce, illusory tiger head in mid-air.
The moment this illusory, fierce tiger head appeared, it opened its gaping maw and lunged towards Yu Hong!
Seeing this, Yuhua swayed his body, his saber billowing with white steam, and slashed vertically at the afterimage of the tiger head.
“Deputy Envoy, look out!”
The black tiger head afterimage destroyed all obstacles, sending Yuhua flying back.
He crashed through the inn’s wall and smashed heavily onto the street outside.
Yu Hong, bearing the brunt of the attack, had his body covered in countless wounds against such a terrifying strike, his red blood soaking his entire being.
Yu Hong’s pupils dilated; his Internal Energy was released without reservation at this moment.
He fiercely swung the saber in his right hand, trying to resist the terrifying tiger head afterimage.
Boom!
The collision between the two created a massive shockwave.
The entire inn began to crumble, turning into countless fragments within just a few breaths.
“Oh?”
“Seems that damned human managed to escape death.”
The black tiger head afterimage in mid-air glared viciously at the inn’s ruins.
It could still faintly sense that the Black Bird Guard it so despised had a slim chance of survival.
However, the black tiger head afterimage could only glare resentfully for a moment before slowly dissipating between Heaven and Earth.
The sudden, catastrophic event at the inn led passersby to believe it was a natural disaster, a dragon turning over underground. Most of them scrambled and fled into the distance.
Yuhua, who had been embedded into the ground, suddenly flipped himself up under the watch of the onlooking bystanders.
When Yuhua saw that the inn had become a pile of rubble,
His heart tightened. Ignoring his injuries, his powerful blood energy erupted once more from within his body.
Using both hands, he easily scooped away the rubble of the inn, which was the size of a small hill.
In less than ten or so breaths, he had essentially turned the entire inn’s rubble over.
The people crushed beneath the wooden debris were all exposed to the air.
Yuhua had no interest in looking at anyone else. He walked towards a figure stained crimson red with blood.
That person was Deputy Envoy Yu Hong!
“Deputy Envoy, are you alright!”
As he spoke, Yuhua’s hands didn’t pause, frantically patting himself down.
Finally, he took a small wooden box from his chest, inside which lay a pill as white and smooth as jade.
That was a special healing pill of the Black Bird Guards, a healing holy medicine several times more powerful than Mysterious Yuan Root Liquid.
Without any hesitation, Yuhua picked up the white pill and administered it to Yu Hong.
Shortly after taking the white pill, Yu Hong’s previously closed eyes snapped open.
Feeling the extent of his injuries, he didn’t hesitate. Gritting through the intense pain, he grabbed Yuhua’s wrist and shouted loudly.
“Quick, go find the Black Mysterious Bird.”
“Notify the Mysterious Envoy!”
Seeing Deputy Envoy Yu Hong awake, Yuhua finally relaxed.
“Deputy Envoy, the Black Mysterious Bird is over there. It’s been kept in a cage, so it wasn’t harmed.”
“I’ll go release the Black Mysterious Bird and notify the Mysterious Envoy right away!”
After Yuhua left, Yu Hong’s face was pale, devoid of any color.
Yu Hong gently raised his right hand and lightly wiped his chest.
The Black Bird Guard uniform he wore had already been destroyed by that terrifying force.
Beneath the tattered uniform, a light blue precious armor was revealed.
The light blue precious armor sparkled brilliantly under the bright sunlight, reflecting dazzling luster.
Mysterious Cyan Precious Armor!
This was a precious armor belonging exclusively to the Mysterious Envoy of the Black Bird Guards, capable of withstanding a blow from an Outer Gang Grandmaster.
When he accepted the mission, Li Chengfeng had given this Mysterious Cyan Precious Armor to Yu Hong for protection, just in case!
“Old Li, I owe you another huge favor.”
Yu Hong whispered, still shaken.
If it weren’t for this Mysterious Cyan Precious Armor, he would probably be nothing but shattered bones and ashes by now.
But even with the Mysterious Cyan Precious Armor, Yu Hong had still suffered unprecedented severe injuries.
Most of his meridians, flesh, and blood inside his body had been damaged by that terrifying force.
Now, Yu Hong could only barely use his weak Internal Energy to slowly nourish his injuries bit by bit.
“So this was that Tiger Servant Demon King from back then?”
“Just a wisp of its demonic servant’s parasitic energy, and I was already hanging by a thread.”
“It seems the Mysterious Envoy will also need to notify Tiandu’s Black Bird Guards.”
“Only an Earth Envoy can probably deal with this Tiger Servant Demon King.”
…
Baidao Prefecture City, Black Bird Guards Mansion!
At this moment, Deputy Envoy He Yan was sweating profusely, pacing back and forth outside a courtyard gate.
“What do I do?”
“Why is the Mysterious Envoy still in seclusion? It’s been three or four days now.”
“That Tiger Servant Demon King in Liusha County… it’s actually not dead!”
“I don’t know how much longer Old Yu can hold on.”
A fierce look appeared in He Yan’s heart. He steeled his resolve and walked towards the unremarkable courtyard gate.
“Damn it all. Here goes nothing!”
He Yan circulated his Internal Energy into his palms and forcefully struck the courtyard gate.
Smack!
With a loud crash, the locked courtyard gate was instantly pushed open by He Yan.
The moment the courtyard gate swung open, He Yan shouted recklessly.
“Mysterious Envoy, help!”
He Yan’s cry echoed continuously throughout the courtyard.
Inside the main room, Lu Xuan, sitting cross-legged on the ground, slowly opened his eyes.
Instantly, a mysterious purple light bloomed around Lu Xuan, strands of profound purple radiance spreading towards the door.
Then, a several-meter-tall purple afterimage appeared before He Yan’s eyes.
That several-meter-tall purple afterimage took the shape of Lu Xuan himself!
