Chapter 987: Back Again

There was nothing the two of them could do. With their status and standing here, they had no voice at all. No one would listen even if they spoke. If they forced the issue, the others would not care whether there were two more of them or two fewer.

Chao Jing of Myriad Beasts Sect did not want to raise his hand either, but he could not expose anything. Besides, looking at the situation, he knew his vote would change nothing even if he abstained, so he raised his hand as well.

Taishu Shancheng swept his gaze over the raised hands, then lowered his own and sneered. "Fuhua, everyone's decision is obvious. There's no need to trouble everyone to raise their hands again for your proposal, is there?"

Fuhua had nothing to say. She merely looked at Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie a little longer. Going this far already counted as giving Niu Youdao an explanation. As far as she knew, neither Qin nor Ke could really be considered one of Niu Youdao's confidants. There was no need for her to tear relations apart with everyone over the two of them and risk dragging the Four Seas into the dispute, so she said nothing more.

Taishu Shancheng chuckled and turned to Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie. "Do the two of you have any objections?"

The two exchanged a glance. What objection could they possibly have? If they truly angered this group, the consequences would be more dangerous than facing the Demon Foxes.

"Since no one has any objections, it's settled." Taishu Shancheng waved a hand and made the decision final, then continued discussing the next stage of their deployment.

Their side was still talking when Misty Pavilion finished arranging its own personnel. The Misty Pavilion team flew away from the mountain summit and headed into the vast Desolate Marsh Deadlands ahead, drawing the attention of everyone from the various factions.

Ding Wei stood high above, watching coldly. Suddenly, he noticed many among the faction representatives turning to look in one direction. He looked back as well and saw two large flying mounts approaching rapidly from the distant sky, slanting down toward the mountain summit.

The great birds beat their wings to slow and landed. Several people aboard leapt down.

Huang Ban had returned, and with him was Niu Youdao, whom he had urgently brought back.

Seeing that the faction representatives had not yet departed, Huang Ban immediately let out a breath of relief. He had rushed desperately the entire way and had finally made it in time. He strode quickly to Ding Wei and cupped his hands. "Sir, I did not fail the mission. I brought him back."

"It's Niu Youdao!"

"Didn't he leave? Why is he back?"

The faction representatives burst into discussion. None could quite understand why Niu Youdao, who had already left, had suddenly returned.

Fuhua and the others were startled too. Then they looked at one another and smiled, as though saying: this fellow actually came back.

Shen Yidu of Xiaoyue Pavilion and Chao Jing of Myriad Beasts Sect both felt considerably more at ease.

Why he had come back was not important to them. These people had already convinced themselves that Niu Youdao knew some inside information. Luo Fangfei's personal intervention only strengthened that belief. In their minds, the man had already formed some connection with Luo Qiu's daughter. How could he possibly know nothing about the inside story of the tempering?

Elder Niu was actually back!

The anxiety on Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie's faces vanished instantly, replaced by undisguised delight. Their pillar of support had returned.

The contrast between Niu Youdao being present and absent had left a deep impression on the two of them. Even the Four Seas people's attitude toward them had cooled considerably after he left.

Niu Youdao swept a glance across the crowd, inwardly irritated beyond measure. During the entire journey he had been calculating the time, hoping again and again that they would arrive too late. If he missed the departure, perhaps he might be allowed to leave Sacred Realm again. Perhaps the tempering would no longer have anything to do with him.

But they had still made it.

The result left him deeply melancholy, and he could not help secretly blaming Huang Ban for rushing so desperately.

Naturally, none of that displeasure showed on his face. He stepped forward and cupped his hands to Ding Wei in greeting.

Ding Wei gave a quiet "Mm." "Since you're back, return to your team."

Niu Youdao was just about to acknowledge the order when someone beside Ding Wei reminded him, "Sir, Misty Pavilion's team has already departed. We held one person back to keep the numbers equal. If Niu Youdao now joins the tempering team, they'll have one more person than Misty Pavilion."

Niu Youdao froze. Hope immediately surged inside him again.

Could there still be a chance?

The Misty Pavilion cultivator who had been temporarily held back and excluded from the competition could not help glancing at Niu Youdao. Inwardly, he blamed the man for arriving neither earlier nor later but precisely now. There was a good chance this would force him to remain here wasting several more months.

Ding Wei asked in return, "If Misty Pavilion has one fewer person, does that mean it can't win?"

The man hurriedly replied, "Sir misunderstands. That isn't what I meant."

He clearly remembered Ding Wei himself saying earlier that the competition had to be fair.

Ding Wei said, "The tempering team may have more people. Misty Pavilion's side may not. Understand?"

The man instantly understood the deeper meaning. "Yes!"

Niu Youdao's hope shattered. Inwardly, he sent his regards to Ding Wei's ancestors.

Ding Wei then waved everyone else away, leaving Niu Youdao alone. "Do you know Luo Fangfei?"

Niu Youdao smiled bitterly. "I'd heard her famous name for a long time, but never had the fortune to meet her. Shouque Villa was the first time."

Ding Wei asked, "Then you had some contact with her before that?"

Niu Youdao replied, "Never. I've never had any contact with her. Someone like me couldn't possibly reach that high."

Ding Wei found that strange. "Then why did she insist on putting you into Sacred Realm, and why did she personally send you back out?"

"I'm puzzled by that too. I don't know why she suddenly came to Shouque Villa..." Niu Youdao stopped halfway through. Something clicked. He looked at Ding Wei suspiciously. "Sir Ding, are you saying she was also the one who personally put my name on the Sacred Realm roster?"

Ding Wei gave a derisive snort. "The reason the tempering roster changed at all was because of you. Luo Fangfei altered the list on her own and replaced someone with your name. That triggered all the subsequent roster changes. You knew none of this?"

"..."

Niu Youdao was momentarily stunned.

He remembered what Ding Wei had said when he first met everyone at Shouque Villa, something about all these Elders owing their chance to participate in the tempering largely to Niu Youdao.

At the time, Niu Youdao had wondered where that remark had come from.

Now he finally understood part of the reason.

Judging by his reaction, he truly seemed not to know. Ding Wei himself became increasingly curious about what exactly was going on.

That could be investigated later. The tempering mattered more now, and there was no reason to delay everyone further. Ding Wei stopped asking and waved Huang Ban over.

"Sir Ding, why would she do that?" Niu Youdao asked once more, wanting to understand the situation.

Ding Wei ignored him.

"Don't let anything happen again," Ding Wei instructed Huang Ban. Then he turned and flashed away, landing on a flying mount that carried him into the sky.

As the man currently presiding over Misty Pavilion, he could not possibly spend three months personally watching over this place. Huang Ban would still be responsible for the hunt.

"Yes!" Huang Ban cupped his hands and saw him off.

A group of people leapt onto flying mounts, and several great birds rose into the air to follow Ding Wei.

Once they had gone, Huang Ban looked back at Niu Youdao. He badly wanted to ask what Ding Wei had just discussed with him, but it was inconvenient to pry into Ding Wei's affairs. Instead, he raised his chin toward Niu Youdao. "You've already delayed everyone long enough. Why are you still standing here?"

Niu Youdao, still pondering Ding Wei's words, came back to himself. His reaction was quick, and he immediately found an excuse, tugging at the clothes on his body. "Steward Huang, am I supposed to go like this? Shouldn't I change clothes?"

He was still wearing the outfit he had put on at Zijin Cave.

After returning to Sacred Realm, Huang Ban had been in too much of a hurry. The moment he learned the tempering participants had already departed, he had rushed Niu Youdao straight here without stopping. He had forgotten all about changing Niu Youdao's clothing.

Only now, after Niu Youdao mentioned it, did Huang Ban remember. He immediately asked the people around him whether they had another set of the tempering participants' clothing.

Everyone shook their heads.

Who the hell would have deliberately prepared an extra outfit for Niu Youdao and carried it around?

No one had one.

Huang Ban certainly was not going to fly all the way back and forth for Niu Youdao. The round trip alone would take an entire day. He waved a hand. "Forget it. Wear that. We'll deal with it after this round of tempering."

"Yes!" Niu Youdao cupped his hands with perfect obedience, then turned and walked toward the faction representatives, all of whom were staring at him.

"Elder!"

Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie immediately hurried forward and saluted respectfully. Niu Youdao's sudden return had genuinely delighted them.

Niu Youdao smiled. "Look at those happy faces. You two seem to be doing well. By the way, while I was gone, did anyone make things difficult for you?"

The two exchanged a glance. They did look delighted, but both knew why. It was purely because Elder Niu had returned, not because things had gone well.

At the mention of whether anyone had made things difficult, Qin Guan stepped forward and quietly explained the change in everyone's attitude after Niu Youdao left. He also recounted what had just happened, including Taishu Shancheng becoming the leader and clearly intending to make things difficult for the two of them.

Niu Youdao's brows lifted slightly. "You two really are useless. If someone tells you to do something, you just do it? If things truly don't work out, don't you know how to strike out on your own? You didn't even dare fart. You're embarrassing Zijin Cave."

Being forcibly dragged back here had already put him in a foul mood, and some of that irritation inevitably seeped into his words.

Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie looked embarrassed and cupped their hands together. "This disciple was incompetent."

"Enough nonsense. I'll handle it. I'd like to see who dares run wild over Zijin Cave's head." Niu Youdao threw down the words and strode forward.

The two immediately turned and followed on either side of him. Their entire bearing had changed. The earlier anxiety was gone.

Neither man really understood why.

Before this, neither had held a particularly good opinion of Niu Youdao. Among the true disciples of Zijin Cave, how many had ever liked a man who had joined halfway through and somehow climbed straight into an Elder's seat? Influenced by the attitudes of their fellow disciples above and below them, most had been unconvinced and dissatisfied.

Yet after following Niu Youdao for only a short time, the two seemed to have been affected in some inexplicable way. There was something about him that made people feel strangely secure.

At the very least, they had personally seen major figures from all sides repeatedly coming over and gathering around Niu Youdao. They had felt for themselves that Elder Niu was someone who could hold a situation down.

"Heh, why is everyone staring at me? It's not like you've never seen me before." Niu Youdao walked up to the group with a cheerful smile and cupped his hands. "Everyone, we meet again. After our brief separation, I missed you terribly!"

Hong Gaitian burst into laughter. "Little Brother, didn't you leave? Didn't you already leave Sacred Realm? Why are you back again?"

Niu Youdao shook his head and sighed. "I didn't want to come back either. I had only just returned to Zijin Cave and had a drink when I missed all of you so much that I voluntarily came back."

Missed us?

That earned him a wave of contemptuous looks.

Only an idiot would believe that.

[End of Chapter 987]