Chapter 1280: What Do You Call a Ruthless Man?

She wanted the Scorpion Emperor?

Yuan Gang's heart sank.

The corner of his mouth tightened.

He pretended not to hear.

Hua Meiru's face turned cold in an instant.

Yucang broke into a cold sweat and nearly called Yuan Gang his ancestor.

He did not recognize the woman still in the air, but from the clues he could already guess who she was.

One of the Nine Saints, Sacred Venerable Lü, had personally appeared.

Someone at her side had come down to relay an order in person, and this lunatic was actually pretending to be deaf?

Yucang was badly frightened.

He nearly regretted this whole matter to the point of vomiting blood.

If he had known things would turn out like this, he would rather never have asked this man for help.

What kind of help was this?

This fellow had come to get them all killed.

Everyone else was even more alarmed.

Cold sweat ran down more than one back.

Several of them had the urge to call Yuan Gang "Grandfather" if only he would stop courting disaster.

Yucang flashed over to Yuan Gang's side and tugged his arm.

"Brother Yuan, the Envoy is speaking to you."

Only then did Yuan Gang turn around.

He was not stupid either.

He simply pretended not to know.

"What?"

Hua Meiru raised her hand again and displayed the Misty Pavilion command token.

Yuan Gang stared at it as though he did not understand.

"What?"

Anger appeared on Hua Meiru's face.

Yucang hurriedly explained, "Don't be confused. That is a Misty Pavilion command token, one of the nine command tokens."

"Seeing the token is as good as the Presiding Administrator of Misty Pavilion appearing in person!"

The person who had arrived was clearly not Huo Kong, Misty Pavilion's newly appointed Presiding Administrator.

Yet she could produce such a token.

There was hardly any need to explain the identity of the person still in the sky.

Yuan Gang said calmly, "I've never seen one before. I don't know whether it's real or fake."

Hua Meiru snapped, "Impudent!"

Yucang and the others were completely thrown into panic by him.

They felt at a loss.

How could a person be like this?

He was stubborn to the point of idiocy.

Did he think someone like this was a person before whom he could indulge his temper?

They had truly encountered an ancestor now.

An ancestor who could get everyone killed.

Luo Zhao, who was also standing on the Scorpion Emperor's back, looked somewhat dazed.

His eyes were full of disbelief as he stared at Yuan Gang.

For once, he felt a certain admiration.

He genuinely could not understand Feng Guan'er's taste.

How could she have taken a liking to such an extraordinary oddball?

He too wanted to ask Yuan Gang:

Did you come here to help, or did you come here to create trouble?

Up in the air, Lü Wushuang watched the scene below with faint suspicion.

She did not know what was happening.

Hua Meiru had personally gone down to requisition one creature.

Could something that trivial really be difficult?

Lü Wushuang wanted to descend and see what was happening herself.

But she held herself in far too high regard.

She could not be bothered lowering herself to mingle with the crowd below.

Yuan Gang's expression remained calm.

He asked in return, "I'm not part of the cultivation world. I've never seen one before. Am I not even allowed to ask whether it's genuine?"

Hua Meiru gave two cold laughs.

If this fellow were not currently standing at a critical point in a war between states, and if acting rashly did not risk being accused of violating the agreement among the Nine Saints, she would already have beaten him half to death.

She asked coldly, "You people tell him. Is it real or fake?"

"It's real. It's real."

The surrounding men agreed one after another.

Yucang quickly tugged Yuan Gang's sleeve again.

"Brother Yuan, I've seen a command token before. It's genuine. There is no mistake."

Yuan Gang stared at Hua Meiru.

"Who are you?"

Hua Meiru's voice sank.

"Does it matter who I am?"

"Do you not understand that seeing the token is as good as the Presiding Administrator of Misty Pavilion appearing in person?"

Yucang felt like crying.

What kind of people had come out of Maolu Villa?

Niu Youdao had been difficult enough.

This fellow was beyond description.

He hurriedly tugged Yuan Gang's sleeve yet again and reminded him, "Why haven't you greeted the Envoy?"

Yuan Gang fell silent.

His silence did not matter to him.

But the hearts of everyone else rose into their throats.

Fortunately, in the end Yuan Gang still yielded.

After staring at Hua Meiru for a while, he stiffly cupped his hands.

"Greetings, Envoy."

Hua Meiru stared back for a moment before slowly putting away the token.

Then she enunciated every word.

"Misty Pavilion is requisitioning this Scorpion Emperor."

"Leave it behind immediately."

Yuan Gang turned his head and looked at the Scorpion Emperor continuing forward.

Then he looked back.

"What do you need it for?"

Hua Meiru erupted.

"Since when is what Misty Pavilion does something you are entitled to question?"

She herself did not know why it was being taken.

She had no answer to give.

Unless she went back and asked Lü Wushuang.

But she could hardly go back over such a trivial matter and ask her master for an explanation.

Where would she put her face?

Yuan Gang said, "I would not dare."

"It isn't mine either."

"If you want to keep it, then keep it."

Hua Meiru had seen tactless people before.

She had never seen anyone this tactless.

Her eyes widened little by little.

He had angered her badly.

Yet she could not act freely against him.

Suppressing her rage, she said one word at a time, "I told you to make it stay."

Yuan Gang replied, "I can only drive it forward."

"I can't make it stay."

Hua Meiru shouted, "Are you trying to resist Misty Pavilion's decree?"

If he truly defied the order openly, then she would indeed have grounds to act.

Yuan Gang stared at her again.

Everyone else, Yucang included, had begun sweating from the forehead.

Yucang's Adam's apple bobbed twice in rapid succession.

He tugged Yuan Gang again.

"Why haven't you obeyed the decree?"

He truly did not want to keep repeating himself.

But he was afraid Yuan Gang would drag all of them into disaster.

Yuan Gang said, "I would not dare."

"I'll do my best to try."

Only then did everyone relax slightly.

Yuan Gang immediately added, "All of you, get off."

Yucang and the others obeyed without hesitation.

They scattered to either side and landed on the backs of other sand scorpions.

Luo Zhao was taken away as well.

Hua Meiru, however, remained standing opposite Yuan Gang.

She was still simmering with anger.

She had nearly shouted herself hoarse before this man grudgingly obeyed her.

Now he had turned around and started ordering her about.

But she did not understand the situation.

And to fulfill Lü Wushuang's instruction, she had no choice but to cooperate.

With a cold snort, she swept her sleeve and flashed aside.

Yuan Gang turned around.

He walked toward the Scorpion Emperor's head.

He looked down at the enormous creature that had been carrying him steadily forward while swaying its head in response to his control.

He looked at the Scorpion Emperor that had once saved his life.

Regret rose in his heart.

He regretted summoning it merely for an extra layer of protection.

His cheek tightened once.

Then again.

At last, he seemed to make a decision.

He suddenly spread both arms toward the sky.

"AAAH—!"

The cry carried strong emotion.

The Scorpion Emperor had been moving forward at an unhurried pace.

Yet compared with the ordinary sand scorpions, even that unhurried pace was fast.

Its enormous body suddenly sank.

It plunged headfirst into the sea of sand.

Relying on its tremendous forward momentum, it threw sand outward in all directions like a breaking wave.

Its many legs clawed furiously.

In moments, it burrowed deep into the ground.

The people riding nearby sand scorpions hurriedly cast spells to block the surging sand.

The sand scorpions following from behind immediately split around that point and continued onward.

Yuan Gang, who had been thrown toward the ground with the Scorpion Emperor, leapt free.

He landed amid the churning sand.

On both sides of him, the army of sand scorpions rushed past with a continuous hiss.

The Scorpion Emperor disappeared underground at astonishing speed.

The swelling dune gradually collapsed.

Soon there was no movement at all.

Yuan Gang was left buried in the sand up to his waist.

Yucang and the others, who had been carried farther away by the sand scorpions, immediately flashed back.

Hua Meiru returned as well.

They landed around Yuan Gang and watched the endless stream of sand scorpions continuing forward.

The soldiers riding past on their backs kept turning their heads toward the group left behind in the middle of the desert, wondering what had happened.

The sand scorpions moved quickly.

Before long, the enormous procession had passed.

The whole world seemed to fall silent.

Hua Meiru looked back once.

Then she cast a cold sidelong glance at Yuan Gang, whose lower body was still buried in the sand.

"Call the Scorpion Emperor back out."

"The rest has nothing to do with you."

"You can get lost and rejoin the army."

Yucang hurried forward.

He grabbed Yuan Gang by the arm and pulled him free of the sand.

Yuan Gang once again spread both arms and shouted loudly.

"AAAH... AAAH... AAAH...!"

Everyone watched him.

He called for quite a while.

Then they looked at the desert beneath their feet and around them.

Why did it feel as though absolutely nothing was happening?

Yucang muttered inwardly.

When Yuan Gang summoned sand scorpions before, hadn't his calls sounded different?

The instant that thought appeared, Yucang's heart gave a violent thump.

His expression grew tense.

He prayed silently:

Ancestor, please don't start acting stubborn again.

You'll get yourself killed!

Yuan Gang shouted again and again.

At last, he stopped.

He turned around and faced Hua Meiru.

Hua Meiru asked, "Where is the Scorpion Emperor?"

Yuan Gang said, "It's gone."

"..."

Hua Meiru's mouth fell open slightly.

For a moment, she looked completely dumbfounded.

Gone?

You say it's gone?

Who are you trying to fool?

Yucang and the others nearly stared their eyes out.

They had never imagined Yuan Gang would shout for half the day only to give them an explanation like that.

Yucang was furious.

A moment ago, out of kindness, he had pulled the fellow out of the sand.

If he had known, he should have buried the bastard alive.

Hua Meiru immediately became furious from embarrassment.

She pointed at Yuan Gang.

"Have you grown tired of living?"

"I order you to summon the Scorpion Emperor immediately!"

High above, Lü Wushuang frowned.

Things below had dragged on for far too long.

She could not tell what was happening.

Seeing that the people below seemed to be arguing, she finally lost patience and descended to the mortal world.

Her figure flashed down.

Her skirts drifted in the air.

She landed lightly upon the sand.

Her voice was cold.

"What is going on?"

Hua Meiru immediately cupped her hands.

Then she looked left and right and shouted, "Why haven't you greeted Sacred Venerable Wushuang?"

So Sacred Venerable Lü Wushuang truly had come in person.

Yucang and the others were terrified beyond measure.

They hurriedly cupped their hands and bowed.

"Greetings, Sacred Venerable!"

Some of them muttered inwardly that perhaps they had benefited from following this idiot.

Otherwise, when would ordinary people like them ever have a chance to meet Lü Wushuang face-to-face?

Yucang glanced from the corner of his eye toward Yuan Gang.

Then he truly gave in.

What did it mean to be a ruthless man?

Today, he had learned.

This idiot was someone he simply could not afford to provoke.

If they survived this encounter, Yucang never wanted to see the bastard again.

Fine.

You win.

You truly are impossible to deal with.

Yuan Gang stood there without moving.

His eyes met Lü Wushuang's bright gaze.

His cheek tightened.

Only then did he cup his hands and bend at the waist.

Hua Meiru suddenly pointed at him.

"Master, Yuan Gang is resisting the decree."

"He refuses to hand over the Scorpion Emperor!"

Such a bold man existed?

Lü Wushuang looked slightly surprised.

She fixed her gaze on Yuan Gang.

"Why won't you hand it over?"

Yuan Gang straightened and replied, "It's not that I won't hand it over."

"I can't summon it."

What did that mean?

Lü Wushuang was momentarily taken aback.

She had just seen the Scorpion Emperor burrow underground and assumed it had only been made to wait until the sand-scorpion army passed.

She had not imagined Yuan Gang would now say he could not summon it.

The others had thought the same thing.

None had expected Yuan Gang to dare resist the order.

Hua Meiru said, "Master, he's making excuses."

"From beginning to end, he never intended to hand it over."

Lü Wushuang naturally believed her own disciple.

The earlier delays had already seemed strange.

Now she had her answer.

Even so, she was still somewhat surprised.

This fellow truly dared act this boldly?

She asked coldly, "Why can't you summon it?"

Yuan Gang said, "During the first transport of Qin troops, I tried to summon the Scorpion Emperor."

"I couldn't bring it out no matter what I did."

"It was only this morning that I managed to summon it."

"I don't know why."

"Maybe the Scorpion Emperor is different from ordinary sand scorpions."

Who said Yuan Gang could not lie?

For him, whether he lied depended on the circumstances.

Of course, in his own mind, words spoken under circumstances like these did not count as lying.

Yucang and the others exchanged glances.

They could not tell whether Yuan Gang was speaking truth or falsehood.

But what he said did match what they had seen.

The Scorpion Emperor had indeed failed to appear earlier.

It truly had shown itself only this morning.

Could they actually have misunderstood him?

[End of Chapter 1280]