Chapter 1282: What a Badass—Seriously Badass!

"Stop looking. She's gone."

Yucang sighed.

"Brother, just be grateful the Sacred Venerable held back."

Anyone could see it.

Yuan Gang had taken a strike from Lü Wushuang and was still standing there as though nothing had happened.

Surely Lü Wushuang had shown mercy.

Yuan Gang himself thought so too.

He looked back and asked, "My saber?"

Everyone glanced around.

Only then did they realize it had been left lying over there.

They had all forgotten about it.

Yucang waved one man over and sent him to retrieve it.

The group looked at Yuan Gang again and, in a sense, had no choice but to admire him.

To survive something like that was already astonishing luck.

Every one of them still felt lingering fear after what had happened.

The saber was soon brought back and returned to Yuan Gang.

At the sight of it, Yucang remembered the slash aimed at Hua Meiru and sighed again.

"Brother, was it really worth risking your life to protect one Scorpion Emperor?"

Yuan Gang replied with contempt, "It's precisely because there are too many selfish people like you that those people can behave however they please!"

Yucang had nothing to say.

But Dugu Jing, as his disciple, could hardly remain silent.

He said heavily, "Mr. Yuan, don't take your words too far."

Earlier Yuan Gang had called his master a rat.

In Lü Wushuang's presence, Dugu Jing had not been in a position to say much.

He could hardly continue pretending not to hear now.

Yuan Gang said, "Was I wrong?"

"If your selfishness couldn't be exploited, how could those people throw their weight around however they liked?"

Dugu Jing sneered, "I haven't seen anything particularly noble about Niu Youdao either. How long did you follow him?"

There was another sentence he did not say aloud.

You've even seduced Luo Zhao's wife. You still have the face to talk about this?

Yuan Gang looked at him coldly.

"He's not particularly noble either."

"But Master Dao at least understands that with great power comes great responsibility."

"How could petty scoundrels like you even be compared with him?"

"You..."

Even a clay figurine had three parts temper.

Dugu Jing was beginning to lose his.

"Enough!"

Yucang raised one hand to stop him.

There was even a trace of reproach in his eyes, as though asking why his disciple was taking a person like this seriously.

Had this happened in the past, Yucang would certainly not have been polite either.

But after dealing with Yuan Gang for some time, he now understood what kind of man this was.

Especially after what had just happened.

This lunatic had dared provoke Lü Wushuang to her face.

He had even dared slash at Lü Wushuang's disciple and had nearly killed her with one blow.

He was the purest example imaginable of someone who simply did not care about consequences.

Argue with a man like this?

He was not even afraid of Lü Wushuang.

Would threats, intimidation, coercion, or temptation work on him?

Yucang suspected that even if every man in Xiaoyue Pavilion gathered around Yuan Gang and surrounded him, the bastard would not so much as blink.

The methods that worked on other people were utterly useless against him.

Anyone who seriously tried to compete with a man like this was the one with something wrong in his head.

Besides, they still needed Yuan Gang's help.

In short, Yucang had completely lost his temper with him.

Of course, for now they were still on the same side.

And with strange figures appearing in the sky from time to time, Yucang truly had begun to fear Yuan Gang.

He feared the man would stir up some new disaster.

They simply could not withstand another fright like this.

So Yucang smiled bitterly and tried one more time to advise him.

"Brother, the Sacred Venerable was magnanimous and couldn't be bothered arguing with you."

"But not everyone will be so forgiving."

"You should be more careful in the future."

"Take one piece of advice from me. You can't keep conducting yourself like this."

Yuan Gang understood what he meant.

The King of Hell was easy enough to meet; it was the little devils who were troublesome.

He had badly offended Hua Meiru this time.

She would probably make trouble for him in the future.

But he did not care in the slightest.

If he cared, he would never have acted as he did.

He replied only, "If you're truly a man, you don't need someone teaching you how to act like one."

Then he turned and walked away.

"..."

Yucang froze.

At last he could only shake his head with a bitter smile.

He gestured for someone to summon the flying mounts.

While they waited, Dugu Jing asked, "Master, what does Sacred Venerable Wushuang want the Scorpion Emperor for?"

At that, Yucang grew puzzled as well.

That was true.

Something capable of attracting Lü Wushuang's attention could hardly be simple.

He could not help looking around at the endless desert.

Before long, flying mounts arrived.

They picked the group up and soon caught up with the army of sand scorpions once more.

Seeing them return, Luo Zhao asked the Xiaoyue Pavilion Elder who had come back to guard him, "Elder, was the Scorpion Emperor taken away?"

The Elder snorted.

"Taken away? It escaped!"

"Escaped?"

Luo Zhao looked uncertain.

"I just heard some cultivators say the visitor seemed to be Sacred Venerable Wushuang."

"It could still escape?"

"Ordinarily, no."

The Elder sighed.

"But that Yuan fellow has something wrong with his head..."

He gave Luo Zhao a rough account of what had happened, then finished with another sigh.

"Fortunately, the Sacred Venerable considered it beneath her to argue with us."

"This old man was nearly frightened to death."

Even Luo Zhao felt his scalp tighten as he listened.

He could not help looking back toward Yuan Gang.

Others might not understand, but after calming down, how could Luo Zhao fail to understand the enormous risk Yuan Gang had taken by coming to help him?

The earlier assassination attempt by Jin already made the danger plain.

There would certainly be people in the future who would pursue Yuan Gang to the death.

Only after hearing about this incident did Luo Zhao begin to understand what kind of man Yuan Gang truly was.

The Elder suddenly remembered something and warned him, "General Luo, just listen to this and let it end there."

"Don't spread it around."

"If word gets out, you may bring trouble upon yourself."

Luo Zhao nodded slightly.

...

In the mountains outside Nanzhou's prefectural capital, Niu Youdao once again met Sha Rulai, who had come in disguise.

Niu Youdao smiled.

"Sir, what brings you to seek me out personally?"

Sha Rulai's expression was heavy.

"What is going on with that Yuan Gang?"

"Yuan Gang?"

Niu Youdao froze for a moment.

"He's my brother. Don't tell me even you don't know that."

"I'm not asking about that."

Sha Rulai said, "Why did he run off to help Qin's army cross the Boundless Desert?"

The fact that Sha Rulai had personally come to ask about this meant the issue probably involved far more than troop transport.

A weight settled in Niu Youdao's heart.

"Did something happen?"

"You're asking me?"

Sha Rulai stared at him.

"Your brother is famous inside the Sacred Realm now."

"He actually dared provoke Lü Wushuang to her face."

"He nearly killed her disciple Hua Meiru with a single slash too."

"That man's courage truly reaches Heaven."

Niu Youdao's voice sank.

"That happened?"

"Why haven't I heard a word?"

"How did he even run into Lü Wushuang?"

"What exactly happened?"

It was perfectly normal that Niu Youdao had heard nothing.

How could Yucang and the others dare spread word of something like this?

But among the group were people belonging to Misty Pavilion.

Once Misty Pavilion knew, the Sacred Realm knew.

"I don't know all the details either."

Sha Rulai said, "I heard Lü Wushuang took a liking to the Scorpion Emperor..."

He gave Niu Youdao the version he had heard.

When he finished, Niu Youdao stared at him, dumbfounded.

That bastard had actually exchanged blows with Lü Wushuang?

The moment he left home, he had practically stabbed a hole through the sky?

Even through his false face, the tension in Niu Youdao's expression was obvious.

He was furious, but not particularly surprised that Yuan Gang could do something like this.

He gave a cold snort.

"That's the kind of man he is."

"What do you mean, that's the kind of man he is?"

Sha Rulai questioned him with his hands behind his back.

"So you knew?"

"Have you gone mad?"

"How can you dare let just anyone outside?"

"Did you really not understand that using sand scorpions to move an army would attract the Sacred Realm's attention?"

"Let me tell you something."

"It wasn't only Lü Wushuang."

"My own master came as well."

"Not one of the Nine Saints was absent."

"Every last one of them personally visited the Boundless Desert to see what was happening."

"Your brother has successfully attracted the attention of all Nine Saints!"

Niu Youdao said, "If you came all this way personally, I doubt this is only about attention."

Sha Rulai said, "Listen carefully."

"The Nine Saints have already discussed the matter among themselves."

"Once the troop transport is finished, Misty Pavilion will seize him and take your brother back to the Sacred Realm!"

"Now answer me."

"Does he know you're still alive?"

Niu Youdao's face tightened.

After a moment, he said slowly, "He knows."

Sha Rulai's anger rose.

"He knows?"

"I think you're even crazier than he is!"

"You actually dared let someone like him go do something like this?"

Niu Youdao sighed bitterly.

"I tried to stop him."

"I couldn't."

"I can't control him either."

"If I'd known the matter would become this big, I would have tied him up myself before letting him leave!"

"Now you want to tie him up?"

Sha Rulai said angrily.

"What were you doing earlier?"

"You're normally a clever man. How could you make such a low-level mistake?"

"If he loses control of his mouth and lets slip that you're still alive, what will you do?"

"Things have already reached this point."

"Before he enters the Sacred Realm, you'd better hurry and figure out how to silence him!"

That was the principal reason Sha Rulai had personally come to meet Niu Youdao.

"Silence him?"

Niu Youdao shook his head.

"There's no need."

"On this point, Sir can be completely at ease."

"Anyone else might betray me."

"He won't."

"Forget me."

"Even if you killed him, he still wouldn't betray anyone he shouldn't betray."

Sha Rulai asked, "You can be certain?"

"Certain, my ass!"

Niu Youdao sighed.

"I may not know other people, but how could I not know him?"

"That's simply his personality."

"He would rather break than bend."

"Forget the Nine Saints."

"Not even an immortal could change him."

"If he weren't that stubborn, if he understood even the slightest bit about reading the room, would he dare pick a fight with Lü Wushuang?"

When Sha Rulai heard that, he fell silent and thought it over.

That was true.

It seemed he had worried for nothing.

"As long as there won't be a problem there."

"If he brought this on himself, he has no one else to blame."

Niu Youdao shot back, "He's about to fall into the Nine Saints' hands. How can there be no problem?"

"Is there any way to save him?"

Sha Rulai stared at him.

"What are you thinking?"

"The Nine Saints have personally set their eyes on him."

"You tell me how he's supposed to be rescued."

"You're still thinking of cleaning up his mess for him?"

"That bastard!"

Niu Youdao could not help cursing.

He clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth.

He was thoroughly furious.

But anger solved nothing.

What could he actually do?

Against the Nine Saints, he currently had no method at all.

After pacing for a while, he suddenly stopped in front of Sha Rulai.

"What about spreading the information inside the Sacred Realm?"

"How is that going?"

"How can that be rushed?"

Sha Rulai replied.

"We have to prepare carefully and make absolutely certain nothing can go wrong."

"If even the slightest flaw appears, none of us will be able to bear the consequences."

Niu Youdao sighed.

"Then as quickly as you safely can."

"If the information gets out sooner, perhaps the Nine Saints will start fighting among themselves."

"Then they may no longer have the mind to bother with him."

At present, this was the only method he could think of.

Yuan Gang had already been marked by the Nine Saints.

Where could he possibly run?

Even hiding would be difficult.

The moment he vanished, Misty Pavilion would probably turn Maolu Villa upside down.

Sha Rulai did not follow Niu Youdao's urging on this matter.

Every step had to be secure.

He would not expose anything merely for the sake of some damned lunatic.

The consequences were simply too severe to bear.

After the two men separated, Niu Youdao returned to Maolu Annex inside the prefectural capital.

Guan Fangyi immediately noticed that his mood was wrong.

He looked burdened with worry.

She personally poured a cup of tea and placed it beside him.

"Did something happen?"

"Heh. Heh."

Niu Youdao gave a series of cold laughs and slowly, forcefully patted the tea table.

"Something happened?"

"This is more than something."

"Something enormous happened!"

"That bastard Monkey came one step short of poking a hole through the sky."

"Lü Wushuang!"

"That bastard actually went head-to-head with Lü Wushuang..."

By the time she finished hearing the story, Guan Fangyi was completely dumbfounded.

She could barely imagine it.

Yun Ji, standing nearby, suddenly threw out a sentence.

"Gutsy. He's got balls. I'm impressed."

"What a badass—seriously badass!"

[End of Chapter 1282]